Chapter 12
Zane
As it turned out, being confined to the house wasn’t really a punishment at all. In fact, for the first few days, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I didn’t change my schedule – I couldn’t force myself to sleep any later anyway, so I kept my usual hours. I just adjusted what happened during those hours.
I started the day with a shower and shave, letting myself luxuriate in the hot water flow a little longer than usual. It gave me a chance to think about Kathryn, which always made my day brighter. I knew she was probably concerned that she hadn’t heard from me, but I couldn’t let myself worry about that right now or I’d go insane. As soon as I could leave again, I’d make things up to her.
I worked out like I always did in the mornings, but I didn’t rush through it.
After a second shower, I piled a tray high with snacks and a couple of beers, and I carried it into the living room, where I intended to spend most of my day watching television without a care or worry bringing me down. I’d hardly used my projector screen since it had been installed, because I’d always been too busy or too desperate to stay out of Sam’s way to enjoy it.
I realized a guy needed a little time off now and then, just to be alone and maybe a little lazy. It served its purpose and aided in calming nerves and resetting a troubled mind. And I knew my mind was seriously troubled.
But by Friday, I started to get a little stir crazy. I liked my creature comforts when I was home, but I wasn’t the kind of guy who liked to be home all the time. I was anxious to get out and do something, but I didn’t dare risk leaving the house. I couldn’t figure out exactly how Sam thought she would take the club from me, but I wasn’t going to test the waters until I assured myself she could be stopped.
I spent more time in the gym, just to stay busy, and I spent some time talking to my manager, getting caught up on what had been going on in my absence. Just talking about work took away some of the claustrophobia I was starting to feel in my own home.
He had a few candidates lined up to replace Alfonso the Planted Watchdog, and I needed to do some interviews to get someone else in as soon as possible. There were also some vendors slacking on their deliveries – not showing up on schedule or missing part of the order – and some orders that needed to be pushed through for delivery, with the wholesalers dragging their feet. He’d handled a lot of it, but I needed to get back on the ball with the ones that needed a little extra motivation, such as threats of cancellation and nonpayment.
It was a bit of a relief to know that I had something to do other than sit around and twiddle my thumbs. I hated sitting around and doing nothing, especially when there was work I could be doing that would better my life. Of course, there was one thing I wasn’t satisfied about, even in all the other glory of my little forced vacation. I really wanted to talk to Kathryn. I couldn’t risk a recorded conversation, not now that I was so close to my goal, and I couldn’t guarantee what Sam had or hadn’t set up to keep an eye on me—I was even afraid to text Kathryn. It had to wait until I could get out of the house.
It would have to wait until tonight.
I was determined to get out of the house tonight. I was going to bring it up to Sam and insist, and I wasn’t going to take no for an answer, even if I had to threaten her again.
As I got off a call with one of my vendors who had failed to make a delivery yesterday, I heard tires on the driveway, and I peered at the monitor in the kitchen that showed what the security camera saw. I clenched my jaw as I noticed that Sam had not arrived alone, or in a cab. Apparently, there was more than one topic for discussion on the table today. I planned to address this particular infraction of Sam’s little ‘code of conduct’ right along with my demand to do my job.
It wasn’t that I cared who she spent her time with or if she wanted to sleep with miserable little dirt bags like that guy. The more time she spent being satisfied by someone else, the less time she spent around me. My problem with it was the hypocrisy.
I stormed over to the foyer and leaned against the wall with my arms crossed.
She walked in and stopped dead in her tracks, staring at me as if she hadn’t expected to see me, stunned at getting caught coming in fresh from a little tryst.
“Did you want something?” she asked, recovering enough to look me up and down with disapproval.
She used her usual scathing tone, but it didn’t affect me. I let it slide off like water on a fresh wax job. I was tired of letting her push me around. I didn’t exactly plan to exert dominance, but I wanted to shake her up a little.
I cleared my throat. “Actually, I do. I’d like to know why it is that you are allowed to go out and flaunt yourself with your boy toy like some floozy while I’m jailed here alone. If you can have someone on the side, why can’t I?”
She strolled past me as if I didn’t even exist, and I persisted, “I can guarantee you that, if I had a little action on the side, I’d be far more cautious about being seen with her than you are with your greasy boyfriend. You have no sense of propriety or subtlety.”
She sneered. “Get over yourself, Zane. It’s not up for discussion. In case you didn’t notice, it’s the person with the money who calls the shots around here.”
I quirked a brow at her, but she didn’t turn around, and I followed her into the kitchen, where she reached for a diet soda in the fridge. “Is that so?”
“Yes, it is. I’m the one who gets to decide things because I’m the one with the trust fund.” She sounded deceptively calm, but I knew why she was laying down rules left and right. She always got pushy when she was nervous, and it had gotten worse over the years.
“You know, Sam, you act like a bully in high school, one of those popular girls who gets everyone to follow her around like groupies by threatening them in spiteful little ways. But you never really do anything. I’m not afraid of you, and I’m not going to bow down to you like a queen anymore.”
“Oh, really?” she asked.
I didn’t show any emotion, not wanting to give her more ammunition.
