by C. M. Steele
Chapter 13
Selene
Devlin and I had lived together for the past month and things were perfect. A little too perfect. I waited for the other shoe to drop. And it did.
For March it was unseasonably warm and the perfect day to get more clothes. His mother and I went shopping downtown while our men were at work. We were on Michigan Avenue when I spotted a woman I recognized. I wouldn’t have even noticed her if she wasn’t staring me down. A feeling of absolute dread ran through me. She may hate me, but I hadn’t been afraid of her before and I wasn’t now. I wondered how this was going to end up. Her eyes narrowed and her face hardened.
“Mrs. Jacobs, let’s go this way,” I said, turning to go across the street. I was tempted to tell Reggie that we needed to go. Then again, she could just be giving me a mean look. I tightened the belt on my spring pea coat and straightened my spine.
“Why when the store we need is right there?” she asked. Before I could change her mind the woman, whose name I couldn’t remember, approached.
“You’re a dead woman. You ruined my life and I’m going to make sure you pay for it.”
“Excuse me, but who are you?” I asked her with a shit load of condescension. I didn’t remember her name, just her bitchy face.
“Bitch, you’re the whore who stole Devlin, cost me my job, and had the nerve to still be alive.”
“Excuse me?” I got closer to her, thinking I’d like to mop the floor with her.
“I read about what happened at the school where you worked. Oh well, it’s a good thing I come from a wealthy family. Ken was so grateful I was able to get him out on bail.” She tapped my nose like she was being sweetly playful, and I wanted to kill her. Before I could punch her, Reggie came in between us.
“If you don’t want to disappear, I suggest you walk away right now,” Reggie told her.
“Fine, I always get my way.” I rolled my eyes as she walked away. “And I will in time.” I should have nudged Reggie’s giant ass to the side and punched her in the face. It was too late now, and my mood had definitely been ruined.
“I don’t feel like shopping anymore.” I rubbed my nose. In the cold it got irritated easily and that bitch putting her nasty gloved hand on me only made it worse.
“I agree. With Matthews out, it’s not safe until we know where he is,” Reggie uttered. Mrs. Jacobs grabbed my hand and we walked to the car which Drake, the guy I saw in the garage the first time, was driving.
Once we were in, I felt rage warm over me and I started to shake. “I just want to go home please.”
My phone rang, and unsteadily I pulled it from my coat pocket. I breathed a sigh of relief to see it was Devlin. “Hey, babe. Are you okay?” I could hear the worry in his voice. He knew something was wrong.
“Yes, we’re on our way to the house. How did you find out so fast?”
“The police called to warn me he’d been let out on bail, and I told them I would tell you. They called you anyway?” he asked. He was pissed. I guess he wanted to break the news to me himself.
“Nope. I ran into…” I started to say but he cut me off.
“That bastard came near you?” he roared. I could hear him slam his hand down on his desk.
“Dev, it wasn’t him. That broad from the museum did. She claimed she bailed him out. She wants me dead.”
“Miss Kennedy? Why? Does she know him?” he asked rapidly, not bothering to take a breath.
I looked out the window, trying to keep from crying. I wanted him to be here holding me right now. Why had I become so needy and dependent on Devlin? And why didn’t it bother me like it should have? “She read about the case and decided it would be payback for losing her job. She’s hoping he gets me this time.” His mom squeezed my hand. I choked up a little at her kindness. I brought all this trouble into their world, yet they still supported me. They shouldn’t want their son anywhere this kind of mess.
“Go back to the condo. I’ll be on my way, but first I need the police. I love you, Selene. I won’t let them come near you again.”
“I love you, too.” I hung up the phone and tucked it in my pocket before I called him back. It drove me nuts to be away from him. He had to work, and I thought hanging out with his mom today would have been fun.
The condo wasn’t too far, so it wasn’t long before we got there. We went through the parking garage to keep the chances of an attack to a minimum.
