by Vivian Gray
He laughed. “You getting cravings?”
Sophie blushed. “Maybe.”
Stephan pressed the buttons on the coffee machine and produced two cappuccinos. They weren’t the best in town, but hey, it was hot coffee. She never complained. Stephan pushed the pack of cookies along the desk towards Sophie, and they both sat down in the plastic desk chairs.
“So... how are you feeling about everything?” Stephan asked.
“Is that why you got me in here?” she responded, with a laugh. “To grill me?”
“I suppose so,” he admitted. “It’s just... you’ve hardly said anything, and you’ve got some major stuff going on. I just want to make sure you’re OK. You’re like a little sister to me. And Ruth and I have been through all this – the baby stuff. We can help. It’s scary.”
“Damn right it’s scary,” she agreed, picking up her paper coffee cup. “I have no clue what I’m doing, and that’s just the pregnancy.”
“Luckily, you don’t actually have to do anything right now. Your body knows what to do,” Stephan said. “It’s afterward the shit storm comes, literally.”
Sophie laughed so hard she nearly spat out her coffee.
“Sorry, I shouldn’t tell you the negative things,” he continued. “In all honesty, having kids is the best thing. You’ll be great. I see you with my two, and I just know you’ll be a fantastic mom. And I like Zeke. I think he’s good for you. I trust him. If I didn’t, he would know by now.”
She smiled. “Thanks. Underneath the fear, I’m excited. I can’t believe I’m going to have a family. Oh God, I’ll be in charge of someone’s life. That’s terrifying.”
“Not for as long as you think,” Stephan said, wagging a warning finger. “They get wise so quickly. After just a couple of years, they yank so many decisions out of your hands and have you dancing to their tunes.”
Sophie’s eyes widened. “Really?”
“Oh yeah. I mean, take last Saturday, for example. We’re driving to the store, and I want Guns ‘n’ Roses on the stereo. As soon as Sweet Child of Mine starts, Junior starts kicking the back of my chair and chanting, ‘Gregcing Feet, Gregcing Feet, Gregcing Feet.’ I tried to block it out and be a scary dad, shouting a bit, but it just wasn’t worth it. Before we reached the end of the block we were back in penguin land, there were smiles in the back seats, and the kicking stopped. You give in before you’ve even realized you’ve become a softie.” He stroked his chin. “In fact, that’s something I’m going to work on. See, you never stop stressing and learning as soon as you become a parent.”
Sophie sighed. “Sounds very rewarding,” she said sarcastically. They both laughed.
“And what about this engagement?” he asked, pointing to her bare wedding finger.
“Oh, that? I dunno,” she said, shrugging it off. “We haven’t got round to rings. I haven’t even technically said yes yet.”
“I thought it was a done deal... from what Zeke said.”
“And what did Zeke say?” she asked, with a wry smile.
“He couldn’t wait to spread the news that you were going to be Mrs. Draper. He came by the shop with a few of his FA buddies going on about an engagement party.”
“I hope to God he’s not planning a surprise one!”
“Don’t worry,” Stephan said, waving his hand in the air as if to fan away the idea. “I told him to stay away from that idea if he valued his relationship with you... and his balls.”
Sophie laughed. “Thank you. You’ve always got my back.”
“I have. And don’t forget it, kid.” They shared a warm smile that spoke of deep family love. “And please get on with getting engaged. I’ll tell him to get a move on.”
“You know what Beyoncé says, ‘if you like it then you should’ve put a ring on it’.”
“True dat!” Stephan said, throwing his cup into the trash can.
Later that day, when Sophie got back to Zeke’s apartment, she took off her work clothes and began sorting through the dirty washing. Naturally, with the amount of time she spent there, she’d begun to do her laundry there too. Washing their underwear together was odd, but funny. Sophie giggled as she untangled one of Zeke’s black socks from her pink bra straps in the washing basket.
“Take a look at this,” Zeke said, handing her a pamphlet.
“What is it?” she asked, eyeing the glossy paper, which had a picture of a bride and groom sipping champagne under an archway of roses on a perfectly cut lawn.
“It’s a potential wedding venue for us,” he said with a grin. “We could have all our guests seated on the lawn, and the Midnight’s Hounds could do a ride by in their best leathers with ‘just married’ banners and balloons trailing behind...” he paused like he was visualizing the scene.
“No,” Sophie said, putting the brochure down on the kitchen table.
“What do you mean, no?” he asked, following her as she headed through to the side room off the kitchen to gather up more laundry.
“It’s far too much,” she said, busying herself with the task in hand.
“I can afford it.” He leaned on the dryer and attempted to catch her eye.
“That’s not what I meant,” she said, putting the basket down and finally looking at him. “It’s too... big, too extravagant. I don’t want that. I’m not your average bride who’s dreamt about it all her life. I don’t want a huge frilly dress and hundreds of people staring at me. Just the thought makes me feel ill. Can’t we just go down to City Hall and do it with only a few friends?”
