Next to Always: Shattered Innocence Trilogy Book Two (14 page)

“Rade,” Dylan softly whispered.

“Yeah,” Rade answered.

“Good night.”

“Good night, Sweetness. Sweet dreams.” With those ending words Rade hung up and proceeded to his bedroom, where his own exhaustion consumed him.

*****

Dylan’s dreams were far from sweet. She thought that her nightmares of the night at
The Castle
had passed. She hadn’t had a bad dream for almost three weeks. The dreams of that night always ended with Rade standing behind her. Even though she never saw the man’s face, it was always Rade’s face that appeared in her dreams.
Why, after all this time, were the dreams coming back? What caused them to return?
She didn’t want to believe that Rade was the cause of her dreams.

It was six in the morning when Dylan finally gave up on trying to fall back to sleep. Dragging herself out of bed, she decided to make a pot of coffee and get ready for work. In the shower, Dylan began thinking about how wonderful it was going to be to have her own space again. Dylan dearly loved her friend and everything she had done for her, but it was time to break away. She only had to wait one more day and the apartment would be ready for her to move in. Turning off the water to the shower, Dylan heard the faint sound of her cell phone ringing. Grabbing a towel, she quickly wrapped it around her and hurried to her room.

Sliding her finger across the screen, she said, “Hello.”

Just like last night there was no answer on the other end. She repeated her greeting, but still there was no reply. Looking down at her screen, it was an unknown caller. Dylan hung up convincing herself it was the wrong number. Very few people had her number, so she was certain the caller had to have dialed her number by mistake. Dylan tossed the phone on the bed and began getting herself dressed. She had a full day ahead of her and she wanted to get an early start.

Dylan was ready and out the door by seven o’clock. The traffic was heavy, but the cab driver managed to get Dylan to work in twenty minutes. She was in her building, up the elevator and in her office by seven-thirty. Walking to her desk, she felt a vibration from her phone.

Rade: Good Morning, Sweetness. Hope you slept well.

Dylan: Not so much. Kept thinking about you.

Rade: Hope it was all good. Would like to take you to lunch. Are you available at one?

Dylan: Always and yes. Where do you want to meet?

Rade: I’ll pick you up. I’ll be waiting in front.

Dylan: Can’t wait.

Dylan had a lot of work to get done before one. Just as she was ready to settle in her cubicle, Keeve Black walked up to her.

“Hey, Dylan, you’re here early,” he said as he leaned on the partition.

“Yeah, I wanted to get a jump on my workload. I need to make sure I’m prepared for our meeting with Spectrum,” Dylan replied.

“About that… seems they got the money from an unknown source to fund the recognition app,” Keeve said regretfully.

“Wait, how, when?” Dylan said, surprised

“Happened last night. The CEO of Spectrum said that the negotiations for the acquisition were off. He wouldn’t go into detail, but he said he would be stupid to refuse what was offered to him.” Keeve explained.

“Can they do that? Just call everything off?” Dylan asked.

“They can and they did. I know you spent a lot of time on this. You’re a great asset to the company. Mason and I talked it over and decided to give you a promotion. We want you to lead the analysis department. You would have your own office and your own assistant,” Keeve explained. “It’s a great opportunity for you, Dylan.”

Dylan was speechless. She had only been with the company for a short time and getting a promotion of this magnitude just didn’t happen. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Say you’ll take the job,” Keeve petitioned.

“Yes, I’ll take the job,” Dylan accepted. “You won’t regret your decision.”

Keeve pushed away from the wall and gave Dylan a triumphant smile. “Gather your things, Ms. Adams; you’re about to become an executive.”

Even thought Dylan was no longer working on the account she spent numerous hours on, she was still on cloud nine. She was finally getting what she wanted. More than anything, she wanted to prove to herself that she could make it on her own, with nobody to pull strings for her. Excited, Dylan began gathering her personal items and placing them into a file box she had stowed under her desk. Taking one last look to make certain she left nothing behind, she started on her way to her new office. Her office was located down the hall across from Keeve and Mason’s offices. Even though she didn’t have the floor-to-ceiling windows, the office was still bright and cheery.

It was close to one, by the time Dylan had settled into her new office. She grabbed her purse and headed down the short hallway to the elevator. Arriving at the reception area, she saw a familiar face.

“Oh my God, Alex, is that you?” she said with excitement.

“Chica, how are you? I didn’t know you worked here,” he said, acting surprised.

“What are you doing here?” Dylan asked as she pulled Alex in for a hug.

“I have a job interview as an assistant,” he said.

“How wonderful. I have to go or I’ll be late. Here’s my number, call me and we’ll do lunch. I’d love to catch up,” Dylan proclaimed as she handed Alex her number.

“Sounds good, Chica.”
More than you’ll ever know,
he thought to himself as he took the slip of paper from her hand.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Dylan couldn’t believe her day so far. Never would she have thought about running into Alex. She lost touch with him when he got transferred to another job while working at Northgate. The best thing about working for Northgate was seeing his ridiculous outfits every morning. That and his perky self. She wondered what could have brought him to BlackStone. She always thought he enjoyed working for Northgate. Maybe it was the demands of Rade Matheson that made him decide to go elsewhere. Dylan would need to find out when they got together.
How nice it would be for Alex to get a job with BlackStone. Maybe they would be working together. Maybe he would be her assistant.

