A Knock From The Past: (The Phoenix Series Book 1)

by Emma Vikes

  But how could I if I’d been shot?

  It didn’t matter though. She came to see me. That was enough. “Lily?”

  She stopped fidgeting with her phone and then looked at me. The worry was still clear in her bright blue eyes, but if I looked closely, I could see the pain that she was trying to hide and, in that briefest moment, I realized that she was truly worried about my wellbeing.

  My heart soared. The last time that I’d felt that someone cared for me was when Julian was still alive. Lily sighed and then turned her attention to her phone. She was probably answering emails. I’m sure we got a lot those days because the media was having a field day with us. I tried to move in my seat and winced, the pain in my shoulder reverberating through my entire body, but I pushed through it. It wasn’t as if it was the only kind of pain that I’d gone through.

  “Don’t try to move, Art,” Lily finally said. This was the first time she’d spoken to me after she’d asked if I was okay.

  I winced and then slowly shook my head and then I reached out and touched Lily’s hand. She looked up and then stared at me. “What?”

  “I’m sorry,” I whispered. I wasn’t good with apologies, but I knew that Lily deserved one. “I should’ve woken you up yesterday morning. But you looked so peaceful when you were asleep, and I know that’s not a good excuse.”

  I touched her cheek with my hand, my thumb gently caressing her skin. “And I know you didn’t want me to go. But I’m just thankful that I didn’t let you come with me. If you were in the middle of that incident too and something had happened to you, I would never have forgiven myself.”

  Her hand covered mine, and she leaned into my touch. “What happened out there, Art?”

  I sighed and then pulled her closer to me. I was getting used to her body against mine, and every time we weren’t in that position, I would make sure that in one way or another we would end up that way. I rested my head against hers and inhaled her scent.

  “I honestly don’t know,” I replied and then closed my eyes, trying to remember and make some sense out of what had happened. “I arrived at the place that Hovers and I had agreed to meet at. It wasn’t even far from Interzone, Lil. The meeting was going well until someone just came in. The guards tried to stop him but his gun was already in his hand, and he was firing, Lily. Someone shot him to make him stop, but it wasn’t fatal and they weren’t quick enough to pin him down.”

  “So he got away?” Lily asked, disbelief clear in her eyes.

  I could only nod my head in response. I kissed the back of her head. “The bodyguards remembered his face pretty clearly. I don’t. If he’s the same guy who’s after us, then he just made the wrong move coming after me like that.”

  Lily craned her head to look at my face. “Or maybe our guy is smart enough to have someone do it for him.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Art, think about it. He’s managed to be in and out of your apartment as he pleases. He has intel on you and the company. He has a freaking spy there. I wouldn’t put it past him to hire people to scare and hurt you.”

  I stared at her long and hard. She had a point, but it didn’t make sense. I strongly believed that that was my family’s doing. But I knew that they weren’t the kind to have someone else do the job for them. They liked handling things their own way and by themselves, personally. If my father was behind it, or my uncles and cousins, they wouldn’t settle for just rattling me and playing with my emotions. No, they would do things directly. If their intention was to kill me, I would have been dead by now.

  “We really need to figure this out first before the police do,” I said, exhaling deeply. “They’re already on to me, and they’re not far from the truth. If they dig up enough of my past and uncover who I was before Julian found me, it would lead them right to the trailer park I escaped from, and taking one of them and sending that person to jail would have the rest running after me and that’s not what I want right now.”

  I laced her hand with mine and squeezed it. “Especially now that I have you.”

  I wasn’t sure if that was the perfect moment to define whatever we had. But as I stared at Lily’s blue eyes, I could read the question through them, yet I couldn’t find the courage to ask it. Lily seemed to realize that I would never ask the question she was waiting for. But before either of us could talk, the car was already in front of my apartment, and Lily helped me get out of the vehicle.

