Deception

Charli

"I can't."

Nox's deep voice echoed from the walls of my newly decorated office. Their vibrations amplified within my soul, the meaning lost as I searched his icy blue stare.

I can't.

Indecision and uncertainty rushed through me.

Who was this man?

Did I even know?

Nothing mattered but the one recurring question that, while answered, remained unexplained.

Please, Nox, tell me that you're not responsible for her death.

My heartbeat quickened as I stepped back from the man who had been my lover, from the man whom I'd trusted. Mute and deaf. The words I can't were the only ones I heard over the deafening silence. Yet there was more. The world unrelentingly spun, tilting on its axis as life continued beyond my fog.

Nox's large hand reached for me, pulling me from the abyss of my thoughts. Like fur-lined handcuffs, his grip was strong and unbreakable while at the same time gentle and comforting. The expression upon his handsome face changed before my eyes. The anger or defiance I'd seen only seconds before morphed, combining with hurt and concern.

"Charli," Nox said.

My name hung in the air like the clanging of a church bell, the next ring coming before the other disappeared, each time louder than the time before.

My knees gave way as my retreat met with the freshly painted wall. I couldn't back any farther away. Down was my only option. As I descended into a crouching position, so did Nox. Our physical connection severed, though our gaze remained set.

Afraid to look away, from the corner of my eye I saw her face. Not that of Deloris, now holding tightly to the doorjamb, her complexion as pale as the walls, but of Jocelyn. She smiled knowingly up from the floor near my feet, still clad in the Louboutins. The high heels forced my knees toward my breasts. I grabbed onto my own tender wrists, clung to my legs, and willed my invisibility cloak of childhood to cover me.

What would Jocelyn have said if she were here? Would she assure me of my lover's innocence or warn me of his dangerous ways? Would she hate me for being with her husband or thank me for reminding him to live?

"Alex. Alex," Deloris spoke my name in a steadfast tone as she touched Nox's shoulder and moved slowly toward me.

She didn't stare at the beautiful face of the woman in the picture. If I didn't know her well, I'd say she didn't see it, but that wasn't true. Deloris Witt saw everything. She knew everything. In one glance she'd summed up what had happened—how my world had crumbled in a heap of broken dreams.

Her conclusions were always correct.

At Deloris's encouragement, Nox stood and backed away, his distance allowing me to breathe, giving me oxygen and filling my lungs. The much-needed air gave my body what it needed to carry on its involuntary processes. I couldn't comprehend or consciously think as my body shuddered with pent-up sobs, and Deloris reached for my hand.

"Alex, let me help you stand."

The tightness of my own grip around my knees had gone unnoticed until I released my hold and the circulation returned to my hands and arms, pink returning to my stone-cold fingertips. I wobbled as I stood, unsure why the world was on tilt.

Perhaps I was drunk.

No, I'd barely touched the lemon drop martini. One sip, or was it two?

The room spun around me. Lines that had been straight were now curves, ebbing and bowing. My empty stomach reeled before it free-fell from unknown heights. I stumbled toward the plush chaise lounge.

Nox was immediately at my side, his strong arm encircling my waist as he steadied me.

"Don't touch me." It was the first phrase I'd uttered, my first comprehensible thought.

His warmth disappeared as I sank onto the soft chair, still gripping Deloris's hand.

"Alex, may I get you something? Water?"

Is she serious? Water? I shook my head.

My dry tongue darted to my parched lips as I tried to steady not only my voice but also the ricocheting of my heart. Surely they could both hear it bouncing between my spine and ribs. I couldn't look at Nox. I needed space.

"Deloris," I began, searching her eyes for comprehension. "Will you please take me to my apartment?"

"Fuck." Nox's expletive was barely a whisper, yet it filled the room with his displeasure.

"Alex, you're safer here," Deloris offered.

My senses returned. Noises registered—the hum of the air conditioning and the beat of Nox's shoes as he paced against the polished wood floor. The aroma of our uneaten dinner wafted through the air.

"Safer here?" I rebuked. "This apartment was broken into. Your perfect security was breached. I hardly consider that safe." Each statement came with more conviction.

"It was," Deloris admitted. "However, if you two had stayed out a little longer, I would've had this resolved without your knowledge and you'd still feel safe. I guarantee, I'll get to the bottom of this."

I narrowed my glare as indignation grew. "Without my knowledge? Without my knowledge? If we'd stayed out longer, I would never have known about the letter? It was addressed to me!"

I released her hand, her hold no longer comforting. "What else don't I know? What else has been hidden from me?"

"Charli," Nox’s velvet timbre reverberated through the cooled air. "It's for your own good."

"My own good?"

"Lennox and I have tried to explain," Deloris said. "There are constant threats. It doesn't do you or anyone any good to know all of the details. It would be—"

"Suffocating?" I offered the appropriate word to complete her sentence as I stood, my bones now solidly capable of supporting my weight.

"Unnecessary," Nox corrected.

Slowly I spun, taking in the office that had been designed for me. I ran my hand over the back of the chaise, the fibers of the plush material bending to the pressure of my touch. I caught the brown-eyed smile of the picture still lying upon the floor. She was young and beautiful and had a life of promise ahead, and now she was dead.

