by A. K. Evans
And so I did.
I felt everything.
Something about being with Dom like this at this moment was different. I couldn’t be certain, but I had a feeling it had a lot to do with the fact that I knew what I was giving up. For so many years I’d had nothing but horrible circumstances to endure. And while I always managed to just barely get through them, my life had always felt like one long uphill battle. He came into my life and it was instantly better. It filled me with dread thinking about having to give him up.
But I couldn’t be selfish.
Not with this.
Not with something so incredibly important.
And I knew that if he was aware of the real reason why I couldn’t stay with him, he’d never allow me to walk away from him…from us.
If I didn’t, I’d always have it lingering in the back of my mind. I’d always regret not giving him the chance to get everything he wanted in life.
“Tell me, sugar,” he whispered against my lips as he slowly pumped his hips.
“Dom,” I replied, my voice filled with sorrow. His name came out as a plea and I felt myself fighting against the tears still threatening to fall.
His chest pressed against mine, his mouth moved along my jaw toward my ear. “Just tell me what happened. I’ll fix it.”
You can’t.
I didn’t answer.
He didn’t say anything else either.
There was no need for words. Dom’s body collided with mine, my thighs tight to his sides, and with each thrust, I couldn’t do anything but let what I felt for him consume me. I wouldn’t be selfish with Dom’s future, but I’d be greedy now.
Just one last time.
One last time before I let him go.
Even though he didn’t need to because I already knew how wonderful he was, Dom was clearly on a mission to prove something to me. He gave it to me hard, fast, and slightly rough. Not rough to the point he hurt me, but enough that I’d still feel him long after he was no longer between my legs.
My body, as it always did with him, responded quickly to Dom. So, while my mind wasn’t ready for it to end, I couldn’t stop myself from giving in to the physical pleasure and coming apart around him while he kissed me through his own orgasm.
A few moments later, pinned against the wall with Dom still inside me, he asked, “Are you over your crazy idea to end what we have between us?”
I didn’t want to be, but I had to do it.
I shook my head and answered, “I’m sorry, Dom. We can’t continue this.”
His head jerked back. “You’re serious?”
I swallowed hard and closed my eyes. “Please don’t hate me,” I begged.
“I don’t understand,” he started, the tone of his voice bordering on angry. “After everything you’ve gone through, everything you’ve fought for in your life, you’re just going to throw us away? And without an explanation?”
“I really did not ever want to hurt you,” I rasped, struggling to get the words out.
He pulled out of me and made sure I was steady on my feet before he looked away and began picking up his clothes. For the next minute, he stayed quiet and kept his focus on getting himself dressed.
Dom started walking away from me, but suddenly stopped and turned back so he could completely shatter my heart. “I fell in love with you, Ekko. Hard and fast. And, honest to God, I believed you were the girl for me. Someone I wanted to have a family and grow old with. There’s not a doubt in my mind I would have spent the rest of my life doing what I had to do to prove to you just how special you are and what you mean to me. You keep telling me you’re sorry. I guess I should apologize, too. I’m sorry I’ll never be able to show you just how much I love you.”
I couldn’t speak.
I held his gaze, my lips parted in shock, but I remained silent.
He waited a few seconds, I’m certain hoping I’d change my mind. When I didn’t give him what he wanted, he just shook his head at me, completely disappointed.
Dom turned and walked to the door. With his hand on the knob, he looked back at me. “Just took you without protection,” he clipped. “I was caught up in what I was feeling, not thinking straight. From a pregnancy standpoint, it was one time. It’s not likely, but that’s all it takes. If you’re concerned about your health, you’ve got nothing to worry about. I’ve always worn a condom and I am tested regularly.”
I gave him a nod. It was all I could muster up as I continued to tell myself that I was doing this for him.
“Take care of yourself, Ekko.”
At that, he opened the door and walked out. My knees buckled, and my back slid down the wall as I slowly crumpled to the floor. I fell to my side and cried.
Dom loved me.
And because I loved him, I did what I had to do to make sure my bad luck didn’t take away his dreams.
“She’s in agony.”
Over the last few days, it felt like a rain cloud that refused to just unleash its impending storm had been hanging over my head. It was Thursday nearly two weeks after I’d walked out of her place that Saturday morning and I’d been going through the motions under that cloud ever since.
There were two things weighing me down, one much more than the other.
Ekko.
My beautiful girl.
Sometime during the last two and a half months, I’d fallen in love with her. And just when I thought the time was right to share that sentiment with her, she broke things off with me. It was completely out of the blue and unexpected. I only noticed a few days prior that she started getting quiet, but I never suspected that this was where things were headed. In fact, I worried that I would have been the one to hurt her somehow. Of course, not intentionally, but the fact remained that I had the power to devastate her.
Or so I thought.
I always knew that Ekko was tough. She was nothing if not a fighter. Unfortunately, one of the things that I loved most about her was the one thing that pulled her away from me. Once she had her mind made up, there was little anyone could do to change it.
