His Call (6 page)

The thought of her working is haunting me the same way storm clouds hover threateningly. It’s heavy and oppressing, ever-present.

In my heart, I don’t believe she is. I don’t believe for a second that she’s sleeping with other men. It’s in her eyes. I saw it in the way she looked at me outside the club. She can’t possibly be giving her body to another man when it belongs so wholly to me. Only me.

Every inch of her, from the way her hair falls softly around her face
to the way her toes curl when I look at her, belongs to me.

And the thought of her being with anyone else makes my skin crawl in a way I hope to never feel again. The anger that accompanies that sweeping sensation is tangible. It’s dangerous, and if I were a lesser man, the feeling might frighten me. As it is, all it does is strengthen my resolve to win her back.

It merely strengthens my resolve to have her back where she belongs and have her stay there.

I still fail to understand what possesses her to be a call girl. I knew the only way I could protect her after she walked into the Southfall was by buying her
, by having her off-limits to all other men. If I have to do the same again, I will.

I will do whatever it takes, pay whatever it costs, if it means I can keep her safe. Even if she never speaks to me again. She will never belong to anyone other than me. I am as certain of this as I am that I love her. My love for her and need to protect her
are one and the same. There’s no middle ground for it. There’s no other option.

Just love her and protect her.

Whether she’ll let me or not.

I pour a glass of water and look out the window. The sun is slowly beginning its descent toward the horizon, a hazy
, golden glow emanating from it and mingling with the bright blue sky of the day. I gaze at the colors for a long while, watching as the bright circle lowers even farther.

The evening is when she works most. My skin crawls again, and I reach for the phone. “Hello, Jasper?”

“Yes, Mr. Stone. What can I do for you, sir?”

“Have my car brought
around for me, would you?”

“Absolutely. It’ll be waiting for you when you get downstairs.”

“Thank you.” I put the phone back in the holder and grab my jacket from the hooks. I slip my arms into it and step into the elevator, my mind running a thousand miles an hour.

I use these minutes in the elevator to justify my decisions. To justify going to her house. But fucking hell. I need to know if she’s there or not. If she’s not, there’s a good chance she’s working. And if that’s the case
, I won’t be leaving so fucking quietly.

Like Jasper said, the car is waiting for me
, and I slip in with ease. I give the driver Dayton’s address and lean back, closing my eyes.

I hope she’s not working. My fists clench at the thought of
another man’s hands touching her body. The image forms in my mind before I can banish it, and it taunts me. All I can see is her lying back on a bed and fingertips trailing across her silky skin… Dipping inside her hip and across her mound…

I open my eyes and realize that isn’t an imagined situation. It’s real, a memory. A memory of my own hands skimming across her body and touching her in the most intimate way.

That is almost worse. The memory of her with me is almost worse than the thought of her with another.

That’s how much it hurts to miss her.

The car slows as we approach her house, and I look out the window. Her house is in darkness. Every light is off. The curtains are open, but I can only make out the outline of furniture in the waning light.

“Stop the car,” I order,
unbuckling my seatbelt. It slams into the seat with the same vigor I open my car door with. “Drive around the block and park down the street. Wait there for me.”

“Yes, sir.”

The car door slams with an almost-satisfying clunk. I turn to her house—her empty house.

She’s working.

I know it.

I storm up the pathway leading to her front door and knock on it several times. When there’s no answer, I call her name. After a couple of minutes of fruitless attempts, I hear a voice from the next yard.

“She went out earlier,” an elderly woman informs me.

“Thank you. I’ll wait here for her.” I smile at her kindly despite the myriad of emotion
s swirling in my stomach.

She returns the smile. “Dressed up real pretty, she was. Always looks beautiful. Quiet girl though. Keeps to herself.”

“That sounds like Dayton. Thank you, ma’am. I’m sorry if I disturbed you.”

“No, no, you didn’t. Would you like some tea while you wait?”

“I’m fine. Thank you.”

She nods and shuts the window. I run my fingers through my hair and sit on the bench in Dayton’s yard. My elbows rest on top of my knees
, and I bury my face in my hands for a long moment.

Fuck. I can’t believe she’s working. I can’t believe she can look at me with heartbreak in her eyes and then be with another fucking man!

I dig the heels of my hands in my eyes. I’m completely damn lost. If I had any idea where she was tonight, I’d march down there and drag her away. Fuck appearances. If I had any idea where she was, she’d be leaving with me.

After what seems like hours but is probably mere minutes, I hear the angry slam of a car door and look up.

My first thought is how fucking beautiful she looks storming toward me with her hair flying over her shoulders. The next is that she’s alone.

“If this happens again, Mr. Stone, I may have to look into taking legal action. Two nights in a row?
I hardly imagine your sitting outside my house is a coincidence.”

