BOUND: Together

by Cynthia Dane

  “I’m not outright saying anything because I don’t have the evidence to do so yet. But you bet your ass I’m moving on it.”

  “I don’t believe you. I honest to God do not believe you.”

  “I don’t care if you believe me or not. I see the evidence and follow my instincts. Right now everything is pointing to someone under your employ hacking into our shit trying to find dirt. Unfortunately, between the login information and the visits to your mother, I’m inclined to believe that Ms. Chen has something to do with it.”

  “You forgot your crazy conspiracy about the Triad.”

  “I’m trying to save your ass here, Erica. You need to watch yourself. I know you’ve got feelings for Ms. Chen, but… please consider that the real reason she’s been so accepting of you is because you’re giving her everything she needs to nail her family a payday that will last them generations. It’s not about you. It’s about her.”

  Erica laughed. Cackled, really. “You truly don’t get it, Sherman. She gets me. More than anyone else ever has. More than you. Definitely more than Brooke. You want me to throw that away for a hunch?”

  “She also may be a very good actress, Erica.”

  “You don’t know the Natalie that I do.”

  “You’re right. I don’t. Because I’m not the one in love with her.”

  Erica looked as if she had been slapped across the face. I must have looked much the same, because she didn’t even deny that she loved me.

  Erica… you love me?

  My fingers curled around the doorframe. My heart exploded. Tears may have formed behind my eyes.

  Not only did Erica love me, but she refused to do anything but believe in me. I tried to broadcast that sentiment to her from where I stood. “Yes, Erica. Please believe me. I would never hurt you like that.” I didn’t know who was hacking into Mann-Garrett’s systems, but it definitely wasn’t me. But… that same someone was trying to set me up by using my login.

  I definitely had a hunch who it might be.

  “Fuck this.” Erica turned around and almost spotted me. “I need to get ready for tonight’s meeting. I need to know that you’ll be there.”

  “Of course.” Sherman took her hand and gave it a tight squeeze before dropping it again. “I’m giving Nick the night off after these past two days. I’ll take Team B with me and leave the remnants of A here. We’re going to The Corner Teahouse, right?”

  “Yes. Seven. Natalie had already arranged it.”

  “Was it her idea?”

  “No.” Erica stepped away from him. “It was mine, so you don’t have to worry about it being a secret hideout for Stateside Triad.”

  Sherman didn’t say anything. If he ever did, I couldn’t find out, for I was too busy rushing back down the stairs before Erica had the chance to discover me.

  I didn’t see her again for another hour. She didn’t text, call, or send someone to fetch me, so I bided my time in the salon staring at my phone. I thought about texting Casey and asking if she wanted to hang out the next day. I also thought about calling my aunt in Taiwan and hoping she wouldn’t be opposed to spilling some details about her big brother. Namely, about these supposed Triad connections.

  Never before had I heard anything about that. I didn’t even know the Triad were in Taiwan – they were something I always associated with Hong Kong and the Mainland, although I suppose they could be anywhere a number of Chinese people lived and worked. But, still… my father? Could he really be a part of such a syndicate? Then again, it wasn’t like I knew much about him to begin with. Maybe the real reason he left America was because the authorities were on to him. Maybe he only married my mother as a cover.

  …What if my mother knew something about it? As vapid as she could be, there were parts of that empty brain that knew more than it should have. She occasionally let slip that my father had “nasty friends,” but I thought that meant they were ugly or didn’t give her the proper respect she thought she deserved. Was it code for something else?

  This whole season had been nothing but me finding out ugly truths.

  “Natalie.”

  I looked up from the Victorian sofa and saw Eric Mann in his suit and tie. Hair slicked back. Shoes recently shined. Large watch glistening on his wrist and not a trace of a woman’s walk in his steps.

  It always took my breath away. This time for all the wrong reasons.

  “Yeah?”

  Erica beckoned to me with precise finger movements. The kind that would normally make my thighs quiver if so much wasn’t going on already. “Let me give you a kiss goodbye. You should take the night off.”

