Blended (Redemption #1) (41 page)

I made sure not to be there when she was done cleaning up. After I called Lola from her phone and informed her of the situation, she said that she and Holden would be over shortly. The knowledge that she’s with another man right now, one that she might successfully seduce, has left me empty.

I’m now seated at my desk at Brass Global for the first time in months as I try to distract myself from the events of the last day. I’ve contacted human resources to let them know that I want to terminate Lawson Stafford’s employment effective immediately. I’ve also spoken to the police about pressing charges against the bastard. In addition, I’ve made certain that Adriana will receive her raise. It’s one hell of a salary, and she will soon be getting an email regarding it.

My mother came by for lunch in my office earlier as well. She was beaming when she saw me back at my desk and in a place where I belong. She’s asked me about Christmas, and what my plans are, but I don’t have the energy to think about it. It’s a couple of days away, and the furthest thing from my mind. I told her that I’d join her at her home, though.

She asked about Hadley, but I chose not to speak of her. Those stories are for her to tell others as they do not belong to me. They might scar my memory, but they have permanently scarred her body. Her heart. After my mother left, Isla called to inform me that the doctor had gotten back to me with the results of Hadley’s blood tests. She had ingested a large amount of Rohypnol. Anger is still pumping through my blood with the knowledge of what he did to her, and what more he was planning to do if I’d decided not to go to her.

I’m having a difficult time dealing with this, unsure of how she must be feeling. I push the thought aside, and manage to bring myself back to the present.

I’ve been watching the sun slowly set over a white Chicago. The snow has let up now, but it’s predicted that we’ll get hit once again this evening. I stand and move to the glass that separates me from the
normal
down below.

I reach for the phone that usually sits in my pocket when I realize that I’ve given it to Adriana to keep once again in an attempt to get my life back on the track that it once was.

There’s a knock on my door before it swings open and I turn to see who interrupted the solemn moment. “Mr. Brass?” Adriana walks in with two officers behind her. “These gentlemen would like a word with you in regard to Lawson Stafford.”

“Very well. Hold all of my calls.”

“Yes, sir. You also have another visitor who does not have an appointment to see you afterward,” she says as she closes my office door. I turn to the men and gesture to the two chairs in front of my desk

“Good evening, gentlemen. Please, have a seat.”

By the time my personal interrogation is over, and the investigators have enough information to file charges against Stafford, I’m satisfied. His trial date will be expedited and bail will in all likelihood be denied. Following the trial and his certain conviction, he will be sent to prison for up to ten years. I had my lawyers on the call at one point to have them remove him from Brass Global entirely as well as to change Stafford’s Casino and Resort’s name to Brass Casino and Resort. There will be a press release going out about it tomorrow morning, and I cannot wait for this fucker to get what he deserves. By the time they leave, it’s past ten in the evening, and a new blizzard has overtaken the city. The only thing that I am able to see through my windows is the cascade of snowflakes as they hide the city behind a dense blanket of white.

The thought of returning home and having to sleep in a bed that smells of Hadley guts me, so I choose to stay at Brass Global for the evening. I push open the door, deciding to collect my phone from Adriana’s desk, when I’m greeted with the silhouette of a woman standing across the now-dark room. The reflected lights from the city light her up from behind, and I’m fixated on her.

It’s only now that I remember Adriana saying that I had a guest waiting for me once I finished with the officers.

She turns when she hears my footsteps against the flooring as I take a hesitant step toward her.
Hadley.
I raise my eyebrows in disbelief. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”

“Hi, Whiskey.” She walks toward me before stopping few feet away, keeping a safe distance.

“How long have you been here?”

“Uh, I arrived just as the police officers did.”

“You should get home. The storm won’t let up until the morning, and I believe that you’re not supposed to be alone.”

She shifts her position and pushes a curl out of her face. “I’d rather be stuck in the same place as you, Wade.”

“Hadley, I told you that I refuse to be a coping mechanism. You’ve been through more than your fair share of pain, but I cannot be a simple moment of relief for you.”

“I don’t want you to be. I, uhm, I think I automatically went there this morning, and if you hadn’t stopped me, then I would have slipped up. But you did stop me, and in that moment I realized that I still mean something to you, or you could have just gone with it. You didn’t just want me for what I was offering.”

