Darkness

15. Autumn-Rose

Fifteen

Autumn-Rose

She hasn’t stopped staring at me since I walked in this morning. I’ve asked her what’s going on, and she replies with. ‘You know what!’ No, I don’t know what.

“Katy either spit it out, or stop staring at me and do some work.” I look down at all the orders we have for the day. I’m hoping I get to put some ideas down for the window display today. I have the idea, but I need to make sure it will work.

“Can’t believe you’re not telling me,” she snaps at me.

“Telling you what?” I put the order forms on the table and look up at her.

“You had sex last night.”

“What?”

“And how you just squeaked that what? I know I’m right. Was it Mr. Cain? Is he big? Does he have a sexy body? Was it good? Did he make you scream? How long did it last?”

“Would you stop?” I almost stutter because I don’t know what to say to her. He told me not to tell anyone. How do I not tell my best friend? Cain will probably tell Lincoln, and Miles knows. I should get the right to tell one person.

“Was it shit? Was it so bad that all that mysterious, dark vibe that he gives us is all just a front?”

“No.”

“So, you did have sex with him?”

“Yes, I did. It was absolutely amazing. I came four times, if you must know, and every single one was more intense than the last one, and he made sure I was screaming his name every single time.” Okay, I wasn’t meant to say all that, but it’s the first time in my life I’ve had a man treat my body the way he does.

“Oh, my God, I’ve just had butterflies. Tell me everything, like, do not miss one detail-”

“I am not talking to you about the sex stuff we did.” I grab the orders again, hoping the conversation is over.

“Okay, then just give me, like, a PG version.” I press my lips together to stop the smile spreading, because there is no PG version of the sex I had last night. Like, what is the PG version of sex?

“He came to the apartment. I told him to leave because I was still pissed off with him, but he talked his way in. He spoke a little, and then pretty much kissed me, and that was it. I was like butter melting on toast. The man can work magic with his mouth, with his hands. And has a very nice package.”

“Oh my God, you’re blushing. It was absolutely amazing, wasn’t it?” Katy puts her elbows on the table as if I’m about to tell her a story.

“Yes, it was absolutely amazing. Can’t wait to do it all again tonight.” Now I know I’m blushing because I can feel my cheeks heating.

“Jealous. I’m jealous that you’re having hot, amazing sex. Will he take you to the sixth floor?” Only she would ask that, because she’s always thinking about sex stuff.

“I don’t even know what the sixth floor is,” I tell her, handing her some of the order forms.

“I don’t either, but it’s a big mystery. You know, there’s got to be some type of sex stuff happening up there.” And there it is. Her mind goes to sex, again.

“Anyway-” Changing the subject as much as I can. Do I really want to know what the sixth floor is? Yes, think I do. “How was your evening?”

“Nowhere near as good as yours. I binge watched Sex in the City again.” I’ve lost count of the amount of times she’s watched that show.

“What season are you on now?”

“I’ve restarted it back at Season one.”

“Could have told me and we could have watched it together.” She laughs, shaking her head at my request.

“I am not taking you away from your amazing sex life, so you can keep me company watching Sex in the City in the evening. Are you bloody crazy?” She walks away to grab some flowers.

“Fine. Have it your way. I’ll watch it myself. I’m not going to be with him every single night.”

“If you’re not with him every single night, you’re crazy, absolutely crazy,” Katy shouts from the front of the store.

Oh, I want to be with him every single night. I want to scream his name every single night. I want to cuddle on the sofa and watch reality TV with him, even though he doesn’t look like a person who watches reality TV, or any TV for that matter. But maybe he’ll be the type of person who will just sit there with me because he knows I like it.

“Now that you’ve told me about your night, there is a delivery for you.”

“What?”

“Well, I wasn’t going to give them to you without getting the dirt first.” Katy walks around to the back and comes back with a big bouquet of roses. “I don’t care what kind of vibe he gives out to the world, what kind of darkness that man gives. He likes you and I have no other words.” I take the card from the side.

Enjoy your day.

My English Rose .

