9. Mark My Words
nine
Mark My Words
Dawn's tentative rays slipped through the curtains they forgot to close last night.
Iris stirred, her eyelids fluttered open.
She came to weighed down by hot and heavy limbs.
Slowly, she rolled onto her back and she could see his face.
The sight of Nash drew her up short. His features were softened in a way she'd never seen before. It wasn't just sleep that caused it.
Perhaps the weight of his confession had pulled him down all these years.
Iris didn't know, but she took a moment to enjoy it just the same.
His arm curled around her possessively, and she sighed deeply.
Content with her lot in life. It was amazing how her life changed so quickly.
One night and everything felt different.
If given the choice, she would have never gone last night. But, in this one instance, she was glad that she didn't have a choice. Dinner with her family was cathartic, and then his confession was something she never knew she needed.
As she stared at him, his eyes slowly blinked awake.
"Morning," she murmured, voice still thick with the remnants of sleep.
Nash shifted, his gaze finding hers, a rare flash of something that looked surprisingly like vulnerability glinted in his eyes before it disappeared.
"We need to get moving," he said abruptly.
The timbre of his voice a gentle rumble.
"Office again today." He expected her to come with him again, that much was clear.
But this time, she didn't mind. Instead, she smiled at him.
He stared at her for a long moment, then leaned down and took her lips in a deep kiss.
She sunk into it, more than happy to stay right there.
Inside the bed, she was happy. Outside of it? Reality waited for them and she knew it was only a matter of time before something came up and wrecked her perfect moment. A tightness squeezed Iris's chest, but with effort she forced her words to be light and airy. "I'll bring a book this time."
He smirked, an expression that tugged at her heartstrings. She had few memories of him looking so pleased. "I have something better," Nash declared. "The contracts for our wedding vendors. I'll get you everything you need to see what we have planned. You can have the final say on everything."
Her eyes bulged. Her shock was palpable, and it took her a moment to nod, dumbstruck by the sudden shift in control—by the trust, or perhaps the calculated risk, he was taking.
If she didn't like something, she had no power to force him to change it.
She had come to terms with that. After how their first meeting in Arizona had gone, she had given up any hope of having her wedding look anything like what she wanted.
Added on top of that, when he mentioned they would be married immediately, there would be no time for anything elaborate.
But then again... Her eyes fell on the ring he gave her on that boat in Arizona. It was perfect. Just what she would have picked out for herself. As if it was designed from her own mind.
Maybe it wasn't some coincidence after all.
Her eyes cut to him. He was a man in control.
A man who ruled his life with an iron fist. Was there really any chance that the ring was some fluke?
No… It was much more likely that he read her mind somehow.
Suddenly, she found herself suddenly eager to see the wedding he had planned for them.
With one more press of his lips, he rolled out of bed.
He strode naked to the bathroom, unconcerned with his nakedness.
She followed suit. She stepped into the shower behind him, wrapping her arms around his slick waist. If she was hoping for a sexual release, her hopes were quickly dashed.
He made it clear that it would not be a fun shower.
He turned around and made quick, efficient work of scrubbing them both and then rushed them out of the shower.
They dressed in relative silence, a comfortable tension hanging between them.
He left her to fix her hair and makeup. It didn't take her long, but she made sure to look her best. Going to his office and seeing everyone on his floor again sent uneasiness racing down her spine.
She'd prefer to have armor, and a perfectly dolled up look is as good as she was going to get.
When she left the bedroom and went towards the foyer, she found Nash waiting for her. A bagel in his hand, smothered in cream cheese.
"You'll have to eat on the way this morning. I've got a meeting I'd prefer not to reschedule."
She smiled, but confusion rose within her. She'd never been allowed cream cheese, let alone bagels, when she was with him before. It was Daisy and Dhalia who introduced her to the deliciousness that was a bagel.
How did he know?
Exactly how extensive was the surveillance he had on her? Could it all just be chance? She shook off her questions, accepted the bagel with a smile and followed dutifully after him.
