Chapter 8
CHAPTER EIGHT
Gwendolyn
Using my feet, I pushed the hanging egg chair back and let it swing as I stared up at the night sky from the rear patio.
Seven long days since I found out how far Malice would go to protect what he classed as his.
Which was a hacker on his payroll. It was nothing more, of course, and I couldn’t let myself believe it was for any other reason.
Even when his words “You are mine” wreaked havoc in my mind and put foolish hope in my heart.
Sighing, I pressed my feet into the wooden deck and set the swing in motion again.
Maybe I should check myself into a mental health hospital, but since that wasn’t really an option, I’d settle for the mini vacation I had coming up with Stasia.
I also planned to stay far away from any kind of technology while I was gone.
Which Malice may not like, but I’d just have to see soon enough when I told him about the up-and-coming girls’ long weekend.
I was hoping Vegas would help take my mind off everything. And who knew, maybe I’d even find someone who could help me forget a certain mafia man.
Picking up my pink bedazzled phone, I sent a quick message to Stasia to make sure everything was still going ahead.
She responded almost instantly.
Stasia:
Bitch, nothing and no one will stop this from happening!! I’m more than ready. I need this!
Gwen:
Awesome sauce. I have a serious fear that shit will happen that could stop us from going. But I so need this too.
Stasia:
Think positive, dummy. Send out prayers that nothing will arise around that date. Speaking of, have you told your sugar daddy yet?
Snorting, I rolled my eyes.
Gwen:
He’s not my sugar daddy. He just pays me well for all the things I can do with my fingers. LOL. But no, I haven’t told him.
Stasia:
FFS! GET ON WITH IT!! He’s the only thing that I can think of that’d come between us and going. Which I’m sure you know. Girl, give him notice about you leaving, and if he kicks up a stink, threaten him that you’ll quit. I’m sure he has other people who can assist for four days.
Dammit.
She was right.
He needed time to adjust to my absence.
Surely, he wouldn’t have an issue with me going.
Gwen:
Fine. Wish me luck.
Stasia:
ALL THE LUCK IN THE WORLD. You’re gonna need it with that needy guy. Stay strong, sugar tits.
Gwen:
When my phone chimed again, I glanced down, expecting it to be Stasia, but a different name was on the screen. I opened the text and smiled.
Henri:
Bonjour, chérie, it’s been too long since we spoke. Do you have time for a call?
Henri and I had been texting on and off since I met him. He was the sweetest man I had ever seen, so I would always have time for him.
I went to his number and hit Facetime. My stomach fluttered, since this would be the first time Henri would be able to see me. Blaze didn’t even know what I looked like, but I trusted both men with my life.
Henri answered, and his stunning face showed surprise and glee on the screen.
“Well, well, chérie. Look at how beautiful you are.”
Rolling my eyes, I smiled. “I thought it was about time I showed my face, since you and Blaze are stuck with me in your lives.”
Henri laughed. “It is a pleasure to be stuck with you.”
“Who’re you talking to?” came from the background. Henri flashed the screen to his beau. Blaze stared back. “Who the fuck is that?”
I chortled and waved. “Hey, Daddy.”
His gaze widened for a moment. “Gwen?”
“In the flesh. Well, on the screen in the flesh.”
“Huh” was all he said in return.
“Mon amour, you are supposed to tell her she’s pretty.”
Blaze’s face screwed up. “You want Malice to fuckin’ kill me?” My pulse raced as Blaze continued, “Speaking of Malice.” He stalked close. Uh-oh. “Heard you’re now employed under him. What’re you doing?”
“He gave me an offer I couldn’t refuse.”
“You know who he is, Gwen.”
“I do, and I have an out if I want to take it. Trust me, okay?”
He sighed. “Okay.”
“Enough of this. You go, mon amour. I want to gossip with our Gwen.”
Blaze leaned down and pinched Henri’s chin between his thumb and fingers before kissing him hard.
“Oh, Daddy, even that’s revving my engine,” I teased.
