Page 19 of Challenging Luke
“That’s a lot of pressure to put on yourself.”
That was the understatement of the year. She lived with constant knots all over her neck and back because she was always so damn tense. A masseuse would have a field day with her.
“Yeah, I know, but hey, I excel under pressure. Always have and it’s just part of my life now.”
Luke didn’t look convinced and who could blame him? She wasn’t even sure she believed herself anymore. She needed to change the subject.
“So, is that why you came over? Because I wasn’t answering your calls?”
He actually looked sheepish. Now she was curious what the real reason was.
“Sorta.” He cleared his throat. She noticed he did that a lot. “I actually had some information, so I figured I would use that as an excuse if you refused to talk to me about us.”
Information was never good. Not lately anyway. Everything she was told only seemed to add more shit to her already over-full plate.
“What kind of information?”
“Alexander Fletcher has disappeared. He checked out of the hotel, but no one has seen him since. He didn’t board a plane, rent a car, or catch the train. As far as we know, he doesn’t have a house local but that doesn’t mean a friend didn’t loan him one.”
Case in point. Why would this guy not go away? But really at the end of the day was it a problem for her?
“Isn’t that a good thing? If he’s hiding, then he can’t be bothering me or trying to get information about my clients.”
“Guys like Fletcher don’t just give up that easily. They don’t take no for an answer. It’s just a matter of time before he decides to approach you again. Him going to ground means it’s harder for my team to keep an eye on him. That worries me.”
Well, wasn’t that just great? There went her chance of convincing Carmichael that everything was fine.
“What did I do to deserve this?” She dropped her head into her hands.
She was a good person. She donated to charities. She treated people well and helped anyone out when she could. She was easy to talk to and always made sure her employees knew that she was someone they could come to in their time of need.
Despite all that, it was as if the universe was out to get her and keep her from her dreams.
“It’s nothing you did. This is solely a Fletcher problem. He prides himself on making other people’s lives as miserable as possible so that he can live the life he wants. He’s a narcissist with a God complex.”
And clearly it was working well for him because instead of sitting in jail right alongside Silverstein, he was hiding out in what was probably some luxurious villa while she was forced to deal with the messes he made.
Pity party for one.
No, that wasn’t her. It was time to pull up those big-girl panties and deal with the situation like the smart woman she was.
“So how are we going to handle this? I assume you have a plan. I doubt you would come here without one.”
Maybe that was presumptuous of her, but he seemed like the type of man who always had a plan in place. He reminded her a lot of her friends' husbands and the guys, and gals, on their teams.
“Right now the plan is to keep you safe and that means eyes on you at all times while Caden locates Fletcher. If he can’t find him, then he has a few friends who can.”
“So we’re stuck together, is that what you’re telling me?”
She almost pulled it off. It was the wine, or at least that’s what she was going to blame it on, when she could no longer keep the straight face she had mastered over the years.
“I see frisky Monica is back in full gear. I was beginning to think she was just a figment of my imagination that first night at the bar.”
Not only couldn’t she keep the smirk off her face, but she nearly hurt her sides when she laughed so hard she could barely breathe. Monica couldn’t remember the last time she had been this carefree around someone other than Ash and Trista. Probably not since college.
“This is still tame Monica. You haven’t seen frisky Monica yet.”
It sounded so weird to speak about herself in the third person. Almost like she was some prim-and-proper old-school money matriarch.