Reservation (Preservation Series) (24 page)

He smashed his glass down on the desk, sending the dark liquid sloshing over the rim. “This is
none
of your damn business!”

“It is now.”

“You had no right to be here. No right to just waltz in here!”

“I’m a client of yours. The door wasn’t locked, and if I’m not mistaken, it’s not even eight p.m. yet. Don’t pedal your bullshit onto me because you got caught. Maybe you should have locked the damn door.”

He set frantic eyes on me and bolted around his desk, coming straight toward me. “Why are you here? What the hell do you want?”

“I tried calling you and Neda, but neither one of you was answering. I came to let you know I’m leaving town tonight and that I won’t be here for the gala tomorrow. I also want to find out about suing this magazine for slander. They’re claiming outrageous things about Kate.”

“Leaving town? You can’t go anywhere, it’s crucial you attend this gala. It’s in honor of Simon and Warden, you’re their biggest client to date. You can’t back out now.”

I swallowed hard, trying desperately to push the image I’d just walked in on out of my mind, but it was no use. As I stared at Danny, all I could see was betrayal. I hadn’t known his wife long, but I knew her well enough to know that she was a good woman. Kind, beautiful, hard working, and smart. She didn’t deserve this shit, just like I didn’t deserve to find out Kate was sleeping in some other man’s bed. Then again, what did I know? Danny was right. Before Kate, I hadn’t been a saint myself.

“I understand that,” I said. “But it’s more crucial that I see my fiancée right now. Something’s come up and that takes priority. I’m sorry. Who do I need to speak to to pursue a case against this magazine?”

“I’ll get in touch with Simon and Warden’s attorney.” He shut his eyes and squeezed the bridge of his nose, shaking his head. “Never mind that right now. You need to be at this gala, Ryan. I strongly advise you to rethink this, here.”

“I don’t need to rethink anything. My decision is made. Please give my apologies to Neda. And while you’re at it, yours, too.” I shot him a filthy glare and then turned for the door.

“Wait just a minute. You won’t only insult your employer and mine if you don’t go to this thing, you’ll do serious damage to your image. Half of Seattle’s entertainment scene will be there. They’re counting on photo ops and interviews. You’re going to make me look like a fool to Bob if you don’t show up.”

I sighed and turned to face him again. “That’s not my problem, is it?”

“Like hell, it’s your problem!”

“Your job is to advise me. I always have a choice—your words, not mine. So deal with it. I’ll call you when I get back in town. Looks to me like you have a few problems of your own to sort out.”

“You’re going to this gala,” he warned, returning my scrutinizing look. “Don’t make me resort to extreme measures.”

I laughed, shaking my head in disbelief. This guy couldn’t be serious. “Oh? And what extreme measures would those be, Danny?”

“You screw me on this...let’s just say you never know what might happen.” He shrugged, and I saw a hint of a smile in his expression.

My mouth went slack in realization that he was indeed serious. I flexed my fists at my sides, beginning a slow saunter toward him. “Are you threatening me? Seriously? You want to toss threats around? Well, two can play at that game.”

“Despite what you might be thinking right now, I’m not the villain, here, Ryan. I’m trying to save my ass and yours. Let me do my job. Be there, and I assure you everything will go smoothly. Don’t say a word to Neda. You stay out of my business, you hear me?”

“I’ll stay out of your business if you stay out of mine. I’m getting on a plane tonight. You pull anything, Neda will get the full rundown of the lovely scene I just walked in on.” I came nose to nose with him. “And I like Neda, but I won’t gloss over the details, we clear?”

“Get out, you son of a bitch.”

“My pleasure.” I broke our stare down and stormed out of the office, speed-walking home to pack a small bag. God only knew how long I’d be gone. My mind raced with questions about how I would handle Danny when I returned home. Would I tell Bob what happened? Would I quit working with him? Would he quit working with me? Could the contract be cancelled, and if so, could I request a different publicist? I didn’t have answers to any of these questions yet, but I did know my impression of Danny had been turned upside down, and there was no salvaging my opinion of him.

