Eleven
“I really just feel like I should walk over there and beat her ass, that’s all I’m saying.”
I tried – and failed – not to laugh at Nubia’s antics as we wrapped up the “mandatory” self-defense class at Five Star Fitness. I’d only been released from the hospital the day before, so I was supposed to be doing more observing than anything else.
That wasn’t what I wanted though.
What I wanted was to be prepared, to know what to do if and when somebody put their hands on me again. I wanted to be able to kick ass. So as soon as my babysitter – Wick – stepped out of the room, leaving me with Kora, Nubia, Blake, and the instructor, Mimi, I was right in the mix with the others. At first, I’d worried I’d have to talk Mimi into letting me work with everyone else, but as soon as I told her I didn’t want to just watch, mischief sparked in her eyes, and she grinned.
“Well get your ass up here and let’s work then.”
And work, I had. I still had a little bit of a headache, and my neck was bruised and sore, but physically, I was okay. I was halfway afraid to close my eyes or be alone, but that wasn’t about to keep me from learning how to protect myself.
After the class, we left the room to refill our water bottles at the machine, and that’s when I noticed the woman I’d seen Wick kiss at Five Star Tech was there, and had stopped Mimi to talk. She really was gorgeous – tall, smooth pecan-toned skin, and a body that was pretty much made for the leotard she was wearing underneath a simple ballet skirt.
I could definitely see her appeal – a fact that I mentioned to my friends. “So that’s the “Kay” he basically told me to mind my business about?” Kora had asked, and of course, the conversation went left from there, which was how we arrived at Nubia’s proposition of “whooping ass”.
“Nubia, come on,” Blake laughed. “You can’t just fight somebody because she’s dating your friend’s… online fuck buddy slash bodyguard.”
Nubia sucked her teeth. “Speak for yourself. I carried a whole ass pregnancy through a round of chemo, and maintained bad bitch status the entire time – I can do whatever I put my mind to.”
Blake countered, “Don’t you have the reputation of the new TV network to worry about?!”
“Oooh, you’re right, I do… Okay, so pull out your phone and record it. Monica, Kora, make sure nobody else records it. This beatdown is going to be on WAWG, exclusively. I’m gonna make so much damn money. This is great.”
“Stop it,” Kora scolded. “We don’t even know that he’s dating her. Monica, you said he kissed her on the cheek, or forehead or something right? She could just be that man’s friend.”
“Of course she could,” Nubia said, her tone soothing as she sidled up to Kora. “But… we know how you like to do with your “friends”. Don’t we?”
“You just love bringing that up, don’t you?”
Nubia shrugged. “Yes, I do. You know I do. But my point stands. Sure, she could be his “friend”, but let’s not pretend it means she’s not climbing those big broad chocolate shoulders on the regular.”
“I’m gonna have to agree with Nubia here,” I chimed in. “I mean, he and I are “friends”, and… look what we were doing.”
Blake nodded. “And besides that…am I the only one a little annoyed that there’s no way she’s older than like, twenty-five? If that? What is with these men going after babies?
I could answer that. “Perky tits and naivety, usually,” I said, thinking about Crystal’s immaturity and lack of planning. A smarter woman would’ve at least made Kellen put some type of plan in place for her, especially if she was having unprotected sex, and not trying to prevent pregnancy. Really though, that may have been simple stupidity, and nothing to do with her age.
But, to answer Blake’s other question… no. She wasn’t the only one annoyed that Wick, or Chad, or whatever, was at least forty, cavorting with what I considered to be a young ass girl. It reminded me of my husband, which was a major turnoff – a turnoff I probably needed, since after we left the gym, I would be spending my first day in his home.
We probably needed to reaffirm those boundaries as “friends”
As if we’d thought him up, the man himself appeared, soaked with sweat and dressed to work out. My crew and I were tucked out of the way in the corner next to the water machine, so I simply watched as he went straight to where Mimi and Kay were standing, kissing Kay’s forehead before he said something to Mimi.
Suddenly, three sets of eyes were on me as Mimi pointed in our direction. Wick said something else – probably “thank you” – to her, and then grabbed Kay’s hand and started moving in our direction.
