Garrett (Dark Water Security Book 2)

by Madison Quinn

  “This room will be set up as a security office next week,” he explains as we walk into a spare bedroom. “Mr. Meyer was supposed to arrange for a desk, table and computer equipment to be delivered and set up last week. I’ll follow up with him tomorrow—”

  “I said count you little SLUT!” Mr. Meyer loudly demands from somewhere upstairs.

  “One, sir,” a female voice responds without hesitation.

  “You’re a dirty little slut, aren’t you?”

  “Yes, sir,” the woman moans. “Two, sir.”

  “Say it.”

  “I’m a dirty little slut.”

  “I’m going to gag you and then fuck you hard like you deserve. You’re not to come, you haven’t earned that privilege tonight. This is for my pleasure only, understand?”

  “Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.”

  “Shut the fuck up.” I hear what I can only assume is a slap across her skin before her voice is muffled.

  Through the subsequent moans and sounds of obvious passion, Garrett continues to work on the camera angles. How he can sit here and tune it all out is beyond me. I really wish I was back in our apartment right now. There are just certain things about my boss I don’t need to know. Finally after what feels like hours later, Garrett announces he’s finished and we can head back to the apartment.

  “Well that was something,” he groans the moment our door closes.

  “It was something, alright,” I laugh.

  “Have you heard him involved in a scene before?”

  “I’m not sure what a scene is, but last weekend he walked into the kitchen with a woman on a leash who was practically naked.”

  “That would be a scene.”

  “I had gone into the pantry to check on a few items and he walked in the kitchen as if it was perfectly normal to be leading someone around by a leash. I dropped my list on the floor and left the apartment for the rest of the day.”

  “Not something you expect to hear or see from your new boss.” He chuckles.

  “No, not at all.”

  Chapter 6

  Hope

  “How was your week?” I ask Garrett as I sit down with him at the kitchen table. Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve developed a routine where we tend to eat breakfast and dinner together. It still surprises me how comfortable we’ve become over the short time he’s been here.

  “Boring.” He twirls a forkful of spaghetti, pausing to answer my question. “The only good thing is I’ve nearly completed all the assignments for my classes for mid-terms with all the down time I have while Mr. Meyer’s working. Other than occasional meetings off-site, I don’t really have much to do. I’ve already met with his building security staff and made a few recommendations of upgrades that should be made. I’ve requested Mr. Meyer provide the names of his weekend guests before they arrive so I can have a background check run on them, but he’s hesitant to do so.”

  “Really? Why? Wouldn’t he want to know if they’re a threat?” I ask surprised.

  “He doesn’t see them as a threat, I guess. But these are women he meets at a club and he thinks a signed confidentiality agreement is enough. He’s not considering them a threat, even though they very well could be.”

  “You would think for a man who is so successful in the business industry that he would be less trusting,” I point out.

  “One would think,” he takes another forkful. “He’ll probably mention something to you on Monday, but it looks like we’ll be traveling early next week for a couple of days.”

  “Oh?” I immediately look up. I’ve only been working here for a few months, but until now he’s never been gone overnight.

  “Something about a business he wants to go look at. We should only be gone overnight but I’ll have a better idea of our schedule on Monday once his assistant confirms the meetings.”

  “Thanks for letting me know.”

  Like most nights, Garrett helps me clean up from the dinner before we settle on the couch to watch a movie. It’s kind of funny that what was routine with me and Abby has quickly become routine with me and Garrett. I don’t really know how it started, but sitting together in the living room and watching television has become a nightly occurrence for us.

  “I think I’m going to head to bed,” I yawn and fold up the throw blanket I had been using.

  “Already?” he glances at his phone checking the time.

  “Yeah, I’m tired,” I admit. “I didn’t sleep the greatest last night.”

  “Oh, okay. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  “Night.” I head down the hall to my bedroom, no longer feeling the need to remind him to lock the door between the living areas. It’s been comforting having him here, knowing that he’ll keep me safe. After a quick shower, I change into my pajamas and crawl into bed. I fall asleep the moment my head hits the pillow, not a surprise after so many nights of broken sleep.

  I scream, falling to the ground. My knees hit the hard, cold concrete sidewalk. A man grabs my arm, pulling me into a dark alley. I scream as loud as I possibly can, hoping that someone will hear me and come help. He pushes me against the hard brick wall, my head bouncing off it as he tears my purse from my arm. His grip tightens around my throat again, and this time he doesn’t let go. Just before I’m about to pass out, I feel an unimaginable pain and the world goes black.

  I wake up sweating, shaking, and with tears falling down my face. I bring my knees to my chest, rocking back and forth as I remind myself that I’m safe. I use the bathroom, splash cold water on my face, and change into a pair of workout clothes. I grab a bottle of water from the fridge before turning to head down to the gym once again.

