INDISPENSABLE: Part 3: A Billionaire Romance (8 page)

The traffic was bad, but Bella still got them there in thirty minutes. Brock held onto the dash. “Where the fuck did you learn to drive like that?”

“Getaway car driver.”

“I hope you are joking, Come on.” He launched out of the vehicle and headed into the foyer and straight for the elevator. Hitting the button, the doors opened. Bella ran in behind him.

“Please let her be home. Alone.” Bella squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her hands into fists.

The floors seemed to go forever. But finally the elevator stopped, and Brock went to Sarah’s door and put his ear against it. “Can’t hear anything.”

“Come on. We’ll go through my apartment in case they are in the common lounge, the element of surprise.”

“Wait. If we hear anything through that door, we call the cops. And please, don’t let me kill him,” Brock whispered to Bella, as he followed her into her apartment.

She put her ear the door of the shared lounge. She looked at him and shook her head. “Nothing. Not a sound.” Her voice more mouthing the words than whispering.

He listened at the door.
Nothing
. Bella held up the door card. Brock nodded. He watched, as she slipped the card through the electronic scanner and clicked the handle down. She peeked in through the gap, then put her head in further and looked around.

“Nothing. It’s empty.”

Brock pushed his way past, and sure enough, nothing. His ring tone sounded, and he grabbed his phone from his pocket. It might be her. He looked at the screen. Rick Anderson. He clicked connect.

“Where the fuck are you?” Brock tried to keep his voice calm. It didn’t work.

“Where am I? What the fuck? I send in my men to accept any offer because I’m over the drama, didn’t want a scene, and you’re sending a warrant for me?”

“Accept the offer?”

“Yes. But instead you assault Kirkland and threaten me with jail. Are you off your goddamn, fucking, rocker Devlin?”

“So that’s why you weren’t there?”

“Why the fuck else wouldn’t I be there.”

“I thought that….never mind. Misunderstanding. There’s no warrant. I’ll come to you and sign off tomorrow.” He disconnected the call and flopped onto the sofa. “She’s not with him. Thank fuck.”

“Holy batshit, batman. I thought that was going to end badly.”

“I jumped to the wrong conclusion. Sorry to have not checked properly before I panicked.”

“You care about Sarah a lot.”

“I do. But no excuse to go all psychopathic on you.” Brock sat forward and put his head in his hands. He’d lost control. The only time he seemed to have any control of himself was in the warehouse with Sarah.

“Oh, I don’t know. I’ve dated a few, and they can be quite fun in the right mood.”

“I’d better go. Sorry to interrupt your work day. Take the rest off. Let Josh know to see me about it.”

“Go get some rest Brock. Tomorrow is another day. Sarah isn’t going anywhere.”

Brock smiled. “You’re right. I’m completely overreacting. Sarah needs time, not me ready to murder someone because I thought she was in danger. I think I’ll go home. I’ve an early flight to India in the morning.”

“Safe travels.”

“You will let me know when you hear from her.”

“Of course, and you, if you hear first.”

“Sure. I sent a note with the flowers, which might be at the front desk, take whatever you want from your apartment as a housewarming gift, if there’s anything you like.”

“Thanks, Brock. You’re a gem.”

“If that’s code for idiot, you’re right.”

“Well, for a billionaire businessman, you are a bit on the stupid side. But you have potential.”

Brock grinned at Bella. He was used to her hair-brined humor. “Thanks. I’ll be sure to update my CV.”

Thank God Sarah wasn’t here. He’d have made a major knob of himself. No wonder she needed space. Well, she’d have plenty of that when he left for India. He’d wait until she contacted him before he contacted her.
You can do this, Brock
, he mentally coached himself. He could while he was in India.

When he came home he wasn’t so sure. He was almost certain he’d be convincing her in any way possible that they needed to be together, and if that meant giving up being a Dom, he’d have to do it.

Sarah sat by her Grammy’s rose bush. Her ashes were underneath. Many, many others surrounded it, but she felt like she’d been alone in a room with Grammy the past couple of hours. She’d turned off her phone, and she really should’ve let Bella know about Barry being dead and her coming here, but she just needed to be here. All alone with Grammy.

In her mind, she was alone anyway. The time had been good. She’d recalled a lot of things Grammy used to say about love, and how it healed all, and how life was worth nothing without loving something, and having it love you back. Sarah didn’t know what was right or wrong when it came to love, and she sure as hell had a lot to learn about forgiveness.

But, as Gram said, it’s never too late to learn. So, here she was, learning how memories weren’t always bad. She had some beautiful times with Gram and Peter. That was what she needed to focus on. Maybe her mother would never be her best friend, but Sarah would see she never died alone. Not like Peter did. Hopefully, she’d stay clean too.

Then, there was Brock. A man she’d like to love with all her heart. Why couldn’t she just do that? Just talk to him and do that. It wasn’t just the BDSM thing. What if she gave everything and got hurt? She couldn’t bear to love someone completely and then lose them. She looked at the plaque beneath the rose and read the line her Gram had requested be put on there.

To Thine Own Self Be True.

