Chapter Seven Dance in My Darkness ~September~
Dance in My Darkness
September
Samantha
I’M UNRAVELING. JOSEPH HAD TO LEAVE town for four days for a tech conference in Las Vegas of all places.
Sin City. Before he left, it had been three weeks since that fateful letter arrived.
We’d moved beyond it, quickly falling into our normal stride, the letter all but forgotten.
Michael is looking into it, but other than that, I haven’t heard any further news.
Joseph didn’t want to leave, not because of the letter, necessarily, but because neither of us wanted to be apart for four days.
In the big scheme of things, it seems silly. It’s only days, not weeks.
In Austin, I had Joseph and Margot to hang out with.
Jace was there, but we only saw each other occasionally.
Being back in Dallas, going to school at SMU, has been an adjustment without Margot.
And now that Joseph is gone, I’m feeling lonely, but it’s good for me to remember what it’s like to hang out by myself.
I used to do it all the time. Four days is no big deal.
Plus, I have Michael if I need anything, and I could always call Sebastian, though he’s been picking up extra shifts and hasn’t had much time to hang out lately.
The day after Joseph left, I received a package.
There’s no return sender, but I assumed it was an early wedding present.
A few have been trickling in now and again.
Inside the box was Joseph’s blue tie. The one he bought to match my eyes.
It was such a sweet, thoughtful gesture, and then there it sat in a box.
I pushed it aside and found a note.
This is as tame a package you will receive.
Leave now and I won’t be forced to take this any further.
He’s mine. Leave.
Sincerely,
The ONE Joseph thinks about when he’s fucking you
P.S. Loving Vegas!
I gripped the kitchen counter, my stomach churning. I tried not to give its words life, meaning in my head, but it was hard to ignore.
How do I know it’s Joseph’s tie? I rushed to our closet to see if his was still there.
I didn’t find it in our closet.
Like his father and brothers, all of Joseph’s ties are handmade silk with his initials stitched into the back.
I turned over the tie in the box, praying I didn’t find what I was looking for, but right there in perfect calligraphy stitched letters was JPM.
Joseph Patrick McIntyre. How did she get Joseph’s tie?
When was the last time I saw him wear it?
P.S. Loving Vegas.
He’s not cheating on me. She’s not there. She wants to put doubt in my head. Play with me. She’s succeeding!
All those thoughts swirled in my head, and when he called that night, I feigned a headache so he wouldn’t know something was wrong.
I can handle this. I trust him. It can wait.
If he knew another package came, he’d screw up his trip to fly home to make it right, to ensure I know it’s not true.
My heart knows it’s not true, but it’s his tie—his tie for me.
How did she get it? Whoever the hell she is.
True or not, someone is fucking with us. And this someone is capable of getting hold of such a personal item and knows Joseph is in Las Vegas. This is not good.
For the next few days, I go to school and back.
Bury myself in my studies and help Teddy when he needs it, but with Joseph out of town, he doesn’t seem to need much help.
When I talk to Joseph, I make it short and sweet, trying not to give anything away, keeping the conversation on him and what new technology caught his eye.
It’s not hard for either of us to get lost in tech talk.
“Are you sure you’re okay, Samantha? You seem a little distant.” His low voice makes the ache in my heart that much worse.
“Yeah, I’m just busy with school and tired. I haven’t slept well with you not here.” All of that’s true. I don’t tell him that the thoughts racing around in my head are contributing to my lack of sleep.
“I miss you.”
“I miss you too.” Madly. Deeply. Truly. Heart-wrenchingly miss him.
“I can’t wait to see you tomorrow. I’m going to devour you as soon as I see you.”
“I can’t wait.” I squeeze my eyes shut, tapping my forehead, trying not to think about the letter. Signed, the one Joseph thinks about when he’s fucking you.
No! He’s not interested in anyone besides me. I won’t let her get under my skin.
“Oh, I have that thing with my mom tomorrow. So, I’ll see you when I get home.” I’d completely forgotten about it. Jace and I are supposed to join my mom for a family counseling session. I’m dreading it nearly as much as showing Joseph the package.
“That’s right. Do you want me to meet you there? I could cut out of the afternoon session and catch an earlier flight so I can go with you.”
“No. Don’t miss the end of the conference. I’ll see you when I get home.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive.” No, I’m not sure at all. But it’s the right thing to do, to say.
