Taken (Dark Desires 1)

“Cut the act, Marie. No one is buying it.”

He was wrong though. I wasn’t sure who I should believe. My heart said to believe Jami, but this wasn’t the first person I’d met who warned me about Jami. Was I being stupid? Was I playing with fire? Maybe I needed to start listening.

“I just wanted to love you, but you wouldn’t let me in.” Marie sobbed, staring up at him, holding her arms out.

Jami hoisted her to her feet, immediately releasing her. “Go!” He snapped, eyes wild with rage. “I don’t want to do something I’ll regret.”

Marie sniffled and looked at me knowingly before turning and trudging back to the elevator that would take her back to the lobby of the apartment building. As I watched her go, I couldn’t stop my heart from sinking into my stomach. Was that my fate if I stuck around? The comfortable feeling I’d been experiencing just a few moments ago disappeared completely and I was left with a cold, empty feeling in the pit of my stomach.

Jami was walking towards the apartment door, holding his hands out as if they’d been covered in mud. “I’ve been trying to get rid of that girl for months,” he murmured, walking over to the sink to wash his hands.

I watched him in silence for a long time, imagining him washing that woman from his hands and washing me away just as easily. Was this my warning? I cleared my throat, but I didn’t move closer. I stayed a safe distance away, unable to explain my fear. I wasn’t worried about him hurting my physically, but I was afraid.

“Did you tell her you loved her?”

He let out a heavy sigh, putting both his hands on the counter. “No. I took her out on a date, slept with her and never called her.” His voice was sharp and his words were cruel. “I fucked her and kicked her out the next morning. You know why?! Because I’m a bad fucking person, okay? Is that what everyone wants to hear? They want me to admit that I’m a shitty person?! That I’m always out for myself?”

There was a lump in my throat and I finally managed to swallow it, my brows drawn together. I wasn’t stupid. I knew the type of guy he was and I could guess the things he’d done, but hearing them come from him and witnessing the aftermath made it seem so much more real. In the glow of good wine and delicate paper lanterns, I’d managed to forget all the things that people had warned me about, but I couldn’t ignore it anymore.

I started back towards the stairs, glancing over my shoulder. “I…Have to go.”

“Good. Get out. Get your shit and just get out.” The playful tone from earlier was gone and all that was left was a deep seeded anger.

It only took me a few moments to gather up my clothes, get dressed and walk out the door, deciding that I’d rather wait in the lobby for my cab. I didn’t think I could stand another second of the tension that had sparked between Jami and I.

So much for keeping things simple.

Jami

I didn’t like to admit when something ate at me. I didn’t like to admit that watching Lena walk away had made my chest tighten and made my throat dry, but what I hated most was how hard it was to avoid her. At the end of the day she was still my employee and I still had a business to run. That meant I had to see her perfect face every day and pretend like nothing had happened.

Her demeanor around me had completely changed and I hated it. She always called me ‘sir’ and kept our conversations as short as possible. Without ever saying a word, she made it clear to me that she wanted nothing to do with me and I hated it. I wanted a reaction out of her and I wanted her back. Every other woman in my life had come back, why was she the one who was different?

I’d been racking my brain for ways to get her back, but I came up empty every time. Just when I thought I’d found the way back to her heart, I realized it wouldn’t work on her. She wasn’t wooed by fancy gifts and expensive jewelry.

I was at a loss and finally decided to give it one shot. I would do the most basic thing I could think of…I would just talk to her. It was the only thing I could come up with. Everything else seemed useless.

Still, I didn’t think flowers would hurt.

I was waiting in the restaurant, surrounded by hundreds of yellow roses. Even though we’d both been more than a little drunk I’d remembered the way her face lit up when she told me her favorite flower. I’d committed it to memory and in this moment, I was glad for that.

Lena walked through the door and flipped the lights on, jumping when our eyes met. The restaurant wouldn’t be open for another three hours, but I knew she’d want to come in early to get her kitchen prepped. Lena was one of the most dedicated people I’d ever met especially when it came to her job.

“W-What?” Her eyes were wide as she looked around and took in the room full of flowers. I could see that she was trying to understand what was going on. Finally, her eyes landed on mine and she held my gaze for a moment before looking away. “We can’t open the restaurant if it’s full of flowers,” she whispered.

“I know. I’m not opening the restaurant today.”

She frowned deeply and looked at me like I had two heads. “We have to open the restaurant. It’s Friday. It’s the busiest day of the week.”

She was always so damn practical. “I have something more important to take care of,” I admitted, nodding towards one of the booths. “Sit?”

She hesitated, but finally move to sit in the empty booth, her arms crossed over her chest. “What?”

I sat across from her and folded my hands on the table, my gaze fixed on her. “I’m not here to beg you or convince you to do something you don’t want to do, alright? I just want you to hear me out and whatever you decided after that…I’ll accept it and we can both move on. Is that fair?”

She cocked a brow and sighed. “Fine. Go ahead. Talk.”

“I know it got to you when you saw me and Marie. I don’t even blame you. It gets pretty nasty when it comes to me and her. If you’ve never seen her before, I can see why you might be suspicious, but…You can ask anyone. Marie has no interest in me. She’s real interested in my money, though. She thinks she can convince me she loves me if she keeps playing this game, but it isn’t going to work. I’m not going to fall into that trap again.”