“Morons,” she says. “That’s what I have.”
“Something wrong with the pickup point?” Deklan takes a step toward Teagan, and I stay close behind him as I keep Sean in my peripheral vision.
“If you can figure out what it is from this message, be my guest.”
“What’s the problem?”
“Well, for starters, they think the wingdings font is the same as encryption,” Teagan says with a huff. “Seriously, these people are idiots.”
“So, what’s in the email?” Deklan asks.
“I have no idea.” Teagan turns the laptop to face everyone, and I lean around Deklan just enough to see a bit of the screen. “I don’t want to just throw it into an online translator. That shit can be tracked.”
“Is that Spanish or something?” Brian asks as he peers at the screen. “Don’t these fuckers know we’re in America?”
“They aren’t in America,” Teagan says, “and this isn’t Spanish.”
“It’s Portuguese,” I say.
Deklan snaps his head in my direction and narrows his eyes. I look back to the floor and position myself behind him again.
“We can wait for Jesus,” Brian says.
“He’s not coming.” Deklan’s voice is sharp and his words are clipped.
“Not unless it’s a second coming,” Sean says with a laugh. He slaps his hand on his thigh. “Get it? Jesus”—he pronounces the hard J—“second coming?”
He laughs long and loud. Teagan raises an eyebrow at Deklan, who shakes his head slightly and says nothing.
“Can you read it?” Teagan asks as she turns toward me.
“Maybe,” I say. “I think so. My Spanish is better, but I know a little.”
Sean stands up, wiping tears from his eyes, and gestures toward the screen.
I look up at Deklan, and he nods at me. I approach the laptop and peer at the email.
“Do you want me to just read it?”
“No, write a fucking dissertation on it.” Sean’s no longer laughing.
“Just read what you can,” Deklan says softly as he places his hand on the small of my back.
“Okay.” I take a deep breath and move a little closer. The email isn’t written in sentences, just short phrases and numbers. “It says ‘the ice cream man is coming,’ then there’s a bunch of numbers spelled out. Three-slash-two and four hundred. The next line says ‘friend’ and ‘green,’ but I don’t know the verb. I could google it.”
“I’ve got it,” Teagan says. “It means collect or collection.”
“Then it’s just that line of numbers at the end,” I say.
“Three-two?” Sean turns to Brian and glares. If that’s a date, that’s a fucking month away!”
“I think it’s February third,” Teagan says. “Three days.”
“They’re delivering the snow February third, four in the morning,” Deklan says. “The numbers at the end have to be the coordinates.”
Snow. He means cocaine. I glance at Deklan, but he doesn’t meet my eyes.
“And a friend is going to collect it.” I try to smile at Deklan, but he just narrows his eyes.
“Well, aren’t you full of surprises?” Sean says as he grins at me. “Maybe we should just send you out to pick it up, huh?”
I look at the floor as I take a slight step closer to Deklan.
“She on the payroll now?” Brian asks.
“She is not.” Deklan takes my arm and pulls me back away from the computer. He glares at Brian, who looks at the floor and doesn’t make any further remarks.
“Brian, make sure the cargo in the shipping containers is unloaded by tomorrow,” Sean says. “Gotta be ready for the new supplier.”
“I’m digging into these guys a bit more,” Teagan says. “I know they’ve been vetted by Lucas, but something isn’t right here. They can’t really be this stupid.”
“Check it out,” Sean says. “If you find something hinky, we’ll let Dek deal with it.”
“Kera,” Dek says softly, “go wait in the hallway. I’ll be out in a minute.”
“Okay.” I back away from him slowly, and I don’t miss the smirk on Sean’s face as he watches me leave the room.
I’m perfectly happy to be out of Sean Foley’s presence. I walk halfway down the hall to put a little more distance between us. The walls are lined with expensive-looking paintings of people, but I have no idea who they are.
I don’t wait long before the office door opens, and Sean and Teagan walk out.
