Stuffing the letter under her car’s seat, she resolved not to think about the matter for the rest of the day. She had enough on her mind as it was.
On the drive to work, she listened to her favorite playlist and tried to sort everything out in her head. She needed to talk to Markus, that much was for sure.
And she would. Soon.
She just wasn’t ready yet.
That day the itinerary called for a meeting in Gainesville, a little over an hour away. Unlike a lot of her trips, Viv wouldn’t be making this one alone. Mr. Romano had offered to give her a ride.
She’d been in a good mood when she’d accepted earlier in the week. Now, she really wished she hadn’t done that. Right then, nothing felt better than solitude.
As she parked her car at HW’s headquarters, her phone buzzed with a text from Markus.
How are you feeling?
Good question. Seeing the text made her think she might vomit, actually.
She suspected he knew something was up and that she hadn’t been completely honest about why she’d ditched him, but since they hadn’t talked face-to-face, she couldn’t know for sure. Like the letter from her father, she was just gonna stuff this whole matter for the time being.
Going into work, she went through her morning routine on autopilot. Coffee in the break room. A quick hello to everyone. An email check and briefing of the day’s schedule.
At eight sharp, she met Mr. Romano in the main lobby.
“Vivian.” He smiled with shiny, white teeth that seemed too big and perfect to be real. “How’s my star sales rep?”
She cringed inwardly. It hurt knowing she was so good in a field she couldn’t wait to discard.
“I’m good,” she lied. “How are you, Mr. Romano?”
“Great. I’d be even better if you weren’t leaving in a week, though.”
She forced a smile as he opened the door and they went outside. “That’s kind of you.”
A car idled in front of the building, and the driver waited for the two of them to get into the back before zooming from the parking lot.
“Seriously.” Mr. Romano finished texting on his phone, then put it away. “You’ve done a lot for HW. I’ve been meaning to talk to you about your departure. If money is the issue, I can get something worked out.”
“That’s not it at all.” A tightness formed in her chest. She was getting tired of having to explain this to people. She was getting tired of people in general.
“I do appreciate it, though,” she said. “Thank you very much.”
“Really, Viv.” His thick eyebrows pushed together. “Name your price.”
Huh. He thought she was trying to play hardball.
“There is no price, Mr. Romano. I would like to get into a new field.”
“Oh? And what would that be?”
She hesitated. Bea still hadn’t called her back about the job at the floral shop, but she had her hopes up. “Flowers.”
There was a long pause, and then Mr. Romano broke into laughter. “That’s cute.”
He pulled out his phone again and stuck his face in it, signaling the end of the conversation.
Viv’s face burned. Though she didn’t know Mr. Romano well, she’d always considered him a decent guy. It was quite possible her opinion on that was changing.
From her purse, she heard her phone buzz. Another text.
That constricted feeling in her chest increased. If it was Markus again, she didn’t want to know.
“We need to make a stop,” Mr. Romano said a few minutes later.
“Okay.”
They were on the highway, close to crossing the city limits.
“It shouldn’t take long,” he added.
Viv only nodded. She didn’t care. At this point, she was only along for the ride. It was important that she show up to work and go through the motions, but other than that, not much else seemed to matter.
Mr. Romano leaned forward and gave the company driver an address. They took an exit off the highway and passed by some gas stations and a trailer park before arriving at a nondescript office building with some warehouses and storage units behind it.
“Be right back.” Mr. Romano climbed from the car and strode into the office building.
Since there were no cars out front, she didn’t know who he could be meeting. Maybe he was only picking something up. Not that she cared much.
Sitting bored and with nothing to do meant all she could think about was her phone. With the draw too much, she dug it from her purse.
Sure enough, Markus had texted again.
Want me to bring you anything? Did you stay home from work?
Viv bit her lip. She always heard women complaining about guys not texting them back, and now that one was being super attentive, she couldn’t stand it.
Putting the phone back in her purse, she closed her eyes. That conversation about the box, as uncomfortable as it would be for her, needed to happen sooner rather than later.
The sound of the door opening made her jerk and open her eyes. Mr. Romano hadn’t been kidding about how long that would take. He was already back.
“Let’s go,” he told the driver. His attention turned to Viv. “Ready for the meeting?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good. We wouldn’t want you slacking because you’re on the homestretch.”
He chuckled at the poor excuse for a joke. In the past, she probably would have forced a laugh, but since keeping her employers happy didn’t matter anymore, she didn’t so much as smile.
“It’ll be a good meeting, I’m sure.”
With that, she turned her face to the window.
She really should have driven herself to Gainesville.
She really should have done a lot of things. She should have never opened that box on top of Markus’ fridge. She should have never gotten involved with him in the first place.
He’d tried to stay away from her, and he’d failed. Maybe his reasons for keeping his distance weren’t only due to being unemployed. Was there something darker going on here?
She wanted to believe that her imagination was getting the best of her and she was jumping to conclusions. Then again, she’d never been a particularly imaginative person.
Chapter 11
Markus
Viv’s phone rang and rang. The moment her voicemail started, he hung up in frustration.
From the corner table in the kitchen where he was busy cleaning his guns, Ryder cocked an eyebrow.
“How many times have you called her?”
“Two,” Markus growled. “That’s all.”
“Okay, okay.” He held up his palms in surrender. “Just asking.”
“And I texted her a couple times.” Markus tossed his phone on the couch, disgusted with himself.
He’d never been like this with a woman. Everything was different with Viv. She made him thrilled, terrified, and optimistic all at once.
It felt like all or nothing with her, and that scared the hell out of him.
“I messed up.” Hands curled into fists, he paced the room. “I don’t know what I did, but I messed up.”
“Hm. Possibly.” Ryder put his Glock down and picked up his phone with a frown. He didn’t seem to be listening at all.