What Ekko failed to realize was that I am just as stubborn. While my attempt to convince her that we belonged together was unsuccessful, I wasn’t going to just walk away without a fight. I knew if I had any chance to win her back, though, I’d have to figure out why she suddenly wanted nothing to do with me. The way that she responded to me Saturday morning told me that this wasn’t simply a matter of a relationship no longer working for one individual. Ekko was still very much connected to me. And I was determined to make sure she stayed that way.
Sadly, I had been struggling with accomplishing what I wanted to with her because my case was taking too much of my focus. Ekko meant too much to me to allow what we deserved to have to take a back seat. So, as much as I hated having to do it, I enlisted the help of some reinforcements.
Elle.
Jojo.
Kendall.
I couldn’t be sure they’d get me any information that I needed, but it was worth a shot. To be honest, it was more an attempt for me to feel better about the situation with Ekko. I couldn’t devote the time I knew was necessary to fix things with us, but I had to know she was doing alright.
I started with Elle because I believed she could make an appearance in Ekko’s life and it wouldn’t seem suspect. Apparently, I was right because Elle was now in my office at Cunningham Security updating me on Ekko.
“Agony?” I questioned.
Elle’s face was filled with sorrow. “Yeah, she’s not doing well at all. But she’s definitely trying to cover it up and be strong.”
“That sounds like her,” I sighed as I sat back in my chair.
“Yeah, until she can’t be strong anymore.”
I sat up straight again and asked, “What do you mean? Did she say anything about us?”
“I feel like I’m in a tight spot,” Elle started. “I know you asked me to do this for you and I agreed, but I also don’t want to betray her. It’s not lost on me tha
t she doesn’t have a lot of friends; I want to be a good friend to her. That said, I wouldn’t consider myself a good friend if I saw what I did last night and didn’t do something to help her, so I’ll tell you this. She did tell me that you two were no longer together. When I asked her how she was handling it, she broke down. I was glad we decided to get together at her place last night instead of over her lunch break. She wouldn’t have been able to go back to work with how broken up she was. I felt horrible for her.”
“So why did she do this?”
Elle shrugged. “I honestly don’t know, Dom. She just kept saying that you deserved better than she could ever give you. While I don’t know all the details of her past, it’s not hard to see that Ekko’s had a rough life. Maybe she thinks that she won’t ever measure up to some standard.”
I shook my head. “I sure hope that’s not what it is. She knows I don’t look down on her and I never would.”
“I know that. And I think she does too. But there’s something else going on with her. You just need to figure out what it is, because that girl is so madly in love with you.”
My stomach twisted. “You think she’s in love with me?” I asked, my voice rough.
Elle reached across my desk and wrapped her hand around mine. “I know she is, Dom. Don’t give up on her because love like you two have is hard to find. Letting it go would just be tragic.”
Unable to speak, I gave Elle a nod.
“I’m going to head out and let you get back to work. Good luck.”
“Thanks, rock star.”
She offered a friendly smile and a wink before she said, “You saved my life. This was the least I could do in return.”
Elle left, and I sat there dumbfounded for a moment. If what Elle said was true and Ekko really did love me, it made no sense to me why she’d not want to be with me. Ekko was so determined. There was no way this was simply a matter of feeling like she didn’t measure up to some impossible standard. If that’s what she thought, Ekko was the kind of woman who’d find a way to lift herself up to that level. This was something else. Something I, unfortunately, couldn’t put much more time in today.
I pulled out my phone, found the name I needed, and tapped on the screen. Three rings later, Jojo’s voice came through the line.
“Hey, bro!” she greeted me.
“Hey, Jojo. I need you to do me a favor,” I informed her.
“Anything. What do you need?”
I took in a deep breath and let it out before I replied, “I know you are planning to meet up with Ekko this weekend on my behalf. When you do, just do it as her friend. I’ll figure out another way to find out why she decided to break things off.”
There was silence on the line for a moment. “I don’t understand.”
“Elle met with her last night and just stopped by to tell me about it. Ekko’s really torn up about the two of us. I just don’t want you prying further and upsetting her. She’s had enough in her life to make her cry; I don’t want to be the reason she sheds any more tears.”
“Dom, I’m not cruel!” Jojo cried. “Yes, you asked me to do this on your behalf, but I like Ekko. She’s my friend and I’d never purposely hurt her. And you’re my brother. I love you and I know how much you’re hurting. If I can find a way to take that pain away from you and Ekko, I’m going to do it.”
I don’t know why I even questioned her. My sister didn’t have an evil bone in her body. She loved her family and friends hard and would go to great lengths to protect those she cared about. “Love you, Jojo.”
“I know,” she shot back. “Love you too!”
I disconnected the call and decided to get back to work. Before I did, though, I wanted to reach out to Ekko. She would be in the middle of her morning at work, but if she really was torn up over this, I didn’t want her thinking I held a grudge. And the way I left things when I walked out of her place would easily have her believing I thought the worst of her.