While Dylan was reminiscing about good times at Northgate, a familiar black Bentley pulled up to the curb. Richard opened his door and rounded the SUV to where Dylan was standing. Taking hold of the back passenger door handle, he opened the door. Taking a few steps, Dylan slipped into the plush vehicle with Rade by her side. There must have been too much space between them when Dylan got in, because no sooner than she sat down, Rade was pulling her to his side. Placing his hand under her chin, he slowly pulled her face to his. With a tilt of her head, he captured her gorgeous lips with his. Her soft, supple mouth captivated him. He could only think about how much he wanted her mouth wrapped around his approaching erection. He pictured her taking his length fully until he could feel the back of her throat. He knew his desire would need to wait, so instead he toyed with her bottom lip, sucking it between his. Deepening the kiss, Rade slowly parted her lips with his tongue, playfully encompassing hers.

Rade pulled away, watching as Dylan’s eyes slowly opened. With his thumb, he gently brushed her cheek.

“I’ve missed you,” he stated as he kissed her once again.

“I’ve missed you too,” Dylan whispered.

“So how is your day going?” he asked as he continued trailing kisses down her neck.

“Fine, wonderful actually,” Dylan stated breathlessly. “I got a promotion.”

“That’s wonderful, Sweetness,” Rade confirmed with his lips nearing her earlobe.

“Rade,” Dylan muttered.

“Yes, Sweetness,” Rade replied.

“Have you ever heard of Spectrum?” Dylan asked.

Rade pulled his lips from Dylan’s ear, surprised by her question. He wasn’t sure where she was going with this or how much she knew about the sudden turnaround. He decided his best bet was the truth. “Yeah, I’ve heard of them, why?”

“Well, BlackStone was in negotiations with them for a buyout. Then all of a sudden Spectrum seized negotiations. The CEO said they received the funding they needed. I thought maybe you would know what happened. I worked really hard on that account and just like that, it’s gone,” Dylan confessed.

Rade was trapped. He didn’t want to tell Dylan the truth about knowing that BlackStone wanted to add Spectrum to their portfolio of companies. He also couldn’t tell her that it was he who made the offer to Spectrum which seized further negotiations. He had been working on the takeover too long to lose. Rade did the only thing he could. He changed the subject.

“Promotion, huh… I want to hear all about it,” Rade rebounded.

Dylan began telling Rade about the promotion and what she would be doing. She also told him about getting her own office and her own assistant. That’s when she remembered running into Alex.

“Do you remember Alex Moreno?” Dylan inquired.

“Not really, should I?” Rade replied.

“I just thought since he did a lot of your leg work, you would remember him. Anyway, I ran into him today. He was interviewing for an assistant job at BlackStone.”

“I have a lot of employees working for me. But I’m sure I would have remembered him if he ran most of my errands. Although, Gwen usually took care of everything. She may have given him assignments,” Rade declared.

“Well, he’s pretty hard not to remember. His attire is very memorable,” Dylan giggled.

The more Dylan thought about it the more it made sense. She didn’t think Rade would lie about not knowing him. Of course Alex ran errands for Rade, per Gwen’s request. Somehow Alex had some interaction with Rade, she thought. Otherwise, how would he have known that Richard was his driver?

Richard pulled in front of the restaurant. It was a place that Dylan had never been to before. Richard put the car into park to get out. Just before Richard grabbed the door handle Rade said. “No need to get out, we can manage. Just be back in an hour to get us.”

Richard nodded his head as Dylan and Rade exited the car. Entering the restaurant, Dylan could see that the place was busy. It didn’t matter because Rade, just like every other time, was able to get a seat right away. This was probably like every other place, he knew the hostess. It made Dylan wonder how many places he ate at during the course of a week. It also made her wonder how many of the hostesses he had slept with.

Looking at Dylan, Rade could tell her thoughts were working overtime. Taking her hand and pulling her close he whispered. “I know what you’re thinking and the answer is most definitely none.”

Dylan smiled up at him, embarrassed that she could think that of him. She just needed to remember that Rade was a businessman and probably often took clients to lunch or dinner at various places. Of course he would know the hostesses at these establishments. The thing was that he also knew them by name.

*****

Rade watched Dylan as she dug into her chicken Caesar salad. He couldn’t help but watch as her lips wrapped around the fork, slowly sliding the food between her lush lips. Even the way she held on to her fork was sexy as hell. The way she twisted the end between her thumb and index finger before she speared her next bite and brought it to her mouth. “
What is happening to me? How can watching a woman eat be so arousing?”
Rade moved his eyes from her direction and concentrated on his own lunch. He also had an erection the size of a hammer now that he needed to contain.

The waiter came with the bill and Rade handed him his Black American Express card. While they waited for the bill to be processed, Rade took Dylan’s hand from across the table. Before he could raise her delicate hand to his lips, he noticed his father sitting at a table with none other than Chloe. “Fuck,” he spewed in disgust.

Dylan lifted her head and moved it the direction of Rade’s eyes. She knew exactly where he was looking, because she spotted Chloe right away. “Isn’t that Chloe?” Dylan asked.

“Yeah,” Rade replied with gritted teeth.

The waiter returned with the check and Rade signed the check leaving a hefty tip. “Let’s get out of here. This place is beginning to smell.”

Rade took Dylan by the hand. As they passed the table where Chloe sat. Dylan made eye contact with the man sitting with Chloe. She couldn’t help but ask, “Who is that sitting with her?” Dylan had this feeling she knew the man.

“My piece of shit father,” Rade confirmed.

“Wait, what…?” Dylan fumbled.

The last thing Rade wanted was for Dylan to know about his father. Where Rade tried to do anything good, his father was right behind him doing everything badly. His concern was, how in the hell did he know Chloe? Rade didn’t think that it was a coincidence. There was some connection between them, and he knew whatever it was, it wasn’t good.

Richard was waiting outside the restaurant like Rade instructed. Rade opened the back passenger door as he assisted Dylan in. Before he could get in himself, he felt a light tug on his arm. Looking over his shoulder, he could see it was Chloe who had a hold of him.