Zeke sighed. “It’s such an important day. Is City Hall really enough for you?”
She nodded.
He snuck his hand in hers and squeezed it. “I want to shout it out to everyone the day you become my wife. I don’t want to sweep it under the carpet as just another day.”
She smiled. “But...”
“A compromise?” he asked. “City Hall... but a lovely meal at a fancy hotel afterward?”
She laughed.
“And no frilly dresses,” he continued. “I promise I’ll wear a suit.”
“Fine. That could work. But no ride-past! I don’t want everyone staring at us. Especially as I’ll probably be out to here by then,” she added, gesturing to her tummy and how big it was likely to get.
He pulled her in for a tight hug. “Maybe we should do it sooner rather than later...”
She sighed and frowned. “I don’t know. Isn’t that rushing it?” She tucked the dirty clothes in the washing machine, pressed the buttons, and strode off into the living room.
She settled on the sofa and flicked through some channels. It was late afternoon, and there wasn’t much of interest on. “Maybe we should go for a walk,” she said, looking up to see Zeke standing in the doorway.
“You should move in here,” he said. “It’s big enough for the first year.”
Sophie was stunned. She switched off the TV. Of course, it made sense. It just felt like they were rushing everything. But she couldn’t wait to spend more time with him. She nodded in agreement, unable to gather a sentence together.
“Oh, and there’s something I never did properly,” he said, walking over to her and kneeling down. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black box. He swallowed hard. She could tell he was nervous and she knew exactly what was coming. Butterflies erupted in her tummy. Her mouth was parted on a gasp as he opened the box to reveal an engagement ring. It was exactly the kind of thing she would have chosen herself – simple, with a small square diamond in the middle. Nothing over the top.
“So, is it a definite yes?” Zeke asked, taking hold of her hand and laughing nervously.
“Yes,” Sophie said, straightening out her other hand for him to slip the ring on. Her vision blurred as tears welled in her eyes, and before she could clear them, Zeke scooped her up and carried her through to the bedroom, kissing her with a fresh surge of energy.
“I can’t wait for you to be Mrs. Draper,” he said between kisses. “I should
have done that somewhere special, like down by the lake or somewhere else romantic.”
“I don’t care,” she said. “Here is just as special as anywhere.”
He smiled and laid her down on the soft white sheets. He lay next to her, holding her hand and examining the ring on her finger. “It looks even better when it’s on you,” he said. “I can’t believe how fast things have gone, but I wouldn’t change any of it.”
“Well... maybe the bomb part,” Sophie said, laughing. “We could have done without that added drama.”
“Yeah,” he agreed with a laugh. He stroked her neck and ran a line down her chest with his fingers. She looked into his dark eyes and felt completely lost in the moment. He was everything she wanted, and things were falling into place.
He kissed her neck as he ran his hands down her side to her hips. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, and when he was over her, she wrapped her legs tightly around his waist, causing a flicker of a naughty smile to pass over his lips.
He slowly unbuttoned her shirt, letting the soft fabric fall to the sides, revealing her pale blue lace bra.
He kissed her ribs, and she giggled a little. “That tickles,” she said, hitting his shoulder gently.
“You want it rougher?” he joked, pretending to take a bite out of her fleshy waist.
She laughed. “Is it wrong that I loved that?”
“No. We’re just animals. This is our mating game.”
She rolled her eyes, but the huge grin on her face told another story. “Get this off,” she said, pulling at his shirt playfully. “I want to see what I’m marrying.”
He lifted the shirt over his head and threw it down on the floor next to the bed. He was up on his knees, towering over her as she lay on the bed. He looked so strong. His taught chest muscles and abs were punctuated by the light coming in through the window, casting shadows in all the right places, emphasizing each muscular ripple. She bit her lip and took in the wonderful view. He was all hers.
He leaned down and teased her open shirt the rest of the way off her body and threw her bra to the side. “I’m one lucky guy,” he said in a hushed voice as he cupped her breasts with both hands. He began undoing her jeans and slid them off her legs gracefully. He slipped her panties off next and kissed a line from her knee all the way up her inner thigh until she could feel his hot breath between her legs. He hesitated for a moment, allowing the anticipation to build in her. She watched as he used his hands to gently part her lips and he began kissing her intimately and stroking her folds with such care. When he eventually met her flesh with his hot tongue, it sent shudders through her. She was instantly ready for him, soft and juicy. He licked at her like she was a popsicle on a hot day, desperately wanting more.
He kept up the pace as she arched her back and moaned. It was even better than before. It was as if some extra power was flowing between their bodies and her head spun with desire. After only a few minutes at the mercy of his tongue, she hurtled straight into an orgasm of mind-blowing proportions, causing her to writhe and gasp with sheer joy.
