Now for the part I’d been putting off. The part that made my hands shake and my chest hurt. It was time to visit Sullivan.
I could either wait for him and his menacing minions to find me, or I could come from a place of power and go to him. One might argue that going to him was coming from a place of sheer stupidity, a fly dive-bombing a spider’s web, but I felt more comfortable with initiative than I did with inertia.
As I drove out of Huntingford and got on the highway, my sweaty hands gripping the steering wheel, I began to feel the enormity of my actions. My dad was right, what had I been thinking? Sullivan must be livid I’d taken those files. No one screwed him over. He told me that. Breaking into his home, not to mention smashing his fancy bowl, attacking two of his employees, invading his private space, stealing personal files. Had to be a worse than owing him money.
Maybe it would be better to just keep driving and not stop until I got a safe distance away. About two thousand miles might do it. But then Sullivan might come after my family, like he did with Axton. Maybe I could offer up my mother. I smiled at the thought of my imperious mother snapping at Henry that he’d tied the rope binding her hands wrong, and that he should do it properly or not at all. But then I quickly sobered and thought of my sister and little Scotty. No, I had to finish this.
I was so lost in thought I almost missed my exit and had to make a hasty lane change to get off the highway. I drove up to Sullivan’s beautiful stone house with my heart beating twice as fast as normal. I turned in the circular drive and parked the car. Henry was out of the house and stalking toward me before I even had time to open the car door.
I managed to grab my bag before he jerked me out of the driver’s seat and frisked me, patting me down from head to toe. His enormous hands impersonally brushed over my breasts and ass, sliding between my legs.
“Watch it.”
“Don’t flatter yourself.” He unzipped my purse and rummaged around, taking my keys and pocketing them, before shoving it back at me. He grabbed me by my arm and yanked me toward the house. “I wouldn’t want to be you right now.”
Henry and I had something in common. I didn’t want to be me right now either.
He led me through the house, down the hall, and straight to the pseudo library. Henry gave a perfunctory knock on the door before opening it and thrusting me inside. I felt like I had just been thrown into a cage with a very hungry lion.
Sullivan stood in front of the window, his back to me. With the sun washing over him, I could see the blue highlights in his black hair. He wore a navy cashmere sweater and dark slacks, his hands shoved in the pockets. Slowly he turned toward me, his posture deceptively relaxed. His eyes told a different story.
“Rose.” His voice was soft. “Have a seat.” He gestured with one hand toward the chair in front of his desk.
If he had been screaming or ranting or showing some kind of emotion, I think I wouldn’t have been so afraid. The quiet reasonable tone masking his fury made my knees quake, but I wasn’t going to let him see that. He’d eat me alive.
I threw back my shoulders and stalked toward the chair, throwing him a haughty look before sitting down.
He slid into his seat behind the desk, and with his hands flat on the desktop, studied me in silence. I stared back with my best bored look. The one I used as a teenager when my mother would chastise me for using the salad fork instead of the dinner fork. I knew which fork to use, but when she insisted on serving salmon, I insisted on using the wrong fork.
“You stole from me, Rosalyn Strickland. And that is not acceptable.” His voice dripped ice, but the volume didn’t change.
“You and I have different definitions of unacceptable. And I did what I had to do to protect the people I care about.”
He stared at me with those angry gold eyes and said nothing. He was waiting me out. He could wait all day. I kept my mouth shut and thought about my homework assignments, my meager grocery list, and the fact I needed an oil change. It had been over ten thousand miles. Way over.
It took a solid fifteen minutes before he got up from the desk and stalked toward me. Grabbing my arms, he hauled me up, his hands warm, even through the long sleeves of my sweatshirt.
My breath came in shallow gasps. We stood three inches apart. That spicy orangey scent tickled my senses. I probably smelled like fear and peppermint candy. I hope he didn’t notice.
“I want what you stole from me,” he said. It came out more like a snarl and he shook me a little for emphasis.
I casually tilted my head. “Why didn’t you just say so?”
“Do you have them with you?” He was so close that if I puckered my lips, they’d touch his.
“Maybe,” I whispered. I may have swayed a bit.
