Page 43 of Wicked Love
I hung up without giving her a chance to argue more and turned off the phone. Guilt sat like a boulder in my gut, but there was nothing I could do about it. I’d have felt ten times as guilty if I’d dragged her into this mess and she got hurt.
Within a minute of my ambling behind the coffee shop, Beckett’s familiar sedan pulled up. I hopped inside as quickly as possible and buckled my seatbelt as he took off again. When I glanced over at him, he shot me a smile, but it was tight, and his eyes were dark with obvious worry.
“You’ve never had anything like this happen before, have you?” I said. “Your people doubting you?”
How could he have when I found it so hard to imagine anyone doubting him even in the current situation. He’d always seemed like an impervious force.
Beckett shrugged. “The kind of career I have isn’t meant to be easy or conflict-free. I’ll deal with it. I just want you in the crossfire as little as possible.”
I set my hand on his arm. “Hey. You’ve pulled out all the stops to protect me. I want to be able to do the same for you in whatever small ways I can. If we’re together, then it isn’t going to be one-sided.”
The smile he aimed at me then was softer around the edges. “Duly noted. And thank you.”
When he pulled up to the curb, I realized he was parking off to the side of the office building where we’d had our brief picnic lunch the other day, the one where he was setting up his pro bono clinic. He came around the side of the car as I got out and tucked his hand around my elbow. “Stay with me, all right?”
“Nowhere else I’d want to be.”
We strode to the building together and ducked in through a side door. Beckett led me down a hall toward an open doorway. Muttering voices carried from inside.
We stepped into a room that must have been one of the unclaimed office spaces, empty of furniture and cubicles, just open space with a high ceiling. But that space was crowded with people.
There had to be at least fifty of them milling around the room. Several were dressed similarly to Beckett’s usual business casual style in slacks and button-up shirts, as if they might work in this office once it was set up. The others, though, clearly came from other lines of work. I spotted multiple tattoos and glints of nose, lip, and eyebrow piercings, along with a rainbow of different hair colors, many clearly dyed. Leather jackets, faded tees, and scuffed jeans were more typical fashion choices for that part of the crowd.
It wasn’t as if I’d never seen people with vivid hair dye and interesting piercings before. Hell, there were students like that in all of my college classes. But the less professional-looking employees who’d turned up for this meeting radiated the sort of menace that I’d never felt from any of my peers. Their postures and expressions gave off an aura of toughness and hostility.
My muscles tensed instinctively with apprehension. But next to me, Beckett had composed his face into calm confidence. He circumnavigated the crowd with me at his side like a king ready to address his subjects. There was no denying he was a natural leader.
I took his lead and kept my head high. I wouldn’t let my nervousness show. I trusted him to keep me safe, and I had to prove that to them, or I couldn’t askthemto trust him to look after them too.
Skeptical gazes raked over my body. Someone let out a mocking whistle, and a couple of cat calls echoed off the high ceiling. Beckett ignored them, so I did as well.
All that mattered was that these people were the ones Beckett could normally count on. Theywantedto stand with him, to believe in him, just like I did. Which meant we had one important thing in common no matter how many other divides lay between us.
There was a small, raised platform at the far end of the room, about half a foot off the ground. Beckett stepped onto it and guided me up with him. Then he turned to face his people.
It said something about how much respect they still had for him that the muttering trailed off within a few seconds of him casting his gaze over the crowd. Everyone from the office workers to the toughs fixed their gazes on him and waited in silence to hear what he’d say first.
“Thank you for coming to speak with me today,” Beckett said in a steady, assured voice. “I know there’ve been rumors buzzing around about my conduct recently, and I felt it was important to set the record straight and answer any questions you might have. First off, I can assure you that I’m fully on top of all things related to our business. My focus hasn’t faltered, and I’m sure if you think about it, you won’t be able to find any instances where important matters were neglected.”
A hesitant murmur rippled through the crowd, sounding more like agreement than argument. That was a good start. My spirits started to lift.
“Ihavemade some new social connections,” Beckett went on, touching my elbow again. “But they haven’t interfered with my ability to oversee everything we’re working toward, and I hope none of you would fault me for having a life.”
The corner of his lips quirked upward, a wry note entering his voice, and several people throughout the room chuckled. But others narrowed their eyes at me.
“Just how much timeareyou spending on your side-piece slut instead of on keeping things running smoothly?” someone demanded from the back of the crowd.
My nerves twitched, but I held myself still. Beside me, Beckett’s expression tightened. I could tell from the flash in his eyes that he was about to speak in my defense, probably with anger, and I doubted that would reassure the people here who needed it most.
As much as I appreciated his protectiveness, I jumped in before he could speak. “Since you’ve obviously been misinformed, let me give you a few facts. Beckett and I have only gone on a few dates in the past month, and that’s the only time he’s dedicated to me. Even in the short times he has been able to spend with me, I know his business has never been far from his mind. He’s cut dates short because he had meetings and other concerns to take care of.”
My heart was racing now. A droplet of sweat rolled down my neck under my hair as I took in the skeptical gazes evaluating me. But I met those gazes without flinching.
I’d gone up against gangsters and thugs before. I wasn’t going to let these people intimidate me.
“That’s not all we’ve been hearing about,” someone else hollered from the crowd. “Nice try, little girl.”
I glowered in their general direction. “Any time Beckett has spent on matters other than business recently has been to tackle someone who’s been threatening both me and the business you seem so concerned about him taking care of. He’s working to protect all of your interests and his own as well as mine.”
