by Chloe Thomas
He starts the truck up and begins to drive us home, but halfway back I realise he’s not driving the right directions.
“Chase where are we going?” He looks across at me and for the briefest of moments I see nervousness flash across his face.
“Chase?” I prompt.
“Promise you won’t be mad?”
“Nope,” I say my eyebrows raised in question.
“If you don’t like it we don’t have to stay there.”
“Stay there? What are you talking about.” He turns into a quiet residential cul de sac with lots of nice expensive looking houses.
“So, you know we talked about how your place isn’t big enough and mines not exactly a family pad...” he trails off and pulls the truck onto the drive of one of the houses. It’s then I notice the sold sign in the front yard and realise what he’s done.
“You’ve bought us a house haven’t you?”
“Maybe,” he answers sheepishly.
“That’s why you never moved your stuff into mine isn’t it.” He looks at me and nods.
“So, are you pissed at me?” he eventually says to break the silence.
“Chase, it looks stunning. I can’t afford 50% of this but then you knew that already didn’t you. I don't know if I should be pissed off or ecstatically happily.” His faces morphs into a smile, he knows he’s got away with it.
“I’m choosing happy. Come on, let me show you around,” he says excitedly jumping out of the truck.
Half an hour later and Chase has finished his tour. It really is a stunning house.
“So what do you think? I know we should have chosen it together but you’d never have agreed to buying something like this.”
“No I wouldn’t. I’m not even going to ask how much it costs, but it is stunning. It’s exactly what I’d have picked,” I say as I feel my eyes brimming with tears. “Thank you Chase, it’s perfect for us.”
He looks at me, love filling his eyes as he puts his hand gently across my stomach and gives me a kiss on the lips.
Epilogue
The perfect family
Chase
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6 years later
“Congratulations man!” Levi says as he slaps me on the back. The rest of the boys and their families echo his sentiment, smiling and congratulating me and Belle. We’re sat on the back deck of the house I bought us. I never did tell Belle how much it cost. She’d have had a heart attack but for me, seeing the smile on my woman and sons faces makes it worth every penny. I never used to believe in perfect but looking at our life now, surrounded by friends and family, this has got be as close to perfection as things get.
Mason turned 6 years old a few days ago and me and Belle are having a baby girl in the fall. We went to our 3rd scan this morning and finally got to find out the sex. Don’t get me wrong, so long as the little one was healthy I didn’t mind which gender he or she was but it is nice to have a mix. I’m glad she’ll have an older brother to look out for her and I know he’ll dote on her. He’s the kindest little boy I’ve ever met and I’m not just saying that because he’s my son. He’s smart, protective, empathetic, kind and funny. I’m so unbelievably proud of him and how he’s turning out.
We told him about his new baby sister just before the others got here and he seemed excited. Now though I’m watching him play in our yard with some of the other kids and it’s like his hearts not in it. He seems upset and withdrawn all of a sudden. A few more minutes pass by and he heads inside. I go in after him, needing to see what’s up.
“Mason, bud are you alright?”
“Yeah fine thanks Chase,” he replies glumly. What? Since when did he call me that?
“Chase? Mason why aren’t you calling me dad? You’ve never called me Chase before?” His little face that reminds me so much of his mum stares back at me, sad little eyes peering into mine. I still remember when he was a baby and Dad was his first word, much to Belle’s annoyance, so I don’t understand this. “Son, what’s wrong?”
“That’s just it, I’m not your son am I. And now you’ll have a child that’s really yours. You won’t want me anymore.”
My heart breaks at my little boys words. We never wanted to keep how he came into the world as some big dirty secret so he’s always known he’s not biologically mine. He’s too young to understand what rape is and I wouldn’t want him to know that much detail at such a young age, so we’ve always been vague in telling him anything about his biological father. He does understand that his father is not a kind person like he is. I’m shocked by what he’s just come out with though. I thought I’d always made clear that biology isn’t what makes a father and son. That he will always be my boy no matter what happens and irrespective of blood.
“Listen Mason, you’re my son. You always have been and you always will be.” I pull him in for a hug. “Yes I’ll love your sister when she’s born but no more or less than I love you. And I do love you Mason, I love you so much it hurts.” I pause for a bit letting that sink in. “I still remember the day you were born. I cried my eyes out for ages. This big strong solider who balled his eyes out like a girl. The nurses had to get me some tissues.” He laughs at that and I kiss his forehead and ruffle his hair. “You were incredible then and you still are now. I’m so proud of you, you’re kind, intelligent and perfect and I know you’ll be an amazing big brother to your baby sister. She’ll need you to protect her and help her as she grows up.”
“Do you really mean all that dad?” He asks nervously tugging on the hem of his t-shirt.
“Yes buddy. I really mean all of it.”
“You won’t change your mind when my sister arrives?”
“No little man, I won’t. I promise,” I say looking him in the eyes, man to man.