She looks up at me before continuing. “You want more from me.”

“You’ve always meant more to me than a physical act, and you still do.”

“I know, but it made me realize that maybe I may still mean something to you after being so foolish.” She pauses for a moment and glances down at her feet, and then back up at me. “Wade?”

“What is it?”

She takes a hesitant step toward me again and then glances down at her feet once more when she says, “I do miss you. I made a mistake in leaving, and I regret it immensely.”

Her confession derails me. I’ve known that she’ll always mean something to me, but I never thought that she would regret leaving me or that she would still want to be with me. She’s had two months to get over me and move on, but by the look of it, she’s done neither.

“Come here,” I instruct her.

No matter how much effort I put into it, I cannot stay away from her. There’s always been something different about her, and I deserve to have her—I want her. She also deserves the happiness that came of our relationship.

She doesn’t move when I ask her to come to me, so I take the steps that separate us and tilt her chin up until she’s looking into my eyes. “I’ve missed you, Hadley. You have to know that.”

She purses her lips at my confession and slowly reaches out to rest her hand on my chest. I watch her closely as her body language changes from closed off and petrified to open and clean by setting aside the hurt and betrayal and her beaten soul.

“I need you. Some days I just need you more than others, and today is one of those days.”

There’s something beautiful about her needing me. She’s always been self-assured and guarded, but her telling me that she needs me is her way of letting me in. I reach for her hand, and she allows me to intertwine my fingers with hers as I pull her toward me. “Do you want me?”

She’s made herself susceptible, showing me her strength, courage, and dignity. She may not realize exactly how sensitive she is, but it provides me with many more reasons to treasure and love her deeply.

“No, Whiskey, it’s more than a want. I feel empty without you. I don’t know how I have been living without you. Nobody sees or knows just how much you affect my life. You uncovered the real me, and I don’t want to experience this me without you any longer. I can’t bear it.”

The reality is that I’ve felt very similar feelings. I’ve fought with myself to come up with different excuses for the void, but once you’ve met the strongest person you know and that person heals you without your knowledge, it’s difficult to ignore. She’s the purest form of love that I will ever experience.

“Let me fill that emptiness inside you, Rye.” I take her lips, stealing her breath while her defenses are down. I feel her break underneath my lips as she kisses me back with more self-assurance than I have seen in her before.

She breaks away from our kiss to speak. “I shouldn’t have left you when you needed me.”

“Shh, Rye. All that matters right now is that you are in my arms. It’s where you belong.”

Her tears start to flow as she leans her head against my chest, allowing her emotions from the last two months to take over. I risk injury as I lift her in my arms and carry her toward a single wingback seat in my office, closing the door behind me as I do. I take a seat with her in my lap and pull her body as close to mine as humanly possible.

“I’m sor-ry,” she stutters through her tears.

“You need to understand that I refuse to let you run again. This is it, Hadley. You’re mine, and I won’t share you with another.”

“You’re the only one that I belong to—belong with. I’m in love with you, Waylon Brass. I haven’t stopped because I can’t. I don’t know how to live without you anymore.”

“I know. I love you, Rye.” My chest aches with her spoken words. I don’t need anything but her tonight, and I need to show her exactly what she means to me. I need to give her a reason to stay.

We haven’t said much to each other since our confession of love a few moments ago. He makes the notion of love believable, as well as something that I want to be involved in. Yes, it comes with those sticky residual emotions, but I don’t mind them when he has his arms locked around me. Blended might be his safe place, but he’s mine.

The past two months have been filled with mistakes and regrets. I don’t think that I have ever hated myself so much before. I ran away from the one thing, the one person, who made my life worth living. I’ve had a lot of time to think over the reasons as to why I ran from him, but none of it makes any sense now. All of the reasons why I told myself that I needed to leave seem trivial today. None of them even matter anymore because when I’m with him, he makes me forget about the negativity that has consumed my life. I ran from the love, comfort, and security that he unselfishly provided me, but now I want it back—all of it and more.

I feel him nuzzle me as I watch the confetti-sized snowflakes fall from his windows in the sky. His grip on me hasn’t loosened for a second, and I think that he believes that I will leave as soon as I’m given the option to again, but I won’t.

“Thank you,” he says softly into my ear.