Falling For Them Volume 2: Reverse Harem Collection

by Nikki Bolvair

  “What’s going on? What’s wrong? I heard you screaming from my apartment!” He sounded frantic. I couldn’t imagine the scenarios running through his mind.

  “He’s crazy! He’s in my apartment, and he’s crazy!” I began to cry, overwhelmed by the madness of the morning.

  Arch disentangled himself from my arms long enough to stick his head into my apartment and see Mitch struggling to rise. “Who the hell is that?”

  “My stepbrother, Mitch. Please don’t let him come near me!” Screams trapped in my throat. I didn’t want Arch to let go.

  “Go to my apartment and lock up behind you. I’ll take care of Mitch.”

  “Don’t hurt him.” I didn’t want Arch to get in any trouble. I didn’t care if he hurt Mitch.

  “I won’t. I’m going to call the police to pick him up. He assaulted you?” I nodded my head.

  Arguments against calling the police ran through my head but left when Mitch suddenly appeared in the hall. I jumped and ran for Arch’s apartment.

  I pressed my ear against the door once I got it locked and tried to listen to what they said. They weren’t speaking loudly—all I heard was muffled talking.

  A loud thud rattled the wood against my ear, causing me to jump. I pressed my eye to the peephole, hoping I could see what happened. Arch had Mitch pressed up against the wall with one arm across his chest. Mitch, the pantywaist, didn’t even try to resist. Through the distorted image, I couldn’t tell if he’d given up or if he was overpowered and biding his time.

  I didn’t dare open the door. Arch could handle himself fine. Besides, seeing me could put Mitch further into a frenzy. I kept watching as building security ran into view and handcuffed Mitch.

  Arch knocked on the door. “Let me in, I want to make sure you’re okay.” I unlocked the door and slammed it shut behind him, re-locking it as fast as I could. He put his arms around me again, and I basked in his warmth. I focused on the smell of his aftershave. Breathe in and out. “Joe, the guard, has him subdued, and if he tries to run, he won’t get far in cuffs. The police should be here any minute. I pressed your panic button on your alarm system. Why didn’t you press it?”

  My mind was fuzzy. “I didn’t suspect I was in any danger at first. Then, I got mad at myself for letting him cut off my escape. I spent what feels like a ridiculous amount of time being worried about why I’d never taken the self-defense classes I’ve always wanted to take.” I snuggled in closer to him without consideration for the intimacy of the moment. “My thoughts didn’t make much sense through the whole encounter.”

  “That’s understandable.” Arch squeezed me tighter. His arms became my security. He only let me go to answer the door for the police.

  “Thank you for coming, officers.” An older male walked in, followed by a younger female.

  “No problem. The intruder has been taken to the station. We need some information from you.” I spent the next twenty minutes explaining my convoluted relationship with Mitch and how he’d crossed the line in my apartment.

  As I began to describe Mitch’s behavior in my apartment, Todd rushed into the room in a bright floral silk robe and red house slippers. Every eye turned away from me. I appreciated a moment to breathe before recounting the narrative.

  Todd sat on one side and Arch on the other. They swathed me in love and security to tell my scary tale. Gray and Wes walked in before I finished and heard the tail end of my fiasco. When I’d said all I could, the lawyers and the officers talked shop in the hall for a moment, and finally left me alone with my friends, new and old.

  “What in the world happened?” Wes asked.

  “I don’t have the energy to go through it again.” I leaned against Todd, exhausted. “Arch, Todd, you heard me tell it. Can you please fill them in?” I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate on the fact that three gorgeous guys—and gorgeous Todd, of course—were utterly interested in my well-being, and not because I paid them to be. I listened to the murmur of their voices until I drifted to sleep.

  Chapter Ten

  When I woke, Todd had gone, and I slept alone on the sofa, comfy on a plush pillow. “I can’t believe Todd left, and you put a pillow under my head, and I slept through it all.” I was shaky from a nightmare about Mitch. The nightmare was a barrage of memories, combining this morning’s horror with the pain and bullying of my youth. “Did I talk in my sleep again?”

