The Rules Read online

  “He won’t, as long as you’re careful. No bank account. Nothing in the public eye.”

  She laughed bitterly. “As if I ever wanted to be in the public eye.”

  The media frenzy surrounding the trial caused her name and image to be plastered in newspapers, online, and on the local news channels.

  During their relationship, Talon never saw her as a threat. He trusted that his intimidation tactics kept her securely under his thumb. But he was wrong. She was a key witness in the trial against him. She’d worn a wire and provided plenty of evidence, taking pictures of files and records, in exchange for immunity. So if Talon ever found her, she had no doubt he’d kill her. She collapsed his entire criminal enterprise and helped put him away.

  “I didn’t want to scare you, but I thought you should know,” Damian said.

  Terri lifted her head from her arm. “Thanks.”

  “Be careful.”

  “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. He’ll never think to look for me here. I pay cash for everything and there’s almost no paper trail.” Except for the safe deposit box at the bank that contained her birth certificate, change of name documentation, and the necklace from Gavin, she lived simply with no ties to the local community in case she had to leave under short notice.

  “You need any money?” Damian asked, looking out for her in spite of everything that happened.

  “I should be giving you money.”

  “Leesh, come on.”

  “You know it’s true. You lost everything because of me.” Damian invested his savings in the house flipping portion of Talon’s “business,” which turned out to revolve around inflated prices and easy closings fashioned by bribed appraisers and loan officers.

  “Because of him,” Damian said, voice hard. “You didn’t know when you asked me to invest.”

  “But once I knew the truth, I didn’t leave him.”

  She turned a blind eye to his questionable business practices because she appreciated being taken care of, having designer clothes, shoes, and handbags—possessions she could never afford on her own—and the peace of mind of having a place to lay her head. A vast change from the life she lived growing up and with her boyfriend of six years, with whom she lived simply in a two-bedroom apartment because he supported two households—theirs and the one for his wife and kids in Alabama.

  When she finally did question Talon, he turned on her and made it clear she could never leave him. The threats and abuse became a regular occurrence.

  “You paid for it by being his punching bag. If I’d known what he was doing to you…”

  No one knew. Not until the trial, when all her dirty secrets came out. The physical abuse. The verbal abuse. The times he forced himself on her.

  “Leesh, the past is the past. You paid your restitution when you went to the DA and helped them build a case against him. You risked your own safety to do that.”

  “So you forgive me, right?” she asked, quietly.

  “There’s nothing to forgive. You were a victim, too.”

  “Not everyone felt that way. A lot of people thought I got off easy.”

  “They’re wrong,” Damian said firmly. He sighed. “Listen, I have to get ready to go to my second job. You want me to call you later?”

  “No, you go ahead. I’m fine.”

  “You sure?”

  “Yes.”

  “Call me if you need anything. Anything at all.”

  “I will,” Terri promised.

  “I’ll give you a call tomorrow, okay?”

  “Okay. Bye.”

  Terri disconnected the call. She ran a hand over the soft fabric of her green dress, trying to remember the giddy joy she experienced during the hour and a half she spent with Gavin. The dress was new, purchased expressly because Gavin liked her in shades of this color. Lime green. Forest green. Jade green.

  She crossed her arms over her stomach. The nausea was gone but now a dull ache filled her gut.

  Rule number two, never fall in love. But she was falling for him. Hard. Breaking her own rule. She didn’t do love. Love brought too much pain.

  And what would Gavin think if he knew everything about her?

  ****

  Trudging up the walkway after the driver dropped her off, Terri yawned. She arrived at the double doors that led to the lobby of her building but paused with her hand on the metal handle. A knot of unease settled in her shoulders, and she turned around to scan the parking lot.

  She had the feeling she was being watched. No one sat in any of the parked cars, yet she couldn’t shake the feeling. Her eyes scanned the shadows beside the bushes and trailed over the grass and trees outside the wire fence.