  It wasn’t hard getting to my floor, and Lily was so accustomed to being there that I didn’t need to do anything. She helped me settle on the couch while she headed to the kitchen to prepare for dinner. I liked that. I liked how that kind of routine felt, of someone taking care of you and living with you.

  “I’m going to head to my place right after dinner, Art,” Lily called out, effectively shattering whatever daydream I was having.

  I shifted my position so I had a better view of her in the kitchen. She searched the cupboards and refrigerator and then she sighed and looked at me. She wasn’t even surprised to see me staring. “Do you mind if we have Chinese tonight?”

  I shook my head. “Not at all.”

  After she made her order, she proceeded to snuggle next to me on the couch, careful not to bother my injured shoulder. She placed a soft kiss on my shoulder and then looked at me with her blue eyes. “I wish you didn’t have to go through this.”

  “And I wish we were in different circumstances,” I whispered, lacing her hand with mine. Rare were moments like that. We were always fucking each other that there wasn’t a moment to just breathe and think about what was going on between us, or define what we had.

  It was then that it hit me: we’d been either fucking each other or working for Interzone or on the case, and that was why we’d never found the time to just get to know each other. “Lily?”

  She looked at me from the book I hadn’t realized she was holding. “Yeah?”

  “Can you stay tonight?”

  She stared at me for a long moment, and I knew she was contemplating why. Yesterday, she barely talked to me once she realized I was fine and wasn’t dying. She just suddenly closed in on herself, and I knew that she was upset and scared for my safety but I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something else there too.

  I would like to believe that she was just as confused with ‘us’ as I was, that she was unsure if this was something that would officially happen or if this was just something to take both of our minds off the issues at large.

  “Why do you want me to stay?”

  I was never good at putting my feelings into words. I sucked at it, actually. I was better at showing them. But I knew that kissing Lily then would have just led us back to bed, and the last thing I wanted was for sex - as amazing as it was between the two of us - to ruin whatever moment I aspired to happen between the two of us.

  “Because I realized we’ve never spent a quiet night together, to actually get to know each other and not allow other things to come up that would distract us from doing so.”

  A lazy smile spread across her pretty face, and she leaned closer to give me a small peck on my chin. “You’re cute when you don’t know how to ask someone for a date.”

  “I do!” I sputtered, but I could feel the heat of the blush creeping from my neck to my face, and then I pursed my lips. “I haven’t asked anyone on a date, okay? I never did in high school. No one wanted to go out with the guy whose family sold drugs.”

  Lily’s eyes softened. “Aww. I think it’s cute that the Art Waters doesn’t know the first thing on how to ask a girl out.”

  I rolled my eyes, and we talked until dinner arrived. I answered the door, despite Lily’s protests that I sit down and just rest, and was relieved not to see the same guy who had delivered her clothes. Dinner was filled with conversations about her childhood and how everyone couldn’t comprehend why she hadn’t followed in her family’s footsteps, and why she chose a degree that had nothing to do with her family’s legacy.

&nb
sp; “You know, this is nice,” I said after a while. We’d thrown the takeout boxes away and were snuggled with each other while the heat from the fireplace filled the room. The soft glow of the fire shadowed Lily’s face and made her blue eyes look softer against the luminescent light. At that moment, I struggled with whether or not I should tell that I was starting to have feelings for her that had nothing to do with the sex.

  But I was a coward, and I didn’t know how I was supposed to say it even when it was merely just three words.

  I never knew confessing your feelings could leave you so tongue-tied.

  “Lily?”

  “Hmm?”

  “Would you like to come with me to the charity ball?”

  Lily stared at me long and hard, and then she let out a small laugh. “You’re cute, you know that?”

  I sighed and ran a hand through my hair and then winced because I realized I had used my bad arm. “I’m trying here, Lily.”

  She laughed louder and then squeezed my thigh. “Let me think about being your date for that event.”

