“Well, I had to welcome you back in style.” He put me back on my feet so hard that my teeth clunked together. “Shit, have you put weight on? I think I pulled my back.”
“No, you mean bastard, I haven’t.”
“Uh-huh, if you say so, piglet. Let’s go to the car.” We exited the terminal and went towards the short-term parking lot. After walking around for a while, looking at each car and not finding his, Tony was starting to get irate. I would say I was surprised, but this was normal for him—the guy never remembered where he parked. “Fuck it, I swear I parked over here.” He flipped his hand from side to side and then flicked it at a parking spot that had a lime green VW Beatle in it.
“I’m glad you think this is funny,” he sniffed, glaring at me as I laughed.
“Sweetie, you do this every time. Do you remember when we went to Mall of America, and you called 911 because someone had stolen your car?”
“How was I to remember that it was parked on the other side of the mall? I mean, there was a sale on, and those shoes that I’d wanted forever were in it!”
“Uh-huh, and the store wasn’t even in that mall,” I reminded him, by which point I swear he was trying to melt me with his eyes.
“Okay, memory bitch, move your fat ass and find my car,” he said turning around and prancing off making me laugh even harder.
An hour later, we found his car with the help of airport security, parked in long-term parking; at least I’d managed to stop him calling 911 this time. He’d started jumping up and down while clapping his hands and squealing when we got to his car and then jumped on Ron, the huge security guard with a shaved head, wrapping his legs around his waist and kissing him all over the face. To give him credit, Ron took it like a champ, but as soon as Tony jumped down off him, Ron was gone.
“You staying with me at the hotel?” I asked as we drove towards where I’d been made reservations by the Mackays in one of their hotels. They only had two in Tampa, but both were the definition of luxury, and I couldn’t wait to check in and lie down.
“Sure, it'll be a blast!" He replied checking his reflection in the rear view mirror as he drove. I always dreaded getting into a car that Tony was driving; he tended to use speed limits and turning times as ‘guidelines,’ meaning that the fact that he hadn’t had a serious accident was a fucking miracle.
As Tony took the turn to get to his apartment to pack some of his stuff, I turned my cell on and waited for it to start up so that I could text Ren.
Just as the carrier symbol appeared, the screen texts started coming through.
Sexiest boyfriend in the world: Hope you got there safe, baby. Miss you and love you <3
I laughed when I saw the new name he’d saved himself under in my phone; when he could have possibly done it, I didn’t know, but I liked it.
The prick: Does my ass look big in this?
Ren had apparently also changed Cole’s name in my phone, and looking closer at the photo attached, I felt my cheeks heat as I realized he’d somehow gotten hold of a pair of my panties and was wearing them. Jesus Christ, that guy had no boundaries.
Texting back Ren, I forwarded him the message and said:
Me: how did Cole get my panties? This photo is just wrong!
Thirty seconds later:
Sexiest boyfriend in the world: He’s fuckin’ dead! And paying for my therapy.
I decided to get Cole back and sent the photo to my cousins, Ava, Scarlett, his mom, Isla, LeAnne, and a couple of other people from Piersville. Putting my phone back into my bag, I focused back on Tony’s excited chatter about what we were going to do while I was there, before broaching a subject that I’d been waiting to talk to him about.
“What happened at work, honey?” Last week, he’d called and in a voice that I’d never heard him use before, he’d told me he’d lost his job, a job that he’d done for years and was damn good at.
“Oh, you know.” He flapped a hand around in a ‘never mind’ gesture before yanking the wheel for the next turn, leaving it just a tad too late and ending up on the wrong side of the road.
“The head of the practice was pissed that I wouldn’t do what he wanted,” he suddenly said.
“And what did he want?”
Slowly, the full story came out. Tony’s boss had cornered him demanding he get on his knees and give him a blowjob one night, which I’d known about. Tony had said no as the man was married, to a woman, and he wasn’t going to degrade himself like that, and after it, his boss had continued to sexually harass him while launching a hate campaign against him. Finally, after three weeks of hell, his boss had fired him for sexual harassment against him.
