Chapter 14
FOURTEEN
HOLT
It takes me precisely sixty seconds after watching Howard escort Selene into the elevator before I’m finally moving.
I didn’t want to leave her the way I did, but it’s for the best. I don’t know what the fuck I’m walking into, and I need to keep her safe at all costs.
Checking Cory’s message once more to make sure I read his emergency text correctly, I spin on my heel and head back toward the waiting helicopter. Normally, I wouldn’t take this method of transportation to the office, but with Howard taking Selene home, it’s the fastest way there.
I hop in and instruct the pilot to take me to Scribe.
Within fifteen minutes, I’m walking into my office to find a panicked Cory sitting on the leather sofa situated on the opposite side of the room. He bounces out of his seat. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so pale.
“Thanks for coming, Boss,” he pants, almost as if he’s out of breath. “I’m sorry to message you so late, but I swear, I didn’t know what else to do.”
At twenty-seven, he’s usually calm, cool, and collected. As one of my best editorial writers, he’s been with the company for three years now, but I’ve never seen him like this.
Beside him is one of our other staff writers, Macy, who I just hired on permanently after a yearlong internship. I’m not entirely sure why she’s here. I’m assuming it has to do with his emergency text Cory sent me at dinner.
Code Red.
The codeword Cory and I agreed we would use if shit hit the fan regarding the investigation into Rhys O’Connell’s connection to the Irish mafia.
Cory and I were scheduled to meet in the morning to discuss what he learned from his questioning of Rhys’s known associates down by the docks yesterday. I assumed all was well but apparently not. Cory wouldn’t have used the codeword unless it was absolutely critical.
My suspicion is confirmed when I see the large manila envelope sitting on the coffee table between us.
“Is this it?” I point to the envelope.
“Yeah.” Cory nods, running a nervous hand through his hair. “I’m sorry, but this shit freaked me the fuck out. I mean, I… I…” Shaking, he picks up the envelope and hands it to me, the ends of his fingers white from how tightly he’s holding it.
I take it from him, eyeing him with concern. He looks like he’s going to vomit. I shift my gaze to Macy, who looks just as nervous.
Opening the envelope, I slide out the stack of photographs. Dropping the envelope to the table, I flip through each one. “What are these?”
There’s a photo of Cory leaving the office.
Cory hailing a cab. Then Macy leaving the office.
Them meeting at a subway station a few blocks from the office.
Him and Macy walking down Fifty-first Street.
They’re in the distance, surrounded by pedestrians, but it’s clear they were the intended targets of the photo.
The next is the two of them holding hands.
I flip to another one, only this one is different.
It’s a view from outside, looking into what appears to be the bedroom of an apartment.
Cory is lying back on the bed, with Macy straddling him. Naked.
“What the fuck are these?” I snap my head up, darting my fiery gaze between them.
Macy’s eyes are swollen with tears. She’s nervously wringing her hands together, shifting on her feet.
“Holt, I… I can explain.” Cory stumbles over his words.
“Wait.” I drop my eyes to his hand. “Didn’t you just get married, like two years ago?”
“I did,” he says quietly.
Macy’s tears are now streaming down her face.
“Fuck.” I hold onto the photos as I spin and start to pace the room, pinching the bridge of my nose. Eventually I stop, looking up at the both of them standing on the opposite side of the table, cowering like wounded puppies.
“I should fire you for this type of shit,” I seethe, anger burning in my veins. “It’s against company policy.”
“I’m sorry.” Macy’s bottom lip wobbles, and her chin quivers.
“How long has this affair been going on?” I ask them both. I can’t help raising my voice. This is the last fucking thing I need. Another goddamn rumor about two of Scribe’s staff members having an affair.
“This was only the second time we’ve met up,” Cory explains, gulping. “Please don’t fire Macy. If you’re going to fire anyone, let it be me. I pursued her first.”
His pathetic explanation causes a cynical scoff to climb up and out of my throat.
“What the fuck?” I shout, raking my fingers through my hair. I lift the photos to look up at them again, hoping they aren’t true. But there is no denying the way her head is tilted back, Cory’s arms reaching up to palm each of her breasts.
“Listen, I know you’re angry about the affair, especially since Macy is an employee as well, but, Holt, this shit is scaring the fuck out of me.
They left this envelope on my fucking front porch, at my house.
And these pictures were taken just last night,” Cory spills, clearly still in a panic.
“I mean, they even have photos of me from yesterday down at the docks.”
“Who did you talk to?” I lift the photos up. “How would they have known?”
“I don’t know.” He shrugs. “I kept a low profile. I didn’t even give them my real name, like you said.
I just asked a few of the dock workers if they had heard of Rhys O’Connell.
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, and I didn’t make myself obvious.
But they’re clearly watching me and using this affair with Macy as blackmail, right?
