by C. M. Steele
“Oh,” I muttered, feeling like a complete idiot. I needed to get my act together and remember that I was twenty-four and not some high schooler with no experience.
“Don’t worry, doll. You know my ways, so you’re a little skeptical. I get it, but you’ll learn to trust me one day. I have a friend who trusts no one. He let me in. I’m worth trusting, love.”
He helped me out of the truck and held my hand all the way into the restaurant.
“La Placita,” he said, reading the name on the small placard. It was a hole in the wall Mexican restaurant, but I loved it.
“They have the best guacamole and chicken tacos. I’m salivating just thinking about it.”
“How often do you come here?”
“Once a week. And the next morning I hit the gym.”
“Is that how you keep your sexy ass curves?”
“Yep,” I replied. I didn’t know how to respond to his comment so a simple yep would have to do.
We sat down and ordered. I didn’t like the server today. Normally, Ana didn’t bother me, but today with her dark curls and tits popping out of her top, I wanted to slap her. I knew the only difference was that I had Duke with me. He was the reason I was a jealous mess. Fucking Duke, messing up my whole life and making me want more.
“Tell me about yourself, Duke.”
“The short version is that I have a younger sister. My mom and dad still live in Boston, but I’m currently working out of the Seattle office we set up with one of our clients. I was in the Marines for almost a decade. Now, the Mancini brothers and I opened our own security firm. It’s been over two years since we started it and it’s going strong.”
“Damn, you’ve done it all. Have you been married before?”
“Nope. I haven’t gone down that road yet. I’m only thirty-two.”
“So tell me, are you a big Red Sox fan?”
“Big time,” he said. I knew baseball and that was one thing about the Red Sox. They had fans following them all around the country visiting baseball stadiums whenever they could.
“So, do you go to watch them any time they play the Mariners?”
“Yes, we all make a day of it.”
“I haven’t been to a game in a long time.”
“Well, your Diamondbacks weren’t worthy of seeing last year. Hopefully they have a better one this year.”
“Spring training is around the corner, so I have my fingers crossed.”
“When do pitchers report?”
“I think it’s the last week of February. I have to check. Working for my dad is harder than having another boss. He doesn’t want to show any nepotism, so my time is monopolized.”
“I can see that. He’s harsh with you.”
“It’s supposedly for my own good. He wants me to earn my success.”
“You’re almost there and you’re so damn smart. I don’t see you having any issues, other than me trying to knock you up.”
“If you’re only looking for a hook up, why try and knock me up?”
“You have to know I was full of shit. I have no intentions of walking away. One day you’ll see how serious I am about you.”
Ana brought our food and I wanted to wipe that smile off her face, but just then, Duke grabbed my hand and held it in his across the table.
As she walked away he said, “You’ve got nothing to be jealous about.”
“I’m not jealous,” I argued, yanking my hand back.
“Okay,” he said skeptically before digging into his enchilada dinner.
That was the end of the openness for the night. I drank my margarita I ordered and ate my food in silence.
That night I went to sleep thinking I was going to let things progress. I was going to open up more than we had. Instead of just him letting me in and me taking in whatever he had to say, I would tell him about me. I wanted him to know me.
~~~~~
After my early morning class, I headed over to my father’s office. I had a couple of hours to kill before I had my next class. Duke was working all morning on his normal job, so I wasn’t going to see him until tonight when I reluctantly agreed to go on another date.
It wasn’t that I didn’t want to be with him, it was that I had to make a tough decision. I wasn’t going to let him think this was going anywhere if I wasn’t willing to give it all up. I would have to at the very least transfer to a different state, which meant getting licensed in several states. Every state had different requirements, so that was something I had to research first. And what if he did as he said and knocked me up? That would put a kibosh on my father’s plans for me. I closed my eyes and pictured what our babies would look like. I smiled to myself because I had a feeling that they would look like him.
There was a knock on my door, startling me from my fantasy of three kids, a dog, and a handsome Duke mowing the grass, shirtless.
“Come in,” I squeaked.
The receptionist walked in. “DA Russell would like to see you in his office.”
“Just a moment,” I replied. She stepped out of my office and I collected myself. I knew he was mad about yesterday so I was going to hear about it. Gathering my courage, I went to see my father and boss.
I entered his open office. “You asked to see me?”
“Close the door, Miranda.” I did as he asked and closed it.
“So, you went out with Duke Wyatt yesterday?”
“Yes, but what does it matter?”
“Miranda, I’m sorry, but I have to give Peters the internship.”
“What? But I would be a better employee than him. Just because I might have a boyfriend, he gets the job?” I screeched.
“You’ll understand one day. I’m sorry, but that’s the way it is.”
“Yeah. I see the way it is.” I stood up and stormed from his office. Went back to my former office because I wasn’t going to do the unpaid internship anymore. There was no way I was going to be treated like that. I bet Peters was going around dating and fucking women all the time.
As soon as I had everything I needed, I rushed from the office, not noticing anyone. I had to get out of there. The moment I got to my car I broke down and started crying. He was training me to replace him, but only if I’d followed his rules. I felt lied to and betrayed by the man I respected and loved. I sat in my car until there was a knock on my window.
