Chapter 46

Roger’s eyes were unfixed and dull ... as if he wasn’t quite aware of his surroundings.

And then they clarified, and I saw a hint of the old Roger VanCamp as recognition dawned.

“Marcus?” The words came out like sandpaper.

“Yeah. How long has it been? Two months?” I looked him up and down. “I didn’t know someone could change this much. Man, if I’d bumped into you on the street, I’m not even sure I would’ve recognized you. You look like shit.”

He drew his knees to his chest and hugged them, his arms just as marred with angry welts as his thighs.

He looked away from me.

“How long did Astrid have you?” I asked.

I got no response.

“How did you escape that day after we ousted you from the firm?”

That had been the last time I’d seen Roger before he disappeared, and it was one of the many burning questions I was looking forward to getting an answer to.

He still wouldn’t look at me ... still no answer.

Had Astrid broken him?

He flinched hard as I stood, one hand raised like a child bracing for punishment, the sound he made too weak to be called a scream.

I used to think this man would destroy me. Now? He looked like he’d already been picked clean—hollow cheeks, sunken eyes, and faded hair ... a shadow of the man he’d once been.

I turned and walked out of the bedroom, Psalter and Chloe behind me.

“Are phones still usable?”

“They are,” Henry said, the door clicking shut behind him.

“Great,” I said, pulling mine from my pocket. I found Astrid’s number and dialed it.

She answered on the second ring. “Hi, Marcus!”

“It’s defective,” I said.

“It’s not,” she said without missing a beat. “You have to give it a little shake to get it going, my dear. It won’t work on its own.”

“How long did you have it?”

“Find out for yourself. Don’t be afraid to be a little rough with it. I wasn’t. It’s well-made and can take the abuse.”

After witnessing what she’d done to Bobbi after one evening, I could only imagine the kind of gauntlet that Roger had been run through. I wasn’t sure if I had it in me to match Astrid’s enthusiasm for torture ... especially if it involved anything sexual. I wasn’t interested in going anywhere near Roger’s man-parts.

“When can we meet?” Astrid asked.

Astrid’s question cut through my thoughts, and I started to panic. I was nowhere near ready to talk to Astrid about VistaVision.

“Give me a day. I need more time.”

Like hell I was going to do anything else until I’d had a chance to get some answers out of Roger.

“No,” she said, her voice cool. “I won’t let you just put me off. You accepted my gift. I’ve bought time with you.”

“The gift is pointless if I can’t use it,” I said.

“It’s not going anywhere. I want to discuss next steps, and I would much rather strategize with you than Hiro, but if I have to talk to him, I will.”

I could feel the millstone hanging around my neck getting heavier by the second; if I didn’t get in front of this situation, Astrid was going to lead me around by the nose.

“Go to Hiro if you want, but ask yourself what happens when he finds out you’re here to shoulder your way into his deal? Ryo Tanaka’s a snivelling little weasel, and he would’ve killed you if I hadn’t been there. His dad would wreck you.”

I was met with silence from the other end.

“Give me a fucking day,” I insisted. “Lunch. Tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow will be Friday,” Astrid said. “Let’s do the evening, and we can have some fun.”

“I can’t,” I said. “I have a date.”

I’d already made plans with Erin, and I wasn’t canceling them. I’d waited too long to cash in that date already.

“Bring her. We’ll make it a threesome.”

There was no way in hell I was letting Astrid lay a hand on Erin.

“I’ll be sweet,” Astrid said, almost as if she could read my mind. “Marcus, I just want to enjoy a relaxing evening with you. Is that too much to ask?”

“Saturday?”

“I’m not sure I have that kind of patience.”

I sighed. “Let me think about it.”

“Let me know something by the end of the day, Marcus. You may be correct—Hiro may not appreciate me butting into your deal, but my judgment weakens the more impatient I become.”

Still with the threats.

But at least she was making compromises. I could work with that.

“I’ll let you know something tonight. Talk to you later, Astrid.”

“Have fun!” She said and hung up.

I turned to Psalter and Chloe. “You guys mind giving Roger and me some alone time?”

Chloe’s look was enough of an answer.

“Oh, come on, Chloe!” I groaned. “You’ve sparred with me plenty of times! You don’t think I can handle one old man who looks too weak to fight a puppy and has the world’s worst hangover?”

“Mr. Upton is right,” Psalter said. “VanCamp is dehydrated, weak, and suffering from some form of PTSD. He’s no threat.”

“Why do you want to go in there by yourself?” Chloe asked.

It was a fair question. Truth was, I was about to go in there and—as Astrid so delicately put it—”shake him up a little.” I had no doubt both Psalter and Chloe had done their share of that. If I couldn’t trust them to get it, I couldn’t trust anyone.

“Because I don’t want an audience. Call it stage fright, if you want.”

She didn’t immediately answer ... just stared, and I could see her weighing the options before she finally nodded.

“Thanks, guys.”

“We’ll be here in case you need us,” Psalter said. “But, I suspect you won’t.”

“Yell ‘melon’ if you need me,” Chloe added.

I arched an eyebrow at her. “What? We have a safe word, now?”

One look from her and I backed off. Message received: whatever we were—or weren’t—doing still wasn’t meant to be discussed around company, even if I was only teasing.

“Thanks,” I added and walked back into Roger’s room.

I kicked the door shut behind me and took a couple of steps into the room; my gaze settled on that son of a bitch lying on my floor like an infant left out in the cold.

“I used to wake up in a cold sweat, thinking about you,” I said, circling him.

The lights were off in the room, but the morning sun spilled in, bright enough to see him blinking ... dazed and staring out at the skyline like I wasn’t there.

So I stepped into his line of sight, casting my shadow over the view.

“You were like ... this presence. Always haunting. For a while, you were the fucking devil. I took your firm. I took Helen. I had you over a barrel ... and you still managed to just ... slip away.”

I studied him as he lay there, unresponsive—a husk of the man I’d known.

“You can’t imagine how disappointing this is.”

Still nothing. He just stared past me—right between my legs and out the window like I wasn’t even there. My pulse quickened at the insult of being ignored.

“I followed you to Amsterdam. I think you were there for a while. I think we got close to finding you, but then Hiro sent some people for me, and I had to leave. How long were you there?”

Silence.

“How did you even get out of the country? How have you been surviving?”

More silence.

“Did you have help? Who caused that wreck and got you out after our conversation?”

Still more silence.

So, I decided to change tactics.

“Helen gave herself to me. I’m the only man who’s touched her since. I put a collar around her neck, and she’s never taken it off. She wants it. Keeping her close was one of the smartest things I’ve ever done.”

He continued to lie there, almost catatonic.

I sighed. “How did Astrid find you?”

His eyes twitched at the mention of Astrid—the first flicker of life since I’d come back into the room.

You have to give it a little shake to get it going, my dear. It won’t work on its own.

Astrid’s words echoed in my head

I almost considered bringing her in for a visit.

But the last thing I wanted to do was owe Astrid anything.

Besides, some things just needed a personal touch.

I drew a slow breath. “Okay.”

Then I moved.

I grabbed the back of that stupid Looney Tunes shirt and yanked, dragging him across the floor toward the bathroom. He yelped wordlessly and started flailing, hands slapping uselessly against the wood, heels kicking at the air. I felt something tear around the collar and ignored it.

“You won’t talk to me?” I yelled as we crossed into the bathroom. “That makes you useless!”