To Love and to Cherish (6 page)

J
ustin

I was impatient. Eager to bring Macy in before she had a chance to get away. Dick and I watched as she hit on Dex. Just as Dick had predicted, she'd morphed into a Sandy clone, even adopting a similar style of dress.

"I wonder whose credit card she used to buy that outfit," I said to Dick. I remembered she'd stolen Kay's and used it to buy the outfit she wore to seduce me. It was sick. She was sick.

But I was impressed with Dex's flirting skills. He was becoming almost suave. And he was throwing my money around like it was nothing.

Dick leaned forward, concentrating on the surveillance feed. "Watch your drink, buddy. We know she likes roofies."

Dex had been warned. There was no antidote for roofies. Unaided by alcohol, it lasted in the system from eight to twelve hours. Taken with alcohol, it could last for as long as thirty-six. Dex was drinking moderately. From what we'd gleaned from her record, Macy was a skilled pickpocket. Which meant she was good at sleight of hand. It would have been easy for her to slip a roofie in Dex's drink without his knowledge. Like she'd done to me.

On our feed, Dex was offering to buy Macy dinner.

"Oh, crap! He's going to draw this out." I banged my fist on the table.

Dick raised one eyebrow. "He's doing fine. He has to win her trust. She's not stupid and she's cautious. She's not going anywhere private with him until she decides he's not a threat and she has the upper hand."

K
ayla

Long after Harry had gone, I sat in my office with the envelope trembling in my hand, staring at Justin's precise engineer's handwriting. Once again, my imagination flew with possibilities. Was Harry right to give me this letter? Was I right to read it? What if it said something incriminating? Or was it simply the instructions on how to extricate myself from Justin's life?

There was only one way to find out. I slid my finger beneath the flap of the greeting card envelope and broke the top open. I was nervous. The edge tore raggedly. My fingers shook as I pulled the card out. It was one of those gushy, terribly romantic cards, all done in shades of pink that Jus couldn't see. Which was sweet and touching in itself.
I'm forever and always yours
was printed on the front.
It was one of those cards that you could record a message on. When I opened it, it was Jus singing a line from a love song, followed by him saying,
I love you
.

My eyes clouded with tears. It was so sweet and touching. So Jus. So like the old Jus, anyway. I brushed the tears out of my eyes and tried to read, stopping to wipe them away every few lines. Afraid I was going to drip on the card and blur the beautiful words. Justin's hand was clear and easy to read. His heart was on the page.

Dear Kay,

If you're reading this, it means I've tried to win your love over the past year and lost. I've failed at the one thing that was most important to me. And I'm not used to losing. But I've lost you. Which breaks my heart in ways you'll never understand.

Do you believe in love at first sight? I didn't. Until you walked into that class in college. And stole my heart.

The first time I saw you smile and laugh, I knew you were the girl that was meant for me. All this time since college, when it seemed like our paths would never cross again, I still believed. Still fantasized about you. Dreamed about you. I even started Flash with Riggins partly because I knew it was something you would love. I hoped, dreamed, wished it would somehow bring us together. I even fantasized about hiring you. And made plans to do it.

I hope this doesn't sound too creepy and stalkerish, but yes, I was following you. Not physically. Online. Keeping track of you. And if fate hadn't driven you into my arms and life when it did, I would have hired you away from spending your life dealing with tighty whities. Damn, I was jealous of that company for having you. I was on the verge of having my recruiter go after you, when I went to Reno and you walked into that hotel.

If I have to admit it to myself, it was the chance encounter I'd been dreaming of for too long. That meeting, as you know, went completely awry. I was devastated to think you would use me like it seemed you did. Hurt beyond belief.

But when you walked into Harry's office, and I realized you weren't the one who'd conned me, I felt like fate had just been toying with me. Making me wait until the opportunity was perfect, and even I couldn't mess it up.

So before you go, I want you to know the truth—I was so desperate to keep you that I forced your hand. I forced you into this marriage. After you left Harry's I leaked the news of our marriage to the media. I did it. And I take full responsibility.

I played on your good nature. It was wrong. And I'm paying the price for it. For that, I'm deeply sorry. I don't want to ever force your hand again.

