| |
Safe.
That was how I felt with Salem.
I felt safe and happy and comfortable.
I felt like no matter what happened next, I was going to be okay because he had my back.
And that was really the thing I had missed the most. I’d missed having someone who cared about me. I’d missed having someone who was always looking after me.
A few orgasms later and there was a knock at the door. The food had arrived. I grabbed a robe – one of the many new clothing items Salem had said I “needed” – and slipped it on to get the food. I carried everything inside and closed the door behind me.
“Are you ready for our snack?” I laughed, setting the tray on the bed.
“Snack?” Salem looked at the many dishes and plates. “Baby, you bought us a feast.”
“I hope you don’t mind.”
“I don’t mind at all,” he said. His stomach growled, as if on cue, and we both laughed.
“Like a cartoon,” I pointed out.
“The only part of me that’s like a cartoon is the fact that little hearts appear in my eyes every time I look at you.”
“I feel the same way, lover,” I kissed him. “Or should I start calling you ‘future husband’?”
He laughed. “I think ‘mate’ will work just fine, sweetie.”
We ate until we were totally stuffed and then cuddled up on the bed. I still couldn’t believe how lucky I was to be here with him, but it was kind of a wonderful feeling. Salem was everything I’d ever wanted in a mate, but I still didn’t feel like I deserved him.
I knew that was my own issues shining through, but I hoped that somehow, I would figure out a way to make him know just how much I appreciated him and just how much I loved being with him.
After a little while, he got up to go take a shower, and I started cleaning up the dishes and such to carry out to the hall. The person who delivered our food told me that I could just leave everything outside of the door. As I was carrying it out, I completely dropped a plate, spilling leftover frosting from the cupcakes on the carpet.
Shit.
That was definitely going to stain, and even though it wasn’t “my problem,” I didn’t want to just leave it.
“I’m going to run downstairs,” I called out. I wasn’t sure if he’d heard me over the sound of the water, but I wouldn’t be too long. Grabbing my key from the dresser, I slipped on my flip-flops and headed down the hall to the elevator.
As I rode down to the lobby, I thought about how crazy everything had been today. It had been wild. Chaotic.
And I still couldn’t believe what had happened with Lane.
I didn’t really know why I hadn’t seen it before. She’d always seemed a bit difficult to work with, but never as difficult as Keith had been. And neither one of them had ever been around when I’d been working for Kevin.
It was like the three of them were so very different that it almost didn’t make sense that they were actually siblings.
Then again, it wasn’t like my brother and I were anything alike.
As the doors opened, I started walking toward the reception desk – which was currently empty – to find someone to ask about the food spill. A movement caught my eye in the lobby, though, and I turned to see someone I hadn’t expected.
“Keith?” I asked, jaw dropping.
How had he known I was going to be here?
How was he here?
My first instinct was to turn and run back to the elevators, but before I could, I felt someone sidle up to me. I turned sharply to see Lane there, too.
“Hello, old friend,” she said. “We need to talk.”
*
IN CRIME SHOWS, THEY always tell you not to allow yourself to be taken to a secondary location. It’s always at times like that where you actually find yourself in hot water. If you stayed where you were, then you were fine. It was only if someone grabbed you and hauled you somewhere else that you developed some sort of problem.
And I knew right away that Lane and Keith had come here together and that yes, they were going to make some sort of trouble for me.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, staring at Keith. Lane pressed her hand on my arm, and I pulled it away sharply.
“Don’t make a scene,” Lane hissed, but I would make any sort of scene that I wanted to.
I knew something that Lane and Keith didn’t. I knew that the flash drive was safe with Cosmo. I knew that if anything happened to me, the dragon lawyer would figure everything out.
And I knew that if I really, really freaked out, my mate would know. He was only upstairs, which meant if my anxiety was bad enough or if I screamed loudly enough, he’d either smell my emotions or he’d hear me through the many floors of the building, and he’d come for me.
Salem would always come for me.
At this late hour, the hotel lobby was empty. I had assumed that the lack of front desk staff was because the lone worker had stepped out to smoke or was using the bathroom, but now I wondered if Lane and Keith had done something to the person working there.
“What do you want?”
“We want the information,” Keith said.
“The flash drive,” Lane said.
Oh.
So, they did know.
“Are you the one that destroyed my apartment?” I asked Keith.
He only smiled.
“You knew about this, didn’t you?” I asked Lane, turning to her. She was still gripping my arm, which I hated, but I didn’t mind letting them think I was weak for a little while.
When people thought you were weak and frail, they underestimated you. It sounded like a strange sort of thing, but it was far better to be underestimated than overestimated. If people didn’t expect anything from you, it was safer, especially in a situation like this.
“Of course, I knew.”
“Then why did you fire me?”
That was something I didn’t understand.
“I told her not to do that,” Keith narrowed his eyes at Lane. “It was a dumb move.”
“She pissed me off,” Lane shrugged, looking at Keith. She spoke like I wasn’t there. “She was so damn nosy. She was always lurking around, trying to figure things out. The only thing she needed to figure out was how to fuck off.”
“I never lurked,” I said, bristling at the idea that I was something like a snake.
“You did,” Keith said, “and I want the flash drive.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Don’t play dumb. I know you accessed my private files today. I got an alert.”
So that was how they knew I was in town.
When I’d taken the documents off of Keith’s computer, I had been following Piper’s instructions. I was a lawyer, yes, but I wasn’t her lawyer, and I wasn’t interested in screwing around with the contents of that file.
My curiosity wasn’t so high that I wanted to mess around with a bunch of files that I might accidentally mess up and thus impact her case.
Now I kind of wished I’d done that earlier. It would have been smarter, but I’d reacted instinctively and had just tried to escape from the situation at hand.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I don’t know what you think you know,” Lane hissed, “but you’re a fucking idiot.”
“Let’s go for a walk,” Keith said.
“I think I’m fine here,” I told him. “Why don’t you tell me a little bit more about this flash drive you’re looking for. Maybe if your sister stops being a total bitch, we’ll actually be able to get this thing sorted. I can help you find it.”
I’d do nothing of the sort.
The flash drive was still at Cosmo’s office, as far as I knew, and I had no interest in helping Keith or Lane figure out where it was.
“She still thinks we’re brother and sister,” Lane said. “That’s cute.”
Suddenly, my stomach twisted, and I realized I’d had this all wrong from the start.
Kevin had talked about his brother fondly, but he’d never mentioned his sister. I’d thought it was weird when Keith showed up with his sister who looked nothing like him, but I’d never thought much about it. I had nothing to do with the legal documentation regarding the change of ownership, and I’d never gone nosing about.
Come to think of it, I was starting to wonder if I was, in fact, the world’s shittiest attorney.
It was my job to be curious, but I wasn’t.
It was my job to be detail-oriented, but I’d let that slide, too.
I’d been so caught off-guard by Kevin’s death that instead of trying to figure out why the office culture had been changing in such a bad way, I’d just been stuck daydreaming about Salem and wishing my life had turned out differently.
And I’d missed the signs.
I’d been weak.
I’d put up with losing Piper, and I’d put up with Keith’s attention, and I’d let him capture me in my damn apartment without being strong enough to tell him to go fuck himself. I hadn’t called the cops and I hadn’t talked to any of the other attorneys at work.
I’d just...taken it.
I’d just dealt with it.
And what had my first thought been?
Right.
It had been “Salem will help me.”
Well, that didn’t feel very badass of me. That didn’t feel very strong, independent woman of me. That didn’t feel like I was being the girl boss I needed to be.
It felt weak.
And I wasn’t weak.
“Lane,” I finally snapped, “get your fucking hand off me.”