She switched her phone back on and stood up. The tones came through altogether, Sarah looked at the text from Brock.
Holy fuck
! She’d forgotten the meeting with Rick Anderson. What the hell had she been thinking? How could she forget something so important?

Brock would be livid with her. Her father’s death had shaken her up more than she cared to admit. But she shouldn’t hold it in. That was what she used to do.

She hoped he controlled himself in the same room as Rick. She typed quick text and then reread it.
Sorry. Bad morning. Can I come see Romeo and Juliet? I’ll bring chicken.

The poor man would be so confused. First she’d asked him for space, and now she was inviting herself to his place. She deleted the part about her coming over. She needed to get through this on her own. She hit send on the shortened version.

Sarah headed for her car. Maybe spending the evening looking for housing with Bella would be a cool way to end this day. Her phone notification went off, and she looked at Brock’s answer.

No problem. Shit happens. Rick signed off on the offer, no arguments. He never even turned up.

That was a relief.

Nice. I’m in the office tomorrow
.

I’m in India
.

India? She wracked her brain. Oh, yes. The plantation workers’ rights. Had that come around already? It seemed just last week he’d briefed them all on it. He wasn’t bringing legal in unless he really had to.

Good luck. See you when you get back.

I’ll call. You take care. I’ll be thinking of you.

Sarah didn’t answer back. What could she say, I’ll be thinking of you too? She just simplified things and that would just complicate things again. She needed to get back to herself and give herself a chance to get through her family crap.

She’d miss Brock being around. Hypocrite City, that’s where she’d find a new home.

****

When Sarah arrive home, Bella was in their shared lounge. “Hi. You’re home early.”

“Thanks to you going MIA on us.” Bella grinned up at her.

“What the actual fuck are you talking about?”

“When you didn’t show for the meeting and Rick didn’t either, Brock was certain Rick had taken you captive or something. Gotta tell ya, I was shit scared too.”

“What?” Sarah plonked down beside Bella on the sofa.

“No shit. He was ready to murder him.”

“I doubt Rick would be stupid enough to hold me hostage in my own apartment.”

“Maybe not, but you’re missing the point.”

“Enlighten me then.”

“Brock dropped everything and ran out of the meeting to come rescue you. Regular Disney prince, that one.”

“I can’t imagine anyone not trying to help if that situation had occurred.” Sarah’s heart thumped. He’d been worried? He’d left that meeting and dragged Bella here looking for her.
Wow.

“Don’t try and hide it. I know you’re all swoony now.”

“It was a lovely gesture.”

“Gesture? Mission more like it. Whatever you did to him, that man ain’t gonna forget in a hurry. He’s head over heels.” Bella winked at her.

The heat rushed straight to Sarah’s face.
Damn it.
“Don’t be stupid.”

“You’re welcome. How were your parents?” Bella’s voice had taken a more serious tone.

“Barry’s dead.”

“Oh. My. God. Sarah, I’m so sorry. Here I am teasing you about Brock and your father is dead. Kill me now.” Bella put her arms around Sarah and hugged tight.

Almost too tight. Last night’s session had her muscles feeling like she’d run a marathon. “I’m okay, Bella. I mean, I may never have known. It was liver cancer. Evie says they’d both been clean when they found out. Poetic justice I guess.”

“It’s horrible. How’s your mother?”

“Looks like Hell, but her eyes look clean, you know?”

Bella nodded. “If anyone would know, you would.”

“I’m driving her to his cremation tomorrow. She’s on her own. No one else is coming.” Sarah could feel the prickle of tears. Why would she want to cry? That man never cared a bit about her. Only, according to her mother, he had cared enough to want to make peace without using his illness as an emotional weapon.

“I’ll come with you. You aren’t going alone. It’ll take its toll on you. I can see it already has. He’s paid the ultimate price, Sarah. How old was he? In his fifties?”

“Early fifties.”

“Fuck. We’re twenty-four and I can tell you, I’m not expecting my life to end when I’m fifty.”

“Evie said he’d tried to get better so he could come and make peace with me.” The tears rolled down her face. “Why the fuck couldn’t he just do that when he had the chance? Why couldn’t he do it before Peter killed himself?” The anger was wildfire rushing through her.

“I don’t know, Sarah. The drugs, you know how it is.”

Sarah jumped up. “I do. I know exactly how it is. I’ve been there, and I got clean. I’ve never gone back. Why couldn’t he just do that?”

“It’s okay to be angry, Sarah. Just let it out. It’s time.”

“Just let it out. Just let it out. You sound like Brock. Just like him.” Sarah knew she’d spiralled out of control. She could feel it, but she couldn’t do anything to stop it. Her mind spun in a hundred different ways. “Brock will be there for me. He made me do things. Things I shouldn’t like. Why did I like them? Why?” Sarah picked up her coffee mug and smashed it against the wall.

“Sarah! Stop. Calm down.” Bella cried out.

“I don’t want to calm down. I want to feel every, single, shitty emotion I’ve never let myself feel. Brock
made
me feel. He made me feel with a whip and with ropes. I didn’t want to like that. I didn’t want to. But I did.” She spun around in a circle. “I loved it. I wanted him to do more, to punish me harder. I wanted it all.”

