Nothing happened, but I imagined if the story had ever broken no one would have believed that. The picture also didn’t show the line of tequila shots said girlfriend was pouring behind me or the fact that her hand repeatedly grazed my ass.
My wildest days stopped after Jack’s death, but the road to recovery was a long one. You wouldn’t say so from the photo, but I was already tipsy by the time it was taken. I also might, or might not, have slept with said girlfriend a week or so after that when I ran into her at a party while her tech millionaire boyfriend was out of the country.
Shame seeped into my bloodstream, carrying the feeling to my slightly numbed extremities. I decided a long time ago that I wanted to be a better man, but it didn’t happen overnight. I knew it would take eventually, but I hadn’t realized how much work it would require.
Being the player, the bad boy, the asshole was a lot easier and a lot more familiar than keeping my nose clean, working at Williams Inc. twenty-four seven and avoiding instead of just not caring about the press. I’d been doing mostly okay at it for at least a year or so, but it wasn’t until I met Stephanie that I felt I might really have a chance at getting it right.
A reason for getting it right.
My heart lurched when I saw her come on the screen. She was dressed in a funky, brightly colored dress that I would’ve ripped off the second we got to the office for the way it hugged her voluptuous figure.
Aside from the dress though, I could see there was nothing bright or joyful about her. She had tears glistening in her eyes and was so pale it was like she’d never been out in the sunlight. Though she was in the background to the anchor’s reporting, it was clear as day to me that she was shaking. Badly.
The protective dragon I’d discovered in my chest only when it came to her reared its head and started snapping wildly. My arms bunched as I fought against my restraints. I wanted to go to her, to comfort her and tell her I was okay.
But I couldn’t get free. The only thing I could do was listen as the tall, tanned anchor read what sounded like the introduction of the Wikipedia page about me before he continued delivering the story.
“Mr. Williams, en route to his office early this morning, stopped to pick up his secretary when his vehicle was damaged in a collision. The billionaire disappeared from the scene and hasn’t been seen or heard from since, leading the police to conclude that he has been kidnapped.”
The anchor kept blabbing on, but I tuned him out. The most important thing I learned from the report was that it was still Tuesday. Which meant I couldn’t have been out for more than a couple of hours. It was a relief knowing it was still the same day.
I shook some of the cobwebs out of my head, staring at the anchor standing outside Stephanie’s apartment. It was surreal, watching a news crew reporting on my disappearance from the same spot I’d been waiting for my girl only hours before. Seeing my car wrecked with police all around it.
An ache started in the center of my being as I watched Stephanie moving around in the background. It grew to a hollow pounding in my chest and left me feeling bereft. This was all so wrong.
I should’ve been there with her. We should both have been at work by now, hopefully after having a talk in the car about our future together.
It was so surreal I couldn’t help but laugh. The whole thing was almost amusing. Almost. My cheeks felt tight from being raised by my lips in my incredulous laugh. Everything felt wrong.
As if the sound that escaped from my mouth had spurred her into action, I heard a door down the hall open and close. It clicked shut softly, but firmly. The next sound had me shutting down all thoughts of Stephanie and how absurd the situation was.
It was go-time now. Time to get serious. If I was going to have any chance of getting out of here, I was going to have to figure out Jannie’s game and how to beat her at it. I sat up as straight as I could and listened as I heard her high heels clicking down the hall, closer and closer to the room.