Page 20 of Serena
When Caleb showed up to take her to the airport, she refused to get in the car. As expected, she didn’t make it easy for me; she never does, and I know she never will. I admit, I love the chase, but not in this situation.
I’m making my way into Lobo Law Firm when I see a call from Caleb. “Is everything all right?” I ask without pause. He takes a moment before he speaks.
“Yes, the plane just took off. I like her; she’s stubborn. Good luck with that, by the way.” Laughing, he adds, “And she thought I was charming and funny.”
“I can still kill you, you know.” I’m pretty sure he can hear my teeth grinding through the phone.
My cousin prides himself on judging a person's character. He credits it as a reason he's still alive. Not that his opinion would deter me from Serena.
“There’s something you should know…I saw her hand was bandaged up. I asked her what happened, and she told me she cut herself while cooking. She looked exhausted. Need me to look into it?” Those words have me moving quicker.
“No, I'm at Lobo Law Firm. I’ll let you know if I need you.”
Miles has twenty-four-hour surveillance on Serena’s apartment building, which includes the camera in the hallway with a direct view of her front door. Imagine my surprise when I see Elias not only walk up to her door, but he doesn’t even knock, just lets himself in. He has his own goddamn keys to her apartment. When he leaves, assuming it's to go home to his husband, Elias looks disheveled. The flight home was full of murder plots, corporate sabotage, and millions of other ideas on how to ruin Elias Lobo. Caleb offered to kill him for me. They don’t have the best history, but I declined my cousin's offer for now. If anyone’s going to kill him, it’s me. I’m going to make it slow and painful.
His assistant is as incompetent as the security in this building. I had to tell her my full name to get her to take me seriously. I lose my patience and push my way through. Not caring who is on the other side of the door, I swing the doors open, and there he is.
“Ian, what are you—” He doesn’t finish the sentence because my fist connects with his jaw. I caught him off guard, but not enough to have him lose his balance.
“What the fuck, Ian!” he shouts at me, but I don’t hear him. All I see is him entering her apartment. His having access to her whenever he wants. Doing god knows what with her. I’m so blinded by my jealous rage. I get ready to swing again, but somehow, he gets behind me and tightens his arms around mine. He’s close enough for me to hear him when he yells.
“You need to calm the fuck down so we can talk about this. Ian, are you listening? Calm…the…fuck…down.” I steady my breathing. He’s holding on to me and lowering his voice. “So, are you going to swing at me, or can we discuss whatever's going on?” I nod in response. He lets go and shoves me away to put some distance between us.
“Fuck, Ian, this is a gift from Theo; he’s going to be pissed.” I look down at his blood-stained shirt and smirk. Fuck him. He goes to close his office door, which has been open this whole time. Shocked that security didn’t come in. I raise my head to pin him with a stare, clenching my fists ready to swing again, but he steps back and puts up his hands. I don’t waste any time with my questions.
“Why were you at Serena’s last night? What happened? You bastard. Does your husband know?” He looks like I just told him the Easter Bunny isn’t real. Shocked and pissed.
“How the hell do you know I was there?” As soon as he says the words, the realization hits him. “You’re stalking her?” He grabs me by my shirt collar and pushes me against the wall. “Don’t, Ian, not Serena; leave her alone.”
I push him off me.
“Why? You can’t stand the thought of her being with someone else?”
“Are you serious right now? Ian, if you ever valued our friendship, stay the hell away from her.”
“No.” I won’t ever stay away, even if she pushes me away a million times, I’ll always come back because she is worth it. He’s close enough that if I swing, I’ll land a punch. I can see the questions forming.
“Are you and Serena?”
“No.” My tone is lethal because the question is a reminder that I’m nothing to her… Yet.
There is a long pause. “Since when?” His question isn’t about her and me, but me. I sigh. “Longer than you think.”
“Fuck, Ian!” He walks over to the drink cart. He grabs an expensive bottle of whiskey and two glasses. After pouring one for each of us, he comes to me and hands me a drink. I watch as he drinks his, and I follow. Damn, I didn’t realize how much I needed that. Another drink, and he crosses to the couch to sit with a heavy sigh of resignation. “You’re an asshole, you know that, right?”
I nod, preparing myself for what he has to say. “Ian, there is nothing going on between Serena and me. I’ve changed, and I'm offended that you still think of me as the version you knew in college and well before Theo. It also tells me that you don’t know her at all. She would never do that to someone she loves.”
He’s right. As soon as I saw the footage, I jumped to the conclusion that they were both willing participants.
“Sh-she needed my help. Fuck, out of all the women in this city. Hell, the country. Why her? Aren’t you engaged? Ian…Serena…she’s been through a lot. Stay away from her. I don’t want to see her hurt by you or anyone else.”
“Why, because you’re in love with her?” I snap at him.
“You motherfucker. I love her, but I’m not in love with her. I’m happily married. How long have you known her? A couple of weeks. Do you know anything about her?”
“Get off your high horse, Elias, with your savior complex. Always having to save the day. You don’t need to protect her; she has me.”
“Does she know that? Does she know that she has you? Answer the question, Ian. Because from where I see it, you don’t have shit.” He starts to pace his office. “If she knew she could count on you, why didn't she call you instead of me?” Shit, he went for the jugular. That’s all it takes for me to lunge at him.
