“What?” She shrugged her shoulder and ignored her roommate. “You guys never talk about her. It’s been long enough. I don’t think Mallory would’ve wanted you to never talk about her. One night of bawling over her doesn’t cut it. It’s good to reminisce about old times. You’re honoring her memory.”
Amanda grew red in the face and she turned towards her window.
Theresa rolled her eyes. “I know what I’m talking about. My parents are dead, remember?”
Carter looked over then. He’d been content to be quiet and stay in the background, as much as possible for him. His eyes narrowed now. “Everyone grieves differently. I doubt you were laughing about your parents five months after they were ground into cement.”
“Carter,” I murmured.
Theresa paled. “That’s a horrible thing to say.”
“Their friend was gutted. The other was killed by Emma.” His wolf-like eyes grew in hostility. “Sometimes silence is being sensitive.” Then he turned away again. It was obvious the conversation was done.
Frowning, I watched Theresa to see how she would handle that efficient dressing-down. Her head went down and her hands folded together in her lap. Her shoulders drooped as well. I exhaled a soft breath. It wouldn’t help for my one of only two friends to remember her previous disdain for Carter.
But when we got to the party and stepped out, Theresa stopped both of us. She looked from Amanda to me. “I’m sorry, guys. Sometimes I speak before I think.”
Amanda threw her arms around her roommate. “Oh, we know!”
Both laughed and pulled me in for the hug.
“You guys are some hot mamas. Let’s party!”
Biting her lip, Amanda’s cheeks grew rosy again, but I caught the surprise in her gaze. I agreed with Theresa. My oldest friend was a serene vision. She wore a very soft pink dress. It was a strapless A-line, hanging down to her toes. She resembled a Greek goddess.
Remembering the cop who wanted to date her, I kissed her cheek and whispered, “It’s your turn.”
Her eyes held mine and a promise passed between us. It was her turn to be happy. She knew what I meant without another word of explanation. Theresa and Noah would eventually figure it out. They had to. They loved each other and I had Carter. It was Amanda’s time now.
The event was held in the largest banquet hall, but that wasn’t big enough. The lobbies surrounding were filled as well, with liquor and food stations every few feet. The party seemed in full swing when we arrived, but as we stepped inside, I sensed the attention. One by one they turned to us. It wasn’t like at Joe’s. It was more. That’s when I realized that I’d been secluded at work the past week. Theresa wanted me to work with her in a private conference room. She got the coffee for us. She paid for the food and had it delivered to her office. The times we ate out, she suggested a cafe a few blocks away. It was starting to make sense now.
I caught her gaze. “How bad was it at work?”
She grimaced. “It would’ve been too much for you.”
I sensed the avid attention and knew she was right. I wanted to hit myself in the forehead. I should’ve known. Carter was at Joe’s. They all saw and they had a week to comprehend it. The interest had been heavy that night, but it was more tonight.
With his hand in mine, he led us through the crowd until it opened to a group of tables that had been sectioned off from the main crowd.
“Ah!” Theresa grinned. “VIP. I like it.”
Recognizing a few of the security guards from Carter’s own group, I knew he had planned ahead. Mike even nodded to me with a friendly smile. Progress. Once we stepped past the divide, all bets were off. Older and distinguished-looking men approached Carter in waves. They wanted to shake his hand, talk about the hotel, and that was when I figured it out—they knew him from the board. These were my bosses, or my other bosses. Seeing that he would be busy, Theresa tapped my arm and pointed to a back table. She leaned close. “Let’s grab that one. Noah’s already here, but I’m sure he’ll want to sit with us.”
I nodded. Anything to get away from the prying eyes.
As we settled in, Theresa went to the bar and returned with three drinks. A waiter followed behind her with two bottles of wine. Another came over with a platter of food. We were munching on fancy hor d’oeuvres, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what was in them. It didn’t take many of them before I was full and left the rest on my plate. Theresa snagged them later on and Amanda nibbled at hers. That’s what she always did.
We were able to watch the crowd and they weren’t able to approach us. The other people in the VIP section were the older men and their dates, and those women knew each other. They cast shrewd looks at us, but no one approached. I was grateful. Theresa called them Snobby Social-nators. Again, I was grateful they remained away. After awhile, Theresa pointed to a few guys and asked Amanda to rate them. The conversation soon went in that direction. We were busy picking out the Mr. Amanda-To-Be the rest of the time. It was surprisingly fun.
The fun ended an hour later.