I have, and will always, love you.

Jus

My nose was running. Tears streamed down my cheeks. I was a mess. A total wreck. I made myself get up and grab a tissue from my desk. I wiped my eyes.

Jus had taken a big chance writing a letter like this. What if we'd ended badly and he'd no longer wanted me? I guess he would have had Harry destroy the letter.

I wanted Jus back. This Jus who'd written the letter. But was he gone forever? Had I made him a hardened, bitter guy?

My phone rang, startling me so badly I jumped and put a hand to my heart. Britt was calling. I had to talk to someone so I picked up.

"Hey." I sniffled, hoping she didn't notice as I dabbed at my eyes with the tissue.

"Ophie isn't in the office today," Britt said without preamble. "Word is she left for Reno about half an hour ago. Made some excuse about a business emergency and how Justin needed her. I would have called sooner, but I just found out."

Britt talked so fast and was so agitated, she was hard to understand. "I'm sure she's going after Justin. You have to stop her! Get yourself on a plane and go after her! What are you waiting for? Get your billionaire back!"

J
ustin

Watching your friend hit on your wife isn't the most thrilling thing under ordinary circumstances. In my case, watching Dex hit on, and be hit on by, Macy was at times boring and tedious. At times infuriating. And sometimes completely hilarious. Dex could be surprisingly charming. Watching him work his moves on Macy, leading her on and playing her, was worth the price of admission. Watching her work him? Embarrassing knowing she'd done it to me.

Dick was used to this kind of work and tedium. He was on his sixth cup of coffee. I would have been jazzed and had a hole in my stomach from the amount he'd drunk. But he seemed alert and perfectly calm and relaxed.

Dex treated Macy to an expensive meal on the money he'd won. As we watched her, Dick and I could almost see the wheels turning in her mind—the more Dex spent, the less she had to steal. But Dex had been good about bragging, repeatedly mentioning he'd won over fifteen thousand at the tables. Why wouldn't he blow some of it to impress a girl?

Dick focused his attention on the screen. "The meal's almost over. I'm sure she's going to drug him. You can tell by her body language she's itching to incapacitate him and grab his dough—

"Ah! There. There! There she goes!" Dick almost came out of his chair as he pointed at the screen. "Atta girl. We got it on camera, Dex. She just dropped a pill in your drink."

Dick whistled low. "She's good. I almost missed it. Watch yourself, man. We don't know where she got these roofies. But they're not coloring your drink and she seems unconcerned that they will. Which means they're foreign." Dick laughed. "Not FDA approved, obviously. Take a fake drink. I'll send my girl over to make a switch."

With clever help from one of Dick's female investigators posing as a waitress, Dex had managed to make it look like he'd had four adult beverages already, while actually having nursed maybe one full one.

"Mallory, baby, swoop in and change out our boy's drink, will you, honey? And save it for the lab." Dick watched like a nervous dad as Mallory moved in. "Create a distraction to give Mallory cover, Dex. Ah, good job, man!" Dick grinned as Mallory successfully completed the switch. "Great job, Mallory!"

Dick turned to me. "She's the best!"

"That's what I'm paying for."

"Give it twenty minutes, Dex. It will take that long for the drug to act. This kid is a pro. She's timed it to take effect just as you finish dessert. I'll give you the nod and tell you which symptom to fake when. Hang in there!"

Dick leaned back in his chair, put his hands behind his head, and whistled.

"What do we do now?" I asked. His off-key whistling grated on my nerves.

"We wait." He was smugly self-satisfied. "Within the hour, Dex will be bring her back to this room. And then it's up to you. My guys will be in the adjoining room. You'll have a wire. You need us. You call. We'll get you hooked up here in a minute."

He leaned forward, stared at the laptop, and slapped his knee. "Oh, shit! They ordered the Bombe Alaska!" He guffawed. "Of course they did. It's the hotel's signature dessert. You gotta see this, Justin. Watch. They're about to light it on fire."

K
ayla

There's no reason to be a billionaire's wife if you can't get what you want in an emergency. What I wanted was a hired jet to take me to Reno as soon as possible. But I had no idea how to get one. I was halfway to calling Andrea, when I stopped myself and called Lazer instead.

