I took a deep breath hoping I could get through this without losing my shit completely. “Julian asked me to take Nicholas some important documents that should have been delivered to Nicholas over an hour ago.” They were staring at me like I was about to divulge the whereabouts of Jimmy Hoffa. “His assistant wasn’t at her desk, and well, Julian said they were important and Nicholas had told his assistant I didn’t need an appointment to see him…so…” I pulled a napkin out of the dispenser on the table, and looking at it, I started tearing it to pieces. “So I decided to enter his office unexpectedly and….”
Q and Iz leaned in towards me together. “And what?” they asked in unison.
I looked up at them and I couldn’t stop the waterworks blurring my vision. “He was in there with a half-naked woman.”
If my heart weren’t breaking, I’d have totally taken my phone and snapped a picture of my two best friends. Their expressions were borderline cartoon comical.
“That motherfuckingcocksuckingsonofabitch!” Quinn transformed from bug eyed to murderous.
“What the fuck?” Isabella went from slack jawed to confused.
The waitress chose that moment to return with our sandwiches. “Will that be all ladies?”
Isabella was the quickest of us to respond, “Yes, thank you.”
“So, is he unconscious, bleeding on his office floor?” Quinn pointed her finger at me, “Because if he’s not, he’s going to be.”
“What happened, Ace?” Isabella was reacting with a little bit more reason and a lot less violence.
I quickly recapped what happened. Our thirty minutes was almost up, and while Q and I could power walk back to SMA, Izzy needed a cab to get back to work.
“He just dismissed you? He didn’t even try to lie or explain or anything?” Quinn clarified.
“Nope.”
“And you’ve never seen this woman? You don’t know who she is?”
I didn’t want to share this part of the story, but Iz needed to know. “I don’t know who she is, but she knows who they are.”
Quinn speared me with a look. “What do you mean by they?”
I looked at Iz. “When I explained that I was sent by Mr. Moretti…uh, she looked at me and said ‘Ah, and how is the magnificent Julian these days’.”
I saw Isabella’s entire body tense immediately. “She knew Julian by name?”
I nodded. “I imagine she probably knows all three of them if she’s calling Julian by his first name.” I let that sink in because for all of her protests, I knew something was going on between Quinn and Chase. I just wasn’t sure what.
Iz looked down at her watch as Quinn remained silently steaming. “Shit. I have to get going.” Isabella grabbed her sandwich and she stood up to leave. “We’re still meeting at your place after work right?”
“Yes. That is a definite yes.” Quinn and I stood up to leave as well.
Iz gave me a quick hug. “I’ll bring the tequila.”
“That’s all we need,” Quinn reassured.
We parted ways with Izzy at the door and Q and I high tailed it back to SMA. “Are you sure you want to go back to work, Ace?”
“I have to, Q. At the end of it all, this is my job. I’m not going to throw away three years, great pay and awesome benefits because I was stupid enough to fuck the boss.” Quinn just put her head down and nodded as she powered walked beside me.
“This doesn’t make any sense, Ace. You just told Iz and me two days ago that he wanted exclusivity.”
We finally reached the SMA lobby. “I know. I guess she changed his mind, Q.”
We rode the elevator back to our floor in silence since it contained other occupants, but as soon as we reached our floor, Quinn was pulling me aside. Next thing I knew, I was in the supply closet.
“Okay, we only have four hours to get through. If you start to feel yourself crumbling, you come get me immediately, understood?”
I nodded in agreement. “Q?”
She sounded so heartbroken when she replied, “Yeah, Ace?”
“Since Izzy’s bringing the tequila, can you bring the Taylor Swift playlist?”
Nicholas~
Letting Avery walk out of my office, while Katrina stood there with her tits bared for the whole world to see, was the hardest thing I had ever had to do. I had never known willpower like I did in that moment.
There was no way I would going to let my past and my present collide, but I couldn’t explain who Katrina was without explaining everything to Avery, and even if I was ready to do that-which I’m not-I wasn’t going to do it with Katrina standing half way naked in my office.
