by Sophia Gray
“No,” I murmured. “You don’t understand. I mean you. I can’t be with you anymore.” Tears welled up in my eyes, and I swallowed hard against a giant lump in my throat. “I can’t do this, Enzo. I don’t even feel like myself when I’m with you!”
“That’s the point of dating someone—to get a new perspective on things!” Enzo shot back. “Audrey, you’re being so stupid about this! Just relax and let things happen!”
“No! I hate you! And I hate myself when I’m with you!” I sniffled, burying my face in my hands. “I feel like someone completely awful and selfish and self-absorbed! I hated those stupid rich clothes you bought me because you’re not comfortable with me being me! You want to change me; you want me to be someone else!”
“Audrey, that’s not true.”
“I want to quit being your secretary, I want to be left alone! Don’t you get that? I don’t want anything to do with you anymore! I want to be on my own!”
Enzo stared at me. “Audrey, come on.” He scoffed. “You can’t possibly mean that.”
A tear dripped down my cheek, hot against my cold skin, and I shivered. “I do mean that. I hate myself for being with you, I hate myself for having sex with someone like you.”
Enzo narrowed his eyes. “Someone like me? What the fuck does that even mean?”
“It means… someone like you!” I exploded. “Someone who doesn’t care about their family, or send money to their poor parents! Someone who hates dogs! Someone who ruin the lives of perfectly innocent women just because they happen to work for him! Someone who doesn’t even respect himself!”
Enzo shook his head. “Audrey, you have this all wrong,” he said, but even I could tell that his voice was shaking. “I know you’re stressed, and this has been a scary morning, but please calm down, I promise you’re overreacting.”
“Oh my god,” I snapped. “Yeah, that’s it. A woman decides that she doesn’t want to fuck you anymore and suddenly she’s the one who’s overreacting.”
Enzo swallowed. His face composed itself into a neat mask of calm. “Fine,” he said smoothly. “If that’s what you want, so be it.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Enzo
I stared at Audrey, unable to conceal my disgust any longer. “Audrey, come on,” I told her sharply. “We have to get going.”
Audrey blinked. “I’m not going anywhere with you. Pepper and I are staying right here.”
“No, you’re coming with me. I don’t give a shit about hurting your feelings anymore, so I’ll tell it to you straight: you’re in danger if you stay here. Do you get that? You’re in trouble. Furthermore.” I glanced down at her dog, “Pepper’s in trouble, too. What happens to her if someone breaks in while you’re at work? Did you ever think about that?”
Audrey blinked. I could tell that I’d hit her right where it hurt. “She’ll defend the apartment,” she said, but her voice was shaky.
“Audrey, look at her. She’s not a guard dog. She’s a pet, and she’s not going defend shit. See, she doesn’t even act afraid around strangers.” I slapped my thigh and Pepper walked over to me, tail wagging broadly in the air. “Audrey, she’s going to get hurt if someone comes back here looking for you. They’re going to be really angry that you’re not at home, and they could hurt her. They could even kidnap or kill her.”
Audrey’s face crumpled again. “Okay,” she said softly. “I’ll get my things. Give me ten minutes.”
I sat on Audrey’s ruined couch as she bustled from room to room, packing a small bag full of Pepper’s foot, water bowl, and some of her clothes. I didn’t want to say anything, but I planned on getting rid of all of her clothing as soon as we got back to my condo. Just because she’d broken up with me didn’t mean she could continue looking so unprofessional at work. That is if she doesn’t quit like she told you she was going to do, I realized with an unhappy sigh.
“I’m ready,” Audrey said stiffly. She was standing there, looking like she’d seen a ghost. “Come on, Pepper.” She patted her leg and Pepper ran towards her, barking and drooling. “We’re going to stay with Mr. Enzo for a while,” she told the dog. “Everything’s going to be okay.”
I led Audrey outside before calling a driver with a Town Car to come from LennoxCo and pick us up. The day had warmed slightly—the sun was out at least—but it was still bitterly cold. It was also beautiful, there wasn’t a single cloud in the bright blue sky.
Audrey shivered and wrapped her arms around herself in that hideous pink coat. “Pepper, don’t worry,” she told the dog. Pepper looked calm to me, and I knew that Audrey’s words were more for the benefit of herself than the dog.
Finally, the Town Car pulled up. Audrey and I climbed into the back seat. It was wide enough where our bodies weren’t touching, and Pepper curled up on the floor, drooling with her tongue hanging out of her wide, pink mouth.
“Take me home,” I called to the driver. “And then I want you to wait for me. I’ll be showering and then going into the office.”
“Yes, Mr. Lennox,” the driver called back. I frowned, he wasn’t one of the men I recognized. Normally, a guy named Rico drove me home.
“Where’s Rico this morning?”
“He’s sick, Mr. Lennox,” the unfamiliar driver replied. “I’m Lenny.”
“Right,” I muttered. It didn’t matter. Aside from Rico, most drivers blended into my memory. In fact, I wasn’t even sure that I’d memorized any other names.
“Enzo?” Audrey’s voice was quiet. “Do you have a second bedroom?”