  “Are you sure? I think Margot had my dress from last night dry cleaned. I could class it up with a jacket and some subdued makeup…”

  “It’s not necessary. I appreciate you always wanting to do 110%, but I also don’t want you burning out.” She attempted a genial grin, but even if I hadn’t overheard her altercation with Sherman, I still wouldn’t be able to buy that boyish smile. “Go hang out with your friends tonight or have a nice evening at home. I’ll call you later.”

  She placed a sweet kiss on my cheek. Chaste. Mature. Fuck me, she was already striking distance between us. Was this some kind of punishment, or had Sherman gotten to her?

  “But…”

  “Nick’s about to take the night off, too, but I asked him to drop you off somewhere on his way home. He’s waiting by the entrance. You better get going. I hear he’s already arranged a hot date with someone on Tinder.”

  “Do you even know what Tinder is?”

  “Not a clue.”

  “Keep it that way.” I returned the kiss to her cheek, although it took me standing on my tip-toes to make it happen. “Please call me later. Maybe we could do something tomorrow.”

  Her gaze held mine on my way out. “If it pleases you, Ms. Chen.”

  There was certainly something to be said for her persona.

  Nick met me by the front entrance. He leaned against the column next to the double doors, his college sweatshirt wrinkled and his five o’clock shadow giving him the perfect But do I really care? look for a first date. When he caught my eye, he stood up straight and absentmindedly scratched at his dark peach fuzz.

  “Quite a day, huh?”

  I laughed, because it was better than crying. “You really have no idea.”

  “I saw a bulk of it. But, you know, if the boss says jump…”

  “I have it on good authority that you’re not in trouble.”

  “Oh, good. Because I have rent to pay.”

  Nick’s car was in the back lot. Strange to look beyond the sporty Lambo and the freshly washed Mercedes and see nothing but an array of old Fords and Mitsubishis. Nick’s car was a small green two-door he claimed to have purchased used at a steep discount from a friend. Otherwise he would’ve sprung for something oh-so-manlier.

  “You live in that little corner of downtown by the freeway, right? Or am I thinking of Brooke?”

  We were well beyond the initial checkpoint. “That’s me, yeah. Brooke lives in that super rich people neighborhood downtown. Senators and shit live there.”

  “I can’t even imagine. How much the rent there would be, that is.”

  Whatever it was, Brooke could more than afford it on her salary and being the former fiancée of Eric Mann, a person who took forever to get over. As much as I hated to admit it, I could probably ask Erica for some money to get me through the rest of my life and she wouldn’t be able to sign the check fast enough. That’s the kind of person she was.

  It only made me love her more. Now that I knew she loved me too, I became more resolved to figure out what the fuck was going on.

  I didn’t think my chance would come so quickly.

  Rocket science wasn’t necessary to figure out my #1 suspect. Aiden Webb had been a ridiculous addition to the office ever since I started working there. What else did he do all day but fuck around and possibly hack into shit using my password? Of course, I had no motive, a
lthough after hearing Sherman’s theories I was definitely fixated on blackmail. If Aiden found out that Mr. Mann was really Ms. Mann? I shuddered to think what he would do.

  So happened I spotted Mr. Webb walking downtown.

  “You can pull over here,” I said.

  “All right.” He pulled up to the first spot that opened up along the curb. “Be careful getting home. It’s my ass if the boss finds out you were kidnapped on my watch, off duty or not.”

  “Have a nice night, Nick.” I hesitated before getting out of his car. “Thanks for today.”

  “Never thought I would see that side of the boss out in the open like that.” His voice diminished after I closed the door behind me. “Should be thanking you, Nat!”

  It wasn’t hard to catch up to Aiden, who wasn’t a fast walker. Also helped that he was a tall sack of shit that towered over the people bundled up in autumn coats.

