CHAPTER TWENTY
I woke up to Blake’s warm body curled around me. I stretched, and he pressed slow, lazy kisses along the length of my torso. Having sleep—actual restful, nightmare-free sleep—only to wake to Blake’s hands and mouth on me. This could be heaven.
He nuzzled my neck, sucking my skin softly.
“No more hickeys,” I warned.
He laughed into my neck. “I wasn’t sure I was actually going to see you again. I had to leave my mark.”
“Yes, you made yourself known.”
He stilled and turned me to face him. “James saw?”
I paused. “He noticed, yeah.”
His expression was impassive, but I saw emotion storming behind his eyes. “What exactly does he mean to you?”
I bit my lip, wondering what to say that wouldn’t send Blake flying into a jealous rage. “Think of him like my Sophia. He’s a friend who wants more, but a friend all the same.”
“If he wants you, then I want him gone. You can find someone else to do what he does.”
I rolled my eyes. “And I want Sophia gone. So we’re probably both going to be disappointed for a while.”
“This is completely different. Sophia lives in New York. You work with the man face-to-face nearly every day. If I had someone at my office trying to f*ck me every day, you’d lose your mind.”
I sighed. “James and I don’t have a history, and he’s a good person. He’s not hatching a plot to get me away from you.” I didn’t think so anyway, though he certainly wasn’t a fan of Blake. “Can we drop it for now?”
“I can’t stand that he had his hands on you.”
“Then don’t think about it, because it doesn’t matter.”
I lifted my head to kiss him, praying he’d never know that James had had his mouth on me too. I lay back and traced his jaw. His face seemed softer, rested. Maybe he hadn’t been sleeping well without me, either.
“Speaking of work, I should meet with Risa at some point and get that mess cleared up.”
“Can’t it wait until Monday?”
“Maybe. She’ll probably wonder why she can’t get into her email account though, if she’s doing any work after hours.”
“Let her wonder. Your time is better spent in bed with me. We have to make up for lost time.”
“Oh?”
“I was thinking about kissing you from head to toe until you beg me to stop. And I need to block out at least an hour for licking your p-ssy.” He slid his hand to cover my mound. “Yeah, at least an hour. Let’s see, what else…?”
I laughed. “Okay, I get it, but I should go downstairs and get cleaned up.”
“Nonsense. You can shower here. No clothes necessary. I want you naked in my bed all day. I’ll tie you up if I have to. You know I will.” He looked serious but a ghost of a smile passed over his features.
“We’ll have to face reality eventually, you know.”
“Nah.” He lowered his mouth and circled my nipple with his tongue, flicking the tip until a familiar warmth simmered in my belly.
I sucked in a breath and arched into the motion, sliding my fingers through his hair. He slipped a finger into my sex, curling up to the spot that made me crazy.
“I haven’t even gotten to use any of my toys on you. And you’re in big trouble for all this shit you pulled.”
I moaned and lifted my hips to deepen his penetration. I’d wanted dominant Blake. Here he was.
My phone rang, interrupting our moment. Still in Blake’s clutches, I reached for it. Sid. Thank God.
“Hey.”
“Hey, uh, the police are at the apartment.”
“What?”
“They have questions about some guy, Mark MacLeod. They said you knew him?”
“Shit. Okay. I’ll be right down.”
Blake slipped another finger into me and closed his teeth gently around my nipple. My brain skidded, trying to decide which direction to move in. I tried to push him away, but he was firm and unmoving, his eyes twinkling mischievously.
“Oh, you’re here?” Sid asked.
My breath hitched. “Yeah, I’m at Blake’s. Give me a few minutes.”
I hung up and Blake took my other nipple in his mouth, his cheeks hollowing with a long, delicious pull on the tip.
I gave him a gentle shove. “Get up. I have to go.”
“Why? Who was that?”
He loosened his hold and I slipped away, throwing on my clothes from the previous night. My mind was racing. Daniel had implied that the investigation would be closed. What the hell were they doing here?
“Sid. The police are downstairs. They want to talk to me.”
He sat up quickly. “Do you want me to come with you?”
“No.”
“Erica, this is one of those things that maybe I should be there for.”
“No, Blake. The answer is no. I will deal with this. I do not want you there. Please tell me that you’re hearing me on this.”
He hesitated. “What do you think they’re here for? They’re going to ask you about Daniel. What will you tell them?”
“I’ll figure it out, okay?”
