Cunning

by Aleatha Romig

  “This isn’t…” He paused. “…this isn’t Lennox Demetri’s suite?”

  Deloris’s eyes narrowed. “Mr. Spencer, I’m not sure who you are or who you think you are, but this room is registered to me. I’m staying in this room, and you have three seconds to allow me to enter.”

  Not wanting to be standing and staring when she opened the door, I picked up my purse and hurried toward the bedroom. As I crossed the threshold, I suddenly worried that Deloris didn’t have a key. Then I realized whom I was thinking about. Of course she had a key. A moment later the locking mechanisms turned, and the door opened. I waited unseen for the door to close. Once it did, silence prevailed.

  With my shoes dangling from her fingertips, Deloris turned the corner and met me eye to eye. “Thankfully,” she said, “he didn’t pursue me. If he had, I’d need to convince him that four-inch navy pumps were now my shoe of choice.”

  I shrugged with a smile and reached for my shoes. “I remembered my purse.”

  Deloris sat on the edge of the bed and patted the mattress beside her. “Alex, we need to talk.”

  Taking a deep breath, I moved her direction and sat.

  “He’s mad at me.”

  “Mr. Spencer?” she asked with a furrowed brow.

  I shrugged again. “Probably. But I don’t care about that. Nox, I mean, Lennox, is mad at me. I said something I shouldn’t have.”

  She nodded knowingly.

  “You already know, don’t you?”

  “I do,” she answered truthfully. “I was informed on my way here. Since Isaac is with him, Lennox didn’t want you left alone.” Her eyes widened as she tilted her head toward the living room. “I believe that was a good call. Please tell me that you weren’t about to open that door.”

  I looked down at the shoes in my lap and sighed.

  I was.

  “You think you know him?”

  “Bryce or Nox?”

  “Mr. Spencer.”

  I swallowed. “Deloris, I do know him. I’ve known him my entire life.”

  “It’s a common misconception. I’ve known Lennox for many years. I may know more about him than anyone, yet you know him in ways I don’t.”

  My cheeks tingled with pink as I nodded.

  “Knowing someone and knowing that person are two different things. How much contact have you had with Mr. Spencer over the last few years?”

  “Very little.”

  “Alex, you have no reason to be honest with me, but I have no reason to be dishonest with you. Please tell me about Edward Spencer, the one you know.”

  I replayed the day’s scenes in my head. “First, before I do.” I reached for her hand. “I will. I’m not stalling. I just want to know what Bryce meant when he said he saw you at Chelsea’s hospital room today?”

  “I was there.”

  I waited. When she didn’t offer more, I pried. “Why?”

  “Because she was attacked in your apartment. Keeping you safe has become my job. I need to know all I can.”

  I nodded. That made sense. “Was it before or after… were you the person with her who asked her mother for privacy?”

  A small grin came to Deloris’s face. “Her mother is… it’s easier to talk without her around.”

  I couldn’t agree more. Tina Moore was annoying at best. “Did you say anything to her about moving to New York?”

  “No. Why?”

  “Nox… Lennox thinks I should offer her my apartment. He said it would save on cross-country trips. The thing is, she really isn’t high maintenance. She didn’t ask me to come out here. It was my idea. I wanted to be sure she was safe.”

  “I’m sure Miss Moore is debating all of her options. Now, please tell me about the man who claims to be your fiancé. You can see how that’s a direct violation of the agreement you signed?”

  I sighed. “Do you mind if I change into something more comfortable and we can talk?”

  She patted my knee. “I don’t mind. I’ll be out in the living room.”

  “Before you go, please tell me… how mad is he?”

  Her shoulders moved up and down. “I’ve seen him more upset.”

  “Why isn’t that comforting?”

  “Change clothes. Then we’ll talk.”

  An hour later, with my legs curled beneath me, wearing jeans and a sweater and sipping a glass of moscato, I was all talked out on the subject of Bryce Spencer. I’d told Deloris everything about him that I could think of, from how we were friends since birth, our mothers inseparable, the best of friends. I even told her about us dating at too young of an age and how I expected my mother to protest, but she never did. The conversation was cathartic, allowing me to purge a part of my life, a part I was happy to leave in the past.

