Next to Always: Shattered Innocence Trilogy Book Two (15 page)

“Rade, darling, what’s the rush?” Chloe asked.

Rade turned his body so that she was directly in front of him. Next to her stood his father, with his arm around her waist. Rade couldn’t have been more disgusted by them. Trying to be cordial he said. “I need to get back to the office, so if you will excuse me.”

“I thought we could have a quick drink. The three of us,” Chloe suggested.

“Don’t… I would rather die of thirst before I would ever share a drink with you,” Rade said as his hands rolled into tight fists. Turning towards the car, Rade gave her some words of advice before he got into the SUV. “You know, you should really think about who you hang around with, Chloe.”

“Yeah, well, he’s twice the man you are,” she yelled as the Bentley pulled away from the curb.

Dylan looked back out the rear window as the Bentley pulled away, dumbfounded. As she directed her eyes back to Rade, she could see the tension in his face as his teeth clenched together. Before Dylan could get a word out, Rade’s hand came up, gesturing for her to stop what she was about to say. She had so many questions for him, but knew that she wouldn’t be getting the answers from him now, so she settled back in her seat and rode in silence back to BlackStone.

Pulling up to her office building, Rade exited the car and assisted Dylan out. Kissing her on the forehead, he said, “I’ll pick you up at five.”

“Good,” Dylan began, “because we need to talk about what happened.”

Rade wasn’t ready to talk to Dylan about what happened. Nor was he ready to bring her into his fucked-up life. Taking her by the hand, he pulled her close and placed his hand on her cheek. “You have no idea what you’re asking, Dylan.”

“Maybe not, but I’m done with surprises, Rade. If you want me back in your life, then there are no more secrets and no more lies,” Dylan declared, as she put her hand over his and gave him a soft kiss.

Dylan walked away, leaving him standing on the sidewalk. All he could think about was everything he was keeping from her. If she ever found out about his secrets, it would tear them apart. He wouldn’t lie to her, but it also meant that he wouldn’t tell her everything.

*****

Sitting at his desk, Rade just stared at his monitor. His thoughts weren’t on his work. Instead they were on Dylan and how he was going to explain his father and their screwed up relationship to her. How he was going to explain to her how much he detested his father. How he hated his father for taking away the two people he loved the most. How his father took everything from him. His happiness, his ability to love again. Nothing could describe the hate he had for this inconsequential man. Feeling sick at just the thought of him, Rade pushed from his desk, barely making it to his bathroom so he could hurl the bile that was forming in his throat. It had been a long time since Rade had prayed to the porcelain God because of his dad. He swore he would never let him get to him again.

Rade left his office no better off than when he arrived. He still had no clue what he was going to say to Dylan. His only hope was that he could keep her mind busy with something else so that the subject wouldn’t come up.

It was five o’clock sharp when Rade pulled up to her building. Rade wanted Richard ready to intervene when Michael Stewart landed at the airport. Rade knew Peter was more than capable of handling the situation, but with reinforcements, it was guaranteed they would have Michael as soon as he got off the plane. Lost in his thoughts, Rade didn’t realize Dylan came out of the office building until she tapped her tiny fist on the car window. Instead of just unlocking the door, Rade opened his door and circled the car opening the door for her. Dylan was surprised by his effort, since it would have been a lot easier if he had just unlocked the door for her.

“How was the rest of your day, Sweetness?” Rade asked.

“Good.” Dylan replied.

“Any special place you want to have dinner?” Rade questioned.

“Oh, I don’t know. Any special place you want to tell me what happened today?” Dylan replied. There was no way she was going to let what happened go.

“How about we enjoy dinner and then we can talk?” Rade needed time to think. His only choice was to stall.

“Okay. Now or later, doesn’t matter to me, but you are going to talk and tell me everything. I mean everything, Rade,” Dylan said with conviction.

Rade felt the tie around his neck tighten as he thought about what he was in for. He could also feel the anxiety take hold as his body was beginning to overheat. Even though the air conditioner was on in the car, he could feel the bead of moisture waning on his brow.

Unbuttoning his top button and loosening his tie, he asked, “Is it hot in here?” Unable to wait for a response, he turned the dial up on the console for more cold air.

“It’s freezing in here. Maybe you’re getting sick, Rade,” Dylan said with concern.

“Maybe you’re right. I think we better cancel dinner. I’ll take you home.” This wasn’t Rade’s initial plan, but this was better than what he would have been in for. Even if it meant not having her in his bed.

By the time Rade pulled up to Lilly’s, he was feeling better. His anxiety was gone, at least for the moment. He was no longer hot, but freezing with the air on full blast. Of course he couldn’t let Dylan know. He needed to continue with his charade.

“I hope that you not feeling well is not your way of getting out of our talk. I would hate to think you would fake being sick,” Dylan clearly stated.

“What, and miss an evening with you?” Rade said, adding a little cough to his deception.

Rade walked Dylan to her door. Instead of taking her in his arms like he so desperately wanted, he backed away from her as she leaned in to kiss him. As much as it pained him, he needed to keep up his performance.

Standing at least three feet away, he said. “Don’t want to get you sick.”

Stunned, Dylan replied, “Yeah. Good night, then.” Dylan knew Rade well enough to know that he wasn’t sick at all. Two could play this game.

CHAPTER TWELVE

The next morning brought a surprise to Rade. He never thought the game of playing sick with Dylan just to get out of explaining his relationship with his father would end up happening. Every muscle in his body ached. He was barely able to pull himself out of bed just to make it to the bathroom to relieve himself. He wasn’t sure what was happening to him, but he was certain that his panic attack from last night wasn’t the reason for him feeling so shitty. Stumbling back to his room, he planted himself face down on the bed. He was so out of it that he didn’t hear his housekeeper come into the penthouse. When Maria entered his room to change the linens on his bed, she was surprised to see him lying face down.

