Page 50 of Merciless Protector

For a second, I didn’t realize he was speaking to Shawn and glanced around, only to realize we were the only ones in the lobby besides the man who’d spoken. Then I was reminded Shawn was Matthew. Something he and I had yet to talk about.

“Long time,” Shawn said, clapping him on the shoulder.

“What brings you here?” the older man asked.

“I was in the area and wondered if I could speak to you quickly.”

The man eyed his watch, which wasn’t a smart one. It was a regular but expensive-looking timepiece. “I have a few minutes.”

“Give me a second,” Shawn said to him and then took a few steps over to me. “You wouldn’t mind waiting a few minutes, would you?”

“No problem. Go ahead,” I said. I needed to use the restroom anyway.

He pressed a quick kiss to my lips before darting off with the man. I approached the receptionist, who had watched our exchange. “Is there a bathroom I could use?”

She smiled genially and gave me instructions to a nearby bathroom a few steps from the lobby. I walked to the short alcove and into the bathroom. The decor was something out of a Homes & Gardens magazine with a gilded-frame mirror, marble floors, and solid wood stall doors. I lingered at my reflection in the mirror and wondered what Shawn saw in me. I wasn’t a beauty like you see in movies, nor was I some femme fatale. I was ordinary, with a mass of honey-brown curls that desperately needed taming. With no makeup, my skin looked blotchy. I pushed back my hair and made a face at myself. I stuck out my tongue and laughed for a second. Then I remembered why I came into the bathroom in the first place. I did my business and after washing my hands, I splashed water on my face as if it would bring life to it. I patted my hands and face dry with towels and exited.

I was a step away from leaving the hidden view of the alcove when I heard the man that Shawn had been talking to conferring with the receptionist.

“As you know, Ana is out today. Could you help me update Mr. Moore’s will? We just need to change his primary beneficiary from his sister to a future wife and any children he may have. We need to update his trust as well. The rest can wait until Ana gets back.”

All the air from my lungs disappeared. I held there a second before I peeked out and saw the man leaving. I took another second before I emerged. By that time, Shawn and the man were headed back my way.

Shawn grinned at me, and I didn’t know what to do other than to smile back. I was at a loss for words for how this man was making changes for me and our child, or so I assumed.

“Do you think we could get up to one hundred and three?” Shawn asked his lawyer.

The lawyer looked amused. “Let me see if we can arrange that.” He walked over to the receptionist. “Can you call management and see if we can get them up to the balcony on the one hundred and third floor?”

“Sure thing, Mr. Russell.”

So that was his name.

Mr. Russell turned to Shawn. “I’ll get those documents updated and ready for your signature when you return.”

The man left, and the receptionist was busy on the phone, so I asked Shawn the question. “What’s on the one hundred and third floor?”

He flashed me a bright smile. “Most people go to the eighty-sixth. The iconic location of the outdoor view atop this building. Then there is the one hundred and two, which is glassed in and smaller. But one hundred and three has a secret view. Only a select few get to go up there. Likely, if they let us, we will be the only ones, and it’s outdoors. Trust me, you’ll love it unless you’re afraid of heights.”

His excitement was palpable, and I didn’t want to spoil it. “I’m a little scared of heights.” I also wondered, since he knew about it, had he been one of the few who had seen it before?

He took my hand. “I won’t make you do anything you don’t want, but give it a try if they let us.”

Shortly after, a woman entered the lobby and spoke to the receptionist, who pointed us out. “Are you ready?” she asked, looking amused.

“Ready as I can be,” I said a little warily. One hundred and three floors from the ground seemed daunting and a real test of my fear of heights.

We followed her to the elevators. One opened, and it was empty. She used a card and a key to access a hidden panel and set our course to the one hundred and second floor. The elevator wasn’t gentle in its assent, something I hadn’t noticed the first time. We were from the seventy-eighth floor to the one hundred and second in the blink of an eye. The doors didn’t immediately open. She spoke on her phone using code words before she hit the button for the door to open. She waved us out first before, seconds later, she appeared. The area was empty save for a security guard, and she ushered us to a black door off to the side. Using her card again, the door unlocked, and we were quickly hustled inside a small corridor.

In front of us was a steep metal stairway where she waved us to go ahead. Shawn, being the gentleman he was, offered for me to go first. With my heart in my throat, I moved ahead, not wanting to get into a back-and-forth with Shawn as to who should go first.

I waited at the top for the others to join me before the woman took us through another door. The cramped room we entered was filled with equipment and pipes. A door with a window insert was the only outside view, and through it, I got my first view of how high we really were.

My face must have turned green because an amused Shawn took me in his arms and murmured, “We don’t have to go.”

Though my brain fought me on the idea of stepping outside, I told myself the owners of this building wouldn’t allow people up there if it wasn’t safe. All I had to do was follow the safety directions. I sucked in air and pulled up my big-girl pants even though I was shaking on the inside. Hadn’t Shawn said this was a secret view? I took his hand and let him lead me forward.

“The area is tight, and the railing is short, so be careful,” the woman said as she opened the door.

---