Secret Affairs

ELEVEN

After I ordered Davis to make me a cup of coffee I went into my bathroom to shower. The door to my room was left open, and a small part of me was chastising myself for being too trusting. This was literally going against every rule women were taught. Don’t trust strangers. Don’t allow strangers into your home. Never turn your back.

I, however, wasn't taught what everyday women were told. Daddy dearest told me to do the opposite of those women. He said to let them in. He told me to let them in and use them to my advantage. 

So that’s exactly what I was going to do. If I died at the hands of Davis Buchanan today, this one was on you daddy.

I took off all my clothes and stepped into the shower closing the glass door. The water began trickling down my body but my mind was a million miles away. All I could think of was how this could possibly end.

You should have known better than to teach your 8 year old how to strike business deals with old perverts dad. Now I allowed one into my home. He wasn’t old or ugly or pervy, but he had other vices. More murdery ones. At first glance Davis Buchanan seemed decent, that was until you found out that he had tossed a man off a roof and to his untimely death.

“Ro?”

This would have to work. I would make it work. I’d either end up winning, or 6ft under right next to dear old dad. It’s funny how when he was alive I didn't deign call him dad or daddy. It was always father. The one time I strayed he pulled me aside and ordered me to be more formal. I was five. I ate my entire birthday cake that day. Alone.

“Ro?!” I heard someone scream from inside the bathroom.

My heart leaped out of my chest as I attempted to cover myself with my hands. Whoever the person was, they were already inside. So there was no point in trying to defend myself, I’d probably end up slipping and dying.

I wiped the steam off the glass door only to see Sam staring right at me.

“Sam what the hell! I’m in the shower,” i berated her as i twisted my body around so she wouldn’t get a view of the goodies. My arms protectively wrapped around myself hoping the fog would cover me up enough.

“It’s not like I haven’t seen any of this before. Besides we have the same equipment,” she quipped waving her hand around.

I loved Sam, but Jesus f**k she scared the s**t out of me. For a second I thought Davis Buchanan was here to end me after all. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to laugh or cry as the last remnants of panic dissipated into the steam. I needed to set a reminder to take her key away. 

“What are you doing here?” I asked Sam. Not like I don’t love to have her here, but I wasn’t expecting her to show up while I was in the shower either. I finished rinsing the conditioner out of my hair while I waited for her reply.

“I came to... you know what, forget that. Imagine my surprise when I found an incredibly sexy man in your kitchen. Is he your rebound?” It was funny that she thought I would be stupid enough to sleep with another man, she had me chuckling to myself. As if I didn’t have enough problems with the men currently plaguing my life that I would invite another one in.

I shook my head and wrapped a towel around myself and placed my hair in a towel turban as I stepped out of the shower. “God no. I’m keeping everything in my pants for a while,” I responded. 

“So you’re telling me he’s available?”

I stopped in my tracks and turned to look back at Sam. She was biting her lower lip nervously and had a slight blush to her cheeks that wasn’t caused by the heat of the shower steam. Not even when she met Peters and was talking about his hypothetical d**k did she look this — flustered?

Davis wasn’t the type of man Sammy usually went for. She liked them prim and proper, the nerdy types that stuttered when they got nervous. The type that made you feel pretty just by looking at you. Davis was anything but that. He was the type of man to make you forget what you wanted to say in the first place and make you feel bad for the inconvenience. The type that could undress you with a single glance if he wanted to. The type that could hurt Sam.

“He’s not the type of man you want to mess with Sammy,” I told her hoping that she would see what I was saying and leave whatever thoughts of Davis Buchanan she had behind. The last thing I wanted was for him to leave my best friend sad and heartbroken.

Sam completely ignored my warning and walked out of my bathroom. “Why not, he looks delicious?”

I couldn’t fault her there. He was an incredibly attractive man, there was no use in denying it. But Davis killed a man. Granted he was a bad man that shot my father, but still. There was a certain level of callousness that was required to easily toss someone off a roof.

