by J. L. Beck
“Whatever, just so long as you don’t go missing this weekend. My birthday party is on Saturday, and you better be there.” Her tone was slightly annoyed, and I knew how pissed she would be if I missed her party this weekend. She would probably be the very reason I went missing.
“I’ll be there,” I said frankly. My gaze lingered to the clock on the wall. It was a little after two. I had to be to work at three, and I still needed to tame my hair. It was time to end this conversation, and get moving.
“You better be. I’ve got tequila and vodka shots with both of our names on them.” Great. Two of my worst enemies…
“I have to go, Car, I’ll be there,” I said hanging up, not even giving her another chance to mutter about missing her birthday party. If I let her, she would go all damn day. Pushing her griping to the back of my mind, I got up and put on a pair of jeans and my employee t-shirt.
Once dressed, I headed toward the small bathroom. All it contained was a small shower, toilet, and sink. The mirror was smashed and cracked in places. This place could technically be considered a crack house, but it served its purpose. I had nowhere else to go, so this place had to do. After all, it was all I could afford and still manage to save money.
Grabbing the brush from the counter sink, I ran it through my thick locks. My hair was still that same dull red-brown it had always been and my eyes were still the same crystal blue that so many used to love. Back before everyone moved away and started their own lives.
The only thing that had really changed was my body. Yeah, I had grown an inch or two, but the real change was my weight gain. It gave me the curves I had always dreamed of having. My chest grew two whole cup sizes, and my ass learned just what bootilicious meant.
Looking at my reflection in the mirror, my eyes zeroed in on the deep brown, red specks that marred my nose and cheekbones.
“I hate my freckles…” I complained to Devon only for him to lay a soft kiss against one. “Don’t hate them, Teg. Just think of them as angel kisses. You have been kissed by an angel.”
Yeah, little did he know, he was my angel.
They reminded me of Devon, and because of that fact alone, I hated them. Therefore, I used concealer to hide them. To cover up the past, as if it would make it easier for me to look in the mirror every day.
Brushing on some makeup and eyeliner, I finished my look just in time to head out the door. Work was a sprint down the road, so I knew I wouldn’t be late, and even if I were late, Tony wouldn’t care.
Grabbing my phone and apron, I shut and locked the front door and headed down the steps. I didn’t want to be busting my ass down at the diner. No, I wanted to be taking classes at the local college, busting my ass on a degree that would get me out of this town and somewhere new. First, I had to get rid of the people who were breathing down my neck.
In less than five minutes, I was at the diner, ready for my shift—even if I wasn’t in the mood to be here. As I came through the back door of the restaurant, I realized something was wrong. It could’ve been the nauseating feeling in my belly or simply an intuition telling me something was going on, but I just knew something wasn’t right.
I slipped through the back door unnoticed, and then I heard yelling, except it wasn’t English. Oh, no, it definitely wasn’t—it was Italian or at least it sounded like it. Could’ve been any language for all I knew, but it most definitely wasn’t English.
“Come ti permetti, Dan.” A female voice filled with anger met my ears. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but there was anger in her words.
“Oh, stop it, Angela.”
Oh, shit. These were Tony’s parents… What the hell was going on? I decided to make my presence known not wanting to eavesdrop any further on their conversation. As I walked through the kitchen, I kept my face down, not even looking at them. I didn’t want them to assume I had heard them.
“You didn’t have to come in today,” Tony said out of breath as he met me behind the counter just as I was stuffing my things underneath it.
“Why wouldn’t I come in today? I’m scheduled to work. I was scheduled to work, right?” I had done worse things like forget my keys…
“Yeah, you are, but…” Tony’s eyes scanned the diner, and then he gripped me by the arm pulling me to the nearest corner. His hold was firm, which in turn caused me to wince out in pain.
His eyes lingered on mine before glancing down at my arm. His fingertips lined up with the marks from Liam against my skin. Anxiety showed deep within him, once his eyes met mine again.
“Maybe you should go home. You know we don’t just serve coffee here, and I know something is going down here tonight.” My mouth about fell open. Hell, I suspected they did more than serve the daily special. I just didn’t realize it was that obvious.
“Umm…” I stumbled over my words. What could I even say to that?
“Don’t pretend like you don’t know.” He smirked.
“I mean, I thought... maybe, but that doesn’t mean I wanted to make it obvious, and it doesn’t mean I want anything to do with it,” I scolded him. I knew how people like him were. Jamie was the same way. They told you what they were doing was okay and it wouldn’t change them. They lied. It always changed them.
“I’ll let you work until five, but then you’re out.” He decided, his voice never wavering. I smiled, happy that I would at least get a little bit of money.
Eventually, his parents left, and the day seemed to move along well. The diner was quiet and even some of the customers were nice. It was a little before five when I started cleaning one of the booths out.
I heard the opening of a car door and the slamming of another. All I could focus on was getting the salt that was stuck to the table off. Once I wiped everything down, I picked the bucket of water up and turned to greet whoever it was who had come in.
The breath of air I had just taken stopped in my chest as my eyes lingered on a man I hadn’t seen in years. My chest constricted as I forced the breath down and another into it.
