My Addiction: Second Chances Series

by S. K. Lessly

  Luckily, Terrence was smarter than he looked. When his crew, that betrayed him, took his unconscious body to the trunk of their car, the rest of his crew in hiding saw it and saved him. Allen, unfortunately, got away from them, but of course he didn’t go far.

  I will give it to Ayana; she seemed to have forgiven her brother for his idiotic ways. But you could tell she had changed when it came to him. I think he felt it too because he’d been keeping his distance from her. Take a guess how I know.

  Fine, I’ll tell you….I caught up with him one day and told him to stay away from her or I’d cut his dick off and make him eat it. Either way, I think he got the picture.

  I did ask for two members of his crew that betrayed him and he didn’t give them up. I’m sure he got his revenge on them or would soon.

  Looking at Ayana now, I could still see some of the sadness in her eyes. The shit she went through took a toll on her. It was evident, but, as I mentioned, my girl was strong. Only the people closest to her knew of her demons, and we let her know she’s not alone in fighting them either.

  I think she had a great idea teaching self-defense class and so did Hatch. Hatch Williams was ex-Army. He made it his mission in life to teach women how to protect themselves from any and all enemies they should encounter. He and I grew up together, and I knew his mom was a victim of domestic violence. Unfortunately, she lost her life because of it. Hatch made it his mission in life that if he could save at least one life, he was doing something good. I agreed with him and anytime I came across women that had been hurt in some way, I sent them his direction. He’s a great motivator and mentor so I knew, when Ayana said she worked with him in the past, she was in good hands.

  I’ve sat in a few of her classes, just to show some support, and to see what she was working with. One class, she actually sparred with Hatch, and I had to say I was impressed. That girl could kick some ass big time. Nevertheless, not all of the fighting and teaching could take the sadness and emptiness from her eyes. No, the only person that could was the very person I saw walk through the door.

  He nodded in my direction, then was suddenly pushed back by a flying Ayana. I never understood those two, but my brother told me I probably wouldn’t ever understand. I watched Brad smile and caress Ayana’s face as she held on tight to him. One thing I could say was those two had a love so deep nothing and no one could pull them apart. When they called me to ask for my blessings on them getting married in Vegas, I just told them to stop wasting my time… as if they would listen if I told them no.

  Brad had told me one day that Ayana had some kind of hold on him that he couldn’t control. I called him weak. I told him confidently that there was no way I’d ever let a woman get to me that way… not gonna…

  “Shit!” I barked.

  “God, I’m so sorry,” said someone, with the most heavenly voice I had ever heard.

  My arms instantly went around the person that collided into me. I looked down into a set of beautiful brown slanted eyes with just a hint of gold specks dancing in them. Her skin was smooth and buttery chocolate. I couldn’t stop looking at her. And her lips, the gloss on them was a trigger for all of the blood to go straight to my dick. Hell, I almost bent down and kissed her.

  This woman was doing something to me that I couldn’t begin to tell you. The top of her head stopped at my chin, the perfect height, and my hands went around a curved waist that I don’t want to admit felt good.

  I found my voice and cleared my throat. “No, that’s my fault.”

  She shook her head, ponytail swaying from side to side.

  “Oh no, really. I can be a klutz. I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going.”

  “Hey, Phoebe.”

  We both turned and found Ayana and Brad standing next to us. I then realized I still had this woman in my arms. She realized it too and was the first to back away. I frowned promptly from the feeling of loss I felt when she moved.

  This is bullshit.

  Ayana, grinning like a damn Cheshire cat said, “Are you leaving?”

  She looked at the woman.

  Phoebe, wasn’t it?

  Phoebe nodded at Ayana and smiled. She moved further back from me and said to Ayana, “Yes, I need to run a few errands before I head home. Great class. I just hope I can use what you’ve shown me.”

  Ayana moved slowly to touch her arm. I could see Phoebe flinch a little, but she didn’t move when Ayana touched her.

  “I know you will.” Ayana smiled and nodded. “Just keep coming to the classes. The more you come, I swear the more comfortable you will become. When I tell you it will become instinct, I’m not kidding.”

  Phoebe nodded and smiled. “I’m sure you’re right. Thanks. See you next week. It was good to see you, Dr. Mills.”

  “Please, Phoebe, call me Brad. And it was good to see you too.”

  Finally, those brown eyes came to me. I heard Ayana say, “This is my brother-in-law, Lock.”

  Her eyebrows burrowed. “Lock?”

  “Lockhart,” Ayana added, and I frowned at her. She knows how much I hate that name.

  “Lockhart Mills,” Phoebe repeated my name as if she was tasting something for the first time. “I like it!” she replied, smiling at me, and I swear my fucking heart stopped.

