Unbelievable (Heroes of Calvano Security Book 1)

by Nikki Rome

He smiled at her, “I’m happy you like it, I’ve never brought anyone here before.”

  Her eyes widened at his comment, “Really? Why not?”

  “I guess it’s just a special place for me, and I didn’t have any desire to share it with anyone else.”

  Smiling, she turned back to the forest and watched the small stream flow down the rocks. “If you were to tell me a week ago that a text from you would have landed me here for the weekend, I would have thought you were crazy.”

  “I want you to be happy, Christy. If this place brings you happiness, then we can come whenever you want.”

  “You keep talking like we don’t have obligations and our lives to get back to, friend,” she smirked.

  “Friends for now, Christy. Remember?”

  “Whatever,” she said laughing, and she stood to head into the cabin.

  “Where do you think you’re going?”

  “To pack our bags for a hike since obviously you aren’t going to do it with your hand bothering you.”

  He looked down at his bandaged knuckles. She was concerned when she saw he had been injured, but the fact that he wouldn’t tell her how it happened bothered her even more. That concern turned into anger and then annoyance that he was keeping things from her. Jason knew he needed to tell her about Devon, but he really wanted some time with her that didn’t include memories of their past. So far, things were going well. The ride out to the cabin was relaxing and by the time they arrived Christy was eager to explore. He had promised her a hike after lunch, so now he needed to get himself in gear. Standing up, he headed for the kitchen to pack up some snacks. His hand wasn’t bothering him as much as she thought, he was going to prove to her how useful he could be.

  They reached the top of a trail that Jason had taken her up and stood together, looking out into the distance.

  “Jason?”

  “Ya?”

  “Are you happy?”

  He looked over to her and could sense the tension in her body.

  “I am now.” He put his pack down and pulled out a blanket. Laying it on the ground, he gestured for her to sit with him. “Why do you ask?”

  “I feel like I don’t even know you anymore. I mean I do, but you’re so different. It’s not bad, it just seems like you have worked so hard to get where you are and it’s important to me that you are happy.”

  He sat there for a minute thinking of how best to respond. “I am happy now.”

  “You weren’t before?”

  “I guess I was. Something always seemed to be missing. When I was in the military I had a lot of time to decide who I wanted to be. I knew when I got out I couldn’t go back to my old way of life. You remember my father, right?”

  “I do,” she said hesitantly.

  “Once I enlisted and finally sobered up, I realized I was turning into him. He was a horrible man and in my desire to avoid him and what he put me through, I spent most of my time wasted. The military taught me who I was. The men I fought beside were people to admire and when the time came for me to stand on my own two feet, I knew I could because of what I learned from them.” He paused for a minute, trying to think through the best way to explain the next part. “My job is only part of me now. For a long time I thought it defined me, but I’ve realized lately that I needed something more. My team is my family, and that was enough. It’s not enough now.”

  “So you aren’t happy then?”

  “No, that’s not it at all. I thought I was happy before, but it wasn’t until I saw you again that I figured out what I was missing.”

  He reached forward and wiped a small tear from her cheek. “I didn’t mean to upset you. I just want you to know the truth.”

  Shaking her head, she said, “I want this to work Jason, I really do. I just don’t know how.”

  “I know sweetie, it’s okay. We will figure it all out together.” He reached forward and pulled her into his arms. They sat like that for a long time together. Jason wanted her to feel safe and loved. The feeling of having her in his arms again was indescribable.

  “Should we head back down to the cabin and start dinner? You have got to be getting hungry by now,” she asked.

  “That sounds like a good idea.”

  After dinner Christy had talked Jason into one of the awful movies she had downloaded onto her laptop. They plugged it into the TV to watch since he never hooked up internet at the cabin. It was some story about a woman who traveled back to her hometown and fell for her high school sweetheart. He had to laugh at the premise, but the truth was they were in a similar situation. He looked over at her and could see her eyes drooping. It had been a long day, and they were both getting tired. The second he turned the TV off, she objected.

  “Hey, I was watching that!”

  “You most certainly were not, you were about to fall asleep.”

  She gave him the pouting face of a five-year-old, which made his lips turn up into a smile.

  “Well, if you are going to act like a child, then I am going to treat you like one,” he said, standing and scooping her into his arms. She screamed with laughter as he threw her over his shoulder and headed back to the bedroom.

  “Careful of your hand!” She shouted from behind him.

  “It’s fine. Stop fussing. Now quiet down and let’s get some rest.”

  Jason made his way into the master bedroom and unceremoniously dropped her onto his bed.

  “What makes you think I’m sleeping in here?”

  He pointed to her bags she had willingly left there earlier in the day.

  “That means nothing, I just didn’t know where to put my things,” she smarted back at him.

  “Well, after the grand tour you could have moved them, but you didn’t. That tells me you had planned to sleep here all along,” he winked.

  “Not true!” she shouted as he headed into the bathroom to get ready for bed.