I find her eyes with mine. Her anger is so evident it shines like a beacon, so strong I can almost feel it reaching out and wrapping around my body.

“Back to work, Miss Black?”

“I have a job. As much as I’d love to sit around and feel sorry for myself, I’m afraid I have far more important things to do.”
She tears her eyes from mine and steps toward her front door, digging her key from her purse.

Running, again. She’s always fucking running.

I stand and grab her hand. “Things, or people?”

“I fail to see what business it is of yours.”
Her sharp tone cuts through me, but I fight through the annoyance to keep my calm.

“It’s very much my business, as you’re well aware.”

“Perhaps in your opinion. But if it will make you feel better, it’s things, not people.” She turns, and the sick feeling in my stomach dissipates. “I’m not back to work fully. Yet.”

I tighten my grip on her hand. My jaw clenches, and it takes everything I have to bite out the word.
“Yet?”

“I have to earn money somehow, and my big spenders aren’t pretty little rich boys who need a date for the night. So yes, yet.”

Her defiance riles me. It raises every hair on the back of my neck and stokes every primal, protective instinct inside my body.

I lean into her.
“Never. You aren’t fucking another guy, Dayton.”

“That’s not your decision, Aaron. You had your chance to decide that, and you blew it. Now if you’d like to remove yourself from my property, I’d appreciate it.”

Not a fucking chance,
I think before lowering my lips to hers. I take her mouth forcefully, covering her red lips with my own. The pressure of my body against hers pushes her flat against her door, and I lean into her, aware of the hardening of my cock. The tiny whimper that escapes her tells me that she’s aware of it too, and her body responds the way it always does.

Her hips grind into mine
, and I cup her face with my hands. I hold her still, reminding her who has the control here, and push my tongue between her lips. She tastes sweet and fruity, almost as if she’s had a drink or two tonight.

“Tell me one thing,” I demand, my voice rough and low. “Has anyone else kissed these lips?” I tug on her bottom one with my thumb.

“Fuck you,” she whispers, her voice wavering.

“Answer the fucking question, Dayton.”

“No. They haven’t.”

I curl one hand around the back of her neck and close the distance between us yet again. This time, I’m even harsher. An unnecessary reminder of who she is to me. What she is to me.

That no one else will ever kiss her the way I am now.

My tongue sweeps through her mouth
, and she melts beneath me. Her fingers clench at my shirt, holding me tight to her, and I want to rip that fucking key out of her hand. I want to shove her through this door, lay her flat on her bed, and fuck her until she gets the message I’m so desperately trying to convey with my mouth.

I want to fuck her until she understands
that this won’t be the last time I kiss her.

I pull back, grazing her bottom lip with my teeth the way I know she likes, and rest my nose alongside hers. Both
of our chests are rising and falling quickly, and I’d bet everything I have that her heart is thumping the way mine is.

Dayton takes a long, shuddery breath and drops her hands from my shirt. Her eyes are full of fire when they find mine.
“You have five seconds to get your ass out of here before I go crazy at you.”

I smirk, reveling in that anger. It means she got the message.

“Remember that the next time you think what you do is none of my business.” I brush my thumb across her mouth one last time. Our gazes lock as I walk backward down her pathway and wave my hand. The car pulls up behind me and I open the door. “Good evening, Dayton.”

She simply stares at me as I get into the vehicle. Just before I close my door, I hear her front door slam.

“Back to the apartment,” I order the driver.

He pulls away silently. I pull my cell from my pocket with shaky hands and dial Monique’s number.

She’s not getting away that easily.

I rub my temples harshly. This contract negotiation is such a fucking headache. If it weren’t the one that could push us over the billion-dollar mark, I’d hand it off to someone else. I’d let my employees do what I damn well pay them for.

“Five years is unreasonable. We’re offering one campaign, not several.”

“And we’re offering you more. I fail to understand why this is an issue in our negotiations.”

“I’d like to see the outcome of one campaign before hiring your services again.”

“Are you doubting our ability, sir?”

“Enough
!” I raise my voice over the endless back and forth. The room immediately silences, and I turn my attention to the gentleman sitting opposite me. “Mr. Simmons, with all due respect, you’re asking us to put all our manpower behind this latest line. No one here is doubting the inevitable success your wife is about to have. Her designs are truly remarkable, and the interest she has already garnered for her next collection is impressive. This will absolutely cement her place in the fashion world, but from a business perspective, I cannot take just one campaign of this caliber.”

He opens his mouth to respond
, but I continue.

“You are essentially asking me to turn away a selection of smaller contracts because of the scale of your own. I refuse to do this, but I’m willing to take on staff to accommodate for your needs. In turn, this will take time to hire them. Do you understand it from my perspective? If I’m going to do this, I need more than one campaign for you.”

“Five years is incredibly long, Mr. Stone. That’s ten collections of my wife’s.”