“Fuckin’ hell,” Blaze muttered before disappearing while Henri laughed.
After the French man settled, he smirked. “Now tell me everything.”
And I did.
After the call, I rested my phone on my knee and reached into my jacket pocket to pull out the new non-traceable. Last week, I’d switched to yet another one. I’d made a habit of changing them every few weeks to maintain my anonymity and reduce the chances of a pattern forming that could be traced.
My stomach fluttered nervously when I looked at his contact. This was getting absurd. My body shouldn’t react like that, since I was used to speaking to him.
Yeah, but he sounds like a wet dream. All hot and bossy.
Shut up, brain.
It didn’t matter what he sounded or looked like or how he acted.
He was my boss.
He was a scary mofo too.
Remember it.
You know, maybe it would be easier to just shoot him a quick text.
Gwen:
Yo hello, boss man. Just letting you know I’ll be out of town on the 29th for four days. Just a little long weekend for a friend’s birthday. Something I can’t miss. So, I won’t be able to do any jobs. Sorry about that. Thanks. Peace.
I hit Send before I chickened out.
“Shit,” I yelled seconds later when the phone rang with his name on the screen.
With my heart in my throat, I answered. “Hi.”
“Where are you going?”
“Away,” I tried.
“Gwendolyn.”
“I’ve noticed you mainly use my full name when you’re annoyed with me.”
“Gwendolyn.”
“It’s my friend’s birthday. I’m—”
“Her or him?”
I cocked my head to the side. “Sorry?”
“Your friend. Are they a her or him.”
Duh. “Her. I’m taking her away for some gambling and fun.”
“Vegas, then.”
Shit.
“No,” I drew out. “Anyway, I hope you’re okay with me being away at that time.”
Please be okay with it.
“If I need to reach you?”
“It’s for four days, Malice. Surely, I can have that time off.” Besides, most of the jobs he gave me weren’t urgent in a way that needed my time straight away.
“I don’t like this, Gwendolyn.”
My full name again. I groaned internally. He was pissed.
“Why?” I asked.
“A job might arise that needs your attention, and I won’t be able to reach you. I pay you good money to be at my beck and call.”
I ground my teeth together in annoyance.
“And I appreciate the pay,” I gritted out. The reminder of me being a lowly employee burned my gut. I had to remember we weren’t on the same level. “If you wish, master, I could call you every afternoon to see if an urgent matter arises, or you could cut my pay for the time I’m away.”
“Fine. Your pay won’t be cut, but you will call me.”
“Thank you, sir. I’ll place it in your calendar.”
“How do you have access to my calendar?”
Rolling my eyes, I replied, “It’s my job to help. I try to make sure you’re not in a meeting when we need to speak about work.” Taking a breath, I rushed out, “Got to go.” Then I hung up.
Shit, shit, shit.
That didn’t go well, but at least I got the time off.
Christ on a cracker, I should’ve told him about this trip before agreeing to work for him. At least then he wouldn’t have a reason to be annoyed about it. Should I text and apologize for disrupting his life?
I opened our messages and watched the typing dots appear… then disappear. Like he’d started to text me and changed his mind.
Maybe I should just leave it.
I could take a laptop with me in case he needed anything. No doubt I’d finish whatever he sent quickly, like all the other easy jobs he’d given me.
Yeah, that was what I’d do. And until I left, I’d try to be on my best behavior and not be quite so sassy with him.
After all, I was just his employee.
Malice
Anger burned through my veins. Standing, I swiped everything off my desk to the floor before I planted my palms against the wood.
Taking a deep breath, I released it slowly, then ground my teeth together.
Fuck.
I’d handled that like I was a spoiled toddler having their toy taken away.
Goddamn motherfucking dickhead.
However, I couldn’t stop myself from reacting when she told me she was leaving with a friend for four days. Especially when I’d jumped to the conclusion that it was with a male. To top it off, when I found out it was Vegas, of all fucking places, I lost my shit.
She wouldn’t be safe.
Vegas was hours away from me, but how far was it from wherever Gwen lived?