Or some sort of warning. Isn’t that what the mafia does? ”
“This is definitely a warning.” I sigh, pressing my lips together.
My mind wanders to West’s brother Heath and the trouble he caught himself in with Rhys’s crew.
This isn’t a joke, and I’m now understanding the seriousness behind it.
But the part of me I’ve never been able to resist wants to know more.
I need this story. My magazine does, especially after this lawsuit with Rome.
Maybe it’s wrong, but I never back down from a challenge.
All I know is that if I’m going to stick to cracking this story, I need to be extra careful.
It has to be a delicate dance that will require a little more precision than usual.
“What are we going to do?” Cory asks. I can tell he’s itching to reach for Macy’s hand, but he doesn’t.
I chew on the inside of my cheek. I wish I could rewind back to at least the past hour before Cory sent me the Code Red. When I was in a euphoric state, my hands wandering all over Selene. She’s the calm to the shitstorm that is my life.
She always has been, even if she doesn’t know it.
Thinking of her has the fire inside me raging. I’m itching to message Howard to make sure she made it home safely.
“Listen, I took this assignment on, no questions asked. I don’t know why you’re wanting me to look into Rhys O’Connell, but fuck….” Cory’s worried eyes grow distant.
I, too, stare off into the distance, sifting through options of how to deal with this mess I’ve made.
“Boss?” Cory asks, bringing my attention back to him as he raises his brows, cutting through my thoughts. His worried expression hasn’t wavered, and Macy’s tears haven’t stopped. She’s just crying silently. “What do you want us to do?”
“First, this shit ends now.” I wave my hand between them.
“For the sake of company policy. Also, not that it’s my business, but I don’t get down with cheating.
You should tell your wife, and I wouldn’t blame her if she left you for this shit.
If I catch you, or if Rhys does, again”—I hold up the stack of photos—“you’re both fired.
But for now?” I drop the pictures on the table. “You’re off the story.”
The pictures scatter across the glass, Cory’s affair on full display under the dim lights of my office. The entire floor outside of this room is covered in darkness, the hollowness of a dead newsroom echoing through the thin walls.
“Holt, I don’t know if I can.” Cory’s voice tightens.
“Don’t know if you can what?” I jerk back. “Which part don’t you think you can do?”
Cory swallows thickly, then shifts his eyes toward Macy. “I don’t know if I can… if I want to...”
“Seriously?” I trade confused glances between the two of them. I don’t understand their affair, and if I’m honest, I don’t give a fuck.
“I know, it’s all confusing.”
“Honestly.” I hold my hands up. “I don’t want to know. Just figure your shit out, but if you’re going to be together, one of you needs to leave. I can’t have you both working here if you’re doing whatever the fuck this is. It causes too much drama.”
I would know. Years ago, before I was appointed head of Scribe Magazine, I had a run with a fellow reporter at The New Yorker. Our affair didn’t end well when our editor-in-chief caught us fucking in one of the storage closets.
Part of me can sympathize with Cory and Macy for their affair, but there are differences between us. For one, I wasn’t fucking married.
The memory of fucking the reporter and all the other women I have in my past has my stomach roiling.
It’s difficult to think of other women when the only one on my mind now is Selene.
I thought kissing her had made my head spin, but now I’ve had the privilege of touching her, I’m ruined for all other women.
“We understand.” Cory nods, his shoulders relaxing slightly. “But, hey, if you decide to continue this story, Holt, I urge you to be careful. These fuckers aren’t messing around.”
I stare at Cory. His stark warning pulls me back to when Julianna made the same comment in this room only days ago.
His warning and the echo of my sister’s sends an eerie chill down my spine.
I don’t know how far Rhys is willing to go. He hasn’t physically hurt us or even spoken to any of us at Scribe, but him sending these photos to Cory is a clear message—one I can’t and won’t ignore.
Panic sets in, and once Cory and Macy leave the office, I’m pulling out my phone.
Holt: Are you still with Selene?
Howard: Just watched her walk into her building. She’s safe. About to head back to your place to drop the car off.
Holt: Can you stay a little longer? Watch to make sure she doesn’t leave on her own, and if she does, follow her? I’ll send Knox to relieve you soon.
Howard: Knox? Didn’t you just cut back on his surveillance?
Holt: Yes, but circumstances have changed.
It takes several seconds before Howard is responding. Three bubbles appear then disappear before his message eventually comes through. He knows what this means.
Howard: Of course, Boss. I’ll keep an eye on her. You have my word.
I send Howard a quick thanks before sending Knox a message, asking if he doesn’t mind also tasking another one of his security detail to my sister as well—a request I didn’t think I’d need to make.
The thing is, I’ve always watched over those that I love.
Despite what some might believe, it’s in my nature. There’s never been any other option.