“Yep, where are we going?”
“I thought we’d wander around Road Nine, and you could pick a place.”
“Melinda mentioned Road Nine. What’s down there?”
“A lot of restaurants and shops. If you ever want to get gifts for your family back home, that’s the place to go.”
People packed the street even at this time of day. Conner watched Jessica as she walked. Her shorts fit her tanned legs a little too well, and her blonde hair played around her shoulders in the most alluring way. Conner wanted to run his fingers through it, and he wasn’t the only one. The men on the street stared at her, and a few said things, but she didn’t notice. He wondered how long it would be until something freaked her out. The single women here were tough as nails because of the harassment they faced on a day-to-day basis.
“Hey, Jessica, you should know something,” Conner began, and when Jessica turned to look at him, her eyes went wide, and she grabbed his hand.
“They have a Baskin Robbins?” Her eyes sparkled. Conner chuckled and turned to look behind him.
“Oh, yeah, it’s pretty legit too. McDonalds doesn’t taste the same, but Baskin Robbins does. You wanna get some?”
Her smile deflated a little. “But we are going to get dinner?”
He shrugged. “Dessert first.”
They sat in the back of the shop and eagerly devoured their ice cream cones. She was so innocent and childlike at times. He wondered about her past, but she hadn’t been very forthcoming about her divorce or anything really.
“Listen,” he said around a mouthful of rocky road. “I have to warn you. Egypt has one of the highest sexual harassment rates in the world. You are guaranteed to have rude comments thrown at you on a regular basis. Most of the time if you are with someone else, they won’t be as frequent, but your blonde hair is a bit of a magnet.”
“I don’t speak Arabic, so I won’t know what they are saying. It’s a bit of a blessing, I guess. Russian men yelled things sometimes too, and I always understood them.”
Conner leaned forward. “I don’t think you fully understand. It’s more than that. I don’t have a single female friend who hasn’t been grabbed or touched in some way. You need to be careful.”
She covered her mouth. “Why don’t they do something about it? Surely, the government doesn’t want this happening.”
“They try. But Egyptians don’t follow rules. The only thing that will change it is if society turns on them. It’s starting to change, but they have a long way to go.”
She shivered. “It makes me not want to go out on my own.”
“Don’t let it cripple you. I have one friend who literally will not step out her door unless someone else is with her. It’s a shame because there is a lot of beauty here.”
She laughed. “I haven’t seen that yet. Well, except when we were down in Luxor.”
Conner frowned. “We’ve got a lot more to see. But sometimes you just need to see the beauty in the small things. The colors. The vibrant smiles on the people’s faces. The sheer foreignness of the place.”
“Russia was very foreign too. With lots of colors. I’m still giving this very brown place a chance.” Jessica finished off her cone and wiped the crumbs from her fingers.
“I’m glad you’re being so open minded since you’re stuck here for a while.” He grinned at the blush that graced her cheeks.
They spent the rest of the evening exploring the shops and finally found some dinner at a little sandwich shop that wouldn’t be too foreign for her. She remained carefree, but walked a little closer to him. She told him all about her first day and how she really liked her new colleague, Dr. Michaels.
On the walk home, he took her hand and pulled her near enough that their legs brushed. She didn’t pull away. That was a good sign. He left her for the evening without even trying for a kiss. How was that for building trust? If she wanted a kiss on top of a pyramid, he’d figure out a way, but he wasn’t going to back out of that promise.
Jessica had dinner with Conner the next two nights. On Thursday, when she got home from work, she was totally exhausted. It had been a rough day with a new patient, and all she wanted was a long bath and to go to bed early. The Ms had been blowing up her phone all day. They wanted to go to dinner. But she already had plans with Conner that she was about to break.
She dialed Conner’s cell as she unlocked her door. With any luck he would understand, and his pouting would be at a minimum.
“Hey, you,” he answered, and Jessica warmed at the smile that was obvious in his voice.
“Hey.”
She kicked open her door and dropped her work bag inside.
“How was your day?”
“Long.” She leaned back and closed her eyes. Her shoes went flying in opposite directions. Her toes thanked her.
“Wanna stay in tonight? I could bring over some take out, and we can watch a movie?”
“Actually…” She was about to ask if he’d mind if she begged off for the luxury of her bathtub when she opened her eyes.
In the place where her alabaster vase had been this morning, sat a crystal vase instead, filled with Gerbera daisies.
Jessica forgot to breath.
“Jess?” Conner asked.
The vase was sitting on something dark. A piece of paper of some kind. Jessica’s breath came back in a rush. She thumped her head against the door with a groan. Rick, again. This trick of his was getting old.
“What’s wrong?” Conner’s voice grew strong and urgent. “Are you alright?”
“I’m fine,” she said. “Just an unwanted delivery.”
“What?” Conner didn’t sound any less concerned. “Has someone been in your apartment?”
“It’s just my ex. He had flowers left for me. He’s done this before.” Jessica scowled at the daisies.
“Is there anyone there now?” Conner demanded.