  Gray, nestled into a recliner, watched me wake up with a smile on his face. “Good morning, sleepyhead. You did talk, a little. I sat beside you and rubbed your head, and it seemed to soothe you.” I must’ve slept hard. It meant a lot that he’d stay and care for me.

  I sat up and tried to get my brain to wake to a functional level. Glancing around the room, I found it empty. “What time is it? Where did everyone go?” My heavy heart, still reeling from the nightmare thumped painfully in my chest. I rubbed the goose bumps on my arms.

  “Arch and Wes went to the office to try to get some work done. Todd left first, mumbling something about too much testosterone. I’m your protector for the day.” He checked his phone. “And it’s eleven.”

  “No! I missed my morning class. I need to go email my professor.” What a fantastic way to show my professors how responsible I was before they might have to give a deposition.

  “Missing one class isn’t that big of a deal. Don’t sweat it.”

  “I do sweat it, considering we’re in a fight for my future and my professors will make up a huge chunk of my case—and, I missed time the other day because of the wreck.” I didn’t mean to sound accusatory, but I didn’t want to give my stepmother any ammo.

  “I’m not a civil law expert, of course, but I’d imagine once they present the evidence of your stepbrother’s insanity to the court, this day will only help your case. Your stepmother planned on giving him a position in the company.” He paused, then added, “That’s not legal advice. It’s a guess.”

  I nodded along and smiled at his disclaimer. “I’m sure you’re right, but I would’ve preferred almost any other way to discover that.” I shuddered, the remnants of the nightmare still lingering in my brain.

  “Do you have any other classes today?” Gray abruptly changed the subject.

  “No, I’ve got a light course load this semester.” I threw my head against the pillow and put one arm over my eyes, still overwhelmed.

  “Then it’s me and you until dinner, doll. What’s your poison?”

  “Goodness, I wasn’t expecting an impromptu date. What do you think?” I peeked at him from under my arm.

  “I’m putty in your hands, gorgeous.” Gray winked, making my stomach do little flips, which gave me an idea of how we could start our day. A distraction from my nerves.

  “You know what I’d like? I’d like to watch you do a wall flip, and then see your comic book collection.”

  “You want all that, huh?” He swallowed, exaggerated… like I made him nervous.

  “I sure do.” I threw my arms out and jumped up from my spot on the couch. “This day is looking up.” I forced the last remnants of the nightmare to the back of my mind.

  “I believe I can oblige. Come on.” He opened the door for me.

  “Let me stop in and get my stuff.” I rattled the door to my apartment. Locked, and my keys were inside. I stared at my bare feet and sighed. “Let’s go get the building manager. Todd is in class. No getting a key from him now.”

  The ride down the elevator was hilarious. Gray distracted me from my embarrassment over my bare feet by pretending to speak into his suit jacket cuff like a secret agent. When the elderly grouch from the fourth floor got on, he whispered to his wrist. “Target confirmed. Our position is ideal. Don’t engage, I’ll handle this myself. Target is hostile. Blue shirt, pearls.” Old Ms. Grouchy wore a blue blouse and fat pearls.

  I barely contained my laughter as she squinted down at her shirt then fingered her pearls. She tried to surreptitiously sneak a peek behind her at Gray, to see who he was and why he was talk
ing like that. As soon as she glanced back he straightened, put his arms at his side, and stared straight ahead like a soldier.

  We reached the ground floor, and she shot out of the elevator faster than she’d probably moved in a decade. I let the elevator sit there for a moment while I composed myself. “You almost made me pee, Gray! You scared that poor, old woman to death.”

  “Mission accomplished,” he whispered into his cuff. When I could breathe again, we exited the elevator and found the manager in his office. Gray waited in the hall.

  “Good morning, Mr. Simpson. Could I get a copy of my apartment key? I’ll bring it right back.” I smiled at the lanky man.

  He eyeballed my feet before chuckling. “Of course, Ms. Asche. Coming up.” He kept the keys stored by last name in a locked filing cabinet. I was the first name in the files and had the key in my hand in no time.