Carter had been talking to the board members the whole time when a man went over and whispered something in his ear. I stood up without thinking. The conversation at my table stopped and Amanda asked, frowning, “What’s wrong?”
Theresa turned towards Carter. “Where’s he going?”
I couldn’t answer them, but my gut had dropped out of me. Something was wrong. Something was happening. We watched as he turned for a side door. The man went with him, but gave him one final nod before he turned away and went through a different door.
I started forward.
“Emma!” Amanda hissed at me. Her hand grabbed onto my wrist. “What are you doing?”
“Something’s wrong.”
“So let it go. Carter knows what he’s doing.”
I frowned at her. What was she doing? She’d never questioned me before, but I only pulled my wrist away. “Watch my purse.” Then I hurried after him. When I got to the hallway, I couldn’t see him, but I turned to the farthest corner. There was something about that man. He wasn’t dressed like everyone else. He wore a suit, not a tuxedo. His hair hadn’t been slicked back like most of the other men who were dressed to impress that night. There was nothing about the guy that should’ve made him seem out of place, but a lightbulb clicked. That was it. He was nondescript. He looked like he wanted to blend in and because of that, because I’d been around Carter’s security guards enough, I knew he’d been one of his men. He hadn’t been a guard though. If he had, he would’ve returned to his post, but no—the guards were all dressed in black suits. This guy wore a brown one.
He was mob. I knew it.
I turned another corner and stopped short. The guy was there, at the far end. He was looking out the window with his phone pressed to his ear. He was talking into it and as he seemed to be following something outside, he was relaying instructions over his phone.
I started for him. If Carter wasn’t around to give me answers, he would, but I was pulled into an empty conference room.
Gasping, I was pushed against the wall and a hand covered my mouth. A body pressed against mine. All the tension left me. This was Carter. My body reacted before I realized it was him and it softened. My legs parted for him and he bent closer, nuzzling under my neck, before he whispered, “What are you doing?”
My eyes snapped open. This wasn’t my Carter. This was their Carter. I pushed him away. “I was following you.”
He leaned back, but his body kept mine anchored to the wall. His eyes were hard and aggravated.
I didn’t care. I kept my hand on his chest. I needed to feel his heartbeat, to know when if he was lying to me. “Where were you going?”
“To the bathroom.”
His heart didn’t skip a beat. Nothing. It was steady, but I knew he was lying. I saw it in his eyes. “This isn’t the bathroom.”
A grin teased at the corner of his mouth. Then his eyes switched. They darkened and lust began to fill them. “I was coming back.”
“You were leaving.”
The lust vanished and he took a step back now. The air felt cold without his heat, but I stopped myself from feeling it.
His eyes narrowed, but he murmured as his hand began to caress the back of my neck, “You don’t believe me.”
I shoved his hand away. “Stop manipulating me.”
All gentleness vanished. A hard wall came over him now. “You stop it, Emma.”
Sucking in my breath, I hadn’t expected that harshness to come at me. Blinking back tears from the shock of it, I geared myself to be strong. I had to stick with the truth. That was the hand I had and I needed to use it. “Who was that man?”
“What man?”
“Stop lying to me,” I hissed, gritting my teeth.
His eyes closed to slits now and I knew he was reassessing me. I didn’t care. I snarled at him, “I know you’re lying so stop it. I know something’s going on. I know that man came to you and said something to you. I know he’s with the mob.”
There.
My heart skipped a beat.
I tossed out the first card and I waited.
It was now his turn. Would he continue to lie or would he tell me the truth? I needed the truth. I was realizing that. He had protected me for so long, as I tried to protect my loved ones, as I tried to protect him when we were children, but it would have to be different now.
“He is.”
Relief rushed through me and my knees sagged, but I wasn’t done. I forced myself to stand firm as I said the rest, “I know that Franco is alive.”
Okay, that was a total bluff, but it’d been bothering me for the past few days.
He didn’t react. Nothing.
I frowned. What did that mean? But then he took a deep breath and pressed his lips together. The ice in his blue wolf-like eyes dimmed a little and he glanced away. His jaw clenched as he swallowed, taking a breath at the same time, but then he turned back. It was there. I was bowled over with the realization. Franco was alive. I saw it in his eyes. Releasing a ragged breath, I couldn’t talk for a moment. No words could even formulate in my mind. Where did I go from there?
“You should go back to the party.”
I reared back. That was it? “Are you kidding me?”
He grew weary.
I shook my head, a bitter laugh spouting from me. “I can’t believe you. Franco’s alive and that’s all you say to me? I should go back?”
“Emma.”