  He stepped into an Italian hole-in-the-wall restaurant often stuffed with locals and the tourists who heard about the place. It may have been the off-season for tourists, but yeah, the place was packed. I had to peer through the window for a whole minute before I realized Aiden had sat in a booth. A waitress in a red, white, and green checkered apron brought him a menu. He flashed two fingers at her, and she fetched another menu.

  Somehow, I doubted he was waiting for me.

  I grabbed my phone from my sweater pocket. Casey’s number was always easy to find in my address book.

  “Interested in grabbing Italian with me tonight?”

  Three minutes passed before she responded.

  “Can’t, sorry. Having dinner at my parents’ place. Maybe tomorrow?”

  Damn. So much for having a cover.

  But I’m glad I spared a few minutes outside of that restaurant. Because someone awfully familiar stepped out of a cab and approached the restaurant door.

  I almost didn’t recognize her at first. Not without her sweater and jeans ensemble with her luscious black hair falling dramatically down her black. For her night job, Janelle wore a black sweater-dress and her hair up in Princess Leia buns. She didn’t spare me a second glance as she entered the restaurant and sat down across from Aiden.

  What. The. Fuck.

  First things were first: I stealthily took a shitty picture of them on my phone and pulled a hat out of my bag. The graphite gray fabric hid any of the defining features on my forehead and allowed me to slip into the restaurant undetected. Aiden wasn’t used to super casual Natalie, anyway. Even when he found me having lunch with Casey, I was still more presentable than the current ensemble that screamed I hadn’t showered or gotten off my couch all weekend.

  “Evening!” The same waitress who served Aiden and Janelle approached me with a menu. “How many tonight?”

  “Just me. Could I get a booth, though?” When she gave me an incredulous look that suggested booths were for privileged diners only, I said, “I have a bad back and the regular chairs upset my sternum.”

  Man, I hoped that sounded legit.

  “Sure.” The waitress signaled for me to follow her. “I’ve got one back here for you. Might have to ask you to share later, though. We fill up pretty fast around seven.”

  She gave me the booth right behind Aiden and Janelle. The seats were high enough that they couldn’t see over them. But I sure as hell could hear them sitting this close.

  “Want anything to eat? My treat.”

  “If you get an order of endless breadsticks, I will help you take care of them.”

  “How about a glass of wine to go on top of it?”

  Janelle chuckled. “If you want the full service, baby, you’re going to have to pay me more than wine and breadsticks.”

  So much for my first theory, which was that Aiden had some really weird fetish to fuck the same woman as our boss. That exchange, however, suggested they weren’t meeting up for sexy kicks.

  Damn you, Aiden.

  “Endless breadsticks, a calzone, and two glasses of your daily special, please.” I couldn’t see the waitress, but I knew she was behind me, and I had to pretend I wasn’t listening in on their conversation while I perused the menu. “That’ll be it, thanks.”

  “I’ll get that in for you.” The waitress stopped by my table. “Something to drink?”

  “Just water, thanks.”

  “Have you decided what you would like to eat?”

  I mumbled a reply. I didn’t want anyone else recognizing my voice.

  “What was that?”

  “A small spaghetti and meatballs, please.”

  “Coming right up.”

  She took my menu away. I pretended to be fascinated with my phone while continuing to listen to the conversation behind me.

  “Find out anything good today?”

  Janelle chuckled. “Your coworker was there this morning wearing some clothes from the closet. Quite suspicious that she was there so early… and Mr. Mann let her listen in on our conversation.”

  “Yeah, that’s not news. The whole internet is talking about the pics from last night. Trust me, Natalie wasn’t wearing that dress when I last saw her. Someone bought it for her, and I’m guessing it was our boss. Or should I say her lover?”

  “It’s painfully obvious.”

  My Candy Crush app continued to glitter with bright colors. One orange candy bounced between two more in an effort to give me a hint. Too bad I wasn’t paying any attention. I could’ve probably won that level.

