Chapter Thirty-Five
Jane figured that her conversation with Silvio after they'd had sex must have really gotten to him, because he didn't so much as try touching her for the rest of the day, or the next day, or the day after that.
He worked a lot. He always did, and while she'd expected that, given that he was helping to run a massive company from the top down, to not have him so much as look at her as though he wanted her gutted Jane in a way she hadn't seen coming.
The first night was fine. They'd made love, and he was angry about a few things.
The second day was...a little strange to say the least. It wasn't that Jane expected to be given sex every day. Even when she'd moved into Silvio's home there had been days when he didn't touch her because of his work load.
But there had never been a day when Silvio didn't so much as look at her. Could he really be that angry with her?
Sugar wouldn't stop whining either. Jane couldn't tell if it was because the dog was picking up on her emotions and she was trying to help, or if it was because she had a sore belly from all the treats Jane had been giving her.
Jane may have gotten a little depressed with the way Silvio left her, and she might have been trying to make herself feel better by eating the ice cream in Silvio's freezer, and giving Sugar real bacon, extra cookies, and a few slices of the pizza Jane had ordered the night before.
She hadn't wanted to eat the whole thing by herself, and Sugar had been looking at her and drooling.
So now the dog was crying at her, and Jane had to take her outside for her seventh poop in about two hours.
Jane sighed, bringing the dog back in. Sugar was smiling now, but Jane wasn't so sure that would last. "No more pizza for you, little girl."
Sugar looked up at her, wagging her little stump at the word pizza, but Jane was putting her foot down.
"No, don't even think about it. I can't believe dogs are allergic to garlic."
And she couldn't believe she hadn't known about it until Sugar started getting sick either.
Jane's phone buzzed. She reached into her clutch, pulling it out before setting the thing, and Sugar's leash, onto the kitchen counter.
Sugar went to her water bowl and started to drink.
That was good. She hadn't been drinking much that morning and it worried her. Jane didn't want to have to take her new doing to the vet so soon after getting her.
Sugar had grown on her in the short time Jane had her. At least enough that Jane didn't want to see her sick.
And she didn't want to be the reason for that sickness either.
The message on her phone was from Isla, not Silvio. That was depressing.
Want to come over for a movie night?
Jane didn't want to come over for a movie night. She wanted to stay here just in case Silvio had a change of heart tonight and decided he wanted to come into her room.
Or maybe Jane would work up the courage to go into his bedroom. That seemed like something a strong, empowered woman should be doing. Taking charge instead of waiting around for her lover to make the first move.
Isla got sick of waiting.
Let me know if you're coming. I'll bring the caramel soy lattes ;)
Her favorite drink. For work and for play. Something inside of Jane melted.
Maybe a little girl time would be good for her. Being close to a friend, enjoying a movie and good drinks seemed like a batter plan than waiting around here.
Jane glanced over at Sugar just as the other dog settled down on the kitchen tile before firing off her response.
Have to bring Sugar. She's not feeling so well.
Isla responded almost immediately. Maybe you should leaver her behind?
Jane leaned against the stainless steel fridge.
Don't think that's a good idea. Silvio wants her to be wherever I am until things start looking up.
Again, the response came almost instantly.
I don't think the help around here want your new doggie puking all over the fancy rugs.
Jane snorted a laugh at that. Looking at Sugar, who barely summoned the energy to look back up at her.
Jane shook her head. Don't think so. Silvio will kill me if I leave her behind.
And she'd already had her too stupid to live moment by the fence. Old man or not. If she did that again then she would have to chew herself out.
The ellipses appeared as Isla typed out her reply.
You're just coming over here. You'll be fine without her for a night, won't you?
Probably. It wouldn't be too big of a deal to leave the door open to the back yard so Sugar could come and go as she pleased, but at the same time...
No. A good dog owner wouldn't leave her sick pooch behind when she was ill. Not even for a girls night out.
