Page 22 of Boss Unavowed (Boss 2)

When the nightmares had woken him in a panic, he had decided to get dressed and go down to the hotel bar for a drink or few, anything to get his mind on something else.

He had an important task to complete the following morning before they left, possibly the single most important thing he would ever have done in his life up to that point, and the drink also served to help calm his nerves from that as well.

He spent a few hours drinking, pretending to watch the ESPN football highlights on a screen behind the bar, and most of all, thinking about his visit to Tiffany’s the following morning. The bar was empty when he finally felt tired enough to fall asleep, hopefully before he had any time to recall his nightmares.

When he got back in and turned a lamp light on next to the bed, he noticed the tiny, flashing light of his cell phone indicating he had missed a text. He pressed the button to bring the screen to life when he saw it had been from Farren almost three hours ago.

1:13 a.m. - Harley is sick. I wish you were here... I miss you.

Fuck!

FIFTEEN

The sound of the phone ringing and vibrating against the hard surface of the nightstand jolted Farren awake. She sat upright, startled, and grabbed the phone.

It was Rogan.

“Hello?” she answered in a groggy voice as she tried to regain control of her racing heartbeat.

“Farren? What happened? Is everything okay?” he asked with no small amount of concern.

“Where have you been?” she asked. “I texted hours ago and you didn’t answer.”

“I’m sorry, baby; I left my phone in the room when I went down for a drink. What happened?”

His deep voice was growing more impatient by the second.

She was quiet for a moment, and he thought he could hear her gasp in a breath like she was crying. “You were with her, weren’t you?”

“What? Of course not,” he proclaimed. “Farren, what is this about? Tell me what’s wrong.”

His thoughts flashed to Edith earlier that evening and how she had tried to make a move. He had all but dumped her refined ass on the floor before walking out. He shook his head with irritation.

“How am I supposed to believe you? I needed you tonight and you weren’t here. It took you until four in the morning to even respond?”

She shook her head, trying to wrap her mind around everything.

“Farren, don’t be absurd. We can talk about this when I get home. I just need to know that everything is okay.”

“Absurd? You think it’s that crazy for me to think something happened when-”

She stopped herself. It wasn’t absurd because that’s exactly how she and he had first gotten together – away on a business trip to Italy last year.

“That’s different, and you know it,” he growled.

“Is it? I mean, things between us have been strained lately, and I know that’s my fault.” Her voice sounded more defeated now than defensive.

“Baby, listen to me-”

“No! I get it, okay? Harley and I will be out by the time you get back.”

Her tears flowed freely down the curves of her face, and she wiped at her cheek with the back of the hand that wasn’t holding the phone to her ear.

“Farren, stop! You’re being ridiculous,” he protested.

She shook her head. “I’ve got to go. Harley is crying.”

She was unable to hide the anguish in her voice. She hung up the phone and her body shook with violent sobs. Within seconds, her phone lit up again with Rogan calling her back.

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