  As I turned to join Gray in the hall, Mr. Simpson stopped me. “Ms. Asche, why don’t you go ahead and put your mother on your list of allowed visitors. If she ever leaves her key at home again, I’ll be able to lend her one, too.”

  My body froze, fear lacing up and down my spine. “My mother?”

  “Yeah. Ms. Reynolds, I think it was? Nice lady. I’m sorry I couldn’t let her in the other day, but rules are rules. And after what happened with your attacker today, it’s even more important we be diligent.”

  I stopped, shocked by his words. My mother? He noticed my reaction, as he rubbed his balding head, unsure of himself.

  “As to the attacker, I was going to stop by later and check in on you, but I was trying to figure out how I should approach you. I’m sorry this happened to you.” His facial expression edged with panic. “We’re working diligently to figure out how he got in the building. The codes have been recently changed. He either knew how to hack the system, or someone gave him a code.” He sighed. “The company that built the system is taking this personally. They’re trying to figure out what happened.”

  I took pity on him, miserable that something of that magnitude happened on his watch. “I appreciate that very much. And thank you for your apology. But, you should know, my mother died when I was eight.”

  I chose my next words carefully. “I do have a stepmother, but she shouldn’t ever be given a key nor be allowed entry. The same goes for anyone else claiming to be related to me. You absolutely did the right thing denying her, and I’m grateful. I wonder though, how did she get in the building? The doorman wouldn’t let anyone in without the appropriate codes, and the entrances otherwise have keypads. Could she have had access to the same code used today?”

  Mr. Simpson blinked rapidly, stunned. “I didn’t realize. I assumed she had your code. I’ll add this to the information to give the alarm company for their research.”

  “Mr. Simpson, if necessary, would you be willing to give a statement that you refused her entry to my apartment?” He looked uneasy. “Also, would there happen to be any security camera footage?”

  He shuffled his feet behind his desk. “I hate to tell you this, especially after the problem with the codes, but our lobby cameras were on the fritz that day. We got them fixed right after she left. The only way we’d have footage is if she happened to go upstairs and tried to get in. Those cameras were working fine.”

  “I’d be grateful to you if you’d check for me,” I said. What rotten luck.

  “Of course, I will.” He nodded his head.

  I smiled one last time and headed out.

  We made our way to my apartment to get my shoes, and I told Gray what I learned. He insisted I call Mr. Kohl to fill him in, which I did as we walked down to his SUV. After explaining what happened, I asked, “What’ll this mean for my case?”

  “At best, we can have her arrested for attempted breaking and entering. She tried to lie to gain entry to your home. At worst, there’ll be absolutely no video footage, and she’ll get someone to give her an alibi, and it won’t mean squat,” Mr. Kohl replied. “Even if she’s arrested, it may or may not help the case, as this is a civil case and that would be a criminal matter.”

  “Here’s to hoping they got something on camera.” After hanging up, I spent a few minutes reflecting on how my dad got looped in by such a horrible woman.

  A reporter lurked outside the building’s front door. Thanks to the anonymity of the Explorer, he ignored us as we pulled out of the garage.

  “Hey. Snap out of it. I’m sure they’re building up plenty of evidence. You got this.” Gray grinned at me out of the side of his mouth as he concentrated on the road. His confidence heartened me, and I had to admit it did wonders to soothe some of my nervousness. As did his smile.

  “I’m okay. Wondering what I did in a past life to get stuck with her.” I didn’t deserve someone so horrible.

  Gray let out a wry chuckle. “You must’ve done something pretty bad. Did you make it a habit to go around kicking kittens? Or insulting deities?”

  I rolled my eyes at his attempt at humor, but also tucked my lip under my teeth to keep from smiling. “What’re we going to do at your place?”

  His eyes lit up. “I thought you’d never ask! What do you know about comic books?”

  My brows furrowed a slight bit. “I know a little from the superhero movies. I love watching superhero movies.” As an afterthought, I threw out, “Capes are a definite turn on.”

