Page 24

I plan everything.

Aside from Zoe—the way we met and my spontaneous invitation for her to spend the summer with me—I’m not an impulsive man. My life is basically a file, with each folder labeled and in its proper place.

Attack the enemy at their weak point. Don’t let anyone be prepared or anticipate my moves so the punishment is as painful as possible; that’s who I am. Right now, though, I want to go after Mike Howard and wring his neck for beating her. Feel the pleasure of hearing him crack in my hands.

I pick up my phone and call the one person who won’t judge me.

“What’s up, friend?” he answers. “I know that when you look for me, it’s because you don’t see any other way out. You’re the hero; I’m the villain.”

“There’s nothing heroic about me, and we both know it.”

“But you’re not quite the bad apple, either, like I am.”

“I need you to find out everything you can about Mike Howard. He’s a professor at Massachusetts College.”

“Her husband,” he says because the man just seems to know everything .

I’ve never discussed Zoe with him, but I don’t doubt he knows all the details of our history and even my obsession with that woman.

Yeah, because what else can I call my feelings toward her? Even after she left me with nothing more than a note calling what happened between us a mistake two years ago, today was proof that nothing has changed. I keep craving her with every fiber of my being.

“Ex-husband. He assaulted her,” I say.

“What happened?” His laid-back tone changes to a tenser one, and I know why. Abused women are his Achilles’ heel. Having witnessed his adoptive father do the same to his mother many times in his childhood, Beau doesn’t tolerate this type of cowardice.

“She didn’t tell me the details, but her face is bruised.”

“Son of a bitch. What do you need?”

“Whatever you can find out. I’ve already done some research by normal methods. I want to dig deeper, though.”

“Give me two hours, and I’ll even tell you when his first baby tooth fell out.”

I look at the report in front of me.

I don’t know how he managed it, but a little over two hours after I called him, my secretary came in saying there was a carrier with a folder that could only be delivered to me. I had no doubt it came from Beau.

However, before I can open it, my phone lights up with a message.

Zoe.

Yes, her number is still among my contacts. And apparently, she kept mine as well, considering none of our contract clauses mention personal contact.

Zoe: I would like to ask you a question.

What power does this woman have over me that just reading a simple fucking message is enough to make my blood boil ?

I press the call button. “And why should I answer it?”

“Forget it, .”

Shit! That would be my cue to end the call and keep everything between us on a professional level, but how can I do that when I can still taste her tongue in my mouth?

“What do you want to know?”

“Was the money you left in the envelope for me in Barcelona a dismissal? A coded message for me to leave your apartment?”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“I thought it might be some kind of payment for?—”

“Don’t finish that sentence, Zoe. Don’t offend us both like that.”

“All right. It was just that. Thanks.”

“There’s no way you’re going to hang up like that. We’re not done yet.”

“What do you want?”

You, naked, under me. Your silky thighs on my shoulders as I eat your pussy. Hearing you scream, asking me to go deeper into your tight body.

“Have dinner with me.”

“The contract doesn’t prohibit that?”

“Fuck the contract, Zoe. It was you who came to me, and now I won’t stop. I’m coming to Boston.”

“But I . . . we . . . Today is impossible. Besides, it’s not a good idea for us to be seen together.”

“You told me you’re already in the process of getting a divorce.”

“Yes, I am, but I haven’t said anything to the press yet. It would be crazy to meet. We are both very well-known.”

“I’ll have someone pick you up tomorrow for lunch, then.”

“That’s not why I texted you. I wasn’t planning on a date.”

“You met me two years ago, Zoe Turner, and you know perfectly well that being subtle isn’t my strong suit. If we’re going to clear things up from the past, it won’t be over text messages or even on a fucking phone call. Be ready by noon.”

“Do you intend to come to Boston later today?”

“Right now. I’m heading for the elevator. Noon on the dot. Don’t be late. ”

After I hang up, I text Yuri to see if my plane is ready to take me to Boston. It must have gotten back from there just a few hours ago.

I also bring the folder Beau sent, and I plan to read the report on Mike Howard on the plane.

Beau has contacts who are able to find out even the best-kept secrets, but although my opinion of her ex-husband was the worst possible, I didn’t expect this.

It wasn’t only the betrayals but the orgies with students, regardless of gender. It seems that he and a group of professors participated in these little parties where they swung partners or everyone was doing it at the same time.

I can’t believe she ever got involved in this. So, the only conclusion which I can come to is that he cheated on her shamelessly, putting her health at risk.

Son of a bitch!

I’ve done a lot of crazy things when it comes to sexual satisfaction, but always with one partner at a time. And if there’s one thing, I would bet my entire fortune on, it’s the fact that Zoe didn’t fit into his lifestyle.

I push those thoughts away because just thinking about another man touching her gives me homicidal feelings, let alone imagining her going from one to another.

I turn the page to a paragraph about recurring aggression against ex-girlfriends.

How is it possible that he got away with such allegations on paper? At least half a dozen women claim to have been beaten by the bastard.

As I read on, my hatred grows. As if it wasn’t enough to hurt her, he stole her.

Zoe doesn’t know it yet, but all her investments are gone.

Apparently, he’s been stealing from her for months, but yesterday, there was a large transfer of what she had left, as well as the sale of her shares .

Right now, her checking account is insufficient to even pay for her mother’s medicine. Now, more than ever, she’ll need our contract to work.

I pick up my phone to solve the first issue: destroying the world as Mike Howard knows it. But that’s not even close to what I have planned for him. He will agonize through life until I end his existence.

Ten minutes and a phone call. That’s all it takes to make his universe crumble. Tomorrow, he will be dismissed from his post as an assistant professor because I demanded it.

As a former student and one of the university’s most generous patrons, all I had to do was play the card that my contribution might be suspended if my request wasn’t granted, and the bastard was out.

Welcome to the first day of your last days on this fucking planet, Mike.

I can’t wait to meet you in person.

“Two phone calls in the same day. That means you’ve read the report.”

“Yes, and I want you to appoint someone to take care of her. Watch her from afar just in case he tries to get close. I want men to secure her parents’ house while Zoe is in town.”

“It’s okay. I can arrange that by tomorrow morning. But what about him? Will you put an end to the matter?”

“You know me. What do you think?”

“Something discreet?”

I know he’s talking about the death of Captain Bentley Williams, which many believe to be a suicide, but we both know that is not what happened.

“Yeah,” I reply, without elaborating further.

“Have you made up your mind, then? Is she yours from now on?”

She was always mine.

“Nothing has been established.”

“But you want to protect her anyway,” he says .

“Zoe just signed a contract with me. It’s in my best interest to take care of her safety.”

He doesn’t say anything, and I understand because, even to my own ears, that sounds like a shitty excuse.

“You know how my men act in cases of danger, .”

“I know, and that’s why I’m asking you. At the slightest sign of risk, there can be no hesitation.”

“Don’t worry, it will be done. Starting tomorrow, Zoe will have someone watching her twenty-four hours a day. Your . . . employee? Prefer that term? She will be protected.”