  “They’re getting bold,” Janelle said. “Going out like that. If they’re not careful, your story will be blown wide open and scooped by someone else.”

  Story? What the…

  “Yes, but did you get any pics like I asked?”

  “Unfortunately, no. Ms. Chen’s presence made it impossible. She was always hanging around and would’ve seen me take a picture.”

  “She has a wonderful habit of getting in my way. Don’t worry. She’ll be taken care of soon. Hopefully you’ll be able to get what I want then.”

  The waitress returned with my water and their wine. I nervously drank while they toasted to their business arrangement. A part of me had held out hope that Janelle was unknowingly caught up in some gross man’s kink. Now I had to absorb her betrayal. But how was I going to tell Erica? How would I tell her?

  What exactly were they looking for? Did Aiden know about Erica’s secret? How did he find out? From Janelle?

  “I won’t see him again until next Saturday, assuming he doesn’t cancel. I think he’s at some meeting right now.”

  “I’m sure Natalie is with him. She’s his favorite pet. In more ways than one, sounds like.”

  “The bed hadn’t been made yet when I got there. It was quite messy.”

  “What a lovely image. Thank you. That’s better than you getting me those photos.”

  “It’s my pleasure, of course. Maybe if you’re lucky I’ll get you some audio of his voice. It’s quite the treat.”

  “I’m sure it is. How’s the wine?”

  They obnoxiously changed subjects. Apparently, whenever Aiden couldn’t get dirty details about Eric out of the escort, he went for dirty details about the rest of her work. Because I had to sit there and listen to her talk about her client with an adult baby fetish while Aiden laughed at the absurdity of it. By the time I received my dinner, I was too grossed out to eat.

  I finished my dinner before they did. After making sure my hat was still tight around my face, I held my purse against my chest and hustled up to the register to pay. My goal was to get out of there as quickly as I could before either of them saw me.

  The sun had set and the temperature had dropped about ten degrees when I reemerged on the street. I shivered in my sweater and decided to call a rideshare so I could get home as quickly as possible. I wasn’t in the mood to hoof it through the cold night, and the sooner I got away from here, the better. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to be home when Erica called me, anyway.

  A blue Prius picked me up at the end of the street. T
he license plate matched up with my app’s information, and I got into the backseat without a second thought.

  The doors locked. Again, I thought nothing of it. Weren’t doors automatically locking like that whenever cars were put into motion?

  “Hey, hon,” I texted Erica as the car pulled away from the curb, “let me know how your meeting goes. I’m heading home from dinner and looking forward to hearing from you. Let’s make plans for tomorrow :)” I didn’t tell her that I had something important to share. I’d drop that bomb on her later.

  When I looked up, I realized we weren’t anywhere near my neighborhood.

  “Hey, what’s up? We’re way out of the way where…”

  I caught a pair of big brown eyes shrouded in ice-blue makeup in the rearview mirror. Blue nails tapped against the steering wheel. By the time I recognized Jimmy Cho, she was holding a gun to my face and telling me to not move – or I’d be dead.

  My father wouldn’t want that.

  Chapter 47

  ERICA

  The man I was meeting for dinner… not even Natalie could have begged me to blow it off and spend all my time on her. For once, this was more important. More important to my career, and more important to my blossoming relationship with Natalie.

  And I knew Sherman would be very, very interested in seeing the result of this meeting.

  Before I explain what happened, let me clarify one thing: this was the fastest meeting I had ever arranged with someone I had never met before. We weren’t even doing business. But when I personally called my guest’s office two days before and explained what I had in mind, I was informed that we would meet imminently. Like as soon as the planes could be fueled and the background checks confirmed.

  Natalie had no idea who I was meeting. When I asked her to make the arrangements at the teahouse, I told her I was meeting with a steel manufacturer from Hong Kong.

  I didn’t like lying to her. But I knew that if she discovered I was meeting the vice president of Taiwan’s Gold Plains Bank, she’d either insist on coming… or worse. Dump me out of sheer rage.