by S. Nelson
The more thought I gave it, the more I knew I had to engage the services of my good friend, Calvin. He was the one person I trusted over the years to watch over Sara whenever I couldn’t. He owned his own P.I. firm and he was the best at what he did. It wasn’t much of a challenge watching her before because she lived a pretty sheltered life, especially after what had happened.
It was even easier now because she was walking around with a tracking device in her phone, one she agreed to have. Thankfully, she carried it everywhere with her. It was how I found her at Throttle, even though it wasn’t a hard guess, seeing as how I knew both of them loved the place. From her responses, she was either too drunk to figure out how I’d tracked her or she’d simply forgotten it was on her phone. Either way, I wasn’t reminding her.
Thankfully, Calvin answered on the second ring.
“Alek. How the hell are you? It’s been a while since I’ve heard from you. Everything all right?”
Calvin Herdsman was based in California. He’d done a lot of traveling for me over the years, but luckily he wouldn’t have far to go with the new assignment.
“Depends on what you mean by ’all right’.” I allowed a brief moment of silence to linger between us before speaking again. “I need your help again, friend. The woman, Sara Hawthorne, the one you were helping me out with before? Well, I need you to look out for her for a few days while I’m away on business.”
“Whatever you want, man. You know I’ll be there to help you. Does she still live at the same address?” I heard him shuffling through some papers, no doubt trying to find the file he kept on her.
There was another pause before I answered. “No, she up and moved to Seattle about a year ago.”
“She did?” he asked, sounding confused.
“Yeah. I’ve been able to keep an eye on her, but I have to go away for business and would feel better knowing you had my back while I’m gone.” I didn’t want to divulge all the details of our recent relationship. The only thing I wanted to hear from him was that he would drop everything to help me out. I knew it was short notice, but I’d pay him whatever he wanted if it meant her safety and my peace of mind. I wasn’t so crazy this time around because Samuel was no longer a threat, but to be safe I wanted an extra pair of eyes on her.
“Okay, yeah, sure. When do you want me to be there?”
“Tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow? Damn, Devera, nothing like giving me some notice.” He blew out a breath of air before continuing. “Okay, let me move some stuff around and I’ll be there in the morning.”
“Great. I’ll send you all the details.”
“Sure thing. Talk to you later.”
A wave of relief washed over me after we’d hung up. I needed to start making the transition back to the way I handled things before.
Before I’d made the best and worst decision of my life.
Before, for my own selfish reasons, I walked into her shop and drew her into my world.
I texted Sara to let her know I was leaving early the next day and would be away for a week. I’d initially thought it would only be three days but more issues arose with the new building plans. I also informed her I would be back late Friday and would see her then.
She didn’t text me back. I wasn’t surprised.
~~~~
It’d been four days since I last had any communication with Sara, and it was weighing heavier on me than I thought it would. But I couldn’t break. I had to be strong.
Calvin provided me with daily updates. So far, everything was fine; nothing out of the ordinary. He reported back she retired to her residence after she closed up the shop, never leaving her apartment once she was home.
I knew she was hurting, and the thought alone was almost enough to make me pick up the phone and give in, to tell her I was an asshole and beg for her forgiveness. When those moments crept up on me, I instantly grabbed a drink, downing it to abate my momentary weakness.
My phone alerted me to a text as I was preparing to take a shower. I’d assumed it was work-related, so I was surprised it was actually from Sara.
We need to talk when you come home –S
I was dreading our talk because it would mean the end of us. The more time which passed without communication was more time for it not to be real. But once we talked, once we ended our relationship, it would cut me. Deep.
Ok
My response was curt. I knew Sara was dealing with this all by herself, going about it blindly because I refused to let her know what I was thinking. But I couldn’t tell her because all she would say was that I was being ridiculous and somehow, she would talk me out of it. Then I would be back to square one.
Breaking it off with her was the only thing I could think of to try and sever the hold we had on each other.
I would wither up inside, but I could go back to keeping her safe. Not once in the eight years I watched her did anything bad happen to her.
After I forced myself into her life, she was attacked in the hallway of a bar, kidnapped by a psycho, shot, rushed into surgery and spent eight goddamn days in the hospital.
I only had a few days left before I said goodbye to the only woman I’d ever loved.
~18~
Sara
Five hours.
Five hours to go until I demanded some answers from Alek. He’d arrived back in town a day early but went straight into the office. He messaged me telling me he would be tied up all day in meetings.
More avoidance.
I couldn’t go on the way I had been. It was too much. The constant worrying where our relationship stood, if he still loved me, if he still wanted to be with me. His behavior as of late was odd. It was indicative of someone who wanted out.
