Red After Dark (Blackwood Security #13) - Elise Noble Page 0,101

panic. And Sloane was too fastidious to butt-dial.

“What’s up?”

“Black sent an email ordering me to clear his schedule.”

“How long for?”

“Like, forever. I thought it was a mistake, so I called him, and he just said it was no mistake and that he had some issues to deal with. What am I supposed to do? Should I move everything to you and Nick and Nate? Aw, Nate’s gonna go crazy if I do that.”

“I’ll talk to Black, okay?”

“Thank goodness.” Sloane took a deep breath, and I pictured her composing herself. “Uh, is there something I can help you with?”

Hell, she was going to hate me. “Yeah, I need you to clear my schedule…”

CHAPTER 40 - EMMY

BLOODY HELL. IF I thought I’d looked bad this morning, that was nothing compared to Black. Rumpled clothes, messy hair, a day’s worth of stubble, a swollen jaw… Had he slept at all? Now he was sitting at the kitchen table in Riverley Hall, staring at a slice of cold pizza as if it held the answers to life. A small pile of dog biscuits sat next to the plate, and Barkley rested her head on his knee. Turncoat.

“Hey.”

Black’s head snapped up. Boy, those eyes were bloodshot. Had he been on the sauce too?

“You came back.”

“Yes.”

“Diamond, I’m so sorry. For what I did last night and for what I did eight years ago.”

And so he fucking should have been. If I’d been a regular girl, I’d have been packing my bags by now, but our relationship had always been physical in every way. The fight was just an extension of that. The jealousy? I understood that because I felt it too, albeit to a far lesser degree. He’d had other women, not quite in the same way I’d had men, but they’d still been there, lurking in the background.

And maybe, just maybe, when James had asked me what I thought of the whole marrying-Diana-and-running-for-president thing, I possibly might have told him it was a fantastic idea even though I hated it. Why? Because although Black had once complained that Diana was too clingy, she was the one woman he’d brought back to Riverley with him. He thought I didn’t know that, but I did.

I knew who some of the others were too. And even now on the rare occasions I came across one of them, I still felt that hot little bud of fire in my belly, the primal instinct to shove them over a damn cliff. But I didn’t. Perhaps because in the past, I’d had to cope without Black for the best part of a year, and I knew I could survive alone.

I’d be miserable as hell, but I’d survive.

All of which meant I could forgive Black for what he’d done to me, but not for what he’d done to Alaric.

“Sloane said you told her to clear your schedule.”

“How can I work? I can’t even think straight right now.”

“You weren’t thinking straight yesterday either. I’m half surprised you didn’t splatter Alaric against the wall.”

“I wanted to,” Black admitted. “I was angry. Angry at him for being here, angry at you for leaving with him, but most of all, angry at myself for driving you back into his arms.”

“Back into his arms?” Oh, for crying out loud. “Is that what you think happened?”

“Didn’t it?”

“For fuck’s sake, you’ve got to stop thinking that way. Alaric saw a distressed woman and helped her because that’s the kind of man he is. We went out for dinner. We talked. Alaric told me he was in love with Bethany, and I told him he should be having that conversation with her and not me. He told me I should talk things through with you instead of running away from my problems again, so here I am. Happy?”

“He brought you home. Stayed the night.”

“What did you do? Spy on me? Can’t you just let this go? He brought me home because I drank so much I couldn’t walk. Ana was there too, last night and this morning. I have no idea if she stayed over as well because I was unconscious. If this is how you’re gonna react every time I spend five minutes with Alaric, then we’ve got even bigger problems than I thought. And let me tell you, Chuck, we’ve got some pretty big problems.”

“I know.” He closed his eyes and pressed the heels of his hands against his forehead. “I can’t believe the way I treated you last night. The way I grabbed you. You’re right—I am