Jane sent off the email. I need to bring her. I can't leave her behind when she's not feeling so good. Or you can come over here if you want?
If Isla was really that worried about the dog having an accident on her nice rugs, then at the very least she could come over here.
That way if Sugar did have an accident, it wouldn't be on Arturo's precious floor.
The response this time seemed to take a little longer than before. Isla must have been caught up with something, or figure out where they were going to put Sugar if she did get too sick.
Then her response came back.
All right, head on over. I've got the snacks ready.
Right now?
Jane checked the time. It was only two-thirty in the afternoon.
But it was possible Isla was just lonely over there. Were she and Martina very close? There were people on staff over there, and Isla was no snob when it came to who she hung out with.
Maybe they were all busy and she was just bored.
Jane already had Sugar's leash in hand, so she clipped her collar and pulled her to her feet. Sugar groaned only a little.
"There will be nice water and maybe some, uh, healthy snacks when we get over there, girl. I promise. No more pizza."
She'd learned that lesson.
Jane locked the front door behind her with the key Silvio had given her. Derrick was still outside. He wasn't sitting inside of the black SUV anymore. He'd stepped out and leaned against the hood, looking down at his phone until Jane came out.
"Getting stir crazy?"
"I don't get stir crazy."
She smiled at him, knowing for a fact that he was lying. "Sure you don't. Everyone does, it's all right."
"I don't get stir crazy," he said again.
"Right." Jane nodded. She wouldn't fight him or tease him on this.
If it was his job to look and act like a badass then she wasn't going to poke and prod at him until he cracked. Especially when hie job was currently seeing to her care.
"I'm going to spend some time with Isla. Can you let Silvio know that for me?"
Derrick raised a brow. "Why not tell him yourself?"
She tensed. "I thought...aren't you his friend?"
"I am."
"So could you tell him for me?"
"Are you avoiding him?"
Jane glared at the man, losing her need to be sympathetic to his job. "No, I'm not. I just don't want to text him right now. Will you please just tell him where I went in case he comes home and freaks out or something?"
Derrick eyed her, then put his phone away. "I'll walk you over there."
"I don't need you with me everywhere I go. I can handle heading over to that house on my own, all right?" She pointed at it just in case Derrick somehow missed where it was. The other huge house on a hill in the fancy, safe neighbourhood.
Sugar was with her, and even if her dog was sick, she doubted anyone would want to come near her while Sugar stood next to her.
Not when the dog was a little over half of Jane's size and had nearly triple the muscle mass Jane did.
"I'm walking with you anyway."
Jane steeled herself. "I don't want you to."
Derrick looked at her hard for a long second, then he sighed. "I'm not going to play whatever little tug of war game for control you've got going on right now just because Silvio hurt your feelings. My job is to make sure nothing happens to you. At all. If that means walking with you down the road, I will. I'd rather drive with you, but I don't doubt I'd get a dog bite if I tried to force you in the backseat."
Jane was really starting to hate this arrangement. "So it doesn't matter what I want? Is that it?"
"Where your life is concerned? No."
"Why do you care?"
"Because my best friend cares. Because he hasn't shut up about you ever since we found out some freak has been keeping his eye on you, and because I don't like seeing him like this. Outside of all of that, I don't care."
Hearing him say that got her in a weird way. Jane pressed her lips together, trying not to take it personally.
She was failing at not taking it personally.
But there was one important thing he'd said in all that.
Silvio hadn't shut up about her? As in he was talking to his best friend about her when she didn't know it?
Not that she was an expert in the way men spoke to other men about their love lives, but that seemed pretty big. Big in the way that made her stomach clench.
She tried not to look into that too much.
"You're Silvio's friend. You've been helping him all this time to take care of me, to find whoever's been calling me, and you're telling me that you don't care one way or another if anything happens to me?"