“Give me two hours,” Teagan says. “I should have something by then.”
“It’s a plan, baby sister.”
Teagan rolls her eyes, gives me a nod, and heads off down the hallway, leaving me alone with Sean.
I’m instantly on edge, even before he takes a step closer to me, invading my personal space. My back is to the wall, and I can’t move away from him without being extremely obvious. I glance at the door, but it’s closed again with Deklan on the other side.
“Little Kera.” Sean smiles and inches nearer. “I have to say, marriage seems to agree with you. You are positively glowing, as they say. Kinda like one of those monkeys that hold their bright red asses in the air, begging to be fucked.”
I don’t respond. I can’t even look at his face. I just keep glancing at the door, praying for Deklan to come out. I can feel sweat collecting at the back of my neck, and I’m positive my heart has stopped beating.
Sean places his hand on the wall beside my head, and I turn away from him, still focused on the door to the office. He leans in until his mouth is right next to my ear.
“You know, back in feudal days, lords would take a turn at commoner brides on the wedding night, hoping to spread a little noble cum around. Maybe I should have done that. Maybe you’d like a taste of my noble cock, huh?”
“Come on, bitch. Lick my balls!”
“We ain’t supposed to touch her.”
“Who’s gonna know?”
I swallow hard, forcing the unknown, menacing voices from my head along with the smell of grease and old sweat.
“The wedding night’s over,” I say softly, trying to keep my nerve. “I’m…I’m Deklan’s now.”
“And who do you think owns Dek?”
Voices on the other side of the door get closer, and the doorknob begins to turn. Sean takes a quick step away from me as he snickers softly. A moment later, the door opens, and Deklan comes into the hallway with Brian right behind him.
“She’s so fucking hot,” Brian says. “And she smells so good. I think she must work at McDonald’s. Every time I pass her in the hall, I get a craving for a Big Mac.”
“You ain’t right.” Deklan narrows his eyes as he glances between me and Sean, but Sean turns and walks down the hallway without another word, and I let out a long-held breath. Deklan reaches for my arm. “Everything okay, babe?”
“Yes,” I say quickly as I press against him. “Can we go home now?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“I’ll call ya later, Dek. Good to meet you, Kera.”
“You, too.” I give Brian a brief smile, and Deklan leads me to the front door.
As soon as we’re in the car, Deklan’s phone rings. He doesn’t say much, but I can tell he’s talking to Sean. When he hangs up, he reaches over and grips my thigh.
“Did he say something to you?” Deklan asks.
“No.” I don’t want to lie to Deklan, but I also want to put my encounter with Sean completely out of my head, and recounting it isn’t going to help. “Nothing really.”
Deklan sighs audibly. I glance over. I can see his chest rising and falling, and his jaw is tense. He takes his hand from my leg to shift gears before running it through his hair.
“I should have told you to wait in the car. Just…just keep your distance from him, okay?”
“Gladly.”
Deklan reaches over to stroke my cheek, and I close my eyes, leaning into his touch.
I have no doubt in my mind—Sean
Foley is completely insane. I know Deklan said he would protect me, but against his own boss, a man who claims to “own” my husband? Deklan’s loyalties are clear, and I’m not sure exactly where I fit on his priority list.
Chapter 11
“I fucking love this thing on you.”
I squeal as Deklan grabs me from behind, nearly knocking the spatula right out of my hand. He reaches around and slides his hands under my robe and pulls me against his chest.
“The hash browns are going to burn!” I laugh as he pulls me away from the stove and sucks at my neck, tickling my sides with his long fingers.
“Can’t be helped.” He turns me around and presses his mouth to mine, and I feel my body melt into his.
Damn the hash browns. I don’t care anymore.
I tilt my head back and open my mouth, reveling in the feeling of his hands grasping my ass and pulling me up off the floor so he can better reach my tongue with his. The kiss is too brief, and when he sets my feet back on the floor, I reach up to wrap my arms around his shoulders.
