chapter FIFTEEN #2
A wave of chills run up my spine, and my body ignites in a force of electricity I’ve come to expect whenever I’m in the same room as him. I’m sure others feel it too. He is magnetic and intoxicating—the most sinful sight the eyes have ever indulged.
Yet for me it is more than what my eyes are seeing. It’s what my body is feeling—because unlike the people around me, I know what it’s like to be in between that man and the cello he is playing.
My eyes are fixated on Asher and, damn it, I hate that he makes me react this way.
His fingers work the strings of the fingerboard and the neck settled further into his shoulder as he takes the song into a wolf tone. With each pluck of his fingers, the strings vibrate, moving the air around it.
Instinctually, my body moves with his and again we are one with the song.
Loud beats.
Resonating sounds.
Bowed and plucked.
Like the strings of my heart.
Asher dives deeper into his performance and if I weren’t paying close attention I would have missed the startle of his muscles, the jolt in his shoulders at the very second he realizes I am standing right here.
His face rises and I am hit with intense emotion. Every feeling he has at this moment is being projected to the back of the room with a look of remorse so powerful I feel like I’ve had the wind knocked out of me.
He continues to play. He continues to feel. And he continues to keep his hold on me. The connection is too strong, too much for my damaged heart. I can’t let him pull me in further. I’ve been down that rabbit hole and almost didn’t make it back up.
I excuse myself from the crowd around me, pushing past the ones in the doorway and make my way into the hallway.
The air in here is too stuffy; I can’t find my breath.
Running, my feet charge down the hallway and through the heavy doors to the stairwell, leaping down the four flights and through the lobby.
I leave the building as quickly as possible forgetting my coat and regretting it as soon as the afternoon chill hits my bones.
And my bag? I left my damn bag upstairs!
My palm begins to itch at the thought of my bag being so far away from me. My hand rises to my head and I yank down on my hair, contemplating whether I should head back upstairs for it or stay as far away from that room as possible until I can get my emotions back in check.
I pull my sweater in tighter and hunch my shoulders into my body taking quick steps hoping to get home as quickly as possible. I’ll have to ask Crystal to drop my bag off on her way home.
“Emma.” My name is shouted from a space in front of the building. It’s not a voice I immediately recognize, but I turn around anyway. I may not recognize the voice, but the face is familiar. Devon is dressed in black dress pants and matching button down, gesturing over to me. “Do you need a ride?”
I shake my head. “No. I’m just a few blocks.”
He walks over to a black SUV and opens the back passenger door as any chauffer would do. “I have time for a few blocks.”
If the man hadn’t been anything but a complete gentleman to me this summer I would say, “Screw you.” I find it hard to believe he had anything to do with what happened then. And, let’s face it, the man saved my life. I don’t have the privilege of being a bitch to him.
I walk back toward the building and up to Devon. Placing my hand on the top of the proffered door, I push it closed. Devon is taken aback by the action. He is about to open his mouth in argument but is surprised when I push past him and place my hand on the front passenger door handle and open it.
“I’ll let you drive, but I won’t let you chauffeur me around.”
Devon lets loose a small grin as he closes the door behind me. He walks around the car, climbs in, and starts the car.
“Make a left at the light.”
“I know where you live, Emma.” The hoarseness of his voice brings me back to the moment he rescued me in the water and told me to hold on.
“Keeping tabs on me?”
Devon eyes are focused straight ahead. “Only to make sure you’re okay.”
God, for someone with his stature of discipline and chivalry, he certainly found himself in less than gentlemanly company working for Alexander Asher. “Why did you let me believe it was your boat? Why did you pretend to be . . . him?”
“You came to that conclusion on your own.” His tone is calm and soothing. He’s right. I know Leah and I came to that assumption by ourselves. I want to be mad at him, but I know better. He was the one who helped us get our passports and get home. I can never thank him enough for that.
This gentle giant doesn’t belong with a conniving predator like Asher. Which makes me wonder something that has been plaguing my mind for the past week. “You made the call to Frank, didn’t you? You are the reason I got the job.”
Devon doesn’t say a word. I take that as confirmation.
I throw my hands up in agitation. “Why? I don’t understand why you would purposefully get me to the school of the man who used me. You have no idea what happened in Capri. If you did, you would never have wanted me here.”
My adrenaline is at an all-time high; I could leap out the roof of the car. Devon, on the other hand, is stoic, unfazed by my drama.
“You know what happened in Capri yet you still came to New York.” He steers the car in front of my apartment on Mott Street. Putting the car in park, he leans back and turns to speak to me. “What he did to you was awful, and I’d be lying if I didn’t say I’ve watched him do worse.”
A taste of bile rises in my throat. I close my eyes to calm down the surge of feelings I have been riding in the last fifteen minutes. “Then why did you bring me here?”
He doesn’t miss a beat. “Because you’re different.”
I look up at the ceiling. What a mind-fuck. I bang my head against the back of the seat. “That is the stupidest thing I ever heard.”
“He tends to . . . make decisions based on the people around him. The wrong person getting too close to him can be dangerous. You’re good for him, even though he tries to convince himself you’re not.”
“Well, I’ve never seen someone more unhappy to see me than when he looks at me.” I shake my head. “How did he not know I worked here?”
Devon looks at me with a crooked smile. “How did you not know he founded the school?”
My mouth falls open. Is he accusing me of knowing Asher was here? Does he think I’m a gold-digging whore like Asher does? Is he insinuating—
“What I mean is, it’s not a coincidence neither of you knew each other was here.”
I sit back and take in his words. It is at this moment I am realizing that while I thought I had control over my life these last few months I was actually being played like a pawn in a game of chess.
Lord knows who Devon thinks he’s playing this game against. “I don’t understand.
And, why are you telling me this, anyway? ”
“What do you mean? I didn’t tell you anything,” Devon says, pushing the unlock button on the car, letting me know my time is up.
He reaches into the inside pocket of his suit jacket and pulls out an envelope.
It’s the familiar rectangular white envelope you get at the bank.
This one has a Chase symbol on it. “I’ve been instructed to give this to you. ”
I bang my head one more time against the headrest and unbuckle my seat belt, turning my back on Devon and the obnoxious white envelope. As I’m getting out of the car I hear his voice in the background.
“Didn’t think so.”
I slam the car door and watch the SUV drive away. This time, it’s my turn to buzz Mattie for entrance into our building.