She chokes on her tears and gasps for air.
“Did they catch her?”
I pull back. “Catch the baby? It was girl?” I lost a daughter.
“No.” She slaps my chest. “Stephanie.”
I retract from her like pulling out of a fire just hearing Stevie’s name.
That frightened expression as I left her this afternoon blinks through my mind.
“What about her?”
Her eyes reduce to slits. “Your little Stevie pushed me down the stairs!” Her pink eyes bulge as she screams it in my face. “You chose her over me, and now we both have to pay.” She breaks down, slapping at her blood-soaked thighs.
“Who pushed you?” A thousand scenarios run through my mind. They share an office. Maybe Evelyn tripped over Stevie’s foot, or her purse—but she said stairs. “Where did she push you?”
“The stairwell.” Her chest heaves as she hiccups out the words. “Pepper was there with about thirteen interns, and each one of them witnessed the event.” She stresses that last part as if it were the point entirely.
My hands fly to my scalp, and I grab onto my hair. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!”
I should never have waited so long to assure Stevie she was all I wanted, that she was all I see. Instead, I let her foster her hatred for Evelyn. I let her worry about whether or not I loved her until it brewed into a perfect ball of rage.
“Did you piss her off?” I say it low almost apologetic, after all, it’s a simple explanation for what just happened. Stevie would never intentionally set out to hurt the mother of my child.
“No, I swear it.” Evelyn’s eyes grow wide. “I don’t know what happened between the two of you this weekend”—she wipes the tears away with the back of her hand—“but she came into work this morning agitated and screaming at me.”
“Screaming?”
“It felt like she was screaming. She said you were all hers—that she had you in the bag. That me and our precious baby were no longer welcome in your life.”
I wince. I know for a fact Stevie would never say those things.
“You don’t believe me?” She juts her head out. “She practically spat in my face, she got so close.” Evelyn rolls up her sleeve and shows me a long red mark that stretches wrist to elbow. “She grabbed me by the arm and practically shoved me against my desk.”
“I thought you said you fell down the stairs?”
“I did. That was after she assaulted me in the office. And I know what you’re thinking, you’ll just ask her buddy—but I’m telling you, they’re both in on it.”
“If she was hurting you, what were you doing in the stairwell with her?”
“She was after me, so I took my purse and left. I tried to take the elevator, but Pepper and her interns were there so I took the stairs.” Her eyes settle over mine cold, sharp as knives. “That little slut followed me right in, and as soon as that door closed, she read me and the baby the riot act. She slapped me. She told me I would never have you and then pushed me down the stairs.” She bursts into tears. “It was terrible. She’s a monster. You have to get rid of her. Make her go away.” Her voice escalates in a never-ending wail. “She said you didn’t want the baby—that you made love to her for three days straight. She said I was the only thing that stood in the way of your happiness.”
I squeeze my eyes shut tight hoping to open them and have it be three days ago, me alone with Stevie.
Evelyn just shook my head like a snow globe, and I can’t think straight.
“Stevie couldn’t have said all those things. You said there was screaming. You’re probably just confused.”
Her face blanches out. Her eyes fill with tears that never fall.
“Get out.” It comes from her in a ghostly whisper.
“Evelyn—”
“You don’t believe me.” She blinks with surprise. “It’s true then. You’ve never wanted me or our children.” She touches her barren abdomen and shakes her head. “Go to her, Crawford. You know you want to.” Her lips swell like balloons as the tears fall steady. “I’ll grieve our child alone.”
I pull her in and hold her like that for a long time while her tears fall over my shoulder. There’s no way Stevie intended for this to happen. Evelyn has to be overreacting. She’s hormonal. Stevie would never say those things—although thinking them is another story.
When I left the office, Stevie wanted to talk. She looked pained—guilty.
A horrible ache settles in my chest. And I can’t help feeling like I led Stevie to the brink of insanity. I should have come totally clean regarding Evelyn and me. There was one more part to the story I never did tell—didn’t think it was needed.
But I think it’s time I spilled the rest of this tragedy right to the bitter end.
Bitter end is exactly what it’s shaping up to be.
