Silence that Sizzles (8 page)

He got back into the cab, and Kelly joined him a moment later. He felt the weight of her stare as he pulled one of the pills out and popped it into his mouth. He downed it in one swallow. He put the rest into his pocket. Just in case he needed them later.

“What the hell was that?” Kelly finally asked breaking the silence.

“A refill. What did it look like?”

“That man didn’t want to give it to you.”

“Yeah, well, Dr. Clarkson is a pain in the ass on the best of days. He’s got a pretty sweet set-up here considering his specialty is shifters. He needs to start remembering who pays the majority of his paycheck.” Dr. Clarkson was the on call physician at the club for fight nights.

“I can only assume that your extreme reluctance to tell me what that pill was you took means it’s something illegal.”

“Not illegal. Just something that isn’t available in wider distribution because those six pills he gave me cost more than most people’s monthly rent.”

“Kyle…” she started, but Kyle cut her off.

“One thing at a time, okay? You need help, and I need a clear head. That’s what taking that pill gets me. Once we get to our appointment, things will start making sense for you again. I promise.”

“How can you possibly promise that?”

“People come to us for help for a reason. We help people who don’t know how to help themselves. I need you to trust me.” They rode in silence for a few moments. He knew that he wasn’t going to be so lucky as to have escaped her questions about his condition.

“What was the hallucination about?” The question was asked cautiously, as if she was afraid of what his reaction was going to be. She had a right to be concerned about that. Kyle was not an open book. Often, the questions she had asked had set him ablaze with anger even though he kept a tight lid on it.

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

It would sound crazy to say that he was haunted by the face of a woman he didn’t know. A face that had been part of his life ever since he lost twelve hours all those years ago. But up until the night before in the club, the face had only been in his dreams. He had never seen her when he was fully awake.

Suddenly, he felt a rush of elation. Maybe everything wasn’t for naught. If the face was real, that meant he could go after it and find her. He could make her answer his questions. Maybe the woman knew what had happened to him during the missing hours of that night. Maybe, if he found out the truth, he had a shot at being normal.

Kelly had been watching his face carefully. “Okay.”

“Okay?” Kyle said suspiciously. “That’s it?”

“I’m not your doctor, Kyle. At least, not anymore. You were right to say that. You don’t have to tell me anything. I thought you might want to tell me because if nothing else, I am your friend.”

Kyle turned that word over in his mind.
Friend
. Friend was not a word that he wanted to describe the relationship between himself and Kelly. He was going to say so when the cab pulled up to the curb at their destination. It was another conversation that was going to have to wait. Right now, he needed to focus on Kelly’s problem. The face, and the conversation about what was going on between them, could wait.

Kyle paid the driver as they got out and stood on the sidewalk. Kelly looked up at him expectantly. She read the sign on the front of the building. “Carmichael Industries.”

“We need to talk to Eric. He’s made time for us in his schedule. I know he has another important meeting in less than half an hour, so we will have to make it quick. Once I get a sense from him of what he thinks, then that will determine our next move.”

“Okay.”

Kyle was definitely suspicious now. He had known Kelly for a long time, and it wasn’t in her nature to just go with the flow. Hell, she had tried to run away from him less than thirty minutes ago. “Again, just okay?”

“I’m going to trust you, Kyle. I came to you for help, and if you think Eric can help me, then okay.”

Kyle was skeptical but accepting of her explanation. They had wandered into new territory when it came to their relationship. He guessed he should feel flattered that she was willing to trust him. He wasn’t as keen about introducing her to Eric, however.

As they made their way up to the top floor in the elevator, he tried to think of the best words to explain his best friend to Kelly. “Eric can be a bit much.” He thought for another moment about how to phrase the next words that he would say. “And when I say a bit much, I actually mean he’s a bit of an asshole.”

Kelly started to laugh. “I’ve seen the YouTube videos. I’ve heard him in his media interviews. I got the sense that he was that type of man.”

“I don’t mean it like he is a bad asshole. He’s actually a good guy.” Kyle wasn’t sure why he was trying to justify Eric’s behavior. Eric was an asshole. Eric was also very proud of that fact. He had built a billion-dollar company from nothing. He was one of the richest men in the entire world. He had people flocking to accommodate his every whim. He was kind and generous to the people around him. But only if he cared about them, and that list was very short. It usually involved only a few family and friends. Kyle was never quite sure if he was on the list or not based on Eric’s attitude toward him. But nonetheless, their friendship had endured for over seventeen years. He trusted Eric with his life.

