Page 90 of The Desire

The last few days have been horrendous.

Not seeing Elouise or Blaise has been like being starved of oxygen and not being able to breathe but having to push through anyway.

My private life is a mess, but at least my work life is under my control again. The meeting with Felisha was interesting to say the least. She is emotionally devastated but is still a strong kickass woman. I have a newfound respect for her, and way more than what I have toward her father. After speaking to her, I met her personal assistant, who is also her best friend and seems to be the only one who truly cares for Felisha or has her back.

I have also learned that under all the cockiness that Flynn portrays, he is a strong man who won’t walk away from a fight. Giving himself just the one day to wallow in his self-pity, he then turned up to the office the next day, giving a perfect press conference then working the rest of the day like normal. Then today, he was in early, and I’m about to walk into a meeting with him, Nic, and Forrest about the castle purchase. Tori isn’t in the office today, and I’m a bit relieved about that. I’ve managed to avoid her since our run-in at the hotel. I care deeply for her, but I know that she is the only person who will push me on anything Elouise, and I’m not prepared to discuss things with her just yet. It’s between El and me, and until we see each other and talk, then the topic is off the table with Tori.

Walking through the door into Nic’s office, I’m the last to arrive.

“Who pissed in your porridge this morning?” Flynn looks up at me from his favorite seat on the couch in the office, as if nothing has happened in the last few days, chirpy as hell and ready to give me shit.

Trying to cut him some slack, I don’t reply as harshly as I feel. “This is my normal face when I see you.” Taking my seat near the desk, I give Nic and Forrest a normal chin lift.

“Well, good morning to you too, asshole.” Nic’s reply hits home. Why is everyone calling me an asshole lately? I mean, I couldn’t give a fuck, but it’s bugging me. Have I been worse the way I’ve been treating everyone? I mean, El has good reason to say it, but everybody else has been labeling me with it too.

“Morning,” I mumble and let Nic take over the meeting. Once he starts talking, then we all take on the seriousness that is needed in a business meeting.

An hour has passed, and the lawyers have been instructed that we are ready to take possession of the castle next week. Nic and Tori will fly up to collect the keys and have the locks changed and stay a night or two.

I haven’t bothered to remind him of the important fact that he is buying a haunted castle. Not that I’ll admit it, but I think El was right. I experienced a few weird things myself, like doors closing and noises in the middle of the night. The second night we were there and at the same pub in the village, El asked one of the old locals about it, and he told her a story he’d heard when growing up. That there was a woman who owned the castle back in the 1800s who was living in sin with a man her family didn’t approve of. Then mysteriously they were both found dead in their bed one morning by the servants. Word was the family did it, but nothing was ever made of it. Just swept under the carpet, so to speak. El is convinced it was probably the woman in the painting who was so unhappy that she was about to be married to a grumpy man, because she had found true love with someone else. The shit women will make up to find romance in anything.

I also want to tell Nic it’s too late, I’ve already christened the castle with El, but I don’t think that’s a good idea. I should have probably thanked the ghosts for pushing her into my bed, although it was inevitable to happen before we left the castle anyway. Nothing could have stopped the pull between us to be together. I quickly push the thoughts of El to the side before I lose my concentration on work.

Finally, we finish up and move on to the other topic of Flynn.

“Rem, where are we at?” Nic looks at me, almost pleading silently that I have some news.

“We are getting close, I can feel it. After talking to Felisha and her friend, I learned there is unrest in their company, and my gut feeling says the video came from someone on the inside of her dad’s empire. That information is not to leave this room. I must say, I was doubtful of her at first, but I do think she is on our side with this and has been fighting her own fight trying to get to the bottom of it too. And for some reason, she actually thinks Flynn is a gentleman the way he has handled this whole thing, supporting her. Do I need to ask how you have been supporting her when we told you to stay away from her?” Looking at Flynn across the room, he gives me nothing except a smile that tells me I can sing for an answer.

“Anyway, when we get close enough, we will leak it to the press that we know who it is and see if we can flush them out, but we just aren’t quite there yet. I’m not letting it go now, though. I made that mistake last time, and it’s not happening again.”

“Thanks, Rem.” Nic drops his pen down on the desk and sits back in his chair, looking at me the way my father would when he knew I’d done something stupid and he was waiting for me to own up.

He can either read minds or he’s just thinking about the same thing I’ve already decided on.

Finding courage, I start talking. “I need to say a few things to you all about something personal, before we go.”

I gulp down the air that seems to be thick in the room now and stuck in my throat as Flynn sits forward on the couch, rubbing his hands together.

“Oh good, time to talk about someone else’s dramas for a change. Let’s have it.” And Flynn is just making me feel worse.

Forrest just rolls his eyes at his brother. “I’m sure you should have been a woman. You love gossip more than the trashy websites that are writing everything about you.” He leans closer to me, giving me a slap on the back. “What’s going on, buddy?”

I know that no matter what happens in the next few minutes, I am going to feel better with everything being out in the open.

“I have something to say, and just let me get it out before you react. I’ll keep it as simple as I can.” The fun expression on Flynn’s face now fades as he sees how uncomfortable I look.

“Long before I met you guys, I started seeing a counsellor of sorts who helped me work through when my head is scrambled, or my overactive brain needed release. But I haven’t ever shared this because it’s a little unconventional, and I don’t know why I care, but I know some people will look at me and think less of me for it.”

“Nothing wrong with therapy, man.” I wish Flynn would stop being nice to me.

Nic looks at me and nods to keep going.

“You might change your mind when I tell you my therapy is that I box and kickbox the hell out of a woman who is a trained psychologist and counsels me while we spar.” I feel like the air is getting sucked out of the room, and that’s not even the worst thing I need to tell them.

“Wait, what?” Forrest looks confused, and I get it.

“Cherie is an extremely talented, competitive fighter who grew up street fighting and turned her life into something more by helping people who need a way to release their problems in a way that works for them. I can tell you now, she would take any one of you on and have you pinned on the mat before you even threw your first punch.” Now I can feel my words coming out quicker as I try to justify myself.

---