Chapter 38 Villain
VILLAIN
Igot the message when I got off the plane at six a.m., reading the email on my phone as I walked through the airport.
Mr. Harrison is available for a short lunch meeting at the Caverne’s Delight. Please be there by noon.
It wasn’t signed, but it was from his secretary.
Clint wanted to see me personally? I stopped walking while my heart raced, urging my legs to carry me back towards the plane and Dirk.
I’d married him impulsively because I didn’t want to face my ex, but this was the best way to defeat Philippe.
I forced myself to keep going. I didn’t text back because there wasn’t anything to say.
He’d be there, and if I showed up, he’d see me, but he wasn’t going to actually change any of his plans for me.
Good. He’d apparently moved on. He probably came out to Vegas to find pleasant diversions.
No, he’d come to see me, and I’d have to find out why.
I’d have to be persuasive and charming. I’d have to not burst into tears or try to kill him.
I spent the morning with my lawyer, the woman who had taught me everything I knew about business.
Susan Fairlite was surprised to see me, since she thought that she was meeting with someone else.
The location was secure, and she’d be kept in unconscious isolation once we were finished with our business.
She’d appreciate the effort I made to knock her unconscious and tie her up, because that way, grandfather wouldn’t see her behavior as treacherous, not that it should be, since I was one of my grandfather’s heirs.
At any rate, I had her lying comfortably on a couch, bound and gagged by eleven forty-five, at a location that happened to be in walking distance to the restaurant.
I didn’t have time to take a route that wouldn’t lead me past my old apartment.
Clint’s apartment. Either way. I walked quickly as I neared the entrance, wishing I’d taken the other sidewalk.
A small brown ball of energy darted out of the building and towards the road where cars rushed along.
I dove after it, capturing the ball of joyful cocker mutt and ruining my neat skirt suit in the process.
I’d felt a seam rip, and my hat had fallen off my pink hair, no doubt ruining my neat chignon.
Mr. Maples licked my chin and wagged his tail while I stared at him, my heart thumping like a galloping horse.
The doorman came over as quickly as he could with his old bones. “Miss Delavigne? Is that you? Barely recognized you with that pink hair. Here’s your hat. Let me help you up. Thanks for catching Maples. After the surgery, he’s better than new. Here we go.”
I let the old man help me to my feet, still gripping the dog like I couldn’t let go. “Surgery?”
The doorman beamed at me. “Sure. He ran away shortly after you broke up with Mr. Clint, and then was returned by a lawyer. Apparently, someone with too much money hit him with a car, and out of guilt or a fear of litigation… but anyway, that’s not the important thing, is it, Mr. Maples?
” He took the animal out of my arms, and the dog licked him happily while my own heart raced.
“Wasn’t he supposed to die?”
“Not for a long time yet. Are you coming in? You never got your things from the apartment, did you? Mr. Clint is out for the day, so you won’t have to worry about running into him.”
“I…” I straightened my shoulders and put my hat back on.
“I’m on my way to a lunch appointment. It’s good to see you, though.
Both of you.” I smiled and took a few minutes I couldn’t afford to pet Mr. Maples while my heart expanded.
I loved that silly dog, and the doorman who always had something kind to say to everyone, even the villains.
They were still here, still making the world more beautiful, one day at a time.
“Don’t cry, Miss,” he said, handing me a tissue.
I hadn’t realized I’d been crying; apparently, it was just my default these days. “Thank you. I really must go.”
“Of course. Come on Maples. I have one of your yummy treats waiting for you. Don’t be like that. It’s good for you, and you don’t want to get sick again, do you? No, of course you don’t.”
I walked slower than I should while my mind spun.
I needed to be in complete control of myself so I could take control of Clint, but how could I when I was still sniffling?
I got to the restaurant late, but I couldn’t seem to make myself hurry.
I felt like I was walking towards my own funeral.
It wasn’t death I was afraid of, but walking back into the person I’d been before.
The restaurant was near the top floor, naturally, so it had a jaw-dropping view of the bay, but I couldn’t appreciate it when I was doubly terrified, of heights as well as my ex-fiancé.