*
I tried in vain to calm my nerves before I walked into the apartment. I looked a little worse for wear from the previous night, but surely they didn’t care about that. I prayed Blake would honor his promise to stay upstairs because I didn’t trust him not to say something he shouldn’t in front of the police.
I walked in, and two men greeted me. One was tall and thin, his hair a mousy brown, and the other was shorter and thicker around the middle, his hair almost completely gray. They both seemed friendly enough, which I was thankful for because I was petrified by the prospect of speaking with them.
The tall one spoke up first. “Sorry to stop in on you so early here. I’m Detective Carmody and this is Detective Washington. We were hoping to speak with you about your involvement with Mark MacLeod.”
My involvement? “What do you mean?”
Washington reached into his jacket and pulled out a handful of large photographs that appeared to have been taken at the gala. In them, Mark and I were dancing, his arm wrapped firmly around me. My back was to the camera. In another, his mouth was an inch from my ear, a smug smile on his face. That was the face I was glad to have missed when he was telling me how he wanted me again. I suppressed a grimace as I remembered his voice, his breath on my skin that night. Instead I looked up calmly, waiting for them to continue.
“These were taken by a journalist shortly before he died. Guests identified you with him here. Did you know him well?”
I shook my head. “No, I didn’t know him well at all. I’d met him a couple times through a business deal I was doing that involved his firm.”
“He looks like more than an acquaintance here,” Washington said.
“I can see that. He was flirting with me a lot. I humored him with a dance, but I didn’t see him after this. He seemed nice enough, but I wasn’t interested.”
“How was he acting that night?”
“He was coming on to me, like I said. He did seem drunk. I don’t know. We only talked for a few minutes before the dance, and then I left the gala early. I wasn’t feeling well.”
The pair glanced at each other. Carmody stuffed the photos back into the envelope and Washington sized me up again. I tried not to fidget or look nervous.
“I guess I’m confused. He killed himself, right? Are you trying to figure out why he did it?” The words left me in a rush, and my heart raced.
Carmody spoke. “When the son of a prominent figure dies suddenly, we have to do our due diligence. We’re trying to rule out all other possible causes of death.”
“Oh. I didn’t realize that. I thought I heard the investigation was closed.”
“Not yet, unfortunately.” Carmody shrugged.
“Is there anything else you might be able to tell us?”
“I don’t think so. I wish I could. Honestly, I was really shocked by the news.” That was the truth.
“You’re not the first person who’s said that, which is why we’re talking to anyone who might have known him well.”
I nodded. “I feel so bad for his parents. They must be devastated.” I tried to appear as sympathetic as I could. I couldn’t believe the words that were coming out of my mouth, or how easily I’d slipped into the role of an appropriately ignorant innocent bystander in this situation. Perhaps the weeks of trying to talk myself into being someone I wasn’t had done this to me.
“They are. It’s too bad. Sometimes there aren’t any answers for why people do this though. Anyway, thanks for your time and sorry for the bother.”
Washington reached into his pocket and retrieved a business card. “Here’s my card. Call us if you think of anything, all right?”
“I definitely will.”
They left, and I collapsed into a seat at the counter, grateful I’d survived their interrogation without a breakdown. I honestly didn’t think they suspected anything, and why would they? I had no ties to Mark that anyone outside of a few people close to me could ever find.
No sooner had they left, Blake appeared.
“What happened?”
“Nothing. They had photos of Mark and me dancing at the gala. They wanted to know how we knew each other. I explained that we were only acquaintances and he’d been flirting with me. They seemed satisfied and left.”
“So they don’t believe Mark’s death was a suicide?”
“I couldn’t say for sure. They didn’t seem too concerned that it wasn’t. Seemed like they were hitting a bunch of dead ends and about to pack it in. But I have no idea.”
“All right, come back up.”
“I’m here now. Let me get cleaned up, and I’ll come up there when I’m done.” As much as I wanted to be in my warm and safe Blake bubble after weeks of separation, I needed a minute with my thoughts.
He paused a second. “Okay, don’t be long.” He kissed me and left.
I stepped into the shower and washed. I thought about going back upstairs, where we’d be hiding. Sure, hanging out in bed with Blake all day wasn’t exactly an inconvenience, but I also knew why we were lying low. So far, the only solutions on the table were coming out as Daniel’s daughter, a saga I couldn’t begin to anticipate the complications of, or Blake could bring attention to the shady dealings that would undoubtedly ruin Daniel’s campaign, possibly his entire career. I had a hard time accepting either as a viable option.