When I arrived at the airport, I found my gate and slumped into a hard plastic chair. Nothing of interest played on the television suspended above the seating area, and my tired eyes only half-focused on it. It looked as if there weren’t going to be many people on this redeye, but I pulled my beanie hat down low over my forehead and slipped on my sunglasses anyway, hoping and praying no one would recognize me at this time of night.

I’d sent Kate a dozen texts, but eventually stopped trying to reach her, figuring it was pointless. It was the middle of the night there, and if Will was bold enough to answer her phone like that, he might intercept any communication I tried sending her way. I nestled further down into the uncomfortable seat, zoning out as the news flashed before me. The entertainment segment popped up, and I immediately caught sight of my face, some picture of me talking to a host from a recent TV appearance.

As I was about to turn my bored gaze away from the TV, I stiffened from head to toe when an image of Kate appeared. It took me less than a second to register the fact that she wasn’t alone in the image, and that the man holding her wasn’t me. I shifted forward in my seat, trying to make sense of what the reporter was saying. The volume was low, but I caught enough, and the text headline said it all.

Campbell’s fiancée caught canoodling with new boy toy.

I bolted to my feet and stepped closer to the TV, tilting my head up to get a better look at the screen. The picture was taken on a beach in St. Lucia, and a man was strolling next to her, his arm wrapped low around her waist, guiding her. It was at an odd side angle, so I couldn’t make out their expressions, but one glimpse told me it was him.

Will.

All the air was sucked from my lungs, each breath I tried to drag in pulverizing them with bone-crushing intensity. My heart twisted in my chest and then dropped to my gut, leaving a heavy weight in the pit of my stomach. My feet were lead. The function of speech was dead on my lips. There had to be an explanation. There was no way that what I was seeing was correct. My mind was playing cruel, vicious tricks on me. It had to be.

But then Will’s words struck me with a hard blow.
She’s asleep right now. In my bed.

I simply couldn’t believe the image I had seen in front of me. It couldn’t be real, could it? I pushed my body into action, my mind sending a jolt to my feet to remind them to move. I willed myself not to jump to any conclusions until I talked to Kate, no matter how bad the circumstances looked.

Travelers passed by me on the left and right, wheeling their suitcases by their sides while the overhead directions for transportation and baggage claim rolled over me, but my focus refused to settle on any of the surrounding faces or signs in the airport concourse. I powered past it all and rushed outside, jumping in the first cab I laid eyes on.

My first instinct was to run back to Sam’s, maybe even call Carter and see if I could meet up with him, find out if he knew anything about this Will guy and why he had his sleazy hands all over Kate. But as I directed the cab driver to my apartment, it was clear all I could manage my disbelieving brain to focus on was getting home and as far away from everyone and everything as possible. I needed to sort my head out.

I raced upstairs and snatched a bottle of vodka from the kitchen cabinet, pouring one shot, then two, until I said to hell with the shot glass and drank straight from the bottle. As I downed its contents and lounged out on the couch, I reached for my phone and made one call before allowing my eyes to carry me into a realm of heavy, immoveable sleep. My fingers felt foreign and like those of another man as they pressed the buttons.

The call went straight to voicemail. “Hey, Neda? Yeah, this is Ryan Campbell. I just thought you should know your husband is cheating on you. He’s sleeping with Melanie Carpenter, and God knows who else. I walked in on him and Melanie tonight in your office. Take it from me—get out now and don’t look back.” My suddenly-intoxicated gaze landed on the bookshelf on the other side of the room, on a picture of me and Kate at the Space Needle. “You’re better off on your own. Trust me, things are so much easier.”

