How to Kill Your Boss (28 page)

“Franklin,” I whispered. “This has to end. We can’t continue like this.”

A disgruntled groan vibrated low in his throat. “I’m not a monster.”

Oh, shit. “No, you’re not. And that’s my point. What you’re doing, what you’ve done. It has to stop. I’m not your possession or your responsibility. You can’t spy on me, or lie, or control who I see, what I do, where I go.”

He dropped his hands and stepped back. “You don’t understand.”

“Then help me, because I’m trying to make sense of this and I can’t. You know everything about me. More than I know. It’s my life. Do you know how fucked up that is? I can’t live like that.”

He lifted his face to the ceiling, rolled his shoulders and pumped his fists. One, two, three deep breaths and he drew me to his chest, fingers curling into my shoulders. For the first time ever, I saw fear in his eyes. I put it there. “You can’t run. I’m begging you. You are my everything. Do you understand? I can’t let you go.” His breaths blew hot and measured in my face.

The panicked, desperate pain behind his words should’ve wounded me, but only added spice to the brewing pot of frustration boiling inside me. “Don’t you understand? I don’t want to run, but how can I stay? You’ve manipulated my life for how long now? You’re still spying on me. Don’t you see how wrong it is? Don’t you get it?” I wanted to scream, kick, punch, and draw blood all over again.

“Being without you is wrong,” he whispered hoarsely. “That’s what I know. You’re all I have left. That’s my reality.” He grabbed my wrist and pulled me with him. I scrambled to pull my skirt down over my butt as he led me through the hallway and into his bedroom, kicking the door open.

He stopped in front of his wall-o’-weirdness. “I was a freshman in high school when I started this board. Fourteen years old. You were ten. Tony said it would help keep me focused on the target. Was it wrong? Maybe. I’m not going to question his motives. It brought me to you.” His hand tightened around my wrist.

“You were only fourteen. You couldn’t have loved me.” I tried to regain control of my aching appendage. He sighed and released me.

Franklin turned, burning a hole through me with the intensity of his glare. “You don’t have a Goddamned clue what I felt.”

Oh. It was disgusting the way that look made my insides twitch. “You’re right, because I know nothing about you.” I stepped back. “You know what doesn’t make sense? If Dad loved us both so much, why didn’t he introduce us? Wouldn’t that have been easier?”

Franklin dropped his arms to his sides in defeat. “He didn’t want you to know that side of him. Your Dad lived and breathed the darkest parts of humanity. He didn’t want any of that ugly touching you. I didn’t either.”

I stumbled backward and plopped my rear on the bed. “I don’t know what I’m doing here, Franklin.”

“Killer.” He sat and leaned forward, elbows to knees, hands clasped, head tilted to look at me. His deep blue eyes captivated me, sung to me, worshipped me. “You’re here because you can’t stay away any more than I can. Because we fit. Crazy as it is, we fit.” Franklin leaned in and stole a kiss.

“Don’t,” I gasped, pulling away.

“Don’t now or don’t ever?” he asked, the tension in his voice palpable.

I stood, brushed a finger across his lips, then turned toward the wall of photos. If there was any chance of things working between us, that wall needed to go, along with the spyware recording my every move. For the moment, I could do nothing about the surveillance gear, but the pictures? Well….

“I know what you’re thinking. Please don’t,” he pleaded.

I looked over my shoulder to shoot him a glare. Then I started ripping the pictures of me off his wall.

I got a few good chunks torn down before Franklin caged me in his deadly weapons disguised as arms. “Please, stop.”

“No. These go, or I do.” It was a threat I wasn’t sure I could follow through on, but I needed to get my point across.

“You’re not going anywhere. Neither are they.”

“Let go of me.” I wiggled against him, trying to wrench myself free. Damn, the man was strong. And he smelled yummy. Made it difficult to stand my ground and fight. “Don’t you see? I’m right here. I’m right here in front of you. You don’t need those anymore. Take them down, please.” God, why was my voice so weak and shaky?

“I can’t.”

“Why?”

“It’s my history, too.” He let me go and grabbed a photo from the top right corner. “See this one?” I studied it. It was taken while I waited for the school bus on my first day of high school. “That’s the day I took my mother to the emergency room for the first time. She’d swallowed a bottle of pills.” He tossed it on the bed. “You helped me cope.”

