The Secrets of Their Souls (13 page)

“Tell me, what is your plan exactly?”

Jayce took a mouthful of the wine, letting it swirl in his mouth for a minute. “I’m going to make her fall in love with me, break her heart and then take away everything she values.” The first part was crucial. Betrayal is painful, but when it’s done by the one you love, it is soul-destroying.

The corner of his father’s lip turned up on one side, a slight flare in his eyes. “And you think you can do that without falling in love with her, too? Or, maybe, you’ve never stopped loving her. Have you considered that?”

That very thought had plagued Jayce’s mind for weeks. Dryas had loved Raven so completely, a cosmic force that defied logic and reason. Does that kind of love ever die?

“I don’t and I won’t ever again.” He said it as much to convince himself as his father.

“I hope for her sake, and for yours, that she does make you fall in love with her. Women are powerful creatures. Just look what your mother did to me.” His father chuckled softly, his face transforming at the thought of Eva Tohmatsu. “On another note, I suppose you’ve thought about how you’re going to replace her at Mason. I looked over her final concepts for Church Street on my flight—she is very, very good, Jayce.”

She was very good—too good—and it was the one problem Jayce had yet to find a solution for. He was scoping talent from competitors but thus far he had come up empty handed. He still had some time up his sleeve, though, because he wasn’t going to make his final moves until Church Street was done. That was a risk he couldn’t take. “I’m working on it, and it will not interfere with business, so you don’t need to worry.”

His father shook his head. “I’m not just worried about business. You could ruin your life and everything you’ve worked hard for. Please don’t do this, Jayce. I promised your mother I would look after you… She would kill us both if she could see us now.”

“Are you going to stop me?” The question hung in the air, suspended like a dagger. If his father said yes, he would obey, he would have to—he would never disrespect the man who had given him so much.

He ran his finger along his jaw, a habit Jayce had inherited from his father. “No, I don’t think I’ll need to. I think Zahra will do that herself.” And that was his father’s biggest mistake, Jayce thought.

She wore white. A fitted dress that hugged her tall, svelte figure, and Jayce thought she’d never looked more like an angel. Zahra Foster walked into the restaurant flanked by Holly McCabe and Kelly Luca—an ambitious threesome. Kelly marched ahead, determined to be the first to introduce herself.
This girl should’ve been born with balls
, Jayce thought, smiling. “Kelly,” he said, shaking her hand, “please meet Mr. Tohmatsu Senior.”

Jayce watched over their introduction but his interest was on the woman behind her, the only woman he had eyes for. He didn’t need to touch her, or even speak to her, to feel that hum of energy ignite. He hadn’t seen her since Saturday but he’d been listening to her sleep. His device was working perfectly but unfortunately she either hadn’t had another dream or she wasn’t talking in them. Jayce assumed the first assumption was correct because her breathing had been slow and steady all night, which would be unlikely if Raven was appearing in her dreams and tormenting humankind.

“Zahra,” Jayce greeted her, his voice flat and even, treating her like they barely knew each other. “Mr. Tohmatsu Senior,” he said, gesturing to his right again, something he would do over and over again tonight.

Zahra smiled and nodded in Jayce’s direction but otherwise focused on his father. She looked directly into his eyes and radiated a warm and welcoming smile. Oh, she was good.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Jayce observed his father carefully, accurately predicting his plan—he intended to unnerve both his son and the woman whose hand he held.

“Zahra Foster, I’ve heard many good things about you. A very talented woman,” he said, his eyebrows raised.

Genuinely surprised, Zahra glanced in Jayce’s direction momentarily before responding. “Well, I can’t take all the credit, I have a very good team. Speaking of, this the assistant lead designer, Holly McCabe.”

It was a swift and crafty move, one that would have worked on anyone but Mr. Thomatsu. He greeted Holly, exchanged a pleasantry, and then returned his attention to Zahra. “We toured Church Street today. I must say my blood pressure skyrocketed as we walked through the development. This field of business is not my forte, it’s my son’s, so I don’t pretend to accurately assess the risk factor but I do know that it’s much higher than I would have liked. In saying that, after seeing your final concepts, I think you might just be able pull it off.”

