CRUEL (The Buck Boys Heroes Book 2), page 17
Nigel picks up a lemon pastry. “Mr. Bane is not a morning person.”
“Is it all right if I steal the raspberry one for me and the strawberry one for Birch?” Nara asks tentatively.
Nigel turns to look at her. “Alcott does love the strawberry filled ones.”
Nara smiles. “I haven’t seen him since he went down to the garage with Mr. Bane. Did he pick you up from home this morning, Juliet, or was it Drew?”
“I took a rideshare when I left here earlier and another on my way back,” I let that slip.
“You were here earlier?” Her face brightens. “I knew there was something there, Juliet. He bought you these beautiful flowers.”
My gaze travels over the fragrant bouquets on the table next to the pastry box.
“There is something,” I whisper.
“Mr. Bane was in the garage?” Nigel turns to Nara. “Did he take the car?”
“What car?” I ask.
“The BMW,” Nigel says casually. “Mr. Bane takes it for a drive sometimes.”
“It usually means a few days off for us.” Nara laughs. “He drives upstate and takes a few personal days.”
Why would he do that now?
I curse inwardly wishing I had woken him up instead of going home.
I press my finger against my phone’s screen again to connect a call to Kavan. For the second time, it goes through to voicemail after a few rings.
Part of me wants to run out of here and chase after him, but I don’t know which direction to head.
“I’ll be in my office,” I tell Nigel and Nara as I set off in that direction.
“I’ll bring in a coffee right away, Juliet,” she calls after me.
As I near my office door, I try calling Kavan again.
It rings once and then again.
I stop just as I reach the open door to my office.
I pull my phone away from my ear but the ringing continues. In fact, it’s louder because sitting on the edge of my desk, next to my open laptop is Kavan’s phone.
Chapter Forty-Six
Juliet
I drop into my chair and scoop Kavan’s phone into my hand.
Notifications crowd the screen including three indicating the calls I just made.
I set the phone down, unsure of what’s going on.
“I brought your coffee,” Nara says as she enters my office. “I’ll put it here.”
I nod because I can’t find the words to thank her.
I feel numb, and confused.
I glance at Kavan’s phone again when another notification pops up but I don’t read it. That’s not my business.
Staring at the darkened screen of my laptop, I see my reflection.
I look nothing like I looked an hour ago when I caught sight of myself in the mirror after my shower.
My hair was wet, my bottom lip marked with a red spot from Kavan’s teeth. My eyes were bright and a smile was stuck on my mouth.
Now, my reflection is marred with concern.
I tap a finger on the keyboard to chase away that sight.
I’m worrying too much. He’s likely fine.
Maybe he rushed out to get something and forgot his phone behind.
He probably walked into my office because he was looking for me when he realized I hadn’t crawled back into his bed.
I take a soothing sip of the hot coffee before my gaze drifts back to my laptop.
This can’t be right.
Panic darts through me as I read the headline of the article on the screen.
My Mr. Bane.
I read the first line in a whisper. “I fell in love with Kavan Bane.”
Sucking in a deep breath to try to chase away the approaching tears, I continue, “I met Kavan Bane in an alley. He saved my life. When I saw him again, weeks later, he changed my life.”
I read on, silently, remembering when I wrote each word.
The emotion tied to each sentence bubbles up to the surface.
It’s my vision of the man that the world thinks they know. It’s tender, revealing, and heartfelt. I poured everything into this article.
There’s no mention of Ares Bane or his death because that’s a chapter in the life story of a man who has pulled himself up from the depths of heartbreak to finally move from that darkness into the light.
It’s a testament to the man who deserves to be loved, and is loved by me.
As I read the final word, my hands tremble on my lap.
“Kavan read this,” I whisper. “He read this.”
I dart from the chair, shove my phone in my pocket, and scoop my purse and Kavan’s phone into my hands.
Just as I’m rushing out of the doorway, Nigel comes in and we collide.
My purse tumbles down and all the contents spill out. Kavan’s phone crashes to the ground, bounces once and lands face up.
I drop to my knees and sob.
Nigel crouches near me. “Juliet, I’m so sorry.”
I shake my head. “No. Don’t be.”
“I ran right into you.” His hands move quickly scooping up my wallet, a hairbrush and a package of gum. “It looks like your phone survived the fall.”
“That’s not mine.” I glance up. “It’s Kavan’s phone.”
He grabs it. “Why do you have his phone?”
“It was in my office.” I push to stand. “I think he read something on my laptop. I’m worried that he thinks I betrayed him.”
“You would never,” he says as he slides back up to his feet.
“I wouldn’t.” I sob. “There’s an article on my laptop about him. It’s not the one I submitted. This one is more personal. I’m scared that he thinks that I submitted that one.”
His hands reach for my shoulders. “We will find him, Juliet.”
“Where would he go?”
“I don’t know,” he admits. “I do know that Mr. Bane will be back. We need to give him time and when he’s ready he’ll be back.”