“I think you’ll like him.” There. Kyle decided that he was going to try and be an optimist about the situation. Eric wasn’t always that bad. He braced himself for the interaction. As they walked up to the desk outside of Eric’s office, Kyle smiled at the woman behind it. He missed Eric’s stepsister Thea, who had been Eric’s personal assistant until she got involved with Billy Miller. Thea now spent half of her time in Greyelf and half of her time in Copper City. That gave Eric fits, but Kyle was happy that Thea was happy.

“Hey, Thelma.”

The older woman looked at Kyle and shook her head with a grimace. “Mr. Carmichael is not happy that you’re making him move his meetings around.”

Kyle caught Kelly’s cocked eyebrow out of the corner of his eye. He knew what it looked like. Eric was the CEO of one of the biggest software companies in the world. Kyle had called him thirty minutes ago and told him he had to make time for him. He demanded a meeting right at that moment, and Kyle had gotten his way. Eric accommodated him. It looked suspicious, and Kelly had already almost guessed the truth in his clumsiness with trying to make her see reason at the hotel.

The trio was usually much better about keeping up the illusion that there was no alpha in their mist. But there had been an unspoken agreement between them for years. If there ever was to be an alpha of the Urban Dwellers, if that time ever came, it would be Kyle.

“Sorry if I made any additional work for you today, Thelma. We won’t take more than a few minutes, I promise.” Kyle was always careful to be kind and friendly to Eric’s employees. He figured it was because Eric wasn’t. Kyle was equally respectful and kind to his own employees at the club. He realized that often times they got the short end of the stick. He, Eric, and Tony were the ones reaping the financial benefits of all of their endeavors. Their employees benefited, but in a different way. It took no time at all to be kind. He saw Thelma smile at him. He knew that despite throwing Eric’s schedule into disarray, she would forgive him.

“You can go ahead and go in, Mr. Frost. He’s expecting you.”

He took a deep breath, put his hand on the small of Kelly’s back, and escorted her inside.

Kelly was nervous. She had heard a lot about Eric. She had heard it in different sessions with Kyle during his treatment. She had read about the third member of the Urban Dwellers trio in the many different interviews that he had offered over the years. Everyone was fascinated by the trio. So it wasn’t that strange that she did feel like she knew a little bit about Eric. While she found Kyle’s warning that Eric was an asshole amusing, she knew it wasn’t far from the truth. Eric wasn’t known for his patience, kindness or generosity. Eric was known for his ruthlessness, his snarkiness, and his complete insistence on always telling the truth, no matter how cruel or unnecessary it might be.

As they entered the office, she saw the man himself standing there staring out the window. She wasn’t sure what she expected of Eric’s office. It was the exact opposite of Kyle’s home. Here, there was plush furniture everywhere. There were paintings on the wall, and the walls were painted in vivid colors. Everything about the room spoke of opulence and wealth. Of course, she knew that by being one of the richest men in the world, Eric could have whatever he wanted. She wondered why Kyle had decided to come to Eric. She was curious about this part of the interaction. She couldn’t help it. Her researcher’s brain was constantly on.

Eric turned and looked at them as they walked in. He met Kyle halfway, and they shook hands. As Eric looked over Kyle’s shoulder at Kelly, she stopped. She tried to straighten her back and look professional. She was glad she had taken the time to change at the hotel before she left. She felt more like herself wearing her normal clothes. She wasn’t sure where this conversation was going to go, and she decided it would be best if she hung out in the background. She would be the observer. That wasn’t a role she was uncomfortable with either.

“I can only assume this demand for my time has something to do with her,” Eric said.

“It does,” Kyle said.

“Well then are you going to let me in on the fucking secret?” Eric asked. “Or am I supposed to guess?” His eyes went up and down Kelly’s form. She felt a flush of color rise in her cheeks. It was obvious that Eric was checking her out. What she didn’t expect was to hear the low growl that seemed to be coming from Kyle. She saw Eric’s eyes widened. She wasn’t the only one who was surprised by Kyle’s reaction.

“Calm down,” Eric said with an eye roll.

“Keep your eyes and hands off of her.” The words were spoken harshly. It didn’t sound like Kyle at all. Kelly wondered if she was hearing his bear. She needed to do something to diffuse the situation.

She approached Kyle carefully and stood just behind him. She offered her hand to him but around Kyle’s body. She made it very clear that she was offering herself to Eric through Kyle. She sensed that this was the right thing to do. Although she didn’t believe in the idea of being a man’s possession, she recognized it was Kyle’s animalistic need to stake his territory. “I’m Dr. Kelly Malone.”

“Pleasure, doctor.” Eric’s eyebrows raised. He looked at Kyle. “Dr. Malone, as in Dr. Kelly Malone of Oak Tree Pharmaceuticals?”

