Chapter 24
Joanna
The sound of a phone ringing on the bedside table drew me out of a peaceful and deep sleep. I groaned in disappointment while I tried to cling to the remnants of whatever dream I had been having. It had been something that involved Bastian’s lips on me.
I felt a strong arm unwrap itself from around my waist, followed by a string of curse words as Bastian woke up, too. He rolled away from me to where his phone was ringing on the bedside table.
“Why the fuck is she calling me?” he grumbled, pushing the sheets back.
I rolled over at the question to stare up at him sleepily. “Who is calling you?”
A ping of a voice mail filled the bedroom. Sunlight hadn’t yet even filled the sky. Darkness clung to the world still. I sat up on my elbow to watch as Bastian moved around in the dark to the dresser, from which he pulled out a pair of what I assumed were sweatpants.
“My lawyer,” he said, his voice tinged with irritation. “I’ll be back. It’s not good when she calls me this early on a Sunday morning.”
Concern filtered through the sleep wanting to cling me still. I sat up to gather the blankets around my bare chest to fend off the cold.
“Do you want me to get up, too?” I asked.
“Go back to sleep,” Bastian said. “I’ll come back to bed after this phone call. I promise.”
“If you’re sure…”
“I’m sure.”
He walked to my side of the bed to press a kiss against my forehead. I settled back down into the pillows to gladly bury myself in the cocoon of warm blankets. Sleep took me again before I could even think about anything else. It was a few hours later that I woke to bright sunlight in the room and the bed cold alongside me.
I rolled over with a frown to find Bastian’s side of the bed still empty. Down the hallway, I could hear his muffled voice coming from what sounded like the privacy of his office. Clearly, that phone call had been far more important than coming back to bed for a few extra hours of sleep.
Unease knotted in my stomach as I pushed the blankets and sheets away. Finding a large shirt to slip into, I walked along the chilly hallway in the direction of Bastian’s office. I lingered outside the door for a moment before pressing my ear against the thick wood.
“I don’t fucking understand this crap,” Bastian was saying angrily. “Where did this shit come from, Shelly? I don’t get it.”
I knocked on the door out of concern. I took a step back when I heard Bastian cross his office to open the door.
The forced smile on his face indicated that something was wrong. Horribly wrong, judging from the tense expression despite the smile stretched over his clenched teeth.
“Is everything okay?” I asked.
“Everything’s fine,” he said in a tight voice that suggested otherwise. “I’ll be out in a little bit. If you can start coffee, that would be great.”
“Are you sure that—”
“I have to take this call,” Bastian said. “I’ll be out in a minute.”
He closed the door in my face before I could reply. Baffled, I went into the guest room to pull on a pair of sweatpants beneath my shirt. I ventured down to the living room to add a few logs to the fireplace there before kicking the furnace on to warm everything back up. I brewed a fresh pot of coffee while I set about making us both breakfast to distract myself from the anxious feeling that was quickly building in my stomach.
I knew that look on Bastian’s face well. Shit had hit the fan somewhere. I didn’t know where, but it was enough to cause Bastian distress.
It was a few minutes later that Bastian entered the kitchen with a shirt now tugged over his sweatpants. He glanced at the stove with a tight smile. The tense expression had yet to shift from his face while he helped himself to a cup of coffee.
“What’s going on?” I asked anxiously. “I can see that there is something going on. You’re obviously upset about something.”
“It’s nothing,” Bastian replied coolly. “Just a few things that I need to take care of in Salt Lake tomorrow.”
“Work related?”
“Yes, work related. I’m not really hungry to be honest with you.” He sighed as he rubbed at the back of his neck. “I have another phone to call make in my office. Why don’t you go for a swim or something?”
I set my coffee mug down on the counter next to the stove while I clicked the burners back off. I didn’t buy a damn word he was trying to sell to me. Something was off. I didn’t know what it was, and I wanted to know.
“I know that there is something going on,” I said. “You don’t act like this for no reason. What is it?”
“Don’t worry about it,” Bastian replied as he poured himself another cup to take upstairs with him. “I’m handling everything the way it needs to be handled.”
“If you’re going back to the city, then I want to come back, too.”
He paused to glance over his shoulder at me. “I don’t think that would be a good thing for you to do right now. It’s better if you stay out of Sid’s sight because I don’t know what that fucker has planned.”
“I can’t stay put in this house if you are leaving,” I said firmly. “I’d like to get back to work in the office if you are heading in that direction.”
“I don’t even know if I am going back,” Bastian said. “It depends on a few things, but it probably won’t happen. Eat some breakfast. Go for a swim. Don’t wait around on me.”
I watched him leave the kitchen before dumping the pans into the kitchen sink with angry tears stinging the back of my eyes. Typical. Very fucking typical of men. The closer you got to them, the more they pushed you away. After the past few days, I supposed I should’ve braced myself for something like this. I didn’t quite believe Bastian’s excuse of work-related calls, but I had no other choice other than to accept it for now.
I went upstairs to take a long, hot shower to ease the soreness out of my muscles. My stomach churned nervously as I paced around in the guest room. I didn’t feel right going back into Bastian’s room until I knew what was going on. I finally heard Bastian’s office door open before the door to his bedroom closed. The sound of water rushing through the pipes indicated that he had retreated to the shower.
It was sorely tempting to rush into his office to look for any indication of what had upset him. It wasn’t work related. It had something to do with me. I had seen it in his eyes when he’d refused to look in my direction.
Sitting down on the edge of the bed, I twisted my fingers anxiously while I waited for the shower to turn off. It was close to an hour before I finally heard Bastian do so. I gave him a few more minutes before treading down the hallway with a queasy stomach to push his bedroom door open. He was packing a suitcase on the bed.
My heart sank to the pit of my stomach at the sight of him rifling through a few dresser drawers before folding things neatly. He was leaving. He was leaving me.