Deklan grins at me and gives me one more swift kiss before turning me back around to face the stove. Breathlessly, I go back to turning potatoes.
“I’m not sure how I’m going to cope with work today,” Deklan says. “It’s been nice having a few days off.”
“I’m not sure what I should do today at all.” I finish the cooking and load up our breakfast plates.
Other than the one trip to the Foley residence, Deklan and I have spent the last four days together. He has raved about my cooking and spent a whole lot of time learning every inch of my body, but I still don’t feel like I know him well. Every time I ask him to tell me more about himself, he distracts me with his hands and mouth until I can’t catch my breath long enough to ask any more questions.
I’m not ready for him to return to work.
“You should relax,” Deklan says. “Watch some TV. Read a book. Take a bath.”
“I do have a book I need to finish,” I tell him. “I’m in a book club.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yes. It’s an online club.” I look at him pointedly, and he stares back at me for a long moment.
“No phone.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“I can take you to a place with Wi-Fi whenever you want.”
“I guess that will have to do.” I consider this for a moment, and another concern comes to me. “What if I need to get hold of you when you’re gone?”
“Oh, yeah. I almost forgot.” Deklan stands and goes to a drawer in the kitchen. He pulls out a prepaid phone and drops it on the kitchen island next to my plate. “If you need something, just use this. There’s only one number programmed into it, and that will go straight to me.”
I pick up the phone and turn it on, taking note of the single number in the contacts list before turning it back off. It’s a simplistic phone and pretty self-explanatory, so with a smirk I decline Deklan’s offer to show me how to use it.
“Only if you really need something,” he says. “I’ll be working and might not be able to answer right away.”
“What if I just miss you?” I look up at him, already feeling alone.
“Then just hold on to that thought, and I’ll make up for it when I get home.”
I nod. As usual, I don’t have much of a choice in the matter.
We finish breakfast, and Deklan kisses me slowly one last time before he leaves. Once he’s gone, I stare at the door for a full minute before I turn around and face the empty apartment.
I don’t want to watch TV. I don’t need a bath, and I’m not much in a reading mood, either. I wander around for a bit, but with only four rooms in the apartment, there isn’t much to keep me occupied.
I glance at my phone on the dresser. I’d like to read, but I realize my only book club is electronic, and I don’t dare turn the phone on. For all I know, Deklan would know as soon as I did, and I don’t want to blatantly disregard his rules. Sure, he’s said he wouldn’t lay a hand on me, but I’m also sure he has limits as to what he’ll tolerate.
I go back to the living room, wishing I had another e-reader. Maybe Deklan would let me get one as long as it couldn’t be traced.
Just to pass the time, I take a long shower, clean up the dishes from breakfast, and then give the whole apartment a good once-over. It’s already clean, and I’m sitting on the couch, bored off my ass, within an hour.
I literally have nothing to do.
On my phone, there are books, games, social media, and infinite websites to browse. I’m used to physical isolation, but this is a whole new level. I stare at my phone, daring myself to just turn it on despite Deklan’s warning, but I can’t quite bring myself to do it.
There has to be a nearby place with Wi-Fi.
Deklan didn’t tell me I had to stay in the apartment, but he also didn’t tell me I could leave. I could call him and ask, but he said to call only in an emergency, and this clearly doesn’t fall into that category.
Instinctively, I tap my phone to check the time, but it’s off, so the gesture is pointless. I stand up from the couch and go over to the stove to check the time, finding that it’s only a little after nine in the morning.
I don’t even know what time he’ll be home.
“Fuck it.” I walk to the bedroom for my purse, toss the burner phone inside, and then grab my jacket from the hook near the door. It isn’t until I’ve shut the door behind me that I realize I don’t have a key to the apartment.
The door has locked behind me.
“Shit!”
