Deception (Infidelity #3)

The door opened as Deloris entered, my phone in her hand. “You missed a call from Lennox.”

My heart dropped to the floor. I fought the urge to stand, afraid the wheels of the chair would crush it, tearing it to shreds. “Did you speak to him?”

“No, I was still speaking with Mr. Fitzgerald. By the way, he’s an interesting man. I’m guessing that he isn’t accustomed to hearing no, especially not from a woman.”

My one cheek rose in a lopsided grin. “I’d say that’s a pretty accurate assumption.”

“Your GPS—”

“I turned it off. I was going to talk to you about that. I’m not doing it to hide from you or Jerrod or Nox. I’m doing it so my location isn’t broadcast to everyone, including my family.”

Deloris nodded. “I concur. We can give you another tracker. You can keep it in your purse or I could have it put on jewelry? Something that will stay with you, but that others can’t access.”

Silvia entered with a soft knock to the open door. “Is there anything I can get either of you?”

Since I was still at Nox’s desk, I asked. “Do you know what I did with my backpack?” I remembered having it in the SUV on the way here. I hoped I hadn’t left it there. “Since I’m here at this desk, I could work on some schoolwork.”

“I put it in your room. I also put the things Mrs. Witt brought up there.”

My room. I liked the sound of that. Despite what Oren had said, I knew this was Lennox’s house. He’d said his mother had left it to him.

“Thanks, Silvia. I can get it.”

“Nonsense. I’ll bring it down.”

I smiled as she left us alone.

“I brought you a few days’ worth of clothes,” Deloris said. “Lennox should be back Friday night.”

I shook my head. “I can’t stay here. I have to go to class tomorrow.”

Her lips formed a straight line.

“You were the one who said I’m not a prisoner,” I reminded her. “I have a responsibility to do the best I can in school.”

“Lennox wants—”

“He wants me to be safe. I will be. I’ll wear the GPS you devise. I’ll not walk in the park or do any unplanned activities or outings. Jerrod can drive me.”

“Alex, Jerrod is no longer with us. Isaac is in DC. I think in the meantime, if you must leave this house, I’ll have one of the men from this morning assigned to you.”

“Why? I was used to Jerrod.”

She swallowed before meeting my gaze. “My job requires decisions that most people never want to make, ones most people are unaware even exist. You need to let me do my job. I can’t nor will I explain every decision.”

“That’s a reasonable request, but considering everything that’s happened, I should know why you fired Jerrod.”

“The partial print on the envelope matches his.”

I leaned back, causing the chair to recline as I blew out a puff of air. I was obviously becoming numb to the mortar fire occurring around me. “You think he…”

“I think that it would be difficult to breach my security unless you were familiar with the system and understood the way it worked. I had to look at this from the inside. I don’t believe he wrote the letter. I believe Jerrod was involved in placing it.”

“Whom did he do it for?”

“We’re currently in talks to discover that bit of information.”

Talks?

Was that code for something? What lengths would Deloris Witt go to in order to learn valuable information?

She nodded toward my phone. “Call Lennox back. Let him know you’ve spoken to your parents and his father.”

My eyes widened.

“Are you surprised that I knew that?”

I shook my head. “I guess not.”

“After you talk with him, you and I will devise your story for this morning. Then, we’ll discuss tomorrow.”

“I’ll call Nox, but as far as our discussion about tomorrow, it will be about what time we need to leave here for me to get to class.”

She nodded. “It would make both our lives much easier—yours and mine—if you wouldn’t fight Lennox at every turn.”

I tilted my head to the side. “I’m not fighting, and for the record, I’m well aware of how he may respond. I’m not fighting that either.”

Deloris lifted her hand. “There are some things that are better for me not to know.”

“I thought you were like Oz, great, powerful, and all-knowing.”

She didn’t respond to my statement as she walked to the windows overlooking the pool.

“The perimeter is clear,” Deloris said. “I wouldn’t recommend going to the shore, but the pool house or even the pool deck is safe.”

I suddenly wondered if there were people stationed outside, dressed from head to foot in black, watching for any unusual activity from the bushes, ready to pounce or shoot without hesitation. Maybe I’d watched too many spy movies, but my imagination was running overtime.

“Thank you,” I replied. “We can talk after I call Nox.”

“I’ll give you some privacy,” she said, walking toward the door. When she reached the threshold, she was met by Silvia.

“Let me leave this with you,” Silvia offered as she walked past Deloris and sat the backpack on the floor near the desk.

“Thank you.”

Once I was alone and the door was closed, I hit my incoming calls. Nox answered on the second ring.

“Are you trying to give me a heart attack by not answering? I couldn’t reach Jerrod either. Your fucking GPS isn’t working. Tell me you’re still at my house.”

I couldn’t help but smile at his loving greeting. “Hi, it’s good to hear your voice, too.”





AFTER MY CALL with Charli and another with Deloris, I quietly eased into a chair near the back of the gallery. The room was near capacity with afternoon testimony before the Senate Finance Committee in full swing. From my position, I could see the backs of most of the attendees. According to Oren’s rules, I was where I should be—no one seated behind me. In the small space between the chairs and wall, Isaac stood, also watching. While my concentration should be on the proceedings and testimony, his was on the surroundings and occupants.

Rarely did I travel without him. Usually, he would have been with me, regardless of what had happened this morning—it was his job—but now it seemed even more paramount. Isaac had been with me for going on seven years. Next to Deloris, he was my most trusted associate.

I needed to add Charli to that list. Considering the strides we’d made in our relatively new relationship, that shouldn’t be hard, but it was. Oren had taught me well. Few people deserved trust. Those who did earned it. I knew if I’d talked to my father about it, he’d tell me that after our short time together, Charli hadn’t earned it.

Fuck!

I didn’t fucking care if her name was Montague or even Davis—as in Severus Davis, the man testifying—at this point. The way I felt, the overpowering need to protect her, the way she made me feel, like I did deserve a woman like her, negated his warnings. I wasn’t being impulsive, nor was I thinking with my dick, as he’d said about my impromptu trip to San Francisco. I was thinking with my heart. I’d only ever listened to it once in my life. At thirty-two years old, it was time to give the vital organ one more listen.

After Isaac picked me up at my house in Rye, for the first ten minutes of our drive, he apologized profusely for not being present in Central Park. I told him it was all right. It was.

It wasn’t his fault. It was mine.

I was the one who told Isaac to drop me off. I was the one who texted him and told him to meet me at Columbia. I was the one who allowed Charli’s desire for fresh air and sunshine to nearly be our demise.

If the shooter hadn’t hit that woman, again, I would be responsible.

Me.

Her.

It was what Charli did to me.