“Are you shitting me?” I yelled. “Tell me you’ve spoken to a lawyer!”
“No, Mymy, I just want to forget about it,” he whispered, and it was then that I noticed how tired he looked.
“What else has happened?”
“He won’t quit, Maya. He keeps calling.”
“How do you feel about seriously moving to Piersville and working for me?”
Thankfully, we’d just pulled up in front of his apartment block, because his entire upper body swung towards me, including his hands, which until that point had still been on the wheel.
“Are you serious?”
“Of course! I told you that I need a PA, and we worked well together when I was here and you helped me with projects.”
Biting his lip, he looked down at his hands while he considered what I’d just said. I knew it was a massive move for him because he’d lived here most of his life and loved Tampa, but I also knew from my experience with the fuckwad that this stuff weighed on you like a ton of concrete. Getting away from it would be the best thing for him.
“Come on,” I said, shaking his shoulder. “Just think—new hot guys to perv over, you’ll live with me…we’ll have fun. And I swear I won’t ask you for a beej!”
“Well, when you put it like that…” He turned to me, and I saw the excitement in his eyes.
We’d packed up a bag of Tony’s stuff and had then checked into the hotel to find out the Mackays had put me in the presidential suite. After we’d unpacked and had some lunch, I’d called Ren and we’d talked for ten minutes, with Cole whining in the background about his junk being on fire. I was pretty sure that had something to do with Ren’s revenge for the picture, but he wasn’t admitting anything. The more I thought about Ren, the faster I wanted this week to go so that I could get back to him, especially now that Tony was coming with me.
We’d just finished dinner with the Mackays, where we’d caught up and I had outlined my plans for the week, and were just walking out of the restaurant when suddenly there was the screeching of tires to my right. The security guy, Ray, grabbed me and pulled me off the road, causing me to drop my handbag and land roughly on my ass just as a black SUV drove over my bag.
“Maya!” Dale and his parents yelled as their security ran after the SUV.
I knew I was sitting on the sidewalk, shaking, and that the Mackays and Tony were checking me over, but all I could see was the small space between my leg and the car as it had sped past me. If it hadn’t been for Ray, I would have been hit.
“I think she’s in shock,” I heard Mr. Mackay say behind me, and I gave myself a shake and got up off the floor.
“Maya, I think we should get you checked over,” Dale said, running his hands over me until he got to my knee and hissed. “Fuck, you’re bleeding, honey.”
I became aware of throbbing in my right knee and right hand and looked down at both to see blood dripping down my shin and dripping off my hand before everything went black.
I woke up as we were getting into the white SUV that had collected Tony and me from our hotel earlier that evening. I was about to say something when I realized I was sitting on someone’s lap—a muscular lap with a big, firm chest. Now, Tony wasn’t a slouch in the physique department, but this most definitely wasn’t him. Opening my eyes, I tilted my head back and came face to face wi
th Dale.
“We’re taking you to mine, and Doc Johnson is meeting us there to check you over, kiddo. Do you remember what happened?”
“Yeah, I remember. Do you mind if I sit on the seat?” I asked, pointing to the spare seat next to us. Tony was sitting next to the window, looking at me in concern.
“We’re already here,” Dale said as we pulled up in front of his house. He had bought an old mansion two years ago and had renovated the entire building to bring modern elements into it. That was how I’d met him and his family, as he’d hired me to do the decorating for him. It had been my first huge contract, and I’d loved every second of it and was immensely proud of what we’d done to the place.
After settling me down on the couch, Dale went to find a blanket while Tony sat in front of me on the coffee table, chewing on his lip as he looked at me.
“I’m fine.” I rested on the back of the couch, closing my eyes. In all honesty, I really wasn’t; I kept replaying the moment the car had skimmed past me and what would have happened if I hadn’t been pulled back when I had.
