21. Claire

For the first time since I"ve known him, Charleston walks by me without referring to me as a pastry or making me generally uncomfortable. The stillness amongst the people working in the cubicles, coupled with their silence, makes me wonder what happened while I sat in the accounting department. Edward stands outside of Julian"s closed door. He reaches for the knob, but then stops and walks away.

I don"t know what Charleston did, but I"m certain I need to be the one to clean up the trail of chaos he"s leaving behind. After knocking softly against Julian"s office door, I hear the harshness in his voice.

"Come in."

My heart thumps against my chest as I enter and close the door behind me. Julian"s standing in front of the windows, his arm pressing above his head like a pillow to rest his forehead against it. The pink hue of his skin shows the redness of his anger fading away. I don"t hesitate, going to him, ready to wrap my arms around him, but I have something else in mind.

One hand reaches up to stroke the side of his face, and the other reaches down, grabbing his crotch. The shock of my touch breaks through his anger. He offers me half a grin and a chaste kiss.

"What did he do to make you angry?" The words come out so soft, it barely sounds like I"m speaking.

Julian rests his forehead against mine. "Exist."

A stunted chuckle, and timid smile encourage him to follow me as I lead him to his chair. After Julian sits, I kneel in front of him, his eyes follow my every motion. My hands unbutton his slacks, pull the zipper down and grip the waist. The subtle squeak of his chair"s cushion breaks the silence when he lifts up for me to slide his boxers down.

My only goal is to relax him, to make him remember that even on his worst days, I"ll be here to make him feel better. His member is soft until I grab it. My hand moves slowly back and forth, a catalyst to his erection, and I psych myself up to ensure I don"t nick him again.

The smooth head of his cock entering my mouth draws a moan out of Julian. He leaves his hands on the armrest while I get comfortable with his growing erection in my mouth. I wrap my lips around the head, sucking gently and using my tongue to inch down toward the base.

The more he moans, the better I feel about this moment. I want my mouth to be the only mouth he thinks about when he pictures his dick being sucked. There"s a level of confidence growing inside of me, knowing that Julian Blackwell wants me, he comes for me, only wants his cock inside of me.

Every lick, lap, and suck over his weighty inches gets me excited and wet for him. I want to feel him inside of me, but I don"t want to be selfish in this moment. I want to finish what I start. Well, I want him to finish in my mouth.

My head bobs up and down, with my lips covering my teeth to avoid my last issue performing for Julian.

"Fuck Claire, come here," he commands, disrupting my plan to have him come down my throat.

Julian pulls my face toward him, kissing me as he hastily undoes my pants and slips them down. I pull one leg out to straddle above his crotch. Julian lets out a sigh of relief when I sit on his cock. He slides in to the hilt with me facing him and his hands guiding my body.

"Yes," he pants as we move in unison. Our rhythm picks up as Julian stands, never sliding out of me to put me on my back on the top of his desk. He slides in and out of my pussy, taking control to bring me to orgasm quickly.

The sound and aroma of us christening his office create a memory I"ll never forget. The faster he fucks me, the longer I want this to last. The pressure and pleasure combine, making me whimper under his thrusts.

"That"s right. Come for me, Claire. Come all over me." His words are raspy, coming in short spurts until I feel his climax emptying inside of me.

My pulse races as Julian leans over me, kissing me gently before pulling his softening erection out of me.

"Thank you for that." His voice is soft, almost apologetic that something as simple as sex could be a mood stabilizer.

"You don"t have to thank me, Julian." I let him help me off the desk. Slipping back inside my pants, I turn to his desk and notice the thick envelope. I pick it up, raising an eyebrow, and holding it out to him. "What is this?"

"Charleston brought it as a contribution to my political campaign."

"When did you decide to run? And aren"t donations supposed to be tracked? Government oversight and all that?" I ask him.

Julian shrugs. "Charleston said he"s in trouble and needs me to run for office to funnel this money through the campaign."

"Wow. That sounds illegal."

He nods. "Very much so. Money laundering to be exact."

"Are you going to do it?" I ask him. I hate that after everything Charleston has put his family through, he still places Julian in impossible situations.

