“BY THE WAY, congratulations on your engagement.”
My gaze shifted from the project engineer’s face on my monitor to the photo of Eva blowing kisses. “Thank you.”
I would much rather look at my wife. For an instant, I pictured Eva as she’d been the night before, those plush lips wrapped around my cock. I had given her carte blanche with my body and all she’d wanted was to suck me off. Again and again. And again. Christ. I had been thinking about the night we’d had all day long.
“I’ll keep you posted on the impact of the storm,” he said, bringing my attention back to work. “I appreciate you calling personally to check on us. The weather conditions may set us back a week or two, depending, but we’ll open on time.”
“We have a cushion. Take care of yourself and your crew first.”
“Will do. Thanks.”
I closed the chat window and checked my schedule, needing to know exactly how much time I had to prepare for my next meeting with the lead R and D team at PosIT.
Scott’s voice projected from my phone’s speaker. “Christopher Vidal Sr. is on line one. It’s his third call today. I’ve already told him you’ll get back to him when you can, but he’s insistent. How do you want me to handle?”
Calls from my stepfather never boded well, which meant delaying them ate into the time I had to fix whatever problem he needed to impose on me. “I’ll take it.”
I hit the speaker button. “Chris, what can I do for you?”
“Gideon. Listen, I’m sorry to disturb you, but you and I need to talk. Would it be possible for us to meet today?”
Prodded by the urgency in his voice, I picked up the receiver and took him off speaker. “My office or yours?”
“No, your penthouse.”
I sat back, surprised. “I won’t be home until close to nine.”
“That’s fine.”
“Is everyone all right?”
“Yes, everyone’s fine. Don’t worry about that.”
“It’s Vidal, then. We’ll take care of it.”
“God.” He laughed harshly. “You’re a good man, Gideon. One of the best I know. I should’ve told you that more often.”
My gaze narrowed at the edge in his tone. “I’ve got a few minutes now. Just lay it out.”
“No, not now. I’ll see you at nine.”
He hung up. I sat for a long minute with the receiver in my hand. There was a knot in my gut, one that was cold and sharp.
I returned the receiver to its cradle and my attention to work, pulling up schematics and reviewing the packet Scott had placed on my desk earlier. Still, my mind raced.
I couldn’t control what happened with my family, had never had any power there. I could only clean up the messes Christopher made and try to keep Vidal from going under. I drew the line, however, at using the footage of Eva. Nothing Chris could say would change that.
Time was racing toward the PosIT meeting when the message app popped up on my monitor and Eva’s avatar appeared.
I can still taste you. Yummy. ☺
A dry laugh escaped me. The knot I’d been ignoring eased, then disappeared. She was my clean slate. My fresh start.
Soothed, I replied. The pleasure was mine.
“I’VE got a lead.”
My head turned to find Raúl entering my office.
He came to my desk with brisk strides. “I’m still running through the guest list for that event you attended a couple weeks ago. I’ve also been running twice-daily searches for photos. Got an alert on this one today. I secured a copy and made some zoom views.”
I glanced at the photos he slid across my desk. Picking them up, I examined them more closely, one by one. There was a redhead in the background. In each successive picture, she was brought closer to the fore. “Emerald green dress, long red hair. This is the woman Eva saw.”
It was also Anne Lucas. Something about the way she was standing, with her face averted, spurred a familiar sickness in my gut.
I looked up at Raúl. “She wasn’t on the guest list?”
“Not officially, but she was on the red carpet, so I’m thinking she had to have been someone’s plus-one. I don’t know who her escort was yet, but I’m on it.”
Restless, I stood, shoving my chair back. “She went after Eva. You need to keep her away from my wife.”
“Angus and I are developing new protocols for event security.”
Turning, I retrieved my jacket from its hook. “You’ll tell me if you need more men.”
“I’ll let you know.” He scooped up the photos and started toward me. “She’s at her office today,” he said, accurately gauging my intention. “Was still there when I headed up to see you.”
