Page 65 of Black Wave

“But,” I begin again with emphasis on the ‘but’ mimicking him, “I was verbally harassed by two women today when Liv and I were out.”

He moves in closer. “What do you mean harassed?”

And I begin to explain. “Well, the waitress was shocked at the restaurant when she saw my engagement ring. Thanks for making the reservation under ‘Emma Ruiz,’ by the way.” I say that with supreme sarcasm to ensure he understands further questioning is coming from that separate topic. “She said, and I quote, ‘What do you have that I don’t have?’” I spare a glance at him, and he looks furious.

“Well, you have had me, Emma, from day one. We lost each other once, but I swear I will make it up to you.”

I hug him, and I never want to let go. “The other girl was equally psycho. She all but bit me like a rabid dog. I had no idea who she was, but she knew me.”

I see his head tilt to the side. “What do you mean she knew you? What did she look like?” I feel his fingers tense protectively around my shoulders.

I attempt to remember. “I’m not sure because her face was hidden behind a large pair of sunglasses, but she had an unnatural shade of red-colored hair and red glossy lipstick to match. Definitely well-off.”

I feel Eduardo stiffen in my embrace, and I look up at him. “What’s wrong, Eduardo? Do you know who that is?”

CHAPTER 35

Eduardo

Iwalk to my soundproofed office and quickly call Philip. I know Emma will have questions, but I need to check this out first. It never occurred to me that Cherry could pose a threat to Emma, but I have a suspicion, and my intuition is rarely wrong. There can be no mistakes regarding Emma’s safety. Philip picks up on his usual second ring.

“Hey, Boss, what’s up?” I clear my throat.

“Philip, we have a problem I need you to check out. Remember that server, Cherry, from the club?”

He scoffs into the phone. “Yeah, the girl you hooked up with?”

I cringe at the memory. I must tell Emma, but I don’t want her to know that. She knows I slept with women, but I don’t want them to come to light. It looks like I am a little late for that, but I want her to know that there has been no one since that last night with Cherry in my office. Since I found out about her, I went for what I truly wanted. Her, just her.

“Eduardo, are you still there?”

I stop myself from having these thoughts. “Yes, unfortunately, that’s her. Emma was shopping today with Livand ran into Cherry at River Oaks. She was dressed in expensive clothing and shopping at high-end stores.”

“Interesting.” That is all Philip says.

“She also said that Cherry confronted her, saying ‘I don’t know what ‘they’ see in you’ to Emma in the store.” That makes the hair on the back of my neck rise. This must also trigger something in Philip because he immediately confirms my exact thoughts.

“What do you mean she said ‘they see in you’?” he asks.

“I honestly don’t know, but it is an odd choice of words. Also, Cherry was a server with a loser boyfriend. He could barely keep a job, so she picked up extra shifts. I assume it was also to be close to me. When I met her, she was money-hungry and broke. Her boyfriend was a bit possessive and held a job, but not by any means rich.” Replaying Philip’s and my questions in my head, the intrusive thoughts resurface that this could be something more.

I blow out a breath and brace myself for the words leaving my mouth. “Do you think when he said ‘they’ that she meant me and...” I pause, not even wanting to speak his name and have my suspicions confirmed.

“Julian?” Philip finishes my thoughts for me. “Yeah, Boss. It’s very possible. You said Emma relayed the fact that she was dressed in designer clothes and shopping at luxury stores. He must be. Possibly even buying her off, or worse, leading her on as if he wants Cherry. That girl screamed for attention and was drawn to rich, powerful men. She must not realize how dangerous Julian is.”

“Do you think that she is the one giving Julian information? Maybe she still has access to the club? Do we know for sure that she isn’t around there anymore? Maybe, somehow, she is still able to or is helping Julian to track Emma’s movement?” Each question makes me want to vomit. My involvement withCherry could cause Emma harm. I am starting to sweat. If I am responsible for Julian getting to Emma, I don’t think I could live with that. I won’t let him have her. I start to pace the room, thinking of a way to stop this once and for all.

“Philip, I need you to be vigilant and see if you can track Cherry’s movements. See what she is up to. Maybe through her, we can finally find out where Julian is hiding.” I don’t know where to begin. My thoughts are muddled as I try to make sense of this fucked-up situation. We are leaving in a little more than a week to Mexico to see her uncle and spend our first Christmas together there with her family. I will think of a plan by then and let the family know. Perhaps together, we can devise something to end this once and for all.

I end the call with Philip, and he promises to stay hidden and see what he can find out about Cherry and Julian. If anyone can, I know that Philip will pull through. He is trustworthy and someone I can call a true friend. With Jameson helping, we can track him down sooner.

I need to go and discuss this with Emma before she jumps to conclusions about Cherry. I am sure she has figured it out, but I don’t want to have to tell her about my suspicions that Cherry, my previous hook-up, is the one telling Julian about my girl’s movements. That would only scare her and not help the situation.

I leave my office and mutter under my breath,“Well, here goes nothing.”

I find Emma curled up on the couch with a glass of wine and her Kindle. She has her hair in a messy bun, fuzzy socks, and wait, are those glasses?

“Since when do you wear glasses?”

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