Chapter 62 Silent Arrangements

Chapter 62 Silent Arrangements
My phone suddenly started ringing on the nightstand, and I shot up in bed trying to figure out who the hell would be calling at three in the morning. The screen showed an unfamiliar local number, and I answered cautiously.

"Is this Vera Quinn? This is Riverside Police Station. Do you know Lucas Sterling?"

I hung up and flicked on the bedside lamp so fast it made a sharp clicking sound.

Caspian was still sitting at the head of the bed, and something dark flashed across his eyes before disappearing, leaving only that calm expression as he watched me scramble to get dressed.

"My friend's in trouble. I have to go get him." I was already pulling on my sweater and long skirt, not even thinking about how I looked. "You can stay and rest if you want?"

Caspian looked away slowly. "No."

"Then just lock up when you leave." I tied my hair back quickly, grabbed my coat, and rushed out without waiting for an answer.

After listening to her footsteps fade away, Caspian slowly closed his eyes and sat in silence for a long time before opening them again. His eyes were cold and serious in the empty room.

By the time I made it to the station, Lucas had already finished giving his statement and was sitting in the waiting area with obvious bruises on the corner of his eye and his lip split open.

He glanced at me once, didn't say a word, and I went straight to deal with the paperwork to get him out of there.

Only after we left the building did I finally turn on him. "Are you completely insane? Getting into a bar fight at three in the morning and ending up at the police station?"

Lucas shoved his hands in his pockets and gave me this lazy look. "If you saw what I saw, you would've hit him too."

"I'm not as crazy as you are!" My voice came out sharper than I meant it to. "The company's finally stable, and you still need to help me run it. We can't afford any problems right now!"

Lucas didn't argue back, and I felt bad immediately, so I flagged down a cab even though neither of us really wanted to go home yet.

We ended up walking along the riverside instead, not really talking, just walking side by side in the cold. I don't know how long we'd been going when Lucas suddenly stepped forward and bumped into my shoulder.

I turned to glare at him, but he was gesturing toward something by the water's edge.

A man was standing there swaying on his feet, and it took me a second to realize what he was doing, he was pissing straight into the river, drunk off his ass.

I wrinkled my nose in disgust, but Lucas kept gesturing for me to look closer, so I did.

The man's face came into focus, and I recognized him vaguely, saw the injuries covering his face that matched Lucas's bruises, but were way worse.

"That's the guy you fought?" I asked quietly.

Lucas nodded, and I didn't think twice, just ran up behind the bastard and kicked him square in the back before he even knew what was happening.

He went flying forward with this choked sound and hit the freezing river water with a huge splash. The cold must've sobered him up instantly because he came up sputtering and cursing. "Who the fuck?! I'll kill whoever...."

But Lucas and I were already running down the nearest side street, and once we were far enough away, Lucas just collapsed on the curb laughing so hard he could barely breathe.

"See? I told you if you saw him you'd want to hit him too!"

"He completely deserved it!" I dropped down next to him, still breathing hard, adrenaline making my hands shake. "I wish I'd worn heels today. Could've cracked his ball first before kicking him in."

Lucas kept laughing, but the silence fell pretty quickly, and then we were both just sitting there in silence.

After a while, Lucas asked, "You came from Caspian's place, didn't you?"

I went still. "I was at Jade Bay."

"So he's been to your apartment then." Lucas turned to look at me, and something was knowing in his expression. "You smell like him."

I wanted to kick him for that, but my foot was killing me from the heels I'd worn earlier, so I just glared instead.

"Did you tell him about Damien?" Lucas asked, and his voice had gone serious.

"No."

"Why not?"

I leaned back on my hands and stared up at the dark sky. "Because I couldn't bring myself to say it. He just gave me all that money, and now I'm supposed to ask him to help me deal with Damien, too? I don't have the nerve for that."

Lucas was quiet for a beat. "You know now that you and Damien have completely torn things apart, he could snap at any moment..."

"I know." I sighed. "We'll just have to see what happens."