Not knowing infuriated me to a point where I wanted to wrap my hands around someone’s neck and choke the life out of them while I witnessed their soul leave their body.
Instead, I straightened and clenched my hands while grinding my teeth.
Why did she bring out this reaction from me?
I wouldn’t have cared if it’d been one of my assistants.
Fucking hell, I still didn’t even know what she looked like, and I couldn’t find it in myself to break her trust by having someone else search for any scrap of information on her. All I had was her first name, so I doubted anyone would find anything anyway.
Drawing in a deep breath, I nodded to myself, deciding I’d wait for her to come to me.
And she would.
I’d just bide my time.
If it were anyone else, I’d have all their details in a fucking heartbeat, and usually no one would stand in my way over how I got it. Those who did would have their body parts removed, shipped, and sold.
A knock on my office door at the club shook me from my thoughts. “Enter,” I clipped.
Vincent stepped through, eyeing the mess. “So, this was what the noise was.”
I grumbled under my breath in response.
He closed the door behind him, made his way over to the couch, and sat comfortably in the middle. He reached into his top left pocket and took out a cigarette from the pack. After he lit it and had a puff, he asked, “What’s got your panties in a twist?”
Glaring, I snarled, “Shut up, Vincent.”
“Bro, come on. I’m here to help. What happened?”
Unclenching my jaw, I informed him, “I don’t like not getting what I want.”
“Really, bro?” He cocked a brow and smirked. “I could’ve told you that.” He had another drag of his cigarette, then asked, “Have you heard much from Benny boy?”
Our prick of a brother had been moodier since dinner a few weeks ago.
Though, what I found amusing was that he now showed up on time but refused to bring his whore of a wife and walking spawn.
When Ma asked why they weren’t there, he’d told her, “They’re scared. They won’t be coming to another one.”
Ma had scoffed and muttered, “Weak,” before going back to eating and talking with her other boys. His family were pathetic. All they had to do was show some damn respect and toe the line.
He’d been acting shadier than usual too. He kept turning up at the club or dropping by my offices next door when I wasn’t there, forcing my assistants to remind him to call before showing up. One time Veronica had stepped out for lunch and returned to find him waiting in my office.
If he was looking for something, he wouldn’t find it there. I kept nothing important in that room. Everything vital was at my house, and with the kind of security I had, he didn’t have a hope in hell of getting inside.
I’d still had a few of the men keep an eye on him, but nothing alarming had been reported back. Even so, something wasn’t right—and once I figured out what, he’d be fucked.
“Barely. He’s dodging me.”
He chuckled. “I don’t blame him. He knows you’re watching him. He’s scared.”
“Yet, he keeps acting like a fool, trying to be brave and intimidate me by coming to the club and offices. He’s either up to something or being annoying for another reason. He’ll slip up eventually.”
I looked down at my desk. Seeing my phone discarded to the side made my anger rise again. What the fuck was I going to do? Even thinking about her in that city made me tense, since a good percentage of my business came from there. It was how I knew exactly what type of darkness hid in the shadows.
Maybe I should send some of my men there. At least if I had them in the same area as Gwen, I’d feel a little better.
I lifted my gaze to stare at my brother, and an idea formed in my head.
Fuck me. That could work.
“Vincent?”
“Malice?”
“I require you to be in Vegas from the twenty-ninth to the first.”
His brows slowly rose. “What’s the job?”
“I want a precaution set up. If something comes up, I need you close. So be in Vegas, with two men you trust, on those days.”
“Right.” He knew not to question me for details I didn’t want to give until I had to. Vincent then put the cigarette out in the ashtray on the coffee table before standing and making his way to the door. “Later, bro-boss.”
Grunting, I called before he walked out the door, “Speak soon.”
A smile slipped onto my lips. Yeah, I liked the idea of having Vincent close because if anything did come up, I’d have someone I trusted there.
Gwen would be safe. I’d make sure of that.
Although, I was still not opposed to trapping her in a cage to which I’d be the only one who had the key.