  Her fingers tightened on the handle of the door. Nothing appeared out of place, but the uneasy feeling filtered into her stomach and sat—as large and heavy as a slab of stone. It kept her there, heart pounding, eyes darting to and fro. Still, nothing.

  Probably her imagination, paranoia setting in after the conversation with her brother. Shaking off the disquiet, Terri entered the building and rushed up the stairs to her apartment and shut the door.

  She slid across the chain. Flipped the first deadbolt. Turned the second deadbolt. Twisted the lock in the doorknob. She didn’t turn on the lights but walked over to the window and peeped through the blinds, surveying the parking lot.

  Still nothing. No movement, except for leaves rustling in the wind.

  Breathing easier, she sat on the bed.

  She was being paranoid. According to her brother, Talon was only released from jail yesterday.

  No way could he be here already.

  An hour later, she was sitting on the sofa when the phone rang. She snatched it up on the first ring. “Gavin,” she breathed.

  “Hey, there. I meant to call earlier, but I just wrapped up a meeting with my slave driver brother after we spent the night drinking with a bunch of executives.” He laughed.

  “They know how to party, I take it?”

  “Do they ever.” He yawned. “How was your day?”

  “I wish you were here,” she said softly, folding her feet beneath her.

  “Me, too.” He paused, quiet for a few seconds. “Are you okay? Your voice sounds funny.”

  “I’m fine. I just…” Her face crumbled. Hold it together, Terri. “Long day. Tired.”

  “I understand. I better go. I just wanted to call because I said I would. We have an early day tomorrow. I’m turning into my worst nightmare, a corporate drone.”

  “Stop.” Terri laid on her side with the phone pressed to her ear, the sound of his deep voice calming her fears and soothing her jittery nerves. “Pretty soon, you’re going to ask to be put on payroll. I can tell you’re starting to like it.”

  “Don’t tell anybody,” he said, lowering his voice.

  Terri giggled. “I won’t. It’ll be our little secret.”

  “Good.” He yawned again. “I’ll see you on Friday. Good night, Sweet Ass.”

  “Good night, Pretty Lips.”

  ****

  Gavin stared at the phone.

  “What’s the matter?” Xavier snapped his briefcase shut and picked up his jacket, on the way to his own room after their quick strategy session in preparation for tomorrow.

  “Don’t know. Could be nothing.” He tapped the phone on his palm. “She didn’t sound like herself.”

  “Maybe she misses you.”

  “Maybe.”

  But he wondered if it could be something else.

  Chapter Nineteen

  A bell was ringing. But why? And where?

  Terri’s sleep-drugged brain couldn’t discern the details in the limbo state she hovered in between sleep and wakefulness. Rolling over, she rubbed her eyes as the scent of smoke drifted into her nose.

  Her eyes snapped open and she glanced wildly around the room in an effort to get her bearings. The loud racket came from the hallway. The fire alarm!

  Scrambling from the bed, wearing only a pair of sho
rt shorts and a cami, she rushed into the living room. It was warmer in there. Quickly, she released the top three locks, but when she reached for the doorknob, the metal scorched her fingers and she snatched away her hand. The fire must be right outside the door.

  Wide awake now, she ran back into the bedroom and flicked up one of the blinds. The parking lot was crowded with her neighbors. Mr. Raymond stood out next to one of the other neighbors from the first floor, holding Max. Other people crowded around, some in pajamas, others wearing street clothes.

  Terri swung away from the window and tugged on a pair of jeans. She grabbed her purse from the nightstand, pulled up the blinds, and yanked up the window.

  “Help!” she screamed.

  A man wearing blue pajamas swung his head in her direction. He pointed. “There’s someone over there.”

  Terri stared at the grass three stories down, trying to gauge if she dared risk jumping. Better to have broken bones or a twisted ankle than be burned to a crisp.