“And this one.” He pulled another picture off the wall, then sat back down on the bed. It was of Mom and me eating lunch at our favorite bistro. “That’s the day Tony realized I was in love with you. He tried to beat some sense into me. I’d been training, though, and I held my ground. I didn’t strike him back, out of respect.” Franklin chuckled. “The bastard broke my nose. Told me that love made us weak.”

I hadn’t known my father at all. I rubbed the small bump at the bridge of his snout. “Why didn’t you ever reach out to me?”

“He would’ve killed me, Tate. He didn’t want you connected to this life any more than I did. I was his recruit. And you have to understand, if I fucked up, especially over a woman, it would’ve tarnished his reputation.”

“He wouldn’t have killed you literally.”

“Baby, the Antonio you knew wouldn’t have. The Tony I knew would’ve in a heartbeat, to keep you safe.”

“Just like you.”

He shrugged his shoulders. “I learned from the best.”

“Take the pictures down.” I pushed myself between his legs and cupped his face, tilting it up to look at me. “Put them in a box.” I bent and softly grazed his lips. “Put them in a photo album. I don’t care. Just no more of this creepy wall.” See? I could compromise. “I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere. You don’t need those anymore.”

Franklin pulled me in for a hug, snuggling his cheek against my breasts. “You’re being awful bossy, Miss Wood.” He slid his hands down my back and rested them on my rear.

“A girl has to be the boss once in a while.”

“Hmm,” he groaned, pulling my skirt back up to expose my ass. My body warmed, from the inside out. A throbbing heat hit my cheeks.

“Franklin, I—”

Before I could finish, I was lifted, twirled and tossed on the bed.

“No—no—no. Not here.” I scooted back, away from the beast stalking me. Hungry and dangerous. Oh, shit. I was not about to get naked and sweaty in a room filled with computers and a wall full of—me. No way. I jumped from the bed and sprinted into the bathroom, locking the door behind me.

“Tate, baby,” he groaned into the door. “What’s going on?”

“I need to clean up a bit.” Lie. I needed to pull myself together. The man fried my brain cells just by looking at me the right way. “I’ll be right out. And we are not going back in that room.”

“Fine, but hurry. I’m taking you home where I can fuck you senseless in every one of your rooms. Oh, and I’m bringing rope.”

Why did that make my heart beat so fast? Going home would be good. We’d be alone in the car, where he couldn’t distract me with sex, and we could talk. Perfect. I used the toilet, fluffed my hair, righted my clothes.

Then I made him wait.

I grabbed my red Burberry satchel from the spot it’d been so mindlessly discarded on the floor earlier and trotted down the stairs with Franklin. After he tucked me into my seat and closed the door, I checked my phone to find three missed calls from Leland. I’d return them when I got home. I needed the fifteen-minute, sex-free drive time to talk to my man.

Franklin’s phone buzzed as he pulled out of the parking lot. He didn’t even check the screen.

“That’s the first time I’ve seen you ignore a call,” I teased.

“If there’s no ringtone, I don’t answer.” He tucked it into the cup holder.

Hmm. “Do I have a ringtone?” I better. His stupid ex had a ringtone. A sultry ringtone. Mine better be damned good.

His sexy lips curled at the corners and he stared at the road ahead.

“Do I?”

He shrugged his shoulders.

I grabbed my phone to dial his number, but mine buzzed in my hand first. It was Leland for the fourth time in the past hour. A knotted nest of angry snakes took residence in my stomach. I pushed accept on the screen. “Hey, Leland. Everything okay?”

“Tatum, I’ve been trying to get a hold of you. Where the hell are you?” He sounded breathless and agitated.

“What’s wrong?” I croaked.

“Masters is out. Reed with you?” he asked.

No. This was not happening. “Yes. He’s right here.”

“Good. Don’t leave his side.” He released a loud sigh, like he’d been holding air in his lungs for hours.

“Out? How did that happen?” I glanced at Franklin. His brows drew tight, cueing his worry wrinkles. A large, dark form charged the window behind him. The glass shattered. Something hard, brick-wall hard and hot, plowed against the side of my head. My world went black.

* * * *

I tried to open my eyes. Only one worked, and not well. Through blurry vision, I saw glass and blood and Franklin’s hand. I heard a terrible creaking noise like metal grinding against metal, then muffled shouting. I tried to reach for him. My arms wouldn’t move.