A splintered feeling zinged through me as every single shred of hope fell from me. The bucket slipped from my hands and his striking green eyes stayed trained on mine, even as the water splashed onto both of us.
His face still looked as beautiful as it had on the day he left. His chin was held high, a light dusting of stubble marring his chin. He looked rugged, dangerous, and the surprise that was showing in his eyes told me he hadn’t a clue I was still in this town.
His body was built just as I knew it would be. Toned and firm in all the right places. Looking at him now I could see there was an edge to him. Except this edge was a different kind of edge. So different like if you got too close, he would cut you with it.
With my vocal cords lodged in my stomach, I did the only thing I could. I ran. I ran as far and as fast as I could. As I took my first step, the memories overwhelmed me…
“I promise I’ll love you forever…”
“You’re my home, Tegan. It’s always been you, and it will forever be you. Do you understand me?”
I shook my head forcing the memories away. Just like a dam under extreme pressure, I cracked straight down the middle. My chest heaved as tears stained my cheeks. Pushing through the back door, I fell to the concrete, the pain of my knees scraping against the ground a welcoming feeling. At least if I felt the pain somewhere else, I wouldn’t feel it in my chest.
Who knows how long I sat there crying. The alleyway was quiet, and as time slowed down, I realized I wasn’t going to let him being here stop me from continuing on with my life. With the last drop of courage, I walked back into the diner, making sure there weren’t any fresh tears against my cheeks. I couldn’t let him see the evidence of his betrayal.
“You okay, Tegan?” Tony asked me as I passed the grill to go into the front of the diner. I nodded keeping my head down. I needed to get out of here and fast. The second I made it past him, I ran to the spot I kept my belongings only to realize they were missing.
“Loo
king for these?” Liam’s voice hit my ears causing a shiver of fear to run through me.
“Tony!” I yelled, scrambling back until my body ran into the counter that was behind me. This time he wasn’t alone. No, now he had more men with him. Most of them were dressed in similar attire, their eyes void of emotion. They didn’t care, you could see it in the way they stood.
“What the hell is the problem—” Tony came charging out of the kitchen only to stop a few feet next to me before positioning me behind him. I would like to say it made me feel safer, but it didn’t. If these men wanted something, they would take it.
“The problem is, the girl owes someone we know a lot of money, and it seems her payments aren’t coming in fast enough. We are hired help, and we plan to take out anyone who gives our employer troubles.”
Terror was wreaking havoc on my body. I had been working my tail off, bussing tables every day and saving every penny I could. There wasn’t anything else I could do.
“It isn’t even my debt. I’m doing everything I can.” My voice cracked with every single word I spoke. The men’s facial expressions didn’t change, and Liam, their leader, stood staring at me like I was the dirt under his shoe.
“Well, I’m assuming that means you don’t have the money, so I suppose I should take care of the problem.” In an instant, a gun was pointed at me.
Then something strange happened. Time stood still as I peered at the man over Tony’s shoulder.
Devon, the man who had broken my heart and shattered me into a million pieces. The man who had led me down a dark and dangerous road stood from his seat and let a round go off from his gun. A gun I wasn’t aware he had in his possession. Bullets were flying, and in an instant, I was shoved to the ground, Tony’s hard body covering mine.
“Stay down here, and if they shoot me, run for the back door, and whatever you do, don’t stop running,” he whispered in my ear as bullets zoomed above us. I heard shouts, yelling, and my own heartbeat pounding in my ears.
Tony shifted pulling something from his own back.
A gun.
Sitting up, he shot off a round. I could hear glass breaking and someone yelling to get out. As if a warning to myself, I obeyed the order crawling across the floor, small pieces of glass piercing my hands and knees. The cuts were small, and just as I had made it into the kitchen, I heard the gunfire stop.
Streaks of blood showed on my skin as I ran to the back of the alley and hid behind one of the garbage cans, praying for anything short of a miracle.
Attempting to calm my breaths, I closed my eyes. It was the biggest mistake of my life. The sound of the back door opening caused them to pop right back open and for my survival skills to kick in. In a second, I was running from my hiding spot and straight down the alleyway. My heart was in my stomach, and I knew at any second I would die.
“Jesus fucking Christ.” A deep voice soaked me to the bone. I knew that voice. Its deep warmth used to cause happiness to radiate out of every pore of my body. Now it just made me want to cry.
My steps slowed from a run to a slow walk as the thought of fleeing left my mind. Was I giving up? Before I was even given the chance to answer my own question, he was on me. My back was pushed against a wall and I was cornered, all air shoved from my chest.
My eyes went straight to his face, closing in on the irritation steaming from within him. Was he going to hurt me? Hit me? Why was he here? Had he changed so much that he was against helping others? Would he take me back to them?
“Why are you running? I’m not the bad guy, Tegan.”
My name.
He said my name.
My heart plummeted, and my knees went weak.
My name on his lips, his lips on mine. The smell of rain and sunshine. The feeling of grass beneath our toes and sand in our hands. A part of me had been waiting years for him to say my name again, but never under these circumstances did I think it possible.