He didn’t let me go immediately, but kept his hands on my arms while he stared at my mouth. I parted my lips and held my breath in anticipation of whether he would move that half an inch, touch his lips to mine, or pull back.
He pulled back.
I exhaled.
“Give them to me,” he said.
When he released me, I sank down in the chair. He, however, didn’t go back behind the desk, but instead leaned against it, his leg brushing mine. Boldly, I crossed one leg over the other, bringing my calf to rest against his and raised an eyebrow.
He left his leg where it was and crossed his arms over his chest, to show that touching me didn’t bother him. I leaned back and smiled, showing him that I wasn’t bothered by his not being bothered.
He held out his hand. “Now.”
I wagged my finger. “Not so fast.”
His expression shuttered and his nostrils flared slightly. Seeing him lose his shit was a bit satisfying. A lot scary, but a little satisfying.
He scooped up my purse and pawed through it. I didn’t like it. I had tampons rolling around in there. But still I didn’t protest. I knew it wouldn’t do any good.
He threw the bag to the floor. “I’m tired of playing games.”
“I am, too, actually. Why did you let me go last night?” I had been wondering about it and it still confused me. I’d told him I had access to the hard drive, but still, he’d made no move to detain me.
“I don’t know,” he ground out. He glanced back at me, his jaw clenched. “And you broke my antique porcelain bowl.”
“Well you could have broken Axton.”
“Yes, but the antique bowl had value.”
I kicked the side of his leg with my foot. “That’s not even funny.”
“Do you see me laughing? I want what you stole from me.”
“I have the items I borrowed—”
He scoffed.
“And I’ve made copies. Several of them.”
He crossed his arms, his face grim. “Of course you have.”
“They’ll stay hidden if you leave me and mine alone.”
“Or what?” He leaned forward, his hands bracing on the armrests of my chair. He was all up in my personal space. And he smelled so good.
“Or I will put all your business on the internet, send it to all the major papers in the state. It will be on the city council website and any other place I can think of.”
His breath fanned my face. His eyes darkened to a rich amber gold. “How do I know you won’t do that anyway?”
“You don’t.” Having him this close made me nervous. I licked my lips and fought the urge to push him away. And draw him closer. The soft cashmere of his sweater brushed against my hand.
His gaze lowered to my lips and stayed there.
“You’ll just have to take my word for it,” I said.
He pushed off the chair and straightened. “How much?” He walked back behind the desk and sat down.
“How much what?”
“How much is your silence going to cost me?” He was all business now. Gone was the angry sexy expression. In its place was a cold professional businessman making a deal.
“I’ve already told you. You leave me and my family and my friends and all my acquaintances and anyone I’ve ever met or talked to alone, and you’ll never hear from me again.”
“One hundred thousand?” he asked, acting as if I hadn’t spoken.
“I just want to know we’re safe.”
“One fifty?”
“Do we have a deal or not?”
“What’s your price, Rose?”
I stood up and leaned across his desk. Why could this man have me hot and bothered one minute then just plain hot the next? “I told you. I want your assurance that we’ll all be safe. No more kidnappings. No more threats. Do you understand me? You will leave us the hell alone, and never,” I pointed my finger at him, “never mention the name of my nephew again.”
He looked at me in silence for several seconds. “Deal.” He stood and held out his hand for me to shake. I ignored it.
I picked up my bag and walked out of his office, my head held high.
I stalked to the front door, past Henry and Cold Eyes, who shot daggers at me. Noticing the bruise on his Adam’s apple, I smiled at him sweetly and gave a finger wave.
Keeping my posture stiff like only my mother’s daughter can, I walked to my car and opened the passenger door. On the seat was the backpack. I pulled out the textbook that had sustained the least amount of damage from the break-in.
“We already checked the bag. The files weren’t in there,” Henry said from behind me.
“No offense, Henry, but you’re not exactly a brain trust.” I flipped my accounting book open to the section I had painstakingly hollowed out with a utility knife earlier that morning. Inside were the folded pages I had stolen and the USB drives. I’d done the same thing to the Tolkien book I’d taken from Ax’s backpack. I flipped it open and removed the hard drive.
I handed them all to Sullivan who looked at me impassively. His gaze never left my face. “Henry, go inside.”