I took my cellphone out of my pocket and dialed Julian. “How may I help you in between back to back meetings and an overdue deadline, Nick?”
“Can you grab Chase and meet me in my office, Julez?”
He must have picked up on the seriousness of my tone, because he said, “We’ll be there in five.”
Those five minutes turned out to be eight, but they felt like years. It was only noon and I was already half way to being drunk. I was on my sixth glass of scotch when Julian and Chase rushed through my office door. “What’s going on, Nick?” Always to the point, that was Chase.
“Avery caught me in here earlier with a half-naked Katrina.”
Julian rubbed his hands over his face as if that act alone could make this all go away. Chase was the only one slightly confused about all this. “Katrina who?”
“Alonzo.”
Chase blanched. “What in the ever loving fuck, Nick? How the hell did Katrina Alonzo end up half naked in your office?”
I pulled out two more glasses and poured them to the rim with scotch. We were all going to need drinks for this. Julian made his way over to me the second he saw me pulling out the glasses. Chase started pacing, completely ignoring the booze.
But to be fair, Julian was going to need the scotch more than Chase once I drop the little bomb that Katrina had asked about him by name.
“I was going over the Falco account when I thought I heard some yelling. I walked out and saw Katrina arguing with Mrs. Williams, which reminds me, we need to find out how she made it past Lesa. Anyways, all I could think was that I needed to get Katrina away from Mrs. Williams. I didn’t want to risk Katrina saying anything that would…I don’t know, reveal anything, I guess.”
I took another drink of my scotch and this time Chase walked over to finally partake in his glass. “I ushered her into my office and asked her what the fuck. She said she came down here as a courtesy. Apparently Donna is deep into Santiago and Katrina thought she should let me know in case I wanted to step in and save the day.”
“Fuck.” Julian finished off his drink and poured himself another.
“Okay.” Chase was trying to understand it all. “So, you told her no, obviously, but how did she end up naked?”
I was starting to feel the effects of the scotch, but after seven, it was to be expected. “When I told her I couldn’t give two fucks about Donna’s debt, she suggested I could save my mom by other means of payment.”
“No fucking way. You have got to be kidding.” Chase sounded as dumbfounded as I remember being when Katrina suggested that ridiculous option.
“Wish I was, Chase. I really fucking wish I was. She said some stupid shit about wanting to see if grown-up Nick was as good as teenage Nick.” I needed to seriously step away from the scotch.
“Jesus, Nick,” Julian finally chimed in. “Every boy in the neighborhood lost his virginity to that girl. It’s not like any of us had any history with her outside getting our dicks wet when it was our turn.”
“Well, that didn’t stop her from busting her shirt open and showing me a grown-up set of her tits.” My skin crawled with the thought of having sex with her ever again. “I was so pissed. I stepped up to her and grabbed the edges of her shirt to cover her back up and that’s when Avery walked in.”
“Ah, fuck, Nick.”
“It gets worse, Julez,” I hated
this whole situation. “When Avery explained that she was delivering some papers at your request…uh, Katrina asked her about you.”
Julian’s entire demeanor screamed violence. “I will kill that fucking slut if this shit touches Isabella, Nick.” I winced. Julian wasn’t one for empty threats.
“So what the fuck did you do?” Chase was already on his third drink and his eyes were on fire.
“I took the papers from Avery, thanked her and then told her to leave because I was in the middle of something.”
“You did what?!”
“Are you out of your fucking mind?!”
Since Julian went to pull his phone out-presumably to text Isabella-I ignored his question and answered Chase. “No. I’m not out of my mind. I needed to get her away from Katrina as soon as possible.”
Chase started pacing in front of my desk. “I don’t understand, Nick. Why? What does it matter if Avery knows who Katrina is? You should have kicked Katrina the fuck out of your office and let Avery see you kicking her the fuck out.”