Hands snaked under my shoulders and around my chest. I screamed in pain, then heard mumbled voices outside. “Shit, she’s stuck. Can’t get her out.”

“Grab him. Let’s get the fuck out of here. Someone’s called it in already.”

Everything went dark again.

When the world came back into focus, Leland Waters stared down at me with a grim expression. He held my hand, tight and warm in his own. “Welcome back, sunshine. Damn, child. You’re going to force me into early retirement.” He sounded far away even though he stood right next to me.

When I tried to speak, stabbing pains shot up the back of my neck and head. I cringed, which only triggered more pain. “Where am I?”

“Harborview.” He scooted closer and brushed a chunk of hair off my face. “You were in a car accident. Do you remember?”

I remembered bits and pieces, scattered images. I breathed out a “yes.”

“You’re going to be fine. Legs are bruised badly, but no breaks. Face got beat up, your ear took most of the damage. Can you hear me okay?”

I couldn’t. His voice sounded muffled, distant.

I reached up to feel my right ear. It was bandaged.

“Everything hurts,” I said, looking down at myself.

“You’ll be aching for a while.”

“Where’s Franklin?” I’d feel better knowing he was okay.

Leland laid my hand by my side and turned to pull a chair close to the bed, huffing as he sat. “They took him,” he said with a bitter snap.

“What do you mean?”

“A witness to the accident stated that two men pulled him from the car and loaded him in the back of a van.”

“No.”

“I’m sorry, Tatum. We’ve got everyone working overtime to find him.”

That wasn’t possible. Tears stung my eyes. Men like Franklin didn’t get
taken
. Not my overprotective, gun-toting man of steel.

“They wanted me. They tried to pull me out, but my legs were pinned.” I wiggled my toes to make sure they worked. A rush of relief swept over me when rough cotton rubbed against my legs. “Masters?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

“My gut’s going with yes.” Leland nodded.

“How’d he get out?”

“Daddy’s deep pockets, political connections, top-notch lawyers.”

“He’s going to kill Franklin. We have to find him.” I hurt, more than I ever had, but Franklin had to be in a thousand times more pain. He took the whole brunt of the impact. Oh, God. What if he hadn’t survived the accident?

“We’ll find him.”

Panic swooped down, sank vicious claws into my flesh and shred me to pieces. “No, you don’t understand. I need to find him, now. I need to tell him something. He can’t die. I need to tell him….”

The door opened and a curvaceous blonde walked into the room, sucking the oxygen clean out of the space. Her hair, pulled tight in a slick, smart pony, complimented high, peach-dusted cheekbones. Her impeccable gray suit fit every curve perfectly. Her toned legs didn’t teeter a smidge in her mile high spike heels. “Miss Wood, Detective Waters.” She nodded to both of us with a confident smile. “I’m Sasha Reed.” She handed a card to Leland. He glanced at it and handed it back.

Reed? Oh, perfect. My day hadn’t been shitty enough.

“I have a few questions for Miss Wood.” She stared at Leland, not asking permission to speak to me, but more cueing him to leave.

He cussed under his breath. “She just woke up, and the doctors haven’t come in yet. Can this wait?”

“I’m afraid not.” She stepped closer to Leland and crossed her arms. “My agent is missing. Every second counts.”

“She’s the ex wife.” Sasha and Leland’s heads snapped to look at me. Oh, did I say that out loud?

For the first time since she entered the room, our gazes met. Damn. She was pretty. Snotty, rich-bitch pretty.

“I’m his boss. I’m here to find him.”

I stopped scrutinizing her long enough to look at Leland. He glowered down at me, protective fury burning in his eyes. If I’d been able to move, I would’ve hugged him. “Leland, it’s fine. I can talk to her.”

“Detective Waters, how about you get her a coffee?” She looked at me. “You love coffee, don’t you?”

I glanced to Leland, whose face changed from pale to brilliant red.

“I’ll be down the hall.” He stormed out of the room.

The blond bitch sat in his chair and crossed her legs, leaning back and clasping her hands atop her knee. “Just so you know, I don’t hold a grudge against you.”

Nothing like getting right to the point.

“What do you mean?” I asked, cranking up the coy.

“I loved him. Still do. But I couldn’t compete with the great Tatum Wood. The marriage was a joke. When I figured that out, I wanted to kill you. Then I just pitied the both of you. Now, this psychotic obsession has put him in danger.”