By the time I leave Evelyn’s, it’s well past one in the morning. I pull my phone out in the car and stare at it in disbelief. There are over fifty brand new text messages split between my brothers—an equal mix of company bullshit and condolences for the baby. I push a heavy breath through my lungs as I fire up the engine. It’s time to get to Stevie.
I wait until I’m parked across the street from Rigby to text her that I’m coming up. She doesn’t respond, so I head up anyway.
The night is steely gray with a lavender circle around the moon, and I’m cold as shit as I cinch my jacket over my body. I give a gentle knock to her door and wait.
“Ford?” I hear my name from inside and wave at the peephole.
The window illuminates a bright orange as the door opens with caution.
“It’s so late.” Stevie grinds a fist into her eye.
“I needed to see you.” I step inside and wrap my arms around her tight. “Did I wake you?” She has a T-shirt on, and her hair is messy. I used to think women with morning hair looked psychotic, and when they woke up next to me, I’d fear for my balls, but on Stevie it looks sexy as hell.
“No, I can’t sleep or eat lately. And when I am awake, I feel pretty shitty. I’m just miserable all around these days.”
I glance behind her and note the other bed is empty.
“Where’s your roomie?”
“With Jener.” She flexes a crooked grin that slides off as quick as it came. “But that’s top secret. If a higher-up at Jinx finds out, she’ll lose her internship.” She makes a face before turning off the lights. My hands glide down to her waist as I walk us slowly to the bed. I lie down next to her and feel as if I’m home. My face falls into the peaceful river of her hair for a moment.
“Well, I’m with you, and that’s how it’s going to stay.” I press a kiss to her temple as we lie down side by side. “We’d better not let any higher-ups in on that.”
Her chest rumbles with the idea of a laugh before she pulls back and rakes her gaze over me in the shadows.
“There’s something else I wanted to tell you,” I whisper. “It’s about Evelyn.” I hate that I have to bring her up again. I don’t want her here, floating between Stevie and me like a phantom.
“She turns into a werewolf at night? I’ve long suspected this. Have the locals been warned?”
“You’re cute.” I tuck a kiss just under her ear. “Actually, it was something that happened after we lost the second baby. We tried to keep it together, but, about six months after that, I suggested we call it quits. She just lost it. She threatened to end her life if I left. She said she’d leave a note, blaming the whole thing on me.”
“Oh, God. That’s terrible.”
“It was. She ended up in a locked psychiatric unit on and off for a year, and I ended up not filing for divorce until almost four years after that. We weren’t together or anything. In fact, we had both moved on, but she just couldn’t pull the trigger. Finally, I went ahead and filed. I didn’t want to feel like I was cheating on her each time I went out with someone new. And when the divorce was finalized, she seemed fine with it. She was already working at Jinx, and sh
e just stayed on.”
“She doesn’t want to let you go.” Her voice grows quiet.
“She can’t hold onto me.” I tighten my grip over Stevie. “I’m already gone.”
“What happened this afternoon?” Stevie’s eyes glitter up with tears. “Did she tell you the truth, or are you still swimming in her lies?”
“She said you screamed at her all morning—that you pushed her down a stairwell.”
“Okay—so she lied.” She closes her eyes.
“I need to hear your version.”
“My version? Try the truth. That woman is a liar. She’s despicable, a trickster, a master manipulator. Is her father Satan? Because the spoiled apple doesn’t fall far from the demonic family tree.”
“Hey”—I gently rub my hand up over her back to calm her—“it’s okay. You don’t have to like her.” A hot pang settles right over my heart. Stevie is all wound up just like Evelyn suggested. “We lost the baby.”
Her eyes widen. “Ford.” She shakes her head with tears brimming in her eyes. “What I’m about to tell you is going to sound insane, but I really want you to listen to me. Evelyn was never pregnant with your baby. She’s been playing the part all these weeks just to hang onto you a little tighter one last time.” A single tear streams down her face like molten silver.
My gut burns just hearing those words.
“Stevie.” I kiss her lips as if trying to pull her back from the brink. “She was pregnant, and today she lost the baby.”