I took a deep breath willing Julian and Chase to understand. “I didn’t want Katrina leaving here knowing that Avery was someone important to me. Do you think that’s the kind of information I want getting back to Donna? To Santiago?” Now I was getting pissed all over again. “We crawled our way out of the disasters that are our childhoods, but it’s been over ten years, and I obviously still can’t escape it if that bitch showing up is any indication. Those motherfuckers will never know that Avery exist and Avery will never know they exist!”
My outburst was met with silence.
“Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck!” The sound of shattering glass was all that could be heard when I threw my glass tumbler across the room to meet the wall in a hail of glass and amber liquid. I felt like I was seconds away from tearing my office apart. I felt like all my emotions were trying to claw their way out of my skin. I felt…fucked.
Chase came to stand in front of me and grabbed me by my shoulders. “Sav, I get what you’re saying, I do, dude. But I don’t think you’re hearing me. You sent Avery away letting her believe the worst. She’s sitting at her desk right now thinking you spent your morning fucking some blonde bimbo!”
Dread began settling in the pit of my stomach at Chase’s words. It didn’t even occur to me that Avery would be thinking anything like that. I made it clear to her on Monday that there’d be no one else. Sure, she was bound to be upset, but she’d wait for an explanation before jumping to conclusion of the worst kind. Wouldn’t she?
“Motherfucking, fuck, fuck, fuck!”
That dread was branching out from my stomach and spreading to the rest of my body, at Julian’s outburst. “What’s up, Julez?”
The look he gave me would level a lesser men. “Apparently Isabella and Quinn already know.”
“What? How do you know?” There has to be more going on between Chase and Quinn than they were letting on because he sounded panicked.
“I sent Isabella a text that I needed to speak with her and asked her if she would meet me tonight.” Julian held up his phone to us so that we could read her response.
Sorry. Can’t. Bzy. But I hear u 3 have big titted blondes on standby 2 fill the vacancies. After all, pussy’s pussy.
She finished off her text with a winking emoji.
While I as a mess, I wasn’t a violent mess so Chase and I turned our focus to Julian. “I’ll fix it, Julez. I’ll explain everything to Avery and she’ll talk to Isabella and it’ll be fine.”
We were losing Julian to the madness that still took up residence in the black spots of his mind. He worked hard to overcome his demons, but every now and again, something menacing would take hold of him and it was the roll of the dice. “Julian?”
“Julian, what is it?” Chase started to sound worried.
And then Julian said something that had me wanting to drop to my knees in front of Isabella and promise her anything she wanted. “The noises are quiet when I’m with her.”
“Fuck this.” Chase looked over at me. “Me and Julian are going to go work this out in the basement. Call Felicia and Sylvia and tell them to reschedule whatever we have on the calendar for the rest of the day.”
I nodded as Julian followed Chase out of my office. Watching my two best friends leaving, I could only hope that Chase got Julian home before he lost his shit. I knew Julian was acting a little more intensely than usual when it came to Isabella, but to be honest, Julian’s mood swings could be trigger by anything, so I really hadn’t given it much consideration.
But to hear him say she brought him peace?
I needed to make this right.
I made my way over to my desk and picked up the phone. “Mrs. Williams call security and request the lobby and elevator footage from ten this morning and have them send me the feeds. Next find out how the fuck Katrina Alonzo made it past goddamn reception!” I hung up before she could respond. I didn’t doubt she would rush to do my bidding.
Especially since that’s the first time I’ve ever cussed in front of her.
Next I called Julian’s and Chase’s assistants like Chase asked me to and canceled their afternoons. I sent a text off to Chase to let him know everything was taken care of.
Business wise, at least.
I didn’t have Isabella’s phone number and the only last name I have for her was Moretti from when she was fake married to Julian, but I knew she worked for Willshire Marketing. However, there could be a million Isabellas working there for all I knew.
I tried anyways.
“Good Afternoon. Willshire Marketing, this is Stella speaking, how may I direct your call?”