They stepped into the elevator, and she took the time to enjoy her breakfast. They descended quickly to the lobby. She wanted to be done before she walked out there, but shy of shoveling it all in, there was nothing to be done about it.
They crossed the bustling lobby together.
If it wasn't for his hand on her elbow, it would have been easy to get separated.
She'd never seen it so busy before, she looked around with a furrowed brow.
Why was there so many people? They finally broke through the crowd and stepped out into the street.
Iris breathed a sigh of relief. People still streamed all around her, but being out in the open still gave her some small reprieve.
"Nash!" a voice from behind them called out.
He turned, but the crowd somehow kept a hold of her.
She was pulled forward and pushed several feet onto the sidewalk in front of the building before she was able to escape the flow of people.
She looked for Nash, but he was no where around her.
They were separated, but Iris shrugged internally.
It was not like she was incapable of being alone. She would just wait for him in the car.
Before she made it to the glistening black SUV, something drew her attention to the right. It sounded like a pained wail. An animal? A child? She didn't know, but they sounded hurt. Concerned, she quickly popped the last of the bagel into her mouth and followed the sound.
She rounded the corner of the building, revealing a deserted alleyway.
There in the shadows was a woman. She didn't recognize her, but something niggled at her brain.
Some familiarity that she felt she should have been able to place.
With caution, she stepped further into the alley.
The woman's hair fell forward in a dirty mess, partially hiding her face, but what she could see was etched with desperation.
Iris hesitated, her instincts were screaming danger, but compassion nudged her closer.
Perhaps the woman needed help, she might be hurt or suicidal.
"Can I help you?" Iris asked, her voice steady despite the unease curling inside her.
The woman turned suddenly. Her manic eyes locked onto Iris's, and recognition slammed into Iris too late.
Sarah.
She tried to back away, but Sarah moved with near inhuman speed. Lashing out violently. Her hand grabbing at Iris before she took two steps. Iris tried to scream, but found her vocal chords frozen. Her mind flashing back to the hatred she saw in Sarah's gaze when Nash fired her.
Sarah's grip was like iron, her eyes ablaze with a madness that chilled Iris to the bone. With strength she shouldn't have had, Sarah pulled her around and clamped a hand roughly over her mouth. A dirty rag was shoved into her mouth and Iris tasted the bitterness of the cloth.
It was gagging her screams, which were now coming easily. She reached up with her free hand to rip the cloth away. But before she could, pain exploded on her left side. It sent her crashing to the hard pavement beneath her.
Iris fell to the ground with a muffled grunt.
She looked up and saw Sarah holding a bat and panting rapidly.
Her eyes were wide and bloodshot. A bat.
Iris huddles over her side where she now knew a bat smashed into.
The pain was terrible. Something deep inside felt broken, terror raced through Iris.
"Mine," Sarah hissed venomously, her hands wrapped around the bat menacingly.
"He's mine. If I can't have him, no one will.
You should have stayed gone!" She threw the bat away and dove over Iris's huddled form.
Her nails raked viciously down Iris's face, each scratch burning.
"See if he loves you when you're covered in scars.
" Her laugh was mad. Terror washed over her, bile churning in her stomach.
Whether from fear or pain, Iris didn't know.
The world spun, Iris couldn't focus on anything but the pain. Sarah reached for her left hand, the one with her engagement ring, and then laid it flat on the ground. She placed her knee on top of it and pushed down with all her weight.
Iris screamed into the rag. The pain was excruciating.She could feel the bones being crushed and her vision began to dim. It was unlike anything she had ever experienced before.
"You should have stayed gone!" She screamed at her inches away from her face.
The sound so loud it made her ears ring.
Her head was pounding with pain. No doubt concussed from the blow before.
Dimly, Iris wondered if Nash would hear her, but the thought was fleeting.
Because Sarah sunk her fingers into her hair, gripping the strand painfully.
With manic laughter, she lifted her head up, and then slammed it back down on the concrete.