Jessica spun around. The way he said it sent a shiver of doubt and sudden fear down her back. The hairs on her arm raised. The corners of her apartment, so innocent before, now felt dark and menacing. Could someone still be in there? Waiting to pounce on her, stuff her in a bag, and put her on a plane to Russia. She shook her head. Rick could never get away with that. He’d have to answer to the State Department if he did. It didn’t make her feel any better knowing that though.
“Will you stay on the phone with me?” She detested the tremor in her voice. Rick didn’t have any real power over her anymore. All he could do was send creepy flowers.
“I’m not going anywhere. In fact I’m coming over.”
Jessica heard him shuffling about and shouting at someone named Tommy. She didn’t tell him no. In fact, he couldn’t get there soon enough.
The paper turned out to be a picture of her leaving the building that morning. The wind had caught her hair and was blowing it in her face.
“Conner, I.…” The words stumbled from her lips. Okay, that was a little creepier than just flowers. Way creepier.
“Is there anyone in your apartment?” he repeated.
“I don’t think so. Not now,” she said.
“Not now?” He sucked in a deep breath. “Okay, go into the kitchen and get a glass of water.”
Yes, water. Good idea. She stepped around the table with the flowers; those would need to meet the garbage disposal, later though. Right now, she had to focus on calming down. This was nothing more than a trick.
Her alabaster vase was in several pieces on the floor next to her dining table.
“Oh!” she breathed out.
“What?” Conner asked firmly but gently.
“My vase. The one you bought me is broken.” Tears filled her eyes. She swiped at them. “Damn him.”
“Don’t worry about that,” he said as car doors slammed in the background. “I’ll get you another. I promise.”
Jessica made it into the kitchen and got a glass of water. She clutched it and her phone as she slid to the floor in the corner of her cabinets. From there she could se
e both the front door and her bedroom. Nobody would be able to attack her without her seeing them.
Conner kept up a constant chatter, which she only answered with yes or no. Finally, she breathed a sigh of relief when he said he was in the elevator on his way up.
“You’ll need to let me in. Can you make it to the front door?” he asked.
“I think so,” she said, but she made no move to stand. She took another sip of water.
“I’m getting off the elevator now. Meet me at the door.” Conner took a deep breath and cursed. “Never mind. You left your keys in the door.”
“Oh.” Not one of her better moves.
Conner flung the front door open. His hair looked wild, like he’d run his hand through it a million times. Ahmed, his driver, followed him in. Conner came to her, dropping to his knees.
“Where’s he going?” Jessica asked as Conner took her phone and switched it off.
“Just checking to see if anything else has been disturbed.” Conner dug his fingers into her hair and forced her to look at him. “Are you okay?”
She nodded. “Yes, I think so. I’m spooked, but fine.”
Ahmed came out of her bedroom, and Conner walked with him over to the door. They kept their heads down and voices low. After just a minute, Ahmed slipped out the door, and Conner locked it.
“Where’s your broom?” Conner rolled up his shirt-sleeves.
“Broom? What did Ahmed say?”
“Nothing else has been touched, and you didn’t make your bed.”
Jessica smiled.
“How does he know that? Maybe whoever was in here riffled through things,” she said.
“The two outfits you tried on and your pajamas were tossed on top of your unmade bed.” Conner grinned at her. “Did the miscreant try on your clothes too?”
He had her there.
“Broom is in there.” She pointed. “I can do it.”
“Nope. You stay right there.” He winked.
She hadn’t gotten much in the way of cleaning supplies yet, but thanks to the Ms she did have the basics. Conner grabbed the broom and dustpan out of the closet.
“You really don’t have to do that,” she said.
“It won’t take but a minute, and then you and I are going to sit on the couch and have a long chat. Ahmed went to pick us up some dinner, and my assistant Tommy will be by later. We needed a night in anyway.”
Jessica sighed. It was time to tell her story. He would likely run screaming from the building when he heard how messed up the situation was. Especially since Rick had apparently decided to become a stalker.
“Damn, this was taken this morning.”
“The picture? Yeah.”
Conner brought the flowers, the dustpan, and the picture, and threw them all in the trash. He dusted his hands off.
“I was going to run the flowers through the disposal.”
He laughed and reached down to help her stand then put his arm around her shoulder and led her to the couch. When they sat, she stayed as close to him as she dared. He kept his arm draped around her.
“Did you see the back of the picture?” he asked.
She shook her head.
“It was nothing. Time to share.” A frown creased Conner’s face.
“No, what was it.”
He ran his fingers through her hair, letting the strands fall free one by one.
“There was a message. ‘Your hair is beautiful. It’s one of my favorite things about you.’ No name.”
No name was needed.
“I met Rick in college, second semester of my freshman year. Our relationship moved very quickly. By the end of the year we were exclusive, and as soon as we graduated, we got married.”
Jessica turned and put her back against Conner’s side. He wished that he could still see her face, but he understood that this was going to be a difficult story for her. His arm slid around her and pulled her snuggly against him.
“I’m listening, and I’m all yours,” he said in encouragement. He wanted to make it clear that she could take her time to get it all out.
She sighed and rested her head on his shoulder. They sat like that, him supporting her weight, for only a few minutes before she took a deep breath and began again.
