“So, Friday at 6 p.m. Fantastic. Looking forward.” I cut the call and stared down at the screen. Normally there’d be anger swirling right now, but there wasn’t. Mild regret, perhaps, that he’d never be the father I needed. But aside from that, there was just the anticipation of seeing his face when my plans came crashing around his arrogant fucking head.
I stared out the window balefully as Horatio skillfully maneuvered through the traffic. The day’s meetings had gone better than I could have expected. Andy had really pulled out all the stops this time. The investors were hot, a fact that was borne out by the fact that they hadn’t hesitated to make themselves available at short notice over the weekend. I hadn’t had a minute to myself since morning, but it was worth it. And for the first time in my life, there was someone I wanted to discuss my day with. The thought made my lips tilt up. There was a warm woman waiting at home for me.
We pulled up to an intersection, and a flash of yellow caught my eye. I tapped the interleading window to the driver’s seat sharply.
“Stop the car!”
Horatio nodded and pulled up to the curb, oblivious to the cursing of the drivers around us as he crossed lanes. On the sidewalk, a vendor had set up a vivid display of fresh flowers. They were breathtaking. Why had I never paid attention to flowers before?
I was out of the car and jogging over before I’d had time to think about what I was doing. A weathered face peered up at me from a hunched figure on the pavement beside the flowers. So craggy and seasoned that it was difficult to determine gender.
“Ma’am?” I hazarded a guess and was rewarded with a toothless grin. “What are those?” I pointed at a bank of brilliant yellow.
“Them’s toolipz,” she mumbled back. “Most beautiful in town. The world even.”
“I’ll take them,” I replied, reaching into my top pocket. She reached for a bunch, and I waved a hand. “All of them. The whole lot.” Her eyes glittered as I peeled off notes and she tried to get her bony arms around as many bunches as she could. I put a hand on her shoulder. “It’s fine, Ma’am, I’ll do it.” I bent and scooped up masses of the blooms.
Horatio was eyeing me curiously as I crammed the back seat full of flowers and squeezed in beside them.
“I coulda organized a delivery from the florist, boss,” he said as we pulled off again. I looked down to the petals at my side and shook my head.
“No. I think she’ll like these better.”
He was silent a moment, then slowly grinned and gave a nod. “You know what…I think you’re right.”
I sat in silence, lost in my own thoughts as we made the trip back, then slowly felt something in me surge as we finally pulled up outside my apartment block. “You need some help there, boss?” Horatio asked as I gathered the flowers.
“Nope,” I said. “I got it.” More than that, I wanted to be alone with her when I arrived. The demands of the day hadn’t given me a moment to reach out to her, and the memories of our night together were bringing with them a heat that was beginning to glow.
I opened the door to the apartment and looked around.
“Hey, Sweetness, I’m home…and you’d better be naked!” I called out, wondering why she hadn’t been waiting to greet me. It had become a regular routine in our few days together, and I was beginning to look forward to the little ritual. And what came after it. Of course, this time, I’d come bearing gifts, and I’d be expecting due compensation. I glanced at the blooms and imagined their golden color against her creamy skin. She’d be magnificent. It occurred to me that I might spread out the petals and fuck her among the flowers. Cream and gold and radiant red…it would be a picture alright.
But the silence was disconcerting, and I frowned. “Sasha?” I said into the emptiness.
And then I heard it. A little whimper. I knew that sound. I’d drawn it out of her myself a thousand times. But this…this was different.
I turned to the source and felt my frown darken as I spotted her. Curled up in a sheet on a chair overlooking the view out across the city. She was hunched over, her knees drawn to her chest, her face turned away as I walked up to her.
“Sasha?” I said softly, dropping the flowers to the floor. Her shoulders shook, and I lowered myself to my knees beside the chair. “Sasha, what’s wrong? Speak to me…”
I cupped a hand to her cheek and guided her face around to look at me. Huge hazel eyes gazed up, ravaged by tears, her lids puffy, lashes spiked. She held herself rigidly for a second, then licked her lips and whispered,
“Angelique…”
Chapter 3
Sasha Ramirez
He stared at me for a moment, his expression growing grim. The gentle fingertips on my face pressed almost roughly and then he seemed to remember that my soft skin lay beneath them, and he dropped his hand away.
“Fuck,” he said. “What did she do?”
I shook my head again, trying to find my voice. I’d spent the whole day curled up on the sofa, crying like a child. I hadn’t even bothered to shower or dress, and the sheet wrapped around my bare flesh still carried the scent of us. So did my skin. Through the hours, it had brought comfort and agony in equal measure. We’d been together; we’d been so good.
But what if she was right?
“She came to see me,” I finally answered. “She said I’d taken what was hers.”