“Hey, are you okay….” I heard his voice but couldn’t respond. I had no voice. I had nothing to say.
“Tegan?” He sounded concerned, but I couldn’t tell… Did he even care…?
“Oh, fuck… You’re going into shock…”
Shock? No, I was pretty sure it was Devon Mitchell Syndrome I was going into, and this time, there would be no coming back from it.
Chapter Seven
Devon
“Fuck.” The word expelled from my lips without hesitation. Tegan had passed out on me. My body was the only thing holding her from face diving into the concrete. Could this get any fucking worse?
She was soft in all the right places, and as I adjusted her so I could get an arm under her legs and an arm under her back, I noticed the way she felt in my arms. Perfect.
My eyes glided over her arms and down to her hands. I could feel my blood boiling as I took in the bruises on her forearms and wrists. Who had done this to her? I could hardly breathe… Rage was about to overtake me.
Concentrate. Calm down. Concentrate.
Forcing myself to look elsewhere, I moved up to her face.
Long gone was the rage, easily replaced by passion. From the way her eyelashes fell against her cheeks to the small sigh that fell from her soft as fuck lips, I couldn’t pull my eyes from her face. It was then I took in the small dusting of freckles that looked barely there across the bridge of her nose.
The longer I focused on them the more I noticed how less of them appeared. Maybe it was the time and distance between us or maybe it was just my mind playing tricks on me. I had always noticed her freckles. It was just something that made her who she was. Looking at them now, I could hardly tell they were there.
I needed to stop.
I needed to take her back to the diner and give her to whoever it was that was in charge. I told myself I needed to do it, but for some reason, my feet wouldn’t move. It was then I knew shit had just got complicated.
Tegan had somehow found herself in danger. Even after everything I had done to make certain she would never find herself in this type of situation. She had somehow managed to weasel her way into one anyway. Leaving her behind and the lengths I had gone through to protect her meant absolutely nothing now.
There was no letting her go now. Witness protection was our only option. However, since I wasn’t supposed to be working, that meant she would be stuck with me. Or someone—no, me—until I could figure out something to do.
As I continued to stare at her face, it made me realize just how beautiful she was. Her beauty hadn’t changed an ounce since the day I left her.
That only made me think further into what it was that she had done wrong. The man in the suit said something about a debt. Had she borrowed money? Did she have a gambling problem? Was she on drugs? If she headed down a dark road, I would do nothing but blame myself. Hell, I already blamed myself.
“Hey! Bring her back here!” My eyes lifted from her face and rested on the man the voice belonged to—was he her boyfriend? He had protected her, stepped in front of her. Maybe I should just leave her here…
“Who are you to her?” I asked, trying to hide any and all jealously. After all, this was technically FBI regulations, meaning I had to keep it all impersonal. Except with Tegan. I was getting anything but impersonal with her.
The man looked bewildered as my grip on Tegan grew tighter. There was no way I was giving her over to this man.
“I’m her boss, who are you?” He questioned right back. Okay, so he wasn’t her boyfriend, but from the look in his eyes, I knew he wanted to be. For some reason, though, I hadn’t had a fucking claim to this beauty. However, it caused a fire to stir deep in my soul.
“I’m D,” I half-lied, giving him my first initial. There was no way this slime ball was getting my full name, and I most definitely wasn’t going to give away that I was FBI. He and whatever fucking operation he was running through here would run for the hills.
Looking at me sideways, his eyes lingered over Tegan. He looked as if he was assessing her for woun
ds, as if I would hurt her. That only seemed to make me angrier. My blood was boiling as I held her securely against my chest.
“Give her to me. She doesn’t know you and neither do I.” His voice was full of uneasiness as if I were the one who had just walked into the diner, shooting the hell out of people. I knew the moment the man in the suit pointed his gun at Tegan I would have to open fire on all their asses. It worked, but only slightly, most of the men got away. A few were shot, their blood smeared across the floor of the diner. Unfortunately, they all made it back to the car. They were driving off just as I was running out the back door to get Tegan.
“Nah. I’m going to take her home, make sure she gets where she needs to be safely,” I lied. In reality, I was going to take her back to my cabin and lose my fucking mind. Then figure out where to go from there. See, it wasn’t his business though.
“I don’t think that’s a very good—”
“You don’t want to know what I think right now. All I’m going to tell you is if you want her working for you, you best make sure no more men come into your diner shooting at your employees, because if she gets hurt, if a piece of her auburn hair is even out of place for one fucking second, I will kill you and anyone who hurt her with my bare hands. Understand?” As if he were shocked by what I had said, he nodded his head turning around and heading back toward the restaurant.
What the fuck did I just say? Better yet, did I mean it? Something was stirring deep within my chest, and the more I stared at her beautiful face, the more it reminded me of a time when we were happy, a time when we were all I could ever think about.
Turning around, I headed back toward my car with Tegan in my arms. About half way there, a moan resonated from within her… drawing me from my own thoughts. I needed to get her in the car before she woke up because I knew if that happened, there would be no getting her where I needed her to be.