  Despite the fact that I’d promised myself I wouldn’t want this night to lead to the both of us screwing each other, and despite both of our efforts not to kiss each other all night, I couldn’t help myself. It was like second nature to lean down and kiss her and for her to respond to my kiss. It wasn’t long until she had her legs wrapped around my waist and my hand was resting on her thigh, inching under her skirt to caress her pussy.

  “For a moment I thought sex wasn’t going to be the end result of this,” Lily whispered in my ear as she nibbled on it. “But I guess not even a bad shoulder can stop you.”

  I chuckled. “I tried. I couldn’t help it. But maybe we can take it slower this time around?”

  She stopped kissing me and pulled away. This close, I could see the green flecks in her blue eyes and the way she looked at me made me wonder if I’d said something wrong. But something flashed in her eyes, something I couldn’t pinpoint. “Make love to me, Art Waters.”

  I didn’t need to be told twice. I stripped her clothing off as she helped me with mine. There were no torn clothes that time, nor did I roughly take off her bra. I was as gentle as I possibly could be, giving each part of her body the kind of attention I’d always wanted to give it. There wasn’t even the usual foreplay.

  It was as if we were following a sensual dance, slower and gentler. Even our mouths followed the same slow beat. Our hands were still all over each other, groping and caressing and pulling each other as closely as we could. By the time that I finally entered her, I didn’t do it as roughly as I usually did. No, it was as measured as it could have been. She wasn’t begging for me to hasten anything either. For the first time since we’d started screwing each other, neither of us were in a hurry for the pleasure that we both knew only sex could bring.

  Under the soft glow of the wood burning in my fireplace, we were a bunch of tangled limbs lost in each other and, in that moment, I understood what love felt like and what it was, for the first time in my life.

  CHAPTER 10

  Lily

  “So will you be leaving me alone in your apartment or will you be staying here because I am?” Lucas asked as he dropped his bags on the floor of my apartment. It felt so good to see my brother again after nearly two months of being away from home, but I’d forgotten how annoying brothers could be when you’re with them.

  I rolled my eyes and plopped down on my couch. I’d been gone for so long from my apartment and spent so much time at Art’s that my place didn’t feel or look like mine. I realized I hadn’t even bought anything to make it homier and I was sure Lucas had noticed, which was why he made the comment.

  “Shut up. Aren’t you thrilled that you’re in America with your favorite sister?”

  Lucas stared at me for a moment, his eyes - the right one was the same blue as mine and the left was brown like our mother’s - held the incredulity that I expected. “You’re my only sister. And you’re boytoy bought me a ticket. A free plane ticket was something I can never refuse, Lils. But given the reason why I’m here isn’t actually thrilling and I wish you didn’t have to lie to dad about it.”

  I had briefed him about everything on our way to my apartment. He wasn’t thrilled when he found out the reason why Art bought him a plane ticket. He wasn’t too keen on the fact that the guy I was ‘dating’ was in a current predicament that would most probably land me in trouble, and not the kind of trouble that was easy to get out of.

  “I’m disappointed you forgot dad’s number one rule for you, Lils. When you smell trouble, you run.”

  Hiding my annoyance towards my brother was something I’d managed growing up. I smiled at him sweetly and replied, “Luke, I know you’re not happy with the situation. Art will have dinner with us later, and he’ll explain everything to you. As much as I want to, it’s his story to tell, and I hope that you’ll understand why I stayed.”

  “Let me guess, he had a sappy background story. A knight in distress or whatever term you want to call it.” Lucas sat down across from me, his eyes fixed on my face. “Lils, we allowed you to go to America to pursue your dreams - not your boss.”

  That one stung, and I knew he realized it the moment I stood up. “You know what? I’m late for work. Feel free to make yourself at home. I’ll see you later.”

  Lucas sighed and followed me to the door. “You know that’s not what I meant.”