  She tossed her purse to the ground and then sat on the window and swung her legs out. Moving slowly, she twisted her body so that she faced the outer wall, using her feet to provide friction and her hands to hold her up. Arms trembling, heart beating at a rapid pace, she dropped onto a lip of wood, maintaining a grip on the windowsill above her head.

  “Jump! We’ll catch you,” someone yelled. Four men stood below with their hands linked together.

  Terri took two deep breaths and summoned the courage needed to let go.

  “Come on!” one of the men called. “Don’t be scared.”

  The money!

  The thought dropped like an anvil into her thoughts.

  No. No. In her haste to escape, she completely forgot the thousands of dollars hidden under the mattress.

  Gripping the ledge, Terri tried to hoist herself up. Her right foot slipped and she scraped her arms in the struggle to stay on the ledge.

  “Come on, sweetheart, we’ve got you,” a man called from below.

  Panting, Terri fought to pull herself up again. Dammit. Why wasn’t she stronger? She couldn’t see the fire from her vantage point, but it was obvious the flames had entered her apartment by the generated heat.

  “Come on, honey, jump!”

  One more time, Terri made an effort to lift her body higher, but she didn’t have the strength. All the money she spent the last three years saving would be lost. But not just the money, all her books. Her clothes. The snow globes.

  Tears of frustration filled her eyes. Shoulders slumped in resignation, she looked over her shoulder at the men below her, took a leap of faith, and jumped.

  ****

  Terri sat with knees pulled up to her chest in the hotel room watching the news through puffy eyes that burned from a long bout of crying.

  According to the reporter on the scene, the firefighters suspected arson at Stack Home Apartments. The flames spread quickly because the perpetrator used an accelerant. The fire started on her end of the hall, and her shaggy-haired neighbor died in the blaze because he didn’t get out on time. A few people suffered from smoke inhalation, but other than the rock music lover, no other lives were lost.

  Thanks to the American Red Cross, Terri had a place to stay for the next few days and food to eat, but she lost all her possessions, including the phone she left charging on the bureau in the panic to escape.

  Wrapping her arms around her knees, she wondered if Talon could have started the fire. Would he risk killing others to get at her? Could he have found her already?

  Terri burrowed under the covers and curled up on her side. She didn’t want to think anymore.

  Everything she’d accumulated on her own was lost. She’d have to start all over again.

  Chapter Twenty

  Terri picked up her purse in the back room of the salon. She removed her keys, attached to a pink rhinestone-decorated tube of pepper spray, and then slung the bag over her shoulder. She didn’t think Talon caused the fire, suspecting that when he came at her, he would use the direct approach. He’d want her to know it was him, but she purchased the spray anyway as a precaution.

  “See you guys in a couple of days,” she called on her way out. Her co-workers had brought in bags of clothes, all stored in the back of the Jimmy, until she could get on her feet again. She called Alannah from the salon and gave her an update and left a message for Gavin, too, letting him know where she was staying.

  She exited the salon into the early evening. A light mist of rain dropped from the sky, and she pulled a mini-umbrella from her purse and popped it open. She paid close attention to the surrounding area, clutching the spray tight in one hand. Hurrying to her vehicle, she almost tripped when she saw Gavin get out of his gold sports car, parked right next to hers at the end of the aisle.

  Her mouth went dry, and her knees weakened, almost buckling under the weight and intensity of his gaze. She took him in, from the top of his button down shirt and crossed arms, to the Bruno Magli loafers on his feet. She couldn’t see his eyes, though. They were hidden behind a pair of sunglasses.

  “You can always tell the people who aren’t from Seattle. They carry umbrellas.” He spread his arms wide and she tossed aside the umbrella to fling herself into him. His strong arms folded around her.

  “I’m so glad you’re here,” she said softly into his shirt, so weak with relief she sagged against his hard torso.

  “I got your message,” he murmured in her ear.

