Finally, last night, I’d blown. The cabin fever made me do it.
We were getting ready for bed, discussing whether or not I’d be going to the bar or my office at the firm, when I said it.
“King, you know I like being around you, right?”
He smirked at me. “Yeah.”
“Okay, so don’t take this the wrong way, but…”
“But what?”
“Can’t I drive myself to and from work tomorrow?” I asked.
“No,” he answered shortly, his smile immediately vanishing.
“I can’t take it anymore!” I plopped down on the bed, staring at him earnestly. “I haven’t left the house alone in weeks. I haven’t been anywhere but here and work or the bar. I need to get out of here before I lose what’s left of my twisted little mind!”
I could see the smile tugging at King’s mouth, but his response was still, “No way in hell.”
“King, please. Have someone follow me, I don’t care. Just let me go sit in a restaurant or go shopping for an hour. Something.”
The amusement fled from his face. “Did you forget that Larry has you in his sights and things are heating up between Wick and him right now? Things are about to come to a head and I do not want you in the crossfire,” he insisted. “A few weeks will be nothing in the grand scheme of things, so suck it up.”
With that, he threw the covers back and climbed out of bed. I watched as he stalked into the closet and pulled on a pair of jeans, and I realized I’d been acting like a pain in the ass.
“King-”
He lifted a hand, indicating he did not want me to speak. After he yanked on his jeans, he took the time to pull on a t-shirt, socks, and boots. Then he headed for the door.
I decided to try to apologize one more time. “King, I’m-”
“Shut up, Jena. We’ll talk when I get back.”
I stood up. “Where are you-” The door shut behind him before I finished. “Going?”
I didn’t know what time he came home, but I knew it was after two in the morning, because that was about the time I finally fell asleep.
He was gone the next morning when I woke, but I knew he’d been in the bed because his pillow bore the imprint of his head and his clothes and boots were in a pile on the floor.
I was disappointed when I walked through the house on my way to get coffee and realized that he was nowhere to be found. Instead, Tia was already in the kitchen, bleary-eyed and drinking from a huge mug.
As I went to the coffee maker to pour myself a cup, she mumbled, “King wants me to take you to work today. Said something important came up.”
At her words, my jaw went tight. I was sorry for acting like a brat to King the night before, but this was fucking ridiculous. So I said something without thinking about it? He didn’t even give me a chance to apologize before he stormed out and now he was avoiding me.
“Jena?” Tia’s voice broke through my thoughts.
“Yeah?”
“You okay?”
I nodded and picked up my full mug. “Fine. I’ll be ready to leave in an hour. Is that okay?”
“Sure.”
Without another word, I marched out of the kitchen and back down the hall to the bedroom. Taking care to shut the door like a normal person, rather than slamming it, I went to the nightstand and snatched up my phone.
I found King’s listing and hit the button to connect the call. It rang several times before going to voicemail, which ratcheted up my anger even more.
“Leave a message.”
Oh boy, did I ever.
“King, it’s Jena. Two things. One, I’m sorry I said what I did last night. I’m not used to being cooped up and I know I’m not handling it well.” I took a deep breath because I wanted to scream and it was the only way I could control it. “Two, when you’re ready to stop fucking sulking and apologize for the way you reacted, you can leave a message on my fucking phone.”
It was immature and ridiculous, but I didn’t care. After his little speech last night about protecting me and making me feel like an asshole, he suddenly disappeared. It was bullshit. He couldn’t have it both ways.
Now, I was sitting at my desk, trying to hold onto my anger because it was the only thing keeping me from crying. King was such a complicated man and he’d never ignored me before. He’d always been willing to argue it out. I didn’t know what to think about his prolonged silence.
I had just picked up my cell to text him when there was a knock at my office door. I’d closed it because I didn’t want anyone to see me moping instead of working.
“Come in,” I called.
Marilyn opened the door. “Hey, Jena. I know you’re busy, but I have yet another client who asked for you specifically.” She was grinning, probably because she thought I was bringing in lots of clients.
“Okay.”
“This is Larry Clarke. He said you used to do some bookkeeping for him while you were in school.”
My blood ran cold when she said the name. I knew from working for Larry for so long that he had family with the last name Clarke.
I was between a rock and a hard place. I didn’t want to put Marilyn or any of my coworkers in danger. I didn’t know this side of Larry so I couldn’t fathom what he might be willing to do.
As soon as Marilyn stepped out of the door, my phone started buzzing in my hand. It was King, but I couldn’t answer because Larry was already entering my office.
Quickly, I chose to respond to his call via text and typed, Larry here hurry.
Since Marilyn was still loitering in the doorway, I put my phone on my desk and stood, pasting a smile on my face. “Hi, Larry. Nice to see you again.”
In his mid-sixties, Clarence Peretti was tall and well-built. In the last few years, he’d developed a bit of a gut due to his love of food. His hair was salt and pepper and deep wrinkles surrounded his blue eyes because he laughed a lot and rarely wore sunglasses.
“Jena, it’s a pleasure,” he murmured.
I breathed a sigh of relief when she shut the door to the office before we would be forced to shake hands.
I pressed my fingertips to the top of my desk, but remained standing. I wanted to say something, but had no idea how to begin.
“I’m not here to hurt you, Jena,” he began, “I’m here to talk to you.”
Still hesitant, I nodded, but remained standing.
“Jena, I mean it, I won’t hurt you. Please sit down.”
Suddenly Larry looked every one of his sixty-six years. He also looked exhausted.
Slowly, I lowered myself into my chair. He did the same. We sat across from each other, not speaking.
Finally, I asked softly, “Why are you here, Larry?”
He sighed. “I came to tell you once again that you have nothing to fear from me, Jena. I know what happened with Justin and what he was doing to you.”
“How did you find out?”
“Justin told me before he died.”
My stomach clenched as a horrific thought occurred to me. “Did you…did you-”
Larry shook his head. “No, Jena, I didn’t hurt Justin. He wanted to come work for me. That’s how I prevented your boyfriend from shoving me out of Dallas before now.”
Oh my God. Justin and Katie were both assholes of the first order. Neither of them hesitated to betray the people that trusted them.
“Before now?” I asked.
“It’s over for me, Jena. I’m finally retiring and moving Delores to Florida. She’s been on my ass about it for five years. It’s time.”
I nodded, hope blooming in my heart. Maybe it was going to really be over soon.
“I know that you probably won’t trust me when I say this, but I hold no ill will toward you. You worked for me for a long time and you are a very sweet young woman. Even if you had given King and Wick what they wanted, I wouldn’t have blamed you. I’m no saint and I know better than anyone what lengths bad men will go to in order to get what they want.”
My eyes stung at his words because this was the Larry I knew. “Thank you, Larry.”
His face became grave. “I hope you’ll listen to me when I tell you this, Jena. You need to get away from King and you need to do it soon. They don’t know what they’re bringing down on themselves. You’re going to be in danger, and I don’t want anything to happen to you.”