“I think it’s so cute that he calls you his English Rose. What does he call you?” I look up at Katy, confused.

“Autumn-Rose.” I really hope he just stops with the Autumn-Rose because I like him calling me his English Rose.

“Well, he needs to call you Rose.” I don’t say anything back to her as I stare at the note and smile at the flowers.

Beautiful red roses. No other color, just red. Beautiful.

Will he call me Rose? Do I want him to start calling me Rose? Oh, my God, the woman’s got into my head. She’s going to fill my head with all of these romantic ideas.

Damn, I hate her. Okay, I don’t hate her. I love her crazy romantic heart.

There are so many things going on in my head at the moment, but as much as it’s crazy and I love the roses. I keep staring at them.

Miles’ words play in my head again. Whatever or whoever you’re hiding from, tell him. He can’t protect you from what he doesn’t know.

Should I tell him?

***

Holding the flowers, I try to look over them at the bouncer. Again, the club is busy. The bouncer looks at me, and I smile. He’s different from the one who was here last time.

“I’m here to see Cain.” I put the flowers on the ground and look at him with a smile again because he looks too serious.

“We have some crazy woman asking for Cain again.” He talks into his mic, then whispers to himself. “Fourth one so far tonight.” He shakes his head.

Fourth one, why are women asking for him? Why has that made me jealous? Is he sleeping with other women?

“Hi, Mr. Upgrade,” I smile at Lincoln. Does this man not take a day off? He’s always here, I mean always. Cain was on the cell to him this morning, and it’s like eight in the evening and he’s still here.

“Whenever she comes, you call me, she’s not to wait,” Lincoln tells the bouncer, moves the rope for me, and I grab the flower move up to the rope. Lincoln takes them from me so I can see where I’m going.

“Is he here?” I ask as we stop by the bar, and he tells the woman behind it to look after my flowers.

“He is just a little… busy.” He turns to the woman again. I don’t see what he is doing because I watch the floor, which is full again. “Wine?” He hands the glass to me.

“Thank you.” I take the wine glass from him. “How long have you known Cain?” I ask. I mean, no one talks about Cain. Is it a sin to talk about him?

“Too long.” He looks up at Cain’s office, which is strange as you can’t see through the window. “She’s here… are you sure?” Lincoln talks, but doesn’t seem as if he’s talking talking to anyone. “Come on, just so you know what you are going to walk into is … you know what? If you want to be with Cain, you have to take him the way he is.” I follow Lincoln up the stairs, wondering what the hell he means by that.

Lincoln isn’t going to hide the true Cain from me then.

As Lincoln opens the door, I hesitate at the entrance, and my eyes immediately landed on Cain. His fists are connecting with someone’s face. Blood spattered onto the tiled floor as he pushes the man to the floor.

“Get the hell out of my club!” Cain yells, his face twisted in anger. Without hesitation, Lincoln signals for security to come up to the office. “If I ever see your sorry ass in here again,” Cain snarls at the man. “You won’t be walking out.” As security bursts through the door, I quickly step aside to let them pass. My heart is racing with adrenaline at the tense confrontation unfolding before me.

My heart pounds in my chest as I watch Cain wiping the blood from his hands. My mind races. What the hell is happening? Was Lincoln hiding this dark and dangerous side of him from me all along? And now, as twisted as it sounds, I can’t help but be drawn to it. This is so messed up. What the hell is happening to me?

“Who the hell was on security duty?” Cain demands of Lincoln, his voice laced with anger and suspicion. Without waiting for an answer, Lincoln is speaking into the mic.

Cain looks over at me, his eyes moving up and down my body, and they linger on my legs for a moment.

Cain asks me in a casual tone, as if we’re having a normal conversation and he hasn’t just finished beating someone up. “Did you have a good day, my Rose?”

“Busy, thanks for the flowers. They are gorgeous.”

“Not close to how beautiful you are.” My head is spinning right now.

The man beat someone up. Lincoln is somewhat scared of him. Miles fears him, but with me he is this man who is a complete one eighty from his normal self, apparently.

