15. Forever
FOREVER
I didn’t think my good mood could be ruined… until she stepped into my path with a smile on her face that felt faker than usual.
Maybe I should let him kill her to make myself feel better.
“Ms. James, I caught you at the right time,” Millicent said, following me to the elevators. “Do you have room in your schedule today to meet with the new rec—”
She stopped once I stepped into the metal box, but blocked her from getting on.
“Have your assistant call or email mine,” I said, turning to face her as I pressed the button for my floor. “Take the next one up, I need to think in peace.”
But instead of thinking, I pulled out the phone burning a hole in my back pocket and dialed Demetrius.
“Do you hate me?” I asked the second the line connected, before he could speak.
He chuckled.
“Can’t hate the love of my life,” the smooth bastard said. “How can I fix it?”
I couldn’t help but smile.
Fuck me for being so easily moved by this man.
“You don’t even know the problem.”
The elevator doors slid open, and Carmen was waiting for me on the other side. She started to speak but stopped after spotting the phone to my ear.
“Tell me the problem.”
It was obvious he didn’t give a fuck about it, only the solution to said problem. But still, I liked that he wanted to go at my pace, no matter the issue.
“There’s a woman in my building who bothers my spirit now.”
He hummed.
“My offer stands.”
Carmen pretended not to be listening, but she was hanging on to my every reply, now that we were standing in front of my office door.
“That offer messes with your plans.”
He was silent for a moment, and I wondered what was going through his mind.
“Plans change, my forever,” he finally said. “I’m at your beck and call.”
I sighed.
“You don’t disappoint. Is there anything I can do for you , Demetrius?”
Carmen’s eyebrows shot up, and I tipped my head. She and I needed to have a talk, a real one.
“Stay with me again tonight.”
That was easy enough; he made sleep so much better.
“I can do that.”
He hummed, but this time I heard his smile.
“I hate to end this very satisfying conversation, but there’s something I need to take care of. Keep this phone close, alright?”
Demetrius was gone before I could agree, almost as if he expected me to follow his directive.
“Let’s have a chat,” I said to Carmen, pushing my office door open and waving her inside.
When it shut behind us, we drew on one another. I nodded at her quick pull, but there was room for improvement.
On a normal day, I never let her enter before me. But sometimes, when I felt like checking if her head was in the game, I switched up the routine.
“Your timing is off,” I mused, tucking my pistol as she did the same. “Work on it.”
She dropped down on the sofa with a huff.
“I hate when you test me like that.”
I chuckled and sat at my desk.
“But it’s imperative to keep you on your toes.”
There was a pile of files on my desk, and I started to flip through them, while she decided whether to start the conversation I suggested.
“Is Demetrius who you want to talk about?” she asked eventually.
He was all I wanted to talk about, but who could I open to, really?
“Nah. Tell me more about Oliver.”
My gaze flicked in her direction briefly, catching her frown.
“Why him?”
I shrugged and leaned back.
“You tell me. Why him, Carmen? And for how long?”
Realizing that I hadn’t been focusing on the right things, I decided to start there. All this time, I let my family and Carmen fill in the gaps without asking questions.
Maybe it was easier to let them handle it all, less strain for the headaches.
Or maybe I knew something wasn’t right but didn’t have it in me to figure it out.
Demetrius’s intrusion changed everything.
There was a man who clearly loved me, and somebody else had to know it. Even if I hadn’t told Carmen myself, somebody did.
It’s the only reason she’d pursue a non-society man.
“Forever, my job is to have your back from all angles,” she started, moving to sit at the desk. “Before this office was yours, you were running wild. No one told me to do anything, let’s start there. But yes, I sought Oliver out to keep an eye on you once I learned about you and Demetrius.”
I closed my eyes and took a breath.
“How did you find out?”
She laughed.
“The red-light district of all fucking places,” she said, earning my gaze. “You took your beacon with you one night, and I went to see what was up. He was with you, and the rest sort of came together.”