My neck and shoulders straightened. "Answers, Nox. I need answers or I'm leaving."

Nox took a step toward me. My glare stalled his movement, but not his declaration. "You can't leave. I won't allow it."

"What the fuck are going to do? Are you going to lock me in this apartment? Ground me? Tie me up in your bed? That was what you said before. Well, too bad. You can't."

His lips formed a straight line that in only seconds grew increasingly thin. Without speaking he was telling me he could do that and more. Suddenly that thought was no longer erotic but frightening.

My eyes roamed, unable to endure the intensity of Nox's stare. Deloris had gathered the pages of Bryce's letter, using a tissue to pick them from the floor.

"I'll assume you both handled these pages?" she asked.

"Yes," Nox answered.

"I'll have them dusted."

"Why?" I asked. "Bryce signed the letter."

Daggers launched from the icy blueness of Nox's eyes. "Bryce? Edward Spencer? I thought you said your family?"

"What?"

He stepped closer, his chest nearing mine, cologne again clouding my thoughts as I fought to project a sense of calm I truly didn't feel.

"You said you thought it was your family trying to scare you. Edward Spencer isn't your family." He emphasized the last word.

"My family's complicated. He claims to be speaking for my mother. The point is, there's no reason to dust anything. We know who it came from."

My gaze moved away from Nox, back to Deloris. She was silent as she read the letter, my letter, the one addressed to me.

"Privacy. Is that what I give up if I stay here?"

"If?" Nox repeated.

"Lennox, you should read this," Deloris spoke from the other side of the room.

I slapped my hands against my thighs. "Sure, everyone fucking read my letter. Let's get Isaac and Jerrod in here. I know, call Lana. Is there anyone else?" I pursed my lips waiting for a response. Finally, I went on. "All I want is answers; instead, I'm getting more and more questions."

Deloris turned toward me. "There's a plethora of accusations in this letter. Don't you agree that they could be best addressed if Lennox knew what he was supposed to answer?"

"I’ve already asked the most important one."

Nox's eyes narrowed in a silent warning, telling me to avoid the subject that loomed around us, the figurative elephant prancing around the room, its trunk raised like a trumpet alarming each of us of its path of destruction. A momentary tinge of apprehension infiltrated my righteous anger as the question resurfaced—did Nox kill Jocelyn?

His posture straightened as he tightened his jaw and lifted his hand toward Deloris. When she hesitated, he said, "I've already touched it. What difference does it make if I handle it again?"

She shook her head and pulled another tissue from the box. Handing that first to Nox, she then passed him the letter.

I shook my head dismissively and reached for my backpack. My overnight bag was already packed.

As I stepped toward the doorway, Nox's command stilled my footsteps.

"Stop."

Images of Alton raced through my mind as I spun Nox’s direction. "I'm not a child. If you won't talk to me, I'm not staying here."

"You're not going to that apartment. The security isn't complete."

I rolled my eyes as I let out a long sigh. "You're putting security in my apartment?"

"Chelsea's," he corrected. "And of course."

Shaking my head, I replied, "You're unbelievable. Did you think to ask me? Ask Chelsea? I mean, she interviewed for that job. If she gets the one in DC she won’t even be here that much."

"Alex..."

I lifted my hand to silence Deloris. I was tired of listening to them answer my questions in circles. "Call Jerrod, or I will. I'm leaving."

"No, you're—"

"Yes, I am."

"Jerrod works for me," Nox declared.

Fuck him! This was Alton all over again.

My neck straightened in indignation. "Then I'll take a cab. You want a say in this? That’s your choice. This time it's my number in your phone and the ball's in your court. If you're ever ready to talk to me, to be honest with me, call. Otherwise..." I took a deep breath, debating the end of my sentence. "...otherwise, don't."

"Charli, do not leave this apartment."

His order hung in the air, the final word. Nevertheless, I walked into the bedroom seeing the vibrator upon the bed. Its presence mocked me. Ignoring it and the plans that I'd had for this evening, I found my overnight case.

How had our date gone from amazing to shit in record time? The ring of my phone encouraged me forward, moving me toward the living room, where earlier—when this evening had hope—I'd dropped my handbag.

The screen read JERROD.

"Hello," I said after pushing the green icon.

"Ma'am, I'll have the car out front in five minutes."

I wasn't sure if it had been Nox or Deloris who'd contacted him, but at least I wouldn't need to get a cab.

A tear slid down my cheek as I closed my eyes. "Thank you, Jerrod. I'll be there."

My destination options came in rapid succession. I could go to my and Chelsea's apartment. If I did, I was not only disobeying Nox by leaving, but also by going where he told me specifically not to go. Then again, until he could be honest with me, I didn't need to listen to his directives. I could go to Patrick and Cy's apartment. Surely it was safe. Or I could do as Bryce's note implored and travel back to Savannah.

With a heavy heart, I stifled a ragged breath and turned back toward the glacial-blue eyes. Though Nox watched my every move, he didn't speak. Silently, I turned toward the door and exited our apartment.