I toweled off and glanced out the window. Connor was parked down the street, almost out of my view. A rush of emotion surged through me, and I knew what I needed to do.
I pulled on my blue jeans and a T-shirt and slipped on my sneakers. I scribbled a quick note and left it on the counter before I rushed downstairs. I stepped outside. Clay was standing guard against the Escalade.
“Ms. Hathaway.”
“Clay. Long time no see. Back on the clock, I see.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Well, good luck. I’m walking down to the store. I’ll be back in a bit.”
He nodded. I started a brisk walk down the street. I only had a few minutes to do what I needed to do. I crossed the street and knocked on Connor’s window. He rolled it down, giving me a hard stare.
“Take me to him.”
“Get in.”
I opened the back door and let him drive us away.
*
I had no idea where we were going until I saw the familiar Boston Sand and Gravel storage tanks come into view. We took several back roads under the tangle of highways until we were in a secluded area, cut off by train cars and warehouses that stood empty on the weekend.
Daniel leaned against his Lexus SUV, dressed in khakis and a white collared shirt. He was smoking again. He should probably stop smoking, I thought idly. He pushed off the car and walked toward me. I scoped out the surroundings. We were so very alone right now. With the bypass above us, no one would hear me if I screamed. I stepped out of the car, fighting the urge to run in the opposite direction. Despite every reason he’d given me not to, I was determined to meet him head-on.
He flicked his cigarette and stood before me with his arms crossed. His lips were set in a firm line.
“Connor tells me you’ve been all over creation with Landon. I’m pretty sure we covered that.”
“Did he tell you that the police stopped by this morning too?”
His eyes widened and shot to Connor. For the first time ever, I saw emotion in Connor’s face. He seemed…flustered.
“I didn’t see them, sir. I’m sorry.”
Daniel looked back to me.
“Must have been on a coffee run. No worries, I had a little chat with them.”
“What did you tell them?”
I waited, wanting the anticipation to burn in him.
His lips thinned. “You’d better start talking.”
“They had photos of Mark dancing with me at the gala.”
“What did you tell them?”
I stared hard into his eyes, keeping my face as steady and emotionless as I could.
“What did you tell them, goddamnit?” He grabbed my shoulders and shook me.
“Let me go.” I wrestled free from his grasp, breathless from the adrenaline that pumped through my veins. “Don’t touch me. Ever.”
I saw Connor moving from the corner of my eye. He had a wide stance, like he was ready to act on Daniel’s command.
“I lied, Daniel. I lied like a pro. You’d have been proud. And do you know why?”
“Indulge me.”
“Because as I’ve much as I’ve grown to hate you, for some inexplicable reason, I still care about you. I care about your life and your freedom, and I even care about your stupid f*cking campaign. My finger’s on the trigger, and I can’t shoot.” I took a breath, trying to keep the tremble at bay. “Because that’s not who I am. I’m never going to be like you. I’m never going to play the game for the sick, greedy fun of it.”
“I’m sure that’s not the only reason.”
“It is the only reason. I’m not scared of you anymore.”
He shot me a chilling look, his lips curled into a snarl. “Maybe you should be.”
“You’d no sooner kill me than I’d send you to jail for murder, Daniel. Oh, and let’s not forget obstruction of justice.”
His eyes narrowed a fraction.
“Yeah, Blake told me about all that. How does it feel knowing that all those great pains you went to covering Mark’s ass paved the way for him to do what he did to me, the same way he did it to so many other girls?”
His jaw clenched.
“Thanks for that, Dad.”
He flinched slightly at the word. I was getting under his skin, and that emboldened me.
“The threats, the manipulation, you trying to assimilate me into your world. All this shit is going to stop right now. Today.”
He let out a short laugh. “What gives you that idea?”
“When Mom died, I had no one. No one.” My voice wavered, but I swallowed to keep the emotion in check. “She gave me all the love she could give, for as long as she could give it. And from that point on, I had to figure out how to make it on my own. I made the rules. I figured it all out. Even when people like Mark came into my life and threatened to destroy everything, I survived. I thrived. And you’re not going to take that from me. I’ve come too goddamn far to live under anyone’s thumb. Not yours, not Blake’s. No one’s.”
He motioned to Connor who then walked a few paces away, out of earshot. I relaxed a little.
“You sound very certain of this. I realize you’re trying to be strong here, but I think we talked about how I feel about people threatening me.”