"I never said that. I said I don't care about your feelings being hurt because you want to be stubborn. I care about how much Silvio's feelings would be hurt if he found out anything happened to you because I didn't take the time to take a five minute stroll with you. Whatever's going on with you and Silvio, do me a favor and fix it. He's been moping. It's weird."
That strange, heated clenching in Jane's stomach didn't go away. It got stronger. She didn't want to admit it, but she suddenly felt pretty good.
She tried not to smile. "Silvio's been moping? Over me?"
Derrick rolled his eyes, as though realizing he shouldn't have spoken at all. "Don't tell him I said that."
Jane might have to disappoint him on that one, but for now she would humor him. "I won't, but has he really been acting miserable?"
"Why do you sound happy about that?"
She raised her hands and took a step back. "Not happy. Not happy. Just...it's nice to know he cares."
Again, she got that raised brow look. "After everything he's put himself through, after bringing you here and seeing to your care, getting you a dog when he doesn't even like them, you think he doesn't care?"
When put like that, it did seem pretty stupid.
"It's not that, it's just that he's been avoiding me over the last couple of days?"
She wished he would stop with the raised brow thing. Then, shockingly, Derrick snorted and shook his head. "God, you really are in love with him."
Jane tensed. "What? What do you mean? I am not in love with him!"
Now that Derrick looked smug as all hell, she was wishing for the raised brow to come back. "Yes you are. It shows all over your face. No wonder Silvio is so upset."
And now the low again. "He's upset because he thinks I love him? Thank you so much for that."
Now she needed ice cream with Isla more than anything.
"No, he's..."
Derrick suddenly looked at her, his jaw tightening. "All right, look, you didn't hear this from me. Or from anyone else, got it?"
It was the tone of his voice, and the look in his eyes, that told her she should probably agree.
Jane nodded, finding herself gripping Sugar's leash in an iron tight fist. "Yeah, I got it."
Derrick looked at her for what felt like a long minute. He pressed his lips together, even glancing around as though to make sure no one happened to be listening in on them. "He's upset because he knows you care, a lot. And he cares, but so long as all this is going on, until we figure out who is messing with you, he doesn't want to make any commitments."
Jane didn't get it. Sugar whined and came to her, pushing her muzzle beneath Jane's hand for a pet.
It made her feel better, but not by much. "I don't get it. He and I have been...uh, intimate. A few times. How is that not getting involved?"
It was interesting the way Derrick's face seemed to warm up at her words. The big, bad and aloof bodyguard, secretary, or whatever he was, was actually blushing as she had girl talk with him. It was cute.
Derrick sighed heavily through his nose. "That's different."
"No, it's not."
"Yes, it is," he insisted. "I don't know how you do it in those books you write, but in the real world, sex doesn't make for commitment or for anything touchy feely. It's just about getting off."
"Jesus, okay. You don't have to say it like that."
"Well, how else am I supposed to say it? You're an adult. You should know this, but it doesn't matter because he does care. He shouldn't be getting physical with you anyway, not until this was all dealt with if he really did want to keep a professional air about this."
"But he did."
Derrick nodded, still looking unhappy about that. "Yeah, he did."
Because Silvio cared about her. She wasn't going to push that point to Derrick, because realistically, he was right. Two people who were fucking didn't necessarily have to have any tender feelings for each other.
But Jane might have found one of the few times where the sex wasn't just an indication of feeling, but real evidence for it before the words were spoken out loud.
It made her smile, and Sugar seemed to become more at ease next to her. That was good.
"All right."
Derrick lifted a brow. He leaned back a little, making no secret of the way he eyed her up and down. "That's it? Just all right?"
She shrugged. "What else is there to say?"
She started moving again. Jane made it maybe ten feet before Derrick caught up with her. "Why do I get the feeling you're pleased with yourself?"
"I'm not pleased with myself."
"You look like you're pretty satisfied with something."
She was. "We can just get to Isla, then you won't have to worry about babysitting me."
