Chapter 10
Cole
“Cole. Cole. Wake up. Someone is calling you,” I heard a pleasant and recognizable soft strong voice say in my ear. I blinked and turned with a smile, wondering who woke me from this wonderful dream. It wasn’t any voice, it was Daniel handing me the phone. I sat up and kissed him with my morning breath and he offered the same. That was how I knew I was in love. Everything about him felt wonderful, and gave me the idea that nothing could tear us apart. We wouldn’t wake up in a few years and find out that we had lived or married the wrong person because Daniel was the right person for me, and I loved every pore on his body, and I loved every facet of his personality, good or bad.
He wasn’t a dream to me, he was real. Too many times sitting alone in my apartment in Malibu, I’d wanted to be in his arms sharing the sunlight as it rose over the Pacific Ocean, wondering if I could ever get back to him, ever lie in his arms once more.
“Give me a second to wake up. What time is it? I feel as if I’ve just gone to sleep.”
“You don’t want to know, and we have, baby.”
“Can I get a kiss?” I questioned Daniel. He leaned down and I gave him a quick small, closed-mouth kiss. He appeared to enjoy that simple gesture because he breathed in and out, and shot me a wide smile and a wink.
“Now answer the phone because I think it’s your boss. He said his name was Max.”
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner,” I inadvertently said. I held the phone to my chest and whispered to Daniel. “I’m sorry.” He kissed my forehead and left the room.
“Yes, Max, I’m up.”
“There’s a problem... with Charlie.” He didn’t have to tell me I could guess from his erratic voice. Exhaling.
“I know, and you should have told me—”
“Had I said anything you would have refused to help him. I can’t do it. It would take someone his age to get to him and explain the pitfalls of being too reckless.”
“What is it that he’s doing now? I’m sure it isn’t much. When I left him he was alone, and he said he was going to bed, and he’d meet me in the morning at the office. I had several things to clear up with him.”
“He always says what you want him to say. He’s not in his apartment... He must be somewhere in a dungeon or one of those sleazy clubs he likes to hang in. I don’t know, but you probably would. I did a background check on you and your partner, and I know Daniel is known to visit those places.”
“Why would you—” Max wasn’t going to let me question him. It was his prerogative to do what ever he wanted in his law firm. It was the smart thing to do, but he also had clients that were into all sorts of sexual behaviors. His firm was to manage them, and keep them from making mistakes that would cost everyone associated with making a picture with these unhinged actors down to the directors.
Max made tons of money, but he had to work for it, and so did his lawyers in whatever capacity Max saw fit. I wished I’d known. Right now I’d trade my seven-figure salary for a court-appointed lawyer with the possibility of sleeping at night, and having time off with my husband and have a family.
I’d just figured out why he sent me back to New York, and why he’d kept me from Daniel hoping that things had changed and now he needed me to watch over his important moneymaker. And that’s why he sent me home. To babysit Charles St. John the most unreasonable newest bad boy Hollywood had to offer. At this point, I was pissed because of how he’d kept me and Daniel separated. Max had me doing busy work where time passed, and I didn’t realize I hadn’t done anything to cement my relationship with Daniel or anyone else. Daniel and I had lost a precious two years of our lives.
Time was all we had, and it shouldn’t have been controlled or fucked away at someone else’s leisure. This moment I wasn’t feeling good about Max.
“What do you want from me now, Max?” My voice came off as obstinate and abrupt, and at this point I didn’t give a flying fuck what he thought of me, or my job. I did like Charlie to a point, because he was young with no direction, and he didn’t know what the fuck he was doing in New York. New York was a tough city and still was.
There were sharks in the water, and when they saw someone like Charlie who thought he knew everything, but didn’t know jack shit, then he would be the bait they’d feed on. I had been lucky that my shark didn’t have teeth as sharp as some and he’d fallen in love with me.
“What I want, Cole, is for you to find him and get him home safely. There’s lots of money in it for you. A bigger office on the upper floors—”
“I don’t need a bigger office, but I would take the raise.” I knew that to swim with the sharks on the upper floors I had to first learn how to navigate the waters, and I wasn’t even close to being there. And I didn’t want that. I would lose too much. Maybe lose Daniel who was the best thing that came into my life. I knew he loved me, I loved him, and he would protect me even from myself. That was what Charlie needed and what he didn’t have. And he had lots of daddy issues that I wasn’t plagued with.
“How did you find out he wasn’t in his apartment, Max?”
“The doorman called me and said he’d left with an unsavory character. He’s from New York you know.” Yes, I knew now. And I knew Max had ears and eyes trained on everything when it came to the cash cows who brought in eighty percent of the income to his law firm. What I didn’t know he had doormen and security on his payroll.
“At first I didn’t recognize his problem, because you just dropped him in my office and left. I had to find out about him the hard way.”
“Sorry about that. My bad.” I didn’t want to hear that from Max because he should have known better. And I was sure he did. He just wanted to pawn off his headache on someone, and that someone happened to be his young unsophisticated lawyer who had dreams of working for him and getting rich. Now I questioned if it was worth it.
“Why didn’t you get someone to manage him?” I wanted to know this, and from his answer I’d know more about Max.