  “Even while he was at Duke and I was still at the academy, he continued to pursue the relationship.”

  “You didn’t fight it?”

  “No. I can’t explain it. There’s something about being back in my hometown that is…” I looked out the window toward the bay. “…well, it takes away my ability to fight.”

  “Does Lennox do that to you?”

  A grin pulled at the corners of my lips. “It’s different.”

  “That makes me curious.”

  “While I was at Stanford, I worked to become someone other than the obedient daughter I was raised to be. I worked to be independent and have my own beliefs. I’m proud of who I became and what I did. I want to carry that on to Columbia.”

  I took a drink of my wine.

  “With Lennox…” It was odd to use that name. “…I’m still the me from Stanford. I want to please myself and have my own opinions, but I also want to please him.” I tilted my head to the side. “I don’t know if that makes sense.”

  “It does,” Deloris said with a smile. “So you aren’t engaged?”

  “No.”

  “Never were?”

  “No.”

  “Mr. Spencer is…”

  “Obsessed,” I volunteered. “I guess he feels entitled. If I never went away, if I’d attended Duke as he wanted, I probably would be engaged.”

  Deloris reached for my hand. “Is that what you want?”

  “It doesn’t matter, does it? You know about Infidelity. I couldn’t walk away from Lennox if I wanted to.”

  “Do you want to?”

  I stood and walked to the window. The early evening sun danced across the water. “No. I don’t want to be with Bryce. I want to be with Lennox, but he also scares me.”

  “Lennox or Mr. Spencer?”

  “Lennox.”

  “He frightens you?”

  “That’s the wrong word. I’m apprehensive. I shouldn’t have said anything about his wife today. It was that Bryce said some things, and it had me thinking, wondering.” I spun back around. “You know who my family is, don’t you?”

  She nodded.

  “Does Nox?”

  “I haven’t told him. I recommend that you do.”

  “Is it that important?”

  It was Deloris’s turn to ask questions. “Do you know anything about Melissa Summers?”

  I pursed my lips and tried to recall that name. “I don’t. Should I?”

  Our conversation ended as we both turned to the opening of the door.

  The energy of the room immediately shifted. Power surged through the air, crackling the molecules and setting off electricity. With only his eyes on me, the hairs on my arm stood to attention. I tried to read him, to decipher his disposition.

  Is he still upset?

  “We’re leaving tomorrow.”

  His proclamation did little to assure me of his mood, though it did bring my conversation with my mother to mind, reminding me she was supposed to be in New York on Sunday.

  “Leaving? For…?” I asked, suddenly concerned I wouldn’t.

  “Back to New York.”

  I sighed.

  In only a few elegant strides, Nox was across the room. My heart fluttered as I craned my neck up
to look into his eyes. The anger from the car was gone but frost remained. I stiffened as he captured my waist and pulled me against him. “Have you behaved?” His question mocked me, reminding me of his directives and the grounding I’d just experienced.

  Shivers tingled up my spine as I considered his other threat. “Yes.”

  “That’s too bad,” he replied, releasing his hold.

  “I’m sorry…”

  His finger stopped my apology. “It’s done. Don’t mention it again… ever.”

  I pressed my lips together, rolling them between my teeth. There was something in his demeanor that didn’t invite a reply.

  Nox turned his attention to Deloris.

  “Commercial or private?” she asked after a moment of unspoken dialogue.

  “Private. Take care of it. First, take Alex to her apartment and the hospital. Isaac is waiting.”

  I stared back and forth as Deloris simply nodded. “Wait. Now I can go? What about you?”

  “Have her back before too late.” He wasn’t speaking to me.

  “Nox, what the hell?”

  He walked toward the bedroom, leaving us in silence.

  I turned toward Deloris with questions hanging in the air.

  “Come, Alex. We’ll be leaving first thing in the morning.”

  I turned on my heels and followed Nox into the bedroom.

