Violet Chain (9 page)

What was I doing? I should be concentrating on other things than Chain. My four-year relationship was completely destroyed, an almost lifetime commitment flushed down the toilet. And all I could do was think about him? I spent all day Sunday resting; being with Chain the night before was exhausting and I could barely move. That man worked muscles in my body I never thought I possessed.

I always felt guilty after. Although I tried to justify it by saying I was just having fun, enjoying life, I knew what I was doing was wrong. I was having sex with a stranger. It was earth-shattering, amazing sex, but that still wasn’t the point. My brothers would choke the life out of me and my parents would be disappointed if they ever found out. Callie would be alright with it, but I knew David would be livid.  I had overheard them talking the night at the restaurant and David was begging Chain not to touch me. I could tell the way Chain was around David that he was very important to him. I knew if David found out about Chain and me, it would end their friendship.  How selfish was I to risk his friendship with David? And not to mention the harsh guidelines I had put down in order for us to be together. I was being unfair to Chain, unfair to me. I had to end this and I had to end this now. I grabbed my cell to call Chain when my office door opened. Vince smiled as he strolled over, sitting on the edge of my desk.

“So I heard about Harrison knocking that girl up,” he said cautiously.

“Yeah, Harrison told me about it,” I responded nonchalantly.

He gazed at me strangely. “You don’t seem too bothered by it.”

“I’m not, Vince, Harrison and I are over, what he does with his life now is none of my business.”

His lip quirked up on one side. “Okay, what happened?”

“What do you mean?”

“A little over a week ago, you were in your bed, depressed over Harrison and now you don’t even seem bothered that he knocked some girl up. What’s going on, Violet, be straight with me.” His eyebrow rose up on one side. I quickly tried to think of a lie I could make up, but the way he was looking at me I knew he would see right through me.

“I met someone,” I murmured.

“Do tell.” He grinned.

“I don’t know, Vince, I like the guy, but he’s kind of not my type, you know.”

“Why do you say that?”

“He’s outgoing, handsome—rich,” I said hesitantly.

“I see, you want a man who is quiet and poor?”

“No, that’s not what I mean. He is kind of a player; he’s been with a lot of women.”

“What’s his name?” he asked.

There was no way I was revealing Chain’s name for two reasons. One, he would throw a fit if he knew the man I was seeing was Chain. Two, he would tell Victor. And if Victor knew I was seeing Chain Alexander, a well-known womanizer, he would definitely cause problems for Chain.

“Corey,” I answered, the name slipping out before I had a chance to stop it.

“Corey? Where did you meet him?”

“Through Callie,” I lied.

“I see, so are you two dating now?”

“Not exactly, I think he wants to, but I’m not ready, you know.”

“Okay, so tell me, what do you two do exactly when you are together?” I arched my eyebrow with a grin; he shook his hands in the air. “I really don’t think I want to know, do I?”

I smirked before saying, “No you don’t.” I hesitated. “Do you think what I’m doing is wrong?”

“Do you want my advice from a brother’s standpoint or a friend’s?”

“What’s the difference?”

“As your brother I surely don’t want my little sister sleeping around with a strange man.”

“And as your friend?”

“As your friend, I say if it makes you happy, then no, I don’t think you’re doing anything wrong.” His words still didn’t soothe me, in fact I was more confused.

“You’re thinking too much, Violet, you’re just like Dad, you need to learn to go with it and relax,” Vince said, interrupting my thoughts.

He was right, I needed to take it one step at a time, day by day.

I smiled before saying, “Promise you won’t tell Victor.”

“Trust me, I won’t, Victor would have a coronary. Just be careful.”

“Oh Vince, don’t worry about me, I’m not about to get emotionally involved with a man for a long time.” He stood up and walked to the office door.

“It’s not you I’m worried about, it’s Chain,” he mumbled quietly with a wink, right before he exited. My head did a 360. Did he just say Chain? No way, I had to be imagining it.

What did he mean by it was not me that he was worried about? Did he think that I was going to hurt Corey, I mean Chain? I would never do that, not intentionally anyways. My cell buzzed, interrupting my thoughts, and I picked it up.

Lunch?
Chain texted. Should I risk it and go out to lunch with him, in public? I just told my brother I was seeing a man named Corey, if he caught me with Chain, he would know I had purposely lied to him and would never trust my word again. Vince was not only my brother, but my confidant, there was no way I wanted to risk losing his trust. No way.

I don’t think that’s a good idea,
I texted.

Why not?

You know why.

I know the rules. I promise it will not be in public. Come on, Violet, it’s just lunch.

Was it normal for two people who were having only a sexual relationship to go to lunch together? I really didn’t know, it wasn’t like I had a play book that stated the rules of what to do and what not to do with a man you were only sleeping with. I was certain there was one out there, there had to be, because so many people did it.

I did want to see him and what was the difference if I ate lunch with Chain or by myself? As long as it wasn’t in public, I decided it would be okay.

Okay. Where?
I texted back.

Meet me at 234 Sire Drive, in a half hour.

I’ll be there.

Can’t wait to see you.
I smiled as I slid my cell into my purse and sauntered to the bathroom to freshen up.

I took a cab, not wanting anyone, particularly my brothers, to see my car anywhere near Chain. The cab pulled up to an old abandoned warehouse and my first thought was he had played a joke on me. I was tempted to leave, but the cab door opened and I looked up and Chain was standing there, smiling. He extended his hand to me; I took it and he helped me out of the cab. He did a once over of me with his eyes.

“You look beautiful,” he said as he placed a kiss on my lips.

“Thank you.” He leaned into the cab and handed the cab driver a 50-dollar bill.

“Chain, no, I can pay for my own cab,” I interjected. He shut the cab door.