Zahra straightened her shoulders and tilted her head to the right, which she did a lot, Jayce noted. “Thank you, I’m very confident in the development. It’s a challenging property to work with, but of course there are solutions, as expensive as they are.”

Her gaze diverted to Jayce again now, and his father chuckled. He knew that Jayce had approved a ridiculous budget for her to work with, not that he’d had a choice—if the building wasn’t finished to perfection, the entire project would sink, something that had never happened in Jayce’s career and was certainly not going to happen now.

“Yes, you were lucky you were negotiating with Jayce on that, as I would never have approved it.”

Watching the woman in front of him Jayce thought his father’s comment was a little over confident—she was more guileful than his father gave her credit for. She had put on a good act tonight, not showing a trace of nerves, but Jayce knew that she was nervous because she’d told him as much on the phone last night. Dryas had underestimated Raven and he had paid the consequences for it—Jayce would not repeat that mistake.

Zahra smiled. “Maybe.”

Deciding the conversation had gone on long enough, Jayce motioned for the next staff member to come forward. Zahra took a seat at the dinner table, her attention absorbed once more by Holly McCabe. Jayce was surprised to find he was proud of her—she’d handled his father with grace and respect while still managing to challenge him. If their past hadn’t collided with their future, they could have had a great life together, built businesses together—they could have been the power couple that had it all.

Finally the introductions were over and Jayce sat down next to his father. Zahra was sitting four seats down, on the opposite side of the table, not within talking distance. Again, Jayce knew this was no accident—she’d made sure she was out of the firing line. He only allowed himself to glance at her twice during dinner and neither time had she been looking his way. With every passing hour he’d grown more restless; a four-hour dinner on zero sleep was painful, to say the least.

Zahra stood up and straightened out her dress. Jayce watched her and accurately guessed she was headed for the restrooms. He knew they were located down a long hallway with multiple doors. What were the chances that one of them was unlocked? Unlikely, he thought, but he intended to find out. “I’ll fix the bill,” he said to his father, excusing himself.

Jayce walked toward the hostesses’ table, handed over his credit card, told her he’d be back to sign in a few minutes and then slipped through the door leading to the bathrooms. His pace was fast as he worked his way down the hallway, pushing on each of the handles. Three were open and he peered inside; they were all storerooms but one looked dustier than the others: he’d hit the jackpot. If it were his business he’d nail someone’s ass to the wall for leaving the doors unlocked, but tonight he thanked the incompetent staff of Sol Restaurant and Bar. All he had to do now was wait. Jayce leaned back against the wall and his heel impatiently drummed on the white plaster. The bathroom door creaked and Jayce smiled.

She looked up and down the hallway, but they were alone. “What are you doing?”

He moved, not having a second to spare. Pulling her arm, he dragged her into the dustier room, the one much less likely to be frequented in the next five minutes, and pressed her up against the door, which served two purposes: a) it was his favorite position and b) it ensured that no-one could walk in on them. A high-pitched moan escaped her lips as he kissed her and his hands roamed her body, needing to touch her—she was never close enough for him. Zahra wrapped her arms around his neck and dragged her nails through his hair, sending bolts of electricity right down to his toes. Jayce relished those few minutes with her and then made himself stop. “Hey,” he said.

She looked disorientated, her eyes dazed. “I know I keep asking you this, but are you out of your goddamn mind? Someone could have seen us.”

Jayce shook his head. “No one saw us, I made sure of it. You do need to go back to the table now, though, and I need to go sign the bill.” He brushed his fingers over her hair, smoothing it back into place. He kissed her forehead and then said, ‘Go,’ as he pushed her out the door. He couldn’t leave yet, though, since his dick was rock hard. He took two minutes, exactly, to check his emails, since there was nothing quite like that to kill an erection, and then he put his ear up against the door, listening for any approaching footsteps. Casually, Jayce walked out of the storeroom and returned to the hostess’ desk to sign the receipt. He glanced over at their table; everyone was lost in their conversations and no one suspected a thing—except his father, of course, who shot him a disapproving look.