***

Merciless sunlight beat at my face, causing me to stir from the couch. I attempted to lift my head and winced, letting it drop back to the cushion with a groan. “Shit.” What time was it? Attempting to pry my crusty eyelids opened, I worked to bring my vision into focus, searching for the clock on the far wall. The slivers of harsh sunlight lashed at my eyes, prompting them to squeeze shut again. “Mother of God.” Without a doubt, this was going to be the worst hangover I’d had in a very long time.

Keeping my eyes closed, I lifted my head again, this time ignoring the throbbing pain in my skull, and pulled my body up to swing my legs over the side of the couch. My feet made contact with the soft carpet and I attempted round two of the eye opening task, letting one flicker open, then the other.

Holy hell, it was three o’clock in the afternoon.

I wobbled to my feet and stretched my arms, snatching my cell phone from the coffee table before heading over to the kitchen for a glass of water and two aspirin. I checked my messages, finding nothing from Kate. There was a barrage of profanity-filled texts from Danny and a new voicemail from Neda, thanking me for telling her about her lying, cheating bastard of a husband. She said she’d suspected as much, but that my news was painful. For a second, I almost felt bad, but I shook off the feeling, knowing I did the right thing by telling her, even if it was under the influence of alcohol and my distressed state of mind.

I read another text from Sam and tossed the aspirin in my mouth, washing them down with a gulp of water, wincing with the simple movement. She was worried about me. Hell, I was worried about me. Memories of last night and all that had gone down rushed over me, flooding my fuzzy, hung-over brain, and I cringed at the thought of everything awaiting me on the outside world. I’d blown off my flight to St. Lucia and backed out on Simon and Warden’s gala, and now I didn’t know where this thing with Will and Kate stood, or what would become of my business relationship with Danny.

What I did know was I still needed to talk to Kate and demand to know what was going on, and that I might have just possibly damaged my reputation with Bob Hall over this thing with Danny.

Shuffling into the bathroom, I brushed my teeth and downed another glass of water, then rinsed off and changed before making the trek down to Pike’s Market. Lord only knew what kind of crowds I might draw this time of day in such a busy public place, but there was one person in particular I needed to see.

I texted Sam back to let her know I’d call her later and tossed my hat and glasses on, keeping my chin down when I entered the market. Tables of everything from piggy banks to birdhouses whizzed past me as I strode down the main walkway, and I knew I was getting closer when the first flower stand came into view. I hurried past it, stopping when I reached a section of seafood stands and a bakery.

Searching each merchant, I sighed in frustration, trying to remember which one he worked for. My gaze traveled the length of the section, spotting Carter at one of the fruit stands. He was hanging out in front of a colorful basket arrangement of fruit, wearing a dirty white apron and slicing a pear, handing pieces to passersby.

“Asian pear, sir?” he asked the man in front of me. The man accepted the slice from his hand, nodded a thanks, then ambled on to check out the next table of fruit. Turning back to the steady flow of shoppers, his carefree expression changed the second he laid eyes on me.

“Carter, can we talk?”

A muscle twitched underneath his eye, and his expression went bitter, his thumb running over the blade of his knife. “I’m working.”

I stepped forward to move out of the main walkway, my brow furrowing. “You look pissed at me. What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Yeah, am I missing something? No offense, man, but if anyone has a right to be pissed, it’s me. Kate is livid with me since you told her I encouraged you to go to Florida. I thought you had my back, man. I was only trying to help.”

“Had your back?” He went completely still, except for his thumb still making that lazy trek over the edge of the knife blade. I eyed the movement, taking a cautious step back.

“Yeah, look, I’m just here to talk to you about Kate. I need to know if you know anything about this guy she works with, his name is Will. Maybe she’s told you something that she didn’t tell me? I’m so confused, Carter. She’s been distant, and now she’s avoiding me. I saw something on the news and this asshole answered her phone last night—”

“
Had your back
?” he repeated. “I thought you had
my
back when I told you to take care of her.”

“What are you talking about?”

He lowered the knife and stepped closer, bringing himself face to face with me, his eyes burning mine through his glasses. “You swore you’d do everything in your power to take care of her, to protect her.”