It was after midnight when he returned to his place and rushed over to his phone when it began ringing the moment he opened the door. “Hello?”
“This is Chloe. I just got a call from Lucia. She’s fine and asked that you not try seeing her or calling her. She needs time.”
“No, she needs me just like I need her. She should have told me about Ashira’s visit and I would have straightened things out then. I need to talk with her, Chloe. I can’t stand to lose her.”
“And why can’t you stand to lose her, Derringer? What makes her so different from the others?”
He knew why Chloe was goading him. He was well aware what she was trying to get him to admit, not only to himself, but to her as well, just how he felt about Lucia. “I love her.” He drew in a deep breath. “I love her so damn much.”
“Then somehow you’re going to have to convince her of that, not only in words, but with actions. Good night, Derringer.”
Chloe then hung up the phone.
Twelve
Lucia sat behind her desk and stared at the beautiful arrangement of flowers that had arrived that morning. She then glanced around her office at the others that had arrived during the week. The cards all said the same thing: You are the only woman I want.
She drew in a deep breath wishing she could believe that, but for some reason she couldn’t. Maybe it had to do with the haughty I-told-you-so look Ashira had had on her face when she had left that day with Derringer. The two of them had a history. The woman had been after Derringer for years and it seemed as if she had him. And according to Ashira, no matter who he messed around with, she would be the woman he married.
So, Lucia couldn’t help asking herself, why was she wasting her time and her heart? The latter she knew there was no answer for. She would continue to love him, no matter what. Always had and always would. But she could do something about the former. To spend any more time with him was heartbreak just waiting to happen. Of course, he wouldn’t see it that way. Men had a tendency to look at affairs differently. They didn’t have a clue when it came to emotions.
At least he was respecting her wishes and hadn’t tried contacting her again. She figured he and Ashira were now a hot item, although Chloe insisted otherwise. Of course, she had come up with an excuse for the reason he’d left, which Lucia was certain was the one he’d told everyone. Little did he know that Ashira was spreading another story. She wanted to make sure word got back to Lucia through mutual acquaintances that she and Derringer had left the party to go to his place and have hot, blazing sex. It deeply pained Lucia that he could leave her bed that morning and hop into bed with another woman less than twelve hours later.
Lucia glanced up when she heard the knock at her office door. “Come in.”
Chloe stuck her head in and smiled. “Word is around the office that you got more flowers.”
She came in and closed the door behind her, admiring the arrangement sitting on Lucia’s desk. “They are gorgeous, but then, all the bouquets Derringer has sent have been gorgeous. You have to admit that.”
Lucia smiled slowly. “Yes, they’ve all been gorgeous, but they don’t mean a thing.”
Chloe took the chair across from her desk. “Because of what Tanya McCoy called and told you yesterday? That she’d heard Ashira and Derringer left my place and had hot, rousing sex over at Derringer’s Dungeon? I don’t believe that and neither should you. Ashira is just trying to save face. I was there when Derringer returned in Pete’s patrol car. Don’t let Ashira continue to mess with your mind like that. You need to take Derringer’s message on those cards you’ve been getting with the flowers to heart.”
Lucia fought back tears. “I wish I could, but I can’t. All these years I’ve loved him and was fine with loving him from a distance. But then I had to go ruin everything by admitting I loved him and letting him into my space. From now on it’s going back to status quo.”