“Okay. Thanks dad.” He says and with that runs back out into the garden to join his friends.
As I stand up I hear some sniffling and turn to see Arabella crying her eyes out. Even crying she still looks stunning. Her beautiful long blonde hair framing her face, her dress hinting at the hour glass figure beneath it and just showing her small bump. My ring glistening on her finger.
I remember every second of our wedding day like it was yesterday. We got married when Mason was 6 months old. I’d have got married much sooner, in fact I proposed when Belle was still pregnant, but my woman didn’t want to look chubby in her wedding photos. Of course I never did think she looked chubby when she was pregnant, I thought she looked stunning. I always have and always will. But she used to say she felt like a whale and didn’t want to waddle down the isle. Then when Chase was born we both felt like walking zombies for the first few months so it ended up being 6 months after his birth when we finally tied the knot.
Belle didn’t want a massive over the top ceremony, so we got married here, in our back garden. Her mum and Naomi decorated everything for her. They went the whole 9 yards, arch, balloons, flowers, you name it. Belle loved it though. When she walked down the aisle they’d made in that dress I was blown away. I’ve always known she’s a stunning woman, but wearing a wedding dress about to marry me, I don’t think there’s another woman on the face of the planet as beautiful as she is. I’m desperately hoping that my daughter isn’t going to look too much like her mother, I’ll have trouble on my hands when she gets to high school if she does.
I open my arms and go to Belle, pulling her in to me tightly and chasing away the tears.
“It’s okay baby. He’s only 6, he just needed some reassurance.”
“I know,” she chokes out. “He’s going to be the perfect brother though.”
“Yeah he is,” I say smiling.
“And you’re the best dad I could have wished for for either of them.” I place a kiss on her lips.
“Couldn’t do it without you baby. You’re the strongest woman I know. You’re more responsible for the way that perfect little boy is turning out than me.” She kisses me back and if we didn’t have all our friends over I�
��d pick her up and carry her straight to our bedroom. As it is, I pull back and re-adjust myself.
“Unless you want everyone to hear me make you come Belle, that’s enough of that. Much more and we’re going straight to our bed.” She shakes her head at me but I can see she’s laughing at the same time. I can also tell there’s a part of her that wants me to make good on what I’ve just said.
“You look beautiful baby.” She blushes at the compliment. “I’m thinking if our daughter takes after you I won’t allow her to date until she’s at least 30.” She laughs loudly.
“Chase, you can’t stop her dating until she’s 30!”
“I can and I will,” I insist stubbornly.
“Nope.”
“Fine, 25 then, that’s as much compromise as you’re getting.”
“Yeah I’d like to see you tell her that when she’s a teenager. What with you and Mason I already feel sorry for our daughter. I suspect between the two of you you’ll chase off every boy in a 50 mile radius.” There’s humour in her eyes but she’s trying to look at me seriously.
“Damn right we will.”
Naomi
Secrets
Naomi
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4 Years Earlier, College Freshman Year
“Fuck!” I shout as I see 2 black sedans roar into the parking lot outside my student dorms. Armed men dressed in black suits start scrambling out of them and sprinting in through the building doors. This might be a block of 150 or so rooms, but I know they’re after me. If I had to guess I’d say FBI, or failing that some other sort of US secret service.
I quickly enter a line of code into my computer that should wipe it but I don’t know if it’ll complete in time before they inevitably burst through my door. I’m going to be in so much shit for this and I haven’t got a clue how or even if I can get myself out of it. I might have accidentally hacked into a government agency database.
Generally I keep everything above aboard and use my IT skills for things that are legal, but there’s something going on that’s making me worried about the safety of my best friend Arabella. She’s out at class at the moment thank god as I couldn’t look into this with her in our room. I haven’t told her what I know. She also doesn’t know I can hack things like this.
When I was helping her pack up for college I overheard a conversation with David, her dad, and presumably a cartel member. It wasn’t good. I didn’t want to get caught snooping so I only heard parts but the long and the short of it is he has a job to do for them and if he fails they said they’d take Belle.
I needed to look into him to make sure Belle is safe. I started just hacking his computer and searching for general information on him or the wealth management company that he owns. But then he came up in a few other searches I ran and I ended up extracting information from a government database. I thought I was covering my tracks though obviously, not well enough. I hadn’t had a chance to see what those files contained and now that I’ve started wiping my computer I guess I won’t ever know what they say.
There’s a massive smashing noise as my door is shattered into tiny pieces on the floor and men run into the room. I’m thrown on the floor face down with my hands behind my back.
“Check the computer,” someone shouts.
“She’s wiped it,” someone else replies.
“Shit! Right, sit her up then, we need a word.” My heart rate spikes as panic floods through me. I’m pulled up and sat onto my bed. There’s a guy, late twenties I’d guess and presumably a special agent of some type, who is now sat across from me in my desk chair. He’s well manicured, short dark hair and he clearly works out a lot.
