Without saying a word, Rico left the room. I closed my eyes and spent the rest of the night sitting in my office chair, staring out the window, wondering what Emily was doing right now, wondering what she was thinking at this very moment, and wondering how she would react when the two of us came face to face again.
For the past few months, all I'd wanted was to find her and bring her home. I exhausted all efforts, and after about a month ago, I had nowhere left to go. Emily didn't have any family left after her mother died. She had no one except for me. I was her family. I was her provider. I was her everything. After all I'd done for her, she left me for a new city, a new life, and a new guy. Things between us weren't perfect, and I knew I had anger problems, but I had promised her that I was getting help. I promised her that things would get better.
Hours passed before Rico came back into my office. He sat down in the chair in front of my desk with a small stack of papers. "Sorry it took me so long, boss. The private detective was having trouble finding information on Emily. I'll tell you now, there's not much, mainly the basics."
"Just tell me what you've got." The anticipation that was rolling around inside me, mixed with all the other emotions, was making me sick to my stomach.
"Well, she's been working at an event company. They put together parties, weddings, things like that. She lives in a small apartment in Brooklyn, and well, that's about all, really."
I narrowed my eyes on him. "And what about Reed Alexander?"
"Well, he's a little different. All you have to do is search his name on the Internet and you find out all sorts of information on the guy. He works in real estate development. He's successful. He owns a lot of properties in New York and a few in London. Oh, and his parents were murdered a couple years ago. His sister, Lexi, was injured, but she survived. Pretty messed up, though. I have pictures." He glanced down at his papers and shuffled them around.
"I don't want to see any more pictures." He stopped and looked back up at me. "Let me see what you've got on Reed Alexander."
He handed me the small stack and I slowly went through the information. "So it says here that he took over his dad's company and has been living in London for the past couple years, but he recently moved back to New York."
"Yeah, that's right," Rico said.
"Well, let's find something that interests Mr. Alexander and we'll pay him a visit. Then, we'll go check on my girl and see if she's missed me."
EMILY
WHEN I first saw the magazine with my picture in it, I thought my days were numbered. I couldn't tell you how many times I looked over my shoulder, expecting to see Jake there, but it had been weeks since the Black and White event and so far nothing had happened. Absolutely nothing.
After a week of staying with Lexi and no sign of Jake, I realized that I had to stop being afraid. I had to stop letting him control my life. There was a good chance that he hadn't seen the pictures. If he had, he would have found me already. So, from now on, I would just have to be more careful.
I moved back to my place. At first, Lexi was reluctant to let me go. She said she would only let me leave if I took Peters and Warren with me. I told her I needed to do this alone. I needed to prove to myself that I could do it. She was confused and frustrated, but then, just like I knew she would, she understood. She knew what it was like to want to get on with your life—to force yourself to be brave and find yourself again.
She wasn't happy that I hadn't told Reed the truth yet. I promised her I would, but now I'd been back home for a couple weeks, and I still hadn't followed through with that promise.
It wasn’t that I wanted to keep it from him. Things had been so great between us lately. Reed and I officially became a couple. With the event done and over with, it was almost like we were a normal couple, doing normal couple things. I didn't want to ruin that with the dark cloud of my past.
My phone rang, pulling me out of my reverie. I had been lying in bed for hours, but I didn't think I slept much at all. Even though I had been back at my apartment for a while now, I still had trouble sleeping. It was going to take a while for me to feel safe again.
Reaching my hand over to my nightstand, I grabbed my phone and smiled when I saw Reed's face pop up on my screen.
"Good morning." Just knowing I was going to hear his voice soon put me at ease.
"Actually, it's good afternoon here," he said. "Did I wake you?"
"No, I've been up for a while." I sat up and scooted back to lean against the headboard. "How's London?"
He groaned. "I've been in more business meetings than I can count. I'm tired and ready to come home. I miss you."
I smiled. I missed him, too. "Only a couple more days, right?" I rubbed my eyes and threw the covers off. Coffee. I needed coffee.
"So what did you do last night?" he asked.
I didn't miss how he ignored my question. Maybe he was going to have to stay for a few more extra days. That would be disappointing. I was really looking forward to seeing him. Before he had left for London, we had grown close. Our relationship had gotten better, stronger.
"I went out with Christine." I leaned against the sink and filled the carafe full of water. "We just went out for dinner. I was home in bed by eleven." However, I don't think I slept for more than a couple of hours all night. I didn't tell him that, though.
"And what are your plans for this evening?" he asked.
Probably sulking because I’m missing you. Reed and I had made a habit of having sleepovers during the week. Mostly me over at his place. It was the only time I would sleep well through the night.
"I'm not sure yet." I pressed start on the coffee pot and then walked over to the window to pull back the curtains. Blue skies and sunshine. "It's a beautiful day. I may go take a walk in Central Park later or something, but other than that, I’m not sure."
"It's rainy and overcast here." He groaned loudly again. "I'm so ready to come home. I really wish I could see you tonight."
"Well, that may be difficult since you're halfway across the world." I laughed, wishing more than anything I could be there with him or he here with me. I didn't want to wait one more day. I was already missing him like crazy.
"That could easily be changed, you know. All you have to do is say yes when I invite you to come with me."
I laughed again. "I have this thing called a job. I'm not sure Sharon would like it if I just took off on a week-long trip, especially when you didn't give me much notice." I closed my eyes, trying to picture his face—his lips, his eyes—and his arms around me. I wanted to be lying next to him more than he knew. Being with him made me feel safe—safer than I had felt in years.
"I miss you," he said, his voice soft. "If I was able to come home early, would you do something for me?"
I wedged my phone against my shoulder and tied back the curtains. His voice was teasing and deliciously cute.
"And what would that be?"
"Well, I could come up with a few things, but I have one in particular in mind."
A huge smile spread across my face as I moved to sit on the couch behind me, staring out the window. My thoughts went from happy and thinking of Reed to pain-numbing fear when I noticed a dark car parked across the street. Reed was talking, but I didn't understand anything he said. I focused on the car, an eerie feeling crawling up my spine, causing a sharp pain in my chest. It's just a black car, Emily. Don't freak out. Even if it looked like a car that Jake usually took when he was on his business trips, it was New York City. There were a lot of black sedan town cars. I'd seen plenty of those cars around the city. Why was I worrying about it so much now? I knew why. I knew that it could be him inside of it right now.