All In (The Blackstone Affair, Part 2) (15 page)

I ran to my closet, threw on some clothes
and shoes, grabbed car keys, wallet, mobile, and bailed down to the
garage. I tore out onto the street, tires squealing, and started
calculating how far she could have gone in the time since she’d
been tracked on security cam, my mind running wild with scenarios
of how easy it would be for a professional hit to take her out at
this hour and make it look like an accident.

It was early, just past seven, a typical
overcast London morning coming alive for the day. The usual
delivery vans and street vendors moving about, the neighbourhood
coffee house doing a brisk business, a few early morning runners
getting their workout in, but not the one I was looking for. She
could be anywhere.

I kept coming back to why she would take off
without telling me. I was scared shitless it was because of me.
What she’d seen of me last night. What had happened after… I was in
so far over my head with Brynne it was laughable. God knows we both
have our issues but maybe that cluster fuck of emotions last night
was more than she wanted to put up with. I rubbed my chest and kept
driving.

My mobile rang. Neil. I put him through the
audio in-car speakers.

“I’ve not spotted her yet. I’m on Cromwell
now, heading south but I think I’ve traveled further than she
could’ve made since the time stamp on security cam.”

“Look, E, I’m sorry.”

“You can tell me that after I find her.” I
was angry but it wasn’t his fault. Brynne had been with me and Neil
was technically off duty. My fault. What a fucking mess.

“I’ll head east then. Lots of joggers follow
Heath Downs by the park.”

“Do that, mate.”

I kept scanning, praying for the sight of
her when a text came through:
Ur up.
Gettin coffee. What u want me 2 bring
u?

How about your sweet ass at home, woman!

The relief absolutely brought me to my knees
in gratitude but I was so very angry at her for this stunt. Out
getting bloody coffee! Sweet Christ! I pulled over immediately and
just rested my head on the steering wheel for a moment. I so needed
to set her down and explain a few things about how her life would
have to change over the next few months. And that solo morning runs
were definitely off the menu.

Bugger me!

My fingers shook as I texted:
Which coffee shop?

A short pause and then:
Hot Java. R U mad???

Ignorant question.

The coffee shop she named was the one not
more than a block from my flat. We’d even gone there together a few
mornings when she’d stayed the night with me. Brynne had been right
close to home the whole time! I texted back:
Don’t leave!! Comin 2 get u!

It took at least ten minutes to navigate the
roads back to my neighbourhood. I was angry at myself—for several
reasons, but mostly for sleeping through her waking up and leaving
without my knowledge. I’d been in such a rush going after her, I’d
passed right by her in the coffee shop, and that was just
unacceptable. I was slipping.

I decided to put the reasons for my deep
sleeping aside for the time being.

Nightmare from hell and resulting
shag-a-thon, maybe?

Oh, I knew it’d be dredged up again in
conversation at some point, probably soon, because Brynne would ask
me, but right now I was just too raw to face what was bubbling up
with my subconscious. Denial looked so much more attractive.

Fuck me running!
Pun intended.

Fucking hell, if she wasn’t in the shop like
I’d told her to be but out on the sidewalk holding two coffees! And
she wasn’t alone either. Some bloke was all over her, chatting her
up, who knows who the fuck he was to her. Somebody she knew? Or
someone feeling her out for God only knows what purpose! She was so
getting spanked for this stunt when I got her alone.

I had to park on the opposite side of the
road and then cross. She spotted me approaching and said something
to her companion who looked over at me. His eyes flared a bit and
he sidled up closer to her.

Wrong fucking move, asshole
.

“Ethan,” she said, smiling as if this were a
perfectly acceptable way to start the day.

Oh, my darling, we very much need to have a
talk about things.

“Brynne,” I said tightly, pulling her into
me at the waist and getting a good, long look at her
friend
,
who needed to be on his merry way like ten minutes ago. The guy was
a little too bold for my tastes, standing there like he was
entitled to be talking to her, like he’d done it before and had
history with her. Shit! He knew her. This man knew Brynne.

“Ethan, this is Paul Langley, umm…a friend
from the art department. He teaches… I was just leaving and there
was Paul coming in.”

