Page 11 of Bitter Desire
It just didn’t add up.
“Stop it over there! I can practically hear you brooding,” Tiffany said, breaking into my thoughts. I looked at her to see she was rolling her eyes and she gestured towards the cafe, “When you brood our tips go down, so get that smile back on your face, you goose.”
I snorted in response but I smiled all the same, because she was right. Our tips did suffer when I brooded.
“Fine, but only because you called me a goose.”
“Works better than please. Who knew?”
I grinned, the message on my phone mostly forgotten, or at least if not forgotten it didn’t seem so scary. Not when I was with my friend and laughing. The world had a way of becoming a little brighter, a little easier to handle when you had good people around you.
The rest of my shift passed peaceably enough. There was the normal amount of traffic of finicky coffee drinkers who were dead set on finding something wrong with their caffeine in the Monday spirit, but that was just par for the course. I left my shift with a pocket full of tips and a promise of dinner later that week with Tiffany. All in all, it was a pretty damn good Monday. I didn’t even have to take the subway home, not with Taylor waiting for me around the corner.
It wasn’t until I got into the car that I remembered the text message on my phone. I pulled my phone out and frowned at it. Who the fuck was sending these? Why were they doing it?
The obvious answer to my question was that it was Christian. He’d been put in his place at The Cairn and that man did not like being knocked down a peg. Why he’d waited weeks to reach out was a mystery, but it could be that he thought the lapsed time would let him fly under Connie’s radar. Defying her at all, no matter if it was weeks or even a year, was bold, even for Christian. Which brought me back to square one.
I left A Different Brew and headed down the sidewalk towards the car I knew was waiting for me, Taylor undoubtedly leaning against the car at the ready. He was a formidable looking man, just like Law, but he was professional and kind. I could always count on a smile from him whenever I saw him. A smile seemed pretty damn great right now considering what I was thinking about. I turned the corner and sure enough Taylor’s familiar form greeted me. He had the paper out, reading it as he waited. I noticed the women on the street were on high alert at the sight of him, a handsome man in a suit lounging without a care in the world, but Taylor wasn’t paying any of them mind. Though the second I came into view, he snapped to attention, folded the newspaper and tucked it under his arm while he waited for me with hand clasped in front of him.
“You don’t have to look so formal,” I teased. “You look like one of those soldiers at Buckingham.”
He chuckled. “Honey, how are you?”
“Decent. Thanks for picking me up.”
“No trouble at all. Do you need anything before I take you to Mister Sokolov?”
I knew what he was asking. Did I need more clothes and a quick pit stop at my apartment? The nights I’d been spending at home were not as often as they once had been, and I’d amassed my own little collection of belongings and essentials at Law’s penthouse.
“No, I’ve got everything for now. You can take me to him.”
He nodded and moved towards the door, opening it for me. “We’ll be going to the office today then.”
That was different. I’d never seen his office.
“Ah, okay,” I said, suddenly feeling nervous. I didn’t know why. It wasn’t like I had to impress anyone. Law was the boss, the office was his, but still...all I could think of were the people working inside of it who were polished and-and...and whatever it was that people who worked normal 9-5 corporate jobs were. And I was me.
I glanced down at my outfit that day. A nice flowy tank that I’d thought was sweet. It was a pastel pink, the kind of color I knew Law preferred on me, and tan form fitting slacks. My choice of slacks made me feel better, but I did have the slacks rolled up just above the Docs I wore. I leaned down, rubbing at a spot of dried milk I’d dropped on myself earlier and sighed heavily. I was dressed fine for being in the city, for presenting myself as the trendy little slice of life customers expected to see making them coffee. But to visit an office, no not an office, but the office of my...my...my what?
I sat up, leaning against the leather of the seat and frowned. What the fuck was I to Law? Yes, I knew I was his, but we hadn’t gone into territory of labels. Not yet. I’d of course been curious, but not enough to push it before we were ready. But now here I was unsure of what to even call Law, and I was on my way to his office?
My phone pinged and I felt my heart stutter skip in my chest. I hated feeling that way now whenever I got a notification. I needed to turn them off entirely if I wanted to stay present. I shifted in my seat, hand going to the phone inside of my bag. I squeezed it tight, annoyed that I couldn’t even enjoy this ‘what were we?’ and ‘how is he going to introduce me?’ flutters that I should be completely consumed by. Those thoughts should be the only ones taking up space in my brain, but no. They were pushed to the side, because of some asshole with a burner phone.
Someone that was happy destroying my peace. The hard won calm that I had forged in my life was twisting in the wind because of them. I hesitated, not pulling the phone out of my bag yet. I didn’t want to look, even though I knew I was going to have to. I couldn’t have it going off while I was in Law’s office. He’d want to see what it was, demand to get started on finding them and ‘handling the situation’–whatever that meant for a man like him.
I didn’t want any of that. I wanted to stay in the rosy pink days of our beginning. The time when we should be lost in the newness of our relationship. Not tracking down a cyberstalker...bully? What would I even call them, honestly?
I didn’t know.
I supposed it really depended on who it was. If it was Christian? It was most definitely a stalker. Would Christian be bold enough to text me? To call me and harass me even though he’d been ordered not to? Even though he knew I was with Law. The last time I’d seen the man had been in the hallway when Law had talked to him. Whispered really, so low that I hadn’t been able to make out a single word even with Law holding me in his arms. Whatever the words were, Christian had backed down immediately. Would he really be up for tempting Law just because a few weeks had passed?
I didn’t think so.
But then, who knew my number? I’d only given it out to a handful of people since moving to New York. That was nine ago and that kept the number of people who had access to my number relatively small, although...I bet there was a way for someone to get it. The internet was a big place and with a little money anything was possible. I bit my lip and turned my head, staring out at the streets that were passing us by. Already the car was slowing down, pulling into a garage that I had seen but never given much thought in my morning hustle from the subway to the coffeeshop. It was sleek and polished, the outside a work of granite, metal and quartz that sparkled in the early afternoon sun. The black tinted window between Taylor and I dropped, and he spoke.
“We’ll be parking in just a minute. I’ll take you upstairs to Mister Sokolov.”
“Sure thing.” I nodded, smiling at the formal title Taylor always used when it came to Law. Normally it seemed clunky and out of place, but here it made sense. This was his world after all. Taylor would not be the only soul calling Law Mister Sokolov. Here he was the boss and people were on his payroll. I figured I’d hear it plenty more before we left. When we parked, I waited. I knew Taylor was rounding the car and coming to my door. It didn’t matter how often I’d try to beat him or tell him it was unnecessary, he wouldn’t hear of it. It only took a couple of near crashes with Taylor at the door for me to sit tight and wait.
