Fall Into You (39 page)

He spun to face her, frowning. “What?”

She gave him the quick version of what had just happened, venom dripping off her tone.

Grant’s jaw flexed. “I see.”

“So no more stalker, but no more story…or promotion for that matter unless Trey helps
me out.”

“Is that bastard still inside?” Grant asked, glancing toward the main door, a predatory
glint in his eye.

She put a hand on his forearm. “Don’t. You’ll just get yourself in an unnecessary
mess. Pete comes from a family of lawyers. We can’t prove anything, and if you lay
a hand on him, he’ll press charges before you can blink. It’s not worth it. Let me
handle it.”

He looked unmoved.

“I’m serious. Let it go.”

He sighed. “That’s not my strong suit, freckles, but I’ll do my best.”

She checked the time on her phone. “Look, I’m going to head into work and try to get
to Trey before Pete does. You’re relieved of bodyguard duty. Pete’s got what he wants
now.”

“Charli—”

“I’ll come by tonight and get my stuff from the cabin so I can
move it back home.” The words hurt coming out, but after last night she didn’t see
any other option. He’d had the chance to tell her that she was wrong, that he loved
her back. But her house had remained silent last night, her bedroom empty.

He shifted his focus away from the diner and met her gaze, regret etching lines at
the corners of his eyes. “We should talk.”

“We already did.” She went up on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek, closing her eyes
and lingering for a second too long. This would be the last time she allowed herself
to touch him. Tears lined her throat, but she forced them down. She pulled back and
gave him her best attempt at a smile. “Thanks for everything, Grant. It’s been…educational.”

A pained expression shrouded his features. But he didn’t say anything further.

What was there to say?

Only one thing. “Good-bye, Grant.”

Charli was in the mood to break things by the time late afternoon rolled around. Or
maybe
beat
things—like Pete’s smarmy face. Trey hadn’t been in the office, and no one seemed
to know when he’d be coming back. She’d tried his cell number without any luck. Pete
hadn’t returned either. He was probably busy studying her notes so he could fake his
way through owning her story.

She gripped the edge of her desk, letting out a groan of frustration.

Her phone beeped, indicating an internal call. She nearly pounced on the receiver.
“Hello?”

“Beaumonde.”

“Trey!” she said, relief zipping through her. “I’ve been trying to track you down
all day.”

“Sorry, it’s been a crazy day. But I’m in my office now. We need to talk.”

“Boy, do we.”

Charli had never made it to her boss’s office so quickly. She
swung open the door, her story ready to burst from her lips, but Trey’s grim expression
halted her in her tracks.

He already knew. She could see it all over his face.

“Shut the door.” He pointed to the chair in front of his desk. “And sit.”

She clicked the door shut, then sank into the chair, her limbs half numb. “So Pete
told you anyway.”

He looked to the ceiling, as if counting to ten in his head to calm down. “I told
you to back off that fucking story, Beaumonde. But you had to keep pushing. Always
pushing.”

She frowned. Wait, this wasn’t about the audiotape? “What are you talking about?”

He leaned onto his forearms, his gaze trapping her. “Any sane person would’ve dropped
a story if they’d been run off the road and threatened. But no, you’re like a goddamned
bulldog who keeps breaking its leash.”

Her blood chilled beneath her skin, her muscles going taut.

“You know anything about the company you work for, Charli? In all that dogged research,
did you ever look at what percentage of the board of directors graduated from Dallas
U?”

“Why would I research that?” She couldn’t wrap her thoughts around his question, her
mind spinning, putting all the pieces in place.

“Because, those are the people who cut our fucking paychecks, Beaumonde,” he barked,
his cheeks going ruddy. “The people I answer to. Men who would do
anything
to make sure their good names aren’t sullied and that their team keeps winning.”

Her stomach lurched as her brain caught up with the conversation, rage welling up
inside her. Her own company had tried to shut her up—hurt her.

Trey shook his head, resignation settling like dust in the creases of his face. “I’ve
always liked you, Charli. May have even loved you
once upon a time.” He sighed. “I wanted to keep you out of it, tried to. But you couldn’t
leave well enough alone. You were never good at listening.”

She wanted to yank him up by that collar of his and shake him. How dare he act like
some martyr who’d tried to help her? “I was doing my
job
, Trey.”

“It’s not your job anymore, Charli. You’re fired.”

“What?”
Red flooded her vision, his words like glass shattering in her brain. “You can’t
do that.”

“I can and am.” He grabbed a sheet of paper from his printer and slid it across the
desk. “We had Pete destroy all of your notes and facts. So, you have no proof of your
story anymore. Plus, he got us the added bonus of your phone interlude with your boyfriend.
Legitimate grounds for termination anyway.”

All she could do was stare at the notice of termination.