  A gut wrenching male scream coming from the other side of the apartment stops me dead in my tracks. I pause, waiting to see if I hear it again or if perhaps it was coming from Mr. Meyer’s living area. A few seconds later, another scream comes this one obviously from Garrett’s room. I grab a knife from the block on the counter and rush towards his bedroom, not sure exactly what I’m going to find. I don’t hesitate, throwing the door open fully expecting to see him engaging in a fight with someone. Instead the sight before me nearly brings me to my knees. Garrett is tossing and turning in his bed, tangled in his blankets as his face twitches with pain all while he’s fast asleep.

  “Garrett! GARRETT!!!” I call his name several times with no response.

  I don’t know what to do. I try reaching out to him, but the moment I touch him, he flinches as if I’m the one causing him pain. My heart breaks at whatever he’s going through, I put the knife on his dresser and kick off my shoes before sitting on the bed next to him. I continue to call his name, but he doesn’t respond. He’s no longer screaming, though he doesn’t stop thrashing around in the bed.

  Suddenly he turns on his side and brings his knees up as if he’s trying to curl into a ball. Instinct begs me to do something, to find a way to end his pain even though I don’t know what’s causing it. I gently lean back, placing my arm on his and whisper in his ear that everything is going to be okay. The groans begin to become less frequent. I rest my head on the pillows next to him and gently rub his back as I continue to assure him that he’s safe. I have no idea if he can hear me, but I can only hope that something I’m doing is helping.

  He doesn’t wake up, but eventually his breathing evens out and he seems to fall back into a deep sleep. I lay next to him for some time, continuing to rub his back even as he sleeps soundly next to me. I can’t help but wonder what his nightmare was about. Did he watch a scary movie after I went to sleep? Did something happen when he was younger? Did something happen in the Marines? The irony isn’t lost though—his nightmare occurred only a short time after my own pulled me from a deep sleep.

  I watch him breathing, watch him sleeping, hoping another nightmare doesn’t come. Glancing at the clock I realize it’s now almost five in the morning, which means I need to get up and start my day. I guess I’ve been in here a lot longer than I thought. I gently slip from h
is bed, out his door and back to my own room. Trying to put the image of Garrett thrashing in his bed from my mind, I get ready for another day and head to the kitchen to start breakfast. I decide against bringing up what I saw, knowing that if the tables were turned I wouldn’t want Garrett bringing it up. Even though I have so many unanswered questions, I vow to not ask him about the nightmare.

  I’m just finishing our breakfast when I hear Garrett’s bedroom door open suddenly.

  “Hope?” he calls from the hallway.

  “Morning, breakfast is almost done.” I focus on the French toast on the stove, hoping if I avoid looking at him I won’t be reminded of what happened only a short time ago.

  “Uh…there was a knife and a pair of sneakers in my room?” He places the large knife on the counter and holds up my running shoes in his other hand. He’s still dressed in the sweatpants and fitted shirt that he had been sleeping in. I try not to let my eyes roam over the muscles outlined by his shirt.

  Shit.

  There goes my plan of not bringing up what happened.

  “Earlier this morning I was getting ready to go to the gym when I heard a scream coming from your bedroom.”

  “Oh.” He looks around the room, at anything other than me.

  “I thought someone had broken into the apartment and was hurting you, so I grabbed a knife,” I blurt out nervously.

  “I see.” He drops the shoes to the floor next to the stool before sitting down at the breakfast bar only a few feet from me.

  “I couldn’t…I couldn’t wake you up.” I don’t know why, but I feel the need to explain what happened when he was asleep. I don’t know if he wants to know, but if it were me I know I would. I can’t imagine someone being in my room without me knowing. “Anyway, I couldn’t leave you like that so I laid next to you until you calmed down.”

  “You did?” His surprised eyes dart up.

  “Yeah.” I plate the last of the French toast and slide it across the counter to him. “My…when I was younger it would help me. I wasn’t really sure what else to do.”

  “Hope,” he says but doesn’t finish his sentence.

  “You don’t need to tell me if you don’t want to,” I assure him.

  “Thank you…for everything.” He leaves his plate on the counter and heads down the hall to his bedroom.

  I move his plate to the small table in the kitchen where we usually eat our meals. While he’s gone I make his coffee and my tea, before sitting down with my own breakfast at the empty table. Several long minutes go by before Garrett finally emerges from his bedroom. Instead of wearing his usual weekend attire of jeans, he’s dressed in running pants and black fitted short sleeve shirt. He mumbles something about going out for a run before dashing out of the apartment, leaving me alone at the table.

  I’m surprised to find myself disappointed, this is the first time we’re not having breakfast together since he moved in. I can’t say I blame him though; I don’t know how I would have reacted if the tables had been turned. No, that’s not true. I probably would have locked myself in my bedroom and hid there until Monday.

  I quickly finish eating and straighten up the kitchen before heading over to Abby’s. Thankfully, she lives close by so a quick ten minute Uber ride has me at her apartment.

  “Hope!” she embraces me as soon as she opens the door. It feels like forever since we’ve seen each other, even though it’s only been a week or so. After living together for so many months, I kind of got used to seeing her every day which I think has been the hardest part of the live-in position.

  “Come in, I just need to grab my coffee.” She finally lets me go and opens the door further.