"I'll get my highly trained admin on it immediately."

It was reassuring to hear Lazer's calm, confident voice.

"Andrea could handle this," Lazer said. "She's efficient, too."

"No, not Andrea!" I protested. "There's a reason I called you. Andrea is…too close to Ophie. Not that I think she's purposefully feeding her information. But she thinks highly of Ophie and considers her a mentor."

Lazer paused. "Yeah. I have the same suspicions. I'm looking into it, too, Kayla." From Lazer's tone it sounded like I had passed a test. I wasn't an oblivious noob or something. "Have a safe trip. And good luck. I hope Justin comes to his senses."

And so, voila! I was on a plane and on my way to Reno within the hour. I had just enough time to throw a few things in a bag and catch an Uber to the airport. I could have called the car service, but that seemed over the top. And besides, Jus might get wind of it.

I wanted my visit to be a surprise. And I couldn't be too careful.

J
ustin

I sat in a chair by the window, listening to the air conditioning running while I waited for my "wife" to arrive. Dick had decamped to the adjoining room with several elite, beefy, security-detail-type members of his crew.

Dex was now feigning the full array of symptoms, acting the part of a roofied mark, leading our thief right to me. He was on his way to "his" room with Macy. Where her plan was that he could pass out thinking he was going to get lucky. And she could steal his hard-won money without having to compromise herself. At least, that was what it appeared to Dick and me.

Lucky her. She was in for a surprise! Her husband was waiting for her.
This was going to be some fun fireworks.

There was drunken laughter in the hall. Footsteps stopped just outside the hotel room door. The click of the lock flipping.

My heart pounded in my ears. The door opened.

Dex stood back. "Ladies first!" He handed her in.

At first, she didn't see me. Which had been the plan. She was too busy laughing with Dex, trying to put him at ease. Clearly, she was a seasoned pro.

"Come on, baby," she cooed to him. "Don't be shy! You geek boys are always so sweetly timid. Come on in and have some fun with me. I'll make a man out of you!"

She laughed, looked up, and saw me sitting in the dimly lit room.

"Another time," Dex said, completely soberly as he snatched her purse off her shoulder.

"Hey!" she screamed at him.

He gave her a gentle shove into the room and backed out the door, shutting it and barring it behind him.

I knew the minute she recognized me. Her eyes went wide. She swung around and tried the door, but Dick had it barricaded from the outside. She wasn't escaping. And, with luck, Dex had just disarmed her of any weapons.

She pounded on the door. When that didn't work, she turned around to face me. "You! What do
you
want?"

If Dick hadn't been so thorough, I might have been worried that she had a weapon. Even without one, she was dangerous.

"The question is—what do
you
want?" My voice was surprisingly calm. "Have a seat. I'm not here to hurt you."

"Thank you. I'd rather stand." Her tone was defiant, full of false bravado. Her eyes were wild. She was trying to buy enough time to assess the situation and talk herself out of this one.

"Suit yourself." I shrugged. "You've been sending me messages. You wanted to talk. So talk."

Her eyes narrowed. "And this is how you arranged it? Kidnapped me?"

"Kidnapped? You came back to the room voluntarily with my roommate."

"So what do you want?" She changed course, suddenly putting a purr in her voice.

More flies with honey? Was that her new strategy?

"Answers," I said. "I have some ideas about the last time we were together. But I'd very much appreciate it if you would fill in the blanks."

"Oh, you would?" She laughed and took a seat on the bed across from me. "I know who you are. A little late, but I figured it out. You really are a cutie pie." She leaned forward to touch me.

I leaned away from her. "Last time we met, you drugged me. Like you just attempted to do to my friend."

"Drugged you? Oh, that? Is that what you're calling it now? That was purely consensual. You asked for it. Don't you remember, baby? How comforting I was? You appreciated it well enough then.

"If only I'd realized that night that you were more than just a broke college kid with a knack for playing blackjack. You count cards, don't you?" She shook her finger at me. "That will get you banned. Ah, well. Lost opportunities, right?"