I nodded. “I have three. Take your pick.” I wasn’t in the mood to deal with her right now. I rested my hand on my fist and stared moodily out the window. “It doesn’t matter, Audrey. But I want you to have those clothes. I bought them for you.”
Audrey frowned. “I won’t need them if I’m no longer working at LennoxCo,” she said cuttingly.
I sighed. I didn’t have a reply for that. Just as Lenny was rounding the corner to my condo, I saw that he was turning on a red light.
“Hey, asshole. Lenny! Pay attention! You nearly got us killed!”
The car seemed to slow down, and panic rose in my throat. “Mr. Lennox, don’t worry,” Lenny said in a smooth voice. “I know exactly what I’m doing.” He turned around and flashed me a grin.
Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a car plowing across the intersection. My stomach jumped as I realized it was headed directly for the Town Car.
“Lenny!” I yelled, my voice giving way to panic. “Move!”
Audrey’s eyes were wide with fright, and she reached down to the floor to grip Pepper. I tried to unfasten my seatbelt, hoping to dive on top of her, but it was too late.
There was a loud crash, and everything went black.
# # #
When I woke up, my head was aching. My vision was fuzzy, and I struggled to focus on the man looming over.
“Lenny?” I croaked. “Where’s Audrey? What happened?”
“Sir, I’m going to need you to calm down,” a sharp voice replied. “Stay calm, sir, the ambulance is on its way.”
“What?” I blinked, struggling to clear my vision. Slowly, things were coming into focus. I was freezing cold. When I looked down, I realized that I was somehow sitting on the asphalt, in the middle of the road. Audrey and Pepper were nowhere in sight.
Panic rose inside me, and I fought the person who was holding me down. “Let me go!” I yelled. “Audrey! Audrey!”
“Sir,” the voice said again. “Sit down, sir!”
I tried to stand up but dizziness overcame me, and I tumbled back down to the ground, weak as a baby. Sirens and flashing lights were all around me, and more panic overwhelmed me. Where was Audrey? I looked around nervously, not catching a glimpse of her pink jacket anywhere.
“Audrey!” I yelled. My voice sounded strangled and harsh. “Audrey, where are you?”
“Sir,” the voice said, and suddenly I felt a needle slip into the crook of my arm. “Just calm do
wn. We’re taking you to the hospital now.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
When I woke up, I was in bed, surrounded by monitors and covered in tubes.
“Mr. Lennox?” A nurse, petite and blonde, leaned over my bed. “Mr. Lennox, you were in a car crash.”
“I know,” I rasped out. Immediately after speaking, I winced. My head was spinning, and even though I was already lying down, I somehow felt like I was going to collapse. The room around me was flashing different colored lights, and I closed my eyes, wincing in pain. “I know I was in a car crash,” I repeated, making my voice steadier this time. “My driver… my driver stopped at an intersection, and someone hit us.”
The nurse nodded. “That’s very good. That’s exactly what happened.”
“What happened to Audrey?” My eyes flashed open again. “Where is she? What happened to her? Is she okay?”
The nurse frowned and flipped through a pad she was holding on her lap. “I’m sorry, sir, is she someone we should know about?”
“She was in the car with me,” I said, my tone snappish. “She and her dog, some lab-mix mutt.”
The nurse blinked. “There was no one in the car with you, Mr. Lennox,” she said, sounding uncertain. “I’m sure of it. When the paramedics arrived on the scene, it was only you.”
“What about the driver? His name was Lenny. Come on, don’t tell me he disappeared, too.”
The nurse bit her lip. “He wasn’t at the scene,” she said softly. “He may have sought treatment on his own if he was injured.”
A black fog of panic descended over me, and I closed my eyes. Shit.
“Mr. Lennox? We need to take you in for more tests today. You have a concussion, and you’re incredibly dehydrated. We’re giving you an IV now with some antibiotics to ward off infection, but we want to make sure there was no lasting brain damage.”
“No,” I said wildly, flailing my arms and trying to climb out of bed. The nurse pushed me back with surprising strength. “I have to find Audrey.”
The nurse shook her head. “I’m sure whoever she is, she’s fine,” she said in a patronizing way. “I’m sure everything’s going to be okay, sir. I’m sure it is.”
“No!” I yelled. “She was in the car with me, and they took her! They took her! Audrey!” I yelled even louder. “Audrey!”
The nurse had an alarmed expression on her face as she leaped up. “Sir, if you don’t calm down we’re going to have to tranquilize you. You can’t be thrashing around like that, it’s not good for your concussion!”
Seeing the look of terror in her eyes, I deflated. I had to find a way out of here, and fast. “You know, nurse, I actually feel fine,” I snapped. “I think I could probably leave. And I’m expected at work, you know, I’ll need to go into the office.”
“Don’t be silly,” she said, cajoling me. “I’m sure they’ll know to expect you out for a few days after they hear about the crash. You made the morning news!”
I rolled my eyes and flopped back against the stiff hospital pillows. “You’re not listening to me.” I growled. “I have to get out of here, now.”
The nurse chuckled. “Sir, don’t let your lack of insurance make you paranoid! It doesn’t matter, we have to accept all patients now.”