Miss you, sugar.
Satisfied that I had at least tried to do something positive about the situation, I had to switch my mindset to the nightmare I needed to solve. Over the last few weeks, I’d been receiving puzzle pieces. There was no rhyme or reason to the arrival of them. They weren’t arriving on the same day each week. I had been receiving one a week through the week before Christmas. Then, the following two weeks I didn’t get anything. Last week, I received the sixth piece.
Based on the way it was coming together, I could tell this puzzle was going to have a total of nine pieces. The six that I’d already received were the three along the bottom, which were all the pavement. There was nothing on the back of those. I had the one from the top corner showing the sky with the word ‘You’ and a sliver of the letter ‘f’ on the back of it. The last two pieces I’d received were the outer edges of the middle row. While those pieces had nothing on the back of them, they were the first two pieces that finally gave me something.
I now knew where the picture had been taken and it was unsettling, to say the least. Not only were they delivered in the mail at my house, but those two puzzle pieces showed me that someone had taken a photo outside my home as well. The photo had been taken from a distance because my actual house wasn’t visible in the photo yet. Even though I knew from the surrounding area that it was my home, there was nothing indicating what the focus of the photo was going to be other than the actual house. I had a feeling the last three pieces were going to tell me that and I was hoping that I’d be getting another photo this week. Considering it was Thursday, there wasn’t much time left. Of course, whoever was behind this didn’t much care about my lack of patience.
Those two weeks over the Christmas and New Year holiday drove me crazy. On one hand, I was able to keep my focus on enjoying the time with my family and with Ekko, but on the other, I thought I was going to lose my mind not knowing what was happening. Perhaps I should have been grateful for the reprieve, but I wasn’t.
I pulled all the pieces of the puzzle out of my desk and put them together. Then, I did what I had been doing for weeks now. I stared at it. Sadly, my research of old cases didn’t really give me any clue as to what could be happening since there were so many that could have easily had someone angry at me. I was going through those, but it was a long process that was taking some time to go through to eliminate any with confidence.
“Nothing new yet?” Pierce’s voice filtered into the room.
I looked up from the puzzle and shook my head. “This is, by far, the most frustrating case I’ve ever worked on. I’ve got nothing to go on. Someone knows my name and where I live. I don’t even know what they want.”
Pierce came into my office and sat down. “What did that note say again?”
“Worthless.”
His eyes narrowed as a contemplative look washed over his face. I had worn the same expression many times over the last several weeks as I tried to figure out what it all meant.
Frustrated, I pulled the pieces of the puzzle apart and stood. Dropping them into the big manila envelope I had been keeping them in, I looked at Pierce and explained, “I’m going to see if I can figure out where this shot was taken from. It’s from a distance, but maybe I can narrow it down to a specific spot.”
“You want a second set of eyes?”
“If you’ve got a set to spare, it’d be appreciated.”
He gave me a nod as he stood and walked out of my office ahead of me.
When we arrived back at my place, we looked in the direction where the photo had been taken from.
“Judging by the angle of the photo, I’d have to say it narrows it down to anywhere between the gray stone house on the left and the timber house off to the right,” Pierce pointed out after we’d studied the area for a while. “Do you know any of the homeowners in those houses and in between?”
I shook my head and announced, “No, but I’m going to figure out who owns them.”
Just then, I noticed the mailman approaching in his mail delivery truck. He was s
till a few houses away and was moving slow given the amount of snow that had accumulated over the last week.
“What are the chances I’m going to get another puzzle piece in my mail today?” I asked Pierce.
“It would be awfully convenient,” he noted.
When the driver approached, he held out the mail and lamented, “I’m sorry. I just noticed this morning that one of those slid down between the seat and the center console. If it’s anything time-sensitive, I’m willing to vouch for our error and the delay.”
“Don’t worry about it,” I said as I took the pile of mail from him.
He took off and I thumbed through the mail.
Two.
There were two envelopes addressed to me with no return address, just as the other puzzle piece deliveries had been. One had been postmarked a few days prior to the other.
“Let’s go,” I ordered.
Pierce quickly followed behind me into my house. I dumped the envelope out. While he began assembling the pieces, I opened the new ones. The two completed the outside frame of the puzzle.
“Take off the top one and flip it over.”
I took the new pieces and attached them to the second piece I’d received what felt like ages ago. Pierce and I stared at the haunting message that had been printed on the back of the puzzle.
You took everything from me.
“What the fuck does this mean?” I barked. “And what does my house have to do with it?”
“Maybe it’s this guy’s way of letting you know that he knows where you live,” Pierce suggested.
“Okay,” I agreed. “But why?”
Pierce threw his arms up and out to the side. “Apparently, you took everything from him.”
“This makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. I mean, yeah, there are plenty of people that we’ve all had the privilege of bringing down, but I’m not responsible for their choices.”
“Maybe a case of adultery?” Pierce guessed. “Perhaps a significant other left their partner after you shed light on the infidelity in the relationship.”