Neither of us said anything else after that, just sat on that cold curb watching the occasional car drive past in the early morning darkness.

When I finally made it back to Jade Bay, Caspian was already gone, and the apartment felt too empty.

I crashed for a few hours and didn't drag myself to the company until late afternoon, still exhausted and sore everywhere.

There was another cooperation proposal sitting on Lucas's desk when I walked in, and I reached for it automatically, ready to shred the thing, but Lucas came in right at that moment and stopped me.

"Don't touch it yet."

I paused with my hand hovering over the document. "This isn't another one Damien sent, is it?"

"I don't know," Lucas said carefully. "That's why I set up a meeting for tonight. We should at least hear them out first."

I frowned but nodded. "Then I'm coming with you."

That evening, we met with someone from a company, one of those upscale business clubs, the kind with private rooms and waiters who didn't ask questions.

The meeting went smoothly enough, almost too smoothly. Mr. Harper was a professional, and everything I'd dug up on Hartwell Group showed a perfectly normal mid-sized company with no red flags, just looking for opportunities to expand during other companies' rough patches.

Which was exactly what made me nervous.

Quinn Industries had finally gotten some breathing room, and Damien was definitely still out there watching and waiting. One wrong move, one trap I didn't see coming, and everything could come crashing down again.

By the time dinner wrapped up, we hadn't committed to anything concret,e but at least the atmosphere had stayed friendly, and I was starting to think maybe this was legitimate after all.

Then we ran into Marcus in the lobby on our way out.

He was leaning against the wall, flirting with one of the new staff members, all lazy charm and that smirk that made you want to either punch him or laugh. I hesitated, not sure if I should say hello or just walk past, but Mr. Harper spoke up first.

"Mr. Marcus, what a surprise."

Marcus turned, and his eyes swept over our little group before landing on me for just a second too long. Then he smiled. "Mr. Harper. Didn't expect to see you here with Mrs. Blackwood. Discussing business?"

"We just finished, actually." Mr. Harper's voice was respectful in a way that made my instincts perk up. "First time meeting Mrs. Blackwood."

"Is that right?" Marcus's smile widened, and something about it felt calculated. "What a coincidence."

The way they were talking to each other, it was too familiar, too much like boss and subordinate. But I'd checked Hartwell Group's shareholder list myself, and there was no mention of Marcus or any company connected to him anywhere.

Then Marcus said casually, like he was commenting on the weather, "Funny how just holding a tiny share in Hartwell could lead to meeting Mrs. Blackwood. Guess it really is fate."

Everything clicked into place, and I felt that mix of relief and frustration that came with realizing I'd been played, even if it was in my favor.

I smiled back at him. "So you and Mr. Harper have that kind of connection. Then this really is fate, isn't it? We should go out for drinks sometime, talk more."

Marcus raised an eyebrow. "You sure you can handle that?"

"If you're not scared, then neither am I."

He laughed at that, just a short sound, but my mood lifted for the first time all evening.

Once we were outside and heading to the car, I said to Lucas, "We can move forward with the deal."

"Just because of Marcus?" Lucas was frowning hard. "How do you even know that guy? He doesn't seem like he'd be interested in someone like you."

I was quiet for a moment, choosing my words carefully. "Caspian knows him."

Lucas stopped walking. "Wait, what? Caspian knows Marcus?"

"Yeah. The first time I ever saw Marcus, he was with Caspian. But I've never seen them together in public since then, so I'm not completely sure what their relationship is."

Lucas made this disgusted sound. "Pretty obvious what kind of relationship that is."

I didn't argue because, honestly, he was probably right. But maybe that was exactly why Marcus couldn't step forward publicly for things Caspian needed to handle quietly. Because if their relationship ever got exposed, it would cause problems for both of them.

Caspian hadn't told me anything about setting this up, hadn't given me any warning or explanation. But he'd already made all the arrangements anyway, working behind the scenes to help me without asking for credit or even acknowledgment. And I didn't know how to feel about these arrangements.

"It's like I'm moving in the palm of his hand..."