“I’m not going to touch, baby. I told you that last night.”
I pause and glare at him. Did he really just watch me masturbate to tell me no? He gives me a cocky grin and I swear, I want to charge at him.
“You can’t be serious.”
“You want to shower first?” he says as he looks my body over.
I snort. “It’s all yours,” I say, jumping from the bed and snatching up the dress shirt to toss it back on.
He doesn’t take his eyes off of me. I grab my phone and go to stomp out of the room, but he grabs my arm and halts me. I stare daggers down at his hand.
“Give me fifteen. I’ll order us breakfast. Then we can talk.”
“Whatever.”
I yank my arm from him and storm out into the living area. I pace the floor mumbling to myself. This was all a bad idea.
I don’t think straight around John. As I pace a memory flashes in my head. I pause and stare into space.
The memory is of my father. It’s so clear I can smell his cologne. I can even feel the distance between us. It’s not the physical space, it’s more his demeanor.
The look on his face is so harsh. I don’t fear him, but I do feel as if at that moment I’ve disappointed him. However, it’s as if I too had been annoyed.
He’s sitting at the head of the table as always. It’s only the two of us. He placed his wine glass down and looked at me.
“One day you will learn you can’t trust everyone,” he said coldly. “Especially these little boys.”
“But we were just friends—”
He holds up his hand. “Concentrate on the things that will get you ahead in life. Boys will come and go. If they think they can get to what’s between your legs, they will sniff around longer, but never for long. Focus on your priorities. Be smart.”
I blink the memory away and turn to stare at the bedroom. Of all the memories to come forward now. I should be looking for Natasha. That should be my priority. I harden my resolve to leave John alone. It’s time I go.
I rush into the room and get dressed, keeping John’s shirt. Yup, I’m the coward this time. Or maybe I’m just being smart.
Either way, I’m over it.
John
“Roni,” I call out as I step out of the bathroom drying my hair with a towel. “How about after we eat, we go shopping since you need something to wear? We can—”
I stop short when I walk into an empty living area. The first thing I do is look for her little bag. Like her, it’s gone.
I clench my jaw and turn back for the bathroom, where I left my phone. Sure enough, I pull up the GPS on her phone and find it moving toward the airport. The sane part of me says to let it go. Let her go.
Then there’s the part of me that won’t allow me to. We need to talk. She’s not leaving without us having a sober talk.
Clearly, there is something between us and I don’t think ignoring it is an option. Shit, I’m hard thinking about her beneath me last night. And this morning, watching her please herself in front of me with not a care in the world, ready to give herself to me.
“Argh.” With a groan, I turn to head back into the bedroom to dress as I call her phone.
It goes right to voicemail. I fold my arms across my chest as I wait for the beep. I grin at her message.
“Hey, whatever.” Her raspy voice slides over my skin.
Fuck this. I need to go after her. However, that doesn’t stop me from leaving a message.
“Roni, when you get this message call me. Don’t get on a plane, don’t try to avoid me. We need to talk. Face to face. I’ll meet you at the airport.”
I’m in the middle leaving the message when my other line beeps in. I rush to check the call, hoping Roni has come to her senses, instead of running off like a brat. I sigh when I see it’s Dad and not her. I switch over.
“Hey, Dad. What’s up?”
I swear I feel his pain before he replies. “It’s Nora, son. She’s gone. Wyatt needs us. He has to go tell Nellie.”
I’m already tossing on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. “On my way.”
“See you soon.”
I hang up and spin in a circle, my thoughts are scattered. The need to go after Roni tugs at me, but my brother needs me. The bond I’ve had with my brothers since we were little tells me I’ll have to let things with Roni go for now.
It’s not like I can do anything about this thing between us. I have to settle things back home first. I huff and rush to put my shoes on as I make a plan in my head.
Once I’m moving out of the hotel, I bring up Nate’s number on my phone. Braxton pulls up in the rental SUV we’ve been sharing. A hand lands on my shoulder and I turn to find Noah with a grim expression on his face.
“This is going to be hard as fuck,” he grumbles.
“Yeah, I don’t doubt that, but we’re all here for them. We’ll fix this.”
He nods at me soberly. It’s like the weight of the world sets in on my shoulders. Once in the car, I settle into the backseat. Instead of calling Nate, I shoot him a text to let him know Roni is headed back his way.
Then I pull up Roni’s number. I stare at the phone, not knowing what to text. For the first time in my life, I don’t have the answer to the problem before me. No quick band-aid, no long-term solution, nothing.
Me: Go back to NY. They’ll take care of you. I’ll see you soon.
Staring at the text with my thumb hovering over the send button, I think over the text and delete the last part. I don’t want to make any promises I can’t keep.
I throw my head back against the headrest. My head starts to ache. This is going to be a shit day.
“Fuck.”
Chapter 23
Shutdown
John
“Yo, John,” Braxton calls through the office. “You have that file for me?”
“Yeah, I have it here.”
He walks over to my desk and sits on the edge. I tap at the keys on my laptop to send him the footage that accompanies the file he’s asking for. I’m glad to hand off the socialite. Of all the shit we do, I hate these types of cases.
Some people think money buys you truth, sometimes not knowing is better than knowing. This girl is in for a world of hurt when she gets the answers she’s looking for. My thoughts turn to Roni.
I’ve been to New York a few times without making my presence known to her. It’s probably best that way. She’s taking to the program. Almost too well.
Nate has concerns about her. While she’s one of his top trainees, she’s still an X factor. We don’t know where she’s from or who she used to be. Her sessions with the psych team have revealed she has so much repressed anger, she’s essentially a ticking time bomb.
“Hey, did you hear what I said?”
I draw my brows as I focus back in on Brax. He looks at me like I’m crazy. Releasing a sigh, I fall back in my seat.
“I missed that. What did you say?”
He narrows his eyes at me. “What’s the deal with you? You’ve been spacing out a lot lately. Not to mention, I was just up front at Heather’s desk. You’re taking time off again. The schedule shows you out of the office for two weeks again. I didn’t see any bounties attached to your load,” he says, his words measured as if he’s piecing together a puzzle as he talks.