When it subsided, he lifted her through to the shower room, kissing her neck and chest as they went. He hugged her body close as they waited for the water to warm up and then he stepped into the warm cascade of the water and held out his hand in invitation. She stepped in next to him, placing her hands on his wet chest, watching the water pooling between her fingers and dripping in little streams down their naked bodies.
They started to kiss, but this time it was different. It was hungry kissing, with tongues flexing and meeting and sending clear messages of lust.
He slowly turned her around until she was leaning on the tiled wall and he squeezed her ass firmly with one hand. She leaned over further, and he used the opportunity to find his way into her hot wet core. He thrust back and forth as the warm water rained down on their skin. Sophie caught sight of her sparkly engagement ring on the tiles as she gasped and moaned with each blissful thrust and felt light-headed with happiness.
Zeke trembled and clutched at her hips as he climaxed, and afterward, she turned around to face him. He wrapped his arms around her, and they hugged in the trickle of water for what felt like a long time.
After a while, Sophie picked up a bottle of body wash and began lathering him up tenderly. He followed her lead and formed swells of white bubbles on her skin, stroking her skin lovingly until she was as clean as can be.
“I think we should shower like this every day,” he said with a huge grin.
“I don’t think so!” she said, laughing. “It would take us ages to get out of the door every morning.”
“Exactly. It’s ideal.”
They finished up and wrapped themselves in fluffy towels before heading back to the bedroom to dress in jogging pants and T-shirts.
That night Zeke and Sophie celebrated their official engagement with a takeout in bed. It was blissful.
But as they were about to drift off to sleep for the night there was a sudden bang in the driveway. Zeke leaped up and pulled back the drapes to look outside.
“Shit,” he gasped.
“What is it?” Sophie asked, fear rippling through her. Zeke was speechless. Sophie got up to join him at the window. His motorbike was in flames. She took a sharp intake of breath. “But... I don’t understand.”
Next to the bike on the lawn, there was lettering in flames, obviously written in gas and then ignited. It read – 4LBX. Zeke’s unit.
Things weren’t over.
Chapter Twenty Two
Zeke
“I don’t get it,” Zeke said, pacing the room. “The police said there were two bodies found in the blaze at Troy’s. They were too badly burnt to identify, but there were definitely two. Troy must be out there. Unless he had accomplices, but I doubt it. Who else would care as much as he did?”
Sophie knelt up on the bed. It had been hours since the explosion, but there was absolutely no chance of either of them sleeping.
“You need to get out of here in the morning. Go and stay somewhere safe for a while. I can’t let you get hurt.”
“But I want to be with you,” she insisted.
“I know, honey, it would just be temporary. Until this is all fixed. We’ve got another life to protect now, too.”
Sophie nodded. “I suppose so. But as soon as this is over, I’ll move in here. I just want us to be free to get on with our lives.”
“Me too,” he said, sweeping down and kissing her head softly. “It’ll be over soon. I promise.”
The next morning Zeke called Tina Graham to ask about the possibility of Sophie staying with them.
“Oh, Zeke, I was just about to call you. In the middle of the night, we had a brick thrown through our window. There was a note attached that said we’ll be dead within a week.” By the end of the sentence, her voice crumbled, letting out her true emotions and fears.
“Jesus. We need to get you and Jeffrey out of there. Sophie’s not safe here either. The three of you need to get out of town. I take it you’ve told Jeffrey about the calls now, too?”
“Yes. I had to. I was furious I’d kept it from him,” Tina said, “but eventually he said he understood why I hid it from him. No more secrets, though. We’re all in this together. Jeffrey too. I know a private spa lodge upstate we could book into. It has security gates and cameras. We’d surely be safe there.”
“Perfect. I’ll take Sophie round to yours, and you can leave as soon as possible. How far away is it?”
“An hour or so,” she replied.
“Perfect.”
As soon as he hung up his phone rang. It was Stephan. The same thing happened to him.
“I’ve sent Ruth and the kids away to stay at her mom’s,” Stephan said. “I just don’t want them in town right now. Not with everything that’s going on. We never know what the next thing will be, or who the next target is.”
“You’re right,” Zeke replied, holding the phone up to his ear while he looked at Sophie, who was packi
ng her things in an overnight bag. “We can’t risk keeping them close to us.”
When he hung up, he walked over to Sophie and put his arms around her from behind. She turned to face him with a smile and placed her arms around his neck. “I really don’t see why I should go with Tina and Jeffrey on their little getaway. I’d much rather just stay here and help get things worked out. It’s not as if I’ll be able to take my mind off it all. I’ll be doing nothing but thinking of you. And worrying.”
He frowned. “You need to do this. For me. I don’t want you in any more danger. Hell, you’ve been near explosives and a madman too many times already. Enough is enough.”
“But it’s not as if...”