“No woman every pays for anything when around Chain Alexander,” he stated. Jesus, Mary and Joseph! I prided myself as an independent woman, a woman who could take care of herself, so his chauvinistic comment forced my eyes to roll hard and he laughed as he placed his hand gently on the small of my back. “Come on.”

We walked inside and my first reaction was this place was used at one point to house homeless people, as I saw tattered blankets and garbage everywhere.

“What is this place?” I asked him as we scooted past a pile of garbage.

“It was an underground club, believe it or not, years ago. I bought it a few months back and am remodeling it for my new office.”

We continued down a long hall to an elevator. It was obvious the elevator was newly installed—it shined like a new copper penny. He pressed the up button and it opened. We stepped inside and it was carpeted in a brown commercial-grade carpet, the walls wallpapered in a silvery square design. He pressed 2 on the elevator and it zoomed upward.

“I can’t believe Vince and Victor Townsend are your brothers,” Chain stated out of the blue.

I glanced at him. “Yeah. How do you know them?”

He laughed. “From the clubs; they have quite the reputation.”

I held my hands up. “I know.” And I did know. My brothers were man whores, men who used women for their own needs. I wasn’t proud of it, but what could I do about it?

I leaned against the wall of the elevator. “So, Chain, tell me about your family.”

His face lost all expression and he looked down. “I don’t have a family… I really don’t like talking about it,” he mumbled quietly.

I felt the need to comfort him; I rubbed his hand gently with mine. “Okay, we don’t have to talk about it.”

As we reached the floor, the elevator doors sprung open and Chain stepped out.

“After you,” he said as he bowed. I walked out and was shocked. The floor was open; the wall facing out to the street was made of glass. I walked over to it and stared down at the city—the view was panoramic, amazing.

“It’s a beautiful view,” Chain murmured.

“You can see the whole city up here!” I responded.

“I wasn’t talking about the city,” he whispered against my skin as he nuzzled his nose against my neck. I tilted my eyes sideways and the way he looked at me took my breath away. I pressed my lips against his, giving him a soft kiss. His forehead leaned against mine as he exhaled lightly.

“What are you doing to me, Violet?” he breathed. What was I doing to him? What was he doing to me? Just the touch of his lips sent a burning fire through my body. His hand slid down my side, and then he clutched mine.

“Let’s eat.” He guided me to a small table, draped in a dark tablecloth, where two dark leather chairs sat. He pulled out my chair and I sat down and he lightly pushed it in.

“Thank you,” I said to him politely.

“You’re so welcome. I’ll be right back.” He walked out of the room and out of sight. I sat for a few minutes before he came back with two plates filled with food. He placed one in front of me, along with silverware wrapped in a dark linen napkin.

I stared down at the plate. It contained linguini in a white clam sauce, my favorite, with a slice of garlic bread, and long steamed green asparagus. I looked up at him.

“How did you know?” I asked him.

“When you want to impress a girl, you have to do your research. Are you impressed?”

“Very.”

“I have to get one more thing, I will be right back,” he said as he scurried off again. He came back this time with two wine glasses and a bottle of wine. After filling our wine glasses he sat down. I placed my napkin on my lap and dug in.

I ate every morsel; I was so full I was tempted to unbutton my skirt, to give my very filled stomach a little more room, but refrained, lifting my wine glass and taking a sip instead.

Chain began to talk about the remodeling of his building. He seemed so passionate about it, his hands flailing in the air as he spoke, his eyes smiling with enthusiasm. I didn’t know what it was about Chain, but he was different. Easy to talk to, easy to be around and most definitely easy on the eyes.

The chiming ring of my cell phone cut into the conversation and I picked it up, answering blindly.

“Violet Townsend.”

“You’re with him, aren’t you?” Harrison asked. It was funny how fast an ex could ruin a moment.

“I’m at lunch, Harrison,” I responded. I looked up at Chain and he looked back intensely, almost angrily.

“With Chain Alexander?” Harrison continued. He was starting to unnerve me and I was tempted to hang up on him, but I knew he would just call back.

“None of your business.”

“You’re cheating on me again with him, aren’t you?” Rewind!

“What the hell are you talking about, Harrison, I never cheated on you! It was you who cheated on me, so stop trying to turn it around.” What was wrong with this man? I rubbed my forehead gently. Harrison had a way of bringing pain to my head instantly, he was damn exasperating. I tried to calm myself. “What do you want, Harrison?”

“I want you, Violet, that’s what I want.”

“You had me but you threw me away, now please can you just leave me alone?” I glanced up at Chain and he was sitting there staring at me, his elbows on the table, his chin resting on his steepled hands.

“I have to go.” I hung up my cell and placed it on the table. Was he ever going to leave me alone?

“Does he always call you?” Chain asked.

“Yeah.” I felt guilty suddenly about having a good time with Chain while Harrison was left sulking, thinking about me. I knew he was hurting and I couldn’t help but feel bad. Unwelcome tears pooled in my eyes.

“Violet, are you okay?” Chain asked me.

“No,” I responded. I wasn’t. I was tired of Harrison making me feel guilty with his inability to move on, sending my emotions into a vicious rollercoaster of confusion and hurt.

I stood up and began to leave the room, when I felt arms around me.

“Don’t go,” he whispered against my ear.

“I have to, this was a bad idea,” I told Chain. He placed his hands on my shoulders.

“Violet, it wasn’t a bad idea, it’s just your ex doesn’t know how to let go.” It wasn’t about Harrison anymore, it was about me. I was tired, frustrated and at that moment, regretting that I had started anything up with Chain. Not because I didn’t like him, or because he did anything wrong, it was because of me. I was not ready to put myself out there again. I didn’t want to put myself out there again. I kissed him on the lips and smiled.