  “Take care guys.” Phoebe walked away, and I watched her as she moved. The grace and elegant way she walked entranced me. I blinked a few times.

  Did I just say entranced?

  “She’s beautiful, isn’t she?” I heard Ayana ask.

  I didn’t reply… I couldn’t.

  I can’t believe I fucking said entranced.

  I blinked a few times to gather myself, and instead of answering Ayana, I turned to where I saw Noelle’s last position and moved in her direction. I needed to get out of here.

  ********

  My cell started buzzing, and I tried to ignore it, but I couldn’t. It kept going off. When I looked at the screen, I saw it was Ayana.

  “Shit.”

  I sat up quickly and answered my phone. “What’s wrong?”

  “Lock, I’m sorry to wake you, but I really need your help.”

  I took a deep breath. “Okay, what’s up? Are you and Brad okay?”

  “Yes, we’re fine. It’s not us; it’s Phoebe. Do you remember her? She’s the woman you met earlier today.”

  Hearing the name instantly put me on edge. Ayana didn’t call at 4:00 in the morning asking for help. It’s never that simple. When she called, it’s something major. Hearing Phoebe’s name in the mix made me jump from my bed and grab my jeans.

  “Yeah, I remember. What’s going on?”

  “I don’t know. She called me frantic, telling me that the guy that attacked her before was back and she didn’t know what to do.”

  “Did you call 911?” I asked her, as I pulled a sweatshirt over my head.

  “Yes, Brad called. But Lock, she freaks out with men. She has a history that I can’t get into, but she needs a friendly face.”

  “And you think I can help?” I grabbed my keys and moved quickly down the steps out to my truck.

  “Lock, I saw you two together. Phoebe doesn’t like to be touched by anyone. I had to work up to just touching her on her arm and when I say it took a while, I’m not exaggerating. You held her in your arms, Lock, and she let you. So yes, you can help.”

  I took a deep breath. “Okay. Send me her address.”

  I looked at it on my phone and saw she was fifteen minutes away from me up Preston in Frisco.

  When I got to a subdivision filled with townhomes, I went straight to the townhouse that had three cop cars sitting in front of it and an ambulance idling in the middle of the street. I jumped out of the truck and went straight to the house, showing my badge as I moved. I didn’t answer any questions nor did I talk to anyone. My main goal was to find Phoebe.

  I heard her scream, and I raced up the steps to a room flooded with cops.

  “Move back,” I barked and held my badge up. I
barged my way into the room, noting a few faces I recognized. It didn’t matter if I knew these cops or not; if one of them got in my way; it would be a problem.

  The sight I saw before me brought my level of rage to an all-time high. Phoebe was crouched in the corner with her hair failing over her tear-streaked face, breathing erratically.

  I heard someone say next to me, “We’ve searched the house and found where someone broke in, but they’re long gone. We’re canvassing the area for anyone suspicious right now. We found a piece of mail with her name on it. Her name is uh, Phoebe Gates, twenty-nine years old, lives alone. No priors… a war vet…”

  My eyebrows rose to that bit of news, but I didn’t reply.

  The officer continued. “When we found her, she was there holding that huge knife and no one can get to her. The paramedics want to check her over, but they can’t get close.”

  I frowned and turned. “And what? You fucking idiots were just going to stand here looking at her until she tired herself out? Everyone get the fuck out! Paramedic too!”

  “But sir,” I heard someone reply and I added, “I’ll let you know when you can come in, and close the damn door behind you.”

  Damn idiots.

  When the door closed, I moved in her direction. I removed my gun, put it on the bed and I softly called her name. “Phoebe, it’s me, Lock. Do you remember me from Hatch’s?”

  No response.

  “Ayana and Brad called me saying that you had a break in by someone that attacked you before. Do you want to tell me about it?”

  Nothing.

  I was lost at this point. This, being sympathetic, wasn’t my strong suit. I had to think of something else. She was rocking and shaking uncontrollably and she could easily go into shock. I got down on my hands and knees and moved to her, keeping my eyes steady on hers. At first, she looked blankly at me. Then finally, as if a switch went off, her eyes focused on me.

  “Hey, beautiful,” I said softly, and I don’t know if it was my voice or my words, but she dropped the knife and crawled to me. I didn’t move. I let her come to me. When she got to me, she wrapped her arms around my neck and buried her head under my chin.

  I didn’t think about anything Ayana said about her not liking to be touched. I wrapped her tightly in my arms and held her close to me. “Everything is going to be okay. I’ve got you. I won’t let anything happen to you again. Okay, baby?… I promise you that.”

  “Second chances are only for those who are not afraid to try again.”

  My Retribution

  (Second Chance Series)

  Coming Winter/Spring 2015-16…

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