  “Alex…” Deloris’s warning trailed behind me as I opened the door he’d closed and stepped inside. He turned, our eyes locked on one another, my gold questioning and searching, while his blue cooled a few more degrees, accusing.

  “Silent treatment?” I placed my hands on my hips. “Really? I never took you for the silent type.”

  “Don’t,” he spoke though his jaw barely moved.

  “I said I’m sorry.”

  Two strides or was it three? I wasn’t sure, but from where I was near the door and where he was near the bed, he was now before me, pushing me back until my shoulders crashed against the door. I gasped, trying to steady myself, confident Deloris could hear every sound.

  “I. Said. Don’t.”

  “Tell me what to do,” I begged. “I don’t like having you mad.”

  Securing my hands behind my back, he leaned closer, pinning me against the door. His warm breath bathed my cheeks as his nostrils flared. “Tell you what to do? I just told you to fucking don’t and you didn’t listen.”

  Though his grip of my wrists tightened, I kept my chin high, never releasing his eyes from my gaze. The ice melted as swirls of navy displayed his whirlwind of emotion.

  “I should spank your ass for pushing this.”

  I straightened my shoulders, ignoring the pain in my wrists. “Do it.”

  I’d take the physical pain to get him to open up, to break this wall he was building around himself.

  Nox released his grip and took a step back. “What the hell did you just say?”

  I daringly stepped toward him. “I said do it.”

  He ran his hand through his hair and turned away. “Fuck, Charli. Don’t push me.”

  I quickly moved in front of him, poking the proverbial stick in the beehive. “Just look at me, please.”

  Is this stupid? Am I pushing someone who’d hurt his wife?

  Once again our eyes met. “I’ll go to my apartment and the hospital, but first, will you at least tell me that I didn’t ruin everything? Tell me that what was happening between us, in Del Mar and beginning again on the plane… tell me it isn’t broken beyond repair.” With each phrase I stepped backward as he moved closer.

  “I can’t,” he said, stopping his forward motion.

  My chest ached. I would have rather had the spanking—physical pain wouldn’t hurt as much as his words. “Y-You can’t?” I repeated, hoping I’d heard him wrong.

  “Trust. It’s my hard limit. I told you that I’d be honest with you on my own terms. You broke that trust by searching on your own.”

  “And I’m sorry! How many ways can I say that? I’m sorry. All I know is her—”

  My back collided with the wall. My gasp filled the air and the whoosh of blood coursing through my veins filled my ears. Nox’s chest expanded and contracted, and the muscles in his neck tightened.

  “I told you to not mention her.” Spit escaped as his words hissed through closed teeth. “Simple instructions seem to be your downfall.”

  Tears stung my eyes, not from the new pain in my shoulders but from the pain in his eyes. I should have left with Deloris. What the hell was I thinking? I was only making it worse. I lowered my chin, unable to bear his gaze, as a tear escaped my now-closed eyes.

  “You…” I searched for the right words. “Do you want to break the agreement?”

  I was afraid to look up. I was afraid I’d see his pain replaced with relief.

  “DELORIS.”

  I didn’t shout. I knew she was outside the bedroom door, ready to intervene, yet willing to allow me to make my own mistakes—again.

  “N-Nox?” Charli’s one-word question hung in the air.

  I couldn’t look at her. I couldn’t stare into her golden eyes and see the hurt and disappointment. I was too busy feeling my own.

  How much did she know about Jocelyn? Did she know what happened? She couldn’t. It wasn’t public knowledge. Even Jo’s family didn’t know. I didn’t owe them that, not after the way they treated her and me. Even Oren didn’t know the whole truth. Only Deloris.

  “Alex,” Deloris said as she opened the door.

  Taking one step back from Charli, I stood still, not making eye contact with either one of them. Instead, I turned away, my chest heaving with the too many emotions Charli elicited in me, the ones I’d refused to acknowledge in years. Thank God for Deloris. Her calm settled me. I prided myself on self-control. I rarely lost my shit, but when I did…

  Once they were out of the bedroom, I walked to the bathroom. The sound of my shoes upon the tile dominated my thoughts. I closed the door and sunk to the side of the garden tub, elbows on my knees and head in my hands.