I took off my coat and hung it in the closet. Mrs. Jacobs did the same with hers. I had an eerie feeling this wasn’t the end of it. My nose felt irritated still. Goodness, I could feel a headache coming on.
Reggie cleared the apartment and Dev’s mom and I went into the kitchen to make some coffee. I reached for the coffee mugs and felt the room spin, dropping the mug onto the floor. Hearing it shatter, his mom hurried to my side. “You need to calm down, Selene,” she said, helping me to a chair after seeing that I was lightheaded. “Sit there. I’ll clean this up.” She patted my shoulder, then swept up the broken ceramic.
I considered all the things that had already happened and what could still if I stayed. Ken wasn’t going to stop and now he had help. I felt like I was in an untenable situation.
“I should just leave. If I’m gone he’ll leave Devlin alone,” I muttered to myself, feeling hopeless and sad. I didn’t want to leave him, but I also wanted him to be safe.
“The hell you are,” Devlin roared. Stunned, I turned to see him standing in the kitchen looking down at me. “Mom, Dad is waiting at the elevator to take you home. Thank you for everything, but it seems I was right about what would happen.”
Chapter 14
Devlin
“Be nice, Devlin. She’s just thinking about you,” my mother said, giving me a hug. I knew that, but it didn’t mean I was going to let her go.
“Stay safe, Mom.” I gave her a kiss on the cheek before I stalked over to my woman. As soon as I heard the elevators ping, I bent down, then picked up my woman, and placed her on the table.
“Listen to me, Selene. You’re not leaving me. Do you get that? We’re in this together. If I have to bury that fucker I will.”
“Dev, it’s just…”
“Don’t. I don’t want to hear it. I’m so tempted to tie you to our bed if you keep this shit up. Do you love me?”
“Of course I do and that’s why it’s best if I leave.”
“I swear if you say you’re leaving again, I’m going to bend you over and spank your ass. You think that is going to make things better? I’ll find you and bring you back. That piece of shit will be dealt with; trust me on that.” She started to cry in her hands. I couldn’t stand that at all.
I picked up my phone and dialed Reg. “Hey, do you have a handle on where he is?”
“Yes, he was just picked up by the police. The fuck was standing outside your building. We had him arrested and we’re going through the footage to see if he did more than just stand here.” I could hear the frustration. Today had been one serious fucking screw up after another. They let that asshole go, and didn’t bother to tell us he’d been released yesterday.
“Good. Keep me informed, but I don’t want to be bothered unless necessary.” I ended the call and tossed the phone on the table.
“He’s been arrested again,” I told her, smiling into her beautiful blues. They were a little glossy. I wondered if it was from the tears or the cold outside.
“Really?” she asked.
“Yes, he was outside the building, and they picked him up.” The police sent someone as soon as he was released. Apparently, this fucker thought he was invincible. What he didn’t understand was that he fucked with the wrong person. I’d do anything to protect Selene.
“He was outside?” she gasped out, clasping her hand to her mouth.
“Yes, and now he’s in jail. They won’t let him out again. He violated the terms of his bail.” She leaned forward, resting her head on my chest. I closed my arms around her, feeling her body shake as she cried.
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I tried to calm her down. “Babe, he’s not going to come anywhere near you and if he does, he’ll be dead. My men are armed guards for a reason. Reggie seems like a nice, sweet guy, but he’s as deadly as they come.”
“I’m sorry. I don’t want to leave you, ever,” she sobbed.
I pulled her upper body off my chest so I could look in to her eyes. “Good, because you’re not. We’re getting married and having at least five little versions of us to drive us crazy. And most of all I’m going to fuck you every which way from Sunday until we’re too old to move. Understood?”
“Dev,” she whined, her expression flat and almost vacant all of a sudden.
“You need more clarification?”
“No,” she mumbled, her eyes rolling back into her head. Fuck.
“Baby? Selene, wake up.” I rushed her from the kitchen straight to the elevator, hitting redial on my phone. “Reggie, I need to get Selene to the hospital now.”