“Rick was my one and only. I knew nothing about how relationships were supposed to work except what he told me. Sure my friends and I talked, but I don’t know, I guess I just never realized how unusual our situation was until we moved to Russia.”
Conner frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“Rick was really controlling where sex was concerned. Which was strange, because he wasn’t in many other aspects of our relationship. Every day of our marriage and even before that, we had sex at least twice every day. When we woke up and when we went to bed. And if he got frisky in the afternoon, we did it then too. It didn’t matter if I wanted to or not.”
Conner clenched his hands into fists. “You mean he forced himself on you?”
She shook her head. “No, nothing that extreme, but he told me that was what married people did, and if I didn’t like it, then we shouldn’t be married. He said that it was how I proved I loved him. It was the center of every argument he had.”
The catch in her voice nearly drove him to call his friends in Russia to look this guy up.
“And you didn’t see anything wrong with this? Being a therapist, you weren’t concerned?”
“I had blinders on. I didn’t do a lot of family and marriage therapy. I had more experience in youth counseling until we moved to Russia. Of course, I had a feeling that things weren’t normal, but I loved him, and I believed him.”
Conner kissed her hair, above her ear. Maybe it wasn’t the right time, but he couldn’t help himself.
“The embassy in Moscow is so large that they have two therapists. They have that here too, but I still don’t really know my colleague yet. But there, Tara and I hit right off. We agreed to be each other’s therapists. We both needed that. For the first time in my life I told someone about how our marriage worked. She expressed concerns that it wasn’t normal, but didn’t really counsel me to change things.
“Then my mom got sick, and I had to go home for a few days. Rick and I hadn’t spent a night away from each other since we’d gotten married. He argued with me for hours before my plane took off. He told me it wasn’t right for us to be apart, but there was a chance my mom wouldn’t make it, and so there was no way I wasn’t going home. He didn’t call me once while I was in the States. Of course I called him a gazillion times. I was worried that he’d never speak to me again. He never answered his phone. As soon as my mom was in the clear, I was in the air again on my way back. Three days earlier than planned.”
The scheming bastard had really gotten into her head. Conner kept his comments to himself though. He didn’t want her to stop talking. It was good for her to get it all out in one hit, like ripping off a bandage.
She paused and took several deep breaths. “When I got home, I found him in bed with Tara. I was stupid enough to believe that it was my fault, because I’d left.”
“Like hell!” Conner couldn’t bite that one back. Jessica turned to face him. He was worried he’d see tears in her eyes, but those gorgeous blues were shining with anger. She reached for his hand and cradled it in her lap.
“I know that now. Back then, though, I begged him to forgive me for leaving him. He told me I could make it up to him. I had to screw him four times a day for two weeks, and then maybe he’d forgive me.
“A lightbulb went off then. Something about how detached he was from the situation. Everything became clear. I agreed for that moment. As soon as he left for work the next morning, I called my lawyer and filed the papers. I got my clothes and things out of my apartment and went to the housing office demanding a temporary apartment until more permanent arrangements could be made. Then I put in for the transfer. I didn’t expect Cairo, but it wasn’t Russia. Rick was livid. He came to my office almost every da
y until I left and told me I was making a huge mistake and that I’d be nothing without him.”
“Were you ever tempted to go back to him?” Conner asked calmly, despite the seething anger under his skin. Anger not just at her ex-husband, but at Jessica too, for not seeing through all his crap and getting away sooner.
“At first, yes. But when I told him that I’d only come home if he ended things with Tara, he told me I was in no place to make bargains, and that he’d sleep with any woman he damned well pleased.”
“Okay, Russian mafia is definitely getting a call from me tomorrow. I know a guy.”
“Of course you know a guy.” She gave him a weak smile and a small roll of her eyes.
“I didn’t expect your story to be that bad. I just thought it would be a typical man cheats on wife thing. When I saw that picture though, I knew we were dealing with something more serious.”
“You must think I’m so messed up.” She lowered her head, letting her hair fall in her face.
He pushed through the curtain of hair, the armor she created around her face, and cupped her chin. He raised her face so that he could look in her eyes.
“I think you were in a terrible situation, and you found a way to free yourself. I don’t think you’re messed up. I think you’re amazing and strong.” He ran his thumb along her jawbone.
Her eyes filled with tears. This Rick guy better hope he never crossed paths with Conner.
“Jessica, I don’t know where our relationship is heading, but I promise you this. I will never use affection or sex as a weapon. If the time ever comes, it will be your decision and your decision alone.”
“Do I still get my kiss on top of the Great Pyramid?” She sniffed and blinked back her tears.
“You brat.” He laughed. “I’m working on figuring that out.”
He kissed her forehead as his phone buzzed in his pocket.
“Dinner’s here, and so is Tommy. His timing is impeccable.”
Ahmed and Tommy didn’t typically mix, so Tommy came up alone carrying both his package and the take out.
“I had to call in a few favors.” Tommy flounced in looking windblown and out of breath like he’d procured the Mona Lisa. Conner winked at Jessica and made the introductions.
Pyramids and Promises (Omega Mu Alpha Brothers Book 2) Page 6
