“ARE YOU AWAKE?” MATT WHISPERED into my ear.
My eyelids fluttered as they struggled to open, and I squinted to bring the darkened room into focus. Once my vision adjusted, I found him lying on the bed beside me, completely naked and fresh out of the shower.
It’d been two days since Matt had confronted Eric Queen and his cronies about the video. I didn’t know the details of the exchange that’d occurred after I’d left the room with Cal, but I knew it wasn’t a sugary sweet kind of conversation. Matt had been pissed to say the least, and from what I could tell, so had Cal, Hare, and Damien.
They hadn’t taken the words that were said to me lightly, but I knew there was more to the story than just that. And I had no doubts it had everything to do with Charles King.
From what I’d deduced, Queen had gone rogue with that politician and possibly tried to make a deal with the devil that would fuck Matt, and most likely, Wonderland, Inc. over.
Needless to say, Eric Queen and his posse were no longer under the organization’s umbrella. Hell, those men were pretty fucking lucky if they’d walked out of Matt’s office alive. Matt hadn’t told me, and, for once, I hadn’t asked.
“What time is it?” I asked, voice still raspy with sleep.
“Too early for you to have to wake up.” He brushed a piece of hair out of my eyes, and that subtle, soothing touch nearly put me back to sleep.
“Then why are you up?” I whispered as my eyes fell closed again.
“I’ve got to leave town for a few days, little one.”
My eyes popped open. “Leave town?”
He nodded, his beautiful black lashes looking even longer as his eyes went soft on me. It was apparently obvious immediately that I didn’t want him to go. It was perhaps even more obvious that he liked that I didn’t want him to go.
I sat up in bed, and the sheet fell down and pooled around my naked hips. “Like, right now?”
He nodded again, but his eyes gleamed with a new light now that my breasts were exposed. “Just some business I need to take care of.”
“What kind of business?” I asked with only one motivation in mind: the more questions I asked, the longer it would take him to leave.
“Important kind of business,” he avoided easily. He grinned and pulled me on top of his big, naked body, and a bolt of excitement tightened my entire body.
As I ran my fingers over the firm muscles of his chest, my mind mulled over the idea of him leaving. I really didn’t like it. And worse than that, once my brain had latched on to that thought process, it spiraled into worst-case scenarios. What if Matt was going to do something dangerous? What if he didn’t come back to me?
My stomach clenched at the thought. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and pulled myself tighter to his chest. “Promise me something?”
“Anything,” he whispered. Love, tenderness, openness—it all lived right there in his eyes.
“Promise me you’ll come back home.”
“Promise.” He slid his hand under my chin and lifted my eyes to his. “Everything will be okay, little one.”
I stared into his eyes and tried to digest his words. Tried to believe them. Tried to let them soothe this unrelenting, ominous feeling that had taken up residence in my gut.
“You’re still worried,” he said, smoothing the wrinkles between my brows with his finger. “Why are you worried?”
Because I feel like something isn’t right.
I shrugged, shaking it off. I was no Ms. Gypsy, and my feelings didn’t translate into fortune. This was Matt. He could take care of himself. “I guess I just don’t like the idea of you not being here.”
“It’s only a few days.” He smiled softly, teasing, “No need to get dramatic about it.”
“Hey, I’m not dramatic.” I playfully tapped his chest with my hand, and he chuckled, each hearty laugh vibrating against my skin.
“Promise me something?” he asked.
I smirked. “Stealing my lines?”
But he wasn’t teasing as he told me, “Take care of yourself while I’m gone.”
“Promise.” I kissed the corner of his mouth. “Tell Jack Knave I said hello while you’re there.”
Matt’s gaze snapped to mine. “What did you just say?”
“I said, tell Jack Knave I said hello,” I repeated. Even though he’d never actually told me that information, I just knew. Between the shit that’d went down with Eric Queen and Charles King, and the fact that the political nominations for the next presidential election were just around the corner, it didn’t really feel like that difficult of an assumption to make.
“If you knew where I was going, then why did you ask?” He raised a brow, and I shrugged.
“I guess I just wanted to play coy.”
On a shocked laugh, Matt flipped me onto my back and hovered his large frame over my body. His honey gaze searched my eyes. “Where do you think I’m going?”
“I know that wherever you’re going, it has everything to do with Jack Knave and getting him his presidential nomination,” I answered, and Matt’s soft grin grew wider with each word.
Before I could add anything to that response, he crashed his lips down on mine, taking my mouth in a slow, deep, delicious kiss. When he pulled away, I was breathless.
“Holy moly. What was that for?” I asked through a giggle.
“Because I couldn’t not kiss you,” he responded simply, and I smiled. “You surprise me, Alex, in the best goddamn way. And no one fucking surprises me. But you, you disarm me. Enchant me. Endear me to my fucking core. You just get me. Hell, your connecting the dots on the Knave situation shouldn’t have come as a surprise.”
“And why’s that?” I tilted my head to the side.
“Because you’re the only one for me.”
I sucked in a breath at his words.
“I love you, Alex.”
“I love you, too.”
Three little words, but so much meaning. Matt wasn’t the kind of man who tossed out I love yous. If he said something, he meant it, through and through. And when it came to love, I was the same kind of girl. It was a vow.
With his big arms wrapped around my back, holding me close to his body, Matt kissed me again.
I kissed him right motherfucking back.
But it only lasted a few quiet, peaceful moments before he had to finish getting ready to head out.
