by E. L. Todd
His eyes softened. “When I knew you were missing—”
“Sis!” Denise ran into me next and nearly knocked me over. “Oh my god…”
Kat and Matt came after her, rushing into me and holding me, surrounding me in a group hug that was more bulletproof.
I closed my eyes and cherished the love. I was reunited with my friends, reunited with my family. My life had almost been taken from me, but I was given another chance…for some reason. “I’m okay, you guys. How did you know I was here?”
They dispersed sideways so there was an open path in front of me.
And that was when I saw Dax, his eyes wet with tears, his breathing hard like he was about to collapse right on the pavement. The longer he stared at me, the wetter his eyes became, unashamed of the emotion that took him.
Charlie spoke from beside me. “He was the one who found you and told the police. He traced your phone.”
Dax came closer to me, his eyes shifting back and forth like he couldn’t believe I was real, that I was standing in front of him.
I hadn’t thought about how the police knew where I was. It all happened so quickly, and I didn’t think twice about it. But now, it didn’t make sense. No one would have figured out where I’d gone in time to save me. “You saved my life…”
He moved farther into me until his hands slid to my cheeks, bringing our bodies close together, the tears in his eyes growing so large that they dripped down his cheeks. All he did was give a nod because he didn’t have the ability to speak.
My friends started to back away so we could have some space.
Charlie said one final thing before he stepped back. “He broke a lot of laws to find you, used his engineers to hack into the OS system on your phone, then called the police.” He moved away with the gang.
I never took my eyes off Dax.
He pressed his forehead to mine and held me close, inhaling a deep breath when we were reunited. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah…”
The officer gave us some time, but then he opened the back door again. “Ma’am, we need you to give that statement down at the precinct.”
I didn’t want to leave, but I knew I had to finish this.
Dax pulled his hands away, even though it seemed to take all his strength to do it.
There was so much I wanted to say, but I didn’t know how to say it. So, I just said the first thing that came to mind. “I’m sorry…”
His hands moved to mine, and he gripped them.
“Take me back…” I’d thought I would never see his face again, see the man I loved with my whole heart. Once he was gone, I’d realized what I had lost, that I was just as complicated as he was.
He slid one hand into his pocket, grabbed something, and then placed it in my palm before he closed my fingers around it.
I could feel it. This time, I knew it wasn’t a key.
It was my ring.
I opened my fingers, looked at it, and started to cry.
He watched me, his eyes still wet.
I slid it back onto my left hand, where it should have stayed in the first place.
“I’ll wait for you at the apartment. When you get back, we’ll go home.”
I smiled through my tears.
He cupped my face again and kissed me. “I love you.”
I grabbed on to him and didn’t know how I would ever let go, how I would ever part with the man who completed my soul. “I love you.”
29
Carson
I stepped into Vince’s office and set the article on his desk along with the digital copy. “It’s done.”
He didn’t grab it right away like he usually did. He didn’t grab that ugly red pen to mark it up and rip it apart. He just stared at me. “I’m sure it’s great, Carson.”
I gave a slight smile.
“You doing okay?”
“Yeah.” I touched the area around my bruised eye, which had improved significantly over the last few days. “It feels a lot better than it looks. And honestly, it could have been so much worse, so…no complaints.”
He nodded. “I’m happy you’re doing well. Not sure what I would have done if we’d lost you.”
“Well…I have some bad news on that front—”
“I meant you as a person, Carson. Not a reporter.”
My eyes began to water slightly.
“I assumed you would be stepping down. You’ve accomplished more than reporters twice your age. I think it’s okay for you to retire, let someone else carry the torch. And good news, I’ve got an opening in the Lifestyle section.” He grinned.
I rolled my eyes. “God, I’d rather be a hot dog vendor on the street.”
He chuckled. “You wouldn’t last. You’d eat everything and have nothing to sell.”
“Yeah. Probably.”
“So, you want your old job back?” he asked. “The prime minister is no Simon Prescott, but he’s got his merits.”
“Yes, I’ll take it. I’m excited to slow down.”
He grabbed my article and set it to the side like he intended to read it when I left his office. “How’s your boyfriend doing?”
“Fiancé,” I corrected, holding up my ring. “And he’s just happy that I’m okay.”
He straightened in his chair and grabbed the paper. “You haven’t heard the news, I take it?”
My eyes narrowed.
He held up the front-page headline. “The Feds hit him with a hundred million dollar fine for breaching the privacy laws. He’ll have that on his record forever.”
“Shit…” I had no idea.
He shrugged. “If he hadn’t done it, you’d be dead. So I have a feeling he doesn’t regret it.”
30
Dax
I stood at my desk and read the notice several times, even though I’d already absorbed all the information I needed to know. My lawyer said there was no way to dispute it, and it was smart just to pay it and make it go away.
Renee stood with her arms crossed over her chest. “How do you think this will affect the company?”