  “I’d change into something comfortable if I were you. Oh, by the way, it doesn’t take me long in here and I wouldn’t be opposed to a strip tease if you prefer to wait,” he added, sticking his head out the bathroom door and giving her one last smile before disappearing to change.

  “Get your mind out of the gutter!! We are not having SEX!” she yelled through the closed door.

  The only response she received was the sound of his laughter.

  Chapter Sixteen

  The weekend was amazing; they did absolutely nothing other than hike and relax. Not having to contend with emails, phone calls and messages was a luxury she didn’t realize she needed. Jason owned a huge security firm and from what she knew about other businesses, they don’t just run themselves. He stayed in touch with Mike a majority of the time, which made it clear he was taking care of things while they were away. Most of the time he just spoke with Mike while he was sitting with her, but last night when he had brought her home, he excused himself and took his laptop out to her balcony for a while. She gave him privacy, but by the time he came back he seemed agitated and shortly after told her he had to leave. She could tell something was weighing on him, but she didn’t want to pry, so they said good night. He had told her he would be back in the morning, but she didn’t know he planned on bringing someone else with him.

  Now it was Monday morning, and he was standing in her kitchen dressed in one of those amazing three-piece black suits holding a cup of coffee. He looked so gorgeous she was having a hard time concentrating on his words.

  “I want you to meet someone.” Jason started as soon as they stood around her island. “Mike, this is Christy.”

  “Nice to meet you, ma’am.”

  “It’s nice to meet you too. Jason speaks highly of you.”

  With that, Mike turned to Jason and raised his eyebrows. Jason rolled his eyes in response.

  “I just mean, it sounds like you two are good friend,” she tried to clarify.

  “You could say that. I owe this guy a lot,” he said slapping Jason so hard on the back he had to take a step forward.

/>   She laughed and smiled over at Jason.

  “Mike will drive to the office this morning because I have a meeting. He will stay with you all day; I understand your clients' business may be private so he can sit outside your office while you meet with them, and he will drive you back to my place tonight.”

  Dumbfounded she didn’t know where to start. Everything he just said was wrong.

  “Excuse me?”

  He put his coffee down on the counter and approached her carefully.

  “I said, Mike will be with you today.”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “I am not budging on this.”

  “He is not driving me anywhere, let alone sitting outside my office all day. No offense, Mike,” she added.

  Jason still hadn’t told her about Devon, and now wasn’t the time. She had to get to work, and he had a meeting with a detective. He also needed to make sure she didn’t find out that Devon’s family had created a media circus to find their “lost boy.” He had work to get done, and that work involved ruining the asshole who hurt his girl. He couldn’t very well get that work done while she was with him, so he needed her at her office and Mike’s eyes on her. Although all his guys were good, Mike was the person he trusted the most.

  “Jason, you can’t just walk into my life and start making demands like this. I have a job and a reputation to protect here.”

  Stepping back from her slightly, he took in a deep breath and tried to calm himself. He was worried sick about her and desperate to get her to understand the importance of having someone there to protect her when he couldn’t be. “I will not let you be in danger, not anymore.”

  She just stared at him. After what felt like an eternity, she said, “Mike’s not coming in the building. He can wait outside.” Then she pushed him back enough to get around him and left to get her things from her bedroom.

  Christy got to her bedroom and sat on the end of her bed to gather herself. She could tell by the look in Jason’s eyes that he was truly worried for her, and that scared her a bit. She couldn’t help but wonder if there was something he wasn’t telling her. She got up, checked her makeup and grabbed what she needed for the office. Hopefully Mike wasn’t as scary as he looked. Because that man was huge, and having him in her house made her nervous. Riding to work with him was going to be a test of her willpower. She trusted Jason to keep her safe, which meant if he chose Mike to drive her, then Mike wouldn’t hurt her. The only problem was, her mind kept racing to all the awful things that could happen. Instead of giving in, she took a few deep belly breaths like her therapist taught her and headed out the door.

  *****

  “I told you earlier today, the price is not negotiable. The owners already have it listed below market price, and the real estate agent isn’t going to budge. I have reviewed the contracts and they look fine, so at this point you either need to place a formal offer or walk away. Call me if you have any other questions,” she said to her client before hanging up the phone. It had been a long day and Christy worked later than she expected.

  Mike had done as she asked and waited outside for most of the day. Once or twice he came up to check on her, but she had been too busy to talk. She stood and gathered her things to leave, but stopped in her tracks when she looked down at her cell phone. Thirty-six missed calls and over fifty text messages sat there waiting for her. Since she used her office line most of the day, she hadn’t paid much attention to her cell phone while it sat on the charger. Walking out of her office, she headed straight for Mike.

  “Christy, I have the car just down here. Follow me, please.”

  She did as she was told, because she was too busy reading through all the messages while trying to walk and not fall. What she could gather was something had happened to her ex. She had phone calls and text messages from people she hadn’t spoken with for years. Clicking on a link sent from Frances, her jaw dropped. She read that he had been reported missing to the media by his family.

