I needed to get away. I knew that if he got his hands on me that I would regret it, if I was alive to regret it.
He was close enough to me that I could smell the alcohol on his breath. My skin prickled with fear as my heart pounded so hard I could hear it beating in my ears.
Without thinking, I rushed him. I knew that if I stayed in one spot, it would be too easy for him to get me. I pushed hard against his chest, knocking him backward as I tried to slide by him to get to the door.
I wasn’t fast enough though. He spun us before grabbing me by my upper arms and shoving me into the wall.
My skull cracked against the wall, causing my ears to ring and head to pound. I felt the tears burn my eyes, but I tried to hold them back. That was what he wanted. He wanted a reaction out of me. Anything he could get, he would take. It didn’t matter if it was fear, pain, or sadness. He wanted everything I would give him and I was finally done.
He moved his hands to my throat, lightly squeezing as he moved in close. “Do you really think that you can just run away from me and marry another man? Did you think I would just sit by and watch as you ruined my career, my life?” he yelled. His hot breath blew across my skin and spit hit me in the face as he yelled.
“If you don’t fix what you broke, there will be no wedding. Do you hear me? Why should you get to be happy if I can’t be?” His grip on my throat tightened as the edges of my vision turned blurry.
Chapter Five
Mason
I was in the middle of an oil change when my phone rang. I grabbed it out of my pocket quickly, not bothering to wipe the grease off my hands.
“Hello?”
“Mr. Reynolds, this is Ray.”
I felt my heart stop. Something happened and I knew it.
I stood in the boat and stepped onto the dock to pace. “What happened?”
“It was Chris, he found her.”
It felt like my world came crashing down. “Where is she? Is she okay?”
“She’s fine. She got a little banged up, but I got to her in time. I’m calling to let you know. She’s locked herself in her room and is refusing to come out.”
“Tell me what happened,” I demanded.
“We were having lunch and before we left, Lennox needed to use the restroom…”
“And you didn’t go with her?” I cut him off.
“Well, I was going to but she didn’t feel comfortable with me waiting by the bathroom door. I sat and watched the door from the table. I didn’t take my eyes away from that door for more than a second, but when she was taking longer than I thought was necessary, I went to check on her.” He paused, I heard him take a long breath like he didn’t exactly want to tell me the next part of the story.
“When I got to the door, I placed my ear against it. That’s when I heard what sounded like a struggle. I rushed in without thinking about it and found Lennox being held against the wall. I tackled the guy. I guess he hit his head in the mess of things and he was unconscious so I left him to check on her. I got her to come to and asked if she was okay, but when I turned to look back at him, he was gone. He must have slipped out the back exit. I’m truly sorry, Mr. Reynolds.”
“How could you let this happen? How could you let him get away? You were supposed to be taking care of her!” I yelled into the phone. I knew yelling wouldn’t change anything, but it was all I could do.
“I’m sorry, sir. We were having lunch and she went to the bathroom. I don’t know how he got by me. I kept my eyes on the door the whole time.”
“Put Lennox on the phone.” I paced the wooden dock with my heart pounding against my chest. I just needed to hear her.
“Hello?” I knew she was crying; I could hear it even though she was trying to hold back.
I let out a relieved breath. “It’s so good to hear your voice. Are you okay?”
“I’m so sorry. I can’t believe I came here. I should have listened to you.” I heard her breathing, erratic and pained.
“Stay there. I’m coming.” I started for my truck.
“Wait, you can’t come here. Aren’t you busy with training the new employees right now?”
“Joey is training Jessica and Jeremy, the new manager. Trent is training the rest. I’m coming.”
“Okay,” she sniffled into the phone.
I drove straight to the airport after I filled in Joey and Trent. I didn’t need to pack anything, I was only staying one night and flying home the next morning.
After six hours and a plane change, I landed in California. I called Dane and had him meet me at the airport since I had no idea where I was going.
When we got to her apartment, I rushed through the door. “Where is she?”
Alissa pointed to a door at the end of the hall and I damn near ran to it. I pounded on the door calling her name.
The moment she opened it, I had her in my arms, showering her with kisses. “I’m so fucking sorry, baby. I didn’t want this to happen. I wanted to protect you.”
“It’s not your fault, it’s mine. I should have listened to you.” Tears started leaking from her bloodshot eyes again.
With her still in my arms, I pulled her down onto the bed. “Tell me what happened. How did he find you?”
She sat up on the bed and crossed her legs under her. She kept her eyes locked on her fingers that she was twisting together while she told me everything that happened.
I felt anger swell inside of me. I wanted to kill that mother fucker. How could he hurt her again? Why couldn’t I stop it?
I pulled her back against my chest and hushed her. I let her cry until she was sound asleep against me. I couldn’t sleep, though. I was too blinded by hate to let sleep come. I laid back, watching the room grow darker and darker. The only thing I wanted was to find him and end him. I couldn’t let him hurt her again.
Hours later, Lennox stirred. She looked at me in the darkness. “Did you sleep any?”