“I’m not threatening you. I’m reasoning with you because you’ve been nothing but unreasonable from the start. Don’t you think I deserve to have a voice if this relationship means anything at all to you?”
His expression didn’t change. He wasn’t going to give in easily.
“I realized something today. You’ve been making my life hell since Mark died, and I would have given anything to make that stop. But I can’t watch you go to jail, or even watch your campaign crumble, at my hand. And you can’t knock off your own daughter. Somewhere in that cold heart of yours, you care about me. And you can care about me and trust me without owning me. It’s not quite like a father-daughter dance, but I suppose in some f*cked up version of reality, that’s love.”
He made no indication that he wanted to speak, so I continued. I’d give him all I had. I had nothing more to lose.
“I know you loved my mom. I see it in your eyes every time we talk about her.”
He winced, his jaw tightening. “Don’t talk to me about Patty. You don’t know anything about it.”
My voice quieted. I’d been nearly yelling up to now. “I don’t know what went on between the two of you, but I know that if you’d stayed together, my life would have been so different. None of us can change those circumstances now. But trying to take the wheel on my life at this late stage of the game isn’t going to work for either of us, trust me. If you still feel a shred of love for her, or regret for what you left behind, I’m begging you to give all this up and be the kind of man she wanted you to be before you wrote her off.”
His lips parted slightly, and he looked past me. I caught a flicker of emotion then, the pain I thought I’d mistaken before when I spoke to him about my mother. I was gambling on the chance that somewhere in his heart, he did still love her. Enough to love me.
He let out a slow breath. “It would have never worked. I did her a favor by ending it. She wouldn’t have been happy with this life.”
“Then why would I?” I threw my hands up, exasperated.
He shoved his hands into his pockets and looked back to me. A long moment passed between us.
Looking into his cool blue eyes filled me with conflicting emotions. We were supposed to be important people in each other’s lives. A father, a daughter, and here we were, sparring and threatening. Our hearts were filled with anger and mistrust. Under all of that, there had to be something worth protecting, but it was so faint and buried so far deep under all the muck that I could barely believe it existed.
He broke my gaze and pulled out another cigarette. His hands shook slightly as he lit it. “So you’ve made your point. Now what?”
I sighed. “No more stalking. I never want to see Connor’s f*cking face again. And no more threats. You stay away from Blake and me unless, at some point, I feel like I can trust you again.”
“He knows everything now, I gather.”
“Don’t concern yourself with him. I know it’s hard for you to trust me, but I’m not really giving you a choice.”
“Maybe he’s the one I don’t trust.”
“Hurting you would hurt me. And he loves me too much to do that.”
He paused. “What if he stops loving you?”
The words settled over me. I’d spent days in agony, afraid he’d done just that. I’d given him plenty of reasons to stop, but he hadn’t given up on us. “I’ll never give him a reason to.”
“And the campaign work, I suppose you’re hoping to bow out of that as well?”
“If I know I can trust you to stop this madness, I will help you. I spoke with Will and we came up with a good plan that would allow me to consult with your team without giving up the business. He seemed to think it would be a great solution, but he wanted to run it by you. I’m assuming he didn’t do that.”
He shook his head and a smirk lifted his lips.
I frowned. “What?”
“I honestly can’t figure out if you’re more like me or her at this point.”
I couldn’t hold back a small smile.
“Yeah, sometimes I wonder about that too.”
I fidgeted a little. This whole conversation had become somewhat surreal. Had I really just won an argument with Daniel Fitzgerald?
“Listen, I need to go before Blake sends out a search party.”
“He didn’t know you came?”
“God, no. I had to sneak out of the apartment and past a pack of bodyguards. He’s probably completely freaking out right now.”
His eyes narrowed slightly. “Well, I guess I don’t need to worry about him not taking care of you.”
I laughed. “Yeah, not a concern, trust me.”
He exhaled heavily and flicked his cigarette. “All right. We’ll drop this for now, but I’d like to meet again soon to talk about logistics.”
I hesitated, sensing an authoritative tone in his voice that threatened to bring us right back to where we’d started.
“I’ll call you. Frankly, I need some time to put my relationship and my business back together after all of this.”
He nodded. “Fine. Connor will take you back home. Assuming you can handle that?”
“Yeah, as long as he doesn’t plan on killing me and dumping my body in the river.”
*
I called Blake on the way back. He’d called dozens of times since I’d left and I knew he was going to be a mess.
