Flawless Ruin

That’s for sure.

The woman sees me to the Porsche, and I climb in, glad to be able to lock the doors behind me. I drive back to Caleb’s place, my body still wound tight with adrenaline after everything that’s happened.

Where has he been?

I arrive at his building, and head up to the penthouse. When I let myself in, I find him in the living room, with Jonathan and a group of serious-looking suits. Caleb glances up, and nods to me briefly, but he doesn’t pause for breath.

“We need to be aggressive. Sebastian’s team is already leaning hard on the board for their vote, he’s trying to pick them off one seat at a time.”

“Our PR efforts haven’t made much headway,” one of the other men says. “Perhaps if you focused on glad-handing the biggest shareholders. They need to hear from you that things are under control.”

“That might not be the best move,” Jonathan speaks up. “To be honest, I’m concerned about your personal liability here.”

“I don’t care about my liability!” Caleb explodes. “I’ll do whatever it takes to stop this takeover!”

The suits exchange looks. “Perhaps we should take a break,” Jonathan says. He looks over and sees me; and seems relieved. “Juliet, lovely to see you.”

“Hi.” I give an awkward wave. “Caleb, can I talk to you for a second?”

“Not right now,” he replies, without looking up.

“It’s important.”

Caleb sighs, and rakes a hand through his hair, but he gets up, and joins me in the kitchen, out of earshot of the group.

“Working late?” I ask.

He nods, going to grab a bottle of chilled water from the fridge. “What did you need to discuss? I’m sorry, but I won’t have time for dinner.’

“No, it’s not that.” I swallow, trying to think of a way to explain without sounding like I’ve lost my mind. “I should have told you earlier but… I’ve been getting notes, at work.”

“What kind of notes?” Caleb frowns.

“First, there was a bouquet of roses, all chopped up. Then a note, ‘roses are red, violets are blue’, but a threat,” I tell him, still feeling scrambled. “And tonight, I think someone was in the office—”

“Caleb?” We’re interrupted by one of the suits, with a phone in his hand. “Dionne’s dialing in from Paris.”

Caleb nods and moves to rejoin them.

“Wait!” I grab his arm, holding him back. “The notes.”

“Probably just another jealous assistant,” Caleb says dismissively. “Or a prank. The design team like to haze people sometimes.”

“This wasn’t a prank!” I exclaim. “I think it was Nero. Or one of his guys. He’s the only one I can think of, and he did warn me to stay away from you.”

Caleb shakes his head. “That’s impossible. I know Nero, and that cloak and dagger shit isn’t his style. He’s more direct than that.”

“But… He sent his man to my apartment…” I try to argue, but his attention is already back with the group.

“Nero’s business is with me.” Caleb says firmly. “Business I need to figure out if I’m going to stop this takeover. Look, we’ll talk about it later,” he adds with a tired smile, dropping a kiss on my cheek. “You should get some sleep.”

He leaves me, and rejoins the group, immediately getting deep in conversation. I’m left standing there alone.

Alone, and frustrated.

Why won’t he listen to me?I get that he’s busy and stressed about the takeover, but this is serious. The notes, the knife… They’re not just a prank. And the fact he won’t take it seriously, makes me feel…

It makes me feel like he’s not serious about me.