Chapter 5
Miranda Russell had to be the most stubborn woman alive. Three weeks of chasing her around with no give. She acted like wanting me was tantamount to committing murder. It was her dad's influence, so I knew I needed to get her away from his yoke. She was following in his footsteps, but, from everything I'd seen, she had no desire to be a DA. A lawyer, yes, but a district attorney didn’t seem to be her ambition. Selfishly, I didn’t want that for her either. It meant a shitload of time away from me and any potential children we had.
Today I was going to make a drastic move. I was tired of pussy footing around her. After I had a talk with her father about the case he wanted me to help with that he was extremely hush hush about on the phone, I was going to tell him nothing was going to stop me from being with Miranda. Instead of parking in the parking garage designated for their building I decided to park out on the street. If I had to make a break for it with Miranda in my arms I wanted to do so without having to remember where the fuck I parked my car. Not that I planned on kidnapping her, but I didn’t want to give her time to change her mind after I unleashed my plan to seduce her.
Going through the glass doors and into the elevator, I thought about the fact that everything was going to change. I was about to storm into the DAs office when she came storming out, nearly knocking me on my ass. She paused long enough to apologize absently then run into the elevator I'd just gotten off of. Fuck, I turned to get on before it closed, but I was too late.
I hit my hand against the elevator doors, then reached for the down button, hoping to catch here before she got into her car.
"She left?" A winded DA gaspe
d for air. I arched my brow and ground my teeth. Fuck if I wasn’t pissed.
"Yep. What the fuck did you do to upset her?" I asked angrily, approaching him with my large frame ready to punch him dead in the face.
"It's work related and none of your concern. I told you to leave my daughter alone. I didn’t call you here to steal her away. You have too many enemies.”
I didn't respond, he had a point. I was in a field of work that could make enemies, but as far as I knew he was my only enemy. The elevator pinged and I had to go find my woman. It seemed to take forever to get down the five fucking floors. When they opened I looked around the building lobby and didn’t see any sign of her. Fuck. I clenched my fist and stomped my foot. I had to find her. I knew she drove a white Lexus, so I went to the parking garage and on the first floor there was her car. I saw her crying in her front seat.
That was fucking it. It was more than work related. I knocked on the window rapidly with my knuckles, startling her.
“Go away, Duke,” she said, her voice cracking with tears.
“No, get out of the damn car, now.” She had her hand on the ignition but paused.
“Duke, please just leave me alone,” she called out. This time the fight in her voice was gone.
“No.” I reached for the handle, ready to rip it from the hinges when she opened it. She climbed of the car and stood in front of me, her head reaching my chest. I hadn’t realized how tiny she was compared to me. She was about five-four to my six-three, but it was more than that she looked fragile for the very first time.
Miranda looked up at me with heartache in her pretty eyes. "Duke, please. I can't do this right now,” she said, a sob caught in her throat.
I shook my head as I looked down at her. There was no way I was backing down. Especially when I knew deep down she didn’t want me to leave. "You're going to have to do this right now. I've been struggling to stand back and wait for you. But I won't let you push me away when you need a friend."
"I don't have friends, Duke,” she admitted.
"You've got me." I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her into my chest. She let out a whimpering moan, and I knew I had done the right thing. All out seduction wasn’t needed. What she needed was for me to be the man to stand by her side. We stayed like that until her phone rang.
"Don't answer it,” I pleaded.
"I won't,” she whispered. My lips ached to taste the tears rolling down her face. Like somehow that would take away the pain she was feeling. Instead, I wiped the tears with my thumbs and looked her deeply in the eyes.
“I love you, Miranda. Whatever you need from me, I’ll give to you. You can always count on me for anything. I promise,” I vowed. She owned me from the start and now seeing her sad only kicked in my need to protect her more than physically but also emotionally. Her eyes were bright from crying, and as pretty as it was, I didn’t want to see it again. I knew that wasn’t going to happen. No one lived an absolutely tearless life, but I wanted to make sure they were just kept to a minimum.
“Why do you have to say things like that? Especially when I want to hear it so much,” she asked with a smile. She was mine.
“Because I mean it and I hate that you’re in tears. Let me be there for you. I want you to need me,” I begged. I loved her so much I felt like I couldn’t exist without her in my life. Miranda Russell was my other half, my better half.
“I already do. I have since we met,” she confessed, pulling my face back down to hers and kissing me hard. My body reacted immediately to the three weeks of longing for her. I slammed her against her car and lifted her up until she was able to wrap her legs around my waist. Growling, I nipped at her lips and ground my cock against her belly.
“Fuck, get it together, man,” I whispered harshly to myself. I stepped back and set her back on her high heeled feet. “Let’s go.” She didn’t argue with me as I clutched her hand in mine and pulled her along to my rental SUV. That was another win. The woman had to argue with almost everything I said. Every little victory felt like I’d won a title belt. The tide was finally turning in my favor.
We walked over to my car which was parked outside the garage on the main street. I hit the unlock and swung her around to me, kissing her again. Since it sat high off the ground, I had to help her up into the seat. With a nice grip on her ass and a fucking grin on my face, I got her firmly into her seat. After closing the door, I started to walk toward the back of the truck. Then I heard the door open again, and turned back. “Shit, I left my purse in the car,” she exclaimed, jumping out of the truck.
