On the Edge (The Grange Complex Book 1)

Sasha

I was putting the last few books into boxes when I heard someone at the door. I had been packing all day; the apartment was supposed to be vacant by tomorrow. All week I had been anxious about completion day. Harry mentioned that the doctors wanted to keep Dexter in the hospital for another week and that thought had been playing on my mind since I found out what happened. I ran to the door and opened it. My heart leaped in my throat when I saw Dexter right in front of me.

I was ready to slam the door in his face, but instead I lost the feeling in my limbs. My heart let me know that it was aware he was there, only a step away, by stuttering and then speeding up. He looked as handsome as always, but he looked better, healthier, whole, wearing a plain white T-shirt and old worn-in jeans. We hadn't seen each other for more than three weeks since that fateful day at the hospital.

"Hello, Barbie," he said. That voice sent a tremor of boiling hot lust right through me. Damn my libido and my stupid over-the-top hormones. As his eyes slowly took in my body, I recognised the invisible pull between us that weakened my knees instantly. Although turned on, I wasn't ready to see him. It had been three long emotional weeks.

"Hello, Dexter," I said, my voice giving away my uneasiness. My attraction to him could overshadow the pain if I let him walk through my door again. I had to stay strong and be vigilant. We had screwed, but now we were simply neighbours, nothing else. Despite my internal battle, my body craved him immensely. I couldn't put my finger on it, but there was something different about him. For starters, he didn't have that usual arrogant smirk on his lovely face. "What can I do for you?"

He took a step towards me and pulled the breath from my lungs. I didn't plan to back away; I stood firmly in the same spot with a pounding heart. Dexter's eyes were heavy, and shots of heat brushed my hardened nipples, but his gaze didn't roam my chest like it used to. Strange. Maybe the time in the hospital did change him a little.

"Can we talk?" he asked gently. Beads of sweat ran down the back of my neck. I needed to back away from him to regain control.

"Dex, we have nothing to talk about. Besides, I'm in the middle of packing, so I don't have time for you or your drama," I said and opened the door to let him see that I was indeed moving out.

His eyes were still on mine. He still hadn't glanced at my boobs, not even once, and I had on a low-cut top. My mouth went dry. God, he looked good and smelled even better.

"Barbie, please. I said some things that I didn't and could never mean. Invite me in or as a landowner, I'll be forced to inspect the apartment," he pressed, narrowing his gorgeous eyes at me. I had to stay calm, but that was almost impossible because his body was so close. I couldn't deny this any longer-I had feelings for him. Deep penetrating love fluttered through me, gripping me tightly, and my heart stuttered continuously. None of this mattered. We were done playing games.

"I guessed that you'd still be yourself. Don't bullshit me, Dex. You meant every word that day. Leave me alone. I have shit to do," I snapped.

"Do you know how much you turn me on when you're so feisty?"

I sighed and tried to slam the door in his face, but he put his shoe on the threshold. This was getting absurd. I really wasn't ready for this conversation. For once I didn't care how I was feeling.

"Dexter, please don't be an asshole. I don't want to talk to you. I don't even want to look at you. Leave me alone. I'm trying to put my life back together," I said, ignoring the vivid images of him sucking on my clit. I was so wet and he hadn't even touched me. Fiery heat crept in, up between my legs. I had to kick him out and then leave.

"We have unfinished business, Barbie. In the hospital, I thought about you a lot, and I need you to understand that I was fucking wrong. At least hear me out... please."

I was just about to open my mouth to tell him that, whatever he was planning to say, it didn't matter anymore, when I saw Victoria coming out of the lift.

"Dexter!" she barked, which got his attention. "I'm not the kind of woman that you ignore."

I was ready to move on, forget that he ever existed, so I slammed the door in his face and locked it. I didn't want to walk away. I really wanted to hear their conversation. I bet that Victoria had no idea that he was in the hospital.

"Victoria, I'm in the fucking middle of something," he finally shouted.

"That's okay, darling. I can hand the video to the police whilst I wait for you to not be in the fucking middle of something."

"What the fuck? Do you want me to fuck you, right now, right here?" he snapped in anger.

My stomach contracted with a hot dose of jealousy. I didn't want him, but I couldn't let her take advantage of him. My rational side told me that it had been three weeks, that he wasn't my business anymore. Deep down I wanted him for myself, but I knew that wasn't going to happen. The moment he told me that he was done with screwing me, he broke me.

They went inside and I knew that I had to let him go. Victoria gave me the perfect opportunity to get out of here. Most of my stuff was already in my new flat in Edinburgh. I picked up all the boxes and started moving them to my car. Today I only collected some of the last bits and bobs, at the same time saying goodbye to the place where I spent the past two months. The new owner was willing to take the furniture from me. It was now or never. I was leaving the complex for good.

Dexter

My palm was itching badly, and even though I was saner than ever before, I still wanted to hit Victoria. I hadn't had time to think about how I was going to deal with her. Deep down I was silently hoping that she would leave me the fuck alone, but she had other plans.

We went inside my apartment. Sasha was packing, moving out. I had time before she was going to disappear on me completely; first I needed to know what Victoria wanted this time around. Back in the hospital, Bishop had refused to give me my phone. Apparently it was a distraction and I wasn't ready to connect with reality. It was true, and I discovered shitloads of missed calls from Victoria, but I hadn't bothered calling her back.

"I have a charity function tonight and I need a date," Victoria said, playing with a lock of her brown hair.

