Page 28 of The Perfect Wife
As we headed down the long hallway, I heard the elevator door close. It was then that I noticed that Patton was no longer in the apartment and must have gone back down to the secret door.
There were six rooms total as we walked down the long hallway. Two were guest rooms, then there was a home gym, a study, and a bathroom. It was only the last room at the end of the long hallway that mattered. When Davian pushed open the door, a large room with an oversized king bed filled the room. Across from the oversized bed were two doors. One led to a bathroom with a large shower, built for four people, and a sunken jetted tub. Double bowl-like sinks graced the beautiful white marble vanity, along with a large mirror that extended the length of the vanity. The other door led to a walk-in closet, with a velvet covered bench positioned in the middle of room. Mirrors lined the back wall with two track lights hovering above.
Everything about this place took my breath away. As I continued to look around the room, there was one thing that suddenly hit me. “Davian, why are there no windows?”
Kissing the top of my head, Davian made his way to the nightstand closest to where we were standing. My eyes remained on his movements as he opened the top drawer and pulled out a remote. At first, I thought he would turn on the flat-screen TV that hung on the wall above a twelve-drawer dresser positioned opposite of the bed. Instead, he aimed it toward the wall covered in gray cloth curtains.
The curtain slowly slid open, and the city lights appeared, but they weren’t real. The city scene manifested on a large screen. It was so clear and seemed real, but as I stepped over to the wall, it was like watching something on TV. Tuning to face Davian, I asked, “Is this real?”
“In a way, I guess you could say it is. Hundreds of little cameras are constantly working to capture the city from the outside. Once captured, they then reflect it onto the screen. Everything you are seeing is in real-time. If you don’t want to look at the city, you can view any place in the world. The Caribbean beach of the Virgin Islands or the Eiffel Tower in Paris. You can have wherever you want to go as your view.”
“Why not windows? Wouldn’t it make more sense?”
“Under normal situations, yes. But this place is a safe haven. To the outside, it doesn’t exist. Having windows would defeat the purpose of keeping threats away.”
“Like my father?”
“Especially your father.”
The look on Davian’s face was one of disgust. I could see the hatred that appeared behind his beautiful blue eyes at the mention of my father. There was something more between Rui Salko and him than just keeping me safe. I had a funny feeling that this so-called ‘safe haven’ Davian constructed wasn’t just to keep my father out. Davian Cross was into much more than a little bit of everything.
~20~
Davian
Reyna took advantage of the jetted tub in the master suite while I prepared us something to eat. Just like the master bedroom, I equipped the en-suite with the scenic view of the city or whatever scene Reyna chose. After showing her how to change the screen settings to wherever she wanted the screen to take her, she opted for a tropical beach. It would have been my choice, and when joined with the surround sound at the touch of a button, it became the perfect paradise.
As I was preparing the salad, my phone began to vibrate on the counter. I knew that Reyna would be in her own little paradise for a while, so instead of bringing it to my ear, I hit the speaker icon, which also freed up my hands. “Give me some good news, Axe.”
“We have taken care of the two men in the van.” Axe began. “After a bit of persuasion, we found out they were instructed to keep an eye on the hotel for your arrival. We roughed them up pretty good, but they wouldn’t confirm that Salko hired them. They kept mentioning another name, Braxton. I’m not sure if it means anything, but they won’t be around for a while. We dumped them off at Emory University.”
After I hung up with Axe, ‘Braxton’ ran through my head. There was only one person I knew of with that name, and it was Reyna’s mom, and she died nearly sixteen years ago. Something told me that the McCalls would know more Braxton names and whether any other relatives would be a threat to Reyna. I had dealt with a lot of douche bags in my business dealings, and so had Crosby McCall. The staffing service he ran put him in contact with more than his fair share of shady people. Investing in the McCall Agency was a mistake I had regretted from the first day Crosby McCall opened the doors to his so-called staffing business. If the right people found out what the staffing agency comprised of, the company would cease to exist, and he would end up spending a very long time behind bars. Thankfully, Cross Enterprises couldn’t be implicated since there was no way to track our involvement. My father was smart in that sense when he agreed to help his longtime friend.
Pulling the beef casserole from the oven, I turned to find two beautiful brown eyes staring back at me. Reyna didn’t know it, but she was the sexiest woman alive. Wearing a pair of striped flannel shorts and a pink t-shirt that hit just above her waist, she made me think dinner needed to rest for at least twenty minutes while I devoured the goddess in front of me.
“It smells wonderful,” she said as she took a seat at the center island where I had placed the casserole.
“How about a glass of wine?” I offered.
“That would be nice.”
I knew there was something else on her mind as she traced the edge of the countertop with her finger. Placing a glass of red wine in front of her, I held up my glass in a toast. Instead of addressing my toast by lifting her glass, she kept her head focused on her finger that was still tracing the edge of the counter. “You know… in four days, it will be my birthday, and since we are already in Atlanta, I thought it would be nice to celebrate it with Kenzi and my parents. It isn’t every day that you turn twenty-one.”
There it was, guilt.How could I forget?Having a twenty-first birthday party was the last thing on my mind. Not only was it the furthest thing from my mind, but her request also couldn’t happen unless I planned on putting her in danger. Here, at least I could protect her. Beyond this safe haven, she would be exposed even withThe Societyprotecting her. There was no way I could allow it. I still needed to think of a way for her to see Kenzi without putting both of them at risk.
“I can’t risk it, Reyna. Your safety is all that matters to me.” That wasn’t exactly true. Her birthday mattered too. “Maybe we could celebrate your birthday here. Just me and you.”
Reyna’s finger no longer slid along the counter. Her head came up, and her defiant eyes were on mine. “No! I deserve to celebrate my birthday with my mom and dad and my best friend. You can’t stop me. I won’t let you dictate what I can and cannot do anymore.”
She stood from her seat, and before she could take her first step, I was at her side, holding her in place so she couldn’t move. “Let go of me.”
“Not until you promise you will listen to me.” Reyna was a fighter, but I wasn’t about to let her go until she heard me out.
“You are a real dick.”
I couldn’t argue with her. I was a dick in every sense of the word. If she hated me, fine. Having her hate me was better than risking her life. Taking a softer approach, I whispered, “Please, just listen to what I have to say.”
I could tell that she was giving in to my words. Her struggles against me settled down, and she melted against my chest. I could feel her sobs vibrated against my chest. “Davian, please let me have this. It is only one day.”
