True to his word, Jordan was indeed only ten minutes away. He must live nearby. Funny how little I knew about the man.

We found an empty bench and talked without leaving the station. I caught him up quickly, leaving nothing out. Well, very little out. I didn’t mention what it was exactly Celia had said to cause my fist to fly.

Jordan seemed neither surprised nor judgmental of my story. “Have you called Hudson?”

“I tried. I got voicemail.” I’d tried again while waiting for Jordan with the same result.

“That’s fine. It’s really not urgent. Here’s what’s probably going to happen: Celia will likely have gone to the ER. Because of who she is and the pull she has, I’d assume she’d get the police to take her complaint there. With a simple one-swing hit, the cops will often forget the whole thing. They won’t because she’s a Werner.”

“Could I be arrested?” It was the question most pressing on my mind.

He shook his head. “They’ll track you down and give you a court date. No warrants, no arrests. There will be plenty of time for Mr. Pierce to get the whole thing dropped—which he will. You know that, right?”

“I do.” I wrung my hands in my lap. “At least, I think I do. I also feel shitty about being a burden.”

Jordan laughed—I’d never heard him outright laugh. He was nearly as serious and on-task as Hudson. “That man could never think of you as a burden, Laynie. He turned mountains over to get your last charge completely expunged. And the deal he’s working on now has been much more problematic than it will be for him to get rid of any charge from Celia.”

I’d known Hudson had buried my restraining order violation, but Jordan’s last words were news to me. “What does the deal he’s working on now have to do with me?”

He studied me carefully. “I’m sorry, Laynie. That’s going to have to come from him. My point is that you’re not his burden. You’re his reason.”

I savored Jordan’s words. I needed them right then. Especially with Hudson out of reach, I needed the reminder that he was still there for me. “Thank you, Jordan. I appreciate that more than you can understand. Do you know when he’ll be back?”

Jordan’s mouth tightened, and I knew he was being careful how much he said. “Depends on how his meetings go today.”

Why did it feel like everyone knew some big secret about this business deal that I didn’t? Hudson, Norma, even Jordan. From what I’d gathered, it wasn’t anything bad. Then why was I not allowed to know?

Hudson had promised me I could find out anything I wanted to know when we talked. This was definitely going on the list. I’d rather hear things from him than my bodyguard anyway, so I didn’t press.

I checked the clock on my phone. There was only a little over an hour before David’s shindig. Maybe I should just head there. Unless that was going to be a problem. “The club is closed on Sundays, but we’re having a party for my coworker who’s going away. Do you think the police will show up there? I don’t want to ruin anything.”

“Nah. They’ll either show up at the penthouse or wait until normal business hours to find you at work. You’ll be fine.”

“I know I have to face them eventually, but I’d rather not today.” Shit, I was such a coward.

If Jordan agreed with my assessment of myself, he didn’t indicate as such. “Let’s do this: we can take the train back uptown. I’ll leave you at The Sky Launch—I don’t expect Ms. Werner to show up and bother you tonight.”

“No. Not likely.” Though, I wouldn’t mind seeing how much damage I’d actually incurred. Just thinking about it brought a smile to my face.

“The car is parked at the penthouse. I’ll go and get it and come back to the club. Then we can leave whenever you want.” Jordan casually watched the subway passengers as they walked past us. Or it appeared casual. The more I learned about him, the more I realized nothing he did was casual.

And he was always thinking. “I bet that the police will stop by tomorrow morning, Laynie. If you prefer to stay away from them until Mr. Pierce gets back, I could take you to the loft tonight after the party instead.”

“That’s not a bad idea. I’ll consider it.” Except I hoped that when I finally reached Hudson, he’d take care of things for me so I wouldn’t have to hide out anywhere.

But even if Hudson could get rid of a battery charge, he couldn’t protect us from her forever. He hadn’t been able to stop her stalking. Surely now she’d up her game. I thought of Jack’s advice from our lunch—the only way to get rid of her was to let her think she’d won. Punching her in the face definitely wasn’t letting her win. By striking against her, had I made the worst move possible? More than ever I feared that Celia Werner would be a permanent fixture in my future. Could Hudson and I survive that?

***

The problem with holing up at The Sky Launch was that I wasn’t in the mood to be there. Fortunately, I didn’t have to do anything for the party except open the doors for the caterers. Hudson had arranged the whole thing, including an open bar. It was beyond generous on his part—probably his way of apologizing for the circumstances in which David was leaving.

Everyone on staff had been allowed a plus one. With David’s friends and the few regulars that had been invited, the total guest list numbered around a hundred. It was a true party. The whole thing might have been fun if my plus one was there. But he wasn’t. And by ten, I still hadn’t heard from him.

“Put the f**king phone down and boogie with me,” Liesl urged. I’d filled her in on the day’s events when she arrived. Her feeling was that if I was going to face policemen tomorrow, I should party harder tonight.

She and I were definitely different people.

“Laynie, I love you and I’m here for you if you truly need me. But you seem to have moping down on your own so I’m going to leave you to it and go have a good time.” She tugged at a strand of my hair. “Forgive me?”

“Totally forgive you. Go. Have fun.”

She gave me a peck on the lips and joined a raucous group in the center of the floor. I tried not to feel abandoned. It wasn’t Liesl I wanted anyway.

Determined to not spoil the evening for anyone else, I sat curled up on one of the sofas that lined the main floor and nursed my champagne while I watched the crowd dance and mingle in front of me. It was probably a good idea for me to sit out anyway. Most of them were my employees, after all. There should be a level of separation and respect.