I shook my head, not trusting my voice to talk. I knew that if I opened my mouth, she would hear the sharp edge in my voice and it wasn’t meant for her. I couldn’t let her think I was angry with her. It was him I wanted.
“Mason, I’m so sorry,” she whispered, laying her head back against my shoulder.
I couldn’t let her sit and apologize. She hadn’t done anything wrong. She was simply living her life. I rolled us so my body was covering hers. “It’s not your fault, stop apologizing. You didn’t do anything wrong.” I lowered my lips to hers.
I let her heat and her scent sink into me. I let it calm me for the first time since I had walked in. Her lips were pleading with me to take her. To show her how sorry I was that I let that happen to her again.
I moved between her knees and pulled my shirt over my head before lowering my body back against hers. Her hands traveled my body, pulling me as close as she could get me. Her nails scraped down my back while her knees tightened around my hips. Her breathing was erratic, as was her heart. I felt it pounding against my chest that was pressed to hers.
I kissed down her jaw and neck while I got myself on my knees to pull her shirt off. I softly trailed my rough fingertips down her bare stomach to the top of her jeans. Our eyes locked in the darkness as I unfastened them and slid them down her long legs.
I took her knee in my hand and raised it to my lips before kissing my way up her inner thigh. Her skin broke out in goosebumps before she let a whimper fall from her lips. When I came to the spot that I so badly wanted to taste, I stopped and repeated the process with her other leg. Finally, finding myself back at the junction between her legs, I slid her wet panties to the side before tasting her.
With one swipe of my tongue, I felt her hips lift, wanting to follow the motion. I wrapped my hands around her hips and held her still as I continued with my torture.
I wasn’t really sure who I was torturing. I liked to think it was her, but the hardness in my pants told another story.
When I felt her go limp beneath me and her cries of pleasure quieted,
I yanked her panties down her legs before freeing myself.
I slid deep inside of her. We both let out a relieved moan. With her nails digging into my lower back, I pumped in and out of her.
She was hot and tight around me. She felt too good, especially with her hands roaming my body while our heavy breathing filled the room.
She tightened around me and screamed my name just as I filled her with everything I had.
With our hearts pounding and our breathing labored, I pulled her against my chest and wrapped my arms around her.
“Sleep, baby. We will be back home tomorrow,” I whispered into her hair.
I woke with the sun lighting up the white walls of the room. I turned to see Lennox’s big green eyes watching me. I rolled to my side to face her and pulled her closer to me. “Good morning, beautiful,” I said before leaning in for a kiss.
I ran my thumb across her cheek. “What are you thinking? I can see something brewing behind those green eyes of yours.”
She thought it over for a minute. “Let’s elope.”
“What?” She took me by surprise. I had suggested eloping several times, but she was always against it.
“Let’s elope. Today.” Her eyes were wide with excitement.
“Today?” I propped my head up on my hand but kept my eyes glued to her.
She nodded. “Yeah, let’s fly to Vegas and get married.”
“What about your dad?” I asked. I had a feeling I knew why she had suddenly decided on eloping.
She rolled from her side to her back to stare up at the white ceiling. “Why are you making excuses? I thought you wanted to marry me.”
“You know I do, but I know how much a real wedding means to you. I don’t want your run in with Chris to scare you away from what you really want.” I pulled her against my chest.
She let out a long breath. “You’re right. I’m just so worried that he is going to stop us somehow.”
“Nobody can stop me from marrying you. Do you understand?” I kept my voice low as I placed my finger under her chin and forced her to look me in the eye. “I’ve wanted you from the moment I first saw you. We are getting married and we are doing it our way. He doesn’t get to stop this or rush it. It’s only us.”
Her lips turned up just a bit before she nodded and pulled me back to her lips.
“How about we move this to the shower?” She took me by the hand and pulled me from bed.
Forty-five minutes later, Lennox and I were showered and dressed. We stepped out of the steamy bathroom and into the hallway to find Dane pacing back and forth.
“It’s about time, I’ve had to piss for thirty minutes now.” He shoulder checked me as he pushed his way through.
“How are you feeling?” Alissa asked Lennox as we came into the living room.
“I’m okay, headache is finally gone,” she answered. She took a seat at the bar, resting her elbows on top.
“What the fuck is that?” I rushed to her and held up her arm. She had bruises on the backs of her biceps. I knew it was from Chris.
How did I miss this? I just took a shower with her. I guess I wasn’t really looking at the back of her arms, though.
She twisted to look at the back of her arms where his fingertips dug in. “I guess he held me tighter than I thought.”
Seeing fresh bruises on her from him brought up all the anger I was feeling the night before. I turned to see Ray lounging back watching Netflix on his phone.
“Look at her fucking arms, Ray. What the fuck were you doing instead of watching her?”
Ray looked at me, but didn’t bother to move. He knew he could knock me out with one hit. “I’m sorry, Mr. Reynolds. I swear, I kept my eyes on that door the whole time; he must have already been in there.”
“It wasn’t his fault, Mason. I told him to stay. I mean, you could see the restroom from our table,” she said, sticking up for him.
