14. Echo
ECHO
Two full days and some change.
Fifty-one hours.
I was counting and waiting.
Not just for Forever to seek me out again, but to kill Seo-Yeon, too.
She kept security with her at all times, except for the four hours she drove herself to and from a spa downtown yesterday afternoon.
I knew killing her would take time, but I was running out of patience.
Have Damon look into the Refinery Mind and Body Spa records in Midtown. I want to know how often Seo-Yeon visits.
Oliver had decided to keep the kid close, and I wanted to test his skill set myself.
“The way the news is reported in this city is very interesting,” Violet said, stopping beside me on the sidewalk outside the building she’d been staying in. “Five prominent doctors killed in two days, but not a single breaking news cycle.”
I chuckled and cut my eyes at her.
She wasn’t really the talkative type, telling me there was a reason she brought it up.
“You been getting into trouble in my city?”
Violet smirked but shook her head.
“Not me. Can’t say the same for Forever, though. She’s been busy and purposely leaving a calling card on each body.”
Forever’s signature was a maroon dragonfly, one she only left when the kill was personal. She’d told me once it was reserved for people who’d betrayed her sense of justice.
It seemed she was on a little binge, and that’s why I hadn’t heard from her. This wasn’t part of my plan, but I couldn’t deny it felt good to know. Even without her memories, she was still the woman I fell in love with, still ruthless when crossed and relentless in pursuit of truth.
“You should keep an extra eye on Millicent,” Violet added. “I don’t trust her, and she talks way too much for someone so high up on the food chain.”
She didn’t have to tell me, but I always appreciated insight from an O’Sullivan woman.
“And your thoughts on Forever.”
“You want my opinion on a woman you’re already in love with?”
I nodded.
“Why not? You two could be friends. In fact, I think she’d fit right in with your little crew.”
She hummed.
“I agree, which is why I gave her my number. When she’s ready, she’ll reach out. You’re doing a great job of giving her time and space.”
That had me looking over at her again.
“We friends now?” I asked.
Violet chuckled.
“You’re still annoying, but annoying is fine, I guess.”
“What about Finnegan?”
She didn’t say anything, and my smile stretched.
“I don’t need friends,” I told her, meaning that shit. “But I want them for her. She needs people she can rely on, people who ain’t just me.”
Forever and I had plans to align ourselves with outside families. We talked about the prospect of opening Everwood up to more, at least to the family we were building within the city. It felt attainable, until it didn’t.
Until she was gone, and I was grasping for straws on how to get her back. And then the engagement was announced, and I decided right then to get everything we talked about and have it ready for her return.
None of this belonged to me.
The alliances. The properties.
My fortune. My heart.
Everything I was, am, and wanted to be belonged to Forever Reid Cannon.
“I don’t have the capacity to convince anyone of anything, but that’s the beauty of having friends who possess exactly what you lack. "
She was feeding my soul if this meant what I thought.
“That means Lucia is coming here soon?”
Millicent had agreed to sponsor the whole crew. That meant I’d have eyes and ears on her every move from this moment on.
Violet had an interesting group of friends, wives from different crime families with their own set of skills. But Lucia was different.
Stories of her moniker, Scarlet, crept into the city from time to time over the years. That’s how I learned there were more secret societies than ours, ones that didn’t rule over cities.
The Red Society existed, and she was one of them, a mafia princess bred to kill.
“Lucia would never miss an opportunity like this,” Violet said, starting toward the entrance. “Count her and the rest in.”
I waited until she was inside and continued on foot back to my place, a block away.
Sleep didn’t come easy, and walking around the city at wee hours had become my new normal because of it.
I glanced at my watch.
Fifty-two hours.
The phone that matched Forever’s was on the counter; instead of taking it with me, I routed the calls to my personal. Right when I picked it up, it came to life in my palm.
“My forever,” I answered, sitting to pull my sneakers off.
She was silent for a moment, but her not having anything to say never bothered me.
“Did you mean it when you said your home is always available to me?” she asked softly after taking a breath, followed by, “Can I come over?”
It felt like an eternity since I heard such a beautiful request.
“Always to both,” I said, dropping my location in our abandoned text thread. “Have you eaten?”
Forever sighed.
“I don’t want food, I want to sleep through the night.”
You and me both.
“Hurry up and come lay with me then. Security knows you.”
She ended the call after humming a response, and I went to shower my walk off, and change the sheets. By the time I finished, security had texted that she was on the way up.
I hesitated for a second after her wedding band caught my eye on the dresser. Piling on too much at once might push her away; I knew my wife, and this was indeed already too much for her.
So, even though it hurt to hide, I locked the ring away in my office safe with a promise to give it to her soon. Hopefully before she remembered and tried to kill me for keeping it from her.
My baby had a violent streak.
I lowered the lights on my way to the door and gently pulled her inside after opening it.
“What’s wrong, baby?” I asked, looking down at her tired eyes as I backed us into the apartment. “Your head hurt?”
She nodded, and I steered us into the kitchen, where I kept pain medicine.
“I saw your mom trying to give you a pill at the gala. What’s that about?”
“Migraine meds…” She leaned against the counter and rested her head in her hands. “They don’t help.”