“Stay in my apartment while I’m gone,” he instructed as he shrugged on a white dress shirt. “And listen to Cal. He’s staying back to keep an eye on you.”
“Aye-aye, Captain!” I teased and saluted him. “Your wish is my command.”
“Smartass,” he muttered. “You’re lucky I’m already running behind or else those legs of yours would be spread and I’d be fucking the sarcasm right out of you.”
I giggled and blew him a kiss from my kneeled position on the bed. “Later?”
“Later.” Matt smirked. “Three days, to be exact. My sweet cunt better be wet and ready for me when I get back.”
I winked. “You got it.”
Fifteen minutes and a slow, mind-altering kiss to my lips later, Matt had said his goodbyes, reminded me to stay in his apartment and listen to Cal, and headed out the door to catch a flight on the jet inscribed with Wonderland, Inc.
I glanced at the clock on the nightstand and noted the time. Six in the morning. Jesus Christ, he was right, it was too fucking early to be awake. As I snuggled back into his bed, catching the scent of his cologne on the sheets, I sighed into the silence of the room.
God, I missed him already.
I’d spent most of my morning in Matt’s bed, tossing, turning and trying to find sleep to no avail. By the time the clock struck ten, I’d slid myself out of bed and tried to ease my dark and twisty thoughts of bad things to come.
I didn’t know why my brain had fixated on that, but it had, and I was a mere victim to its stressful path.
Focusing on the menial, simple tasks of the day, I’d made the bed, showered, eaten a bowl of cereal, and run down to my apartment to grab Deena, spare clothes, and pink nail polish.
Once I’d gotten her settled inside Matt’s place and given her ample time to explore her surroundings, I updated him to her presence via a picture message. She lay on his side of the bed, her little kitty face relaxed in sleep.
He’d responded back with amusement.
Matt: My second favorite pussy.
I’d laughed when I saw it. I honestly wasn’t sure if he was all that big a fan of cats, but he appeared willing to welcome her with open arms, even understanding when I’d have to leave his place to spend time with her in the evenings.
But despite her sometimes sassy display of stubbornness, she did have the kind of adorable face that most people couldn’t resist.
Me: Do you mind? I didn’t want her to sleep in the apartment alone.
Matt: If it were up to me, you’d pack your shit and be permanently at my place. The cat included.
Me: Are you saying you want me to move in with you?
Matt: I’m saying I want you with me all the time.
Me: Wow…that’s a lot to process…
Matt: I’d like to say I’ll give you time to think about it, but we both know how I operate…
Me: Holy hell… Am I going to wake up tomorrow with movers bringing all of my crap into your place?
Matt: If I were you, I’d be open to all possibilities.
Me: You’re mad.
Matt: For you.
Me: Ditto.
Matt: You keeping your promise?
Me: I could ask you the same question.
Matt: Behave, little one. I’m not opposed to spankings when I get home.
Me: Was that supposed to be scary?
Matt: Are you feeling scared?
Me: Nope. But I am feeling something…
Matt: Later, sweetheart.
Me: I can’t wait for later.
I’d added a rare selfie to the message, me blowing him a kiss, and he responded with a heart emoji and the words, My Alex.
I’d giggled over the idea of big, bad Matt Hadder using emojis, but I chose to tease him about it on a different day. One that hadn’t included him on a trip to close one of the biggest deals that had ever occurred with the Wonderland organization.
Bored with TV. Bored with watching Deena sleep. Bored with pretty much everything, I decided to paint my nails. By the time I’d trimmed, clipped, filed, and polished both my fingers and toes, Deena had woken up from her coma and was pacing around Matt’s kitchen, impatient meows leaving her lips every ten seconds.
I glanced at the clock on the stove and saw that it was ten till six.
Deena was hungry.
And like a moron, I’d forgotten to grab her food from my apartment.
“Stay patient, little diva,” I said and slipped on a pair of flip-flops. “I’ll be back in a few minutes with your food.”
She watched me curiously as I grabbed my keys out of my purse and headed out the door. I was surprised not to see Cal playing bodyguard outside the door, but I figured he had to take a bathroom or food break. It wasn’t like the man could just stand outside Matt’s apartment twenty-four hours a day.
I rode the elevator down to my floor, and as I stepped off the cart, my right foot slipped on something and I nearly fell flat on my face. I looked at the ground, and when I lifted my foot up, I spotted the culprit.
Face down, a playing card was stuck to the bottom of my flip-flop.
I smiled to myself as I removed it from the sole of my sandal and flipped it right-side up in my hands.
The Queen of Hearts stared back at me.
If you’d ask Aunt Delores what the Queen of Hearts stood for, she’d tell you it was the worst card you can get out of the deck. Ominous. Dark. The opposite of rainbows and happy thoughts. But I didn’t put too much stock in her card meanings…right?
My brain threatened to take the dark and twisty path again, and I shook off the thoughts of crazy, setting my focus on grabbing Deena’s food from my apartment.
With a turn of my key, I stepped inside and headed for the kitchen. I tossed a few cans of Fancy Feast and filled a Tupperware container with dry food. As I packed everything into a reusable grocery bag, I took one last glance at the clock.
6:00 p.m. on the dot.
Surely, Deena was starved and meowing like a madwoman upstairs.
But before I could make my way back to the elevator, I was struck with a crushing, excruciating pain to the back of my head, and my knees hit the tile of my kitchen. Disoriented, I looked around the room for the cause, the reason, but stars danced in front of my eyes and kept my vision blurred.
“Goodnight, Alex,” a familiar voice whispered into my ear.
And then my world turned black.