Chapter Forty-Seven
Kavan
Whoever said nature does a body good didn’t get shit on by a magpie.
Fortunately that didn’t happen to me, but I saw it right in front of my eyes.
A couple walking hand-in-hand around the edge of a lake got a load dropped on them.
I would have cursed the damn bird all the way to hell, but they laughed. I heard them telling each other that meant that they were the luckiest souls on this earth.
They have that wrong.
I’m the luckiest soul.
Juliet Bardin loves me.
I lean back on the park bench I’m sitting on and stretch out my legs. I drove for hours with the music in my car blaring, and my soul feeling lighter than it has in years.
I woke up to find Juliet missing.
I scoured every inch of the penthouse for her but she was nowhere, so I doubled back to her office and that’s when I saw the open laptop.
I wanted another read of the fantastic article she wrote about Bane Enterprises and our promising future.
I read that, and then beneath it I caught sight of the sliver of another document.
I’m not a nosy bastard, but I saw my name, so I clicked.
It changed my life.
I read that article titled My Mr. Bane three times before I stood up in a daze and got on the elevator.
My heart was too full. My head crowded with so many plans for the future that I couldn’t think straight.
I pressed the button for the garage instead of the lobby and when the doors slid open I saw my car.
It’s always been my escape, so I took the keys form Alcott’s hand and headed out.
“Are you feeding the birds?” A gray-haired woman standing a few feet away asks me.
I look at my empty hands. “Not unless they’re eating air.”
She laughs and glances back at me. “You’re a funny one, are you?”
“My girlfriend is a riot.” I smile. “Me, not so much.”
She walks slowly toward the bench, relying heavily on the wooden cane in her hand. “What’s your girlfriend’s name?”
“Juliet.”
“Does that make you Romeo?”
I look right at her. “That makes me Kavan Bane.”
Her eyes flit over my face from behind wire rimmed eyeglass frames. “It’s nice to meet you, Kavan Bane.”
“It’s nice to meet you too…” I hold out a hand hoping to lure her name out of her.
“I never give my name to strangers.”
I huff out a laugh. “You know my name, so I’m not a stranger.”
That earns me a pat on the knee. “What are you doing out here all by yourself? Where’s your Juliet, Romeo?”
“It’s Kavan,” I correct her.
“I prefer Romeo.”
Nodding, I bite the corner of my bottom lip. “I’m trying to figure out how to tell Juliet that I love her.”
“Don’t drink the poison,” she quips.
I laugh. “That never crossed my mind.”
“I know the perfect way to do it.”
I look out at the vast blue water. “How?”
“I love you, Juliet.”
Those words have been running through my mind for days, maybe even weeks.
“That doesn’t feel like enough.”
Her dark brown eyes scan my face. “You’re not one of those cookie-cutter romantics, are you?”
She can’t know how fucking funny that it is. I work to hold in a laugh, but I fail.
“I take it you are?” she asks. “Seeing as how you got such a kick out of that.”
“I want to be an original romantic,” I explain. “I want to do something that will show Juliet how deeply I love her.”
She edges herself forward on the bench. “Trust me, Romeo, keep it plain. Make it simple. All your Juliet wants to hear are those three words.”
Chapter Forty-Eight
Juliet
“It’s been twelve hours,” I stress to Nigel. “Should we call hospitals? How long do you have to wait to file a police report for a missing person?”
He sets his binder on the corner of my desk. “Juliet, I promise you that he will be back.”
I glance at the open page of the binder to see a photograph of red-chested bird. It’s not a robin. It’s something else.
“That’s a rose-breasted Grosbeak.” Nigel taps a fingertip on the picture. “The sounds they make are some of the sweetest I’ve ever heard.”
“I know something that sounds sweeter.”
That voice. God, that voice. I have longed to hear it all day.
I look toward my office door. “Kavan.”
“My Juliet,” he whispers.
“Mr. Bane.” Nigel bolts to his feet with his binder in hand. “I’m going home. I’ll send Nara and Alcott on their way too.”
He starts toward the door but stops when he’s next to Kavan. “It’s good to see you, sir.”
“It’s good to know you, Nigel.” He pats Nigel’s shoulder. “I need you to start calling me Kavan. We’re family.”
“I can do that,” Nigel says in a tone tainted with emotion. “Goodnight, Juliet. Goodnight, Kavan.”
“Goodnight,” I call as he takes his leave.
Kavan approaches, reaching out a hand to me. I snatch it quickly in mine. “I was so worried.”
“I drove north to some lake,” he says, pulling me to my feet. “I met a very wise woman on a bench. She helped me find the words that I’ve wanted to say to you for a long time.”
A lump forms in my throat so all I can manage is a nod.
“I love you, Juliet Bardin.”
“I love you, Kavan Bane.”
“The article.” I glance at my closed laptop. “Kavan, I know you read it. I was never going to submit it. I hope you know that. Trust me, I never would have.”
“I trust you,” he whispers before he kisses me softly. “That’s why I want you to submit it.”
“What?”