“Good. Let’s go.”
“EXCUSE me.” The petite brunette behind the desk stood in a rush as I walked by. “You can’t go in there. Dr. Lucas is with a patient now.”
I grabbed the knob and opened the door, walking into Anne’s office without breaking stride.
Her head snapped up, her green eyes widening the instant before her red mouth curved in a satisfied smile. The woman on the couch across from her blinked at me in confusion, swallowing whatever she’d been about to say.
“I’m so sorry, Dr. Lucas,” the brunette said breathlessly. “I tried to stop him.”
Anne slithered to her feet, her eyes on me. “An impossible task, Michelle. Don’t worry, you can go.”
The receptionist backed out. Anne glanced at her patient. “We’ll have to cut today’s appointment short. I apologize for this incredibly rude interruption”—she glared at me—“and of course I won’t charge you. Please talk to Michelle about rescheduling.”
I waited in the open door as the flustered woman gathered her stuff, and then I moved aside as she stepped out.
“I could’ve called security,” Anne said, leaning back against the front of her desk and crossing her arms.
“After going to all the trouble of luring me here? You wouldn’t.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Regardless, it’s good to see you.” She dropped her arms and gripped the edge of her desk in a deliberately provocative pose, exposing her bare thigh as the slit in her blue wrap dress slid open.
“I can’t say the same.”
Her smile tightened. “Break your toys, then throw them away. Does Eva know her days are numbered?”
“Do you?”
Unease dimmed her bright eyes and shook her smile. “Is that a threat, Gideon?”
“You’d like for it to be.” I stepped closer, watched her pupils dilate. She was becoming aroused and that revolted me as much as the smell of her perfume. “Might make your game more interesting.”
She straightened and came toward me, her hips swaying, her red-soled black stilettos sinking into the plush carpet.
“You like to play, too, lover,” she purred. “Tell me, have you tied up your pretty fiancée? Flogged her into a frenzy? Shoved one of your extensive array of dildos into her ass, so that it fucked her while you pounded her pussy for hours? Does she know you, Gideon, the way I do?”
“Hundreds of women know me the way you do, Anne. Do you think you were special? The only thing memorable about you is your husband and how it eats at him that I’ve had you.”
Her hand swung up to slap me and I didn’t stop her, taking the hit unflinchingly.
I wish what I’d said were true, but I had been particularly depraved with her, seeing ghosts of her brother in the curve of her smile, her mannerisms—
I caught her wrist when she made a grab for my cock. “Leave Eva alone. I won’t tell you twice.”
“She’s the chink in your armor, you heartless piece of shit. You’ve got ice in your veins, but she bleeds.”
“Is that a threat, Anne?” I asked, calmly tossing her words back to her.
“Absolutely.” She yanked free of my grip. “It’s time to pay, and your billions won’t cover the debt.”
“Raising the stakes with a declaration of war? Are you that stupid? Or don’t you care what this will cost you? Your career … your marriage … everything.”
I moved toward the door, my stride leisurely even as fury burned through me. I’d brought this down on Eva. I had to clean it up.
“Just watch me, Gideon,” she called after me. “See what happens.”
“Have it your way.” I paused with my hand on the doorknob. “You’ve started this, but make no mistake, the final move will be mine.”
“HAVE you had any nightmares since we last saw each other?” Dr. Petersen asked, his demeanor laid back and quietly interested, the requisite tablet in his lap.
“No.”
“How often would you say you have them?”
I sat as comfortably as the easygoing doctor but was irritably restless inside. I had too much to deal with to waste an hour of my time. “Lately, once a week. Sometimes a little longer in between.”
“What do you mean by lately?”
“Since I met Eva.”
He jotted something down with his stylus. “You’re facing unfamiliar pressures as you work on your relationship with Eva, but the frequency of your nightmares is lessening—at least for now. Do you have any thoughts as to why?”
