Total pages in book: 211
Estimated words: 201554 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1008(@200wpm)___ 806(@250wpm)___ 672(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 201554 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1008(@200wpm)___ 806(@250wpm)___ 672(@300wpm)
I start reviewing more data and five minutes later exactly, Blake sends me a message: Go outside and call me.
I don’t like the way that sounds and unease rolls through me, the idea that this could be related to Harper grinding a hole in my heart. This isn’t about Harper. I need to fucking know what the hell is going on and I’m up the stairs in about thirty seconds, exiting the lobby in another thirty to step outside into what is becoming a bitter cold.
I dial Blake. He answers on the first ring. “The account is closed.”
“Who owned it and please don’t say Harper.”
“The account had Harper and her mother on it.”
Those words punch me in the fucking chest. “Who closed the account?”
“Harper.”
“She knew about the wires then?”
“I don’t know the answer to that question, but yes, I would assume she did.”
My jaw tics. “I’ll call you back.”
I disconnect the line, walk back inside and head to the conference room where I pick up my Rubik’s cube and I try like hell to calm my mind. I start turning it and turning it, casing every moment with Harper in numbers, in a way no one but me would understand. The numbers just keep fucking coming. Exactly an hour and thirty seconds have passed when I come back to reality and to three text messages from Harper that I don’t answer. I need out of this office. I grab my things and head upstairs where the offices are closed up.
I exit to the parking lot into the darkness when it hits me that I rode with Harper. I’m about to turn back to the building and do what I should have already done; talk to her. I need to talk to her. Why the hell am I leaving? I’m two steps from the front door of the offices when Isaac joins me outside. “There he is, my brother.” Isaac greets with a sneer that tells me he’s up for games and nastiness and I’m not in the mood. “Coming back to get your woman?”
I ignore him and reach for the door when he says, “She needs you until she doesn’t. She helps you until it doesn’t work for her anymore. That’s how she works.”
The way he says that, like he knows her intimately, claws at me, and I take the bait I would never take if it wasn’t Harper. I stop and turn around, numbers exploding in my mind in random bursts. “She won’t help you now,” I say. “No one will.”
“She needed me once. Gigi told me you fucked her not long before that. She saw her go to your cottage. Then she came to me. Harper had a miscarriage, and fuck, it was a disaster. She’s a disaster that started rumors. She bled out right here in the office. I took care of her the way you want to take care of her now. I wonder if the brother thing gets her off.” He smirks. “But I’m sure you don’t care. You’re just fucking her to fuck me, right?” He turns and starts walking toward his car.
Numbers pound at my mind again. I want them to replace the emotions that threaten to consume me. I try to open the lobby door, but I don’t have an after-hours card. I dial Harper. “Come outside,” I order when she answers. I disconnect before she can reply.
I lean on the wall, watching as Isaac drives away in his two-hundred-thousand-dollar special edition Kingston convertible. Harper exits, pulling her coat on as she does. “What’s wrong?”
I grab her and pull her in front of me. “Did you fuck Isaac?”
“God, no. No. No. We had this conversation. Where is this even coming from?”
“Did you have a miscarriage?”
She pales, her hand settling on her belly and I know even before she whispers. “I was going to tell you. I was—”
“What happened to no, you didn’t fuck Isaac?” I challenge, those fucking numbers beating at my mind.
“It wasn’t Isaac’s. It was—I was going to call you, but I—”
“Call me? We didn’t even finish fucking, sweetheart. Why would you call me?” I don’t give her time to reply. “Don’t answer. I don’t care. I’m gone. I’m done. Save yourself.” I start walking and she screams after me. “Eric! Eric, wait.”
I don’t wait. I climb into my car, and she pounds on the window but I don’t care. I meant what I said. I’m gone. I dial the airport, book a private jet, and head that direction. I can’t get out of this city fast enough. I can’t get away from Harper fast enough.
Chapter forty-three
Harper
Istop outside the lobby door and try to pull myself together. There are cameras inside. There are people watching me but I can’t stay outside in the cold and I don’t have a car. I swipe my card and enter the lobby, my knees wobbling as I walk. It’s a herculean effort to reach my office and the minute I’m inside, I shut the door, as if that offers privacy in this place, but it’s something. It’s all I have. I lean on the door, and the tears explode from me the second I draw another breath. The tears that I cried six years ago. The tears that I have cried randomly since my miscarriage, and I wanted to call Eric every one of those teary nights. I don’t know how long I cry now, but I just can’t seem to stop. It guts me, it cuts me, it tears me into pieces. He’s gone. Isaac told him and he’s gone. My phone rings and I reach into my pocket, praying it’s Eric but it’s my mother. I disconnect the line and try to call Eric. He doesn’t answer. I try again. And again. I cry some more.