It seemed as if the surprises were going to keep coming. “Have you heard of me?”

“I’ve read every single one of your research papers. It’s practically required reading in my R&D department, and I stay close to their work. That’s the stuff that makes me millions.”

Kelly was taken aback. Eric’s company was a software company, but suddenly she was wondering if it had tentacles into her industry that she hadn’t been aware of. “I used to work for Oak Tree Pharmaceuticals. That relationship ended two weeks ago.”

“And how are they taking that news?”

“Badly,” Kyle said. “That’s why we’re here. I’m assuming if you keep tabs on the research they’re publishing, then you also have a good idea of what they aren’t publishing?”

“I know some of it. I keep an eye on it because it’s not good.” Eric turned and walked over to a sidebar. He poured two glasses of scotch. He looked at Kelly, and she shook her head. She wasn’t a drinker during the day. She sensed that both Eric and Kyle were, however. Eric handed one of the glasses to Kyle. “What you want to know?”

“Let’s sit down.” Kyle indicated the couches across the way. “Kelly came across some information while she was working that was a project her assistant was working on without her knowledge. The project notes indicate that Oak Tree is trying to work on a vaccine that would cure shifters.”

“Cure them of what?” Eric asked.

“Cure them of being shifters,” Kelly said quietly.

Eric slammed the glass down. “What the fuck kind of nonsense is that? It’s not like it’s some disease that can be cured! Why haven’t I heard of this? I have informants all over that place.” He got up and walked over to his desk and started punching numbers into the phone. He was barking orders before Kyle or Kelly could say anything else.

Kyle looked at Kelly. He shrugged. It was as if he had finally started to settle with the news himself. Kelly was still trying to absorb it, though. She still didn’t understand why there was a mandate to try and do something so horrible. Shifters were a natural part of the world just like humans. The fact that someone would come along and try and disrupt that was terribly unsettling. It was as if Oak Tree was trying to play God.

Eric stalked back over to the couch and picked his glass up again. He stared down the scotch and then went back over to the sidebar to pour more in the glass. “I should have an answer in less than an hour. I don’t know what the fuck I’m paying those guys for if nobody knew about this.”

“Well, I don’t know what good that’s gonna do. It seems that Oak Tree is up to its eyeballs in partnership with the government. And now that Kelly knows about the vaccine, I think she’s in danger. She’s had threats on her life, and her hotel room was ransacked this morning.”

“Not surprising. They wouldn’t want something like that getting out.”

“My contract had a clause that I was unaware of,” Kelly said. “I’ve been with the company since I was in graduate school. I had no idea what I was signing at the time, and they’ve refreshed my memory. It’s a clause that is not only a non-compete, but it basically says that I can’t work in the field ever again. If I’m not working for Oak Tree Pharmaceuticals, I can’t work for anybody. Ever. On top of that, I’m disgusted by this. My research has been in the shifter field, but nothing like this. They’ve taken my work and twisted it into something obscene.”

There, she had finally gotten it out. She wanted Kyle to know that she truly knew nothing about this other project. She knew he probably had doubts about that fact. After all, the division that was working on the vaccine was under her purview. She was the boss. And yet, she had known nothing. She still wasn’t sure how that happened.

“Again, I’m not surprised.” Eric swirled the liquor in his glass. “What were you thinking signing a contract like that without reading the fine print? I don’t care if you were a kid; you should’ve known better.”

“Not all of us had access to a fleet of lawyers before we left elementary school.” Kyle sat forward in his seat. “What I need to know is if they are coming after Kelly. That’s why I came here. The rest of it, I don’t give a shit about right now.”

“You better start caring about it. This affects all of us.”

“Right now, the only thing I am concerned about is Kelly’s safety.” The words hung in the air between the men, and Kelly watched in fascination at the sight of a sort of silent tennis match going on between them. She wasn’t sure who was winning. Eric finally looked away and knuckled the desk in front of him before rapping it a few times in apparent frustration. “Fine. I’ll find out what I can. Until then, I can put a guard on her.”

“That won’t be necessary. She’s staying with me.”

This time, there was no question that Eric was fascinated by this turn of events. Kelly was fascinated by it herself. She still wasn’t quite sure what she was willing to label whatever this was going on between her and Kyle. Was it a relationship? Sure, they’d had sex, but that didn’t really mean that there was anything more to it. Except, she wanted more. Didn’t she? All these questions were so confusing. It seemed like her life was in total chaos.

“Do you have any proof of what they were trying to do? Or is this all hearsay and speculation?” Eric asked her.