Just as we both got about three feet away from the truck, we were launched into the air and slammed to the ground from a loud explosion. Dazed and my ears ringing, I was looking around for Miranda. She was moaning, just feet away from me toward the parking garage. I rolled to my side to try to get up, but I was too dizzy. All I could see was my truck burning from the inside out. My priority was getting to Miranda. In my dazed state I somehow managed to make it over to her. I took her hand and promised it would be alright. My thoughts went to who the fuck was after me, when I heard fire engines and the sounds of voices all around. I closed my eyes, as I laid my chest over her back to guard her from anyone else. The bomber was nearby, that I was sure of.
Chapter 6
Three hours later and we were both being released from the hospital, pending an interview from the investigators. Thankfully our injuries were nothing too serious. The worst of the ringing in the ears already passed and a couple of bruises, scrapes, and bumps were all that I had on me. Nothing a couple of painkillers and rest wouldn’t fix.
As I waited for them to arrive, I thought about who could have it out for me. Since I stayed in the background, I had no idea who had a grudge on me. I wrestled with that thought while wanting to go see Miranda. I hesitated because her father was there, and I already wanted to flatten his ass for making her cry. She was a strong woman and I knew her father was her only weakness. He was the only one with the ability to break her. Plus, at the moment, I felt guilty as fuck. I was supposed to be her protector, but I got her into this mess. She would have been safe at home it wasn’t for me. And that fuck of a father was right…I was a liability to her.
I was so damn grateful that I’d taken her away so fast that she forgot her purse. That was the only thing that saved us. Our love story would have ended there. I had to get that thought from my mind, but it wasn’t going to be easy. She was the most important person in my life without a doubt.
There was a knock at my door, but it was just a two second cover up you ass courtesy knock because they walked right in. I was already dressed in my ruined clothes. Two suits walked in, so I knew this was interrogation time.
“Mr. Wyatt, I’m Agent Darius Morris with the Arizona Bureau of Investigation and this is my partner Agent Erica Smith,” he said, sticking out his hand for me to shake.
I looked at the detective in his well-tailored suit thinking he must be hot as fuck right now, but since he was an agent he was dressed to the nines. “Wow, state level people. Is this because Miranda works in the DA’s office?” I knew it was. She was the DA’s daughter.
“Yes, Mr. Wyatt. Now, we’d like to ask you a few questions. First, did you see anyone in the area who looked suspicious?”
“I tried to think about it, but before the explosion I was too busy talking to Miranda to notice. Afterward, well, I think I might have saw someone running back into the parking garage, but I really couldn’t say anything about the person other than it was a man.” I remembered seeing legs run in a different direction when everyone else was coming toward us. It had to have been the bomber. Truthfully in my weakened state, I was glad he ran. If he’d decided to finish the job, then I wouldn’t have been able to stop him. Not that most bombers got that close to their targets. Bombers had a tendency to be pussies. Killing from a distance was their usual MO. It would have to take someone with brass balls to open fire on a crowd gathering after the explosion.
“
We saw that you’re a PI and that you own and work for a security firm based in the Northeast. Do you have any enemies that you’re aware of?” The lead detective asked, making notes on his Samsung Note. It seemed pen and paper were a thing of the past. I stared at them thinking his question.
When I finally had an answer, I replied, “I stay mostly unseen since I work as the tech person. This was the first assignment that I came as a PI instead, so off the top of my head, no one comes to mind.” It was the truth. I didn’t have a great deal of enemies that I knew of. Hell, I didn’t even have hateful ex-girlfriends. Despite my Alpha tendencies in the field and with Miranda, I wasn’t the guy going around chasing women. Until her, fuck if I could talk to a girl without embarrassing myself. It seemed like she brought out the territorial, demanding, possessive beast I had hiding inside of me.
Agent Smith’s phone rang; while she answered it, Morris asked me some more personal questions. “We know that you worked on the Mason case that led to the arrests of Jerry Kroll and Ted Mason, but since it’s closed, what are you still doing in town?”
“That’s personal,” I informed him.
“Mr. Wyatt,” he said. It was going to come out anyway so it was no sense in keeping it a secret. I was sure that Russell would tell them I was after his daughter.
“I’m trying to convince Miranda to marry me,” I confessed. Surprisingly it felt good to say.
The door to my room opened. “Well, you won’t have to try too hard. She’s been asking about you for over an hour,” DA Russell said, walking into the room uninvited and grumpy as shit. I couldn’t blame him. He probably wanted to slam me against the wall for what happened to her today. He warned me to stay away and look what happened.
“Sir, we need to ask him questions alone,” Morris told Miranda’s jackass father.
Agent Smith hung up the call and said, “No. Wait, DA Russell. The crime scene team just got back to me. It’s as we initially expected. They found an undetonated bomb under Miss Russell’s vehicle. The bomber was after her.” I was stunned. Someone was out to get my Miranda. I jumped from my seat at the edge of my bed and started to pace.