"I might have to, Claire. He has a lot of secrets. Not just his own, but mine, Edward, Fiona, my mother, this company, my uncle. He even has stuff on your Dad."

"What? How did that happen?" My pulse races as the only images of my father are wholesome bits from my childhood, the first ten years of my life with him, and the memories of him in videos with my mother. The man in those videos cannot have secrets the likes of which would be useful to a man like Charleston Blackwell.

"Charleston killed a woman, a prostitute he kept as a mistress. He shot her after she threatened to expose their affair. He got help getting her out of the house. That person dragged me along to dump her body, but he kept the gun."

"Oh my god," I gasp. "and this was while he served as a judge?"

Julian shakes his head. "Actually, it was way before and it led to my mother leaving him. Charleston wouldn"t let me go live with her and took his frustrations out on me. That I told you about. What I didn"t tell you, was that about three or four years later, Edward used to spend the night at the manor. Charleston came home and didn"t like that, so he beat the crap out of me."

Tears form and fall for young Julian, but I still don"t know how this ties into my Dad.

"I was so angry at him, broken, physically and emotionally, that I got the gun he used to kill that prostitute and shot him with it."

I turn around as if Charleston"s about to walk in, glancing at his office door.

"He survived, but your Dad played a big role in that. He took the gun and got rid of it, but convinced Charleston to stop beating me or else the gun would find its way to the police along with the location of the buried body. Your Dad hiding the gun kept me out of jail for attempted murder and kept Charleston out of jail for everything he did to me and let him get away with murder."

"I…how…I don"t know what to do with that. That"s not the man who loved me. That"s not the man who fought off carjackers to get to me and lost his life trying to save me?—"

Julian cuts me off. "That"s exactly who Derek was! He gave his all to the people he loved. I"ve loved him and Edward like brothers my entire life because they kept me safe from that animal. And in return, I make sure they want for nothing. Edward doesn"t need to be my head of security for any other reason than he"s tormenting himself with guilt that I got the worst beating of my life because Charleston discovered him asleep in my bed."

"All of this happened in the manor? The home I have been sleeping in? The home where we train and live?"

"It"s been renovated and redesigned, Claire."

"And you said that Carmine Scarpella was a mob guy? I felt awful that night. A dangerous person I invited to my birthday party when you have a murderer just parading around insulting everyone, and provoking Edward and Fiona every chance he gets! Don"t even get me started on how Charleston makes my skin crawl when he calls me Eclair."

"Claire, don"t go there."

"You told me if I knew what Carmine did, that I"d want him dead. Since you"re being so open, what could a perfect stranger have to do with me? Tell me now, Julian."

"He"s a mob boss who runs a carjacking operation. Has been and still is. He hires street punks to steal cars and because he owns so many warehouses off the docks, he puts the cars right inside cargo containers as soon as they're stolen. They"re halfway out to sea before they"re even reported as missing."

It takes a while for my brain to connect the dots. My mind is swimming through every revealing piece of information Julian"s telling me. It can"t be. "He had my father killed?"

"According to my sources, it wasn"t on purpose. The guy who stole your car all those years ago didn"t expect your Dad to fight for you. Your father wouldn"t let the guy leave with you in the back seat. Derek got a bullet and you got pulled out. I"m sorry Claire."

"So, what happened to him? The man who shot my father?"

Julian looks away. "He was taken care of."

"By whom? You? Edward?"

"Armande. I"m handling the corporate killing of Carmine, he"s taking care of the street side of things. I know this is a lot, Claire."

"It"s more than a lot, Julian, it"s the missing piece to a giant fucking puzzle I"ve been trying to piece together for so long. Why would someone like you take me in? Train me like I"m applying to be some mercenary. You are at war with a mob boss. Your guilt and loyalty to my father?—"

"Has kept you safe," he stammers through clenching teeth. "I"m tired of keeping things from you, Claire. If you"re ready to pursue anything with me?—"

I cut him off this time. "Don"t do that to me. You could have told me this before I shoved your cock down my throat."

"I gave you what you wanted. I"m not always a good man, Claire. I don"t always make the right choices. I"m fucked-up most days, and the only thing that keeps me sane is my purpose. My purpose to keep this company as profitable as it is because it employs thousands of people and now, protecting you is a part of that purpose."

