Lethal Love: Deceit can be Deadly

by Perri Forrest

  “What even made you do this? This is such a beautiful arrangement. Just gorgeous.”

  “And so are you. I’m glad you like it.”

  “Love it is more like it.”

  “Even better.”

  Right as I watched my sister drive from the parking lot, Nova pushed a sigh into the phone. Before I could ask her, what was wrong, she said, “I’m just so unclear as to why you’re single. I haven’t identified a flaw yet.”

  “Are you looking for flaws?” I asked her.

  “I was. Newly-formed habit.”

  “Hmm… should I resurface when you’ve shaken the habit?”

  “Nooo! Didn’t you hear the emphasis I placed on, ‘was’? Don’t you dare move. The habit’s already shaken. It was gone the first night I got naked in your loft.”

  “Ohh! So, now you’re throwing that in there!”

  “Okay, I withdraw that motion. That was an unfair example.”

  “But fond memories. We have to do that whole sleepover thing again.”

  “You get no arguments from me on that.”

  “No pressure. But sooner than later would work beautifully.”

  “Two weeks is a long time, right?”

  “For that… the day after was too long.”

  “Well, sir, we must do something about that. When are you free for dinner?”

  “I’m free whenever you are. Don’t tell me you haven’t figured that out yet?”

  “Not yet. But I’ve been known to be a little slow in areas.”

  “Yeah, right!” I laughed. “Nova, there’s nothing slow about you.”

  “You’re just being nice.”

  “That’s all you’re gonna get from me, lady. Get used to it.”

  “I’ll do my very best.”

  “Okay, good. And while you’re doing your best making that happen, do your best to come up with a time that works for you so that I can lay my eyes on you.”

  “And your hands too?”

  “See…”

  “Okay, I quit. I’ll stop with the subliminals.”

  “I mean, you don’t have to. But when I get started…”

  Her giggle was cute as fuck. “I’ll call you as soon as I make it home so we can make some plans. Is that okay?”

  “That’s perfect. I’ll be waiting.”

  “Okay, bye Leo.”

  “Bye, Nova.”

  When we disconnected the call, I hung out on the rooftop a little longer. Hung out… literally. There was no way I could make my way back into the building right now. Even though I had my own entrance, I couldn’t risk somebody coming in and seeing my dick standing in a firm salute.

  Yeah, it’s gonna be a minute… or several.

  36 | Nova

  When Leo and I hung up, I couldn’t stop smiling. Even when I tried to check myself on feeling giddy, I couldn’t help it. I swore that I wasn’t going back to a relationship of the monogamous kind. That I was reverting to the days of the woman who was a serial dater. After Drew, I had no reason to have a man in my life, outside of the occasional sex craving. But Leo, was proving himself to be the person who could change all of that. His soul… it was just… good. And the authenticity of it, was just one of the many things that stood out.

  He worked hard, but still found the time for me. I wasn’t even his woman and he had already invested. His actions said as much. The attentiveness. The Starbucks pop-up. The trip to Coronado Island. The ‘just because’ calls and text messages. The flowers! Not to mention, we talked every night. Whenever I crossed his mind, he called—and that sometimes turned out to be a few times a day.

  He wasn’t just extra easy on the eyes, he was charismatic. He was genuine and open. He was easily, one of the most intelligent men—no, people—that I had come into contact with. His conversations weren’t basic ones. They were political at times. They were about current affairs. And even when we entered those areas of depth, I didn’t feel as though I needed to censor my viewpoints—of which there were many. I’ll just say that he was a far cry from the guy that preceded him. And did I say that the man sends flowers… just because!

  Simmer, Nova. You still got a work day to get through…

  After talking myself back to the now, I was set to check incoming emails, when my office line rang out. The moment I pressed the speaker button, I was met with Kali’s voice. “Hey lady, you have a customer out here.”

  “Male or female?”

  “It’s a guy,” she whispered into the line.

