The Secretary and Her Boss

Chapter 23

I have never been a fan of cryptic messages—those texts that say things like 'Call me when you can...' or 'Can we talk?' or, my personal favorite, 'Hey...' after it's been years since you talked to that person.

As I drove to the speakeasy, my mind spun, analyzing Laurence's cryptic message. It felt like trying to solve a stupid text message mystery.

The girls would have figured out what his message was about... I should really start a group chat with them.

I continued to replay Laurence's message as I parked, growing more worried.

Miss Autumns—the formal version of my name. Something about it didn't sit well with me. We had moved past that. I was certain of it. Did he feel weird addressing emails with my first name?

I walked toward the warehouse that hid the speakeasy, my concern growing. I need to speak to you urgently. Please meet me in the backroom of the Speakeasy ASAP. He never used the abbreviation 'ASAP.'

Something wasn't sitting right. The location he picked, although welcome, didn't make sense. He was sick, he should have been home. I could have easily gone there.

Tugging open the warehouse doors, I was stuck on the final set of words. And don't tell Miss Winters.

He wasn't one to keep secrets— other than the hotel room fiasco, but keeping secrets from his boss? That wasn't like him. Whatever it was, whatever brought him to the speakeasy, into that back secret room was a big secret.

Walking into a small waiting room, the cozy, dim lighting and black walls washed over me like a cozy blanket of comfort. I was clearly blowing things out of proportion. He was probably tired of being cooped up inside.

The woman behind the small silver reception desk, wore her classic 1920s black dress but her signature smile was gone, replaced by a concerned look. "Royal is waiting for you."

My heart squeezed. Laurence must look terrible. I should try to convince him to go back home. He's obviously worrying people.

I thanked her and moved through the speakeasy, too focused to get pulled into the music or ambience. As I reached the bookcase that hid the secret door, I suddenly came to a dead stop, unable to breath. The world seemed to melt away. The 1920's swing band's upbeat music fizzled out, the people dressed in all types of 1920's outfits sitting at the small tables and booths sprinkled throughout the warehouse faded away, and I was left with a single, mind clearing though.

Royal is waiting for you...

Dread crawled up inside of me as the bookcase shifted and the secret door slid open. Before I could wrap my head around what was happening, I was pulled inside and the door slid shut behind me, blocking my exit, invisible to the naked eye again.

"Hello Miss Autumns... It's been a while."

Everything snapped into place. The lady at the front hadn't been concerned, she had been afraid. Afraid for me. Afraid of the particular Royal she had led inside. Because the Royal standing before me wasn't Laurence. It was his brother, Carter Royal, and he was out of jail.

...

"Carter," I forced myself to say calmly even as his goon, Derik, took up residence at the only exit, eyeing me with a far too interested expression, his mouth set in a cruel smirk. The goon had ink black hair pulled back into a man bun and was pouring Skittles into his mouth like they were his only source of food.

"No wonder that poor woman at the front looked so unhappy," I said, looking back at Carter.

The words were out of my mouth before I could think better of it. A downside of my new found courage and confidence.