  Shit! Fuck!

  I thought I had my shit together. I wouldn’t have come back to the suite if I didn’t. After I dropped Charli off at the hotel, I told Isaac to take me to her apartment. I wanted to see it for myself. The entire drive my fingers were sweeping the screen of my phone, searching the Internet, typing my own name, trying to find what she’d read.

  Since the night I lost Jo, I refused to do what I did earlier today. I refused to read the stories and speculations. They were out there in news articles as well as social media. Though they’d lost their steam over the years, they resurfaced from time to time. The Internet was a damn cesspool of ignorant cowards, people who only had balls when sitting behind a keyboard. Just once I’d like someone to have the guts to say to my face what they feel entitled to say via the World Wide Web.

  For years I’d ignored the accusations and moved on. I concentrated on Demetri Enterprises. It was easy to disregard strangers, but her family was different. The fuckers didn’t come to her funeral; instead, they sent the police. The warrant they wanted was never issued. The Matthewses probably think I did something to stop it. The truth wasn’t that convoluted. It was simple. There wasn’t any evidence, only their pathetic lies.

  If it weren’t for the ambulance-chasing attorney the Matthewses hired, it would be over, but it wasn’t. Their damn civil case was buried in so much red tape it would be at least a decade before it was ever seen by a judge.

  By the time we made it to Charli and Chelsea’s apartment, I was barely seeing straight. The memories were worse than the stories: Jo’s long brown hair, the way her brown eyes sparkled when she was excited, and her continued promises that everything would be all right, that she would be safe.

  Each article I read opened the damn floodgate until I was drowning.

  As we stepped into the small two-bedroom apartment, my nerves were already a wreck. Seeing the little bit of furniture out of place switched my gears from Jo to Charli. Uncons
ciously, my hands balled into fists.

  What if Charli was the one in the apartment instead of Chelsea? Was the attack because of me?

  Senator Carroll wanted me to bring distribution centers to California. That wasn’t all he wanted. Since the legalization of recreational marijuana in multiple states and the medical use in many others, including California, states were seeing the benefits—monetary benefits—in the way of tax revenue. Legalized marijuana was an even bigger cash cow than alcohol and tobacco. The market was ready for this untapped resource.

  While fighting the wording on House bill 770, Senator Carroll was paving the way for increased revenue. The Napa Valley had the perfect growing climate. The distribution centers he wanted would begin with wine—California wine—and be ready for the impending marijuana industry.

  The opponents of legalization and distribution weren’t as transparent as the alcohol and tobacco giants who opposed the bill’s wording, though they too were invested in the fight. No, the most dangerous opponents of legalization were the people the law would affect directly, the illegal drug cartels. The loss of income would start at the top and trickle down to the everyday dealer on the street. Most were well diversified into other forms of illegal drugs, but marijuana was still a viable income producer. The war was waging in multiple states, its armies not bound by maritime rules.

  Unfortunately, due to previous dealings, ones that helped to get Oren up and running over thirty years ago, the Demetris were on the radar of the largest cartels. We’d paid our dues, but with them the ledger was never closed.

  Getting involved in the legalization and distribution would upset people we didn’t need to upset. My interaction with Carroll over the years made it look like I was in favor of his stance. I couldn’t shake the feeling that the attack on Chelsea was a warning. Only I doubted Chelsea was the intended victim.

  With each step around their apartment, my determination to keep Charli safe battled with my need to learn who broke in, who violated the place she called home. The only furniture out of place was where the paramedic’s gurney came through to wheel Chelsea out. The tracks were still visible on the large rug in the center of the living room, as well as on the tile.

  It didn’t appear as though anything else was disturbed. The boxes that I assumed contained Charli’s things lined the far wall, box after box with words labeling the contents: kitchen, bath, books. Hell, Charli had at least six boxes labeled books. How many books did she need?