The door opens and Dottie pokes her head in. “Excuse me. Mr. Stone, there’s an important call for you.”

“Can’t it wait?”

Her eyes widen in a message I don’t understand and she shakes her head.

I sigh. “Excuse me, everyone. Let’s take ten minutes and come back to this. Dottie, can you have some coffee sent up?”

She nods
, and I follow her from the room.

Loosening my tie, I pick up the phone in my office. “Aaron Stone.”

“Aaron.” Tyler’s voice is slightly panicked. “You need to come home. Dayton’s freaking out.”

I frown. “Freaking out?”

“She’s having a panic attack. I can’t calm her down.”

I drop the phone without responding and exit my office quicker than I entered it. “Dottie, clear my afternoon. We’ll continue this meeting in the morning. Nine a.m. sharp. I want every detail spread out before then.”

“Of course. Is everything okay?”

“It will be.”

I ride down the building in the elevator and climb into my waiting car. Panic attack? Dayton? She’s the most composed woman I know. I can’t imagine anything that would have her upset to such an extreme.

Worry floods my body. Something truly terrible must have happened. But what?

My mind conjures up any number of situations, all completely ridiculous, and it’s only silenced by the sound of the engine cutting outside my apartment block.

I jog across the lobby and into the elevator, jabbing at the buttons the whole way. Of course, it’s completely ridiculous. It won’t
make it go any faster, and although it’s only been a matter of seconds, it feels like an hour.

I burst through the apartment door and see Tyler kneeling in front of Dayton in the middle of the kitchen. Her labored breaths fill the air and pained whimpers cut through me. I push Ty out of the way and frame her face with my hands.

“Dayton. Breathe for me, sweetheart. Come on now. Breathe.”

She shudders beneath my touch and takes a long, controlled breath.

“That’s it. And out. And back in. That’s better.” I fold her into my arms.

Her cheek is flat against my chest, and I
gently rock her side to side until she calms. She’s shaking against me, and she feels so tiny in my arms.

And I know something is very, very wrong.

“I’m glad you were here,” I say to Tyler, barely glancing over my shoulder at him.

“Sorry I pulled you from your meeting, cuz.”

“Fuck the meeting. The contract will still be there tomorrow morning.” I tilt Dayton’s face up so she’s looking at me. “What’s wrong?”

Fear and guilt fill her eyes. My body tenses in response to it, especially when her bottom lip quivers.

“I have to tell you something,” she whispers.

Something I won’t like.
“What is it? What’s wrong?”

She flicks her eyes over my shoulder to Tyler and her breath catches.
“Naomi came to see me just before we went to London.”

My arms fall away from her. Shock is smacking me in the gut. Naomi? What the fuck is going on?
“What?”

Dayton pulls herself to a standing position and leans on the bar. Her hands are still shaking. “
She wasn’t happy with the divorce settlement, and she came to ask me for money.”

Tyler snorts
. I look at him then back to Dayton. He knew.

“You knew about this?” I question him.

My cousin nods.

I swallow down the rapidly rising anger in my body and turn back to Dayton.
“She asked you for money? Why didn’t you just tell me?”

“She didn’t…ask…so much as blackmail me.
”

“How much?”

“Two and a half million.”

Two and a half fucking million dollars?
“What the fucking hell, Dayton!”

“She gave me four weeks to get it to her
, and I have one week left.”

I close my eyes briefly, breathing in, and wait fo
r her to continue.

“When I went home after London, there was a letter waiting, and today, there was one delivered here
. She’s keeping tabs on me. She knows Tyler knows and she said if I told you all bets were off.”

“All bets for what? What could she possibly know about you that she could hold over your head?”

She gives me a piece of paper, her head down. “She knows I was a call girl. If I don’t pay, she’s threatening to expose my past and destroy your business.”

I look down at the white sheet in my hand and the words written there.

One week. Doesn’t time fly when you’re having fun? It’s a shame you told Tyler… I’ll let it pass. You’re getting desperate, after all. But if you tell Aaron…the world will meet Mia Lopez.

My chest tightens in anger. No, this is more than anger. This is pure fucking fury.

I knew Naomi was a manipulative bitch, but I never imagined that she would go this far. To drag Dayton into our bullshit is uncalled for and completely unnecessary.

And the fact she never told me…

I look up. She can’t even look at me. I know how she feels. I felt the same way in Paris.

Slowly, she looks up, a
nd her broken brown eyes meet mine. She shrinks back, wrapping her arms around her stomach. I crumple the paper to the floor and turn away. I need to get out of here, get away from her. I need to escape from the knowledge that another secret is coming between us and my vile ex-wife is the center of it yet again.

The door slams behind me with a certain finality. It’s a deafening sound that echoes down the stairwell. The elevator is no good for this
...this anger. There’s no outlet.

But not even the harsh pounding of my feet against the stairs can beat this anger out.

