by Liza Brown
Copyright March 2018
All rights reserved. No part of this book shall be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, magnetic, photographic including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior written permission of the publisher. No patent liability is assumed with respect to the use of the information contained herein. Although every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher and author assume no responsibility for errors or omissions. Neither is any liability assumed for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
ISBN: 978-1-940758-74-9 Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-940758-75-6 EPub
ISBN: 978-1-940758-76-3 Mobi
Cover design by Iconix
Published by:
Intrigue Publishing, LLC
11505 Cherry Tree Crossing Rd. #148
Cheltenham MD 20623-9998
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
As always and forever my first thanks goes to my family.
Lizzie, you are the one who keeps me sane even though together we are a little crazy. I love you more than you know.
Dan, I did it again. Imagine that! Your wife is an author. Maybe it wasn’t a fluke! I love you!
Mom, thanks for all you do for me and my family. I don’t know where I’d be without you.
Some random thanks:
Randall, again, your assistance has always been priceless. I know I’ve pestered but your knowledge in all things ‘odd’ have helped me a lot.
Robert, My brother. My friend. My chat buddy. Your support and constant reminders of your belief in me have made the late-night write-a-thons worth it. Someday you will be writing your own acknowledgements for your amazing writing, too. I have no doubt!
To everyone who has answered the random and off the wall questions I’ve asked, thank you for answering! Believe it or not your answers are in the following pages in some way or other.
To my fans, what an amazing journey this has been. When I published Center Courtship I had no idea what kind of reaction I’d get. Nearly every day someone asks when the next one is coming. This is for you. It is here. I hope you enjoy it as much as the first!
To Lizzie
Mae-be I’ll let you read this when you’re a little older.
CHAPTER 1
Hugs. Horrible inventions. Whoever decided wrapping their arms around another human being was a good thing, should have been strung up at dawn. Every single kind of hug, too. The ‘I haven’t seen you in a long time!’ hug. The ‘I’m sorry for your loss,’ hug. The ‘OMG we just won a billion dollars!’ hug. All should be ruled acts of hostility. If I hugged you it was an accident. If you hugged me it was because I didn’t dodge your flailing appendages fast enough, or societal norms had determined that the hug was appropriate in that given situation and I didn’t want to look like a jerk.
Ok, scratch that just a bit. Not all hugs. There was one hug that had recently become completely acceptable in any and all situations. This kind of hug was mine and mine alone. It was happening now. Comfortably nestled between a mess of blankets and two humongous arms as an unbelievably sexy man squeezed me tight against his rock-hard chest.
My cat, Diesel, had curled up in the slight valley between us, his purring in time with Elsu’s breathing. I reached up and scratched behind his pointy tabby-gray ears. I was in a blissful heaven.
“Sir! Sir!” I jolted at the pounding at my bedroom door. I recognized the voice of Millard, Elsu’s bodyguard.
“Elsu…wake up!” I poked at the large shoulder that was closest to me. The form that was leaning on me sighed and Mount Elsu began to stir.
“What’s wrong?” he asked through a yawn. Our morning make-out session had turned into a much-needed nap for my new boyfriend. I had spent the time thinking, and watching him.
“Millard is at the door,” I said. “I would have answered it but you and Diesel have me pinned to the bed.”
Elsu sat up and wiped the sleep from his eyes. He looked at the clock and shot up. “Shit!”
“What?” I asked as I watched him jam his socked feet into the Nike boats beside the bed.
“Shootaround one o’clock.”
“Shootaround? What are you shooting around? Like the middle of the court?”
Elsu looked at me and smiled. He quickly kissed me on my nose. “You’re so cute. A shootaround is a quick practice. Each team gets one to warm up before the game.” I had so much to learn about the pro basketball player’s life.
I looked at the clock. 12:15 in the afternoon. “Wow! Go! You’ll be late!”
“Are you planning to come to the game?”
I smiled. “Can’t wait!”
“Then why don’t you come with me now?”
“Am I allowed?”
“Yeah, some of the wives might be there. You can sit with them if you want.”
“I was going to go…” and it hit me, I couldn’t go anywhere. I had no vehicle.
“Where were you going?”
“To try out that piece of crap car from my shop. I guess I can do that later.” What I hoped would be my over-winter car had come in to my place of business, Grandpa’s Chop Shop. I was thinking about taking a look at it and driving it to the game to see how she ran.
“Take my Escalade whenever you want to go anywhere. But right now until your new bodyguard comes, and you get a car that wasn’t sold to you for scrap, I would feel better if you were with someone at all times.”
Bodyguard? I couldn’t believe I had agreed to the bodyguard. A week ago, the thought of ever having, or needing, a bodyguard was as likely as me walking on the moon. But here I was, about to get a bodyguard because my new boyfriend wanted nothing more than to keep me safe.
Last week, I found out my abusive ex-boyfriend, Bart, had been released from prison after serving five years of a twenty year sentence. Apparently, his brother Jeremy had decided I needed to pay for his brother’s incarceration by destroying my truck, a 1971 Ford F-150 named Little José. The murder had taken place the night before in the parking deck of the new basketball arena during the first game of the season. Elsu, who plays basketball for the brand-new NBA team, felt I needed protection when he was away. She would start in two days.