I jiggle the knob over and over again, like a child pressing the button to make the elevator appear faster. The result is as expected, and I stand in the hallway, staring at the door and trying not to cry.
How was I going to get back inside without a key? Should I call Deklan and tell him what happened? Did this count as an emergency, or would it piss him off to be interrupted?
I consider things Deklan might regard as an emergency and decide this isn’t one of them. I am just going to have to wait outside until he gets home, which certainly won’t be for many hours. As long as I’m back here by five o’clock, everything should work out fine. It won’t even be a big deal if I have to wait a while for him to return.
With a deep breath, I stand up straight and try to pull myself together. There isn’t much of a choice now, so I might as well find the nearest coffee house or bookstore.
I walk out onto the street and figure out pretty quickly that I have no idea where I am or what direction I should go. The street in front of the apartment is a fairly busy one, and there are sidewalks leading in either direction but no indication of which way would be the best.
Hoping that I’m far enough away for Deklan’s tastes, I turn my phone on and open an app to locate nearby businesses. I’m in luck and find a coffee shop only a few blocks away. I quickly turn the phone off again—just in case—and head that way.
I find myself in a strip mall with a laundromat and what I assume to be the convenience store where Deklan bought my toothbrush during our first night together. The obligatory nail salon and Chinese takeout joint are also present. At the end, I see the coffee shop and head that way. When I get there, I see there are more shops around the corner.
It’s actually a nice little area—lots of mom-and-pop boutiques, a small movie theatre, and green space complete with trees and park benches. I spend a few minutes walking up and down the sidewalk, peering into shop windows before returning to the corner.
I head into the coffee shop and buy a mocha latte with the small amount of cash I have on me. One of my Dad’s credit cards is also in my purse, but I have no doubt Deklan wouldn’t want me to use that. The barista calls out my name and gives me a big smile when he holds out my drink.
“Hope you enjoy it,” he says pleasantly. “I gave you a little extra whipped cream.”
He winks, and I smile back tentatively. The name tag on his uniform says “Terry.” I make a point of taking
the coffee from him with my left hand, hoping the giant rock on my finger is noticeable enough to deter him from further conversation. He doesn’t say anything else, so I guess it worked.
I find a small table by the window and turn my phone back on. As soon as I start up my favorite chat app, a dozen messages from Kathy appear.
TKbitch: So, did you go through with it?
TKbitch: I want to hear all about this guy!
TKbitch: Hellooooooo?
TKbitch: Hey, answer your damn messages! I sent you one on FB, too.
TKbitch: Kera? Kera? Come in, Kera!
TKbitch: Listen here, you bitch—I’m starting to get worried!
TKbitch: ANSWER ME!!!!
And there, two days later, is the final message.
TKbitch: I broke down and called your mom. I really hope everything is okay. Please, please, please call me when you can!
Kathy is the single person I have kept in constant contact with since I started home-schooling. Though she was ahead of me in school, we played together on the playground in elementary school and even had some of the same classes my first year of high school. Despite her moving off to college a few years ago, we talked almost daily, and she was my best friend in the world. I feel instantly guilty for being so preoccupied with Deklan that I hadn’t even thought to call her. I quickly type out a reply.
Bookwhore72: I am SO SORRY! Crazy few days and way too much to type. Having coffee now. Call if you can!
My phone rings about twelve seconds later.
“For the love of God, woman!” Kathy screams loud enough that I have to pull the phone away from my ear. “Where the hell have you been? I was about to hire a dude in a fedora to go look for you!”
“I’m so sorry. Really, I am. The past few days have been nuts.”
“Spill it! The last I heard, you weren’t marrying that Foley guy but some other dude on steroids.”
“He’s not on steroids.” I roll my eyes and sip a bit of my coffee. “He is built like one of those large, earth-moving machines, but I’m pretty sure it’s all natural. His name is Deklan.”
“And?”
“And, he’s…well, he’s quite nice.” I pause.