He reached for me again. I slapped his hand away. “No!”
“What do you want me to say?” he bit out now. The chill had come back. It doubled as he snapped, “You’re not involved with this. I’m doing this to protect you—”
“That’s bullshit.”
He stopped, his chest starting to heave now. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
“No!” I didn’t hesitate now. “I am involved with this. You and me. We’re together. I won’t stand by anymore.”
“Not with this! Not with my ties—”
“You said you were out.”
“I am out!”
“No, you aren’t,” I yelled back.
Suddenly his hand came up and pressed against my mouth. I was moved back to the wall and he rested his body on mine. His head was beside me and I could feel his deep breaths. His chest moved against mine, but his breath teased over my neck. My heart began to pound again, but I tried to listen over its loud thumping.
We heard through the door, “We’ll set up in a back suite. Reed wanted this meet. We’ll give him what he wants…” The voice faded as the man moved beyond the door.
Carter didn’t let go of me and I grew aware of the shadows that flickered past the door. We could see them as they followed whoever that man was. Then a sick feeling came over me and I whispered around his hand, “Was that Franco?”
He was tense, but he shook his head.
“Tell me what’s going on.” The need to protect him surged inside of me.
It was there. He was considering it. I could feel it, but then he let out a deep breath. It was gone. An apology flashed in his gaze. “I can’t.”
“Carter.”
“Emma,” he whispered, bending close again.
I closed my eyes as I felt his lips move against mine. My heart was beginning to break. I didn’t know what he was going to do.
He added, “Go back to the party.”
“And you?”
He began to step back, but I didn’t let him. My hands were fisted into his tuxedo and I kept him against me. I didn’t want to let him go.
His eyes flickered down to my hands. He didn’t fight my hold, but he gave me a tentative smile, cupping the side of my head. His thumb brushed some of my hair back. “I need to make some phone calls and then I’ll come back.”
“You promise?”
The need to believe him was so strong, but my gut was stirring. He was still lying to me.
He nodded. “I promise.” Then he pressed his lips to my forehead and again to my lips. “I love you. I’ll be right back.”
“Carter.”
“I will.” His eyes were reassuring now. “I promise.”
I let him go. I had no choice. I knew that now. He was going where he was going and I drew in a shuddering breath. My heart wouldn’t calm down. I had no idea what to do, but he was gone in the next second. Even if I went after him, I knew he’d be gone. This was what Carter did. He was a ghost, but I had no idea what to do.
My legs couldn’t move.
I was beyond scared now.
I went back to the banquet room, unsure what to do. This was what he did. That was who he’d been for so long, so I should trust him, but not this time. A nagging voice kept saying to me. ‘Get up and go after him! What are you doing?!’
The award ceremony had started, but I struggled to hear any of it. The voice kept yelling at me to get up and go.
“Finally,” Theresa exclaimed once Noah gave the last speech of the night. He thanked all his employees and gave the normal ‘This hotel wouldn’t be what it is without the people in this room’ message. A collective ‘Aw’ went around the room as people felt moved by it. Then he announced that all the liquor stations had been restocked and hurried off the stage. Coming towards us as everyone else headed towards the stations, he was only stopped by two board members. When he broke free from them, he collapsed into the chair beside Theresa. “Shit,” he grunted. “That took a lot of time.” He reached for Theresa’s glass and drained it.
“Hey, that’s mine!”
He put it down and reached for mine.
“That’s Emma’s!”
“She hasn’t touched it all night. I’ve been watching you guys.”
“Do you know where Carter is?” I asked now. My soft voice was clearly heard, and Noah stiffened before meeting my gaze. He was guarded. He knew. That was all I needed to know before I stood up. The voice screamed at me, “GO!” My mind was made up. “Nevermind.”
I was going after him.
“Emma, where are you going?” Theresa stood with me.
Amanda stood as well, but she remained silent. She was waiting for what I said next.
A fake, but polite smile plastered over my face. “I think I have to go to the bathroom.”
An eyebrow lifted as Theresa asked, “You think or you have to go?”
“Yes.” I nodded to myself. “I need to go to the bathroom.”
“Mind’s made up, hmm?” Her grin turned knowing.
Noah set his glass—my glass—down on the table and regarded all three of us with caution. “What’s going on?”
“Emma has to go to the bathroom.”
“Okay. Go.” He kept skirting between us. “Do you all have to go? Am I supposed to watch your purses?”
Theresa snorted again, but in disgust. “Yes, Noah. That’s what we’re doing. Would you watch our purses for us?”