I sighed. “Ok. I’m still not a fan of you spending all of this money on me.” I stood up and looked at myself in the mirror on the closet to fix my hair.
“Mae, please. I need to know you’re safe. This is the only way I can think to do it.” He placed his huge hands on my shoulders and kissed the top of my head. Being protected was a new feeling for me.
Elsu had met my mom. The woman who claimed to have given birth to me but did nothing else to encourage any sort of positive growth in my life. Mental abuse was her forté but I still kept in touch, like the glutton for punishment that I was. My twin younger siblings, Candice and Christopher, were former child-stars who my mom continued to preen in hopes of getting them back in front of the cameras. I couldn’t be any less like them if I tried. My older brother Max and I were closer because we grew up together out of the limelight.
I now owned the chop shop my dad had run with my grandfather. His busy schedule had left us in the hands of my mom’s sister and brother-in-law. Uncle Larry ended up being a pedophile who had taken his pleasures out on us. As horrible as that was, one decent thing came from it. My brother and I we inherited an equal share of a large settlement on his death. My brother used his to pay off law school and to buy the nice
apartment building I now lived in for cheap. I, on the other hand, planned to make half a mil last the rest of my life so I could make sure my employees were well paid.
“Are we coming back here?”
“Probably not, I’ve got some press things to deal with, why?”
“I don’t know what to wear to the game. The only Whoopsters gear I have is the tank top I slept in and the stuff you got me, and they’re all dirty.”
“You do know you don’t have to wear Whoopster’s stuff, right?”
“I know. But I want to.”
“Ok. Well, you can borrow the glowing one of my sweatshirts.”
“You sure?” I asked.
“Please, stop doubting me. Yes. I’ll meet you downstairs in five minutes.”
He gave me a quick kiss on my forehead then a warm kiss on my lips and rushed out with Millard to get whatever he needed to take with him for practice and I made myself presentable in the bathroom.
I quickly changed from the chop shop shirt and jeans I had on to a lighter sleeveless shirt that I could wear under the sweatshirt and a pair of black leggings. I figured the new shirt would be big on me and this way it might look like an attempt at a dress.
When I exited the bathroom, Magdalena, Elsu’s housekeeper, was cleaning my kitchen. “Magdalena…hi,” I said.
“Hello Miss Mae.”
“I’ll be back later, or earlier, or some time. Please make yourself comfortable here.”
“Yes ma’am,” she smiled. “It was very kind of you to welcome me into your apartment since Mr. Benjamin’s house fire. You’re a very kind woman.”
“It was nothing, Magdalena.” I smiled at her.
“I know Elsu was very grateful to be able to find a place to stay so quickly. Even better, he’s in the same building with you, my dear.”
“You’re so sweet. Please, like I said, help yourself to whatever you need. I’ll be back this evening,” I said, and left the apartment.
Once in the elevator I hit the number one and the car started its descent. Then the brakes screeched, and the car came to a sudden stop. I pushed the ‘one’ again, but the lights on the control panel blinked and turned off, then the light went out over head.
So let’s recap here. I am extremely claustrophobic. I was now stuck in an elevator in the pitch black, somewhere between the third floor and oh hell no!
I felt my way blindly in the darkness and found the seam in the two doors. After a few seconds of trying to pry them apart, I knew it wouldn’t budge. I pounded and screamed, screamed and pounded. Then, after a few seconds that seemed like an eternity, I grabbed my phone from my purse and called Elsu. Just as he answered, the elevator jolted and began to freefall. I screamed until I found myself flat on my back on the elevator floor. After what felt like a second eternity, the door was opened by Elsu, Millard, and Brent, one of Elsu’s teammates. Elsu rushed in and scooped me up and out into the first-floor hallway.
“Are you ok?” he asked as he looked me over. He held me in his arms like I was a child.
“I think so, put me down.”
Carefully, he placed me in a standing position and while they were a bit wobbly with fear, my feet and legs did their job of holding me up.
Elsu looked into the elevator door and saw where the car sat ajar in the shaft. He looked up and then placed a foot on the floor of the car and it shifted a bit. Everyone gasped in fear he’d fall through. “You’re lucky it went off kilter here, Mae. Otherwise you would have fallen to the basement. I’m calling that Detective Graven to come back.”
“Who?” asked Brent.
“Detective Graven is the detective who came to the parking garage yesterday after Mae’s truck was destroyed,” said Elsu.
“Why? It was an accident. It could have happened to anyone. God, it could have happened to you guys when you went up to your apartment.”
“We took the stairs,” said Elsu.
“I’ll call my brother Max since he owns the building. Plus, I need to get Jack.”
“Who’s Jack?” asked Elsu.
“He’s the apartment manager.”
“No need for that, what the hell happened here?” I turned to find Jack. He was a gray haired man with a friendly face who wore denim overalls every time I had ever seen him.
