My mom beat him to it. “Is it to Damien?”
Dad’s eyes shot over to her before looking back at the screen.
I looked down at my left hand, eyeing the large diamond on it, glistening under the light. I felt as if I was about to be scolded even though I was a grown woman. The emphasis on Damien’s name must have summoned him from hell, I mean his office, because he sauntered into the room right then. He looked as if he had no cares in the world.
“You told me you weren’t dating him when I showed you the photo someone sent me.” Dad saw him come into the frame and once he sat down beside me, Dad’s face turned even redder. “You.”
Mom put a hand on Dad’s shoulder, trying to calm him down, but he continued.
“Damn it, I knew you were dating him, even when you tried to deny it. But now you’re getting married to him.”
I didn’t know how much redder his face could get. And my mom’s eyes were darting from the computer screen back to my father and back to the screen.
“Dad, it’s fine.”
“No, it’s not fine. I warned you about him. Do you know what type of man he is? This is not who I envisioned you would marry.”
His words pissed me off and I snapped, “That’s not your decision. I can marry whoever I want. This is not a discussion. I was informing you about what was taking place. The news might leak sooner rather than later, and I thought my parents might want me to tell them rather than find out by reading an article online.”
I immediately regretted raising my voice, but I couldn’t take it anymore. I knew my parents cared about my well-being and wanted the best for me, but they also needed to understand that I made my own decisions, even if I couldn’t tell them the real reason this was all happening. A heavy hand landed on my knee, and a gentle squeeze told me that Damien was there supporting me even if he had said nothing. I appreciated him letting me fight this battle. Any intervention from him in this moment would cause an even bigger rift with my parents.
“Anais, I don’t think—” Dad stopped speaking when Mom cleared her throat.
“Well, James. Who do you think is paying for all of your medical costs?”
I let out a small gasp at Mom’s interruption of Dad’s rant. That didn’t stop her from continuing.
“Damien stepped up to help in a time of need, and we are grateful that he did. We wouldn’t be where we are in your recovery without him. So, thank you, Damien,” she said. Mom turned back to me. “Anais, I’m very proud of you, and I look forward to getting to know Damien when we are all back in the city. Now, I’m going to let you both go because we should let your father get some rest. On behalf of both of us, I want to say congratulations.”
“Thanks, Mom. Before you both leave, I have a quick question for Dad.” I glanced at my father briefly before I continued. “Dad, did you reach out to anyone else for money when Monroe Media Agency was doing poorly?”
Dad didn’t answer right away, and I could tell he was debating whether he wanted to respond. “Other than the banks that wouldn’t lend the money to me, no.”
I shared a look with Damien before turning back to my parents. “I’ll talk to you guys soon.”
“Okay, bye, sweetheart.”
That conversation was shorter than I had originally planned, but I knew I had done the right thing by telling them now in case the story broke.
“That call seemed to go well.” Damien stood up and walked over to his office door.
“You’re hilarious.”
“That is not something I have ever been accused of.” He paused before he continued. “I have a surprise for you.”
“Oh, really?” I closed my eyes briefly and moved my head back and forth, trying to release some of the tension that gathered there in anticipation of this phone call. When I opened them, I found him looking at me. His stare sent a tremble throughout my body and made my nerves go haywire again. “What is it?”
He walked back into his office and grabbed something wrapped in a red-and-white striped gift bag with red tissue paper flowing out of it. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t this.
“I was…inspired by a performance you gave several days ago.”
I opened the bag and dug into tissue paper and yelped. Any words that I had been considering left as my mouth fell open. It was a sleek black vibrator. I could feel the heat rising in my cheeks.
“You can only use it when we’re together. Just when you think you’re getting to the point of no return, I can shut it off and make you beg me to let you come.”
His words should have pissed me off, but they made me want him even more. I was becoming a masochist. “Thank you? Do you want me to use it now?”
Damien slowly shook his head. “In fact,”—he reached over and took the device back—“I’m going to hang on to this for safekeeping. I want you to be thinking about this small, yet powerful toy constantly, because you’ll never know when I’m going to pull it out and use it on you.”
And once again, with Damien Cross, it always made sense to expect the unexpected.
14
Anais
The next morning, I found myself in the shower, repeating the same mantra I had started the night before: there was no way I was falling for Damien Cross. We had a deal and once whoever shot my father was caught, we would go our separate ways. It should be that simple, but it didn’t feel like that was the case anymore. I kept reminding myself that I had agreed to his proposal so that he would protect me and my family. Nothing more, nothing less.
I stepped out of the shower and got ready for what I suspected would be a busy workday, and I couldn’t contain my excitement. After I finished, I applied red lipstick and took one more look at the outfit I’d chosen to wear, mentally giving myself final approval. The black coat lying across my bed would offset the brightness of the red sleeveless blouse that I had on. The dark denim jeans and red heels that matched my shirt perfected the look. Since the pieces came from the clothes that Damien had bought me, I knew it looked expensive.