“I had some things that I had copied along with my own research in the hotel safe. It was all taken.” Kelly allowed herself yet another feeling of slight rage. All of her work was gone. She couldn’t fathom the idea of starting over. Especially the projects that only she had been working on her own pet projects. Those had nothing to do with Oak Tree Pharmaceuticals. It had been her research, and yet now it was all gone.

“That’s too bad,” Eric said. “This would be a hell of a lot easier if we had actual proof of what they were up to. I’ve been trying to get under the covers with Oak Tree since they got funded over a decade ago. They’re secretive as hell.”

“I know that better than anyone,” Kelly said.

“On second thought, while you figure that out, I do think I could use some help with security. I want a bodyguard with Kelly when I can’t be with her,” Kyle said.

Eric nodded. He pushed another button on his desk. “You can take Cal.”

Kyle stood up. He took the last sip of liquid in the glass. Then he turned to Kelly. “Let’s go.”

The interaction had been short but not sweet. Kelly wasn’t sure what she had expected. These were powerful men, and they got things done. There was a reason that people were afraid of them. She allowed Kyle to escort her back out into the hallway. He waved at the receptionist as he hit the button for the elevator. A large, looming man suddenly appeared next to them. He gave Kyle a quick nod. Kyle nodded back.

“Kelly, this is Cal.”

Kelly wasn’t sure she’d ever seen a man so big. “Nice to meet you, Cal.”

Cal simply nodded at her. Then he took a step back and put his hands together in front of him. He looked like he didn’t have a care in the world, but yet Kelly sensed that he was wound up like some kind of spring.

“If I can’t go with you where you need to go, you take Cal.” Kyle gestured at the man. “Cal has been with us a long time. He’ll make sure you’re safe if I can’t be there.”

Kelly found the sentiment suddenly touching. She felt safer than she had since everything had happened. She was grateful yet again that she had come to Kyle.

“I’m sure you probably have to get to the club,” she said. She felt bad that she was taking him away from his work.

Kyle blanched as if she reminded him of something he wanted to forget. “I have to make sure everything is in line for the gala tonight. There are still a million different details I need to go over.” Kelly didn’t want to be a bother to him. Kyle’s next words caught her off guard. “Would you like to go with me?”

Kelly’s corner of her mouth tugged up in a slight grin. “You mean like your date?”

Kyle looked down at his feet and shifted uncomfortably. “Usually, I take Sophie to these kinds of things. But I figured if you were here and didn’t have anything else to do.”

Kelly laughed at the absurdity of it all. She wasn’t in Copper City for a vacation, and Kyle and she both knew it. And yet there was a feeling of wanting to return things to some kind of normalcy in her life. She did crave that, and a date seemed like the perfect way to do it.

“I’d be honored. But I don’t have a dress.”

Kyle frowned. “I’m probably not the best expert on those kinds of things. Maybe I can ask Sophie to help.”

Kelly felt a stab of jealousy when Kyle said Sophie’s name again. Although she had met the bartender the night before at the club, and Kyle had indicated they were just friends, she couldn’t help but wonder if there was something more there. Especially now that she and Kyle’s relationship had wandered into some type of gray area.

She didn’t have a chance to ask him about it, though, as they arrived downstairs and walked out onto the sidewalk. Cal indicated a car sitting at the curb. “Cal will take you back to my place. Here.” He handed her a cellphone. Kelly wondered where it had come from; she hadn’t seen him take it from anywhere, and they hadn’t been to a store.

“I have my own phone.”

Kyle shook his head. “Get rid of it. You don’t know if Oak Tree is using that to trace your whereabouts or not. Better to be safe than sorry. This is a burner that you can use until we can get you another one. The only people that should be calling you on it is me and maybe Sophie. I’ll ask her about the dress thing.” He seemed uncomfortable by the idea. Kyle didn’t strike her as the type that enjoyed getting dressed up.

She reluctantly moved toward the car where Cal was holding the door open for her. She gasped when Kyle appeared next her just as she was ready to get in.

“I’m glad you said yes.” He gave her a gentle kiss on the lips, and she sighed as she leaned into him. He looked deeply into her eyes. “Promise me you won’t run away from me again.”

Kelly was ashamed of her earlier behavior. She knew she needed to trust Kyle. He was going to help her if she was just a little bit more patient. Hopefully, it would all blow over quickly now that they had Eric involved.

“I won’t,” she said.

Kyle seemed relieved at her answer. He gave her a quick peck on the cheek. It was very chaste. Nothing at all like the heat that she felt from him the night before. She wondered if he was as uncertain now about their relationship status as she was. She was eager to talk with him about it, but she wasn’t quite sure how to approach it. Especially since he hadn’t brought it up yet either.