  I rolled my eyes and shook my head. Usually, when men came into the dealership asking for me, specifically, I spent half of the time, rejecting their advances. They’d come in here with their millionaire status, entitled, smelling like new money, and unable to take no for an answer. In the past I was able to tell them that I was married; and although the advances would still come, they’d be less aggressive. Now, I wouldn’t even feel comfortable telling anybody that I was married because I might very well throw up in my own mouth, just saying the words.

  “Does he look the part?” I asked Kali. “Because I’m really not trying to get stuck with somebody with a dream and sixteen dollars toward it.”

  “Oh my God! You are going to make me laugh out loud and embarrass the hell out of myself. And Mr. Canton is in the building today, so I’m not trying to lose my job. Do you want me to bring him back or not? I can pass him off to Kyle’s vulture-ass if you want. It would be my pleasure to let him know that he’s getting your rejects.”

  Now, it was my turn to laugh out loud. “Okay, we gotta stop this,” I playfully warned her. “Did he specifically ask for me?”

  “He did. And he’s not that bad looking either.”

  “Oh my God. So, it’s what I thought. One of those…”

  My voice trailed off when I leered over at my beautiful arrangement. They were my out. If this guy did try hitting on me, the flowers would be my excuse to turn him down.

  Problem solved.

  “Nova?” she called out. “You there?”

  “I’m here. Sorry about that. Go ahead and send him back, Kali. Thank you. We get this sell, drinks on me one day this week after work.”

  “Well, we might as well pick the place now, because you always make the sell.”

  The man that Kali dropped off in my office was indeed attractive. However, he didn’t really look like the type to be driving around in luxury vehicles. His appearance was more like that of a blue-collar guy; maybe low-level white collar. He could’ve been one of those unsuspecting millionaires, but I highly doubted it. He wasn’t clean cut. He had long brown hair that spilled outside of a burgundy snapback. Grey jeans, burgundy button-down shirt, and leather ankle boots in some burgundy-ish color. He smelled good and had a quiet demeanor. If he didn’t drive around in a Chevy or some type of Ford SUV, I was going to be shocked as hell. I had a knack for these things.

  “Good afternoon,” I greeted him at the entrance of my office door. “Brock Davis, right?” I said, before offering him a seat.

  “Right,” he smiled. “But Brock is fine.”

  I padded back to my seat so that we could be seated across from each other and he could state his business. “Okay, Brock. What can I do for you?”

  He hesitated for a few seconds. I didn’t know what the pause was for, but now that I was in direct line of his eyes, there was something about them that I didn’t like. Shifty. The aura around him was off just a little bit. Low vibration…

  Or maybe I was just suspicious of all men outside of Randy and Leo.

  “I was interested in going over a few of the cars in inventory.”

  Uh-Duh. You’re at a car dealership. Be more specific.

  I pushed back on my chair slightly to allow myself room to cross my legs. “What are you currently driving? Just want to get a sense of what fits.”

  “Fits?”

  “Yes. Not every car fits the person. Cars are an expression of your personality. I firmly believe that. And this isn’t written anywhere,” I kidd
ed. “Just something I’ve come to believe.”

  “Oh, you get into the psychology of it,” he remarked, smiling. “I’m in an SUV that I’ve had for a few years. Ford Explorer sport.”

  I knew it!

  “And what put you in the mind of switching to something… here?”

  “Oh, because I heard that you guys were having some kind of sale.”

  “Sale?” I chuckled in confusion. “You sure you in the right place?”

  “I’m positive I’m in the right place.”

  “Hmmm… yeah, I think you might be at the wrong lot. How did you get my name? I’m sure they gave you incorrect information.”

  He adjusted his snapback, showing off knitted brows. “Wow. That’s so weird.”

  “I would agree.”

  I took that as my cue to stand. I had wasted enough time with this lost stranger. I stared down at him, waiting for him to follow my lead so that he could be on his merry way, and out of my office. But to my surprise, his ass didn’t move.

