Rose In Bloom (17 page)

MAVERICK’S PHONE: Go ahead and call it an evening. Report to Brandon in the morning. I’m heading out of town on business. Tell the boys he & Mikey are in charge until I return.

LUCKY: You got it boss. Goodnight

Tucking the phone in my pocket, I turn back to my father. I laugh at the irony of how he is laying there where so many others have before him. Adrenaline kicks back in and I go on autopilot, doing everything in the same routine I would if I were disposing of a body for my father. The black tarp and duct tape are kept in the side closet, along with the cleaner. Quickly, I open the tarp and unfold it out on the floor before rolling my father on top of it. I pull out his wallet and keys from his pockets and then begin rolling his body in the tarp. When I’m done, I secure it with two rolls of duct tape. Taking the cleaner, I roll up my sleeves and begin cleaning the blood from the wood floor before tossing the contents into a black garbage bag. The next step is loading him on the elevator. There are cameras from the elevator down to the garage.

Hurriedly, I move to the computer like I have many times before. Accessing the security cameras, I type the password in and the recording ceases. I hit the keys to perform a maintenance check and then hurry on to the elevator, pulling his body inside. I know I have twenty minutes before those cameras start back up again, so I have to move fast. Looking around, I don’t see anything out of place, so I hit the button to the basement.

Thankfully, a black van is always right here beside the elevator as a precaution. If I told you how often this kind of thing happens, you’d cringe. Looking around, I double-check that I’m alone. I’m still struggling to get my father’s heavy body in the van when my brother, Mikey, suddenly appears from behind me.

“Need some help, Bro?” he asks and I almost fall over.

I try to calm myself, but I can’t. He doesn’t speak as he lifts the other end of the body and hoists it inside the van, shutting the doors behind it.

“Whew! He was a big one!” he says, wiping his brow.

“Yeah, um… he is,” I stutter, trying to contain my nervousness.

“Relax, Brandon, I know you aren’t that out of practice,” he jokes, slapping me on the back.

I’m going to be sick.

“Want me to help you dispose of it?” he asks, but I shake my head.

“No, I got it.” I quickly reply.

God, why won’t he just leave!

“Well, I’m heading home then. The guys just dropped me off to get my car. Is Pops still here?” he asks, nodding his head towards the door.

“Um… no, he had to leave on business. Told the crew we were in charge until he got back.”

“Really? He never mentioned any business.”

“Yeah, it was really sudden. He left about thirty minutes ago. You just missed him.”

“Well, fuck, I guess I’ll talk to him when he calls tomorrow.”

I nod, nervously waiting for him to leave.

“You sure you got this?” he asks me once again and I wave him off.

“Go on, I got it under control.” I try to reassure him. I do have it all under control. Finally, I have things going my way for a change.

“All right then, Bro. I’m out of here. Be safe.”

“Always,” I reply, climbing into the van’s driver side.

The tires spin as I squeal past my brother, pulling out onto the street. Before I know it, I am taking the exit and getting onto the interstate, heading to the abandoned warehouse with a plan whizzing through my brain.

Whistling as I drive, an excited feeling overtakes me. Everything is going to work out perfectly now.

Sebastian

We’ve been back a few days now, but no one needs to know that just yet. I want to enjoy my wife as much as I possibly can before we have to return to reality. Since our return, she and I have done nothing but sleep and make love. Unfortunately, I have a meeting today that I couldn’t get out of, so I reluctantly leave my beautiful wife in the bed sleeping, and begin dressing for the day. As I stand over her, I feel my heart tug. I certainly don’t want to leave her, but I know I’ll see her when she stops by work later today. Brushing her soft curls away from her face, I gently kiss her on the head and leave for the office.

The pile of mail on my desk is fucking outrageous. I have no doubt I will be here all afternoon dealing with this shit. Sara says that she sorted through it, but now I am beginning to wonder if she did anything at all. If she calls this sorted then I don’t want to see unsorted.

I open up a few long envelopes and examine their contents. There are a few legal documents, and a few event invitations. Another box holds our new cell phones, both programmed with new numbers. Call me selfish and jealous, but I don’t like Lucas having my wife’s number anymore. I don’t regret throwing our phones in the ocean. I couldn’t risk him telling her about Brandon before I did.

Brandon is a topic that I still haven’t been able to bring up yet. Cowardly, yes, but each day, I keep putting off the inevitable. She is just so happy that I didn’t want to ruin things by bringing it up. Surely after I explain myself, she will forgive me for keeping this from her. No matter what though, I am telling her tonight. Now that we are home, I can no longer run the risk of someone else telling her first. That would never end well for us after everything else we’ve been through together.

“Mr. Thorne, your Skype conference is ready to go when you are. Mr. Jennings just confirmed he’s logged in.” Sara’s voice echoes through the phone speaker.

“Thanks Sara, I got it.” I reply as I turn to log on to my laptop. Calvin Jennings is a good friend of mine from New York. He just needs to confirm some design plans with me.