  Terri lifted her head from his chest. “The past day or so has been hectic. I don’t have a phone. I don’t have anything. I lost my clothes, my shoes, everything. I took off work tomorrow so I could just…think. I don’t know what I’m going to do, where I’m going to stay. If—”

  Gavin cupped her face and stemmed the rapid flow of words. He looked deeply into her eyes. “I’m here.” The words had the desired effect, calming her beating pulse and letting her know she wasn’t alone.

  Swallowing against the lump swelling in her throat, Terri lifted her arms around his neck. Rain sprinkled dew on their skin and created a light haze around them. She pressed her lips to his, and his mouth moved gently over hers in a sweet and comforting kiss.

  “Let me take you to dinner, but I want to show you something first.”

  “Gavin, I don’t have anything to wear out. These jeans and T-shirt are the nicest clothes I own right now.”

  He smiled into her eyes with such tenderness, her heart melted and she forgot the fears of the past couple of days. “What you’re wearing is fine. Come on.”

  Terri didn’t argue, relieved that for now, she could stop thinking and let someone else take the lead. She walked around to the passenger side where he waited with the door open and slipped onto the seat.

  When he was seated behind the wheel, she asked, “Where are we going?”

  He started the car and glanced at her. “You’ll see.”

  They drove into the heart of downtown Seattle and pulled up to the door of the Four Seasons Hotel. She frowned at him, but he didn’t say a word. The valet opened her door and Gavin came around and handed the young man the keys to the car.

  They rode the elevator in silence and then exited on a floor where there were only two doors, one to the left and the other to the right.

  Gavin used a key card to open one of the doors and held it wide so she could pass through before him. She stepped onto the hardwood floors and gasped at the beauty of the place. “It’s an apartment?”

  “Condo. You can buy private residences here at the Four Seasons.”

  Terri’s mouth fell open at the spectacular view before her. “Is that Elliott Bay?” She dropped her purse on the table beside one of the sofas and rushed over to the window but took a step back when a wave of dizziness hit her after she looked down. A place like this must cost millions.

  “It is. Let me show you the rest of the place,” Gavin said. He kept a reserved tone to his voice.

  He walked ahead of her, opening doors and acting as tour guide
as they went to the back. “Two bedrooms, a home office, and a media room between the two bedrooms.”

  The view in the master bedroom was just as breathtaking as the one in the living room. Plenty of glass with more views of the water, and a terrace with a view of the mountains in the distance. The ginormous walk-in closet was literally larger than her entire apartment, with shelves and racks waiting to be filled with the finest wardrobe.

  They left the bedroom, and he showed her the well-equipped kitchen with top-of-the line appliances, and even a wine cooler and a huge pantry with a step stool inside the door.

  “What do you think? You like it?” Gavin asked, leaning against the counter.

  “Of course I like it!” Terri gushed, which prompted a smile on his face. “It’s absolutely beautiful. You did good. Are you giving up the house and moving in here?”

  “No,” he replied.

  Why show her all of this if he wasn’t moving in? “This isn’t your condo?”

  He shook his head. “It’s my sister’s old place, and she was going to put it on the market since she and Lucas found a house, but I convinced her to hold off before selling it. I like the location and it’s really nice. I leased it from her for a year, but I won’t be staying here.”

  “That doesn’t make any sense. Why would you…?” Comprehending what he’d done, she hesitated, an almost undetectable flutter of apprehension filtering through her bones. “I-I don’t understand.”

  “You’re going to stay here,” Gavin said. “It’s yours, for the next year at least, to help you get back on your feet. You have a concierge at your disposal, 24-hour staff to accommodate your needs. Fitness center, pool—all the amenities of the hotel and then some.”

  “You can’t do this,” Terri said quietly. “It’s too much.”

  “Already done.” He removed the sunglasses, stuck them in the pocket of his shirt, and locked eyes with her. Holding up the key card, he said, “This is yours and this is your home. It is absolutely and completely yours to do with as you wish. If you don’t feel like cooking and want to have a meal brought up from the kitchen, that’s fine. Come and go as you please.”