There was no way I could tell Sam that, she would just freak out. And I still needed Davis. “Just trust me on this one,” I pleaded with her. I couldn’t tell her what I knew, but I also couldn’t let her catch feelings for a man she knew nothing about. I doubted Davis would willingly spill all his secrets to her, and she wouldn’t know what she was getting herself into.

I turned around and stepped into my closet in order to avoid facing her. If she saw my face, she would know that something was up. I could never keep anything from her even if I tried. “I think I’ll find out on my own,” she quipped with clear annoyance in her tone.

“Sam.”

“What Ro?! I never judge you for anything you do and I’m always supportive, why can’t you do that for me?” She shot back surprising me.

I stood there for a second gripping my towel with one hand. Sam was always there for me no matter how wrong my choices were. She was loyal to a fault and never questioned or judged me. The least I could do was the same for her.

A heavy sigh left my body once I realized that I couldn’t stop her from pursuing Davis Buchanan, but I would be there to pick up the pieces afterwards if I needed to. “You’re right. I’m sorry. Just be safe okay? I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I’m a big girl,” she teased.

I would let this discussion go for now. Only because I didn’t want to upset her more than she already was. And she was upset. She wouldn’t show it, but I knew that not having my full support behind this irritated her. Especially because she always supported me. But how was I supposed to tell her everything. I needed Davis to finish the job, I wouldn’t know who else to turn to and I didn’t know how Sam would react. I honestly had no clue how I was going to react. I was probably still in shock.

The less people knew, the better. There was no way I could risk it. Not now.

Hopefully Davis was professional enough to keep his d**k away from Sam while he was on the job.

I turned back to Sam who was now sitting on my bed texting someone on her phone. “Not that I don’t love to see your beautiful face, but what are you doing here anyways?”

“I just picked Mason up from the airport, and we were coming to take you out to lunch,” she explained.

“Your brother is here?” I asked surprised. Considering how Mason could barely get a few days off work, I was surprised that he made it all the way to New York.

Mason was like a big brother to me. I met him when I visited Sam’s family the first time. He was in medical school back then and looked like he was on the verge of a nervous break. All his hard work finally paid off because he was working his dream job near their hometown. 

All three of Sam’s brothers were intelligent, hardworking, and sin in a cup. And when I went to visit they treated me like they would Sam. It was the first time I experienced familial love. I cried for two hours while their mother comforted me, and then they teased me mercilessly.

Sam stood up and looked out of my bedroom door, I had no clue what she was looking at, or if Davis was even here still. “He got a few days off, but he’s waiting downstairs,” she answered softly.

I walked into my closet to grab clothes and started getting ready. “I’ll be out in a few minutes, you should call him up so he isn’t waiting.” Before I could turn back around, she was already out the door, and out of sight.

There was no way I wanted Davis spending too much time with Sam as of yet, I wasn’t even sure if I could trust the man. So, I quickly got dressed and made my way back out to my living room. I stepped into my kitchen hearing voices coming from that direction. Sam was hanging onto every word that slipped out of Davis’ mouth while he had an average conversation with her brother. 

I was expecting a cup of coffee waiting for me. Instead I found Sam and Mason with a cup in their hand, and Davis leaning against the kitchen counter with a mug in his and a smirk across his face. He lifted the coffee mug to me in toast and took a big sip of the drink. The coffee pot was sitting to the side empty.

Squinting my eyes at him I held back a snarl. Mason and Sam weren’t new to fights since they participated in many sibling squabbles but it was new to me. I wondered if this was what they felt like when they were ready to pummel each other into the ground.

I ignored the murderous need from within and instead greeted Sam’s brother. “Hi Mase. I see you’ve met Mr. Buchanan.”