His face appears on my screen, and I laugh at the sight of him digging something out of his nose. He wasn’t prepared for me to log on so quickly, I guess.

“Hello Cal! How’s that fishing going there?” I yell, making him jump.

His face flushes red and I know I’ve embarrassed him.

“Asshole!” he replies, shooting me the bird.

I laugh and shake my head.

“So how’s NYC buddy?”

“Things are great. You need to bring that new bride of yours up here one weekend. She and Krissy can go blow our money shopping while you and I grab a game and some beer. I’ve got courtside seats waiting for you.”

“That sounds great man!” I reply, grabbing another long FedEx envelope in my hand.

“So, what were you thinking about those last designs I sent you?” I ask, while opening the envelope in my hand. Calvin’s words fade in the distance. My mouth drops open when I look down at what was in the envelope. Terror fills me, chilling me down my spine. In my hand is a newspaper article with four words written on the bottom.

Someone has a secret!

My blood begins to boil. Only one person could have sent this.

Lucas.

But how in the fuck had he found this out?

“Sebastian? Hey!” Calvin’s voice shakes me back into reality.

“I… I gotta go, Cal. I’ll be in touch.” I say nervously.

“Wait! Seb-”

I cut him off as I put an end our Skype chat.

Overtaken by anger, I slam the lid of the laptop closed, cracking both the top and screen. One swipe of my hand sends everything on my desk flying. Snatching up the article off the floor, I storm out of my office with one destination in mind… Lucas Drake’s office.

Skylar is chatting with Sara when I turn the corner. Normally, just the sight of her calms me, but right now, nothing will, except putting my fist through Lucas Drake’s face.

“Sebastian?” Skylar calls for me, but I ignore her and wave her off.

The elevator is a little delayed when I hit the button, and it gives her enough time to catch up to me.

“Sebastian?” she says softly, her hand touching my back.

The elevator door opens and I turn to face her.

“Not now, Skylar,” I bark at her.

Her beautiful eyes look so hurt and confused. She nods and backs away. The instant her hand leaves my body, I feel like someone has punched me in the stomach. The last thing I see as the doors close is her head hanging down in defeat and her turning to walk away.

Fuck me! I am such a fucking asshole.

I need to head right back upstairs, take her into my arms, and tell her how sorry I am for acting this way, but I can’t. She deserves to know what is going on, but right now, I have to confront Lucas and make him understand just whom he is dealing with.

Lucas

I know they were home now, because I’ve talked to Kylie again. The reality of her being married still hasn’t sunken in yet, and honestly, I’m not sure if it ever will. According to Kylie, Skylar doesn’t even have a phone anymore, and that fucking pisses me off. I know exactly who is responsible for that one. He may think he’s protecting her, but she doesn’t need protection from me, but from him.

Maverick has already set our plan in motion. He’s keeping me a little too much in the dark for my liking, though. He won’t answer my phone calls and only replies through texts. I don’t want to be involved in something this big and not know just how deep in that I am. I am beginning to wonder if he is even planning on making this all blow up in my face. Either way, if it protects Skylar, I’m willing to do whatever it takes.

Suddenly, I hear a loud commotion in the hallway.

“Sir, you can’t just go in there!”

“Like hell I can’t!” he says and I know immediately who it is.

My office door flies open and an enraged Sebastian and I come face to face.

“You motherfucker! Who the hell do you think you are sending me this shit?” he says, tossing some sort of news clipping in my face.

As I examine it closer, I see that it is from a newspaper article regarding Sebastian’s wreck. Maverick is obviously behind this one. I have to give it to him. He knows how to strike a nerve with this asshole.

“Well? Are you going to fucking deny it?” he screams at me, shoving me back hard with his hands.

“Mr. Drake, should I call security?” my secretary nervously asks, now standing in the doorway of my office.

“No, Carol. Everything is fine. Please just leave Mr. Thorne and me to talk,” I reply and she hesitantly turns, closing the door to my office behind her.

“Do you mind telling me what the fuck is going on?” I shoot at him.

“That! You are going to seriously deny sending me that?”

“I’ve never seen this before. Why in the hell would I be sending you anything?”

“You know damn well why. I don’t know how you got that article, but this ends now! She picked me, Drake! She married ME! Now, get over yourself and your bruised little ego!”

“I don’t fucking care what you think, I didn’t send you this article. I don’t know anything about it.”

“Don’t give me that, Lucas! You threatened me at the hospital that you were going after me. So, don’t stand there now and lie to me. I want to know right now how you found this!” He is beyond furious. I’ve seen this man lose his cool before over the years, but nothing like this. There is no doubt in my mind he would kill me if he had the chance.

“Like I said, I didn’t send you that.” I smirk and he snatches it out of my hand.

“Oh really? Well, who the fuck did then? Your secretary out there?” He moves forward, knocking over the leather chair and taking me by the lapels of my jacket.