We got downstairs with her groggily mumbling something I couldn’t make out. Reggie handed me a bottle of water after I loaded us in the back of the SUV. He sped out towards Northwestern. I needed her to be okay. She managed to get a few sips of water in before we got there.
The team of doctors rushed her in and started to examine her. I sat there while she was being fitted with an IV and everything. After they settled her and pulled some blood they let her rest with monitoring devices on her.
I ran my hands through my hair and paced in that small place. Hours passed, and they were still trying to work on her. She was breathing with tubes in her nose and hooked up to ten monitors. My parents showed up about twenty minutes after we got here, but they weren’t allowed in the ER room. What could be wrong with her? I thought of a million things. Maybe she didn’t eat today and the stress got to her.
“Hello, Mr. Jacobs,” the doctor said, “This is Detective Torres, he needs to ask you some questions.” What the hell could he want? The detectives already assigned to her case are the ones that should be here. Not some guy who wasn’t aware of the situation.
“I’m not leaving her,” I warned the fucker. Right now, I wasn’t feeling generous enough to be polite to anyone. All I wanted was my Selene to come back to me. Nothing and I mean nothing took precedent over that.
“Please, just step into the hallway here.” He looked at me like this was a step away from getting arrested. If he had any information on what was going on I wanted to know, so I agreed and followed them outside her room. “We have to ask, does Miss West do drugs?”
I scrunched up my face, wondering what the hell they were talking about. “No, of course not. Why would you ask something that fucked up?” My pain and frustration had morphed into anger.
“She had a potent amount of an opioid in her system.”
“She wouldn’t take drugs. I’m sure of it. We don’t even have any meds more than the over the counter stuff.”
“Then, there’s really only one other option. She must have been poisoned.
“Poisoned?” I turned to look at her in the room, and for the first time in my adult life I cried. “What the hell do you mean poisoned? She couldn’t have been.”
“Sir, she had a recent dose of a strong drug. It’s a part of the opioid family,” the doctor added, holding Selene’s chart in his hands.
“I’m going to call my mother over here. She was with her since I left this morning. They went shopping together.”
“We’ll bring her in,” the doctor said before walking away.
“I’m telling you, I see her almost all day. She doesn’t even leave the house most days. Today was a nice one and we thought her crazy murderous stalker was locked up.”
“Stalker?”
“Yes, I need to call the detective on the case. Something doesn’t seem right about this at all.” What did Ken do that he was standing outside my building? Was he waiting to see ambulances arrive?
“Devlin.”
“Son,” my dad added. “What’s going on?”
“Mom, what happened today with Selene?”
“Nothing really. We were shopping and everything was wonderful until we ran into that woman who worked at the museum. She threatened Selene.”
“Mrs. Jacobs, I’m Selene’s doctor, Dr. Meadows. Did she touch Selene’s skin at all?”
“Yes, actually she did. We thought she was trying to be a snotty twat, but she tapped Selene’s like this.” She then demonstrated the tap on me. It was almost patronizing, or something you would do playfully with a child. “Selene was about to hit her when Reggie got in the way.”
“Goodness, that’s more than likely what it was. Nurse, come here. I need you do to a swab of Miss West’s nasal hoses and the tip of her nose. If any of the chemical shows up that’s how it was done.”
“What do you mean?”
“People are learning new ways to do messed up shit,” the detective said, typing this stuff into his phone. “They have been informing the public to wipe down shopping carts and things like that because users are leaving chemical trails on them and it has been sending people to the hospital. We have at least two deaths because of it in the city.”
“What about Selene? I just want her to make it.”
“She will. We’ve already started treating her for the drug overdose. We’ve become very aware of the epidemic and we tend to look out for opioid ODs on our screenings. She’s going to be just fine after a few days of treatment and rest.”
“Who did this?” I informed him of the woman from the museum. Just as I was finished breaking it all down, the detectives on the case came in.
“Sorry about the delay in getting here. Matthews isn’t getting out. He gloated about this attack on her. It was a set up. She was followed after leaving the condo.”