She was nervous. Brynne looked uncomfortable
and if I was good at anything, it was reading people. I could smell
the unease coming off her. Now the bloke was a different story. He
looked far too smug and a bit too entitled, which was how I figured
it out.

Brynne seemed to catch herself and said,
“Paul, this is Ethan…Blackstone, my boyfriend.” She handed me one
of the coffees. “I got you a misto.” She looked at me and took a
sip from her cup. Yep. She was uncomfortable.

The plonker stuck his hand out and offered
first.

I hate you
.

I had one arm around Brynne and the other
hand occupied with the coffee she’d just palmed off on me. I had to
let her go in order to shake. I hated him in his slick suit,
professional, clean cut and from all appearances plenty of brass. I
unwound my hand from around Brynne’s waist and accepted his grip. I
squeezed firm and tried not to think about how bloody awful I
looked which was exactly like I’d just fallen out of bed.

“A pleasure,” Langley said, not meaning
it.

I returned the briefest nod. It was the best
I could do and I didn’t really give a shit whether I was being rude
or not. He was a bloke in the wrong place at the wrong time to ever
be a friend of mine. I loathed him on sight.

His eyes flicked over me. I decided I would
be the one to end this handshake first. Or pissing contest as it
were.

I withdrew my hand and pressed my lips to
Brynne’s hair, but kept my eyes on him as I spoke. “I woke up and
you were gone.” I drew my arm back around her.

She laughed nervously. “I just felt like a
white chocolate mocha this morning.”

“You still need your morning coffee, I see.
Some things never change, eh, Brynne darling?” Langley grinned
conspiratorially at Brynne and in that instant I knew. He’d fucked
her. Or tried his best to. They had some sort of history and I
could only see the red rag of jealousy being dangled in front of my
eyes. Holy fucking hell, the violent emotions that washed through
me in those seconds. I wanted to show Langley the way down to the
sidewalk face first with my fist, but I needed to get her away from
him even more.

“Time to go, baby,” I announced, pressing my
hand at her back.

Brynne stiffened for an instant but then
gave in. “It was so nice to see you again, Paul. You take
care.”

“Same to you, darling. I’ve got your new
number and you have mine, so you know where to find me, all right?”
The bastard looked at me and there was no mistaking the challenge
in his gaze. He thought I was some sort of meathead and was
throwing out a dare to me that if Brynne needed rescuing she had
only to call and Prince Charming would come for her.

Sod. Off. You. Pathetic
.
Prick.

Brynne nodded and smiled at him. “Goodbye,
Paul.”

Yeah, bugger-off…Paul
.

It was so apparent that Lover Paul did not
want to leave her. He wanted to kiss her or hug her in some show of
an affectionate farewell but had brains enough not to try it. I
didn’t say he was stupid, just my enemy.

“I’ll call you. I want to hear all about the
Mallerton.” He did a hand to the ear gesture. “Bye, darling.” He
gave me a look and I gave him one right back. I truly hoped he
could read minds because I had so much worth saying that he really
needed to hear.

You cock-swinging, worthless shit bag!
You will absolutely NOT call her to talk about the Mallerton. You
won’t look at her and you won’t think about her either! Got it?! My
girl is NOT your
darling
now, nor will she ever be in
future. Get out of my sight before I’m forced to do something that
will land me into a fuckload of trouble with MY girl.

We started across the street, my heart
pounding, the anger just pouring out of me, when she opened her
mouth.

“What in the hell was all that back there,
Ethan? You were incredibly rude.”

“Keep walking. We’ll discuss this at home,”
I managed to grit out as we crossed.

She glared at me like I’d grown a second
head and stopped on the sidewalk. “I asked you a question. Don’t
talk to me like I’m a child who’s in trouble!”

“Get in the car,” I snapped, trying to keep
from picking her up and setting her in the seat, which was
dangerously close to happening even if she didn’t know it yet.

“Excuse me, but this is bullshit. I’m
walking back!” She flounced away from me.