“I thought you were supposed to be explaining that to me.”
Dr. Petersen smiled. “I can’t wave a magic wand and give you all the answers, Gideon. I can only help you sort through it.”
I was tempted to wait for him to say more, make him do most of the talking. But the thought of Eva and her hopes that therapy was going to make some sort of difference goaded me to speak. I’d promised to try, so I would. To a degree. “Things are smoothing out for us. We’re in sync more than we’re not.”
“Do you feel that you’re communicating better?”
“I think we’re better at gauging the motives behind each other’s actions. We understand each other more.”
“Your relationship has moved very quickly. You’re not an impulsive man, but many would say marrying a woman you’ve known such a short time—and one you admit you’re still getting to know—is extremely impulsive.”
“Is there a question there?”
“An observation.” He waited a moment, but when I didn’t say anything, he went on. “It can be difficult for spouses of individuals with Eva’s history. Her commitment to therapy has helped both of you; however, it’s likely she’ll continue to change in ways you may not expect. It will be stressful for you.”
“I’m no picnic myself,” I said dryly.
“You’re a survivor of a different sort. Have you ever felt that your nightmares were aggravated by stress?”
The question irritated me. “What does it matter? They happen.”
“You don’t feel there are changes that can be made to lessen their impact?”
“I just got married. That’s a major life change, wouldn’t you say, Doctor? I think that’s enough for now.”
“Why must there be a limit? You’re a young man, Gideon. You have a variety of options available to you. Change doesn’t have to be something avoided. What’s the harm in trying something new? If it doesn’t work out, you always have the option to go back to what you were doing before.”
I found that wryly amusing. “Sometimes, you can’t go back.”
“Let’s try a simple change now,” Dr. Petersen said, setting his tablet aside. “Let’s go for a walk.”
I found myself standing when he did, not wanting to be seated while he towered above me. We stood face-to-face with the coffee table between us. “Why?”
“Why not?” He gestured toward the door. “My office may not be the best place for us to talk. You’re a man used to being in charge. In here, I am. So we’ll level the playing field and hit the hallway for a bit. It’s a public space, but most of the individuals who work in this building have gone home.”
I exited his office before him, watching as he locked both his inner and outer office doors before joining me.
“Ah, well. This is certainly different,” he said, his mouth curving wryly. “Knocks me off my stride a bit.”
I shrugged and started walking.
“What are your plans for the rest of the evening?” he asked, falling into step beside me.
“An hour with my trainer.” And then I said more. “My stepfather is coming over later.”
“To spend time with you and Eva? Are you close to him?”
“No, to both.” I stared straight ahead. “Something’s wrong. That’s the only reason he ever calls me.”
I sensed his gaze on my profile. “Do you wish that were different?”
“No.”
“You don’t like him?”
“I don’t dislike him.” I was going to leave it at that, but again I thought of Eva. “We just don’t know each other very well.”
“You could change that.”
I huffed out a laugh. “You’re really pushing that angle tonight.”
“I told you, I don’t have an angle.” He stopped, forcing me to stop, too.
Tipping his chin up, he eyed the ceiling, clearly thinking. “When you’re considering an acquisition or exploring a new avenue of doing business, you bring in people to advise you, right? Experts in their respective fields?” He looked at me again, smiling. “You could think of me the same way, as an expert consultant.”
“On what?”
“Your past.” He resumed walking. “I help you with that, you can figure out the rest of your life yourself.”
“GET your head in the game, Cross.”
My gaze narrowed. Across the mat, James Cho hopped on his bare feet, taunting me. He grinned evilly, knowing the unspoken challenge would spur me on. Half a foot shorter than me and lighter by at least thirty pounds, the former MMA champion was lethally quick and had the belt to prove it.
Rolling my shoulders back, I adjusted my stance. My fists came up, closing the opening that had allowed his last punch to connect with my torso.