Since there was no damn coffee left I walked to the fridge and got a water bottle out. How the hell did Nate get me to make him a coffee. Was this Davis’ version of ten sugar packets? If it was, I hated it and I did not like being on the receiving end. How did Nate not throttle me after ruining his coffee, because I wanted to do that to Davis f*****g Buchanan.

“We sure have, is this your flavor of the month?” Mason asked me with a tilt of his head and a big smirk on his face.

The water I was drinking went down the wrong pipe and had me spluttering water all over the floor and dribbling down my shirt. A few coughs later, I had finally gained some composure wiping my mouth with a towel.

“Surprising you didn’t get yourself killed all this time,” Davis mumbled under his breath.

I shot him a death glare demanding he shut it while Mason and Sam were bent over laughing at my misfortune. “He works for the company, or I guess now me,” I replied to Mason’s earlier question.

“That’s never stopped you before,” Mason smiled at me high-fiving Sam.

“You told him?!” I couldn’t believe she told him about Peters. He already knew about Daniel and I didn’t need him thinking I would f**k all my coworkers.

They were f*****g children and still giggling about his comment. I didn’t bother being embarrassed, if Davis had been watching me, then he knew about Daniel. Maybe not Nate just yet. And if Mason had something to say I could just bring up his whoring.

“What no!” Sam screamed in her defense. 

Mason turned to me with his head almost snapping. “Wait so not just James? You’ve been getting around haven’t you little Rowboat.”

Fuck I hated when he called me Rowboat. I hated when all her brothers called me that. And now my stupid ass assumed that Sam told him about Nate. He sure as f**k knew that I slept with someone else from the office now.

Davis cleared his throat providing the perfect distraction from my love life, or lack thereof. “I’ll take my leave,” he said before turning around and making his way to my front door.

I stopped him by holding on to his forearm before he went too far. “Wait, we’re not done discussing your job.”

He placed his hand over mine and then gently pulled it off of himself. “I know what I’m doing. You may be my employer, but I don’t take orders from you. You’ll get your results.”

I wasn’t sure if I should be impressed or insulted. This man was a walking hit to the ego. I needed to step up my game and show him who was in charge here. It was me. I would always come out on top, it’d just take a bit of finessing.

Sam and Mason waved a goodbye as David left my apartment. As soon as the door was shut Sam turned around, her face was as pink as I had ever seen it and began fanning herself. “Holy hell that was hot.”

“What the f**k Samantha,” Mason chastised her. It seemed that my tiny warning went ignored, and now here she was listing over a man that gets hired to do god knows what. I should probably look into what exactly he does. I needed to be prepared for the inevitable, and I didn’t need to get caught lacking. 

“What?”

“Talk about a lack of southern hospitality,” he responded. I always forgot that Sam’s family was used to a certain level of politeness. Mason was in for a rude awakening if he thought Davis Buchanan was the worst that New York had to offer.

“He wasn’t here to be friendly Mase.”

“What was he here for then? In your apartment? This early in the morning? While you were in the shower?” A small smile creeped up on my face. I pretended like I hated him when he acted like this, but a small part of me felt like family when Mason or the others acted like over protective brothers.

“He used to work for my father. Now he’ll be working for me,” I explained. I didn’t need to go into detail. As of now, Davis would only be finding me information. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do once he found said information. What was I planning to do to the person who hired someone to kill me? What was I going to do when I found the person who was the reason my father was dead?

Mason came closer and wrapped me up in a tight hug. “Right. I am sorry about that Ro. I wish I could’ve been there for you.”

“I’m managing.” That’s all I was doing. Managing. Taking it day by day and pretending like I wasn’t on the verge of falling apart. Some days my father’s death would hit me a little harder, realizing how alone I really was. Others, I woke up in a cold sweat from the nightmare that wouldn’t let me rest. The star of the show was my dad, on the ground with blood spurting out of his mouth on replay. I couldn’t get to him no matter how hard I tried. In the end I woke up to the cold reality of my living nightmare. The one where I didn’t save him and he really was gone.