  “I’ll log that one away for future reference,” he said with a straight face. “Any other preferences, besides capes?”

  My giggles gave me away before I even said the words. “I love a man in tights.”

  “I’ll find the pictures of Wes in his Peter Pan costume. They’re stashed somewhere for future blackmail.” He couldn’t hide the laughter in his voice.

  Giggles soon turned to belly laughs. The short drive to his apartment building was fun instead of a worry-fest about my stepfamily. Gray had a knack for cracking me up.

  Gray’s apartment building wasn’t as nice as mine, but it also wasn’t a hovel. “Have you lived here long?”

  “Since we moved from Atlanta after college to start the firm.” Ever the gentleman, he jumped out and ran around to open my door before I could even get my seatbelt off and pick up my purse.

  “You’re awfully young to have such a successful firm. How’d you do it?”

  “We started college at sixteen, thanks to homeschooling. Finished at twenty-three.” He shrugged like it was no big deal. “When we first started, we all shared the apartment I live in now. We were broke, living off a small allowance from our parents.”

  He opened the door to an elevator alcove. “They gave us six months to start making our own money before they cut us off. We lasted another six months on small nickel and dime cases. Luckily, we won most of them.” He tapped the six buttons.

  “What changed?”

  “A man came to us, said he was innocent. He was accused of murder, and the prosecution’s case was strong.”

  “You believed him?” They were ballsy to take on such a difficult case.

  “He convinced us. We aren’t about defending criminals. We’ll defend someone if we believe their innocence. He was the first, though.”

  “I take it you won the case?” I was impressed.

  “Sure did. We worked around the clock searching for loopholes, previous cases. We ended up catching a break by figuring out he had a brother that had been put up for adoption as an infant.”

  The elevator dinged, and we got out. “The brother framed him for the murder. Said he planned to take over the guy’s life, the life he should’ve had all along.”

  “That sounds like a story out of a thriller novel.” I should commission the story.

  “Doesn’t it? It was a miracle we happened upon the only surviving document from the sealed adoption and were curious enough to go down that rabbit hole.”

  “So, you got a lot of media attention?” I asked as I followed him down the sixth floor hallway.

  “Tons. The entire world heard about the case. Everyon
e in our city was so convinced he was guilty. When the truth came out, the public hailed him a hero. They even had a parade for him. You don’t get outcomes like that one often.”

  We stopped, and he pulled out a key. “After his case, every criminal in the city called us to defend them. We have to screen defendants carefully. We put them through a rigorous interviewing process.”

  His apartment was decorated like mine—that is to say, it was hardly decorated at all. He had bare, cream-colored walls and boring, forgettable furniture. “You don’t spend much time here, do you?” I asked.

  Only one framed picture hung on the wall. I got close enough to realize it was his own diploma, in a frame similar to Arch’s, and also held a picture of his family.

  He glanced around. “Actually, no. I do sleep here, but I’m renovating a place outside the city where I spend a large portion of my free time.” A proud grin plastered on his face.

  “Hey, Arch has this same frame. This is your family?” He smiled and nodded. The picture showed a large family. Three women and a man stood behind him, and eight children ranging from baby to teen surrounded them. “You’ve got quite the extended family, Gray Baron. You and Arch have such regal names.”

  He grunted, uncomfortable with talk about his family. I changed the subject. “How far is the house you’re renovating?” It couldn’t have been far, unless he stopped going recently. Since the day we met, it seemed like he was always within arm’s reach.

  “About thirty minutes from here.” I followed him into the kitchen where he grabbed a couple bottles of water. The kitchen was decorated like the living room—bare. “I haven’t been out there since before I met you though, there’s too much going on with our current case. That’s the way of it. When I’m done with the case, I probably won’t take another one for a few weeks. I’ll use that time to go play at the house for a while.” He handed me a bottle.

  “Are you renovating it by yourself?” I took a long drink of the cold water. I hadn’t had anything to drink since my juice at breakfast.