Next to Always: Shattered Innocence Trilogy Book Two (27 page)

“So how are you feeling?” Dylan asked.

“It’s not as bad as it seems. Did you get a look at him?” Alex asked.

“What,” Dylan asked, confused. “I wasn’t with you when this happened. You said it was some guy at a bar.”

“Yeah… yeah. Sorry. My head is still a little bit fuzzy.” Alex lied, trying to backpedal. He forgot who he was talking to. He worked so close to Dylan that he forgot what his goal was in getting close to her. It had nothing to do with friendship, although he was beginning to consider one. If Chloe found out how he felt, she would kick him to the curb and make his life miserable.

“You should probably see a doctor about that,” Dylan said, concerned.

Dylan talked to Alex for a few more minutes until the coffee was done. Grabbing her mug, she filled it with coffee and her favorite creamer that she kept in the fridge. Heading to her office to start her day, she tried not to think about the meeting that was taking place in Keeve’s office. Normally they held all their meetings in the conference room. Dylan thought it was strange that they scheduled it in Keeve’s office.

Dylan was working diligently on another project when Rade entered her office. It was unnerving to her how he always entered her office without knocking.

“Don’t you know how to knock?” Dylan said, keeping her eyes on her computer monitor.

“Why should I have to knock when you can clearly see me through the glass door?” Rade reminded her.

“Oh God. Never mind,” Dylan said, frustrated.

“I need to head to the office, but I wanted to let you know that Richard is waiting in reception when you get ready to leave,” Rade smirked.

Dylan just rolled her eyes at him, knowing full well that he was playing a game with her. She just didn’t know what. “Fine.”

Rade walked to Dylan’s desk, placing his palms flat on the smooth surface while leaning his muscular frame slightly towards her. “If you just agreed to listen to me, Sweetness, I would give you a little rein, but since you prefer it your way, this is the way it’s going to be.” Rade pushed from her desk walking towards the office door. “See you tonight, Sweetness.”

Dylan was infuriated. She stepped right into that one. Maybe she should agree to stay with him. His place was very secure. With everything going on she would at the very least feel safe.

Just like clockwork, Richard was waiting for Dylan in the reception area. Most of all the employees had already left for the day. Jessica and Lucy were already gone, leaving Richard to his own devices, which meant reading the outdated magazines. Trying to avoid Richard, Dylan walked up to the elevators and pushed the down button. Richard was already behind her when the doors opened. She was beyond perturbed at this whole situation. Stepping on the elevator, there were no words shared between them. It wasn’t until they hit the lobby that Richard began to speak.

“I’ll be dropping you off at your apartment. Peter should be there waiting for you.” Richard informed Dylan.

“I don’t know what the big deal is.” Dylan said, rolling her eyes.

“Mr. Matheson gave strict instructions to see to your safety. Your building lacks the security needed to keep you safe. This is the only way of protecting you, that is, unless…” Richard began before he was cut off.

“I know, Richard. Unless I give in and stay with him,” Dylan finished.

Reaching her apartment building, Dylan didn’t see Peter waiting for her. Instead, a dark haired man with muscles covering every inch of his body stood outside her door. Richard walked up to the man and shook his hand.

Looking at Dylan, Richard introduced her to him. “Ms. Adams, this is Josh Hyatt. Josh, this is Dylan Adams.” Richard waited for the greeting exchange before continuing. “Where’s Hewitt?”

Josh looked at Richard. “Peter had another security issue he had to take care of. He wasn’t sure how long it would take so he asked me to come over,” Josh explained.

Dylan unlocked her apartment door as the two of them continued their conversation. Listening to two muscle men talk about manly things wasn’t her cup of tea. She did feel safer knowing that there would be someone outside protecting her. She just didn’t see the need for the protection 24/7, especially since she was around people all the time at work.

Dylan had a hard time sleeping. She kept thinking about the face she saw a couple of days ago. Even though Rade thought she imagined it, she would never forget Michael’s face. It was him, she was sure of it. This thought unsettled her. When she woke the next morning, her restless night was evident by the dark circles under her eyes. She did the best she could to hide it with her make-up, but it was no use.

Richard was waiting for her in front of her apartment building. Helping her into the car, his cell began to ring.

“Maxwell,” he began. “Not yet, she’s with me. Just on our way to her office. Yes, sir. I will get with Peter as soon as we get there.”

Dylan knew when the call ended that it had been centered around her. She was almost tempted to ask Richard what it was about, but she didn’t. She had a pretty good idea it had to do with who was going to be her babysitter for the day.

Richard helped Dylan out of the car and escorted her to her building. Just as she thought, Peter was already waiting for them in the lobby. Richard said a few words to Peter and let him know that he wouldn’t be back to take Dylan back to her apartment. Peter agreed to stay with her and escort her home.

This was getting to be too much for Dylan, She was at her breaking point. Once she was secure in her office, she dialed Rade.

“Okay, you win. I’ll stay at your home,” Dylan muttered.

“It is for your own protection, Sweetness,” Rade replied.

“Why do these things keep happening to me?” Dylan asked.

“I don’t know, but we’ll figure it out,” Rade reassured her.

Dylan tried to stay on task, but her mind was filled with everything that was happening to her. Her office phone began to buzz, pulling her from her thoughts.

“This is Dylan,” she said, greeting her caller.

“Hey Dylan, it’s Mason, Can you come to my office?” he requested.

“Sure, be right there,” she replied.

Dylan pushed from her desk and headed to Mason’s office, which was at the end of the hallway. It was much larger than hers. He also had a nicer view of the city than she had. Knocking lightly on the opened door, Dylan could see Mason sitting in his chair, looking over some documents in front of him. Looking up, he acknowledged her presence.

“Close the door, Dylan, and have a seat,” he insisted.

