I have business cards for the phone calls I will not answer?”
“You got it.”
“Awesome.”
At least that’s what I thought she’d said. It was hard to tell because her face was against my chest and her body was practically melted into mine.
Happy.
Relaxed.
Alive.
She barely trusted anyone.
But she trusted me.
She barely loved anyone.
But she loved me.
I held a beautiful, fragile flower in the palm of my hand.
And I hoped like hell I didn’t damage her worst of all.
Chapter Thirty
Final
Briar
For the cat cave, loyal citizen
MAYBE I COULD get a dog.
Or a cat.
Oh, maybe I could get pigeons.
I watched Aria and Muppet drive away. I’d offered to drop him off after work, but she’d turned me down since she was heading to spend her Saturday night with Brand. She didn’t say as much, but I got the feeling she spent all her nights with him.
Alexander was overseeing the installation of something or another at a, and I quote, ‘hipster startup’ in Seattle. He wouldn’t be back until after dinner, so I’d be spending a wild evening at home. Alone.
Crazy how what once had been my perfect night lost its luster when I knew I could have Alexander’s cooking and company.
And a third thing that started with a C, too, because he was turning me into a sex fiend.
I was heading back to work when Sue called, “Briar!”
Still hate it.
Carrying a load of boxes, she grinned huge. “Just who I wanted to see.”
I’d already been her favorite employee. Thanks to Aria’s donation, I was beginning to worry Sue would start a religion around me. I wouldn’t be a good cult leader. I hated public speaking, compliments made me anxious, and I didn’t like Kool-Aid.
“Can you transfer the cats from row six into the playroom? They’re all shouting at one another. I think they need to stretch their paws and play for a bit.”
Thank goodness, it’s work related.
“No problem.”
“You’re a peach. I totally owe you more than a money tree.”
“Don’t forget about the picture of me and Mr. Worldwide.”
Sue’s head tilted to the side, her brows lowering. “What picture?”
She didn’t send…
Alexander. Of course.
I really have to talk with him about his stalking.
Or at least about timing his pictures so I don’t have a bag of poo in my hand.
“Never mind. I’ll be in the cat cave if you need me.” I walked backwards and kept talking. “It’s like Batman’s Batcave, except with feather mice and laser pointers.”
Sue laughed.
I seemed to be making that happen more and more.
And I couldn’t say I minded.
Alexander
BRINGING UP THE camera feed, I checked to see that Briar was home safe from work.
She had to know I’d put the cameras back up. She had to know I was watching.
But she moved around, pretending they weren’t. Pretending I wasn’t. She was at ease and completely herself in her home. Her fortress of solitude, as she called it. Except she wasn’t in solitude. Not anymore.
And never fucking again, if I had my way.
I closed the app and drove through the winding streets of an upper, upper, way fucking upper-class Seattle neighborhood. My bank account likely rivaled or topped some of these assholes, but at least I had some taste and humility. Each mausoleum was more ostentatious than the last.
As I drove, the jammer discreetly mounted on the dash blocked security cameras. When all was said and done, there’d be no evidence I’d been there.
Other than the dead body.
I went by my target’s house, but he wasn’t home yet. Parking a few streets away, I waited impatiently. Usually, I enjoyed it. The anticipation. It made the end result better. But I’d already spent the day in meetings. The last fucking thing I wanted to do was spend the night waiting for a bastard to drag his dick out of his mistress and come home.
Not when I could be with Briar, with my dick buried in her.
But this last one was important. After it was done, I was out. Finished. Never taking the risk, never looking deeper, and never looking back. I’d spent years trying to do the right thing. Then I’d spent years doing the right thing, even if that meant doing it in the wrong way.
It was time to be selfish.
Let someone else handle the scum of the world.
Fighting the urge to leave—and fighting a hard-on—I brought up Briar’s cell screen on mine. Like the previous fifty times I’d looked in the last damn hour, she was scrolling through mind fluff. I was glad. She deserved a break.
I switched to my calendar and emails, taking