I pull out my cell and call the office. Dottie answers almost immediately.

“Find out where Naomi is living. Now.”

My cell is snatched from my hand, and I turn to see Tyler bringing it to his ear. “Ignore that, Dottie. He’s having a bad day.” My cousin pockets the phone and looks at me.

“What the fuck, Ty?”

He grabs my arm and leads me through the lobby. “Going over there when you’re this angry isn’t going to solve anything. What you need, mate, is a drink.”

I don’t want a drink. I want to find out why the woman I love kept such a huge fucking secret from me. Why she’s been dealing with this shit alone when I could have dealt with it weeks ago.

Still, I allow Tyler to lead me to the nearest bar and order two glasses of whisky. I drain mine in one go and nod to the
bartender for another. The liquid burns as it goes down, taking away from the anger settling in my chest.

“When did she tell you?” I ask Tyler, staring straight ahead.

“In London. After she came to Jenna’s shoot,” he replies. “She froze every time Naomi’s name was mentioned and I wanted to know why.”

“You pushed her into telling you?”

“Pushed her into telling you, too. She was going to tonight. The letter threw everything off course.”

I swallow, my throat dry despite my constant sipping. I feel utter disbelief. Dayton made
it very clear in Paris how much she despises secrets. She berated me endlessly for having kept Naomi from her, and now, in a cruel twist of irony, she’s done the exact same thing.

For the last three weeks, she’s been carrying this around. Through everything we’ve dealt with, she’s kept this fucking secret.

She stood in front of me and asked me to bear my soul to her when she wasn’t doing the same thing. She wanted me to be open when she was unable to do it herself.

“Why didn’t she tell me?” I face Tyler now.

He shrugs a shoulder with a heavy sigh. “She wanted to protect you. She didn’t want you to worry about it. She felt like it was her problem, not yours.”

I rub my hands across my face. It hurts more than it angers me. The fact
that Naomi could do this, could blackmail Dayton for her own selfish needs, angers me beyond belief. I feel that fury grasping on to my body, but the hurt from Dayton not being able to tell me overcomes it.

I slump
onto the bar, fisting my hair. Suddenly, all too acutely, I feel the pain she must have felt in Paris.

“Fuck,” I breathe heavily. “I can’t believe she’s been coping with this by herself.”

“She’s determined, that’s for sure. I offered to help her out and she pretty much fucking laughed at me. I’ve never known anyone so independent, if you discount Tessa.” Tyler chuckles.

It’s easy to imagine
—Dayton laughing at him. She doesn’t take being helped well.

I drink the rest of my drink and stand up. “Come with me.”

Tyler follows me from the bar. “What are you doing?”

I know
that the store is down this street. It’s a personal favorite of my mother, one my dad has visited time and time again. Right now, I’m thanking him for having shown me it.

“Mate, you’re fucking mental,” Tyler explodes when we stop in the front of the jewelers.

A small laugh leaves me. “No, I’m just a presumptuous bastard.”

“What the hell are y
ou thinking?”

I look at my cousin. “I’m thinking Naomi already came between us once and I’m not letting it happen again. I’m also thinking Day will kill me when I ask her, but it’s about the only thing that will calm me now. I need to know that
, one day, the ring I’m about to purchase will be on that woman’s finger before I can go ahead and deal with the one who never should have had a ring in the first place.”

***

She looks so peaceful lying in our bed, tangled in the sheets. She’s curled into a tiny ball, illuminated only by the light shining in through the gap in the curtains. But still, she’s so beautiful. So fucking beautiful.

I strip silently, leaving my clothes in a heap on the floor before climbing into bed next to her. She curls up tighter
, and I know she’s not asleep, so I reach forward and pull her into my arms.

She sighs heavily as I tangle our bodies together and bury my face in her neck. Her hair tickles my nose
, and the gentle scent of vanilla grounds me.

“What are you doing?” she whispers. I can hear the tears in her voice and it breaks my heart.

I kiss her shoulder and squeeze her to me. “I’m holding you, baby. What else do you think I’m doing?”

“You shouldn’t be. You should hate me.”

I shake my head, pulling her onto her back. Leaning over her, I gaze down into her sad eyes. Silly, silly woman.

“I could neve
r hate you, Dayton. Not ever.” A tear escapes the corner of her eye and I brush it away with my thumb, leaving my hand lying beside her face. “So don’t say such ridiculous things.”

She cups my cheek.
“Why aren’t you mad at me?”

“Because you didn’t keep it a secret to spite me. You kept it to protect me, and yes, it was a little misguided and unnecessary, but you did it because you care.”

“But you did that, too, and I left you.”

I close the distance between our mouths and kiss her with the same certainty I purchased two rings with earlier.
“I’m not leaving you, beautiful woman, so get that thought right out of your pretty little head. I’m not going anywhere and neither are you.”