Читать книгу Postcards From…Verses Brides Babies And Billionaires - Rebecca Winters - Страница 105

WREN FELT AS if the air had been sucked from her lungs. He made her sound so…weak.

But the truth was, she couldn’t stay in New York. She had no job, no purpose. When she wasn’t on a mission for someone else she had no direction. What was she supposed to do? Sit around all day working on paintings that would never sell while slowly dying from the fear that Rhys would one day realize she was talentless? That she wasn’t going anywhere in life?

He was a go-getter. A person totally in control of his life, of his career. He would be successful in whatever he chose to do.

“Is it so bad that I want to do right by the people in my life?” She asked, hoisting her bag over one shoulder. “That I want to help people?”

“Help yourself, Wren. One day you’ll be grateful you did.”

“I told you from the start that I wasn’t going to be here for long. I was never planning to stay.”

He nodded, the expression on his face impossible to read. He was shutting her out; she could tell from the way he looked at her, almost as if she was invisible. Like he was looking through her.

It hurt far more than she was prepared for.

“I’ll send Quinn back in,” he said. “She’ll take you through what needs to happen next.”

As he walked out of the meeting room and disappeared into the office, Wren blinked away tears. Perhaps it was for the best. She’d potentially damaged his career, lied to him and misled him… Why would he want anything to do with her after that?

You’re doing the right thing. You’re taking care of the people you care about.

But didn’t she care about Rhys? Spending last night in his arms had made her feel so complete. So whole.

At that moment her phone started to vibrate and Kylie’s face flashed up on the screen like a sign.

“Hey,” she answered.

“Wren, I felt so bad about what I said last night.” Kylie’s voice was tight, her stress evident. “I’m sorry I told you not to call. I’m just… I’m messed up right now.”

“It’s fine. I shouldn’t have pushed you,” she said. “Anyway, I’ve almost wrapped things up here.”

“Does that mean you’re coming home soon?” The desperation in her friend’s voice made a lump lodge in her throat.

“Your wish is my command.”

“You don’t know how happy that makes me. I miss you so much.” She paused. “Are you okay? You sound upset.”

“I’m fine. I’m just worried about one of the other interns,” she said. It was the partial truth. Kylie didn’t need the burden of Wren’s relationship woes on her shoulders. “Sean has been roughing her up and I think he’s taken her paintings, too. He’s got this whole scam on rotation.”

“Shit. You figured that out, huh? I was too ashamed to admit that he convinced me to trust him. He was just so charming and nice, he said I had talent…”

“Kylie, you are not at fault for what happened to you. He took advantage of your trusting nature and he chose to abuse you. That is not on you.” She paced the office. “I wish you’d talked to me about it…but I understand why you didn’t.”

“He made me feel like no one would believe me. Did you know his dad is a judge? He said even if I decided to report him nothing would happen because his father had gotten him off before.”

“Son of a bitch,” she muttered, shaking her head. She wasn’t going to tell Kylie of her plans to help rope Sean into confessing; Kylie would only try to talk her out of it. “How’s everything at home? Are you settling back in?”

“Yeah, I guess. I’m still really sore, but Debbie has been wonderful. She keeps visiting and bringing board games over to distract me. Last Saturday she skipped going out with her friends so we could have a movie night.”

Wren said a silent thank-you to her sister. “She’s got a big heart.”

“So do you, Wren. Though I would have preferred you to be more like Debs and play games with me instead of going off on a vigilante mission.”

“I don’t want anyone else to go through what you went through.”

“Me, neither.” Kylie sighed. “But maybe I’m selfish and I just want my best friend to be here with me. It’s much safer.”

“We’ll get him, Ky. I don’t give a shit if his father is a judge, we’re going to get proof of what he’s doing.” She swallowed. “He has your paintings, too, doesn’t he?”

There was a sniffle on the other end of the line. “I should have said something to you about that, but he said he’d make me pay if I told anyone. I didn’t even tell the therapist because I’m afraid he’ll find me.”

“He won’t find you, Ky. I’m coming home to look after you.”

“He said I owed him. That they were payment.” Her voice sounded far away.

“We’ll get them back, okay? I promise.”

Rhys might be right about her always doing things for other people, but that was just who she was. Since it was clear he didn’t understand that about her, it was probably best that she was heading back home.

A FEW DAYS later they were poised to make their final move on Sean Ainslie. Rhys had almost bitten his nails down to the quick. Technically, he wasn’t supposed to be part of the team overseeing the surveillance of Wren’s entry to Ainslie Ave. But he’d talked Owen into allowing him to observe in case anything went wrong from a technical standpoint.

Owen knew it was a bullshit excuse, but he hadn’t argued. So long as Rhys didn’t intervene in any way, he was free to observe.

They’d decided not to involve the police at this stage because it was unclear how deep of an influence Sean’s father had. A corrupt judge would have many connections, and they didn’t want to risk someone tipping him off. They just had to hope that Sean was cocky and stupid enough not to suspect Wren was taping him.

If he was going to bet on the reliability of anyone being stupid, it would be Sean Ainslie.