“Damn it,” I roared. I wanted to fire my staff for not noticing, but we thought Matthews was in jail. “I need to see Selene.” I went in the room and sat beside her bed. My heart had cracked into pieces when she passed out. I had no idea I was losing her. Holding her hand in mine, I told her how much I loved her, and that I couldn’t wait for her to get better.
“Dev, I love you.” A faint whisper escaped her lips. The nurse that was switching IVs smiled lightly and tipped her head. I returned it and the small gesture.
“I’ll let the doctor know she’s awake.”
“Thank you,” I mouthed before returning all my attention to Selene. I felt a weight fall off my shoulders, knowing she was going to be all right.
Chapter 15
Selene
Another month slipped by as I recovered. Both Kennedy and Ken were charged after he blabbed about their latest attack on my life. Ken pled guilty to all the charges after being confronted with the overwhelming evidence. He was due for sentencing next week. Kennedy on the other hand, pled not guilty. Even though the proof quickly mounted against her. The DA’s office and her lawyer agreed on a speedy trial. It would be held in July and that was when we’d need to make an appearance. Forensically, she was sunk. The place she confronted me at had video surveillance, and the incident was caught on camera. She should have pled guilty, so fuck her.
One other revelation came from that near-death experience. Devlin had done his job and I was two weeks pregnant. Thankfully, the damage to my system hadn’t caused me to lose the baby, but my doctors will be monitoring the pregnancy closely.
“Hey, beautiful.” Devlin walked into the room, looking like a million bucks. “Why are you hiding in here?” he asked, stepping up behind me in our bathroom.
“Um…I got a little nauseous and came in here just in case.”
“I’m sorry, babe. I told him to behave on our wedding day, but I guess the baby doesn’t have ears yet,” he murmured against mine, while rubbing my tiny bump that wasn’t even noticeable unless I was naked.
“I guess so, but I’m fine,” I said, spinning around in his arms I looked up at my handsome husband and kissed his scruffy chin. I liked the new look. It happened while I was in the h
ospital and he refused to leave my side. Now, I don’t want him to lose it. I find it so sexy and he knows it.
“That you are,” he growled, sliding his hands over my ass, then squeezing.
“Let’s get back to our guests.” We had his family and some of his friends as well as a few of my teacher friends come for a small reception in the condo. We got married in city hall because it was just easier. With everything going on I didn’t feel like planning a big wedding. My mother-in-law threw this party together in a hurry and it was fabulous.
“Yes, the sooner we get rid of them, the sooner I’ll have you naked in bed, celebrating.” He jerked his hips forward and pulled my body harder into his, and I could feel how eager he was to celebrate. I can’t blame him either. I was so horny, my face had been flushed all night.
“How about you bend me over and take me hard and fast right here?” I offered, tossing up a cheeky smirk.
“No need to turn around,” he said. My reception dress only went to my knees and flared out. He lifted me onto the bathroom counter, then kissed me hard before dropping down between my legs. “I want to taste my wife first.” He tossed the dress over my waist and pushed my panties to the side. His tongue hit my pussy just as his finger slipped inside. I couldn’t hold onto the building moan that came from deep down. The man had my body vibrating. I braced my hands on the edge of the sink as I pumped my pussy into his face.
“Yes, Dev. Oh, shit I’m about to come,” I cried out. He stood, but left one hand playing with my clit as he undid his pants. I felt his tip glide against my core, testing me. I shivered with my orgasm on the brink and he slammed into me. He reached around and held my hands behind my back while driving into me. I tossed my head back, absorbing the pleasurable position. His mouth came down onto my neck, kissing and licking. With every stroke inside me, I clenched around his massive cock. His lips slid up to my pulse, then my jaw before finally pulling a kiss from my lips. I came undone, my hips pumping forward as my orgasm milked his.
“Fuck, that was intense,” he breathed out on my cheek. Holy hell, it most definitely was. I couldn’t even catch my breath enough to respond. I gave him a nod and leaned forward onto his shoulder.