  “Abs,” I gasp when I see her apartment. She’s the type of person to just throw her stuff down and leave it wherever it landed for days on end. It drove me crazy because I’m the exact opposite. I prefer everything to have its space.

  “I know, I know,” she mutters. “You have no idea how busy I’ve been lately.”

  “Business picking up?” I move a few piles of folded clothes to the side of the couch so I can sit down.

  “Busier than I’ve ever been.” She pours coffee into her travel mug before adding milk and sugar. “I had to put an ad up to hire part time help this week—”

  “Abby, that’s amazing!” I rush over to her and pull her into a hug. She started this catering business a couple of years ago and I know it’s been a real struggle for her to get it off the ground. She’s had to work part time just to pay her bills, but then those hours would often interfere with her catering schedule.

  “I know,” her eyes light up. “If my parents hadn’t given me the loan so I could stop working, I wouldn’t have been able to dedicate so much time to the business. It was like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders. I started advertising like crazy, which is obviously working.”

  “I’m so happy for you!”

  “I wish this would have happened a few months ago, before you signed the contract for your position with the agency. You could have come work for me—trust me I’d have enough hours to keep you busy without a problem.”

  It was something we talked about when I admitted I was finally ready to start working again. I let Abby think it was because the hours wouldn’t be consistent or guaranteed, but it was more than that. I needed to prove to myself that I could do it. As much as I love her and will forever be grateful to her for pulling me out of my darkness, I needed to know that I could do this without her.

  “It all worked out, don’t worry,” I assure her.

  Chapter 7

  Hope

  After spending the day shopping with Abby, I returned to an empty apartment last night. I immediately found myself disappointed that Garrett wasn’t back yet from wherever it was he ran off to yesterday morning. It’s funny, when I first learned he would be moving in here, I thought things would be awkward between us. Even though it’s only been a few weeks, I’ve already gotten used to him being here.

  “You’re back,” I say as Garrett walks through the door.

  “Yeah, sorry,” he mumbles as he stops just outside of his bedroom door. “Had some family things to take care.”

  With that, he goes into his bedroom and closes the door. I don’t know if I should try to talk to him about what happened or if doing so would just make things more awkward. Deciding I don’t have anything to lose since things are already weird between us, I grab two bottles of beer from the fridge and knock on his door.

  “Come in,” he answers, though I half expected him not to.

  “I thought you might want a drink.” I close the door behind me before walking over to the small desk he has set up in the corner of the room. A quick glance around the room confirms he hasn’t done much since he moved in, in fact if it wasn’t for the desk, the room would be exactly how it was when he moved in. There’s nothing that really shows he lives here.

  “Thanks.” He takes the beer and moves a pile of folders from the chair next to the desk so I can sit down.

  “Did you get the security system online?” I ask, trying to make small talk.

  “I did,” he answers proudly. “By moving this joystick, I can change the angle of any of the cameras in the main living area.”

  “How many cameras are there?”

  “About three dozen in total.” He clicks something on the computer and the screen splits into several smaller boxes, each providing a different view of the main living area. “They are outside all of the bedrooms upstairs and then in all the common areas on both floors. You saw the ones in the foyer and kitchen already, which will give us a continuous view of the entry so at a quick glance I can see who a visitor is.”

  “That’s great.”

  “Hope, about the other night…” His gaze remains fixed on the computer monitor, clearly uncomfortable talking about what happened.

  “If you want to talk about it, I’m here,” I offer when he doesn’t continue, “but if you don’t want to, that’s fine. I just don’t wan
t you to feel like you need to avoid me because of it.”

  “The last thing I will ever do is avoid you.” When I look up, I’m surprised to find him looking right at me. “I will never avoid you.”

  “I thought…maybe that’s why you left so suddenly yesterday,” I shrug.

  “No, well…not really. I needed to clear my head, but trust me, it had nothing to do with avoiding you.” He moves his hand as if to reach out to me, but then seems to change his mind. “My mother called while I was jogging and invited me for dinner, so I came back here and checked in with Mr. Meyer. Although I was scheduled off this weekend, I wanted to make sure he didn’t change his plans without letting me know. So after making sure he knew how to contact me if things changed, I took a shower and changed. My brother and I had more to drink than we probably should have while watching a game on TV, so I decided to crash there. I was set to come back this morning, but then Chris wanted to go hiking, something we haven’t done since before I left for the service.”

  “Oh, it sounds like it was a nice day.” Now I feel embarrassed for thinking he was avoiding me this entire time. Chances are he didn’t even think about me while he was gone.

  “It was.” He pauses. “Sometimes the fresh air can help you see things differently.

  Things seem to shift between us, becoming almost heavy, when he says that. I glance up and find him watching me; from the heated look in his eyes, I can only assume he’s remembering the night we spent together. I search for something to say, to break the intimacy of the moment, but I come up empty. Thankfully his phone beeps, effectively doing what I couldn’t.

  “I do want to say something though,” he says after glancing at his phone. “I appreciate you…coming in here the other night. I’m sorry if I didn’t say that before I left. I wasn’t avoiding you. I tend to just need some time to clear my head after a nightmare. I’m sure you understand.”