“Did you ever go to the doctor’s with her and hear the heartbeat?”
“No, but she bled all over her clothes. It was bad, Stevie. There was evidence that you or I can’t deny.”
She shakes her head. Her entire body trembles, and I try to soothe her.
“It wasn’t real. Whatever happened today had nothing to do with a baby.” Her voice rises with agitation. “She’s sick, Ford.”
“Stevie, she showed me a pregnancy test that day in the office. It was positive.” Now I’m the one shaking and afraid. “I swear to you, Stevie. I know you feel like I was abandoning you for Evelyn, that I wasn’t paying enough attention—”
She pulls away and scoots to the edge of the bed. “Is that what you think this is about? Poor little crazy Stevie got lost in a jealous rage and pushed the woman carrying your child down the stairs? You’re the one who’s insane, Ford.” She flops onto the pillow and pinches her eyes closed. Her chest bucks, and she starts in with a cry and ends with a quiet laugh.
“She won.” She shakes her head. “She said she was hungrier, and she won.”
“She didn’t win.” I try to pull her back, but she holds a hand against my chest as a buffer.
“There are some people in this world that will do anything to get what they want.” She bears into me hard, pressing in as if I should read between the lines. “Evelyn is a master at what she does. She wants you. This isn’t over, Ford. It’s not over by a long shot.”
“She’s not coming for me because there’s nothing here she can take. Stevie, just tell me once more, and I’ll believe you. Did you push Evelyn down the stairs?”
“I’ve already answered your question.” The tears fall fat and slow. “The tragedy here is that you didn’t believe me the first time.”
“She said there were witnesses.” I shift my gaze to the curve of her hip.
“You can go now.” Stevie rolls off the bed and opens the door.
I get up and reluctantly make my way in the direction of the cool night air.
“I’ll get to the bottom of this.” I try to brush the hair from her eyes, and she backs away.
“You go ahead and get to the bottom of this.” Her eyes narrow in on mine with a palpable hatred. “It’s nice to know you have such little faith in me. I’m not Evelyn. I’m not the one trying to build a relationship off lies.” Her cheek rises on one side. “Or maybe I am. But then, you tried to do that, too, didn’t you? Just remember, I learned from the master.” She shoves me into the night. “Have a nice life.” Her whole chest heaves with a sigh as she seals the door behind me.
My phone goes off. It’s a text from Carson.
It’s done, big bro. Jinx is finished.
12
Tender is the Night
Stevie
That night I dream of long winding hallways that stretch out endlessly, Claire runs through them carefree and laughing while I try to catch her. Wait for me! I cry, but she runs faster, her laughter igniting my torment.
Can you hear me? Her voice echoes through the haunted halls we’re spinning in.
Yes! I choke out the word. For so long I’ve waited for Claire, my sweet sister, to return to me, and, now, she’s right here. Please, stop. Come back to me! I can’t breathe without you. I’m so tired of living this lie. I can’t hold up the weight of your body anymore.
My sister stops. She turns to me with a look of incredible sorrow.
You made a promise. She holds a hand out to me. You want to tell him the truth, don’t you?
I try to move, but my feet have rooted to the floor. I stretch my body to hers as her fingers brush up against mine, and it feels magical. For one sparse moment it feels as if I’m living again.
I want to tell him everything. My entire body swims from the simple dusting of our fingers. I want to tell him I love him.
A pained look crosses her illuminated features.
Tell him everything—tell him you love him, no matter what happens. And, with that, she disappears.
I let out an anguished cry and wake up sweating, alone in my bed.
A pressured knock explodes over the door.
I bolt up with my head throbbing as if I left it back on the pillow. I wince, staring out of the peephole, bleary eyed and crankier than usual.
It’s Lincoln and Kinsley. She has a garment bag draped over her shoulder. Her sunglasses hang low on her nose.
I open the door, and a whoosh of crisp morning air knifes its way into the room.
“What’s going on?” I cinch my sweatshirt across my chest. “Is it Dad? Is he okay?” My adrenaline skyrockets, and it’s evident I won’t be needing my morning coffee to kick start the day.