I grinned to myself as I put my coat on because I was ready to get out of the house and be around my coworkers again. Something I didn’t expect to miss was Edward’s phone calls. Edward worked for CASTRA, one of Monroe Media Agency’s bigger clients. I hadn’t heard from him since I had been out on leave, and I would never give him my cell phone number because he would definitely abuse it. As I bent to grab my bag, something caught my eye that was sitting on Damien’s, and I guess now my, dresser. I picked up the box and tugged out the expensive ring and studied it again. It still wasn’t to my tastes, but I kept hoping it would grow on me. After a quick mental debate, I put it back in its black velvety box and put it in a safe place. The thought of wearing something worth a fortune was too nerve-wracking, even if I had Kingston with me.
I put the ring away and grabbed my bags and walked to the front door. When I opened the door, I found Kingston walking my way and gave him a small smile before I turned to lock up. When we arrived in the lobby, Kingston walked up to Carter and chatted with him briefly while I found Rob and followed him out to the car.
“Oh, you parked outside instead of the garage. This is an upgrade.”
Rob chuckled. “I figured this might save time.” Rob opened the car door and I got inside. Once Rob closed the door, I saw Kingston open the passenger door and fold his body inside while Rob headed around to the driver’s side. When he pulled away, my eyes were drawn to my phone, trying to answer as many emails as I could on the way to the office.
Most of them were about my father and asking how he was doing and if there was anything more they could do for me. My team had taken on part of my workload while I was away, and I wrote a note to myself to do something for them as a thank-you. My phone buzzed in my hand, making me jump slightly as a text message notification popped up on the screen.
Damien: Everything should be ready for you at your office.
Was this his way of wishing me a good day at work? What did he mean by everything should be
ready for me?
Me: What are you talking about? We should be there shortly.
My mind wandered, and I began thinking about Damien. I vaguely remembered him getting out of bed this morning to get ready for work, and I hadn’t heard from him since. I assumed he would probably get caught up in the work he was doing and would reach out later. What annoyed me was that I felt myself longing for another text message because he’d been sending more lately. They went from telling me about something Dave found to him “just checking in”. I knew he got regular updates from Kingston and Rob, so it had come as a surprise when he’d started checking in on me directly.
Damien: Kingston’s team swept your office. Everything looks good. Left a small gift for you too.
His message came just as Rob pulled up to my office building. Rob came around and opened the door. I gathered my things, thanked him, and looked up to find Kingston waiting for me to follow him. He had a book bag on his shoulder that I hadn’t noticed earlier.
“Are you going to sit in my office all day and watch me work? I hope you brought something in that bag to keep you entertained.”
“I have a few things.”
I felt bad that he had to babysit me for several hours, but he wasn’t complaining, and Damien was paying. It wasn’t lost on me that Damien had his cousin guarding me, and although he hadn’t said anything about it, I had a feeling it was because he trusted him the most. I’d also gotten him to talk a bit more, so at least I had someone else to talk to when he stopped by and checked the penthouse to make sure that everything was okay. Other than that, it had just been video chats with Ellie and my parents when Damien wasn’t around for the last week.
I walked into the building and Kingston and I got into the elevator and patiently waited for it to reach my floor. Once we arrived, the employees who spotted me suddenly hushed as I walked to my office. I smiled when I saw what was sitting on my desk. An assortment of my favorite snacks were in a basket, except it was from a company that was known to provide high quality items at an expensive price. Someone had been paying attention to what I ordered when Lucy went grocery shopping. I made a note to myself to thank Damien, and as I set my things down, someone knocked on the door.
“Anais, hi. How’s your father?” Vicki strolled in with a container full of mail. She placed the basket on a chair before turning to look at me.
“He’s doing better. Thanks for taking over here while we made sure he was settled.” Even though I knew they were safe, it didn’t stop the worry I felt constantly. It also seemed that the New York Police Department had reached a dead end on finding out who exactly had committed the crime. I stopped myself from thinking about how my decision to become “engaged” to Damien might have led to more emotional pain for my dad.
“Of course.” Vicki paused and gestured to the container. “Here is everything that came for you since you’ve been gone.” Kingston grabbed the container from her. She stared at him wide-eyed for a couple of beats before turning back to me. “We have a few meetings today. The most important is in about fifteen minutes if you’re up to it.”
“Yes, I had it on my calendar. Dad might try to call into it and listen. He’s apparently going stir crazy, although the doctor recommended he rest.”
That made Vicki smile. “I’ve known your father for over twenty years now and never have I known him to slow down, so I wouldn’t expect anything less.”
I gave her a smile back. “I’ll see you in the small conference room soon.”
With that, Vicki left me and Kingston alone once again. “I guess you don’t need to come to this meeting with me.”
“I’m going to sort through the mail while you’re gone to make sure everything is safe.”
He had an excellent point. I sat down at my desk and took my laptop out of my bag. It wouldn’t hurt to read the meeting’s agenda so that I was more prepared, and it felt good to get back to some of the normalcy I craved.
“Well, that went well,” Vicki said as we walked out of the conference room.
“It did, and Dad was happy to have been able to participate.” I didn’t want to mention that I thought he sounded weak, but that’s to be expected.