“Sweetie, you are far from fine,” Tony drawled, and I opened my eyes to see him staring pointedly at my knee, which was bleeding through the handkerchief that had been put around it. “That tall god, on the other hand, now he is fine.”
I couldn’t help the giggle that turned into a full-blown roar as Dale walked around the corner with a first-aid kit, a pillow, and a blanket and looked at Tony with a raised eyebrow. I had never seen Tony blush, but he went scarlet and glanced up at the ceiling suddenly, screaming, “TARANTULA!” He ran out the front door straight into the chest of the security guard posted there and fell on his ass.
I would have continued laughing at his misfortune, but I wasn’t a huge fan of spiders, so I looked up, noticing Dale doing the same thing. Both of us squinted, moved our heads, and looked back at each other before looking back up again at what could only be described as a spider the size of my pinky nail. Sure, it was still a spider, but given how big those bad bastards could get, I wouldn’t be screaming over that one anytime soon.
Clearing his throat, Dale picked up the first-aid kit and sat where his royal twatness had been sitting. “Anyway…” he said as he removed the hanky from my knee. I’m not going to lie, it hurt, but Tony had already made a big enough tit of himself in the last ten minutes, and I was not going to follow him, so I bit my tongue.
“Mr. Mackay, the doctor’s here,” a deep baritone voice came from the door. It was so deep that it sounded almost unnatural, like that guy who was in Armageddon and The Green Mile. I looked over and did a double-take when I saw a baby-faced guy standing in the doorway with Tony standing open-mouthed beside him.
“Sweet Jesus.” Tony apparently had lost the ability to conduct thoughts inside his head. “Hey, can you sing for me? Anything, I just have to hear that again.”
Now, the man may have had a baby face, but he sure as hell did not have a baby body, so when he turned to Tony and looked at him with absolutely no expression on his face, Tony made the right decision and turned away. Thankfully we were all distracted by the doctor coming in and Dale telling him what had happened as he looked over my knee and hand.
Deciding the best thing to do would be to give me an injection of painkillers and antibiotics before he cleaned out the wounds, the doctor asked Tony to help me onto my side to make my butt cheek available to him.
The mean asshole just couldn’t help but add to my embarrassment. “Here ya go, Doc, take your pick of where you wanna jab that huge old needle. God knows there’s enough acreage to choose from. Damn, Maya, ever heard of Atkins?”
“I will hurt you,” I ground out from between clenched teeth, as the doctor took Tony literally and tried to murder me with the branding iron that he’d incorrectly called a ‘small pinch.’
That was when the world decided to prove in the best way possible that karma was a bitch when the sound of flesh hitting tile broke the silence, and Tony was out cold on the floor on his knees with his ass in the air. The doc and Dale went to move him, but I got Dale to pass me his phone, and with my good hand got a couple of shots first, because the bitch would have done the same to me.
After half an hour of cleaning bits of gravel and God knows what else out of my hand, five stitches in my palm, glue holding a cut on my knee together, and two huge bandages, the doctor cleared out, leaving me with antibiotics and pain medication. It was also decided that Tony would go with one of his security guards back to our hotel room to get our stuff, and we would stay with Dale for the rest of our visit.
I needed to talk to Ren and just hear his voice, but I didn’t have my phone anymore, as it had been crushed in the accident, and with Luke in France meeting with a possible new client and it being 2 a.m., I couldn’t call my aunt and uncle. I had no choice but to go to bed and try and get some sleep, hoping and praying that this trip ended quickly so I could get home.
After two days of discussions and research, we’d decided on a scheme for the Mackays’ new building, and I had a copy of the blueprints to take back with me. It was now Thursday, and we were flying home tomorrow. I’d asked the Mackays to keep my accident quiet until I could get home and tell everyone face to face so that they didn’t worry. I also knew it would get back to my parents, and with them being so far away, I didn’t want them to panic for no reason either.