I shrugged. “Scandals come and go. People will forget in the next news cycle.”
“But people will never trust our software again, not when we pulled a stunt like that.”
“I did what I had to do to save Carson—and I don’t regret it.” She was beside me every night again, but it was still hard for me to sleep. The terror of the situation had traumatized me, because I had to confront the possibility that she could have died…and I would have died. It made me realize how much I loved her, how deep that love really went.
“I don’t either. But I think we need to work on damage control, regaining the public’s trust—”
Carson stepped inside my office but stilled when she realized Renee was there. “I’ll just wait outside—”
“Sweetheart, come here.” She could walk into my office whenever the hell she wanted.
She hesitated before she came inside and approached us. She looked uncertain, like she’d just heard the news. “I’m sorry about—”
Renee hugged her tightly. “I’m so glad you’re alright. What a fucking nightmare.” She rubbed Carson’s back before she pulled away.
Carson looked visibly surprised, like she didn’t expect affection. “Thank you.” She turned to me next. “Vince told me the news when I submitted my article. I’m sorry that this has happened to you.”
My arm moved around her waist, and I pulled her in for a kiss. “I couldn’t care less, Carson.”
She melted right before my eyes, like my sister wasn’t standing there. “I stepped down. I’ll be back to my other position.”
We hadn’t even had a conversation about it. I knew she would do it on her own.
“And my last article will be my legacy—and it’ll be a good one.”
I kissed her forehead and pulled away.
She crossed her arms over her chest. “Is everything okay here? That’s a lot of money.”
Renee shrugged. “No
t really. That’s not what we’re most concerned about.”
Carson turned to me. “What are you most concerned about?”
“Sales,” I answered. “Trust from our customers. Our brand going forward.”
“But you did it to save my life,” she whispered. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
I shrugged. “That’s not what people hear. They just see the headline that I broke the law.”
She dropped her chin and considered what I said, her eye still slightly discolored but almost back to normal. “I have an idea.” She lifted her chin again. “I’ll write another editorial about you, about how you did everything you could to save my life…because we’re in love.”
“Would your editor let you run an article like that?” Renee asked in surprise.
“Oh, my editor will let me print whatever the hell I want,” Carson said. “It’s not something we usually do, but I think it’ll bring the spotlight on to your heroic actions rather than your criminal activity, and you’ll be more popular than you were before.”
“I think that sounds like a great idea.” Renee turned to me. “What do you think?”
My eyes were on Carson, a soft smile on my lips. “I love it.”
Carson’s belongings had been returned to the penthouse. Her makeup was on my bathroom counter, her panties on my bedroom floor because she never put them in the hamper, not that I minded in the least, and there was always a cord across the bedroom floor because she constantly needed to charge her laptop since she used it every second of the day.
Life was good.
Simon Prescott wasn’t granted bail, so he wasn’t going anywhere.
Carson’s article was revolutionary, exposing the conspiracy between the biggest pharmaceutical company and a government agency that was supposed to keep us all safe from horrible shit like that.
It was a great way for her to move on.
Like when Peyton Manning won his last Super Bowl then retired.
I was proud of her beyond belief—but also grateful that it was over.
I would never have to worry about her again.
Our lives could be simple now, just two people in love who went to work every day and came home to each other, with game nights on the weekends, basketball on Wednesdays, absorbing her friends as my own.
I was happy.
The elevator doors opened, and I stepped inside the penthouse.
Carson immediately jumped off the couch and moved into my arms. “Hey.” Her arms wrapped around my neck, and she kissed me, kissed me like we’d been apart for eight weeks instead of eight hours. “Guess what?”
“What?” I smiled as I looked down at her, the woman who was my whole world.
“My article came out today.” She moved away and grabbed the paper sitting on the couch.
“About the prime minister?”
“No. No one cares about that.” She held up the paper, and on the front page was the headline. How Clydesdale Software Saved My Life.
I took the paper from her hand and started to read.
“As a reporter for the New York Press, my life has been on the line more times than I can count. But as a cat with nine lives, I’ve always managed to slip away.
But not this time.
Simon Prescott continued to threaten my life if I didn’t cease my investigation into his criminal activity, poisoning millions of Americans and purposely making them sick just to increase Kerosene Pharmaceuticals’ profits. Even the FDA was on their payroll. But this information was too important not to be exposed, so I continued my investigation.
Until he grabbed me and threw me into a cab. Moments later, I was in a warehouse. And if I didn’t give up my sources, they would rip my eyelids off my face, carve my lips off my mouth, but I never give up my sources, so I accepted the torture.
But out of nowhere, the police arrived…and saved my life.
The only reason they knew my location was because of my fiancé.
You know him as Dax Frawley, CEO of Clydesdale Software.
He knew the police would never find me in time, so he did something he knew was illegal before he did it. He violated all the privacy laws of this country and hacked in to the operating system of my phone to obtain my location from software his company designed, even though my phone was smashed beyond recognition. He used every tool at his disposal—to save the woman he loves.
