Bite Me

“Thank you.”

“For what it's worth, I'm really sorry. I thought... It doesn't matter what I thought. Just go handle your business.”

With one last grateful look, she collected her things from her office and headed upstairs. Magnus had given her a key. She didn't suppose she'd need that anymore. While she waited for the elevator, she checked her phone. Crap. She was supposed to meet Magnus for lunch in a few minutes.

She would need to get in and out of his place quickly. There was no way she'd be able to face him. What could she say that would matter anyway? What could he say that would matter? She'd been letting people treat her like shit her whole life. But no more. She was done.

A scant ten minutes later she was in her car, gym bag in the seat next to her. She'd left the blog post on his kitchen counter along with her key. If it was a little passive aggressive to scrawl 'Thanks' across the top in red pen, who could blame her? He was lucky she hadn't punched him in the throat.

Waiting for him to get off work so they could talk about it would have been the mature thing to do. Fuck maturity. She wasn't certain why he'd chosen this particular arena to tell her, but she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of seeing her cry. She was angry and hurt, but she'd deal with it on her own. Just like every other goddamned thing in her life.

Chapter Fifteen

Magnus walked down the hallway and poked his head into Caroline's office. Where the hell was she? He'd checked in the bar, the stock room. Hell, he'd even knocked on the door of the secret booze closet.

Finally he knocked on Lilly's doorframe. “Lilly. Any idea where Caroline is? We were supposed to have lunch.”

When she looked up at him, he realized she was pissed off. “Not a clue.”

Magnus held up his hands in apology. “No worries. Sorry to interrupt.”

Had she gone upstairs without him? Maybe. She wasn't anywhere down here, and she hadn't answered his texts earlier. Jesus. What if she'd fainted?

There hadn't been an incident since the first time she'd passed out but it was really unlike her to not answer her phone or texts. He pressed the button for the service elevator impatiently and tapped his foot.

He was seriously considering taking the stairs when it finally arrived. He punched the button for the fifteenth floor. Luckily, this particular service elevator didn't get a whole lot of action these days. It was mostly just for use by the staff delivering room service, or when he, Lilly or Talan came down to the restaurant.

When the car stopped and the doors slid open, he quickly rushed toward his apartment, worry getting the best of him. He was almost at a run by the

time he reached the door. Sliding his access card, he opened the door and called, “Caroline? Love?”

No answer.

He walked down the hallway, checking each room before he went into the bedroom. His eye caught the closet door, half-open. The shelves on her side had been cleared. That was odd. A check in the bathroom proved that her things were no longer in it. What in the fuck was going on?

He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed Caroline's number. After a few rings it went to her voice mail. He wandered into the living room and that was when he spotted her key on the counter. Had she left him?

An ache in his chest, he walked to the counter and saw the print out. Picking it up, he read the byline. Kathleen's article? What did this have to do with anything? And then he started to read it.

“Oh bloody hell,” he murmured. There were several misquotes and a few out-and-out lies. He'd never even spoken of the argument with Caroline's parents. And if he had, it wouldn't have been in that way! He'd nearly fallen apart himself when she'd cried on him in the shower. To give a quote like that would have been bloody cruel. How could she even think he'd do that?

The more he read, the worst it got. Kathleen had well and truly fucked him. She used every single piece of information he'd given her against him. His hands were shaking when he picked up the phone. He dialed Caroline again. And this time it went directly to voice mail.

“Caroline. Love. Please call me back. We really need to talk. It's not at all what it looks like. Please. Call me when you get this. I need to explain. I love you. Bye.”

Magnus hung up the phone and sank down onto the couch. Caroline left him. He worried that eventually their differences might split them up. Instead it was some stupid bloody woman that he hadn't thought about in years. A random ex-employee that really knew how to hold a grudge, apparently.

Kathleen had left him with a business card. He'd stuck it in a drawer along with the rest of the cards he'd gotten over the years. Perhaps it was time to give her a call. She'd made a statement with her bullshit article, so now it would be his turn to talk.

Striding down the hallway with new purpose, he opened the desk drawer and pulled the stack of business cards, flipping through until he found hers. He was so angry his hand was nearly shaking when he dialed.

After a few rings, he heard Kathleen's voice over the line. “Hello?”

“Kathleen. It's Magnus.”

She gave a quick laugh and said, “I thought I'd be hearing from you. Liked my article, did you? I bet Caroline did too, right?”

“So clearly there were some hard feelings,” he said, his anger barely held in check.