“So Naomi, how did you manage to hack into one of the most secure databases in the world?” he asks. I decide silence is probably my better option at this point so he continues. “And how the fuck are you bright enough to do that but stupid enough not to cover your tracks.”
“I tho...” I shut my mouth quickly having not meant to say anything in the first place.
“You thought you had?” he asks calmly. “Take a look around you. Do you still think you had them covered?” He asks gesturing to the 8 other suited men all holding hand guns and my trashed dorm room door. Obviously not but I don’t tell him that.
“What information did you get Naomi?” When I don’t respond the man holding me yanks my hair back so I’m forced to look up. I’m sure they’re not supposed to do that but I don’t suppose they care.
“I think I need a lawyer.” I finally say but my interrogator just laughs.
“Oh darlin’ you’d need more than a fucking lawyer to get out of this one. In any case, the American government are lenient with those kind of prisoner rights when it comes to matters of national security.” Shit, this is bad. Really really bad.
“So here’s the thing Naomi. There’s two ways we can play this,” he starts. “From where I’m standing you’re one of the few people who’ve managed to hack our systems which means you’re bloody good. I’ve looked into you and you’re not involved in anything that will threaten the country’s security. This will be something menial and ultimately I need people with your skill on my team. I’d much rather you’re on our side of the fence than someone with an axe to grind gets hold of you and turns you into my biggest problem. So either you tell me what you’re up to and why, then you come and work for me. Or you can keep your mouth shut, but for a crime this serious you’ll find yourself imprisoned outside of US territory where rules and human rights don’t apply. I wouldn’t expect a fair trial or reasonable treatment if that happens.”
“Who even are you?”
“You can’t work it out?”
“Some sort of secret service government agency I assume, but there’s a lot of them.”
“National Security Agency, or NSA for short.” I’m silent for a bit not really sure what to say or do.
“Times ticking Naomi, I haven’t got all day, what’s it going to be?”
“You’ve not exactly given me much of a choice.”
“Might not be much of one, but it is still a choice.” I sigh knowing I have no option. Whatever I thought I was going to do in my career has just gone out of the window but it’s better than the alternative.
“My friends dad, David Rose. He’s up to something. I don’t know what that’s why I was trying to find out.” I stop, wondering how much I need to say.
“And the rest Naomi,” the guy gestures his hand in a continuing motion.
“I overheard a conversation he was having with someone. I don’t know who they were but they sounded Mexican. There’s a job they need him to do. It sounded like he’d been working for them for a while now and he was trying to get out. They threatened Belle, my best friend, said that if he didn’t keep sorting the usual amount plus the extra, they’d come after her. I’m worried for her. I need to know what he’s involved in and look out for her.”
“Interesting.” The guy comments. His face remains impassive, giving nothing away.
“Well, I have all I need for now. You’ll be hearing from me soon, I want you enrolled in a training programme ASAP. This meeting didn’t happen Naomi, do you understand?” He looks me in the eyes waiting for my response. I’m so dumbfounded by everything that’s happening that all I can manage is a nod. He seems happy enough with that though and i can’t believe my luck when he stands and starts to head out of my door room. “Oh and Naomi, we’ll be watching you. Don’t think we won’t know if you talk and for fuck sake, don’t hack into our system again. You’re also to leave any investigation into David Rose alone and destroy whatever else you may have.”
As he gets to the threshold of my room I suddenly panic.
“What about my door. How am I supposed to explain that, or the way you all showed up?”
He laughs like I’ve asked the most ridiculous question in the world.
“Naomi, you’re about to enter a world of secrecy you didn’t know even existed. Get used to making
up lies fast, you’re going to be doing it a lot to your friends and family and you’ll need to be good at it.”
With that he and the other men disappear out of the dorm, get back into their cars and drive off. I’m stood in stunned silence. I can’t believe I’ve not been carted out of here in handcuffs for a start. I can’t believe they’ve just walked out of my dorm like this is an everyday occurrence. I can’t believe I’m now apparently working for a US government agency presumably as a hacker. Is that a good thing? I suppose that question is irrelevant as it seems I don’t have a choice in the matter. Christ I don’t even know the name of the bloke that just interrogated me.
My suspicions about David Rose have been confirmed though. The fact he wanted to know why I was digging into David and wants me to stop all future investigation as he called it, that means something’s going on. I’m not stupid enough to go digging again right now, I believed him when he said they’d be watching me. But at some point in the future, if I’m ever worried about Belle I’ll make sure to unearth every skeleton David Rose has to hide.
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Thanks so much for reading Chase, I really hope you enjoyed it!
If you liked it and wanted to leave a review on Amazon that would mean a lot to me.
I’m now in the process of writing the next book in this series which explores Naomi and Noah and uncovers what Belle’s dad is really up to.
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