Deciding that offering another pill wouldn’t help earn her trust faster, I switched gears, did what I felt she came here for, and tugged her into my arms.
“Let’s lay down,” I whispered against her temple as she melted into me.
I guided her toward the bedroom, keeping one arm wrapped around her waist.
Forever trusting me to take care of her, to help her sleep, really did something to my spirit.
“Do you want to know what I did?” she asked as I lowered her to the edge of the bed and kneeled to take her sneakers off.
“Only if you feel like sharing.”
Her socks went next, and then I handed her a shirt.
“You can change in the bathroom.”
But instead of locking herself behind the closed door I offered, Forever stood and started to undress in front of me. She wasn’t playing fair, and I wasn’t that much of a gentleman. Our eyes stayed connected as she pushed her leggings down and reminded me why her toned thighs were my favorite.
“Does this make me a cheater? I am engaged.”
I chuckled and slid into bed, closest to the door.
There was no cheating with your own husband, but I found her concern to be cute.
“I’ve had my head buried between your legs on more days than I can count,” I mused, securing my hands behind my head and closing my eyes to keep myself from doing too much.
The mattress dipped, and I let her pick how close she wanted to be; my baby didn’t disappoint, pressing herself against my side and pushing her head into the curve of my shoulder.
“You smell so good,” she murmured, drawing in a deep breath.
I closed my eyes and savored the moment.
“Oh yeah?”
She shifted and nestled closer, her breath warm against my neck. I could feel the tension in her body gradually releasing as she settled in.
“Mmhm. Like vanilla and bergamot.”
I pushed my fingers into her hair and massaged her scalp where I knew the pain was centered. The side she’d been favoring in the kitchen. Her soft sigh told me I’d found the right spot.
“The vanilla was your idea,” I whispered, dropping my free hand to her waist. “And I fucked with the way you stuck your nose in my neck every time we shared space.”
Forever smacked her lips against the base of my neck and then… kissed the spot.
“Can you hold me tighter?” she asked, kicking a leg over mine. “I had a long two days, and you’re making me feel better.”
I shifted and rolled to secure myself between her thighs, positioning us so that she straddled me from the side. Our arms moved in sync, mine around her waist while hers looped my neck.
“This okay?”
She nodded, and my heart settled a little more. The longer she was in my presence and arms, the steadier it beat.
“I missed you,” I confessed, eyes closed to focus solely on her gently breathing me in.
There was no need for a reply, just her like this and more often.
“I read our messages,” she replied, curling her arms tighter. “Started off great until I realized I’m a stranger to our connection. I vented my frustrations out on those doctors, but they were only doing what was ordered.”
I nudged her head back until our eyes met in the dimmed room.
“What exactly was ordered?”
“All of them said the same thing. They suspected I might have a mild traumatic brain injury but were instructed to keep this from me and my family.”
Mmm.
“Did they say who?”
She burrowed her head in my neck again and took a deep breath.
“Only that it came from the top and not from my father. I can’t fathom him not knowing at least something .”
Neither did I.
Eliel had enough power to be in the know.
“It’s okay,” she murmured, already sounding half asleep. “I left my calling card for a reason. Some things can’t be ignored, and my dragonfly is one of them.”
I pressed a gentle kiss to the top of her head. She muttered something unintelligible and was out for the count right after.
The irony wasn’t lost on me.
After all this time apart, after everything I’d done so far to prepare for her return, she’d come to me because I was the only one who could ease her pain. Not because she remembered us, but because her body knew what her mind couldn’t recall.
And here I was, knowing sleep was finally in reach with her here, but unable to do so. I didn’t fear a fucking thing but losing my wife again, so while she was in my arms, I planned to revel in it.
That afternoon, though, I woke to an empty bed, but a nigga heart was full for the time being. I checked my phones and replied to a text from Oliver.
Stop by the office. You’ll enjoy this, I promise.
Heard you.
And then two from Forever on our private shit.
Let’s do that again.
Oh, and who else lives on your floor?
I got out of bed, shot off my response, and set the phone on the nightstand.
When you come back to me, I’ll show you.
Not too much at once, Demetrius.
It was imperative for me to slow down a little and let the pieces come together when they were meant to.
I showered, dressed, and fed myself while moving at a slower pace because, for the first time in months, I felt like I could breathe properly.
“You slept good or something?” Oliver said when I walked into his office.
He was already leaning against his desk, body facing where Damon worked from the couch.
“Nah,” I said. “I slept great. Now tell me what couldn’t be sent to the secure line?”
Oliver tipped his head at Damon, who immediately started to speak.
“She started going to the spa three years ago yesterday. It’s a standing Thursday appointment, once a month at first, until recently when it changed to once a week. I’m nosy and checked who else in that time frame had appointments that became more frequent.”
He picked up a remote and pointed it at the monitor attached, but facing us, to the side of Oliver’s desk.
“I’m sharing my screen,” he said. “Look at the highlighted names.”
Destiny LaPorte
Ignis Holt
And last but certainly not least, Quinn James.
“Big brother, why would the wives from four prominent society families frequent the same spa, on the same day each month, but at different times?”
He was grinning when our eyes met.
“Since before Forever and I crossed paths,” I added.
My lips curled.
Were they forming a fucking coup?