“You’re not fucking working, why should I?”
I’d taken far too much pleasure in the humiliated scowl he’d sent my way after I landed my barb. We’d both said a lot of things we regretted when we fought, and even though we apologized straight after, the words still lingered like an infected bullet wound. Had we been on the brink of divorce? Alex had been furious, but had he been ready to leave me? Truth was, I didn’t just do the overtime for the money but to get away from him, too, which was stupid because Ididlove him. I loved him so much that I hated being away from him as much as I needed it.
My hand shook and I curled it into a fist beside Alex’s head. “I love you.”
He didn’t respond. Of course he wasn’t going to. He was dead.
“Mr. Paxton?” Marshall shifted his weight between his feet, uncertainty flicking across his face. “Are you finished for the night?”
I nodded. I didn’t want Alex to be hidden away. He draped the sheet over Alex’s head and closed the drawer slowly, the wheels squeaking like tiny mice as they rolled over the metal tracks, and I watched until I couldn’t see his covered body anymore.
Gone.
He was gone.
I stepped back, stumbling and nearly falling against one of the metal tables in the room. Marshall held out a hand my way, as though he could have caught me from where he stood beside the refrigeration unit, and I nodded my head in thanks even though he didn’t do anything.
Righting myself, I forced my feet to move, to walk out the door and into the hallway he’d led me down and back to the elevator. I hit the button and stared at the glimmering silver of the doors and my reflection in them. I looked like a sick man, eyes sunken, bruises marring the skin beneath them. My jaw was shaven only because it had to be for work. Without him I was a mess.
The elevator dinged and I startled, forcing myself to get into the carriage and hit the button for the reception floor. My shoulders shook and I crossed my arms, hoping to stop it. Fucking hell, how did this happen to me? Weeks ago we’d been fine. Normal. Now Alex was gone, and I was by myself. It’d been too long since I didn’t have him by my side.
Something dinged, and this time it wasn’t the elevator. I frowned to my left until my gaze caught on a phone resting against the side of the wall. Bending, I picked it up just as another ding sounded and a message appeared on the screen.
Are you coming over or what? I want to use this hairbrush on your ass. Can I shave your ass, too? I’d enjoy that.
My eyes widened. Clearly, someone had dropped their phone, and this person was waiting for them. Turning it over in my hands, nothing was identifiable on who it belonged to. I’d just have to take it to the reception desk.
Another insistent ding had me glancing at it again.
I want to put you over my knee and spank your ass red, you dirty whore.
Bloody hell. Something kinky was afoot. That didn’t worry me. What did disturb me was the flash of interest that shot through me—something I shouldn’t have been feeling, especially after seeing my husband’s dead body. I let my hand with the phone drop to my side and refused to look at it again. It would only make me feel worse.
The messages kept dinging. This guy was desperate, whoever he was, and finally, when the doors opened, I nearly ran out of the elevator. River was still there, waiting by the desk, except he was digging through his pockets, as though in search of something. I paused in front of him, frowning, before I looked at the receptionist. She gave me a long assessing stare, like she wasn’t sure how I was going to behave now that I’d seen the body.
“I’m sorry about my reaction earlier,” I whispered, just loud enough for her to hear me.
River stopped rummaging in his pockets and glanced up at me, eyes squinted in surprise. He clearly hadn’t seen me approach. His gold glasses glimmered under the lights and his gaze slid down my body until it stopped at my hand.
“That’s my phone,” he said, pointing at the cell I had clutched in my fingers.
My eyes widened so much that they felt huge in my face, and I raised my hand to look at the small black phone. Simple. No fancy case. I supposed it looked like a device he’d have. But what the bloody hell was with the person who’d been messaging him?
“Oh, here.” I passed his phone to him, heat attacking my cheeks with embarrassment. “Someone’s been eager to get ahold of you.”Literally.My belly warmed and it was weird. I didn’t like the way I was feeling, so when River snatched the phone from me, I jerked my hand back to my side.
River’s cheeks had turned a deep pink, and he cleared his throat, shoving his phone in the pocket of his jacket without even looking at it. “Right. Thank you.”
I licked my lips and ran a hand over my head. I never expected this man to be the type to be into spanking. He didn’t seem the sort to give up control, but I’d met people in the BDSM community before, and it was usually the ones who held the most control in their professional lives who liked to submit themselves to a Dom. I’d never tasted the life, Alex hadn’t been interested, but I’d watched porn with the Dom/sub aspect.
“I should… go.” I dug into the pocket of my uniform pants, tugging out the keys to my truck, and gripped them tightly.
“Are you sober enough for that?” River squinted, gaze analyzing me carefully. “How much have you had to drink?”
I laughed in embarrassment, but it sounded hollow. “A few beers.”
“A few too many by the looks of it. Let me take you home.” River didn’t seem like he was asking, more like demanding.
“Someone’s waiting for you,” I said, gesturing to the same pocket he’d stuffed his phone in.
