23. Isla

23

ISLA

The doors opened and Jerry smiled at me, holding his hand out for me to step off the elevator. “Thank you,” I returned his smile.

I could feel Kavanaugh at my back, breathing down my neck. The man just couldn’t stop. He looked like he’d rushed over here to be by my side. It was an interview. I didn’t need him tagging along and pretending to be my assistant.

“Would you give us just a moment?” I asked Jerry.

He must have sensed I was not happy because he nodded and motioned down the hall. “The office is the last one at the end. Join me down there when you’re ready.” His eyes lingered on Kavanaugh for just a moment before he turned and walked away.

“What the hell are you doing?” I hissed.

“You left without saying a word.”

“Because I had an interview. You knew that.”

“I told you I wanted to be with you.”

“For what?” I asked, disbelief coursing through me.

“To protect you.”

I almost started yelling at him, but now wasn’t the time. I had to get in there before this whole thing was shot to hell. “Just do me a favor and stay silent.”

“Of course,” he muttered, but somehow I doubted he could do it.

Taking a deep breath, I turned and strode down the hall, entering the office with a smile on my face. Jerry was already at the conference table getting set up, so I pulled out the research I had done, along with all my ideas for the company.

At first, everything was going fine. He asked for a little information about my background and where I saw my own company headed. After that, we got into ideas for a launch and different areas I could help market. But when I mentioned how I thought he was undervaluing his social media and presented him with a few models I had made up for the company, that’s when I really snagged his attention.

“Amazing. You’ve done a wonderful job capturing the essence of the company.”

I beamed with pride, but tried not to let it show too clearly on my face. I opened my mouth to thank him, but was interrupted by Kavanaugh, who had sworn he would stay silent.

“Why don’t you have someone working in-house on your marketing?”

Jerry turned to him, taken aback by his question. “Well, until now, we’ve been expanding rapidly by word of mouth and some fumbling around in the dark,” he said, turning to face me with a wink. “Which is why we need someone like you.”

“There are plenty of graphic designers in the business and in this area,” Kavanaugh continued. “Why her?”

I turned beet red, shooting a death glare at him.

“Well…I did my research and I liked her style.”

“She is amazing,” Kavanaugh beamed, hopefully saving his asinine comments. But then he opened his mouth again. “Then again, it seems a little strange to me that you would fly in a woman for an interview that you’ve never met before, put her up in a fancy hotel, and pay for all expenses. I would think a growing company would put more stock in what she can offer and less in trying to manipulate her with free things.”

I wanted to die. Seriously, if the ground swallowed me up right now and I suffocated a horrible death, it wouldn’t be nearly as bad as sitting through this interview and watching my boyfriend tank the whole thing out of some insane need to protect me from a client.

“I don’t think he’s trying to buy me,” I smiled at Jerry. “And I appreciate the value you put on my work.”

Jerry shifted his attention back to me, but I could tell this interview was coming to an end quickly. “Like I said, your ideas are wonderful. As for the other stuff?—”

“No need to explain. I took it as a compliment that you felt I was worth all the trouble to get out here.”

“Well…I think that’s a good place to end things for now. I’d like to discuss this further with my wife. She couldn’t be here today. Maybe we can meet again tomorrow when she’s available.” His eyes flicked to Kavanaugh. “Perhaps alone.”

“Of course,” I said, getting to my feet. I gathered my things as quickly as possible. The need to run from the building and never return was strong, but if I could survive a second meeting, I might just get the job. I held out my hand and shook his, hoping Kavanaugh hadn’t ruined everything. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“How does ten o’clock sound?”

“Perfect.”

And with that, I was turning around and striding out the door. My heels clacked on the tile, and I pretended that with every step, I was stabbing one of my stilettos into Kavanaugh’s heart. I heard him rushing to catch up to me, but the way I was feeling right now, he didn’t want to be within ten feet of me. Luckily, the elevator doors were opening just as I approached. I got on and glared at him, not that he avoided me because of the look on my face.

“Will you hold this?” I asked, shoving my briefcase at him.

He grabbed it, falling back against the wall with how hard I shoved it at him. Then I slipped off the elevator and headed for the stairs. I kicked off my shoes and was running down them before I heard the door open behind me.

“Isla!”