“I have insurance,” I said through gritted teeth. “But I don’t need to be in the hospital right now. I’m completely fine, and you know it.”
The nurse frowned. “You’re a little grumpy this morning. I’m going to get you some juice and a little snack to get your blood sugar up. Then we can talk about having those tests later on.”
I watched her swish out of the room, feeling more helpless by the second. I’d known there was something fishy about that driver, Lenny. I wondered if somehow Hodges had infiltrated my staff and sent one of his stooges to bang me up in a car crash. And Audrey! Audrey! She wouldn’t have just walked away, leaving me to die. That wasn’t like her. Even though I knew she was angry with me, I couldn’t imagine that she was the kind of woman who would abandon me because of an accident. The Audrey I knew would have stayed, holding my hand until the paramedics arrived.
My gut twisted and for a moment I felt like I was going to be sick. I closed my eyes. Audrey and I were having a normal morning; we were just on my way back to my condo. She was going to change, and I was going to shower and go into the office. I thought of the bags of clothing and shoes that I’d bought for her. RH Shoes.
I frowned. Something about that name didn’t sound right. It was a fancy store, but how come I hadn’t heard of it before? It had seemed odd that my assistant would have recommended the store to me with it being such a no-name brand. Everyone who worked for me knew that I only cared about established brands.
Suddenly, it hit me. My driver had been working for Hodges. And whoever had sent me in the direction of RH Shoes had been working for Hodges, too. I began to panic as I realized the level of deception that had been worked on me.
RH Shoes. RH stood for Richard Hodges. And that goddamn shoe store was how he’d managed to embezzle money from LennoxCo all those years ago.
Shit.
Chapter Twenty-Five
I was in a dense, thick fog that I couldn’t seem to shake off. When I closed my eyes, I felt myself drifting away from reality. No, I screamed in my mind. Enzo, don’t go! Stay awake! But the pull was too much—I couldn’t resist sinking further and further into the deep blackness, like Dante falling into Hell.
I was in a dark, cold room. When I opened my eyes, I saw nothing but blackness. When my eyes adjusted, I realized that the room was almost completely sealed. There was a vent at the top, and a weak, tiny ray of light was falling through. I felt weak and dizzy, and my head was swimming in a cloudy sea. When I tried to stand up the first time, I stumbled and almost fell.
That made me open my eyes wide. This wasn’t normal. I was Enzo Fucking Lennox, for God’s sake, and I worked out every morning. I ate healthily, and I fucked a lot of women on the side to stay as trim as I could. This wasn’t something that should be happening to me—I shouldn’t be falling down.
“God,” I said under my breath. “What the fuck happened to me? Didn’t I get into a car accident?” As hard as I tried to remember, the memories I had of my time before the black box were hazy and fuzzy. For each thing I remembered, I knew there was probably a gap of five things I didn’t. My brain was turning into Swiss cheese before my very eyes, and there was nothing I could do about it.
“Enzo,” a voice said softly. I jumped when I heard it, falling back down in a heap of pain on the hard floor. “Enzo, you’re going to be okay. Can you hear me?”
“I’m down here!” I shouted. My chest ached from the force of air pumping out of my lungs, and a wild, crazy sense of desperation welled up in my throat. No, no! I couldn’t be left here! Whoever had put me here had clearly made a mistake! I needed to be at work! I needed to be doing something important!
“Enzo,” the voice said again. It didn’t sound like anyone I knew. It was barely female, the kind of voice that almost sounds like it’s coming from a machine. “Enzo, where are you? I am looking for you, and I can’t find you.”
“I’m down here!” I yelled again. My lungs felt like they were going to burst and I had to close my eyes and steady myself against the wall even though I was already sitting down. Dammit! I couldn’t ever remember feeling this weak, or this useless. Tears of frustration came to my eyes, and I clenched my jaw. I couldn’t cry. Not like this, not now. I had to do something, anything, I had to get out of here.
I closed my eyes and lay down on the cool, damp floor. It smelled musty like no one else had been inside for years. When I moved my arms and legs, I smelt my own sweat. I realized that it had been days since I’d had a shower and that somehow only made the desperation and anxiety grow. I wasn’t at home; I wasn’t at work. Where the hell was I?
“Enzo, come on,” the voice insisted. “I don’t have time to wait around for you all day. Stop playing games and get over
here, you little shit!”
I groaned as I recognized the voice. It wasn’t anyone I’d known for a long time. It was someone who I’d wanted to forget.
My mother.
When I opened my eyes, I gasped. Even though I still felt the cool concrete beneath me, I was no longer in that dank room. Instead, I recognized the apartment where I’d grown up on the South Side of Chicago. The same dull yellow walls, the same ceiling with the giant crack going from one side to the other. Most of all, the same brownish-gray carpet that looked like a pile of vomit had dried.
“Enzo,” my mother scolded. “There you are. I’ve been looking for hours!”
“I’ve been right here,” I said. I swallowed. My voice sounded funny, high-pitched, like it wasn’t really me. “I swear.” I looked around. The furniture was the same as ever: an odd floral couch with different cushions sewn in and a brown leather chair that was cracked and peeling with age.