“Cain, we don’t need another man in the hospital tonight.” I glance over at Lincoln as a man enters the room, and I make my way to the windows for a better view of the club from this floor. It’s truly breathtaking.

I turn around to see what’s happening, and I see Cain walking around his desk. In the blink of an eye, he smashes the guy’s face into the desk. Ouch. He does it again without hesitation.

“What were you doing when the bastard was trying to get too heavy on my staff?” Cain asks him, and I take a step closer to Lincoln, because even though I know Cain would never hurt me. I hope, I can see why others are scared of him. “I can’t hear you.” Cain asks him again.

“I’m sorry.”

“You’re sorry. Empty your pockets.” Cain sits on the edge of his desk, arms folded.

God, he has sexy arms covered in tattoos.

“Mr. Cain-”

“Empty your fucking pockets!” Cain shouts at him. It even makes me jump a little. The man stands up straight and takes out a packet. I don’t get to see what it is, because Cain punches him in the face. “Get out of my fucking club!” Cain looks at Lincoln, who gives him a nod, and pushes the guy out of his office. Cain

walks around his desk and sits down, wipes his hands again and all I can do is stare at him. Because never did I think I would find him even more sexy than I already did.

“Do you have your cell?” Cain asks. And now he is back to normal. Well, normal for me.

“Yes.” I dig it out of my bag and hand it over to him. Before I can walk away, he pulls me hard enough that I sit on top of him. Without another word, he kisses me hard. His hand moves to the side of my neck as he pulls me in closer to get deeper into the kiss. “Miss me?” I joke with him.

“I’ve missed your lips.” I go to move away, but he holds onto my hips to stay where I am. “Miles has it all set up, and before you ask, I went over to make sure he did it right. I’ve taught him well.” Cain taps away on my cell. I watch as he gets the app up and running for me.

“The only way through the front door is with your print. Mine is on there, too, but if you want I’ll remove it-”

“No.” I cut him off quickly. I want him to be able to come into my apartment without me being there.

“I’ll leave it on then. You have an alarm, too. I’ll tell you the code, but once it’s on everything is connected to the app. It will go off, and you can see which camera has been set off.” He turns the cell for me to have a look at what he’s doing. “You can also turn the alarm off on your cell, and when you go to bed, you can turn on the alarm for the front door and windows.” Cain shows me everything on the app. I try hard to follow through with what he’s telling me, but it’s a lot of information. “I can also have it trigger the app if I register someone’s face in there.” Cain hands me my cell so I can look through the app.

Whatever or whoever you’re hiding from, tell him. He can’t protect you from what he doesn’t know. Miles’ words hit me again.

After what I saw here, one thing is for sure. If it came down to it, he would protect me.

I get off his lap and walk around his desk. I’m a little annoyed with myself that I left my wine downstairs.

“Do you have a drink?” I ask him. If I’m about to tell him about Rowan, I need a drink. Reliving that nightmare is going to take some time.

“Bring up some-” Cain stops and looks at me, as I wonder who he is talking to, then he points to his ear, letting me know he has an earpiece in so he can talk to Lincoln.

“Gin, make it a double.” I’m going to need something strong to help me get this out and in the open.

“Double gin.” Cain looks at me, and he knows I’m worried, but he stays where he is.

“While we wait, tell me what you miss most about England?” What? What kind of question is that? “Talk to me. Whatever it is you want to talk about, it is playing heavily on your mind, so let’s talk about something you love about home.” I love how he is easing me into this and can tell I’m nervous.

“The tea, Earl Grey tea, and the chocolate. The chocolate here is not good.” I laugh, a nervous laugh, but I do miss it. “I mean, I miss my parents, but I hope one day I’ll see them again.” Cain looks at Lincoln when he comes over to us, and I thank him for the drink.

“I’m in the office. Only call if the place is burning down.” Lincoln gives him a nod and leaves.

“I miss the weather. I know it rains ten out of twelve months, but I miss it. Taking a sip of my gin, while I work out what I’m going to say. “I left England because I had a stalker.”