"Can't tonight. I'm busy," I snapped, thinking about my Barbie next door. She narrowed her eyes at me and took a step towards me. I was playing with fire. This woman had my balls and I couldn't fucking piss without her permission.

"I wasn't asking. I'm telling you. Be ready for tonight, tuxedo and the whole shebang. I've been trying to get hold of you all week. One wrong move and your gorgeous ass will be behind bars," she said. "I was fucking busy, Vic."

"One phone call, that's all it would've taken, Dexter. Eight o'clock and don't make me come back here."

Then she began telling me what she wanted to do to me in detail. I stood there bouncing ideas around in my head, thinking about how to destroy her. I'd had a little chat with Ronny before I went into the hospital, but he refused to get his hands dirty. For the first time in years my head was completely free, my thoughts controlled and ordered. The bullshit was over and I wasn't going down for something that I'd done when I'd lost my fucking mind. At some point my illness had conquered me, but I was in control now.

Victoria left ten minutes later and I began scrolling through my contacts, thinking about the people that I could call, but all these assholes were useless bankers, stockbrokers and investors. They had no idea how to deal with a crazy bitch like Victoria, who had absolutely nothing to lose. After not coming up with anything useful, I took the stairs and ran to the other side of the wing. I had three hours before this crazy bitch would show up and I needed help. After banging on Harry's door for some time, the bastard finally opened up. In this situation he was my only ally.

"Dexter, couldn't you be any louder?" he asked with only a towel around his waist. I strolled inside. "Yeah, come on in. Maybe I can't get you a cup of get-the-fuck-out-of-here tea?"

"Listen, I need your help; better if you sit down for this," I said, ignoring him.

"I was in the middle of taking a shower, Dex," he snapped. "Let me put some clothes on. I'll be back in a minute."

Ten minutes later, I had him sitting down at his swanky dining room table. I wasn't a very good friend. Harry always made the fucking effort and I'd pretended that we were close as a means to an end. I didn't know why I hadn't thought about him before. Harry had contacts all over Scotland and I knew for sure that he was into dodgy shit. He'd brought Victoria to the party and right now I was running out of options. I had to start from the very beginning, tell him about my screwed-up illness.

"Right, so what's up?"

He knew me well, better than I gave him credit for, but I never told him what exactly was wrong with me. Harry did ask me a couple of times about the pills and weed in my kitchen, but it was easy enough to brush it off, like it wasn't a big deal.

I told him about my years in the darkness, the sex, the drugs. Then I moved on to Sasha and our time together, my mania, the pills from the neurologist, and finally Victoria and that story from the party, the sex with underage girl, and everything else. By the time I was done he was staring at me in shock, shifting from one side to the other. I judged people all the time, but this wasn't easy, talking to someone else about my own problem.

"Depression, psychosis. Wow, Dexter. I had no idea," he finally said.

"I'm on meds, good meds that are actually helping, but I need your help with Victoria. If this thing gets out, I'm screwed, so for now I have to do what the bitch says."

"Victoria is a hunter. She doesn't want money. She wants you to be her plaything, to be in control of you. You are essentially her prey."

"Don't I know that? Fuck. I can't talk to anyone else about this. I don't remember anything. I was high most of the night," I argued.

"First, go to that charity bullshit with her and I'll make some phone calls, see what I can dig up. We need to find out if that girl is actually fifteen."

"I fucked up with Sasha. I can't go to this party with Victoria."

"You've got no choice, mate. Sasha sold the place. She will be out of her apartment tomorrow," Harry stated and lit up a cigarette.

He had my attention again. Tomorrow? What the hell was he talking about?

"What do you mean that she sold the place? It's only been..."

I didn't finish because suddenly I realised that it had been three weeks. I didn't really notice the time in the hospital. The cash buyer, she had a cash buyer. How could I have missed the fact that she was moving out today?

"What? I thought you knew."

I was on my feet then.

"Find whatever you can on Victoria. I have to go. I need to talk to Sasha before she leaves!"

"First, stop acting like an asshole. Sasha is a gem and the shit that she had to put up with when you were around, God. I don't even know what to tell you."

"You're not fucking helping for sure. I'll deal with Sasha. I know what I have to do.”

Harry nodded, and a minute later I was running down my own corridor, knowing that I had only one chance to make this right. Victoria had distracted me before.

I banged on her door, shouting, "Sasha, open up. I need to talk to you!"

My heart pounded in my chest. It was too quiet in there. She must have already left by the time I went inside with Victoria. I paced around in the corridor for some time, hammering at her door, just to be sure. When I realised that she wasn't there, I took my phone out and made a call.

"Russ, I need to know if the sale for apartment twenty-one has gone through yet?" I barked into the phone. I was the owner of the land and the building, so every transaction had to go through my solicitors.

"Mr. Tyndall, I believe that the completion date is set for tomorrow," he said. I cursed and hung up the phone, scrolling through more contacts. The ground underneath me was slipping away and I was falling back into the oblivion. I needed to get a handle on this.

Finally I found the right person. It fucking rang and rang for ages. Angus was a busy man, but he could make it happen. There was just so little time left and this was going to cost me.

"Dexter, my boy. What can I do for you?" he asked with cheerful voice. A bunch of ice-cubes were cascading down to my center.

"I need you to make a phone call with an offer. It's the lowest transaction that you've probably ever come across, but I need you to do it anyway, Angus."☐☐☐☐☐☐☐