Dylan quietly shut the door and took a seat in front of his desk. She wasn’t sure what this was about, but being behind closed doors sparked her curiosity.

“What is this about, Mason?” Dylan asked.

“What do you know about Rade Matheson?’ Mason questioned.

Dylan wasn’t sure where this was going, but didn’t feel comfortable talking about Rade to him. “I’m not sure what you’re asking?”

“I just need to know if he is the kind of man that can be trusted. We are putting a lot of money into Spectrum and I just need to be assured that this investment isn’t going to bite us in the ass,” Mason emphasized his concern.

“I don’t think Rade would do anything to jeopardize your investment. He has a lot of money riding on Spectrum’s success as well, and there is a signed agreement between BlackStone and RIM Global,” Dylan said defensively. She knew Rade well enough to know he wouldn’t do anything underhanded.

“It seems you and Mr. Matheson have been spending a lot of time together,” Mason blurted. “Are you two dating?”

“Dating?” Dylan responded. She wasn’t sure herself what Rade and she were doing. Dating was not the word that came to mind. “I wouldn’t say we were dating. It’s complicated,” she added.

“Well, in that case. I would like to take you to dinner,” Mason asked.

“I don’t think that is such a good idea. You are my boss and everything,” Dylan interjected.

“Dylan, we don’t have an interoffice relationship policy,” Mason stated.

“Still, I wouldn’t feel comfortable going to dinner with someone I worked for.” Even though Mason was quite handsome, she could never date anyone until she knew for sure what was going on between her and Rade. “If there’s nothing else, I like to get back to work.”

Dylan rose to her feet and opened the door to Mason’s office. Just as she was ready to leave, he said, “You’re an important asset to our company, Dylan. I hope asking you to dinner doesn’t change your opinion of me.”

“Of course not. I love working for you and Keeve,” Dylan admitted.

*****

Rade was looking over documents concerning the Spectrum file. This was his baby, and he wanted to make sure everything was in order. He had a meeting later with his attorney to go over some final details on the takeover. He’d been reviewing the documents so long that his eyes began to cross. As he pushed the documents aside, his phone began to buzz. As he looked down, he could see it was Peter.

“Hewitt, I hope you have good news for me,” Rade asked.

“I’m not sure if you could call it that, but the DNA test came back. Alex Moreno’s DNA matches the blood that was taken from
The Castle.
It’s also possible that Mr. Moreno and David Wu are the same person. No way of telling unless we can get a DNA sample from Chen Wu or his mom,” Peter explained. “It may be easier to get the sample from his dad since his mother is deceased.”

“I agree. Don’t do anything until I say so. Dylan has agreed to stay at the penthouse until this blows over. There is still the problem with Mr. Stewart. If he visited her once, I’m sure he will try to see her again. Any word on his whereabouts?” Rade questioned.

“Not yet, sir. I have one of my guys watching the hotel. He still hasn’t shown up. He hasn’t checked out either. I’ll let you know if I hear anything,” Peter communicated.

“Good enough. I hope to hear from you soon.” Rade ended the call. His hunch was confirmed with the DNA test. His gut feeling told him that Mr. Moreno wasn’t alone in planning Dylan’s attack. He had a pretty good idea that Chloe was involved with it as well. He would like nothing better than to see the two of them rot in jail. Even though he swore to kill the man who hurt Dylan, justice would be better served to see them both behind bars. Somehow he needed to get to Chloe and make her confess to her part in all of this. Even though it disgusted him being near her, he knew what he needed to do. The only way he would be able to do that was to have Dylan protected and out of the way. That was when it dawned on him to send Dylan on a road trip. He needed to visit the Spectrum facility in California. He was hoping to take Dylan with him when he went, but this was a better plan. She would be far enough away, and with Keeve and Mason tagging along, plus the added security he was going to request, he felt comfortable that she would be safer there than here. He just needed to convince Keeve and Mason that a trip to California was essential for a smooth takeover.

Rade was on the phone for nearly an hour trying to convince Keeve and Mason the importance of flying to California to inspect Spectrum’s facility. He convinced them that he needed to stay behind to search for a new location if needed. Keeve had his reservations about Dylan going, but Mason was more than willing to let her go, since it was her account and she put forth a lot of time and effort into it. They all agreed to take off in a couple of days. Rade told them that the Gulfstream would be fueled and ready to go for them. The three of them finalized their plan, making sure that every detail was covered. Keeve volunteered to let Dylan know of the planned trip, while Mason worked on the agenda for the visit.

Everything was falling into place. It was time Rade began working on his own plan to woo the woman that made his skin crawl. He just hoped that he could be convincing enough to buffalo her into believing he still had a thing for her. His first move was to let Richard know of his plan. He needed to make sure he was on board. This little charade had to be as real as possible, no matter what the cost.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Richard had contacted Rade, letting him know that the Gulfstream had taken off and that Dylan, Keeve, and Mason were all on board. Now it was up to Rade to put his plan into play. No matter how much he regretted calling Chloe, he knew it was a move he needed to make.

He waited patiently as the line began to ring. The only thing he didn’t regret was removing her number from his phone. When her voice came over the line, his plan began.

“Hello,” Chloe said, confused.

“Chloe, hi, it’s Rade. I know I’m the last person you thought you would hear from, but I really need to talk to you. I’ve been such an ass. Can we meet somewhere for lunch?” Rade said, cringing at the request.

“What is this about, Rade? Last time we spoke, you made it very clear you didn’t want me near you,” Chloe questioned.

“Yeah, well, I made a mistake. I’m sorry I said those things to you.” Rade began feeling ill. “Let me make it up to you. Have dinner with me.”

Chloe wasn’t sure what his game was. Maybe they could be together after all. Then she thought about Dylan. “What about your little school girl? Won’t she be upset with you?”