Tori Carrington - Obsession

Had she just said it was over?

“I’m coming back,” he said resolutely.

She smiled wearily and tucked her chin into her chest. “I love you, Drew. Remember that always.”

And just like that, she turned and walked out of his life.

“JOSIE! MON DIEU, what’s going on?”

It took a moment for Josie to register that someone had directed a question toward her. She’d just left Drew standing looking at her as if she’d removed his heart straight from his chest. And she felt like someone had done the same to her.

Saying goodbye to him had to be the most difficult thing she’d ever done in her life. Including watching the Josephine burn. Never would she have believed that to be possible. The hotel was her family, her legacy. And Drew…

Drew was the love of her life.

She found her hand moving as if on its own accord to her flat belly beneath the blanket, hope blossoming within her that she’d be blessed with a small reminder of him, of their sweet time together.

“Jesus, girl, are you okay?”

Josie blinked at the woman in front of her. She hadn’t realized that she was there until then.

Her cousin.

To her surprise, Sabine hugged her almost as tightly as Drew had moments before.

“A friend ran to my place to tell me the news.” She held Josie at arm’s length. “Are you all right?”

Josie nodded, the genuine concern on her cousin’s face was too much to bear in light of everything else happening.

Sabine’s gaze went to the hotel and the firemen swarming around and through it.

“Is the hotel…I mean, will…”

Josie should have known there was an ulterior motive for her cousin’s appearance. Oh, sure, she hadn’t wanted to see Josie injured or harmed, but her ultimate goal was always the hotel and whatever money she could milk out of it.

Josie thought of the money in the lockbox she’d safely placed in the bag over her shoulder. Should she offer her cousin a cut? Pay her off and get her to release all claim?

Sabine pulled her to her side and they both stared at the Josephine.

“I’ll help you put her to right.”

Josie squinted at her.

“What? You think I’m only interested in the cash? The Josephine is…well, the Josephine. The Quarter wouldn’t be the same without her here.”

Josie wasn’t sure which shocked her more: that Sabine was saying the words or that she apparently appeared to mean them.

“I mean, if you’ll let me help you…”

Josie stared at her. It had been a year since Granme had passed. A year of troubles and hardships, including from the woman at her side. Did Josie dare invite more?

She smiled. “I’d love it if you’d help,” she murmured. “After all, this is a family thang.”

They laughed together and Josie felt some of the weight lift off her shoulders.

As they continued walking in the direction of Anne-Marie’s place, the other two women chatting about what had happened, Josie looked over her shoulder at the Josephine, where the charred fourth floor was still emitting smoke.

For a startling moment, she could have sworn she saw her granme there, her arms crossed, smiling down at Josie. And instead of smelling smoke, she detected narcissus.

Then she looked at where Drew still stood, staring at her helplessly.

It took every ounce of effort she could drag up, but she managed to turn and continue walking, determined not to look back again.

DREW STOOD LOOKING OUT the window of his office in downtown Kansas City, the phone to his ear. He was on hold. Which pretty much reflected the state of the rest of his life: it was all on hold.

He dry-washed his face with his free hand then turned from the window, blind to his posh surroundings. He’d opened the office some six years ago, prior to that his home office having sufficed, especially given the traveling involved in his job.

Correction: the traveling his job had once entailed.

He sat at his desk, the antique leather chair giving a low squeak. It was impossible to believe that just over two weeks had passed since he’d left New Orleans. Half a month since he’d drunk in Josie’s beautiful face. Sixteen days since he’d held her in his arms. He’d picked up the phone no fewer than a dozen times to call her, then replaced the receiver, determining that it was better if he not make contact. At least not yet. Not until he was done with what he needed to do.

Because when he returned to New Orleans this time, he meant to stay for good.

He looked around at the panoramic view of the midwestern city outside his window, at the signs of autumn, the heat of the Crescent City far away. His surroundings couldn’t have been more different from those in which Josie had been raised. But the city had never really been home. It was familiar, yes. But his brief marriage to Carol aside, he’d never felt a burning need to return here. It had just been a place where he owned a home. There was nothing wrong with Kansas City. The place had been good to him. And it’s where he was from.

But it wasn’t where Josie was.

And wherever Josie was, that was home for him.

He hung up the phone and contacted his assistant. “Get my attorney back on the line, Janice. I was cut off,” he lied.

Truth was he felt like every ticking second was an eternity. And that it put him farther and farther away from Josie.

The telephone rang and he snatched it up.

“Arnold, I need-”

“Drew?”

A female voice. His heart skipped a beat.

“This is Carol.”

His ex-wife.

He rested his elbow against the desk and scratched his head. For a moment, a precious moment, he’d thought it was Josie. Instead, it was a woman who couldn’t be more different from the woman he loved.

“What is it, Carol?” he tried to keep the impatience from his voice, but failed. He really didn’t want to be speaking to her right now. She was part of his past. And he only had room for the future.

“I…” She hesitated.

He closed his eyes. He hadn’t heard from her since she’d made off with his personal savings and the contents of his house. Even then, she’d gotten half the worth of the house in the final settlement.

Of course, he was a man who’d once lived for his career, which meant most of his capital had been tied up in his company, untouchable by Carol and her lawyer.

“I just called to see how you’re doing.”

He squinted at the framed diplomas on the opposite wall. “I’m sorry if I’m having a hard time believing that.”

Silence, then she said, “Do you think you’ll ever be able to forgive me, Drew?”

No. It was on the tip of his tongue. And would have launched right off it only three weeks ago.

Now, however, he held on to it, no matter how much it choked him. Although he really wasn’t sure why.

“What do you want, Carol?”

She didn’t say anything for a long moment and he made out the sound of a car horn in the background of wherever she was calling from. Her cell? Seemed likely.

“Drew, I’m in trouble.”

He clenched his jaw, his suspicions confirmed. She needed money.

“It’s not what you think,” she said quickly. “I’ve been thinking about you a lot lately.”

He bet she had. Trying to find a way to tap into even more of his cash.

“You got enough from me to set you up for life,” he said.

If she worked it right, invested a good chunk of the funds, perhaps started up a business of her own.

“My attorney and his accountant made off with most of it. I have a hundred dollars to my name.”

“And that affects me how?” he couldn’t keep himself from saying.

“Drew, I…I know you have a lot of cause to be angry with me. What I did to you…it was horrible. I know that now…”