He’s been hit a hundred million dollar fine, leaving a black mark that will be forever on his record.
His response? “I would do it again in a heartbeat.”
Because he would do anything for the woman he loves.
Me.
The article continued, but I lifted my gaze and looked at her again. “You make me look pretty good.”
“I made you look like a hero, which is what you are.”
I tossed the newspaper back onto the table and wrapped my arms around her. I cherished the gift of this moment, being able to hold her, to look into her beautiful face. If things hadn’t unfolded the way they did, she would have disappeared…and I never would have found her.
My life would be a bitter and sad story.
But she was here with me.
Right this very moment.
“What are you doing tomorrow?” She lowered her voice, like she could see the thoughts printed across my eyes.
“Nothing. Why?”
“You want to get married?”
“On a Wednesday?” I asked in surprise.
“Yeah. Just as soon as possible.”
I cupped her cheek and saw the love in her eyes, the eagerness to be with me forever. “I think that’s a great idea.”
“I asked for a couple weeks off at work. Thought we could go somewhere, have a honeymoon.”
“I think that’s an even better idea.” I pulled her close and rested my forehead against hers, inhaling a deep breath because I felt at peace, truly at peace. My past was long forgotten, and I was finally where I was meant to be. “Where do you want to go?”
“I don’t care. Somewhere that has a bed and drinks.”
“What about food?”
“Oh yeah. That too.”
“Have you been to the Caribbean?”
“Ugh, I’ve never been on vacation.”
“Then you’re going to love it. I’ll make the arrangements.”
“You can take time off work like that?”
My hand squeezed her ass. “Trust me, Renee will be happy to get rid of me.”
31
Carson
I walked into the apartment with my bag over my shoulder. “I’m baaaaaack!”
Charlie stood in the kitchen in just his boxers, while Denise wore his t-shirt, her hair messy.
Charlie quickly grabbed the dish towel and wrapped it around his waist. “What are you doing here?”
“Oh, calm down,” I said. “I’ve already seen your hot dog. Not interested.” I set my bag on the table then draped my wedding dress in the garment bag over the back of the couch. “So, Dax and I decided to get married tomorrow. We thought we should sleep apart one last time.”
“Oh my god, you’re getting married?” Denise came over to me and gave me a big hug. “Aw, I’m so happy for you.”
“And then we’re going to the Caribbean for a fuck-a-thon,” I said.
“Even better.” Denise pulled away and smiled at me.
Charlie grabbed the blanket off the back of the couch and tied it around his body like a toga. “Congratulations, Carson. Happy for you.” He gave me a hug and then a kiss on my hairline, something he never did. He was a lot more affectionate with me after I almost died. It seemed to affect him as much as it affected Dax.
“So, it’s cool if I crash here?” I asked. “We can do a little bachelorette party. Get some pizzas and beers and dance on the couch?”
“I think that sounds like a great idea,” Denise said. “I’ll call Matt and Kat. I’ll tell them to come over in an hour, give us some time to look presentable.”
“You
guys look as happy as Dax and me,” I said, my eyes shifting back and forth between them. “It’s nice.”
Charlie wrapped his arm around her shoulders and gave her a kiss on the side of the head. “We are. Life has been good to us.”
My eyes softened before I turned back to the couch. “You want to see my dress?”
“Please.” Denise stood close to Charlie’s side, not self-conscious that she was just in his shirt and nothing else.
I unzipped the bag and displayed it.
“Wow,” Charlie said. “That’s nice.”
“Oh my god, it’s gorgeous.” My sister’s eyes started to water before she looked at me. “You’re going to be the most beautiful bride ever.”
“And the most scandalous,” I said. “Look at that slit.”
“And that boobage in the front,” Charlie said. “It’s totally you.”
“I wonder if you’ll even be able to get married wearing that,” Denise said. “Dax will be too distracted to say ‘I do.’”
“I got some slutty lingerie to wear underneath, too,” I said. “That way, after he takes it off me, he’ll have something else to look forward to.” I zipped the dress back up and returned it to the couch. “So, let’s party tonight, but not too much. A hungover bride never looks good.”
32
Dax
“You look awfully sharp for a courthouse,” Jeremy said, coming to me and patting me on the shoulder.
“Wait until you see my bride.” I knew what her dress looked like, and I knew she’d look like a damn bombshell in it. And whatever was underneath was even more beautiful. I adjusted my cuff links.
Clint came to me, his hands in his pockets. “So, no more strip clubs?”
I shook my head.
“No more parties in the clubs downtown?”
I shook my head again. “Sorry, man.”
He shrugged. “If you’re happy, that’s all that matters…I guess.”
It was the first time I had my two groups of friends together, and they got along well. We stood together inside the courthouse, all of us about to pile into a small room so we could have the quick ceremony. It wasn’t grand like my last wedding, but it was much better.