"I need some time to sit with all of this."

And like a bell ringing to end a boxing round, my phone shouts its generic ringtone from my desk just outside his closed office door. Thankfully, it"s Danny. Just the distraction I need to step away from this disaster Charleston managed to leave behind.

"Hi, Danny. How are you feeling?" I ask her.

"Much better. Hey, listen, I"m going to be near your office later, around four. If you want, I can take you out as promised to celebrate your birthday."

"I"d love that. You don"t care if Bonnie comes, right?" I ask her. "I don"t think she"s off the clock until after eight."

"That"s fine. I promise not to make fun of her." There"s an awkward cadence in Danny"s tone, but I ignore it and confirm the details of us meeting up later.

After getting off the phone with Danny, I poke my head into Julian"s office. "I"m going out with Danny tonight."

"Claire, I don"t think that"s a good idea."

"Well, it"s a good thing that it"s not your idea then. Bonnie will be with us, on duty. I was just giving you a heads up since I need to get out of this office. The stench of Charleston and his trail of bullshit devours everything in his path. Someone needs to put a bullet in him."

I pause, shaking my head and realize I"m thinking like a Blackwell, not like Sue-Ellen Anderson. At this point, she"s the only reasonable person I know and the fucked-up part is that I don"t have a vivid memory of her. They"re all on videos, pictures and in the mind of 2-year-old Claire.

I need to clear my head, get my mind wrapped around it all. I leave Nuvola with Bonnie, only coming back to the building later in the day to grab Danny so we can go out to eat. It"s the only piece of normalcy in my life right now, and it"s exactly what I need.

Bonnie"s taking turns and heading toward an area of The Bay I"m unfamiliar with. It"s only when Bonnie notices the drastic change of scenery that she speaks up.

"Danny, I know you said this place was popular?—"

Danny cuts Bonnie off. "It is. There"s this influencer, they go by Beef Belief, and they just rate restaurants and this place is supposed to have the best Mexican-Japanese fusion menu on the West Coast. I"ve been dying to go and I really want you guys to try it with me."

"Danny, this neighborhood is a no-go. Pick somewhere else," Bonnie tells Danny as she pulls over, refusing to drive further.

"Okay," Danny says without any fight whatsoever. Normally it"s a knock down drag out argument between the two of them whenever Bonnie tells Danny to do something. Danny is naturally combative when it comes to Bonnie, but I guess since this is for my birthday dinner, she can simply pick another spot to eat.

By the time Danny picks a restaurant, the sun"s already set and the evening air feels alive. It"s just a Wednesday, but it feels like a weekend as we drive past small restaurants with live music blaring from inside. However, Danny takes us even further past every place that looks fun. When we end up at a steakhouse, I feel underdressed in my clothes from work. The clothes I had sex in and hadn't thought any further about.

"There"s no parking over here." Bonnie grimaces as she turns over each shoulder to gaze out of the car windows. "Um, you two head inside and I"ll come join you in a second."

Danny and I get out of the SUV and walk inside where a host stands at a podium. I whisper to Danny. "I think we need a reservation."

She shrugs it off. "Probably, just come outside with me to make a call and I"ll have us put on the reservation list. The service is shit in here."

I follow Danny outside as she holds her phone away from her body to get a signal. She walks away from the restaurant and I continue to follow her.

"Do you want me to call? I am Julian Blackwell"s assistant. I can get us a table," I tell her.

"No, don"t. I"m supposed to be doing this for your birthday. Let me figure it out. Oh, look there"s a cafe. They probably have wi-fi and that will let my call go through."

It doesn"t make sense to me, but I find myself getting nervous. Something doesn"t feel right.

"Hey, look," I nudge my chin toward the woman running at us from down the street. "Isn"t that Bonnie? What is she doing?"

"I"m sorry, Claire," Danny"s voice drops as she lets her hand fall to her side.

"RUN!" Bonnie"s cry reaches me, but it"s too late. The blunt force of something connecting with the back of my head, has the faint taste of tin tickling the back of my throat just as the world around me fades to black.