“Hello, Stella. This is Nicholas Savage with SMA, Global.”
“Yes, Mr. Savage. Good Afternoon, how may I help you?”
I could tell from the giddiness in her voice she knew who I was or at least had heard about SMA. “Yes, Stella, thank you. I’m looking for Isabella, and I’m terribly sorry, I don’t have her last name. I met her a couple of weeks ago, and I’ve seem to misplaced her card. I was-”
“Oh, you must be talking about Ms. Delucci. She’s the only Isabella we have here.”
I wanted to shout for joy, but I managed to contain myself. “Yes. I believe she’s one of your top marketing analysts.”
“One of our top? Oh, no, no. She is the top. Isabella is a brilliant, brilliant asset to Willshire.”
“Well, would it be possible for me to leave a message, or could you-”
“No need, Mr. Savage, I’ll put you right through. Anything we can do to help SMA, Global.”
I wanted kiss this woman. “Thank you, Stella.”
Three rings later, a very confident, assertive female voice answered the phone. “Isabella Delucci.”
“Don’t hang up.” God, I hope she doesn’t hang up.
“Nick?”
“Yes. Isab-”
You know why the silence of a telephone sounds so final when someone hangs up on you?
Because it is.
Fuck!
Chapter 17
Wrath: Because you're an asshole, that's why!!
Avery~
It was only six, but we were already down six shots and a twelve pack of beer. Tomorrow morning was going to suck, but tonight I didn’t care as me and Q were lying on the floor.
“I still can’t believe he called you, Iz.”
“I’m actually wondering if it has to do with you or Julian.” She was sprawled out on my couch, one leg thrown over the back and one hanging off the cushions. Her arms were under her head, propping it up.
“What makes you wonder that?” Quinn was already on her next beer, claiming she was still so pissed that she couldn’t catch a buzz.
“Julian never responded to my text about calling that whore.” I could sense the uneasiness in her tone. All we had wanted to do was pick up some random dick to role play with. How in the hell did we find ourselves in this mess?
“Maybe he’s just trying to give you time to calm down.�
�� I laughed. “Or give us time to calm down.”
“I’m never calming down,” Quinn declared. “As a matter of fact-” Quinn was interrupted by the doorbell, “Oh, hey….were you expecting any more visitors?”
I was already up off the floor heading to the door. “No, but I have been getting these random texts from Eric lately. Ever since we had lunch, he’s been acting like weirdo friendly.”
Quinn snorted. “Acting? That man is weird, Ace.”
My laugh came to an immediate halt when I swung my front door open and I saw Nicholas standing out in the hallway. He looked like he was ready to do battle. “Can I come in?”
Quinn had been lying on the floor next to me when the doorbell rang, but like the ninja she was, she was already at my back by the time Nicholas finished uttering his request. “Fuck no, you can’t come in. Shouldn’t you be busy sharing your whore’s fuck holes with Julian and Chase?”
I looked back at Quinn.
Jesus.
Instead of answering her, Nicholas barge in past me and Quinn. “Hate to break up this little Julian, Chase, Nicholas hate-fest, but I need to speak with Avery.”
Iz pulled herself up off the couch and grabbed her purse. “Come on Q. Ace doesn’t need our help to tell him to burn in hell. Let’s go.”
Nicholas extended an arm to keep Izzy from getting past him. “Not so fast, Isabella.”
“Oh hell no,” Q shrieked as she grabbed her things. “Who in the fuck do you think you are?”
I loved this girl.
Nicholas pointed a finger at her. “I’ll let Chase deal with you later.”
I thought Quinn was going have an aneurysm.
He gave Isabella his full attention. “Call Julian and call him the fuck now. He had nothing to do with what went down in my office today. I don’t know what is going on between you two, but he does not deserve your bullshit when he hasn’t done anything.”
Iz put her hands on her hips. “Who is she, Nick, and how does she know Julian?”
Catching Avery Page 21