“She’ll be okay, Rhys. I promise.” Quinn placed a reassuring hand on his arm as they watched the screens capturing the footage from the gallery. “She’s feisty. I appreciate that.”

“I don’t,” he muttered, pretending to check his emails on his phone to avoid Quinn’s raised brows.

“Bullshit, you love feisty women. How on earth would we be friends if you didn’t?”

“You’re my employee.”

She rolled her eyes. “Next time you need help with a firewall, I’ll remind you of this conversation.”

“I told her not to do this.” His stomach churned as the speakers wired to her mic crackled to life.

“Looks like she hasn’t taken that advice.”

He grunted. “It wasn’t advice.”

“What was it supposed to be? A command? I’m surprised she didn’t tell you to shove it.”

“I was looking out for her.”

“No.” She shook her head. “You’re trying to instruct her how to live her life. Those are two different things.”

“Are you saying I’m bossy?”

Quinn studiously tapped away at her laptop, making sure the recording function was set up for the Ainslie Ave cameras. “That would be putting it mildly.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“We’re not friends, remember? I don’t have to be nice to you.”

God, he was really not in the mood for bantering with Quinn today. “I’m going to fire you one of these days.”

She snorted. “I can see why she dumped your ass.”

His head snapped up. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

How had she figured out that he and Wren were together? Nothing connected him to her except the conversation he’d had with Logan, and he was pretty sure his boss wasn’t about to spread that information around.

“Logan said there were some complications in you working on this case. I get the impression you’re not supposed to be here today.”

He grunted in response.

“And I took the fact that you even knew her name to mean something was going on between you two.” When he raised a brow she continued, “Normally you only care about the numbers. It’s all stats and KPIs and closure rates. You never take an interest in the people side of things.”

“You make me sound like a dictator.”

“I get it, the numbers are an important part of your job. But there was mad tension in that meeting room when we were setting this whole thing up. Wasn’t difficult to put two and two together.”

He sighed and leaned back in his chair, turning away from Quinn’s sharp, analytical gaze. “Doesn’t matter now, anyway. As you said, she dumped my ass.”

“Because you were a prick.”

“That a fact or just an educated guess?” he said sarcastically.

“I’m gonna plead the Fifth on that one.” She tucked her feet up under her so she was perched on the chair like some kind of punk Buddha. “So, you got in trouble, huh?”

“Dammit, Quinn. Are you trying to piss me off?”

“No.” She held her hands up, but a smile tugged at the corners of her lips. “Not at all. I’m kind of impressed actually. I’ve never seen you break the rules. Well, except for that one time where you accidentally put recycling into the regular trash can.”

“Shut up.”

“Seriously. You never push the boundaries. She’s got to be one hell of a woman to tempt you to the dark side of employee misconduct.”

Their argument was cut short when Owen called for a quick powwow over the speakers. He was near the gallery with Wren, making sure she was appropriately wired up. They had Jin, another senior security consultant, inside the gallery posing as a potential client in case things got nasty. Two more security consultants were positioned outside, ready to storm in if Jin or Wren needed backup.

But the layers of contingency didn’t put Rhys at ease. He felt sick to his stomach that she was going to be walking in there to face that son of a bitch. But no amount of logical reasoning had been able to talk Quinn and Owen out of this plan. The thing was, if it had been anyone else in her place, he wouldn’t have batted an eyelid.

Ainslie needed to be taken down and this was the best way to do it.

“Have you told her you care about her?” Quinn asked once Owen had stopped speaking.

“No,” he admitted. Why would he when it was clear she never had any intention of staying? Nothing he’d done had changed that…so why cut himself open in front of her?

“No?” Quinn raised a brow. “Why not?”

“It’s none of your business.”

“You’ve been miserable ever since she offered to do this. I know what that feels like, trust me.”

“Wren and I are not the same as you and your loverboy.”

“Maybe not. But you care about her and I haven’t seen you care about many people. I have to wonder why that is.”

“I made the right decision,” he said, ignoring her comment. “It was tough but—”

“Yeah, yeah. Tough but fair. I’m familiar with the motto.” She smiled and let the snarky expression drop. “Look, I’m not trying to tell you what to do. But, from one friend to another, maybe think about what that motto means. Tough doesn’t necessarily mean you have to push people away.”

“I know that.”

But it was hard not to push people away, or at the very least keep them at a distance. It was easier not to get involved, not to risk anything. Still, Wren had managed to sneak past his barriers without him even noticing.

Pain wrenched in his chest. Why hadn’t he tried harder to stop her? She didn’t have the training for this. She was driven totally by her emotions and impulses, which meant she hadn’t considered the consequences.

If something happened to her today…

She could get hurt and she’d have no idea how he felt; she’d have no idea that he loved her.

He sat stock-still as the truth burned through him. He loved her. It wasn’t a shock; the feelings had been brewing for a while. But this was the first time he’d admitted to himself just how deep those feelings went.

What if he’d realized too late?

His gut twisted in response. Quinn was right; he’d tried to command Wren to live her life according to what he wanted. Instead of offering support like a decent person would do, he’d been a bossy asshole.

He made a promise then and there, as he watched Wren appear on the security-camera screen, that he would tell her he loved her when this was all over. No matter what, he would tell her.