Chapter 28
Lydia
It was weird to spend Monday at home. I figured I might as well try to be efficient, so I went out for a run until I couldn’t feel my legs and nearly vomited, worked out a bit more at home, ate breakfast, and then cleaned and organized my apartment.
At around noon, Becca called.
“I fired the fucker!”
“That’s great. How did it go?”
“It was ugly but I enjoyed every second.”
“What’d you tell him?”
“I showed him pictures of his meeting with Mark and freaked him the fuck out when I told him he was going to jail for corporate espionage.”
I smiled and chuckled. I was starting to do that more often around Becca.
“Did he agree to keep quiet?”
“Yeah, Brad isn’t prison material.” She laughed. “I told him I don’t need the bad press and I’ll keep quiet about it if he does. He was so terrified, he would have agreed to anything.”
“Did you get anything out of him?”
“Not really. We still need him to think we already know everything, but I did ask him if he knew why Mark was doing this. He said that Mark hated me, really hated me.”
“For leaving? That’s excessive.”
“Yeah. I don’t know. I knew he didn’t like the way things turned out, but the way Brad said it… if he hates me that much…”
“Yeah, he’s not going to let it go.”
“Can we meet tonight? I’ve got a long day making sure manufacturing goes smoothly and I need to drink Brad and Mark out of my head.”
“Sure, text me the place.”
About an hour later, I got a message from Terry.
?? Delivery guy on his way with a new laptop. It’s clean and secure and is being delivered by my assistant.
He sent me a photo of a young man who looked very awkward having his picture taken. I appreciated getting a new laptop, but I was also concerned about the lengths they were going to ensure it was safe.
What have I gotten myself into?
The guy in the photo arrived a few minutes later and gave me a laptop that was much better than the one I had before.
Terry had copied most of my files and programs from my old laptop, and connected it to my accounts at Mason Corp, so I spent the next few hours going over emails and any tasks I hadn’t finished the week before.
Another delivery guy arrived at some point with a package from a motorcycle gear shop. It had a mesh jacket, pants, gloves, and a helmet, all dark gray. There was no question as to who sent it to me.
I liked it a lot, but also wondered what it meant. I wasn’t the best at reading people unless I was in danger or something was wrong, and when it came to Daniel, I felt safe and confused.
I took a picture of the items on my bed and texted it to him. He responded almost immediately. He always did.
?? Do you like it?
?? Why did you buy it for me?
?? In case we need to ride again. I want you to be safe
?? Thank you
?? You didn’t answer my question Lydia
?? Yes, I love it
I did. It fit perfectly, and I liked the way it felt to be on a bike again.
I ate something, spent a little bit more time organizing my closet, and then took a shower and got ready for a night out with Becca.
I wore a fitted black V-neck tank top, dark blue straight jeans, my Docs, and an oversized, dark green and black checkered buttoned-down shirt, which I wore open like a cardigan with the sleeves folded up to my elbows.
I tied half of my hair back with my usual hair stick, put on a defense ring, and took a cab to meet Becca.
The place was very fancy and part of a five-star hotel with a separate entrance for the bar. When I arrived, Becca was already sitting at the bar wearing a dark red tailored jumpsuit that made her look like she fit in perfectly in a place filled with rich people.
She jumped out of her seat when she saw me and hugged me. I was getting better at accepting hugs, but I still couldn’t bring myself to hug back.
“Come on, I got us a table. Danny was at Mel’s when I called him, probably with Jake. I told them to join us later.”
I sat with her at what was a hybrid between a table and a booth.
I could see the whole place from where we sat.
It was a little dark, with ambient lights, people sitting at round tables and a few other booths, and an area where people danced.
Becca pulled a card out of her bra and grinned. “I booked a suite. Room 1501.”
“Why?”
“Because I want to get so fucking drunk I can’t even take a cab home, and I don’t want to go home anyway. The suite is huge, so you can crash too instead of going home hammered.”
I smiled as she tucked the key card back into her shirt and continued. “Besides, I might find someone to make me forget all the Mark and Brad shit, and a suite is just fucking convenient for that.”
“That it is.” In which case, I would definitely be taking a cab home.
A waitress brought us beer and cocktails, and I started to relax on the padded seat with Becca.
She trash-talked Brad for a while, but eventually moved on to talk about the semiconductor design that was in manufacturing.
I only knew the basics from what I read online, so I asked a lot of questions and enjoyed learning about it from someone so passionate.
She wasn’t just the CEO of her company—she was the engineer who designed the product, and she talked about it so enthusiastically that I wanted to know everything about how it worked.
We were interrupted by two men. I noticed them walking up to us from the other side of the bar—they seemed to zero in on Becca. They were both tall, handsome, and visibly muscular through their tight t-shirts.
I instantly didn’t like them, but by the time they got near the table, Becca already had her eyes on one of them.
“Ladies, seeing you just made our night. I’m Luther, this is Vince.”
I smiled politely, and Becca beamed at Luther. “Hey there, Lu. Join us for a drink?”