  “See, I don’t think I’m in the wrong place. Royce…” He paused after saying my ex-best friend’s name, producing a smirk that made me uneasy. “Royce…” he repeated. “She seemed to think that you’d be able to help me with a vehicle.” After a small delay, he followed up with, “That was before she died, of course.”

  “Okay, well Royce told you wrong. I’m truly sorry for that. Now, I can walk you back to the front if we’re done here. But I have work to get to, before the end of the day.”

  He finally stood up, but remained in place leering over at me. “Damn, you’re more hardcore than I thought. Beautiful and hardcore. That’s a deadly mixture—especially in a woman.”

  Although the hairs on the back of my neck, stood stiffer than a soldier at attention, I wasn’t going to lead on to him. He was fishing, and until I knew what he wanted, I wasn’t saying shit. I needed to be very careful how I handled him…

  “You see…” he continued. “There was this one night. Hmm, or maybe it was early morning.” He stopped and snapped his finger as though he’d just come up with a brilliant idea or something. “Yeah, that was it. It was early morning. I think I saw you at Royce’s.”

  I shrugged. “She was my best friend. Is there a point you’re trying to make? If not, I think we’re done here.”

  “So, this particular morning you were there for quite a bit.”

  “And?”

  “And then the next day, I find out…” He leaned forward. “…That she’s dead. Imagine that. And then, how about after that, a man that I’ve seen come and go a lot—who happens to be your husband—gets arrested. But get this…” He leaned a little further, this time whispering. “I happen to know that he hadn’t been over there in umm… several days. Now, that’s just crazy how he can be in two places at once. I know some weird shit happens in the world. There’s even talk of clones and shit like that.” His face went from a smirk to no expression at all, before he said, “I’ve never believed in that type of shit, though.”

  I looked beyond him at two of my colleagues walking past my office. They both smiled and waved; I did the same. I was cool on the outside, but burning up on the inside. This man was here to cause trouble. To possibly undo everything that I’d done. He was a threat to my freedom, my livelihood. I couldn’t afford that.

  In that instant, I thought back to some investigative show that I’d seen recently, where the guy said something like, “Somebody always sees something…”

  This is not good.

  Staring him down, and careful not to blink, I asked… “What is it that you want?”

  The smile on his face, and the look in his eyes, I didn’t like. And when he spilled the words, “By discovering nature, you discover yourself.”

  I honestly thought I was going to lose my balance and go crashing to the floor…

  37 | Nova

  Later that afternoon

  “By discovering nature, you discover yourself.”

  The flowers at my hotel.

  It was him.

  I knew it seemed odd! Why would the hotel send me something and then just sign it, “Concierge?” And if it was them, that weird-ass arrangement would’ve been there when I first arrived to my suite. I should have listened to my gut instinct. Dammit! But what difference would it have made? Absolutely none. Clearly, he was waiting for the right time to strike. Goddamnit!

  “Nova… Noovvaa… Hey… Nova! You there?”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah… sorry, Randy. I’m here.”

  “You sure?” he chuckled, his voice coming through the intercom system on my desk.

  “I’m here. Sorry about that. I was—”

  “It’s okay. Gather your bearings; and when you do, can you come up to my office, please?”

  “Absolutely. I’ll be there in five.”

  Shit.

  I should have gone home like I said I was going to do, after the fucking creep left. Now, it was too late.

  Fuck.

  I closed my eyes, and swiveled my chair back toward the window to resolve the thoughts I had floating around. Inside my head was an unrelenting battlefield at work. Two opposing sides—to kill or not to kill. The last thing I needed to do was show up to talk to Mr. Canton and have my mind in a clusterfuck of emotions. I didn’t know how I would pull that off, though. The day started out so good, and now… it just wasn’t anymore.

  But instead of running into panic mode, I committed to refocusing. To pulling out the best face I could find.