I didn’t care what his excuse was. There was no need for the bullshit he just pulled in there. He could have cost me a job. My feet pounded down the stairs and my shoes dangled from my fingertips as I rounded each corner. I pushed open the door at the foot of the stairs and poured out into the lobby, quickly slipping on my shoes before rushing out the front door.

With a quick look in either direction, I settled on heading right. There were more people on the sidewalk, which would make it easier to lose him. My hair was another issue. I turned down a street and then slipped into a coffee house, waiting in the corner to see if he’d followed me.

“Running from someone?”

His voice sent a shiver down my spine. Spinning around, I nearly smacked him for scaring the shit out of me. “IKE, what the hell are you doing here?”

His smirk was the only answer he gave. Then his eyes flicked toward the window and he pulled me back a step as Kavanaugh strode past, looking in all directions. He shoved his fingers through his hair as he desperately searched for me. But I didn’t care. I didn’t want to see him now, and not even his panic over losing me would make me step out of the shop. Finally, he turned and headed back in the direction he came.

“I take it all is not well in paradise,” he murmured, his breath slithering over my skin. I shivered at the warmth and quickly stepped away from him, angry at how easily he riled me up.

“You still haven’t answered my question. Why are you here?”

“Because your boyfriend asked me for a favor.”

“To spy on me?” I asked, my eyes narrowing on him.

“No, to look into something. I just happened to see you speed-walking down the street and I thought I’d find out why.”

“So, you weren’t following me?” I asked, not believing him for a second.

“If I was following you, I would have told you when you asked. Coffee?”

I didn’t want to spend any time with IKE. He made me…feel things. Not necessarily for him, but he had a way of pulling information out of me that I wasn’t sure I wanted to give. But I had rushed out of the hotel this morning without a bite of food, despite Kavanaugh demanding I eat breakfast. “Sure. But you’d better be buying. My wallet is in my briefcase, and my briefcase is with Kavanaugh.”

He grunted and walked over to the counter, pulling out his own wallet. I scoured the menu for something that looked good, then ordered half the pastry menu and a coffee.

“Hungry?”

“Starving.”

“So, how was the interview?”

I sighed, not at all surprised that he knew about it. “It could have gone better. Kavanaugh showed up.”

“Ah, well, that explains the attitude.”

We moved down to the pickup counter and waited for our order. I expected him to pry some more or poke at me for being with Kavanaugh. It wasn’t that long ago that he told me Kavanaugh would never commit to me. Well, he had. Maybe a little too much.

“So…what have you been up to? Killed anyone else lately?”

He sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets. It was irritating how good-looking he was all the time. He made a suit look sinful, and that scruff along his jaw…not that I was comparing him to Kavanaugh. I loved Kavanaugh.

Most days. Maybe not today.

Today, I was pissed as hell at him. I didn’t even want to see him. But that didn’t mean I didn’t love him. I just wanted things to be different. I wanted him to trust me and not burst into my meetings and pretend I couldn’t vet a company on my own. I’d done my research. They were perfectly legitimate.

“Isla.”

“Huh?” I asked, jerking my head toward IKE.

“Your food.”

“Oh, right,” I mumbled, grabbing the order and my coffee. I followed IKE over to a table and sat across from him, stuffing the first bite of muffin into my mouth. It was filled with cream cheese and tasted so freaking good that I moaned around the second bite. It wasn’t until the third bite that I noticed IKE watching me carefully, his eyes tracing every move.

“What?”

“Do you always eat like you’re about to have an orgasm?”

I covered my mouth to keep from spitting out my food as I choked on it. “Excuse me?”

He quirked an eyebrow at me, taking a long, slow sip of coffee. “I had no idea muffins were that good.”

“Have you never eaten a muffin?”

He shook his head slowly, then leaned forward and opened his mouth. I had no idea what to do. He was just sitting there with his mouth open in a coffee house. That was weird, right?

“You want the rest of my muffin?”

“You don’t want to share?”

“It has my spit on it.”

He got a wicked gleam in his eyes before snatching it out of my hands and blatantly licking the spot where my lips had just been before shoving it in his mouth.

Okay, that was not at all sexy. Liar.

I cleared my throat and moved on to the next pastry, hoping he wouldn’t make a spectacle of it in any way. “So, you’re here for work,” I said, changing the subject. “I don’t suppose you’ll tell me what Kavanaugh wanted you to look into.”

“I’m looking into a hitman.”

I was about to shove a scone in my mouth, but instantly lost my appetite. “Why?”