  I cocked my head to the side. I grew up with three older brothers. Lucas was the one I was closest to because Liam and Leon were a handful to be with sometimes. But since I was the closest to Lucas, he was the most protective out of the three of them. Most of the time I didn’t mind, but that comment crossed a line.

  “I think I know what you meant, Luke.”

  I slammed the door on his face. I already had so much to worry about. There was this thing with the person stalking and threatening Art and evidently me, the feelings I was having for him that I didn’t know how to control, and now this thing with Lucas having an issue with whatever I had with Art. It’s not like I told him I was screwing my boss but my brother had always been ten steps ahead of me and I guess using Art’s driver to pick him up was already a dead giveaway.

  Art was in the conference room when I arrived at Interzone, and I headed straight to the kitchen to get myself a cup of coffee. I was in a rush that morning and forgot to drink one, and the conversation with Lucas just made me need it even more.

  “Hey, Lily. Trouble in paradise?”

  I turned around and almost jumped back in surprise. She was tall and blonde, and I wasn’t sure if I knew her. “Uhh, hi.”

  “Oh, I’m Margaux! I called you about the shooting incident.”

  I nodded, my brain registering who she was. “Oh, yeah. Thank you for that.”

  She leaned against the counter and crossed her arms across her chest. “So? Is there a reason for your frown? Trouble in paradise?”

  “Trouble in paradise?” I repeated and then chuckled, shaking my head. “Oh no, there’s no paradise there, Margaux.”

  I was aware of the rumors floating around the office about Art and I. It was kind of hard to ignore them when the workers stared at the two of us every time we came in together. The whispers weren’t too subtle either. But it wasn’t as if I cared. Even if I ended up in the CEO’s bed every night for sex, it wasn’t as if I had asked him to put me back in the creative staff or demanded a bigger salary. I still did my work. Nothing had changed in my job description.

  And there was nothing but sex between us, no matter how much more I wished there was.

  “Oh,” Margaux said, but there was clear amusement dancing in her eyes, “anyway, are you going to that charity event?”

  I wasn’t sure if saying yes meant that I just ate my earlier statement but I wasn’t a liar. “I’m not sure.”

  She pursed her lips. “Oh, okay. I hope you’d come! Only the elite are invited, and I’m sure Mr. Waters would love you to be his date. Anyways,
I have some work I need to finish. I’ll see you around!”

  I nodded and watched her leave. Well, that had been thoroughly weird.

  I headed back to my desk to see Art waiting for me in my chair. He smiled at me, and I swear it sent just enough of a jolt to my heart to make me melt. “Hey.”

  His smile was contagious and I couldn’t help but flash him one of my own. Sometimes when Art smiled like that, it was easy to forget that he was in a bad situation where his life was at stake. “Hi. How was your meeting?”

  Art made a face and then shook his head. “It was boring. Thoroughly uneventful. It was about one of Julian’s companies that I handle. Benton has been seeing mainly to it since all I ever do is sign things. Anyway, how was your morning?”

  This time, I was the one who made a face. I also had to resist the urge to sit on his lap and remember where we were. I could already feel the eyes on us, waiting for whatever show we were going to put on. We never made out in the office. We were careful not to do that even when the temptation was strong and too hard to ignore.

  Art realized that I was hesitant to speak because of where we were and then nodded towards his office. His office didn’t offer much privacy given how the walls were made of glass. But at least we were out of earshot and explaining why my reunion with my brother turned sour meant that we needed to discuss it in his office.

  “I take it that it wasn’t a sweet reunion?” Art said the moment we were alone - as alone as his office could offer - and looked at me with worried, dark eyes.

  “Lucas wasn’t thrilled when he found out the reason why we had him come here,” I said and sighed, and then made my way to his toilet to check on my appearance. I’d forgotten to retouch my make-up or brush my hair. I began to pull my hair into a high ponytail as I talked with Art. “He’s mad. He kept on pointing out that you placed me in a bad situation too and that my life was just as at risk as yours.”