"I wish I'd listened to you about Andy."
"Well, I hope I'm right about Finn this time. He was a sweet one and boy was he stuck on you."
After she leaves, I sit on the edge of the bed. Suddenly it seems so quiet. I've never had an issue being alone before but seeing Finn like that has left me shaken.
After double-checking the locks on the front and back door, I slip into the bathroom and remove my clothes. I run the water as hot as I can stand it and then get in. The steam curls up all around me and I rest my head on the ledge of the tub. My eyes close and I let the tears flow.
What happened between us? Where did things go so wrong? It feels like a double betrayal because after how awful he was to me in the beginning, over the last few weeks he's been so different. The man who helped me clean and waited outside just so I wouldn't have to walk to my car alone at night cannot be the same man who just terrified me.
I look at the faint white lines on the back of my arm. Andrew hadn't liked the way I was talking to one of his colleagues at his company Christmas party. When we got home that night, he backhanded me so hard that I fell into a glass table.
I cringe thinking about that time in my life. Things were never great between us but that had marked a turning point when I could no longer rationalize the things he did and said to me. The ways he put me down and tried to undermine my confidence.
Tonight, for the first time in years I felt completely helpless all over again. Finn has taken away my sense of safety and that's not something I can easily forgive him for.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
FINN
When you love something, it has power over you. I knew Rissa had me by the balls but I never knew how tight her grip was until she didn't come home.
"Yes, I know she's not at work today. I'm asking if anyone there can tell me why. Has she called?"
"Sir, we can't give out that kind of information."
"I know you can't give out information about her but I'm just asking if anyone there has actually talked to her today."
I let out a groan when the person on the other end hangs up. "Damn it." The people at her company are just doing their jobs but that's little consolation when she could be hurt somewhere. Alone and scared.
Fear makes my chest so tight I almost can't breathe. If something happened to her, no one would even know to notify me. After driving by her house and looking in the windows, I'd eventually given up and come back here. Her car was still parked on the street outside of her office. It was like she'd gone to work and then vanished into thin air.
I pull out my phone again. "Jonah, I need the car."
I walk into my office and then pull out the file Patrick Stevens assembled on Rissa last month. I'd asked him to find out everything about her which was why I had information about her business partners. But there was one person that would always know how to find her.
I run my finger down the page until I find the address for Gloria Blake. Then I take the elevator down to the first floor. By the time I walk out of the building, Jonah is just pulling up to the curb. I get in and tell him the address.
When we pull up, I recognize Daphne's sporty little green car. Rissa must be here.
I look at Jonah. "I'm not sure exactly what I'm walking into so this may take a while."
He nods. "Of course, sir."
I climb out and then walk up the driveway. The front beds are planted with cheerful pansies that add wild splashes of color to the otherwise plain yard. I knock on the door and then step back to wait. The door swings open.
"You have some nerve showing up here."
The brunette standing in Rissa's doorway glares at me. The effect is ruined slightly by the cheerful blue streaks running down the side of her head.
"You must be Tara." She's the opposite of Rissa's other business partner. This one looks like a lioness ready to take down her prey. And she's looking at me like she's more than ready to sink her teeth in.
"Yes, I am. I don't need you to introduce yourself. You're just the asshole who scared my friend out of her mind this morning."
Her words shed a little light on why Rissa has suddenly gone MIA. But how could I have scared her when I haven't even seen her?
"What are you talking about? I'm here because Rissa didn't come home last night. I called your office and they won't tell me anything. I was worried."
"Worried? You're the reason my friend is currently buried under the blankets and scared of the world right now. She said you screamed at her. That you scared her!"
I take a step back, the jumbled memories of that night are starting to make sense. The weird dream I had about Rissa must have been real. Or at least some of it. I don't even remember everything just seeing flowers and feeling like my head was going to pop off. And screaming.
Oh god. She saw me like that.
Suddenly Daphne appears over her shoulder. "I thought you were a nice guy! I would have never told you where Rissa was that day if I'd known you would do this."
It's a powerful thing to see them both ready to take me down in defense of their friend. One looks determined and the other looks scared to death. Only someone as strong and resolute as Rissa could demand this kind of loyalty just by existing.
"I know this looks bad, hell it is bad, but it's not what you think. I would never scare Rissa on purpose."
Tara comes out on the porch and slams the screen behind her. "That may be true but it doesn't change the fact that Rissa was crying. That doesn't happen often. So, I don't give a damn how much money you have and I don't care if you kill our contract. She's been through too much already and no one is going to put her through this hell again."