“I know this motherfucker isn’t bringing her over here for introductions,” Nubia hissed in my ear, and I immediately shushed her, turning back just in time for Wick to plant his little girlfriend right in front of us with a big smile.
“How are you ladies this morning?” he asked, earning a pleasant “good” from Kora and Blake, an extra dry “fine” from Nubia, and a raised eyebrow from me. “You still feeling okay Monica?”
“Mmmhmm,” I nodded. “How are you?” I asked Kay, whose eyes went wide in apparent surprise that I’d spoken to her.
“Oh, um… I’m good,” she answered, tucking her hands behind her back.
Wick shook his head. “Kayla is playing shy, but she’s only here this early to meet you. All of you,” he amended, before dodging a swat Kay aimed in his direction.
“That’s not true!”
He scoffed. “Yes it is. Your ass isn’t even usually out of bed this early, since you don’t have classes until this afternoon.”
His words brought a sheepish smile to her face, that said he said telling the truth. “You didn’t have to say that in front of them.”
“Ah, don’t be embarrassed. Get excited. You want me to show them how loud you squealed when I mentioned them to you?”
“Could you stop,” Kay whined, which only made Wick chuckle harder.
“She loves you – all of you, really – but especially you, Kora. She’s heavy in ballet now, but she wants to get more into modern dance, and stage acting.”
“Oh how sweet,” Nubia said, and me, Kora, and Blake all turned to give her a death stare about her tone. “Your boyfriend is introducing you to your idol, huh?”
“Boyfriend?!” Kay blurted, sounding – and looking – absolutely disgusted as she stepped away from Wick like he was contagious. “Gross! He’s my dad!”
“Dad?!” Nubia, Blake, Kora and I asked in unison, mouths open.
Wick’s eyes narrowed in confusion. “Yeah… dad. Can somebody explain…?”
“Oh honey, we thought she was your sugar baby,” Nubia shrugged, stepping forward. “Our bad.”
Kora laughed. “No, we didn’t think that. In any case, it’s nice to meet you, Kayla,” she said, extending a hand, which Kay eagerly accepted. “Would you like to talk? I can probably give you some resources to get you started, if you really would like to move into stage work.”
“Or TV,” Nubia interjected. “I was hating before I knew ol’ boy was your daddy, but you’re beautiful, and I need fresh faces on my network.”
Blake shook her head. “No, that face belongs in magazines, and on the web, and I can get you there baby girl. Let’s chat.”
While my friends argued over their newfound project, I was left facing Wick, who still looked confused.
“Sugar baby?” he asked me, and I shook my head.
“Well, it’s—”
“No, I know what it is. I just… don’t understand why you thought—”
“I didn’t!” I corrected immediately, embarrassed. “I mean… not exactly. I did think she was your girlfriend after I saw the two of you at Tech that day. I mean… you kissed her.”
“On the forehead.”
“I didn’t know!”
“I told you I wasn’t with anybody though. You really think we would’ve been doing what we were doing before all this if…?”
I shook my head. “I am the absolute wrong person to ask a question like that. Remember?”
My question seemed to have the desired intent – reminding him that before my whole life fell apart, the shit was never together to begin with. I was married to someone who didn’t let a silly thing like vows keep him from doing whatever the hell he wanted. And there was little use in pretending as if I were innocent myself – I certainly wasn’t thinking about Kellen’s ass when I was spraying Wick’s cologne in the room to set the mood.
It wasn’t as if I had room – at all – to judge.
Wick scrubbed a hand over his head, looking away instead of answering my question. When he brought his attention back to me, he asked, “You ready to head out? I left you with Mimi while I got my own workout in, but I’m sure you probably want to check out your new digs.”
“Temporary digs,” I corrected – more to make sure he didn’t think I planned to intrude any longer than I absolutely had to, than anything else. “And I intended to ask you about that – I thought you were supposed to be protecting me. What if someone had burst into the classroom and grabbed me?”
Wick laughed. “Well, first of all, they would’ve had to make it through Naomi, and they would’ve been biting off more than they could chew with that one. Second, my workout was only about thirty minutes. The rest of the time, I was watching you.”
