Day, Sylvia - Bared to You - A Crossfire Novel

I gestured at the deli when we reached it, and we stepped inside and got in line.

“This place smel s awesome,” Christopher said, his gaze on his phone as he typed out a quick text.

“The aroma delivers on its promise, trust me.” He smiled a delightful boyish smile that I was sure knocked most women on their asses. “My parents are real y looking forward to meeting you, Eva.”

“Oh?”

“Seeing the photos of you and Gideon over the last week has been a real surprise. A good surprise,” he qualified quickly when I winced. “It’s the first time we’ve seen him real y into someone he’s dating.” I sighed, thinking he wasn’t so into me right now.

Had I made a terrible mistake by leaving him alone last night?

When we reached the counter, I ordered a gril ed vegetable and cheese panini with two pomegranate smoothies, asking them to hold the one with a protein shot for thirty minutes so I could eat in. Christopher ordered the same, and we managed to find a table in the crowded deli.

We talked about work, laughing over both a recent baby food commercial faux-blooper that had gone viral and some backstage anecdotes about acts Christopher had worked with. The time passed swiftly, and when we parted ways at the entrance of the Crossfire, I said good-bye with genuine affection.

I headed up to the twentieth floor, and found Mark stil at his desk. He offered me a quick smile despite his air of concentration.

“If you don’t real y need me,” I said, “I think it’d be good for me to sit this presentation out.” Although he tried to hide it, I saw the lightning quick flash of relief. It didn’t offend me. Stress was stress, and my volatile relationship with Gideon was something Mark didn’t need to think about while he was working on an important account.

“You’re golden, Eva. You know that?”

I smiled and set the drink carrier down in front of him. “Drink your smoothie. It’s real y good, and the protein wil keep you from feeling too hungry for a little bit longer. I’l be at my desk if you need me.” Before I put my purse in the drawer, I texted Cary to ask if he had plans on Sunday or if he’d like to go to a Vidal Records party. Then I got back to work. I’d started organizing Mark’s files on the server, tagging them and placing them in directories to make it easier for us to assemble portfolios on the fly.

When Mark left for the meeting with Gideon, my heartbeat quickened and a clutch of anticipation tightened my stomach. I couldn’t believe my excitement just from knowing what Gideon was doing at that particular moment, and that he’d have to think of me when he saw Mark. I hoped I’d hear from him after that.

My mood picked up at the thought.

For the next hour, I was restless waiting to hear how things had gone. When Mark reappeared with a big grin and a spring in his step, I stood up in my cubicle and applauded him.

He took a gal ant, exaggerated bow. “Thank you, Miss Tramel .”

“I’m so stoked for you!”

“Cross asked me to give you this.” He handed me a sealed manila envelope. “Come to my office and I’l give you al the deets.”

The envelope had weight and rattled. I knew from touch what I’d find inside before I opened it, but stil the sight of my keys sliding out and into my palm hit me hard. Gasping with a pain more intense than any I could remember, I read the accompanying note card.

Thank you, Eva. For everything.

Yours, G

A Dear Jane brush-off. It had to be. Otherwise, he would’ve given me the keys after work on the way to the gym.

There was a dul roaring in my ears. I felt dizzy.

Disoriented. I was frightened and agonized. Furious.

I was also at work.

Closing my eyes and clenching my fists, I pul ed myself together and fought off the driving urge to go upstairs and cal Gideon a coward. He probably saw me as a threat, someone who’d come in, unwanted and uninvited, and shook up his orderly world.

Someone who’d demanded more from him than just his hot body and hefty bank account.

I shut my emotions behind a glass wal where I was aware of them waiting in the background, but I was able to get through the rest of my workday. By the time I clocked out and headed downstairs, I stil hadn’t heard from Gideon. I was such an emotional disaster at that point I felt only a single, sharp twinge of despair as I exited the Crossfire.

I made it to the gym. I shut my brain off and ran ful -

bore on the treadmil , fleeing the anguish that would hit me soon enough. I ran until sweat coursed in rivulets down my face and body, and rubber legs forced me to stop.

Feeling battered and exhausted, I hit the showers.

Then I cal ed my mother and asked her to send Clancy to the gym to pick me up for our appointment with Dr.

Petersen. As I put my work clothes back on, I mustered the energy to get through that last task before I could go home and col apse on my bed.

I waited for the town car at the curb, feeling separate and apart from the city teeming around me. When Clancy pul ed up and hopped out to open the back door for me, I was startled to see my mom already inside. It was early yet. I’d expected to be driven solo to the apartment she shared with Stanton and wait on her twenty minutes or so. That was our usual routine.

“Hey, Mom,” I said wearily, settling on the seat beside her.

“How could you, Eva?” She was crying into a monogrammed handkerchief, her face beautiful even while reddened and wet with tears. “Why?” Jolted out of my torment by her misery, I frowned and asked, “What did I do now?”

The new cel phone, if she’d somehow found about it, wouldn’t trigger this much drama. And it was too soon after the fact for her to know about my breakup with Gideon.

“You told Gideon Cross about…what happened to you.” Her lower lip trembled with distress.

My head jerked back in shock. How could she know that? My God…Had she bugged my new place? My purse…? “What?”

“Don’t act clueless!”

“How do you know I told him?” My voice was a pained whisper. “We just talked last night.”

“He went to see Richard about it today.” I tried to picture Stanton’s face during that conversation. I couldn’t imagine my stepfather taking it wel . “Why would he do that?”

“He wanted to know what’s been done to prevent information leaks. And he wanted to know where Nathan is—” She sobbed. “He wanted to know

everything.”

My breath hissed out between my teeth. I wasn’t sure what Gideon’s motivation was, but the possibility that he’d dumped me over Nathan and was now making sure that he was safe from scandal hurt worse than anything. I twisted in pain, my spine arching away from the seatback. I’d thought it was his past that drove a wedge between us, but it made more sense that it was mine .

For once I was grateful for my mother’s self-absorption, which kept her from seeing how devastated I was.

“He had a right to know,” I managed in a voice so raw it sounded nothing like my own. “And he has a right to try and protect himself from any blowback.”

“You’ve never told any of your other boyfriends.”

“I’ve never dated anyone who makes national headlines by sneezing, either.” I stared out the car window at the traffic that boxed us in. “Gideon Cross and Cross Industries are global news, Mother. He’s light-years away from the guys I dated in col ege.” She spoke more, but I didn’t hear her. I shut down for self-protection, cutting off the reality that was suddenly too painful to be endured.