“To find out if he’s coming after you.”

My blood chilled as I stared at him, waiting for him to tell me this was a joke. It had to be. Why would anyone put a hit on me? I was just a graphic designer. But instead of pointing at me and laughing about the joke he just pulled on me, he pointed at my scone.

“Are you going to eat that?”

When I didn’t answer, he picked it up and started eating it without a care in the world.

I shook my head slightly, confused by the change of events. “How—what—” I didn’t understand. Why would he say something like that? “Who would…do that?”

“Your ex,” he said, chewing the last of the scone.

“Shawn?” I laughed at that. “He’s?—”

“In the hospital. Not dead. And if you think a man who tried to blow you up wouldn’t put a hit out on you, then you’d be wrong.”

“But I didn’t do anything!”

“Somehow, I doubt that matters.”

“But…did he?”

His face hardened slightly. “Not that I can tell.”

“Not that you can tell? What does that mean? He might, but you’re not sure yet?”

“Precisely.”

“But I don’t?—”

He gripped my hand, instantly calming me. My eyes shot up to meet his. Instead of the aloof expression from just moments ago, his eyes were pure steel. “I didn’t tell you because I wanted you to be scared. I told you because you can handle it, and you deserve to know the truth.”

The truth. He was here because of Kavanaugh. That explained so much—why Kavanaugh followed me to my meeting and why he wouldn’t leave my side. He thought Shawn was after me again, and instead of telling me about it, he hid it from me.

More fucking secrets.

“I think I need to go.” I shoved back from my chair, no longer interested in the food or coffee.

“I’ll walk you to the hotel.”

I nodded absently, running through it all in my mind. It was unbelievable. Shawn was in the hospital. I just couldn’t believe he would do something so crazy, and yet…IKE was right. If he was willing to blow me up, why wouldn’t he escalate to something like this?

Before I even realized it, IKE had my arm and was guiding me out the door. There was a protective air to how he was holding me, making me feel safe when my nerves were frazzled. Knowing he was here watching was enough to put a hold on the fear and allow me to function again.

“Thank you for walking me back.”

He shot me a side-long glance, his eyes burning with questions. Finally, he nodded. “You’re welcome.”

It was as if no one had ever told him thank you before. “So, you think there’s not actually a threat.”

“Not likely, no.”

“Then…everything’s okay. I don’t need to worry about people running me down at stoplights or standing too close to windows.”

“I doubt it would happen that way, but no, I don’t think it’ll be an issue.”

We stopped in front of the hotel and IKE pulled out a pack of cigarettes, lighting one up as he leaned against the building.

“You shouldn’t smoke. It’ll kill you.”

“So will stepping out in front of a bus.”

“Yes, but you wouldn’t do that on purpose.”

He rolled his eyes. “Fine. Eating too many pastries will kill you too.”

“Well, I’m not going to avoid food.”

“I’m not avoiding cigarettes,” he countered. “I guess we’re both screwed.”

He stiffened, standing up taller as his eyes flicked behind me. I turned around just in time for Kavanaugh to wrap me in a hug, his arms squeezing me way too tight.

“Thank God. I didn’t know where you were. You scared the shit out of me,” he said as he stepped back.

I wasn’t sure why, but my eyes shifted to IKE for just a second. To catch his reaction? To tell him I was okay? I wasn’t sure. Clearing my throat, I put more space between myself and Kavanaugh. “Why? Because you thought I might get shot?”

His eyes immediately went to IKE in accusation. “You told her?”

“Did you not want me to? My bad,” IKE said, not at all sorry for telling me the truth.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked, my anger returning.

“I had no proof, Isla. I didn’t want to worry you until I knew if my gut was right.”

“And how long has your gut been telling you something else is going to happen?”

When he didn’t immediately answer, I stormed past him into the building. I’d had enough for today. I still had to prepare for tomorrow and salvage my last opportunity to land the job. It didn’t matter right now what Kavanaugh did. There were more important things to consider. But as soon as I got to my room, Kavanaugh was there.

“Isla, please. Hear me out.”

The door beside ours opened and Anna stepped out, her eyes widening as she looked from me and then to Kavanaugh, whose eyes shuttered. I scoffed as I realized that not only had he called IKE out here, but also Anna, and probably Fox.

I allowed him to open the door for me, but when I stepped inside, I blocked his path. “You can get another room for the night.”