“I beg to differ, Zane. In fact, I have something to show you that’ll convince you just how real this is and how determined I am to get what I want.”
She reached into her purse, shuffled for a minute, and pulled out her phone. Was she going to call someone to come tie me up? It would take a pretty big dude to keep me contained, and I was going to laugh if she was counting on that little boy toy to do the job. I could crush that weasel with one toe.
“You underestimate me, Zane, and that’s where you fail. I will always win, no matter what it takes.”
I rolled my eyes at her. She couldn’t be serious about this. But she had a shit-eating grin on her face as she scrolled around, and then she placed the phone on the counter.
“There. Now you’ll see how serious I am.” As I reached for the phone, she shouted triumphantly, “I found her!”
I started to ask what she meant, but then I saw what was on the phone. Suddenly, I understood her confidence, her bravado. It was a picture of Kathryn’s apartment, which would have my blood running cold, except Kathryn was nowhere in the picture. Instead, it showed Crystal unlocking the outside door. I almost laughed out loud at the mistake, but I also knew that Sam wasn’t exactly joking now, and that meant Crystal and Kathryn could both be in trouble. I didn’t think Sam would go so far as to hurt anyone, but she might threaten one or both of them. At the least, she would expose me for the lies I had yet to clear up.
I knew how close Crystal and Kathryn were. Even with the misunderstanding of thinking Crystal was who I was sleeping with, there was a certainty that Kathryn would find out about the last of my lies. Once Crystal met Sam, who would no doubt make reference to her ‘husband,’ it was over. She would turn around and tell Kathryn, who would confront me and tell me to get out of her life for good. I would never have a chance to explain, and Sam would be thoroughly pleased with herself for ruining my happiness.
But I had enough leverage on her to keep her quiet for now, and she knew it. I was ready to go to her father.
“I found the bitch you’re sleeping with. Is that serious enough for you?” she repeated, and I knew she was trying to sound intimidating.
Now, I did laugh, and her eyes blazed. “You’re pathetic, Sam. You’ve really stooped to new levels this time. I don’t even know that girl.”
It wasn’t exactly lying. I’d met Crystal, but I certainly didn’t know her. Aside from the first night she’d come into the Purple Dragon, we hadn’t even talked.
“You think you can lie your way out of this?” she asked, the venom rising to the surface.
I cut it short, though. “Nobody lies like you do, Sam. You lie to your parents, your little boy toy, your friends, me, and even yourself. The truth is, you’re just a scared little girl.”
“I don’t care what you think,” she said, but her tone of voice betrayed her. She cared very much what everyone thought, even if she didn’t like people. Most of all, she cared what her father thought, and I could ruin that for her as fast as she could ruin me.
I told her, “The police can track where you’ve been. If I were to give them an anonymous tip you were stalking someone, and I called that someone so they lodged a complaint, you could go to jail for this. How would that look?”
“You’re just trying to scare me,” she said, but I knew I’d scared her enough that she would let it go for now. I’d have to come up with something else to keep her off my back – and away from Crystal and Kathryn – eventually, but I’d bought some time.
I didn’t respond. Instead, I shook my head and turned away from her. “Oh, by the way, whether you like it or not, I’m going to the club tonight. I have some work to do to keep up appearances.” I did intend to stop by the Machine, but the real idea was to get over to the Purple Dragon. I’d had to call in two nights already, and this was my Friday to bartend. It would help me clear my head, and I could call Kathryn and talk to her, maybe convince her to come in for a drink.
“Sure, I agree,” she said, far too pleasantly. I turned to look over my shoulder and saw that conniving grin of hers stretched from ear to ear, showing the perfect white veneers she’d paid for the instant she got her hands on the trust fund. “But you aren’t going alone.”
“What, you’re going to come party?” I scoffed. She hated the Machine. Sam had a penchant for slumming it, choosing to date guys far beneath her status, which was part of the reason she had so many rules attached to the money her father had set aside for her. The Purple Dragon would be more up her alley, and that might even be too nice for her. She’d feel more comfortable flaunting herself at a real dive with dirty bikers and poor trashy men. She’d have them all slobbering over her and fighting to get in her pants like wolves in a pack vying for the alpha position. In fact, it sort of surprised me that she hadn’t found it before. I’d worried about that for a while, but she had yet to walk in, at least, on my watch.
I shook my head. “You’d hate it, Sam, and you know it. You’ve been to the club twice, and you whined both times and left early.”
“Oh, I’m not staying,” she told me, her icy eyes warming just a bit with whatever she planned. “But I’m dropping you off and picking you up. There’s no way I’m turning you loose in that testosterone-mobile to go wherever you please. And I’ll decide when to come pick you up so you can’t just sneak away in a cab and plan to be back in time for me to get you. Or call and say you’re going to be late.”
I clenched my jaw. With her controlling the situation to that degree, I couldn’t slip out and go to the Purple Dragon, not even for a few minutes. And I had a feeling she would find a way to have me watched while I was working anyway.
I shook my head again, resigned to a night I was going to hate. I didn’t have much fight left in me.
As one last punch, I threw back at her, “Okay, Sam, I’ll play the game your way. But trust me, you’re going to regret it some day.”
She laughed. “Whatever.”