“Oh, and we talked to your source this morning, so don’t bother going back to him
again. He no longer has any memory of speaking to you.”

She gasped, looking up from the document. “You hurt Rodney?”

He shrugged. “Hush money and a well-placed threat are much more effective than physical
violence.”

Well, now she knew where Trey had gotten the money for that new Mercedes he was driving
around. But apparently she wasn’t worth hush money. They were just getting rid of
her. “So I’m just supposed to walk away?”

“If you don’t cause a fuss, we’ll just say you resigned. And believe me, Charli, you
spill anything to anyone, you’re taking your life in your hands.” He rubbed a hand
over his jawline, looking more weary than she ever remembered seeing him. “Their original
plan was to get rid of you. They knew you didn’t really have any family around. It
would take a few days for anyone to even notice you were gone. That accident on the
road was just their first try.”

The cold wash of fear went all the way to her bones this time.

“If you hadn’t hightailed it to your boyfriend’s place, I’m not sure we’d be sitting
here today.” His eyes shifted downward, some glimmer of guilt surfacing. “I convinced
them to give me a chance to get some dirt on you, a way to get you out of this without
them hurting you.”

She wrapped her arms around herself, wondering if she was going into some stage of
shock. “Why are you doing this?”

He twisted his college ring round and round his finger. “I haven’t changed that much
since we dated. The stakes have just gotten higher.”

She thought back to all the times she’d lent him a few bucks here and there, the time
he needed rent money in their junior year but really spent it playing cards.

“I owed money to some dangerous people. I needed help.” He met her eyes, having the
nerve to wear a poor-me expression.

“Right. So my head instead of yours?” she said, disgusted. She signed the termination
notice with a hard flourish and stood. “You’re a pathetic excuse for a man. Rot in
hell, Trey.”

“Maybe I already am. But don’t slip up, Charli,” he said, his tone foreboding. “They’re
not going to stop watching you.”

She stalked out of the office, her head held high despite the riotous emotions blending
her insides. But before she reached her desk, she had to run into one of the bathrooms
and vomit. The fear of what could’ve been overwhelmed her.

She’d lost her story, her job, and the childhood dream she’d set out for herself.

But she was alive.

And there was only one person to thank for that.

Grant’s hand was slick against the steering wheel as he raced back toward town.
Please, God, please.
The chant was about the only cogent thought he could manage for the last ten minutes.
He tried to dial Charli’s number again, but she wasn’t answering at work or on her
cell. He cursed, then hit another number on speed dial.

“Hey Grant, what’s up?” Andre said, answering on the second ring.

“Are you on duty?”

“Yeah, why?”

“I need you to go over to where Charli—the sub you met the other night—works and find
her. I’m on my way but still a while out and if you’re in uniform, they’ll cooperate
quicker.”

“What’s going on?”

“I think her boss may be a danger to her,” Grant said, his heart beating like an out-of-time
marching band. “The GPS says her car is still there, but I can’t get her to answer
the phone and the secretary hasn’t seen her.”

“Give me the address.”

Grant rattled off the location and clicked off the phone. He’d followed that scum
Pete from the diner and around town until the guy had finally headed home. Grant hadn’t
wanted any witnesses for what he was planning to do. Charli had told him to leave
the guy alone, but Grant knew how to extract information without leaving a mark. And
nothing brought out the sadist in him more than an asshole who threatened women.

Grant had thought he was only going to get Charli’s notes back, but that prick had
sung like a man on death row when Grant had pinned him to the ground and threatened
to show him all the fun torture techniques he knew. Fucking wimp.

But the information Pete had spilled and the names he’d named had sent fear exploding
like mines inside Grant’s head. Charli was with the enemy, and Grant had found himself
on the other side of the city from her.

The thought of something happening to her, of never seeing her again or hearing her
laugh…of their only kiss being the one where
he left her feeling like shit—he wouldn’t survive it. He should’ve known to look more
closely at her boss. The guy had given Grant a weird vibe as soon as he’d met him.
Grant had attributed that vibe to her ex-lover still having interest, but he shouldn’t
have let it go so easily. Everyone should’ve been labeled a suspect first. He’d made
a crucial error…again.

He gripped the steering wheel tighter and yanked it to the right, taking the exit
off the interstate at warp speed. Five more minutes if he didn’t catch any lights.
He passed through the first intersection without issue, but on the second one, he
got caught behind a line of traffic. He slammed his fist against the dashboard, about
ready to jump out and run the rest of the way to her office. Silent prayers ran through
his head like ticker tape.

But unlike earlier, the painful flashbacks didn’t invade his thoughts. Panic didn’t
overtake him. Instead, his focus had become laser sharp. He saw every break in traffic,
every spot he could slide into to get to her more quickly. By the time his truck skidded
into her building’s parking lot, he was ready to dismantle anyone who tried to prevent
him from getting to her.