I frowned. “We were in the classroom by ourselves. Are there cameras in there or something?”
“Yes, there are cameras, but I was just on the other side of the glass. From your side, it was a mirror. From my side, it was a window.”
“So you were watching me through two-way glass? And that doesn’t seem creepy to you?”
He chuckled. “I’m supposed to be protecting you, remember? Isn’t that what you just said? Besides… you handled your business in there. I’m proud of you.”
I bit down on my lip as heat rushed to my cheeks. “Seriously?”
“Yeah,” he nodded. “I see you worked up a little sweat, with your headband, and your ponytail,” he laughed, reaching behind me to flip my hair, which only made me blush harder. “You looked cute.”
My eyes went wide. “Cute?”
“I didn’t stutter,” he said, crossing his arms over his broad chest, putting those powerful biceps of his on full display. “You showering here, or at ho—at my place?”
“Um… I think I’ll wait until we make it to your place. Maybe I can actually settle in afterward, and get some work done. I have to, before my whole business falls to pieces.”
Wick frowned. “It’s not that bad, is it?”
I scoffed. “Yeah, it only seems that way because Chloe is on the case. She’s managed to keep the attack out of the press, which is helping a lot, but I had to admit fault on sending out a bad batch of product to our core group of influencers, which is just… bad business. Luckily, I’d listened to Chloe and hadn’t issued any nasty responses when the accusations first happened. At the very least, we were able to put out a gracious statement.”
“So you’re good then, right? If Chloe is handling the PR, what is there that’s more important than you taking a few days to get some peace?” he asked, and I shook my head.
“Everything else it takes to keep my business running smoothly, since apparently I can’t count on the people I hired for that purpose.” I took a deep breath after I answered that question, knowing that getting myself worked up didn’t help anything. But I was annoyed – supremely annoyed – about the problems that had been going on right underneath my nose.
Problems that were exacerbated by Kim’s sudden, unexplained absence.
It was too much of a “coincidence” for me to believe that the inability for anyone to get in touch with her was completely unrelated to my attack and the attempted break-in at my office, but I wasn’t as quick as everyone else seemed to be to jump on the “she had something to do with this” bandwagon. In fact, I was more than a little bit worried about her.
Kim had been with me for years and years – since before the cash infusion that had really taken Vivid Vixen over the top. While the details of that – among other things – had been kept private, Kim knew more about my company than anyone else, and had done more, money aside, than anyone else. Yes, I was pissed about the oversight that got us to this place, but I wasn’t ready to throw her away. Not without proof.
Something that was sorely lacking in way too many categories of my life.
“We’ll figure out what’s going on,” Wick assured, putting a hand on my shoulder just long enough to squeeze before he let it go. I had to immediately cross my arms to hide my beaded nipples – a reaction that had happened instantly when he made contact with those big ass hands.
But… I wasn’t supposed to be thinking about him like that.
Self-imposed when I thought he had a girlfriend or not, I planned to keep the vow I’d made myself about keeping my lust to a minimum. Although I understood where he was coming from, and forgave him without reservation, Wick’s attitude with me that day in Tech was a red flag I had no plans to ignore. The very last thing I needed or wanted was for a man to have me out here looking stupid.
Never again.
“You want to let your girls know we’re heading out?” he asked, oblivious to what was going on in my head. But now that my mind had gone there, I couldn’t let it go. Even after I’d said my goodbyes to my friends and climbed in the passenger seat of the sleek Tesla Model X that Wick pulled to the private exit of the gym, I was still turning it over.
“So you’re really just… good now?” I asked, interrupting his boring dialog about the security protocol he needed me to start following.
He pulled to a stop at the next light, and raised an eyebrow at me. “Meaning?”
“Meaning…you were really pissed at me about the police arresting you, and now you’re just… letting me stay at your house. What changed?”
“The situation,” he said simply, as we started moving again. “For what… two days? I was pissed at everything related to that whole ordeal. Once I talked to Renata, found out the other things that were happening, it made me step back and look at it differently. So I agreed to help you – before you were attacked, and we talked in the hospital – because everything else aside, I still saw you as a friend in need. I’m sure you’ve been mad at a friend longer, over less.”