“Make it worth my while, Cho,” I fired back, irritated that he was right. My brain was still back in Dr. Petersen’s office. A switch had been thrown tonight and I couldn’t get a handle on what it was or what it meant.
James and I circled, feinting and striking out, neither of us scoring a hit. As always, it was just the two of us in the dojo. The driving beat of taiko drums rumbled in the background from speakers cleverly hidden in the floor-to-ceiling bamboo paneling.
“You’re still holding back,” he said. “Falling in love turn you into a pussy?”
“You wish. Only way you’d beat me.”
James laughed, then came at me with a roundhouse kick. I dropped low and swept him, taking him down. He scissored his legs with lightning speed, taking me down with him.
We hopped back up. Squared off again.
“You’re wasting my time,” he snapped, his fist lashing out.
I ducked to the side. My left fist shot out, grazing his side. His fist hit my ribs straight on.
“No one piss you off today?” He came at me in a rush, giving me no option to do anything but defend myself.
I growled. Rage was simmering in the back of my mind, tucked away until I had the time and attention to deal with it.
“Yeah. I see that fire in your eyes, Cross. Let it out, man. Bring it on.”
She’s the chink in your armor …
I lashed out with a left/right combo, driving James back a step.
“That all you got?” he jeered.
I feigned a kick and then threw out a punch, snapping his head back.
“Fuck yeah,” he gasped, flexing his arms, getting pumped. “There you are.”
She bleeds …
Snarling, I lunged forward.
REFRESHED from a shower, I had barely finished dressing by pulling a T-shirt over my head when my smartphone started ringing. I picked it up off the bed where I’d left it and answered.
“A couple things,” Raúl said after greeting me, the background noise of a crowd and music quickly fading, then disappearing completely. “I’ve noticed that Benjamin Clancy is still keeping an eye on Mrs. Cross. Not constantly, but consistently.”
“Is that so,” I said quietly.
“Are you good with that? Or should I talk to him?”
“I’ll deal with him.” Clancy and I were due for a chat. It had been on my list, but I would move it up.
“Also—and you may know this already—Mrs. Cross had lunch with Ryan Landon and some of his executives today.”
I felt that terrible quiet settle over me. Landon. Fuck.
He’d slid in somewhere I hadn’t been watching.
“Thank you, Raúl. I’ll need a private number for Eva’s boss, Mark Garrity.”
“I’ll text it to you when I have it.”
Ending the call, I shoved the phone in my pocket, barely resisting the urge to throw it at the wall instead.
Arash had warned me about Landon and I’d brushed his concerns off. I’d been focused on my life, my wife, and while Landon had a wife of his own, his primary focus had always been me.
The ringing of the penthouse phone jolted me. I went to the receiver on the nightstand and answered with an impatient, “Cross.”
“Mr. Cross. It’s Edwin at the front desk. Mr. Vidal is here to see you.”
Jesus. My grip tightened on the receiver. “Send him up.”
“Yes, sir. Will do.”
Grabbing my socks and shoes, I carried them out to the living room and pulled them on. As soon as Chris left, I was heading home to Eva. I wanted to open a bottle of wine, find one of the older movies she knew by heart, and just listen to her recite the corny lines of dialogue. No one could make me laugh like she did.
I heard the elevator car arrive and pushed to my feet, running a hand through my damp hair. I was tense and despised the weakness.
“Gideon.” Chris paused on the threshold of the foyer, looking grim and worn, which he so rarely did and only then because of my brother. “Is Eva here?”
“She’s at her place. I’m heading over there when you leave.”
He gave a jerky nod, his jaw working but nothing coming out of his mouth.
“Come in,” I said, gesturing at the wingback chair by the coffee table. “Can I get you something to drink?”
God knew I needed one myself after the day I’d had so far.
He stepped wearily into my living room. “Anything strong would be great.”