While Jayce was busy and distracted with his father in town, Zahra took the opportunity to delve headfirst into her research. The last four nights had been peaceful, but she knew it was only a matter of time before Raven returned to torture her—she always did.

Zahra typed the words into her best friend, Google, and searched for the best therapist that Manhattan had to offer. She had spent every night on her computer reading various sources but she still didn’t have the answers to her questions, and she needed to talk to someone real, someone with lots of experience in this field.

Zahra scrolled through the listings with due diligence, carefully checking their references and credibility before narrowing it down to just three. And then she put it in fate’s hands—whichever one had the first available appointment was going to be her new therapist. She dialed the first number and held her breath until the receptionist answered her call.

“Good afternoon, Dr. Robert Moore’s office. How can I help you today?”

Zahra hesitated, her determination faltering at the realization of what she was actually doing. “Good afternoon. I would like to enquire about making an appointment with Dr. Moore, please.” Her voice was shaking and she was unable to hide her nerves despite her best efforts.
This seemed like such a good idea a few moments ago
, she thought, now wondering if she should hang up and forget all about it.

“Dr. Moore has a waiting list exceeding six months,” the receptionist said and then paused. “But, he actually has a cancelation this afternoon that we haven’t been able to fill due to the extremely short notice. It’s in half an hour. Would you be able to make it?”

Zahra had organized to work from home so that she could make this call in private, but she hadn’t been prepared to go in for an appointment. Her eyes flicked to the address displayed on her laptop screen; she could get there in time, just. Without thinking it over any further, she accepted the appointment and vowed to catch up on her work later tonight. Zahra thanked the receptionist, hung up, grabbed her purse and keys and headed to see Dr. Moore.

Climbing the six steps to Dr. Moore’s office was nerve-racking and she second-guessed herself again. There was still time to turn back. She could tell them she hadn’t been able to get there in time and even offer to pay them their cancelation fee. But she didn’t stop—instead she opened the door to both her past and her future.

Zahra had been expecting a dull, antiquated office much like you see in the movies but, instead, it was modern and beautiful. Uncannily, the interior reminded her of Mason and immediately put her at ease:
It’s a sign I’ve chosen the right therapist
, she told herself. A young gentleman greeted her and handed over some forms to complete while she waited to meet the doctor. The longer Zahra sat there, the more nervous she became and she looked around for a sign indicating the direction of the restrooms, preempting that her mid-morning snack may soon leave her.

“Miss Foster.”

Zahra looked up to the graying man in front of her, whom she assumed was in his late sixties—the thin comb-over giving it away. He immediately struck her as a kind, humble man and she followed him faithfully into his room and sat down in chair he gestured to.

“So, Miss Foster, what brings you to me today?”

Zahra cleared her throat. “For several years now, I suppose, I have been having quite vivid dreams. They have increased in both frequency and intensity and recently, I thought,” she said, fiddling with her sleeve, “I think that I recognize someone, someone who works with me. I have seen him in several dreams.” It sounded ridiculous to say out loud but she supposed Dr. Moore had heard much crazier things given his line of work.

Deep crow’s feet formed around his eyes when he smiled. “Our dreams can be very interesting, can’t they? Tell me more about your dreams. What do you see and how do you feel when you wake up?”

Zahra divulged what information she could but the words kept getting stuck in her throat—she had never told anyone about her dreams before. She also played down the violence level a little; she was ashamed to admit how savage Raven had been. He scribbled down notes vigilantly, his facial expression changing little.

“Okay. Now tell me about this colleague.”

Zahra told him that they had recently met and that they had become friends. She told him about the flashback image and that she had seen him in her dreams.

“Very interesting,” Dr. Moore said, looking up from his yellow notepad. “These dreams, it is very probable that they are past-life dreams, given how real they feel for you, and also since you have recognized this colleague. There are numerous theories on why we dream, but I believe, when it comes to past-life dreams particularly, that they are the soul’s way of helping us in this lifetime, telling us something that we need to know in order to evolve. There are many, many lessons we must learn and life is really just one big classroom.”