“It is Dad.” Lincoln helps me take a seat on the bed as he and my sister ensconce me on either side. “He’s done something very special for you.”
Kinsley pulls a strand of hair from my face. “It looks like you’ve chosen sides.” She gives a sly smile. “Well played, baby sis.”
“What are you talking about?” My heart pumps fast like a fist punching its way up my throat.
“Congratulations”—Lincoln holds out a hand, and I clasp his fingers just barely—“you’ve successfully handed Jinx to the Lionheart empire.” His long comma-like dimples invert. “And guess who’s the new CEO?”
I swallow down the baseball forming in my throat.
“Who’s that?” My voice cracks because I already know.
“Chin up, girl.” Kinsley sings the words. “You own that shithole and everyone in it. There’s not another thing Crawford Cannon can do to break your heart. He’s history, and so is his precious little company.”
Dear God.
I forget to breathe.
He thinks I killed his baby and now this.
Crawford Cannon will hate me for the rest of his life.
“I didn’t say anything to Daddy,” I whisper. It seems so childlike calling him that now. Here I am, a grown woman, who, by the way, wasn’t even raised by the bastard and— That conversation comes back to me. The day I visited him in his office crashes over me like a brick house of lies. “Oh, my God.” The room tilts, and I lean hard into Kinsley. In all of the madness of the past few days, I forgot to call off my father and his hellhounds from stealing Ford’s lunch—his livelihood.
I slump between the two of them.
“I did this.” I bury my face in Kinsley’s soft pullover. “Now what?” I mumble into her chest.
“Now”—Lincoln pulls me back until I look at hi
m—“we go in as a team and introduce ourselves to the board. I’ve called a meeting. They don’t know who the hell we are. Our investor name is Alchemy.”
“A play on Merlin.” A dull smile comes and goes on my face.
“You’ll go in later this morning and introduce yourself, full name, no bullshit,” he continues. “I want you to pull off all the blinders. This is where we knee him in the balls. By this afternoon, every one of them will know who we are and where we come from. This is the no-bullshit league, and you’re in charge.”
“We’ve got two hours to prepare, baby sis.” Kinsley pulls the garment bag from behind her. “Hop in the shower. I’ve picked something out that screams power bitch just as loud as it does Prada.”
Lincoln gives me a gentle shove off the bed, and I wobble on my feet.
“Move it, sis.” He gives that shit-eating grin. “It’s show time.”
The sky above Southern California is lead gray, lifeless as my heart. Aspen came over, and Lincoln trained us all in what we would say. They were the kinds of words you would expect from a firm that just participated in a hostile takeover—false niceties, hollow promises, and, not to be forgotten, the assurance that nothing at all will change, things will only get better. Little does Lincoln know, I don’t really have it in my heart to be nice to anyone this morning. I’m pretty sure the rest of this day, this year is going to suck all the way around, so I let all of the false promises Lincoln continues to list, swirl down the drain. I know that he’s written a great script and that I’ll have him and my sisters to get me through the official first board meeting, but, in reality, the only thing I’m going into that building as is the knife that’s about to gut Crawford Cannon.
“You’re doing this for Daddy,” Kinsley purrs as she scoops up my hand with her icy fingers.
“You’re doing this for you,” Aspen asserts.
The truth is I’m just doing this. It’s just happening. I can’t undo the fact my father stole Jinx—that he made me CEO. That I gave him the okay to rip the heart out of the only man I’ve ever loved, and here we are—me the new owner. I said take it, and he did. But the real reason I gave the go ahead to set the wheels in motion was because they already were. I knew it was just a test that day in my father’s office. He was going to take Jinx with or without my permission. I had evidence of that in the way he swiped Gravity, the way he hijacked the Jeneration app. Jinx was a sitting duck, and his vengeance against Crawford was all in the name of Lana Rule, whoever that is. I wasn’t going to change anything in that respect. So I did the only thing I could—join him. I’ll do anything I can to return control of Jinx into Ford’s hands. It’s the least I could do. After all, my deception was far worse than his could ever be, in fact, I’m probably right up there with Evelyn. Evil Stevie. Sadly it has a ring to it.