Bella was beside her now. “Sarah, you’re scaring me. I haven’t seen you like this since before rehab. You haven’t...?”

“What? Taken a hit?” Sarah screamed back, knowing she was being unfair but powerless to make it stop. “I took a hit of being Brock’s sub, and I loved it. After all my hard work being a big, bad lawyer, it turns out I’m as much of a freak as I ever was.” Sarah made herself go to the sofa.

“Sarah. You’re not a freak. It’s been a hard day. You’re under pressure.”

“Why can’t the whole world just go away?” Sarah curled into a ball and stared. Her mind was full of her father, her mother, Peter, Brock. But she couldn’t be bothered talking anymore. She ignored Bella. She’d just stay right here. It was way easier.

****

Brock was still packing his clothes when his phone rang. Bella was calling. He’d let her know earlier he’d heard from Sarah. Maybe she hadn’t made it home yet. It’d been over an hour.

“Hello.”

“I’m not sure what happened between you and Sarah last night. But you’d better get over here. I’ve never seen her lose it like this before.”

“Fuck. I’m on my way.” It was the drop; he knew it. It lasted longer in some people. She’d seemed fine, but he’d underestimated how good she was at hiding things. Still something major must’ve triggered it. Her visit to her parents. He should’ve just gone to see her. He’d promised her he’d be there for her.

The car trip was fast because there wasn’t a lot of traffic. In half an hour he was knocking on the door. Bella opened it and stepped back, giving him a view of Sarah curled on the sofa staring.

“Have you fucking broken her, Brock? Because if you can’t fix her, I’ll break you.”

“She not broken, Bella. She’s mending. Go look up subspace and sub-drop in BDSM and you’ll get it. This is normal and will ultimately help her work through her feelings.”

“You better be right, for your sake.”

“What triggered it? The visit to her parents? I wish I’d known; I would’ve gone with her.”

“The fact that she’s driving her mother to her father cremation service in the morning may have something to do with it.”

“Holy fuck. Poor Sarah. Where’s her room key. I’ll take care of her and drive her tomorrow.”

“She’s not going anywhere without me.”

“No problem.” Brock looked at Bella and took her hands. “She’ll be okay. She may not remember this. I love her, Bella. I don’t want to hurt her.”

“You really ought to have that line bronzed and put it on your wall. It seems to be your favorite. Yet, here we are again, with Sarah hurting. Fix her and be the man she needs or get the fuck out of her life.”

Brock understood Bella’s hostility. But right now he had to focus on Sarah. “You can punch me tomorrow, Bella.” He walked over to Sarah and touched her face, quietly telling her he was here and everything was fine.

“In the nuts?” Bella asked with her usual sarcastic humor.

“If you want. Now, the key for Sarah’s apartment.”

Bella fished around in Sarah’s handbag and found it.

Brock picked up Sarah, and Bella swiped Sarah’s door open. He carried her into her bedroom and laid her on the bed, pulling her thick covers up over her. “It’s okay, Sarah. It’s Brock. I’m going to make us a warm drink and get you a snack.” He just bet she’d had nothing to eat since breakfast with him. She smiled, but never looked at him. “I’ll be back very soon.”

He went to her fridge to see what was in there.
Chocolate
.
Perfect
. He found some premixed coffee sachets in the cupboard. They’d have to do. He made them up warm and sweet. He took it all back into the bedroom and sat it on the table near the bed. The chocolate was plain milk chocolate, but it would be a perfect pick-me-up.

He pulled back the cover and helped her sit up. She leaned against him. “Here, have some chocolate. I found it in your fridge.”

“Did you? That’s nice.” Brock put some in his mouth and put some to her lips. She ate it.

“Great, now drink some coffee. It isn’t hot, but it’ll warm you through.”

Sarah drank a few mouthfuls. Then, she looked at him. “Why are you here? Is this my bed?”

“Yes, it is. Bella called me. She was a little afraid.” He smiled at her, trying to keep her mood up. “You were very upset. So I came to stay with you. Just like I said I would.” He handed her some more chocolate, and she took it and put it in her mouth.

When she was done she frowned. “Barry died.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be; he was a rat bastard.”

“But it still hurts.”

“It shouldn’t. I shouldn’t give a shit.”

“But you do, and that’s okay. Here, drink this, and then we’ll cuddle and talk. No funny stuff I promise.”

Sarah drank her drink straight down. “I need to get undressed. You do to. We can be naked again like we were last night.”

“I can arrange that.” Brock took all his clothes off and then helped Sarah undress. Then, they both got under the covers, and he held her against his body.

“That feels nice.”

“It does. Now tell me more about your father.”

“I’m driving Evie to the cremation. No one else is going. I felt bad for her.”

“That’s a decent thing to do. I’ll come as well.”

“You’re going to India.”

“It can wait.”

Sarah snuggled to him. “Why do I feel so sad when he never did one nice thing for me, ever?”

“I guess we grieve what might’ve been. I think, even if you’ve never known a parent, and you find out they’re dead, like adoptees or whatever…then you’d still grieve for what you’d lost by not knowing them.”

“That makes sense.”

“You can’t just shut off your feelings.”