I smiled out the window. “Yeah, I definitely have. And I was meaner than you too, but that doesn’t make it sting any less. You hurt my feelings.”
“And I’m sorry for that, truly. I have a question though – have you considered how I felt?”
“Of course I have,” I said, turning back to him. “I would’ve been pissed about getting arrested too.”
He shook his head. “Nah, I’m talking about before that. I’m talking about how you dropped me like a New Year’s resolution after I warned you that you were getting hacked. Now, I understood not hearing from you that particular night, because I know you had to be freaked out. But it wasn’t until I realized it was you sitting in Renata’s office, playing with that cross necklace, that it dawned on me – you thought I had something to do with that shit. How else would you have ended up in my tech store, after I gave you a great recommendation to someone else?”
“In my city,” I defended. “We were supposed to be anonymous – why the hell wouldn’t I find it suspicious that you knew where I lived?”
“Because I’d just told you that whatever virus was on your computer was trying to use the connection to get access to me. I could see where the attempt originated from.”
I sucked my teeth. “But I didn’t know all that!”
“But you knew me. Well… kind of,” he conceded with a nod. “Look, I’m not going to sit here and pretend I don’t understand that it was scary for you. I know it was, and I understand why you asked Chloe to put you in touch with someone who could help – someone who just so happened to be me. But think about that – we’d been friends online for more than five years, and incredibly close for almost two. I tell you something thinking that I’m helping you, and you decided to just… not talk to me. For two days, even though we usually talked multiple times a day, every day. I only knew you were okay because I happened to recognize you. Then next thing I know… I’m getting arrested. Talk about some shit that stings…”
Oh.
I hadn’t considered that.
But it didn’t mean I was ready to take the responsibility I knew was mine.
“You could have reached out.”
“You’re right. I could’ve. But with you already being suspicious of me, what would your response to that have been?”
I sighed. “Probably not great.”
“Exactly.”
“But that doesn’t change the fact that you were mean as hell, while I was going through a really rough time. I needed you.”
“And I get all of that, but I need you to understand this little rift or whatever didn’t start with me “being mean” to you. It started with you deciding to cut off communication, and me finding out that you recorded us without my knowledge, leading to who knows how many people seeing what was supposed to be a private act.”
“I told you I was sorry about that!” I insisted. “It was only ever supposed to be for my eyes.”
He shook his head. “Sandy… I don’t want or need an apology from you. The shit happened, we can’t do anything about it now. This isn’t about laying blame on anybody – I’m just trying to put it all out there and make it clear that my anger didn’t happen in a vacuum. I know you’re going through hell right now, and it feels like everything is falling apart, but you aren’t the only person with things at stake. Did you know that I used to be in the CIA?”
My eyebrows went up. “No. And to be honest, I’m really not here for a conversation that definitely feels like you’re blaming me for you being an asshole. But, I’ll let you finish. Tell, me, what does you fooling around with computers for the CIA have to with this?”
He chuckled, deflecting my attempted jab. “Everything. I didn’t fool around with a computer for the CIA – I dropped international bodies for them. Disrupted foreign governments. Brokered arms deals. And okay, yeah, maybe I hacked a few things. I’ve had assignments so classified that I, literally, would have to kill you if I told you. You don’t come away from that without making the kind of enemies that probably don’t know your real name, but if they happened to see your face on the news by some twist of fate – say, getting arrested in connection with the murder of a beauty mogul’s husband – it could be a problem for you and everybody you love. If it was just me… okay, fine, maybe that’s no big deal. But I have a child. Yes, she’s technically a grown woman, but when I look at her, I still see the face of the ten-year-old who got dropped on my doorstep after she lost her mother. So let’s go back to the sting of knowing you didn’t trust me, add finding out you’d betrayed my privacy, and top it all with a little “I’m the only parent Kayla has left, and I’ll be goddamned if she loses me too.” and you tell me you don’t understand why I told you I didn’t want to see your face.”