I leaned forward, elbows pressed against the hard desk.
“You never said anything, or do I not remember?”
She shook her head.
“We’ve been in each other’s lives, all our fucking lives. I know you best, maybe not in the way he does, but I know you. Saying anything would’ve ended badly. I did what I had to do.”
Deep down, I wanted to be upset she let eleven months go by without telling me, but…
“Why? Why didn’t you say anything after the accident?”
The sigh that followed my question was filled with stress, or was it something else?
“That’s where I have to end this,” she said, staring me directly in the eyes. “But please, understand that I’m on your side, Forever. I’m loyal to you and only you. I need you to believe that.”
It was as if she were begging me.
“Are you involved in something you can’t get out of?”
“No.”
I nodded.
“But someone asked you to keep Demetrius specifically from me?”
“Yes.”
It came from the top.
“Do my parents know?”
She shook her head.
“Not to my knowledge. You were careful for the most part, and I cleaned up on the back end.”
Carmen stood, and I watched her walk toward the door.
“You have a last-minute three o’clock appointment,” she said over her shoulder. “An important one. I’ll check to see if he’s arrived early.”
Mmm.
She wanted me to trust her, but couldn’t open her mouth and speak candidly.
I kicked my sneakers off and leaned as far back as my chair would allow.
The door opened not long after Carmen left, but I kept my gaze pointed at the ceiling.
“Ms. James, a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance.”
Carmen hadn’t announced the man with the gravely yet soft voice, and I took my time engaging to test his limits.
An important one.
Society men hated to be ignored, especially by women with high positions. But this stranger waited patiently until I felt like dealing with whatever he’d come for.
“What can I do for you, Mr…”
I righted my chair and met the dead brown eyes of someone I had not been expecting.
The high priest of all people was sitting in my office.
He was the middleman between the head of the Collective and the rest of us, rarely seen but always watching.
I’d only had the pleasure of meeting his father, who held the role until around the same time I took my position, once.
Lucien or Priest, as everyone addressed him, had no ties to the church. In fact, he despised overly religious people.
Not the good ones who didn’t use their faith to condemn, but the others .
“My presence shouldn’t be a shock,” he said coolly, sitting back. “You left your calling card and I answered.”
Right.
“Ah…” I tsked. “Almost forgot about the doctors.”
He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes; nothing seemed to.
“The families are calling for your removal from this office and your life.”
I had nothing to say to that and waited for the true nature of his visit, because it had nothing to do with what the families were calling for.
Had that been important, I’d be dead already.
“I understand your plight,” he went on, not missing a beat. “And so does the person who sent me here with this peace offering.”
He pulled a black envelope from his suit jacket and slid it across the desk.
“An invitation to this year’s ritual,” I said, not needing to open it to understand.
The emblem stamped on the back said a lot, too. I brushed my finger over the fancily written F, wondering what the fuck the Fairchild family wanted with me.
“And a plus one,” he mused, a wistful note to his tone that surprised me a little. “A specific plus one.”
Demetrius.
“I had no clue the high priest was in bed with the Fairchilds.”
They were a faction of the Collective that held more power than all the families combined, including mine. They didn’t mix or mingle but once every other year during a ritual to pray over Everwood and its citizens.
To be invited was one thing, but to decline their hospitality without reason was frowned upon. It’d put a target on your back that you’d never be able to get off.
Priest stood and buttoned his jacket.
“There’s a lot you don’t know, Mrs—” He shook his head. “ Ms . James. I advise you to accept the invitation and see for yourself. You’ll be pleasantly surprised.”
His purposeful slip of the tongue wasn’t lost on me, but I ignored it altogether and stood to walk him out.
“From this moment on, you’re under my protection,” he said as I pulled the door open. “And so is the one you call Echo.”
The man was halfway up the hall when Carmen emerged from her office. Something intense settled inside of me as our eyes met.
Echo.
The one I called Echo.
Had he been about to address me as Mrs. Cannon?