Page 65 of Boss

Chapter 15

Tarek removed his hat and tossed it to the counter. Next he shrugged off his coat and kicked off his boots. Cooking was his stress reliever. And lucky for them he was fucking good at it. He checked the freezer and found a few frozen steaks. He’d over exaggerated about the groceries. The fridge was all but empty, except for some eggs, butter, and milk. It had been close to two weeks since his last visit, and he was the one, not the staff or his mother, that brought the food. He checked the cabinets and there were a few things to season the meat with, but not much. It would have to do. He took out the steaks and popped them in the microwave to defrost. While he worked on an idea for dinner, he turned on the television that was mounted under the top kitchen cabinet.

It’s a monster winter storm, folks, battering the Midwest. And for the first time in a decade it's taking aim on Texas. Arctic air is coming out of the central plains and gathering moisture from the Gulf of Mexico. This snowstorm is already leaving its mark. We have a white out over half the state as it marches on toward the Southeast. We anticipate temperatures to get down to the single digits before seven o’clock. If you have to travel, well I must say, don’t. I repeat we have severe weather conditions from Ft. Worth to Dallas, extending all the way to Plano. Take a look at your screen. Emergency vehicles are unable to access many roads, and people are walking... yes... walking off the expressways to find shelter. I repeat this is the worst we’ve seen in over ten years!

The lights flickered in the kitchen. There were generators out in the stables. But he didn’t have one hooked up to the ranch. Never saw the need. The lights blinked out again and Tarek held his breath. He waited. They flickered back on as did the television. He shook his head. Could Cash make it through the storm with that asshole in his trunk? His fucking phone was gone. He felt helpless. And that wasn’t a feeling he liked. He went to the other cabinet and removed a few bottles of wine. Behind them he found candles.

“These might come in handy.”

33.

Kassidy sat up. The lights flickered off for longer than a minute. And when they blinked on again, she was already out of the warmth and comfort of the tub looking for a towel. Her heart raced with panic. She couldn’t imagine how cold it might get at night or how long they would have to wait for this terror to end. She dried herself off, but found that her clothes were still soggy from the snow. And her blouse was speckled with blood. Kassidy glanced over to the robe hanging on the door. It would be wise to let her clothes run through the dryer for a cycle, and then put them back on. Or should she let them air dry and wait for rescue before she put them back on? Both ideas seemed crazy when she considered her predicament. She dropped the clothes on the sink and slipped the robe over her body. She then checked the cabinets for lotion. Her skin typically dried out horribly after a shower or a bath but unfortunately she found none. Conflicted she used baby oil she found that must have been left by a female guest.

Once she was half way decent, she crept out of her room in bare feet. She didn’t hear anything stir in the big house. When she went down the stairs, she could see the snowstorm raging outside of the lower level windows. It tossed snow and sleet at the windowpanes.

“Tarek?” she called out.

“In here!” he answered.

The smell of cooking meat made her stomach churn with hunger. She went in the direction of his voice. When she stepped inside the kitchen, she found him busy frying steaks. The television blared with the weather reporter standing in what looked like a map of the Antarctic.

“Hi.” He glanced up.

She didn’t respond at first. The normalcy threw her. An hour ago, she feared he’d strangle her with his own hands.

“Ah, do you have a dryer, where I can, um, dry my clothes?”

He glanced to the clothes in her arms. He nodded. “Sure, back out in the hall to the left is the laundry room. Help yourself. She nodded her gratitude. She started out of the kitchen and glanced back at him. He was busy cooking, adding what looked like too much seasoning. He glanced up at her and winked. She turned and left. In the laundry room she found what she needed. She worked at the sink to clean out the blood from her shirt. And then put her business suit and blouse into the dryer before she set it to tumble dry. When she returned to the kitchen he was setting the table.

“Hope you like steak and eggs. It’s all I have,” he put the plates on the table along with a large bottle of Sam and Pete’s hot sauce.

Kassidy glanced to the television again. “Is it letting up?”

“Not at all, he said. In fact, they say we haven’t gotten the worst of it yet.”

“Do you think your man is still coming? The man you hired?”

“He’ll be here,” Tarek said. “Wine?”

“Huh?” Kassidy asked.

“Wine? Want some? Take the edge off?” he asked.

She stared at him in disbelief.

“An answer would be nice,” he said.

“What are you up to now?”

Tarek set the wine bottle down. “I’m innocent.”

“You’re what?” she nearly laughed.

“Innocent. You’ve convicted me of some moral crime and decided it justified you sneaking around my company and my life.”

“I don’t sneak.”

“The first night I took you to bed you got up and sneaked around my room. You’ve been sneaking ever since.”

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