I swallowed, hard. “Well, when you put it like that…”
“Look, Sandy—”
“Monica.”
“Sorry. Monica,” he said, reaching over to put a hand on my knee. “I swear to you – this is not about me trying to make something your fault. I’m not holding shit against you, not looking for an apology, none of that. From my interactions with your friends, I can tell there was some “Girl, fuck him” type talk, and I get it. Reasons aside, I was an asshole to you. I did make a decision without all the facts. I wasn’t there when you needed me, and I’m sorry, full stop. I just want you to see where I’m coming from, and what factored into my words, so you don’t think that’s all I am.”
I turned in his direction, frowning as I put my hand over his. “Wick, I—”
“Chad.”
“Sorry. Chad.”
“I’m just fucking around. From your lips, I prefer Wick.”
“If you don’t stop playing…”
“I’m gonna get in trouble?”
“Wick!”
“Hm?”
I couldn’t help smiling, shaking my head at the way he wiggled his eyebrows at me before he put his eyes back on the road. Being up close and personal with the funny, goofy moments we’d shared so many times on the phone felt… good.
Better than it needed to.
“What I was trying to say was that we’ve known each other for a long time. My opinion of you is very, very high. I knew there was more to you than that. And so do my friends, if you’re concerned about that.”
He shook his head. “I don’t know. They didn’t seem too fond when y’all were accusing me of being a sugar daddy.”
“Oh God. Please don’t remind me about that,” I said, covering my face with my hands.
“Don’t remind you? I’m never going to let you forget,” he laughed, earning the glare that I shot him after that.
“It’s not my fault you never told me you had a kid!”
“But why would you even think that?!”
“Uh, because she’s tall and gorgeous and I saw you kiss her?”
“On the forehead, like the baby she is,” he argued, and I shook my head.
“Forehead kisses aren’t just for babies.”
He shrugged. “But she is, indeed, a baby. She’s barely 21. I’m 43, Monica.”
“That certainly didn’t stop my husband.”
“I’m not your husband. Not remotely the same kind of man.”
I opened my mouth, intending to argue that he didn’t even know Kellen, and therefore had no idea what kind of man he was, but… that wasn’t true. He knew plenty about Kellen. It was just that he only recently knew his name.
“Hey,” I started, ready to shift the subject away from Kellen and the painful memories that line of conversation would undoubtedly bring. “You realize I’ve learned more about you today than in all our years of knowing each other?”
“Not true,” Wick countered, as he turned into the neatly manicured driveway of a gated community. “You know already knew plenty about me. Now you’re just in my business.”
“No I’m not!” I laughed. “You’re the one being all chatty,” I told him as he keyed in a code that opened the gate, then drove through. “Actually, now that I think about it… I’m pretty sure I dominated our phone conversations. I’ve done so much unloading on you, but I’m not sure you’ve ever done that with me.”
“Maybe our needs were just different? You needed to talk, and… I don’t know. Maybe I needed to listen? I’m not sure what it was, but I do know I greatly enjoyed our conversations. I like listening to you.”
I scoffed. “I’m pretty sure it’s very lonely on the island of men who like listening to women go on and on about their emotions and other trifles.”
“I’m okay with that. I don’t like being grouped with the rest of these motherfuckers anyway,” he said, then turned the car off after he’d pulled into the driveway of a gray-bricked craftsman style home. “Let’s get you inside.”
I looked at the house, then back at him. “Wait… this is your house?”
“Yes,” he said simply, then climbed out of the SUV, coming around to my side to open the door. “Why do you sound so surprised?”
I stepped out, looking around at the neatly polished neighborhood, with houses of all different styles that somehow still blended to create picture-perfect harmony. “I don’t know, I just expected something more… rugged.”
Wick laughed as he easily hefted my heavy suitcases out of the cargo hold, sitting them down in the driveway so that he could close the door. “Couldn’t raise a kid in a bachelor pad, you know?”
“Right,” I nodded. “I guess I have to get used to seeing you as a dad now.”
He smirked as he grabbed the suitcases, carting them past me toward the door. “As long as you remember that I’m Kayla’s father. Not yours.”
