Page 74 of Mile High Baby

She shook her head. "Right now, I'm telecommuting, and it's working out pretty good. I'm sort of thinking of doing something like you did. Starting my own business. I'm a little uncertain about it, but my mom's all for it, and when she's not too tired, she spends her time developing business plans for me."

I smiled. "That's great. Something you two can start together. And I have no doubt that whatever you do, you'll be successful. You always got better grades than I did in college."

She smiled. "Yes, but you are always more outgoing and assertive, traits that I don't really have."

We continued to chat about all sorts of things. Some from our past and tentatively about our futures. When Maria came in to ask if I'd be staying for dinner, I realized that I had dominated so much of Samantha's time.

"You're welcome to stay. Sometimes Mom joins us. Or maybe it will just be me and Pax."

"Where is Pax?" I hadn’t seen him at all.

"He's on a play date this afternoon. But I expect him back shortly.” Samantha's smile seemed genuine, welcoming, and I wanted to spend more time with her. But it was time to go.

I stood, and Samantha joined me. I gave her a tight hug. "Thank you so much. Please let me know if there's anything I can do to support you as much as you support me."

"You're not staying?"

"No. I should go. I didn't let anybody know I was leaving, and Dad will start to worry."

Samantha led me to the door, and we hugged again before I walked out. Once on the front stoop, I ordered another car to bring me home.

The black sedan pulled up in record time, and the driver stepped out, looking at me over the hood. "Ms. Banion?"

I nodded and walked over to the car, opening the back and sliding in. The driver got in and pulled away from the curb.

As the car drove through the city, I sat mindlessly looking out the window. My brain was filled with thoughts, and yet I wasn't able to hold onto any one of them. So, I just let it go blank, welcoming the respite.

Fifteen minutes later, I snapped out of my reverie and realized that the scenery didn’t match my neighborhood. Instead of being on the upper East Side, we were wandering through a section near the park on the West Side.

"Excuse me, but I need to head over to Riverside." I rattled off my address again.

He glanced at me through the rearview mirror but didn't respond. What did that mean?

A chill ran down my spine. What was going on?

For a moment, I wondered if Alex had realized I’d disappeared, and this was one of his men picking me up. Maybe he was trying to make a point of how careless and reckless I'd been with this cloak and dagger type pickup.

We pulled up in front of a large, opulent residence. As I studied it, I didn’t recognize it. No one I knew lived there.

My nerves tingled in warning. I didn't know what was going on, but I knew I didn't want to stick around to find out. I reached for the handle to open the door but it wouldn't open.

Panic shot through me. "What's going on?"

My door opened and a man leaned down, looking in. He wasn’t someone I knew or recognized.

"Welcome, Ms. Banion. Mr. Pitney is excited to have you as a guest in his home."

25

Alex

Victoria's face haunted me for the rest of the day. Not that I'd ever been completely free of her, but seeing her watching me from the window, her expression seared in my brain. I couldn’t be sure what she was feeling. She was too far away to assess her expression completely, but I knew it wasn't happiness or contentment. I prayed to God that whatever was weighing on her had nothing to do with me. Why would it? The ease with which she'd walked away from me told me that our time was a brief affair. So her discontent had to be about something else.

It occurred to me that maybe she was getting more threats from Pitney's camp. Jesus fuck, I was falling down on the job because I should have talked to her. But I was too much of a coward. I could walk into a jungle full of militants, but I couldn’t face Victoria.

I did have a moment to wonder if perhaps she'd overheard my conversation with Henry. Everything I told him about not wanting a wife and family, about providing for any offspring I might accidentally produce, but never loving, was true. Or at least it had been until I met Victoria. But why would it bother her? It wasn’t like she wanted me.

God, sitting and talking to Henry like that, I was sure I was getting an ulcer. I stared him in the face and told lie after lie, knowing I couldn't tell him the truth because the truth would ruin us. The sooner I got back to England, the better because I was getting tired of the guilt and pain and yearning. Thank fuck our plans were moving forward with little to no glitches. I’d be home in no time and then I’d forget Victoria.