I turned and gave her the look. I didn’t mean to, my anger wasn’t directed at her, it wasn’t even directed at Ray. It was meant for Chris, but Ray was all I had. It was his job to protect her and she got hurt.
“When we get home, you’re fired.” I turned and grabbed Lennox by the hand and pulled her toward the door.
“Where are we going?”
“To get breakfast,” I answered.
“Do you need me to come?” Ray asked.
I didn’t bother answering him. I opened the door and led Lennox through it without a word.
Stepping out onto the busy street helped to clear my mind. I was starting to feel confined in that small apartment. There were too many people in there. I just wanted to get back to my small town.
“Where do you want to go to eat?” I asked her.
“There’s this little dinner on the corner, Alissa and I used to go there every Sunday after a night of drinking. They have the best breakfast.”
I shrugged and offered up a smile. “Okay, lead the way.”
She laced her fingers with mine as she led me down the street. We reached the diner within a few minutes and I held open the door to allow her to walk in ahead of me. She picked out a little table in the back corner, hidden away from everyone else.
“Hey, Lennox. I haven’t seen you in here in a while,” the waitress greeted her.
She smiled politely. “I’ve been on a little getaway. I’m sure you’ve heard.” I saw the look in her eyes, she was praying the waitress didn’t ask anymore. She loved her fans and being able to perform, but she didn’t like the attention on her personal life.
The waitress smiled politely and looked at me. “So, who’s this hottie?”
“This is my fiancée, Mason,” she introduced. When the words left her lips, a smile broke out, lighting up her green eyes.
That was the first time she had introduced me as her fiancée and that brought out the smile that had been missing since I got the call from Ray the day before.
“Nice to meet you, Mason.”
“You too,” I said, not looking away from Lennox.
Lennox’s eyes flashed to her quickly before she returned them to me. “Can you bring us my usual please, Lisa?”
“Sure.” The waitress walked away, leaving us in our own little bubble.
“What’s the smile for?” Lennox asked.
“That was the first time you called me your fiancée.” I brought her hand to my lips and placed a small kiss on the top.
She smiled. “I know. It felt right.”
“It sounded right.” I placed her hand back on the table, but kept it inside mine. I just needed to feel her and know she was safe.
“So, I’ve been thinking about the wedding.”
“What about it?” I asked, leaning in.
“I think I want to have it in the backyard.”
That surprised me. I was expecting some big, fancy event. “Really?”
“Yeah, I think it will be beautiful. We could get married by the pond, set up one of those big white tents for the reception. What do you think?”
“I love it. Have you picked a date yet?” I couldn’t help but smile at her excitement.
“September eighteenth.” She sent me a smile that made my skin prickle.
“That was the day you left to go to Tennessee.”
Her smile got wider. “I know. The day I left you and the day I marry you. The worst and best days of our lives will share a date.”
Chapter Six
Lennox
The waitress brought over two plates full of scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns, and a biscuit, all covered in gravy.
“Wow, you ate all of this?” Mason asked with his brows raised.
“Well, I ate half of it. Alissa ate the rest.”
“I should’ve known.” He laughed.
After we ate breakfast, we decided to head back to the apartment to make sure everything was packed and ready to go.
We grabbed everyone some coffee and a bag of bagels before we left. When I walked into the apartment, I thought Alissa was goin
g to tackle me.
“I can’t believe you went there without me. That was our place,” she said taking the bag from me.
Mason sat the coffee down on the bar and took a seat on the sofa. I took my place on his lap, wrapping my arms around his neck. “I’m sorry, you could’ve joined us.”
“So, what’s left to do here?” Mason looked at Alissa.
She swallowed her bite of bagel before answering, “Nothing, we were just waiting on you guys. The moving men came and took the boxes, they will be at the house in a few days.”
After everyone had finished their breakfast, we packed up to head out. “I’m kind of going to miss this place.” Alissa turned to give her bare apartment one last look.
“I’ll be glad to leave it.” Dane grabbed his bag off the floor and walked out ahead of everyone else.
“What’s his problem?” Mason asked taking my bag from me as we followed behind him.
“I think it reminds him of a life Alissa had without him,” I whispered only loud enough for him to hear.
A limo was parked outside Alissa’s building and we all got inside. You could feel the tension in the cramped space. Mason wouldn’t even look at Ray. I think he knew that if he did, he would end up saying something that would get him beat up. Ray was a rather large guy, anyone who stood against him was crazy.
We pulled up to the airport and stepped out of the car. I was instantly crowded with people trying to get my attention. I held on to Mason and we stayed between Dane, Alissa, and Ray.
Lights flashed from people taking pictures, people yelled my name, and tried squeezing through to get to me. With every flash of a camera or scream of my name, Mason held me that much tighter. It was like he was afraid someone would try taking me away from him.
“Are you glad to be back in the real world?” Alissa asked, turning around to look over her shoulder at me.
I shook my head and smiled. “This isn’t the real world.” I looked up at Mason who already had his eyes on me. “Me and you, were the real world.”
Our Last Chance at Forever (The Chance Series Book 3) Page 4
