No Strings Attached

Chapter Forty-Four

I stare at the text message, as I have been for the past hour now. It's taking all of my strength not to call Giovanni right now. My mind is in turmoil, trying to figure out what Norman could have possibly done. What he said that could make Giovanni shut down as easily as he did. What he told him about me that Giovanni cannot say.

My tattered copy of Great Expectations lies open on the counter, beside an untouched dinner. Not even Charles Dickens could calm me.

Once again, I'm surrounded on all sides, unsure who to trust.

...

I stare up at the ceiling, watching my fan move, fresh light entering the room as morning takes over the night. My mattress is lumpy, my covers bunched messily from the restless tossing and turning that consumed all hours of the night.

All those hours, and I still have no idea how to approach this.

I have no idea what to expect when I see Norman. But I know I have to dig this out of him. Without a doubt. I need to know what he's hiding.

...

Needing as much oxygen as I can get, I decide to walk to work, giving Jimmy the day off. I'm walking with a purpose, determined to get to the office before anyone else arrives. I plan to speak to Norman alone. He's going to fold.

I will make sure of it.

The sky consists of gloomy, heavy dark clouds hovering above, prepared to break open upon the city at any moment. I truly hope not, having forgotten my umbrella by the door. I pass by the trendy shops, the banks and tourists determined to see all New York has to offer. I'm surrounded by tasteless suits and I Love New York t-shirts. The cliché is truly alive right now.

I'm passing a one-stop grocery when the line of television's along the windows, all turned to the same news station, broadcasts a picture that catches my eye, making my heels screech to a stop.

On all seven screens, is a picture of Dixon... the decorated police officer. The screen I'm in front of switches to a video of my ex-husband himself, jumping into the river to save a car sinking into dark water.

A tremor goes through me, immediately picturing the cops arriving at my doorstep to inform me my father had caused a car accident which resulted in a car diving into a river.

I blink back into reality, wondering what reality I'm actually in.

Why is Dixon in uniform?

I look at the subtitles, reading off the headlines.

Officer Dixon Routh, having only been reinstated into the NYPD a month after rehabilitation, has clearly decided to focus on great heroics, risking his life jumping into the Hudson River to save two lives yesterday. He managed to get them both out and to safety.

My mouth rests agape in the reflection of the window.

Last time I saw this man, he was face to face with Giovanni, out of his mind drunk, and beaten to a bloody pulp.

And somehow... they let him back into the NYPD.

He's a police officer again.

Dixon Routh is the ex-husband of Scarlett Bardot, the Vice President of Norman White Public Relations, who only months ago graced headlines when her affair with fashion designer Giovanni Martinelli came to light, which was famously broadcasted nationwide.

I turn, mouth setting into a straight line.

I always believed when Dixon got his life together, I'd be glad for him, despite all he's done. But I'm fucking pissed. I'm infuriated by the fact that he made my life a living hell for years, only to now be known as a goddamn hero.