Amy had gone apeshit and threatened to hunt the ‘tiny-pricked dick’ down herself when I’d told her and Lucy yesterday, swearing them to secrecy until I could tell our family myself. To be honest, I wouldn’t have put it past Amy; she was a bit of an ‘act now, ask questions later’ type of girl. Fortunately, she had the innocent face and eyes that got her out of trouble ninety-nine percent of the time.
Tony had set up a night out with our old friends, and as always it was at a club with gay pride flags flying from the ceilings, people in drag milling around, and cocktails named after famous actresses, like the Judy Garland, Ginger Rogers, and Doris Day. I had wanted to stay home, as I was still limping and feeling the pain from my badly swollen knee, but I did want to see my friends, too, so I’d agreed to go out for a bit. After a couple of hours, though, I called it a night when the alcohol wasn’t sitting well with the antibiotics and pain meds in my system. I was also conscious of the fact that I had managed to steer clear of Andy until that point, but it would be unwise to court danger, especially if it had been him driving that SUV. In 12 hours, I would be flying back to Ren, and I couldn’t wait.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Ren
I hadn’t heard from Maya since she’d left three days ago, and whenever I called her phone, it went to voicemail, which worried me. What if she’d had an accident? What if she was unconscious? What if that asshole had kidnapped her?
Walking out of the garage because I couldn’t focus for shit, I took a left and bumped right into the man that I’d been going to see—George.
“Ah, Ren, just the boy.”
“Is she okay, George?”
“Seems she had an issue with her phone, and it was broken, but she’ll be back tomorrow and Tony’s coming with her.”
I felt three days’ worth of stress and tension deflate out of my body, and I slumped against the wall, shaking my head to clear it. “Why didn’t she call?” I croaked.
“Uh, this is Maya we’re talking about, son,” George replied, shaking his head at the same time that I nodded mine in understanding. “That girl has her entire life in that damn phone of hers. She even had to go on Google to find my office number to update me on the case she’s working on. When she gets back, though, I need to have a long chat with her; there have been quite a few accidents on different job locations. On further inspection, they found evidence suggesting that it wasn’t accidental.”
My head snapped up, and I took in the firm line of his mouth and how pissed off he looked. “She’s in danger?” It took every ounce of self-control that I had to stop myself from getting on a plane and going to her. If I had
n’t just found out that she was on her way home tomorrow, then I would have.
“We don’t know for sure, but I’m not taking any chances. Luke is back tomorrow too, and I’ll be arranging security and going through things with them as soon as I can. As it is, I contacted the Twymans and got their permission to install the best security system I could get in Maya’s house. Luke already has one in his…”
“George, with all due respect, I have no doubt that it’s top of the line, but Maya will stay with me after she gets back. I am not risking her getting hurt!”
Already, in my mind, I was thinking through getting Cole to take over the garage so I could watch her, and calling the alarm company to see if there were any possible upgrades for my own system.
“Good man, I wish you the best of luck convincing her,” George said as he patted my shoulder and then walked away.
I was so engrossed in my thoughts as I walked to meet Cole that I didn’t see the bitch from hell until I walked into her. The slimy snake put her arms around my waist to steady herself and then pressed against me. “Ren!”
“Francheska.” I used my bored tone reserved for her and tried to detangle myself from her python-like grip.
“I’m so sorry about Maya.”
I paused my bid for freedom as her words registered. Had she done something? No, she was too dumb for that.
Seeing she had my attention, she rubbed my arm. “I can’t believe she went back to him. I mean, he’s a good-looking guy and all, but still.”
“What the fuck are you on about?” Is this chick actually insane? She hated that asshole with a passion, so there was no way the viper was telling the truth.
She shook her head as she pulled out her phone and opened up her Facebook. That in itself proved she was all kinds of crazy, because who stalked people on Facebook?
“Here you go, sweetie,” she said as she passed her phone to me. On the screen was a photo of Tony with his arm around my girl. She was grinning while being pulled towards some guy who was kissing her on the cheek.
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