  I slid my pumps back on my bare feet, then stood to smooth out my skirt. I remained in that spot for a few seconds, and until I was sure that my breathing had regulated. Checking myself in the mirror, I semi-approved what stared back at me. A layer of something on my lips would have sealed the deal. However, since I wasn’t in the mood to go digging through my purse, I settled on the current mask and headed for the spiral staircase to the executive office.

  As usual, Randy was decked the hell out, and styled in one of his many designer suits—this one olive green, and paired with a tan shirt, frosted gold tie, and brown shoes made of fine leather. The fresh taper, and trimmed facial hair, screamed that he was fresh from his personal barber’s chair. A platinum watch with diamonds cuffed around his wrist, and his expensive cologne danced in the air, before descending upon the tips of my nostrils.

  “The sweet aroma of it all,” I stated upon arrival.

  “There she is,” he said, when I stepped into the lap of luxury that was his office. The place was lavish, decorated in dark-rust and mahogany. A married man’s man cave, is what it was, boasting a large television that damn near took up an entire wall. Across the room, he had a full bar perched seven stairs up, and in an area designated for libation, only. I eyed the bar for such a long period, that Mr. Canton told me, “Pick your poison, kiddo.”

  I pushed out an awkward chuckle, trying my best to eclipse the inner turmoil. “I’ll take Cognac and coke with no ice, if you have that over there.”

  He guffawed. “Got everything,” he said. “Grab a seat over by the patio and I’ll be right over.”

  I did as he said, choosing a seat on the mahogany sectional, facing the views. I focused in the distance on the area surrounding the M Resort. I had fond memories of my first encounter with Leo, of being whisked out of the office to get my mind off of the shit-show that was my life. In a short time, things had been looking up. I had amazing people around me—some old and one new.

  And right when everything was great, along comes a new enemy.

  “Best view, ever,” I whispered under my breath.

  “Yeah,” Randy cosigned, from next to me. “What’s work without views—of something? Lets you know the world is alive, right?”

  He extended the glass of brown mixture to me, then traveled to the chair that I usually saw him sitting in when I came to see him.

  “Definitely lets you know the world is alive. I pity the people that sit behind closed doors all day and have no clue whether it’s sunny, st
orming, or there at all…”

  “I couldn’t agree more. That’s why I had the building designed this way. We put in a lot of hours in a given day. Wouldn’t have been right to have people away from their families for so long, then have them closed in by darkness and walls. That’s criminal.”

  “That was so thoughtful.”

  I brought my glass to my lips, and took something of a gulp. I wanted to feel the Cognac burn so that I’d know a buzz would soon follow. And as the warm libation travelled down my pipe, I made a mental note to stop off at Lee’s Liquors on my way home so that I could restock. With this new turn of events, I had a lot of thinking to do. And since liquor helped me with that; making sure that I was well-stocked, was essential.

  I looked up to find Mr. Canton studying me. The slightly raised brow, let me know immediately, that there was something he wanted to say.

  “You need another drink?” he asked, when he saw that I’d taken mine down quickly. “No judgement here,” he joked.

  “You’re funny. I’m good. I don’t think I need anymore. I can already feel it. Thank goodness I’ll be at work for a while longer.”

  “How’s everything? We haven’t really talked much since brunch.”

  “I’ve been up to my neck in paperwork and selling these wonderful automobiles.”

  “And is that enough of a distraction? Do you need time away? You can’t be okay knowing that you lived in the same house with somebody capable of murder. Hell, I’m not okay with it.”

  If only you knew…

  I shrugged my shoulders, before letting them fall softly. “Oddly enough, I’m not bothered. I’m just glad it’s all over with. I’m licensed to—”

  “I know that Nova. But I’m checking on you… your mental. Not to pry; Gayle and I are worried. If you only knew how many times I’ve had to make her put the phone down.” He laughed out loud, then shook his head. “Gotta love her.”

  “And I do. She’s wonderful. You both are. I appreciate you looking out for me.” I lowered my head so that he couldn’t see my eyes. He didn’t need to know that, because of his words, I was on the verge of tears.