“Okay. I love you, Sweets.”
“I love you, Caveman.”
“Bye, baby.”
“Goodbye, Joseph.”
The silence that hangs in the air after I hang up is stifling and eats away at my confidence to remain silent. I can’t tell anybody about this. I promised Joseph I would come to him first, but I can’t tell him now and mess up his trip. It can wait. I’ll survive.
I combat the loneliness with working out. After I change, I head to our ensuite gym. I could go to the Omega Tower Gym two floors down, but I don’t need fancy equipment. I only need the treadmill and blaringly loud music to beat the thoughts out of my head and exhaust my body so I can sleep.
Tomorrow.
He’ll be home tomorrow.
Joseph
My intuition is screaming at me. There’s something wrong.
But I choose to listen to what Samantha is telling me.
She’s not being distant. She’s tired and missing me.
I can relate. I haven’t slept well since I’ve been gone either.
I miss her, but I also miss her sexy body pressed against me all night long, reminding me what my dick was made for. I head home tomorrow, and I can’t wait.
It’s the last full day of the conference.
Tomorrow morning, we have meetings scheduled with a few tech companies that have promising products I’d like to acquire.
These are not the products we saw during the dazzling expo.
These are the little-known hush-hush products that are not quite off the ground and might be a few years away from the marketplace.
Now is the time to secure and foster them to fruition.
Whether that means partnering with them or full acquisition remains to be seen.
I meet Charles and the rest of my team for a strategy planning breakfast before we tackle today’s full agenda.
Securing my seat at the head of the table, I address the team.
“I won’t be in the main session today, so I’ll rely on you to be my eyes and ears.
” I get a few questioning looks, but I go on to explain.
“I’ll be attending a break-out session with other leaders in the technology industry, brainstorming what we can do to reduce our carbon footprint by minimizing the fallout when our new tech becomes legacy. ”
“Everything is about becoming green,” Jackson mirrors my thoughts.
“Exactly. We need to leave the world a better place than how we found it, which includes not leaving our new inventions to be shipped off to other countries to be burned, scrapped, and piled into already overflowing landfills when they become outdated,” I recap.
That leads into ten minutes of them giving me their ideas, which ends up giving me some great feedback to take to the session.
Once these guys get going and their free thinking is set loose, it’s hard to wrangle them back in.
Their neuropathways ignite as ideas are tossed back and forth to each other like a technology round of hot potato, moving faster and faster until they’re all lit up like a nuclear Christmas tree.
I love my job.
By the end of breakfast, everyone understands their mission for the day and what needs to get done in preparation for tomorrow’s meetings. As my phone vibrates in my pocket, I grab my stuff, say my goodbyes, and head out to find a quiet place to take this call.
“Tell me.” My mind is going a million miles a minute, racing with thoughts of Samantha mixing with those from my stimulating breakfast.
“Morning to you too, boss.”
I sigh, knowing I need to reel it in. “Good morning, Michael. What did you find out?”
“She received a package a few days ago.”
My heart sinks. Samantha, Samantha, Samantha. What are you doing, baby? Honesty. Remember?
“What kind of package? Do you know what’s in it? Did you talk to her?”
“From the security footage it looked to be the size of a shoe box. She didn’t mention the package. Therefore, I don’t know what’s in it. I assume you don’t want me to ask her about it.”
“No. I’ll address it when I get home tomorrow. I don’t want to upset her any further by discussing it over the phone.” I slip back into my hotel room, deciding I need a few minutes to regroup before continuing my day. “Did she seem upset when you talked to her?”
“We didn’t really talk much. You know how she is when we spar. She gets pissed she can’t kick my ass. So, yeah, a heart-to-heart wasn’t likely to happen.” He lets out a punch of air. “But she did seem a little somber. I’ll see if I can get her to hang out with me tonight if you want.”
“Everything else on the security footage looks okay? Nothing out of the ordinary? Nothing suspicious from Lydia? No Todd? She’s safe?”
He chuckles. “Man, how much coffee did you have today?”
“It’s not that…I just…” I pace to the window and look out over the Vegas strip, wishing more than ever I could have convinced her to come with me. “I hate being away from her. Her inner demon gets the best of her when she has too much time to think.”
“And you’re not here to ground her, reassure her.”