Henry scowled at me before returning to the house.
“I expect you to keep your word,” I said.
He smiled. “I expect you do.”
“I’m not bullshitting, Sullivan.”
“It’s been a very interesting experience meeting you, Rose.”
“One I don’t wish to repeat.” I slammed the door and my garbage bag window rippled, then I walked around to the driver’s side. My keys were hanging from the ignition. Without looking back, I got in the car and drove away.
Once I got on the highway, I took a deep, deep breath. My hands trembled so hard, I had to pull over to the side of the road and count backwards from one hundred to keep from sobbing with relief.
It was finally over. His last words hadn’t been encouraging, but nothing I could do about it now. I just wanted my life back. I wanted to go back to class and hear Janelle bitch about her ex, Asshat. I wanted to see what crazy outfit Roxy would wear next. I wanted to hear about Axton’s defeat of alien warriors from his latest video game. I wanted Jacks to tell me the funny thing Scotty just said. I wanted normalcy.
When I felt steadier, I drove to the college. In the IT office, Eric was in his usual spot and Steve occupied the corner, deeply engrossed in some crazy code bouncing across his screen. But Axton’s seat was empty. My heart sank to my stomach.
“Where is he?” I heard the panicked edge to my voice.
“Hey, Rose,” Eric said. “He’s in the restroom.” He stood from his chair and moved toward me. “Are you okay? You look like you’re going to faint.” He placed a hand on my arm and gently moved me toward an empty chair.
Steve hovered behind him with a water bottle in his hand. “Here, drink this.”
I gave him a grateful smile and twisted off the lid, taking a long drink.
“Just breathe.” Eric patted my back.
Axton came through the door, his gaze taking in the scene. “What’s wrong? Rose, you okay?” He bent down in front of me, placing a hand on my knee.
I burst into tears. Axton pulled me into a hug and I clung to him. I buried my face in his neck and sobbed. I couldn’t quit. The tears kept coming, along with little hiccups.
Axton soothed me. “It’s okay, Rose. It’s okay.”
Finally, the tears tapered off. Eric squatted next to me and handed me a tissue. Steve held the water bottle I must have dropped at some point and rubbed my back.
I dabbed at my eyes with the tissue and tried to delicately blow my nose. Poor Axton’s T-shirt was drenched. “Sorry,” I said.
“No worries.” He flashed his goofy grin. “What’s a little snot between friends?”
I laughed a little. “I really missed you.”
“I missed you, too. You’re my hero, Rose.” He kissed my forehead.
“Stop.”
“No touchy feely stuff. We’ll set her off again,” Eric said.
Steve offered me the water bottle. I took it and drained it.
“All better?” Eric smiled.
“Yeah. Thanks.” I looked back at Ax. “So, you’re not fired?”
“Took my urine test this morning.”
“Good. And by the way, I think it’s all settled. This Sullivan thing.”
Eric frowned. “Did he contact you?”
“I went to see him. At his house.”
Gasps all around.
“Rose, what did you do that for?” Axton ran a hand through his swirly, shaggy hair, making it stand on end. “And why didn’t you tell us you were going?”
“I didn’t want anyone to stop me.”
“That was a really dumb thing to do, Rose,” Steve said.
“I returned his files and told him it would all go public if he didn’t leave me and mine alone.”
Eric smiled. “You and yours, huh?”
I blushed. “You know what I mean. My friends and family are off limits if he wants all that stuff to stay buried.”
“Did he believe you?” Eric asked.
“I hope so.”
Axton looked at me, his eyes wide. “You aren’t just a hero, Rosie. You’re like She-Ra and Wonder Woman all rolled into one. I love you.”
I stared into those blue eyes I’d missed so much. “I love you, too.”
Steve cleared his throat. “I’m glad it’s over. For your sake, Rose. You’ll never have to see Sullivan again.”
I glanced up at him and shrugged, thinking about Sullivan’s parting shot. “I guess we’ll see. I think I need to go home and get some sleep.” I stood up and hoisted my purse on my shoulder.
“Sure you don’t want to go celebrate, Rose? Let’s go to The Carp,” Axton said, “and I’ll ply you with margaritas.”
“How about Friday?”
“You are so on,” he said.