“Sounds good to me.” I went to the kitchen and poured us both a glass of Armagnac. As I was setting the decanter down, my phone vibrated in my pocket. Pulling it out, I saw a message from Eva.
It was a selfie of her bare leg glistening with water and draped over the rim of her bathtub with candles in the background. Join me?
I swiftly revised my plans for the evening. She’d been sending me provocative texts all day. I was more than happy to both satisfy and reward her.
I saved the photo and typed back. Wish I could. Promise to make you wet again when I get there.
Tucking my phone away, I turned and found Chris joining me at the island. I slid a tumbler over to him and took a sip from mine. “What’s going on, Chris?”
He sighed, both of his hands wrapping around the crystal. “We’re going to reshoot the ‘Golden’ video.”
“Oh?” That was an unnecessary expense, something Chris wisely avoided as a rule.
“I overheard Kline and Christopher arguing in the offices yesterday,” he said gruffly, “and got the story. Kline wants a redo and I agreed.”
“Christopher doesn’t, I’m sure.” I leaned back against the counter, my jaw set. Apparently, Brett Kline had some serious feelings for Eva after all. I wasn’t okay with that. Not even close.
“Your brother will get over it.”
I doubted that, but it would do no good to say so.
But Chris read what I didn’t say and gave a nod. “I know the video has caused stress for you and Eva. I should’ve been paying more attention.”
“I appreciate you being flexible about it.”
He stared into his glass and then took a long drink, nearly downing the contents in a single swallow. “I’ve left your mother.”
I took a quick, deep breath, grasping that the reason for his visit had nothing to do with work. “Ireland told me you two had a fight.”
“Yeah. I hate that Ireland had to hear it.” He looked at me, and I saw the knowledge in his eyes. The horror. “I didn’t know, Gideon. I swear to God, I didn’t know.”
My heart jerked in my chest, then began to pound. My mouth went dry.
“I, uh, went to see Terrence Lucas.” Chris’s voice grew hoarse. “Barged into his office. He denied it, the lying son of a bitch, but I could see it on his face.”
The brandy sloshed in my glass. I set it down carefully, feeling the floor shift under my feet. Eva had confronted Lucas, but Chris … ?
“I decked him, knocked him out cold, but God … I wanted to take one of those awards on his shelves and bash his head in.”
“Stop.” The word broke from my throat like slivers of glass.
“And the asshole who did … That asshole is dead. I can’t get to him. Goddamn it.” Chris dropped the tumbler onto the granite with a thud, but it was the sob that tore out of him that nearly shattered me. “Hell, Gideon. It was my job to protect you. And I failed.”
“Stop!” I pushed off the counter, my hands clenching. “Don’t fucking look at me like that!”
He trembled visibly, but didn’t back down. “I had to tell you—”
His wrinkled dress shirt was in my fists, his feet dangling above the floor. “Stop talking. Now!”
Tears slipped down his face. “I love you like my own. Always have.”
I shoved him away. Turned my back to him when he stumbled and hit the wall. I left, crossing the living room without seeing it.
“I’m not expecting your forgiveness,” he called after me, tears clogging his words. “I don’t deserve it. But you need to hear that I would’ve ripped him apart with my bare hands if I’d known.”
I rounded on him, feeling the sickness clawing up from my gut and burning my throat. “What the fuck do you want?”
Chris pulled his shoulders back. He faced me with reddened eyes and wet cheeks, shaking but too stupid to run. “I want you to know that you’re not alone.”
Alone. Yes. Far away from the pity and guilt and pain staring out at me through his tears. “Get out.”
Nodding, he headed toward the foyer. I stood immobile, my chest heaving, my eyes burning. Words backed up in my throat; violence pounded in the painful clench of my fists.
He stopped before he left the room, facing me. “I’m glad you told Eva.”
“Don’t talk about her.” I couldn’t bear to even think of her. Not now, when I was so close to losing it.
He left.
The weight of the day crashed onto my shoulders, dropping me to my knees.
I broke.
