Page 28 of The Last Call
Until tonight.I love the confusion on her face and the lust in her eyes. She’ll know soon enough.
Tears burn my eyes when Mack flickers onto the screen. I’m not usually so damn emotional, but it’s been a hell of a few days, and I’ve missed my friend. Even more than that, I needed this reassurance that he’s all right and Julius isn’t a liar. At least not to me. I guess Mack’s shocked too because he just stares at me for several long seconds before letting out a long sigh.
“He hit you?”
Disgust drips from his hard voice. My hand flies to my damp cheek. With all of the insanity swirling around me, I’d actually forgotten about my injuries. Another reminder of Julius’ steadfast protection that I’m not sure I’ll be able to convince myself of, let alone Mack.
I shake my head and force a smile. Reassuring him I’m okay. “No, it wasn’t Julius. It was Sergei. He attacked me.”
Fury snarls his lips as he swears. “That motherfucker.”
I actually laugh from his comment. The levity breaking the tension a little bit. “You sound like Julius.”
“I don’t consider that a compliment.” He leans closer to his camera. His wide frame bulging well outside the frame of Julius’s laptop. Impatience lining his face as he scans mine. For more of everything, more of anything he can see to understand better. “What the hell is really going on?”
I flinch under his inspection and slide further back into Julius’s huge leather chair. So large my feet dangle inches above the carpet. “I don’t know.”
Of course that’s a lie. I know exactly what’s going on. I just don’t know how to explain the truth to him. Or I guess more accurately I don’t know how to explain how I feel about Julius to him since I don’t really understand my emotions myself. I just know I’m very, very sick in the head to like it. To like Julius so much.
“Syd?”
He knows me too well for me to fib. Easy for him to tell that I’m hiding something from him. That I don’t want to admit what I know he won’t like. I start with the easier confession first. “He wants me to quit. He’s paid me…” I point to myself and then him with a shaking finger before laying my hands back on the cool smooth surface of the desk to hide my trembling. “He’s paid both of us so I don’t have to work anymore.”
“Yeah, I about freaked out when that deposit dinged on my phone for an account I didn’t know I had. I thought it was some kind of ‘Nigerian prince’ scam until I figured out where it came from.”
I grin again from the image. He’s always so meticulous about everything, especially money, I bet he was hilarious going crazy with his detective work. “It’s real and it’s yours. You deserve it Mack. Don’t be afraid to use it. To really enjoy it.”
He shakes his head. Denying the sincerity of my plea. Disgust drawing down his expression. “I can’t. I never will if you’re suffering for me to have it.”
Damn. “I’m not…It’s not…” I don’t know what the hell to say. To admit that how Julius treats me is the exact opposite of suffering.
But he pushes on despite my stammering. “I’ve been racking my brain trying to figure out how to get you away from him. I don’t have anything yet. Bastard’s too damn rich and powerful. But I won’t give up Syd. I promise I’ll figure something out.”
“It’s okay. I–”
“It’s not okay. He’s fucking crazy. When they attacked Sergei’s compound, his guys were giving me some bullshit lines about how ‘Mr. Sabatini was going to take care of you and that Mr. Sabatini would make sure you’ll always be safe.’ Well fuck Mr. Sabatini. That’s my fucking job.Ikeep you safe.Iprotect you.”
Needless guilt flushes his ruddy face. I hate how he beats himself up over unwarranted shame. I stupidly reach for him and can only stroke the slick glass. Wishing he could absolve himself of the doubt he feels. “I know! I know you did and you do. He told me how hard you fought for me. How impressed he was by you!”
“Not that I give a damn what he thinks about me, but hell yes I did. You think I was just going to stand by and let them waltz out of there with you?” He sighs again, his head dropping low. I can’t see his eyes or his expression, and the loss of both hurts me. “But they did anyway.”
“You couldn’t have stopped them. You’re just one man against an army.” Against another man more stubborn and crazier than you could ever imagine. “Don’t blame yourself. I’m fine.”
That assertion makes his head fly up. “Really? Are you really okay? Because being his prisoner doesn’t seem fine at all.”
“He’s…” Why the hell can’t I form words? Because none of them make any sense. That he’s actually nice? Generous? Seductive? Now I’m the one who sounds crazy. I attempt to divert his attention from the truth. “His grandmother’s here too. She’s very sweet and kind.”
“She can’t be that sweet and kind if she approves of him kidnapping you!”
Damn. His anger is killing me. The truth is going to be even worse. “She doesn’t know.”
That admission lights a fire in him, and he shoves against the screen again. Filling the laptop with his glowing brown eyes. “Tell her then! Tell her that her grandson is a fucking psychopath and maybe she’ll help you escape.”
So much sense and reason and logic. I should feel the exact same way. I should do what he says. Yet somehow I can’t. So I do what I have to do to appease him. “Okay, I’ll try. I promise.”
“Are you sure you’re okay? Your hair is wet and you look…dazed.”
I tuck a damp strand behind my ear. Self-conscious that he’s mentioned dazed, which is code for stressed, which really means he’s too nice to say I look like shit. My fingers roam to my lips. Still swollen and sensitive from Julius’s earlier assault that I welcomed like a starved woman. Not realizing how ravenous I was for honest affection. Or that I would give in so easily to his attention. “Yes, I swear. I just took a shower. We—I—worked out, and we’re going shopping for clothes for me and then probably dinner.”