"Not a babysitter," Derrick grouched.
She kept right on smiling, because now she was sure of Silvio's feelings, but also because she knew it was confusing the hell out of Derrick.
They made it to the front gate, but before Jane could get within ten feet of it, Derrick held out his arm, stopping her.
"What's the matter."
Derrick's gaze was hard. He looked ready to spring into action.
"The gate is open."
Jane had a look. Her first instinct was to point out that, indeed, it was open just a touch.
But it should have been shut tight and locked. A passcode was needed for the gate to swing open for cares or people.
And it almost looked as though there were scratch marks and dents around the lock itself.
Jane didn't think she would have noticed that if Derrick weren't right beside her. She'd been so focused on getting to Isla that she might have just pushed the gate open and let herself in without thinking twice about it. She might have assumed Isla left the gate open for her.
Now...
"Do you think it could be a problem?"
Derrick didn't answer her. He pulled his phone out of his inside jacket pocket, tapped the screen and put it to his ear.
"Sam, if you get this call me right now. The front gate is broken. Showing signs of a B and E. Call me or Arturo right away, confirm Isla is safe."
He brought the phone down, tapped the screen again, then put it back to his ear. "We might have an issue. Call your brother right now."
He brought the phone back down, snapped a picture of the gate, and he clearly sent it out to Silvio and Arturo. She didn't know who else he would bother sending it to.
"Should we call the police?"
"Doing that right now."
"Oh, okay good." Jane looked towards the house. She felt something twisting inside her. Gone was the pleasurable ease of knowing Silvio's feelings, or teasing his friend. She had another friend in that house right now, and she could be in danger.
Derrick had always seemed the strong and dangerous type. He worked some kind of security, so the fact that he was just standing there, making a call while something could be happening inside...while Isla might be in danger...
"Should we do something?"
"We will. Come with me." Derrick kept one hand holding the phone to his ear, and the other he used to grab her elbow, walking her away from the house.
Away from Isla. "Hey, wait a minute. What are you doing?"
"We're going back, right now."
"Wait, we can't leave Isla."
"I won't, but you are my priority. Get back to the house, take your dog and drive somewhere safe, and I'll go back for her until the police arrive."
"But that could take so long!"
"Not that long, come on."
"No, wait."
Jane was going to put her foot down on this one. "Please, listen, go and look for Isla, at least make sure she's all right."
"I am not leaving your side."
"I've got Sugar with me. Who's going to come near me with her?"
"The old man you were talking with at the fense?"
Fuck.
She glared at him. "I'll take Sugar home, go into the garage and lock myself into one of the cars. Then drive away. Please, go and make sure Isla is all right."
He didn't look remotely convinced. In fact, Derrick looked kind of irritated that she was wasting his time. "I've got my phone on me, too. You can call me or text me every two minutes to make sure I'm all right."
Derrick looked at her, then he looked back at the house. He struggled. He really wanted to go for Isla. Jane could tell he did, and why wouldn't he? He would have known Isla personally for longer. He was probably a good friend of his.
"I won't speak to anyone on the way. I'll run back with Sugar if I have to. I'll be quick and you can check on Isla."
Jane wanted to text Isla right now, but the longer she stayed here, the more time was wasted.
Derrick clenched his jaw. "Fine. Hurry up. You don't stop for anyone. You don't speak to anyone. You lock yourself in one of the cars and drive to the nearest public place and wait. You got me?"
Jane nodded. She would agree to do anything he wanted so long as she knew he would check on Isla.
"Right. I got it."
She was already power walking away from him, watching him as he continued to struggle with not going with her.
She didn't start running back for the house until she saw Derrick turn around and make a mad dash for the gate.
When she saw him running up the drive, when his gun came out of its holster, she knew it was time to go.
This might actually be it. This might end tonight.
If it ended with Isla getting hurt though...Or worse...
Jane would never forgive herself.
To Be Continued......