“¡Dios mió, Señor Matheson!” she said as she walked to the side of the bed.

“Ahh.” Rade managed to say.

Maria helped him under the covers. Going to the guest bathroom, she opened the medicine cabinet to get a thermometer. Finding it, she went back to Rade’s bedroom and took his temperature. “¡Dios mió!” she said again as she looked at the reading on the thermometer. “Señor Matheson, you have a fever,” Maria said, shaking her head, “I will bring you something for the fever.”

When Maria was satisfied that Rade was resting comfortably, she contacted Richard to let him know of Rade’s condition. She wanted to make sure that someone would be with him when he woke and also take care of him, since she needed to leave to take care of her own family. Maria continued with her housework while she waited for Richard to show up. Every so often she checked up on him, checking his temperature. She was relieved to find that his temperature was coming down.

When Richard showed up she gave him instructions for Rade’s care before she left. She had also made a pot of chicken noodle soup, which she informed Richard she left on the stove. Maria made it very clear to Richard that he needed to get some fluids down Rade. Even though this was way above his job description, Richard agreed to do as she said. The last thing he wanted was her Spanish wrath coming down on him.

*****

It had been three days since Dylan had heard from Rade. She was beside herself trying to figure out why he hadn’t contacted her. She had hoped he wasn’t avoiding her because she wanted to know about his father. Unsure of what to do, she decided maybe she needed to make the first move instead of waiting for him. Dialing his number, she stood on the balcony of her new apartment and waited. After the fourth ring her call went to voice mail. She decided to leave a voice message.

“
Hey Rade, it’s me. Just wanted to know how you are. I haven’t heard from you for a while. Call me when you get this.”

The last thing Dylan wanted was to be clingy. She knew if he really wanted to see her, he would have called. Maybe she had pushed a little too hard for an explanation and that was why he hadn’t called yet. Needing some answers, she decided to head over to his place and find out what was going on. Not knowing was driving her crazy. Her dad had always told her to never chase after a guy, but she convinced herself that this was different. They were beyond the chasing stage.

The taxi driver pulled up to the front of Rade’s building. Stepping through the front doors, she could see a security guard manning the desk. It was at this moment she wished she still had the key card to his apartment.

Walking up to the desk, she greeted the guard. “Hi, my name is Dylan Adams. I’m here to see Rade Matheson.” She couldn’t remember his name, seeing as she only met him once.

The security guard called up to the penthouse to inform Rade that she was waiting to come up. Dylan wasn’t sure what was said between them, just a lot of “Yes, sir” and “No, sir” replies from the security guard. When the conversation finally ended, the guard walked to the elevator and swiped his card, granting Dylan access to the penthouse elevator. On the way up, all Dylan could think about was what she would say to him. She didn’t want to make things any worse than they already were between them. She actually didn’t really even know where they stood since he hadn’t contacted her for three days.

Getting off the elevator, Dylan lightly knocked on the big cherry wood door. She was surprised to see Richard on the other side.

“Richard, I didn’t expect to see you here,” Dylan said.

“Mr. Matheson had been under the weather the last few days. Seems to have caught some kind of bug,” Richard explained.

“Really? Well, that would explain why I haven’t heard from him,” Dylan declared.

“Yes, well, he is resting on the balcony. Today is the first day he has been able to get out of bed,” Richard said. “If you don’t mind staying with him, I would like to take a break. He can be very demanding when he’s sick.”

Dylan agreed to stay with Rade for as long as Richard needed to escape. She was beginning to feel bad about what she said to him three days earlier about him trying to fake being sick to get out of an explanation. She felt even worse when she saw Rade lying on the lounger wrapped up tightly in a blanket. The weather was really nice, so it concerned Dylan that Rade was wrapped in the blanket. She knew it had to be at least sixty-five degrees outside. Although it wasn't super warm yet, it wasn’t cold either. Opening the door, Dylan paused as Rade looked up to see who was approaching. When he saw it was Dylan, his cloudy eyes became clear and a smile stretched across his beautiful face.

“Hey,” Dylan said as she closed the door.

“Hey,” Rade replied as he turned to his side to face where Dylan was now standing.

“I had no idea you were really sick. I feel really bad,” Dylan said with sympathy.

“Yeah, well, I didn’t know either,” Rade replied.

“So how are you feeling? Can I get you anything? Water? Soda? Something to eat?” Dylan questioned.

“No, I’m good. I’ve missed you,” Rade confessed.

“I’ve missed you too,” Dylan said, looking down at her pink toenails

“Come over here,” Rade pleaded.

“Rade, you’re sick,” Dylan said, rolling her eyes.

“Not that sick,” Rade argued.

Hesitant, Dylan walked over to where Rade was laying on the lounger. Before she could protest, he pulled her to him so that she was now sprawled out over the top of him. Even though he was sick, Dylan could feel the erection beneath the blanket. Giggling, she said, “How is it possible you can be this hard when you’re sick?”

Placing his hand on her cheek, looking straight into her eyes, he said, “It doesn’t matter how I feel, Sweetness. Just thinking about you makes me hard.”

Moving a stray hair from his forehead, she lowered her lips to his and passionately kissed him. God, he tasted so good as she moved her tongue to meet his.

Taking her by the neck, Rade pulled her closer so that he could deepen their kiss. Just having her near him made him feel better. She was his cure. His antidote for all that ailed him. Reaching between them, he took hold of her hips and lifted her so that she straddled him with her legs bent underneath her. Dylan placed her hands on his chest for balance while Rade began lifting her skirt.

Knowing Rade’s next move Dylan whispered in his ear. “I’d like to keep these. They are one of my favorite pairs.”