I looked away from Vicki for a second when I saw Jake, a member of my team, coming toward us. He gave me a tight smile and a wave just before he approached us.
“Is it okay if we chat for a second? Sorry to interrupt,” he added quickly.
“That works. I was just wrapping things up with Vicki.”
“I’ll see you both later.” Vicki nodded at both of us before walking past Jake and heading down the hall.
“What’s up? Edward?” I guessed. When Jake nodded his head, I rolled my eyes before I could stop myself. “What happened now?”
“He’s been a bit unhinged. More so than usual.”
Jake’s words alarmed me. “What do you mean?”
“Ever since you’ve been out on leave, he’s been calling multiple people nonstop trying to get in touch with you. He’s stepped things up a notch.”
“Did he say why?”
“No, he claims that the only person who can help him is you.”
I sighed, but it wasn’t a surprise. I tried to keep my face neutral as thoughts ran through my mind about whether we should consider him a potential suspect in Dad’s shooting. It was something I would raise with Kingston when I got back to my office. “Well, okay. Thanks for telling me. Anything else you need?”
“No. We debated calling the police, but we figured there wasn’t much they’d be able to do anyway because he hasn’t threatened anyone. He’s just...very insistent on talking to you.”
“Right. I’ll see what I can do. I’m sorry you had to deal with that.”
“It’s no problem. I’ll catch you later.”
My feet started moving before my mind could process the information. My first thought was to reach out to Damien to tell him what I had found out even if Kingston was there. It surprised me that I wanted to tell him first, but I didn’t have time to examine my feelings. I was pulling out my phone to call him just as I rounded the corner to reach my office when I stopped in my tracks.
“What the hell is all of this?” I asked, causing everyone in the room to stop moving except Damien, who stopped for no one. Why was Damien here? He looked at me but continued talking on the phone. He wrapped up his phone call as I closed my door. Although my office was a decent size, it felt cramped with Damien and Kingston in it.
“Someone sent you a welcome back package that wasn’t very inviting.”
“Wait, what?” My eyes shifted between Damien and Kingston, hoping that one of them would fill me in on what was going on. Neither one said anything, so I continued, “Someone sent me a package that was enough to drag you out of whatever meeting you were in to come down here? What was in it?”
I chided myself at how my voice wavered. I walked over to my desk to look inside, but just before I could, Damien answered, his words chilling me to my core.
“A gun.”
“You’ve got to be shitting me.” I leaned forward, peering into the box. Lo and behold, a gun was in the box. The black gun stared back at me, mocking me. The chill that was running through my bones got even chillier. I was even more determined to get to the bottom of this. “Is this the gun that was used to shoot my father?”
“Tests would need to be done on the pistol to verify whether or not it is. But if I had to take a guess, I would lean in that direction,” Kingston said from where he was leaning on my desk, hands crossed over his chest. I closed my eyes and opened them before walking around Damien and sitting in my chair.
“Someone has to be taunting me.”
“You mean taunting us,” Damien chimed in from where he was standing. “Someone is fucking with what’s mine and I will get to the bottom of it.”
“Yeah, sure. Whatever,” I mumbled, not wanting to deal with him referring to me as his in front of Kingston. It was the first time he had said it in front of another person
. I gazed at the box on my desk once more and jerked forward when something caught my eye. I grabbed a pen from my desk to shift the paper that covered the gun in order to get a better look at it, while not contaminating any evidence further. The gun was surrounded by what looked to be magazine articles, many of them relating to Damien. Someone had confirmed that we were together.
“Damien?”
“Yes?”
“I think the news of our engagement is about to come out.”
“Really? Because no one would know it because you aren’t wearing your ring.”
I rolled my eyes. “Check the box, Damien.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kingston do a double take as Damien came closer to the box. Clearly someone else hadn’t been told about our “upcoming nuptials”, and I didn’t think he had seen the ring since Damien gave it to me.
Damien stared at Kingston for a moment, almost daring him to say something, before he looked at the piece of paper that my pen was currently holding up. He muttered a curse before he pulled out his phone once more. I assumed he was going to call someone, but before he could, it rang.
Kingston and I waited while Damien listened to the caller. “Melissa, I’m going to put you on speaker, okay? It’d be best since all parties that will be affected are present.”
He hit a button and placed the phone on my desk and said, “Continue talking.”
“Mr. Cross, I’ve just gotten a couple of calls from reporters asking for a comment on your upcoming wedding. Is there anything I should say to them? I considered referring them to Kate but wanted to talk to you about it first.”
I raised an eyebrow at Damien and wondered who Kate was. I looked back at the paper in the box and almost growled. Silly me had secretly hoped that maybe whoever had sent the box might have created the fake tabloid headlines about my father’s money woes themselves to show us that someone else knew my father’s secret. That could still be the case, but it was clear that someone had provided some information to the press. I looked over at Damien for a second before turning my attention back to his cellphone. I seemed to be the only one panicking about this.
Scarred Empire: An Enemies to Lovers Dark Billionaire Romance (Broken Cross Book 2) Page 8