“It gave way, Jack. I was coming down from the third floor, the brake engaged, then it fell.”
“We just had it inspected last week. That shouldn’t have happened. I have the report in my apartment. Your brother has a copy, too.”
“Is there access from above?” asked Millard.
“No, you have to open a door on a floor the car’s not on. Let me grab you the drop key.”
“The what key?” asked Elsu.
“There’s a key to put in the door to open them when it’s lost power.” Jack turned toward his apartment.
“That would have been nice to know,” Brent said with a laugh.
“You seriously pried open that door?” I asked.
“Yeah, you were in there, I didn’t know what else to do,” said Elsu. His warm hand stroked my cheek.
“When Max had this thing replaced that wasn’t supposed to be possible.”
“I don’t know about that. What I do know is your safety is my highest concern. I had to get to you. Adrenaline does that.”
Jack returned with the key and handed it to Millard. “You just stick this in the hole up at the top of the door and turn it.”
Millard didn’t waste a minute and ran up the steps followed by Elsu and Jack. Ok, Jack walked briskly. But I’ll give him credit for trying.
Brent stayed by my side and I held onto his arm as my legs continued to wobble. “Are you ok, Mae?”
“No, but what’s new?” I asked.
“Your brother’s going to be pissed, isn’t he?”
“Max? You think he’ll be mad that the elevator just crashed in the apartment building he owns? I presume he will be a tad angry.”
“For crying out loud, Mr. Benjamin! Get Max on the phone and tell him we’re securing this place by the end of the day tomorrow or you’re moving out of here!” It was the first time I had ever heard Elsu’s bodyguard-assistant raise his voice, let alone string together more than ten words at a time. “I can’t protect you if crap like that is going to happen!”
“What?” I asked as I stepped forward, letting go of Brent.
Elsu walked from the stairwell. “There was some sort of electronic rigging in the shaft attached to the ropes. Some sort of drill with a remote control on it.”
“What? How could anyone know when someone would be in the car from a rope in the shaft?” I asked.
“Because…” said Millard as he quickly leaned into the elevator without stepping on the wobbly floor. He banged on the control panel and something broke free. “I knew there was something fishy about this panel! He had a camera!” He yelled at me like I had put it there. He pulled a tiny camera from behind the ‘alarm’ button and showed it to us.
“How did you know there was a camera in there?” I asked.
“Because, I used to set up things like this when I worked for the military. I’m not an idiot!”
“An idiot? I never said you were an…”
“First of all, you will not raise your voice to Mae, Millard.” He looked at me. “Do you know anyone with this kind of intelligence?” asked Elsu.
“No. I don’t think so.”
“What about your ex, Bart?” asked Millard.
I shook my head. My abusive ex-ass wasn’t stupid, but I couldn’t see him attempting something like this.
“What about his brother, Jeremy?”
“He just killed my truck. I don’t know much about him. He’s Max’s age so he’s a good five years older than me. I never really knew him very well. In fact I hadn’t seen him in years before we ran into him at lunch last week,” I said toward Elsu.
I watched Elsu pull his phone from his pocket. “I’m calling Detective Graven.”
I nodded.
I grabbed my phone and dialed Max.
“What now, Mae?” I could tell I had interrupted something.
“It’s nice to talk to you, too, Max. When you’re not too busy to talk to me, you need to come to your apartment building. Someone tampered with the elevator and it nearly crashed to the basement with me in it.”
“You are effing kidding me!” he yelled. I could just picture his wife Gina’s face if he was near my nephews, Brandon and Mitchell. She hated when anyone swore near then. Real words or not.
“Give me the phone!” said Millard angrily. I was kind of scared of him in that moment, so I handed him my brother.
“Max, this is Millard. Mr. Benjamin’s assistant. Security will be going in tomorrow.” It was a command. There would be no arguing with him. “Then we will be moving out and taking your sister with us! I gave you the information on who to call when we moved in here. I will call them for you but it will be done. This is your sister’s safety, Max. This isn’t about Mr. Benjamin. But if Mae isn’t safe, I can’t do my job.”
“He’s on his way. Let’s go before something else breaks,” said Millard as he handed my phone back to me.
“Millard, I’m sorry. If you want me to stay here, I can. I don’t have anything to do. You can come back and get me for the game.”
“And who will watch you while you’re here?” asked Elsu. “Especially now?”
I sighed. “See? This is what I’m talking about. Just let me be. I’m nothing but trouble!”
Elsu moved us away from the others in the apartment’s hallway to get a little privacy. “Please tell me you don’t want to break up because of Jeremy.”
The words ‘break up’ were the two most hurtful words I had ever heard, and I had heard some doozies. I shook my head and looked at the floor. “No, but I can’t be the girlfriend you’re looking for. I have too much baggage. What if this is Bart? If you got hurt because he or his brother were aiming at me I’d never be able to forgive myself. Plus, I’d be hunted down by an angry mob with pitchforks and torches for being the cause of the big basketball star’s demise. Do you want that for me?”
“No one is going to get hurt! That’s why Millard is here. That’s why your new bodyguard is coming Tuesday.”