I bit my lip to keep my expression from telling on me as I tried to discern the meaning behind that statement. Was he telling me not to expect to be taken care of, or reminding me that, even in his current role of protector, he was still a man. A man who, now that he knew my face, had seen pretty much every inch of me. Maybe reminding me that things between us weren’t exactly platonic.
Not that I was in any danger of forgetting.
Inside Wick’s home, I learned that my assumptions about his living space were way, way off base, especially after seeing the outside of the house. I’d imagined him in a sleek loft apartment in the city, with an expensive view, but this was nothing like that. The spacious, modern kitchen was swoon-worthy, and based on the well-worn pots and pans hanging over the island, actually got used. The pool, patio, and barbecue pit made me think of Saturday dinners filled with friends and laughter. The living room was full of comfortable seating that made it obvious that the space was functional.
There was nothing rugged, or specifically masculine about it. It was just… a home.
Well… almost.
I took mental notes as he explained different security functions of the house – bullet-proof glass windows, triple-bolted outer doors, panic buttons and hidden weapons caches, in addition to the state-of-the-art security system that had a tiered hierarchy of contacts that made my head swim.
“And,” Wick added, “I have my neighbors keeping an eye out for anything out of place. This neighborhood has quite a few retired agents, but next door in particular, the house with the teal door – those are friends. Harrison and Savannah. If for any reason something happens here, and you need to get out of the house, you go straight there. But, that’s pretty unlikely. The safest bet is the panic room on your end of the house.”
My eyes went wide. “Panic room?”
“Yeah. What, you thought I was playing about my past, and the need for precautions?”
“No,” I said. “I just… it’s intense.”
“But you’ll be safe,” he reminded me. “Come on, let me show you the upstairs.”
I followed him up the stairs, staying behind him as we moved along the hall. “This is Kay’s room up here,” he told me, pointing to another short set of stairs in the middle of the hall. “It was the attic, but I converted it into a whole suite up there for her. She’s in and out though – she stays with friends closer to school some nights, or the boyfriend she thinks I don’t know about. I’m down here at this end. Bedroom, office. If you’re ever looking for me, I’m probably in the office. And then, down here,” he said, leading me to the other end of the hall, “Is the panic room I told you about – I’ll show you the other one too, and give you the codes for both – and then… your room.”
I grinned as soon as he opened the door to it – it was obvious that at least one of my friends had been through, from the way the dresser had been set up like a vanity to the specific bedding in the room.
“Chloe was here,” he said, as if he’d read my mind. “She wanted to make sure it was comfortable for you, so we made a few adjustments to the guest room. That’s why you stayed with her last night, instead of here. It looks okay for you?”
I nodded. “It’s perfectly fine. Much more than I expected. Thank you.”
“Thank Chloe,” he shrugged. “She also insisted on booking a massage for you, later this afternoon. They’ll set up in here.”
“Oh! Nice. Okay. Um… I guess I’ll get settled in then. Maybe take that shower.”
“Cool. I’ll grab your suitcases from down—” he stopped as his phone started ringing, frowning at the screen once he’d pulled it from his pocket. “Give me a second,” he said, then stepped out of the room to answer it.
While he was off doing that, I took the opportunity to look out of the window, taking in the lush green lawn, and trees that bordered his backyard. There was a seat there, so I dropped into it, closing my eyes.
Even with the medically-induced sleep I’d gotten in the hospital, I was still so tired. Mentally, physically, emotionally, I was completely exhausted, and my already sketchy sleep habits had just been worse with everything happening over the last few weeks. If I were lucky, the change of pace would be exactly what I needed to be able to relax enough to get the restful sleep I desperately needed.
“Monica?”
It took more effort than I expected to pull my eyes open and find Wick standing over me.
Did I fall asleep that quick?
Damn.
Maybe that class had taken more out of me than I thought.
I gave Wick a sheepish smile, embarrassed that he’d had to wake me up. I knew something was wrong when he didn’t smile back.
“What happened?” I asked, pushing myself up from the window seat as he pushed out a sigh.
“That was Marcus. We found Kim.”