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The woman purses her lips. “Only until lunch time. After that, I have to go into the office. We’re rolling out a new drug and it’s all hands on deck. If I’m not there, Mr. Russell gets testy.”
Harper sits up in the bed and leans forward. “But you will be back tomorrow morning to pick me up, right? If I have to spend another full day here, I’m going to lose my shit.”
“I’ll be here first thing,” Melissa says.
My friend visibly relaxes, flopping back on the pillow. “Good. Now I want to hear all about your vacation, Calista.”
I inwardly cringe before launching into detail about the whole experience. Minus the part about how Hayden kidnapped me. And the naked part, too.
Chapter25
Calista
“Don’t argue with me, Sebastian.”
I march over to the elevator of the penthouse and push the button. It lights up, and the doors immediately part. I step inside with my bodyguard on my heels, his face creased with concern as I select the first floor.
“Mrs. Bennett–”
When I shoot him a dirty look, he clears his throat. Just because I’ve accepted Hayden calling me that doesn’t mean I’m ready for the rest of the world to do it too.
“Miss Calista, Mr. Bennett gave me strict instructions not to take you anywhere except the hospital to visit your friend. Now that she’s been discharged, you’re supposed to stay home.”
“I understand your reasons for wanting to keep me safe. Not only is it your job, but Hayden is not someone who likes to be disobeyed. With that being said, you’re not going to change my mind. I have to speak to Mr. Davis.Today.”
Sebastian slams his hand on the door’s edge, preventing it from closing. “I take my job seriously, so seriously, in fact, that I’ll pick you up and carry you out of this elevator kicking and screaming if I have to.”
I glare up at him in an effort to conceal my nervousness. “If you do, I’ll tell Hayden that you groped me.”
My stomach churns with acid at the lie. And the look of horror on Sebastian’s face. He pales, and his eyes widen. If I wasn’t trying to intimidate him, I’d be amused that this brawny man the size of a mountain is scared of Hayden.
“You wouldn’t do that,” he says.
“Wouldn’t I?”
“Do you have any idea what that man would do to me if he thought I touched you?” The bodyguard shudders. “You’re cruel to threaten me like this.”
I quirk a brow. “Desperate times…”
He mutters something under his breath—a curse in Russian, if I were to guess—and folds his arms. “I’m doomed either way. If he doesn’t kill me, I’ll consider myself lucky.”
“If he gives you a hard time about taking me out, then I’ll advocate on your behalf.”
He says something else in a foreign language, and when I frown at him, he says, “It’s better to be at the right hand of the devil, than to be in his path of destruction.”
“Am I the devil?”
Sebastian sighs. “That depends on how Mr. Bennett reacts.”
I take pity on the bodyguard and keep to myself, staying close to him as he guides me to and from the vehicle. The campaign headquarters hasn’t changed one bit. I stop and stare at it briefly before Sebastian is ushering me indoors, his head on a constant swivel.
Once inside, I walk toward the offices at the rear of the building. Sure enough, Robert Davis sits at his desk, his eyes glued to the computer screen in front of him. I run my gaze over him, searching for any changes. His hair is still the same mousy brown, lying limply against his forehead, but his clothes are pressed and his tie straight.
For a moment, it’s like I’ve been transported back in time when my father still lived and Mr. Davis was by his side for every event. My throat closes as emotion threatens to choke me. Sebastian briefly places a hand on my shoulder.
“Are you all right?”
“I will be. It’s just that I haven’t been here since my father died. I don’t know why I didn’t think it’d affect me to be here.” I straighten my spine and nod. “Okay, I’m ready.”