“Erica, where the f*ck are you?”
“I’m on my way home. Please calm down.”
“Where have you been? You leave me a note telling me not to worry, and then you completely disappear?”
“You’re not calming down. I will be home in ten minutes. Tell the SWAT team to stand down.”
“Where were you?”
“I’m fine. Everything is fine, I promise.”
Connor dropped me off down the street. As much as I wanted to see Clay and his friends jump Connor, that wasn’t really in the spirit of peace I was trying to cultivate with Daniel. I approached the entrance of the apartment building. Blake was pacing like a mad man, spouting heated words to Clay and another brawny man dressed in black.
As soon as his gaze landed on me, he started toward me. I was expecting him to start yelling and freaking out, but instead he trapped me in a hug that left me breathless it was so tight.
He released me enough to look me in the eyes. His face was tense, his skin tight over the angles of his beautiful features. His hand trembled slightly as he caught my face in his palm. “Don’t ever leave like that again. Promise me.”
I nodded and swallowed hard, feeling less brave and more guilty with each passing moment.
“Promise me, Erica.”
“I promise. I’m sorry. I had to see him and set things straight.”
His eyes widened slightly. “What? Who?”
“Daniel.”
He stepped back and shoved his hands through the fine strands of his hair. “You’re kidding me. Please tell me you’re joking.”
“Everything is fine now. I reasoned with him. He was pissed of course, but I think I finally got through to him and made him understand where I’m coming from. He’s going to leave us alone.”
“How do you know? What if he was just appeasing you? What if he’d… Christ, Erica. I can’t even believe you did this.”
I thought it over for a second. My meeting with Daniel could have gone all wrong, completely different from how it had. Blake would have never forgiven himself if something had happened to me.
“He’s my dad, Blake. He’s horrible sometimes, but he’s not going to hurt me.” I sighed, grateful that I could finally believe that. “We came to an understanding. He promised to back off.”
“And you believed him?”
“I believe him.”
*
I spent the rest of Saturday regurgitating my conversation with Daniel to Blake, trying to get him to believe that we were going to be okay. He was still skeptical, but I had at least convinced him that he didn’t need to release any damaging information to the public for now. I made him swear on our relationship that he wouldn’t.
Risa and I agreed to meet at Mocha on Sunday morning. She’d suspect something was wrong, but I had to see her face to face. It was my best chance to get more information on what she and Max were up to behind the scenes.
“Hey.” She slid into the seat across from me, looking fresh and sweet, as usual.
I canted my head to the side and stared at her, as if I were seeing her for the first time. In a way, I was. I was seeing the person she’d been the whole time, knowing what I knew now.
“I’m pretty disappointed, Risa. That’s what’s up.”
She paled a bit. “What do you mean?”
“I’m curious. How long did you plan on pretending you were a part of our team before you cut loose? Was it just whenever the opportunity struck, or did you and Max have a long-term plan?”
She hesitated. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”
“I saw that you sent Max the files, so you can start being honest now. What I want to know is how you went from loving your job and caring about my company to sharing confidential information to a third party with a vengeance, because I seriously don’t get it.”
Her countenance changed, a bitterness washing over her features. “Really? What don’t you get, Erica? You’ve been a nightmare to work with from day one. Everyone thinks you’re this great visionary who’s built the business, but where would you be without people like me? I’ve been busting my ass for you, and for what? So you can take all the credit?”
I frowned. “Sorry, isn’t that your job?”
“It will be when Max and I start up our own site. It’s already in the works, and we’re taking all the advertisers with us, so consider yourself warned.”
I let out a laugh filled with pure shock. Her betrayal had run far deeper than I’d expected.
“Wow, Risa. You’ve really outdone yourself. Max too, apparently. Never underestimate the power of jealousy.” Max would stop at nothing to best Blake. I regretted that I’d ever doubted Blake’s warnings.
“Call it what you want. Good luck picking yourself up after this. You’re going to regret it.”
“What you fail to realize is the company’s success isn’t about you. It’s not even about me. Any one of us could leave, and the company could survive now. You were part of a team, but I guess you completely missed the point of what that means. Good luck running your business with a founding philosophy based on jealousy and underhanded deceitfulness.”
“Go to hell,” she snapped.
I stood to leave. I’d heard all I needed to hear. I paused before I walked away.
“Oh, Risa. One more thing.”
“What?”
I let a slow smile cross my face. “Blake wanted me to let you know he’s not interested.”