“Follow me,” the waiter said with a professional smile meant to make me feel at ease and like I was in good hands. In control. It’s good that someone was in control. It wasn’t me.
He led me past dozens of other patrons I knew from the many society affairs I’d attended with Clint. The table had the best view, both to see out the window and to be seen by everyone in the restaurant.
Clint stood when I arrived at the table, brow arching as he studied me with a slight twist of his lips. “What happened to you? Were you mugged on the way?”
I looked down at my skinned knees, ripped skirt, everything covered in dog hair.
I sat down abruptly in the chair the waiter pulled out for me, my legs refusing to operate anymore.
My body was already revolting, and I hadn’t even talked to him.
I took my water in my shaky hand and sipped it while I tried not to notice the man settling into his seat opposite me.
“I’m sorry that I was late,” I whispered, barely able to get out the words.
He gestured to me. “You clearly have your reasons. Did you have something you wished to discuss?” He checked his watch, clearly having other, more important things to do with his day.
“Thank you for meeting with me,” I said quietly as I took the tablet out of the inside pocket of my jacket. “I have a business proposition to offer you.” I hesitantly opened it and slid it over to him, but he didn’t touch it, didn’t look at it, instead leaned back to study me with lazy calculation.
“I’ve done enough business with Haversham. If that’s all, we can end this meeting, which you so clearly do not wish to have.” He stood while I sat there, feeling small and breakable. I needed this, but I couldn’t seduce him like before. I couldn’t even manipulate him because he knew me too well.
“Did you ever meet Philippe?”
He slowly sat back down. “Your cousin, the Haversham heir? I’ve never had the pleasure.”
“Not the heir, at least not yet. I have equal power in my grandfather’s company, but only if I can stop my cousin from going through with a merger. If you would sell me the stocks you have in—”
His jaw tightened, but his voice was as nonchalant as ever.
“Oh no. I earned every penny of that. I’ve never worked so hard for something.
Try again.” He never interrupted me. In fact, that was probably the first time it had ever happened as long as I’d known him.
What did he want? I used to read him so well, but this was new for both of us.
I was going to lose. That meant that I’d have to kill my cousin and go to jail.
I smiled wanly. “Do you know Maples, the doorman’s dog?”
His eyes narrowed. “Should I?”
I shrugged and accidentally looked out the window and flinched.
“I want a dog big enough to really hug, not one of those little squeaky ones like Dirk’s mother has.
I hate heights. My mother wanted us both to die, but I hung onto the slate tiles until someone found me.
I hate my cousin. He killed Dirk’s sister.
” My voice was monotone, the same level mentioning the dog as Dirk’s sister even though my stomach knotted up and I wanted to sink under the table and die.
I shook my head and stood up. There was no point in wasting any more of his time, and I had Philippe to murder.
Would I be able to pull the trigger? I’d use my knives if I had to.
My knives had never let me down. The waiter set beautiful dishes on the table, all of my favorite things for me, while Clint had a steak, simple, rare, setting off my elaborate settings with the contrast.
“Do you need something?” the waiter asked me.
Forgiveness? I looked into Clint’s eyes and saw pain.
Was he really on the edge of a precipice that would send him tumbling into absolute psychopathy?
He’d been surprisingly stable for the time I’d known him if he had the super serum running through his veins, but what did I know about how much he hid?
I didn’t know him any better than he knew me.
I sat back down and fiddled with my fork.
“You’re not usually so indecisive,” he murmured, not touching his steak.
“I… I’m sorry.”
“It’s really all the same to me.” He finally picked up his knife and started cutting into his meat.
I twisted it out of his grasp and had the point at his throat before he realized what was happening.
“I like knives. I’ve stabbed more people than I can count, but for you I had to be the perfect blend of ice queen and dominatrix.
I became everything you couldn’t resist, but somehow in all of that, I got confused about who I was.
I started thinking that maybe it was real, that I’d never have to go back to my grandfather again, that I’d be safe, but I’m not the person that became your obsession.