I wanted to explode I was so pissed. I
grabbed her hand to keep her from leaving. “No, you are not walking
back, Brynne. Get in the car now. I’m taking you home.” I spoke low
and right into her face where I could see her angry eyes flashing
up at me. She was so stunning when she was riled. She made me want
to drag her into my bed and do very naughty things to her body for
about a day and a half.

“I’m not being ordered by you. Why are you
acting like this?”

I closed my eyes and called for patience.
“I’m not acting at all.” People were looking at us. Could probably
hear our conversation too. Bloody hell! “Would you
please
get yourself in the car, Brynne?” I forced a fake smile.

“You are being such a prick, Ethan. I still
have a life. I am going running in the mornings and can stop at the
coffee shop if I want to.”

“Not without me or Neil you aren’t. Now get
your sweet Yank ass in the motherfucking car!”

She stared at me for a moment and shook her
head, eyes blazing daggers at me. Her chin lifted imperiously
before she stomped over to the Rover and got in. I ignored her
behavior, thinking I was being pretty damn magnanimous in the
circumstances. I texted Neil to let him know I had her and made her
wait on me while I did it. She was locked inside the car and
couldn’t go anywhere for the moment at least.

I looked at her. She looked at me. She was
angry with me. I was beyond enraged with her.

“Don’t, you
ever
do that again,” I
told her in no uncertain terms.

“What, walk? Buy a coffee?” She pouted and
looked out the window. Her mobile lit up and buzzed. She looked
over at me as she accepted the call. “Yes, I’m fine, Paul. I
apologize for whatever that was, but no worries. Just a little
lovers spat.” She actually smirked at me as she told that puffed up
cocksucker I was having a bad day.

I wanted to rip the mobile out of her hands
and throw it out the window, and I probably would have if she had
not turned it off and put it away in a pocket. “You know what I
mean, Brynne, and don’t fucking mock me to him!”

“You embarrassed me back there, Ethan! Paul
thinks you are—”

“I don’t give a maiden queen’s first fuck
what that cocksucker thinks. What is he to you anyway?”

“He’s a nice guy and a friend.” She wouldn’t
look me in the eye when she said it and I knew. Oh fuck did I
know!

“Did you let him fuck you, Brynne? Has he
knowledge of that fanny of yours that was just made for shagging?
Has he had his hands all over you, his cock inside you? Hmmmm? I
really want to know. Tell me about you and nice guy Paul.”

“You are such an asshole right now.” She
folded her arms beneath her breasts and looked forward out the
windscreen. “I’m not telling you anything.”

“Did you fuck him!?”

She shifted in the seat and gave me a look
that made pain shoot up my cock. “Who did you nail last before you
turned your sights on me, Ethan? Who was that lucky girl? I know it
couldn’t have been more than a week past when we got it on for the
first time!” She started waving her hands in gestures. “Said the
guy who thinks a week is a long time to go without some sex!”

Well shit!

That wasn’t a nice thought because she was
right. I hated to admit it, but I couldn’t tell her the name of the
last one who’d been able to get me up for it. Pamela? Penelope?
Something with a P… Ivan would know, he had a long list of female
friends
and he’d introduced us. I scowled at the realization
that I couldn’t really remember, and the fact that whoever she’d
been, hadn’t made her, or the shagging any more memorable than the
letter of her name.

Paul started with a P as well, I thought. I
was quite certain I’d never forget his name though.

“Having trouble remembering her name?”
Brynne asked.

Yes.

“What color was her hair, hmmm?”

Strawberry blonde au naturale. I do remember
that much.

“Were you going to fuck her again, Ethan, if
you hadn’t met me?” she kept taunting.

I didn’t answer. I started the car and
pulled out into traffic, just wanting to get home and maybe back to
where we’d been just a few hours ago. I hated arguing with her.

“Why did you slip out?” I managed finally.
“After last night, you just ditched me this morning?”

“I did not ditch you, Ethan. I got up, used
your treadmill, took a shower and wanted a mocha coffee. We go to
that shop all the time and I knew you were tired from…um…last
night.”

So she was thinking about last night too. I
didn’t yet know if this was to my advantage or not but I hoped so.
I pulled into the garage of my building and parked the Rover. I
looked over at her hissing mad in the seat.