The two men exchanged glances and smiled. Luther sat beside Becca, and Vince sat beside me.
Well, I know where this evening is going…
Becca was sitting next to me in the boojt, but she turned so that her back was to me and she was facing Luthor. I could barely hear them introduce themselves—Becca, the CEO of Vale, and Luthor, the owner of a gym in the neighborhood.
Liar.
I tried to keep listening, but Vince touched my knee. I pushed his hand away and he smiled, completely oblivious to my disinterest.
“You never told me your name.” He was flirting, the kind of flirting I recognized easily because it made the hair on the back of my neck move.
“Lydia,” I answered, and turned a little to try to listen to what was going on with Becca and Luthor. I didn’t like this.
“You and Becca work together?”
“No, we’re friends.”
Every time I turned to try to keep track of Becca, he’d ask me another question or tell me something about himself.
I saw his eyes flick to Becca and Luthor behind me, and then he pulled my hand. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”
“No.”
He smiled and tried to look more disarming.
I see you, asshole.
“We don’t have to do anything, just give them a little privacy.”
Behind me, Luthor was leaning forward, tracing Becca’s jaw with his finger.
“Becca, you good?” I asked.
She turned around to me and winked.
This ‘friends’ thing was getting too complicated for me.
I nodded to Vince and followed him out of the booth to the other side of the bar.
He leaned on a wall and said something, but we were too close to the speakers.
I could see him repeat himself a few times and then laugh and nod toward a hallway leading to the bathrooms. I looked back at Becca and frowned when I saw her and Luthor kissing.
This was new to me. Was I a wingman? Should I keep Vince company so that she can be with Luthor?
My head hurt from nerves about how to be a friend, and I felt like I was in danger—a feeling I never ignored.
I followed him to the hallway, a little surprised to see that it was completely empty despite the bar being nearly full. It worried me that I couldn’t see her from where we stood.
“I didn’t hear what you said before,” I said.
“Yeah sorry. I said it looks like Luthor and your friend are hitting it off.”
I looked behind me at the exit. There were two entrances to the bar—one was a huge door behind me, which was where I came in initially, and another was at the other end, near our booth.
Vince stepped closer to me and touched my cheek with the back of his hand. I instantly leaned back and out of his reach, twirling the ring on my finger and loosening the flower.
“I’m not interested, Vince.”
“That’s fine, we can just talk.” He was using his soft, disarming voice again.
“I’ll just go back to Becca.”
I turned to go, but he grabbed my wrist. “Aw come on, stay with me. They’re busy anyway.”
“Let go, Vince.”
The flower was off.
“I can’t do that.” He pulled my hand hard, and I smashed into his chest.
“Vince—”
“Relax. It’ll be over quick.”
He took something out of his pocket. My body took over. I turned the ring on my finger so that the pointy edge faced outward and punched him hard in the neck. His eyes widened, and his hand shot up to where I hit him.
“Bitch!” He lunged at me, but something slammed into him before he could reach me.
Vince was on the floor, holding on to his bleeding neck. Daniel was on top of him. His hand was raised, ready for a punch, but I grabbed it, pulling it back. He turned to me with so much rage on his face that I knew he was going to kill Vince.
“Daniel, stop! Becca!”
He jumped up, grabbing me a little too tightly.
I didn’t care. My brain was putting the pieces together, and Becca was in trouble.
I pushed Daniel as hard as I could and ran to the booth.
Becca and Luthor were gone. I kept running past the booth to the door behind it, bolting outside and looking frantically around the empty alley.
There were just a couple of dumpsters. I stood there, panting and listening.
The door behind me opened and slammed into the wall.
I could hear Daniel behind me, but I ignored him.
A soft whimper to my right had me runing again.
When I turned the corner, I saw Luther with one hand around Becca’s neck, whispering something in her ear.
She looked at me, terrified. I couldn’t think straight.
I ran to them, grabbed his free arm, jumped, and headbutted him somewhere around the bridge of his nose.
He staggered back, giving me the opportunity to grab Becca and pull her away.
Daniel caught up and tackled Luthor to the ground. I didn’t look at what he was doing. I focused on Becca.
She held on to me so tightly, I knew I’d have bruises on my arms. I pushed her back to look at her face. Tears streamed down her cheeks, and her neck was a deep red from where he held her.
I pushed her hair back and held her face.
“Becca, look at me. It’s okay, you’re okay.”
She nodded but didn’t say anything, because it wasn’t okay. Men like Howard and Luthor did more than just hurt us physically—they took our power. And Becca worked hard to get her power back. I wasn’t going to let Luthor take it from her again.
Her eyes widened as she looked behind me to where Daniel and Luthor were on the ground.
I grabbed her hand and turned around, pulling her with me. Daniel was snarling something at Luthor and hitting him in the face. How the man was still breathing was beyond me.
I put my hand on Daniel’s shoulder, ready to get hit if he wasn’t in control.
“Stop.”