His hands move to cup my cheeks. With his brilliant blue eyes searing a path into my soul, he smiles. “You wrote that from your heart. The world deserves to read it.”
“You’re sure?”
“Juliet.” My name comes out of him sounding sweeter than it ever has before. “I’m forty two billion percent sure.”
She laughs. “You know that I never mentioned Ares in the article or that night because that doesn’t have to define you anymore, Kavan. You’re an incredibly kind, sensitive, and thoughtful man.”
“I know.” He tilts my chin up with his finger. “I want you to know those details. It’s important for me to share them with you now.”
“Now?”
“Now,” he repeats.
I nod. “Good, but you should know that you have thousands of notifications on your phone.”
He looks to where it’s sitting on my desk. “That can wait. This is more important.”
We settle on the couch in front of the fireplace.
Kavan places a blanket over my lap even though I’m not chilled.
He takes both of my hands in his and bends his leg at the knee so he can face me.
“We went to Miami for a conference. It was related to a business that my father had acquired a month, maybe two months before.”
I nod.
“The idea was that we’d hang out and talk.” He shakes his head. “We didn’t have a lot of time for that so I was eager to get that chance.”
Even before hearing it from his lips, I could tell that he adored his father.
“I had something important to talk to him about,” he confesses. “It was a pretty big shift in my life and I needed his approval. That was vital to me.”
He takes a second to gaze at the roaring flames.
“What did you want to talk to him about?” I question softly.
His eyes lock on mine. “I wanted to leave the business and go back to school.”
“Really?” Surprise taints my tone.
“To study medicine.”
My hand jumps to cover my mouth. “I had no idea that interests you.”
“It did,” he says gently. “Back then, it did. Now, my interest is Bane Enterprises and you, of course.”
I smile.
“We had a great day on the beach.” He laughs. “He ran into the ocean. I took off after him because my dad couldn’t swim.”
“You probably can like a champion.”
He flexes a bicep. “Varsity team in college.”
“Cookie-cutter…”
“There’s nothing cookie-cutter about me.” He leans closer to kiss me.
I gaze into his eyes. “You’re right.”
Nodding, he kisses my palm. “We had some shots, some food, walked in the sand, and then he wanted to go back to the room.”
“You didn’t?”
“There were bikinis everywhere.” He shoots me a look. “I was single.”
“Ready to mingle,” I add.
“Something like that. Before he left to go to the room, I told him my news.” He glances up at the ceiling. “I threw it all out there. I said I wanted a chance to pursue my dream instead of his. I wanted to be a doctor.”
“What did he say?”
He glances at me again. “He laughed until he noticed I wasn’t laughing.”
“I’m sorry,” I offer with a squeeze of my hand over his.
He takes a breath. “I was telling my father my dreams and an hour later my worst nightmare came true.”
Chapter Forty-Nine
Kavan
Juliet sits silently beside me. She’s giving me all the time I need to confess this to her. I’m grateful for that. I’m more grateful that for the first time in my life, I have someone I can fully confide in.
“I went up to the room after I got turned down by a few women.”
“Liar,” she accuses, laughing.
“Maybe I turned them down,” I admit. “After my brief discussion with my dad, I wasn’t feeling it anymore, so I went back to the room to talk to him. I knew he was disappointed that I didn’t want to work at his side at Bane Enterprises anymore.”
“You wanted to venture out into an adventure all your own.”
“I did want that, but he wanted me to carry on the family tradition.”
“Most parents want that for their kids, I think.”
He nods. “Most parents aren’t like Ares Bane.”
I pause to gather my thoughts because this is transporting me back to that night.
“It was raining by then. Ares hated the rain.” I chuckle. “He used to tell me it was heaven’s punishment, so when I got up to the room, he went there.”
Juliet moves to cup a hand over the back of my neck. “We can take a break, Kavan. Do you need a break?”
I love her for sensing how difficult this is for me.
I shake my head. “I need you to know.”
“I’m right here.” Her fingers rake through my hair. “I’m listening.”
“He was in tears when I walked into the room. It was a suite. I was heading to my bedroom when I heard him sobbing.”
“That must have been difficult.”
“It slayed me,” I admit. “I felt as though I let him down. I didn’t realize the depth of that until I found him crumpled on the floor in the living room of the suite. He was curled in ball.”
Her breathing quickens.
“I picked him up and hugged him. I told him I was sorry.” My voice cracks. “I told him I loved him.”
I hear a whimper escape Juliet’s lips, so I tug her closer. I know this can’t be easy for her to hear.
“He let me hold him like that in my arms.” I sigh. “He was shorter than me, but just as strong. He pushed me away and starting yelling about how ungrateful I was. He told me he’d worked his fingers to the bone to give me everything and I was walking away from it all. He called me a selfish little bastard.”
“Oh god,” Juliet whispers.
I drop my head. “He was walking in circles, muttering about assholes, and ungrateful fucks and sacrifice and his legacy. He raised his voice to scream to me that I was destroying his legacy.”
I swallow hard, steadying myself so I can continue.