  Mike took one look at her and knew there would be a problem.

  “Ma’am, if we could just get you to the car.” She looked up at him and didn’t move. Instead, he ushered her forward, careful not to touch her as Jason instructed. She got into the car and by the time he walked around it and got in, she looked furious.

  “You better start talking,” was all she said.

  Mike took one look at her and realized she knew. “Jason is waiting for you at his place. We will be there soon.”

  “So you guys had something to do with this,” she said as she held her cell phone up in the rear-view mirror for him to see.

  “I didn’t say that. I just said that Jason is waiting for us.”

  Christy crossed her arms over her chest. Her face was red with anger and she couldn’t believe the mess Jason had caused for her. She trusted him to keep her safe, and if he had anything to do with Devon’s disappearance, then she would never forgive him. She worked so hard to move on, and now her phone was full of messages and pictures of him. The memories came flooding back and her frustration continued to rise for the entire ride to the Calvano Security building.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Jason knew he was in for a shit storm when she got to his apartment. He was thankful she responded with anger and not fear or sadness, but he still wasn’t looking forward to what was about to come. After the day he had, he just wanted to strip her down and fuck her hard before she started yelling at him, but his gut told him that brief fantasy would not happen.

  “YOU!” she yelled while charging towards him through the apartment, “How could you! It was you, wasn’t it? Are you trying to ruin my life?”

  “Christy, relax, sweetie. I will explain everything.”

  “That case was dismissed, charges dropped. That portion of my life was over. You know that, but no, you had to ruin everything. This is my life, Jason; my life and you have no right to interfere.”

  “Christy, you need to calm down so I can explain,” he said as he reached forward.

  “I don’t want your explanation.”

  That’s when his bandaged hand caught her attention. That’s when she realized what he was hiding from her all weekend. He had hurt his hand on Friday night and he still wouldn’t explain how. She started muttering under her breath in disbelief as she put together all the pieces.

  “It was you; I mean, really you… not someone you hired.” She raised her hand to her chest in shock, “You are the one who took him? Is he even alive?”

  “Unfortunately.”

  He stepped forward, needing to touch her, to explain what had happened, but she took two steps backwards and she almost tripped. He saw fear in her eyes. Damn, he fucked up. It enraged him just thinking about what he put Christy through, and he deserved far worse than being turned into the cops. She should be thankful he didn’t kill Devon, but he wasn’t certain he’d win that argument right now.

  Jason worked all day to put him away once and for all. The media picking everything up was a bit of a complication, but watching the family’s business fall to hell was a nice treat. He had no guilt over it. Those idiots had gotten their asshole son out of enough trouble. They deserved to suffer too. Three other women came forward and made claims against not only Devon but his father and uncle. It seemed obsessive stalker ran in their family. The morning news was all about how the family was worried for their son, within a hour it turned into them defending their family and trying to keep their reputation intact.

  He looked up at her and could see she was fast-tracking her way into a panic attack. “Christy, please. I need you to take a deep breath.”

  Her mouth moved, but it seemed like she couldn’t get the words out. She just kept looking at him and shaking her head. He had enough. He stalked over to her, picked her up and carried her to the bathroom. When she pulled away at his touch, he understood what was happening. She could no longer determine what was real or what was in her mind. He needed her, and she needed him, but what was more than that, she nee
ded help.

  He walked them straight into the shower stall and turned the water on. It shot out quick and cold, which was good at first. The shock in her eyes was now because of the water pounding down on them instead of at him holding her. Fully clothed, he sank down against the wall, not letting her go. He leaned into her ear and said, “It’s me and you, Christy, I need you to relax. Please, you can reach down inside of you, I know you can do it. You are the strongest, bravest woman I have ever met, and I am here for you.”

  With the water warming up and as she listened to the sound of his voice, the tension in her muscles relaxed. They stayed there while he reminded her how he would never hurt her and how he would never leave her again. He made promises of his heart that he never thought he could say out loud. Promises that scared him, but ones he knew he would never break. He loved this woman, and he would do anything for her.

  Jason had no idea how long they sat there in the shower. Once she leveled her breathing out, the tears began. Tears that even now, as he dried her hair and helped dress her in dry clothes, never stopped.

  He sat with her on his bed; she was dressed in one of his over-sized t-shirts and her hair was still wet from the shower. She looked exhausted, but they had a lot to talk about before they could go to sleep.

  “Tell me how much you want to know,” he said as he pulled her into his side.

  “All of it.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “I need to know.”

  “The media makes everything out to look worse than it is. Yes, we took him, but we are not still holding him. I turned him over to the police late Friday night.”

  “But how? Everything was over. Why did you do this?”

  “Everything wasn’t over. He had hired someone to follow you. He was keeping tabs and trying to find a way to get you back. It turns out his family hasn’t approved of his latest conquest and had been getting on his case about fucking things up with you.”

  “I thought I was going crazy.”