Page 26 of Forever with Me

Cole raises his eyebrows to Foster and Foster gives back a look that can only be described as the silent equivalent of “bullshit.”

“Parker!” I yell.

“Yes, my love?”

“Seriously?”

“I thought it was in your best interest to be kept in the dark. I didn’t want you to interfere, because I believed you may not want me to look into the idea of Jack having a connection to all of this. I realize you may think it is out of jealousy, but it was a gut instinct.”

I stand staring at him and a horrible sense of guilt washes over me. He’s right, that is exactly what I would have thought. What if Jack is crazy and trying to hurt me. I would play right into his hands with my constant second-guessing and worry.

“Okay, you aren’t wrong, but I still don’t like it and Alex doesn’t either. This is happening to all of us, we need to keep each other in the loop.”

“I second that,” Alex nods at Foster.

“Deal,” he agrees, taking her hand and kissing the back of it.

“Well, now that all of that is out of the way, let’s get down to business,” Cole interjects and gives me a reassuring smile.

We stay with Alex for another hour discussing different possibilities for her attack when she starts to get tired. Before leaving, tears spring to my eyes again, giving her more reason to make fun of me. I have to be acutely aware of how hard I am squeezing as to not hurt her, but I can’t help giving her the longest hug in history.

“I love you, too.”

Leaving the hospital, I am so relieved and happy that I want to shout from the rooftops, but I doubt people would appreciate my celebration since it’s late at night. My stomach growls, reminding me that Cole and I haven’t eaten. He must hear it too, because he says, “Looks like my girl needs a burger” with a smile.

“That sounds perfect, just like you and this day!” I throw my arms around his neck and let him lift me into a kiss.

I crawl into the back of the car and toss my purse next to me. Cole scoots into the adjacent seat and tells the driver to take us to the closest burger joint. Reaching down, he picks up my purse to remove the space it is creating between us when it dings again.

“This thing is becoming quite the nuisance, it’s been going off all evening,” Cole complains as he reaches in to hand my phone to me.

“Sorry, I know. It must be my new work friend, Jules. I’m sure she wants to talk to me about some more treats at work,” I laugh, rolling my eyes at the thought. “I can’t imagine why anyone else from work would be messaging me.”

Then it hits me that the only person I messaged was Jack. I don’t even know where to begin if Cole finds out, he will be livid and I can only imagine what his reaction will be now that I know the backstory. I dive my hand into my purse hoping to grab my phone before Cole gets to it, but he pulls it out before I do, his eyes frozen to the phone.

“Something you’d like to share with me,” he asks coolly, leaning back into the seat, his jaw tensed, and his eyes narrowed in on the screen of my phone.

Breaking his eyes away he looks directly at me, placing the phone into my hand. I look down and see five missed calls and at least a dozen messages from Jack. Oh fuck.

“Listen to me before you freak out and turn into an unreasonable beast,” I ask, putting my phone down on the seat.

“I’m all ears,” his tone is challenging and it’s clear to me that he is set out for a fight. Lord help me.

“Okay, Jack works for Sam Johnson… he was the reason I was hired for this position. When we were ‘friends,’ I mentioned how much I wanted to work for this particular company and he remembered. Trust me, I went off today and really gave him the ‘what for’ but honestly Cole, this was his olive branch. We don’t really even work together and he is seeing his boss… like ‘seeing’ her. You can’t freak out. You can’t, because this has been a great day. I know you are suspicious of him, but that’s totally based on your gut, not fact. I don’t want to base my entire work life around a ‘might be.’ We are about to eat burgers and go sleep in our new place. Don’t ruin my wonderful amazing day with your bad attitude, Cole Parker!” I end with a huff that makes me sound like a child, but I don’t care as long as he doesn’t freak out.

Cole sits for a moment, and I can tell he is taking in everything I just said. Reaching his arm across the back of the seat, he lazily draws circles on my shoulder with his finger.

“Mia, I had hoped that my wife would have been more forthcoming with her day. I don’t like being kept in the dark much like you complained about earlier. That being said, I already know about Sam Johnson, the weird part is Jack never showed on any of the files. Your security detail told me you had an argument with a male co-worker, but I was hoping you were going to tell me about it sooner. I know you don’t see it, but that guy is bad news, Amelia, and I’m done talking to you about this when you refuse to listen.”

Opening his door, he exits the car leaving me feeling lectured and childish and really pissed off. Forget him, I don’t need to call him about anything. I’m a grown woman and if I handled it, well then, it’s handled. How about that?

My internal monologue is interrupted when he hops back in with two brown paper bags. Handing one to me, he cocks his head as if to ask me to speak. I stare into those gorgeous blues and open my mouth to put his silly ass in his place, but something unexpected pops out, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you feel like I was keeping a secret. I honestly was trying to wrap my brain around it and had every intention of spilling everything to you when we were having dinner. The whole Alex thing kind of put a wrench in my plans. Knowing what I know now, about Jack, I agree he is a creeper, but how could he attack Alex, especially since the doormen know he isn’t allowed in? You made that happen the day you kicked his butt and drug him to the elevators!”

“I get that my suspicions have holes but, Mia, I really wish you had talked to me before starting a line of communication between the two of you. I don’t trust that guy. I don’t think it was coincidental that Alex ran into Jack the same day she was attacked. I don’t know how he attacked her, but I will find proof. I want you to quit your job. Don’t give me that look. I know exactly what I am asking from you. I know it’s high handed and unfair and a bit patronizing, but that’s not the place I am coming from. I need you safe and I need you to be far away from that psycho.”

“Hold up, wait. The day she was attacked, what does the security video show?”

“Baby, trust me, Foster and I have been all over the footage. It’s clean, but on that day the service camera was broken. That’s how I think he got in. I can’t even consider you going back, Mia! I won’t even be able to focus, you are the most precious person to me and I literally almost lost you to one monster. This time, I can stop it. Please, let me protect you.”

---