For the life of me, I couldn’t understand why.
~~~~
“No, I haven’t. Because I don’t want to have the conversation with him over the phone, Alexa. I need to see his face,” I whispered, doing my best to not let anyone else overhear. I would have gone into the back, but I was needed in front to man the shop until Megan was done with her current arrangement. The order was already running behind, and I didn’t want to delay it any more than necessary.
As I turned to face the door, a woman walked in. Normally, I wouldn’t have paid her much attention, but there was something about her which instantly set me on alert. She made eye contact with me and even scowled. Maybe she was a dissatisfied customer. Thankfully, I’d never dealt with one before, but there was a first time for everything.
“Lex, I gotta go. Talk later,” I rushed as I hung up the phone. Taking a step around the counter, I approached the surly woman with my guard up, not quite knowing what to expect.
“Can I help you with something?” I asked, taking another step toward her.
She looked to be someone who’d come from money, or at the very least put on the allusion of having money. She was tall and thin, her clothes fitting her like a glove. Her dark blonde hair ran past her shoulder blades, a trendy cut which she worked at every angle. Minus the dour look on her face, she was rather beautiful, but something told me her personality was going to ruin all of it.
“You sure can, Sara,” she hissed. The air of haughtiness in her tone was certainly off-putting and my guard was on high-alert.
Clenching my fists behind my back, I didn’t want to let her see how she was affecting my mood. My face was expressionless but my body had tensed greatly. “Well, you appear to have me at a disadvantage. It seems you know who I am, but I have no idea who you are, Miss…” The more time I spent in her presence, the more I knew the turnout wasn’t going to be pleasant.
“Bossett. Cora Bossett. Alek’s fiancée.”
Don’t react. Don’t give her the satisfaction.
Silence loomed between us. She’d certainly come out of nowhere, denying me the opportunity to prepare for such a statement. Had my relationship with Alek not been so rocky as of late, I would have laughed right in her face. But I didn’t. I didn’t react at all. I
nitially, at least.
She looked pleased with herself as she stood there glowering at me. Releasing a deep breath, I took two steps closer, fisting my hands at my sides. It was time to set her straight.
“Don’t you mean ex-fiancée?” I returned her nasty scowl, glare for glare.
“No, sweetheart, current fiancée. We recently got back together, as I knew we would. So you see, honey, he no longer has any need for you.”
I so wanted to punch her in the face. How dare she walk into my shop and spew such word vomit at my feet. She had some real nerve.
While anger flushed my face, my heart was breaking, a little bit for each second I stood in her presence. Before Alek started acting funny, I would have said she was crazy. There was no way in hell he’d ever take her back. He hated even talking about her. But my head was telling me to be careful. There was something amiss, and I needed to find out exactly what it was.
Don’t show all your cards. Don’t let your guard down.
“I don’t believe you. He would never take you back, especially not after what you did to him,” I spat, backing up. If I didn’t put some distance between us, I was going to be hit with assault charges.
A quick look of shock crossed her face but was quickly replaced by disgust, as if I was nothing, and even having to explain anything to me at all was beneath her.
Completely ignoring my statement, she glanced around my shop in boredom. Finally, she turned her stare back in my direction.
“Woman to woman, I’m giving you the courtesy up-front to let you know Alek is done with you because he’s come to his senses. Finally. He’s done slumming,” she declared haughtily.
It took all of my reserve not to jump on her and tackle her to the ground. I envisioned snatching her by the hair and punching her in the face, maybe even breaking her perfect little nose. My thoughts ran rampant inside my head, helping to contain some of my anger. I couldn’t be arrested for merely thinking it.
“Are you done?” I was able to pull off a calm tone, even though inside I was a mess. As she flicked her hand in my direction, I caught sight of the huge rock on her ring finger. She noticed, the smirk on her face proving so.
She rotated her hand back and forth, allowing the ring to catch the light and practically blind me. “He gave this back to me last night. He said he carried it with him at all times, hoping I would come back to him someday.”
When she saw my face fall, she grinned. She was done. She had accomplished what she set out to do, which was to hurt me.
“You need to leave now. Don’t ever step foot in my shop again.”
“Fine by me, as long as you stay away from my fiancé.”
“Get out!” I shouted. She laughed as she sauntered out the front door.
As soon as she was gone, Megan walked into the front of the shop, no doubt having heard some sort of commotion. “Are you okay, Sara?”
“I will be, Megan. I will be,” I repeated, not entirely believing my own words. Grabbing my purse and keys from the back room, I rushed to leave. “Megan, can you ask Matt to close up for me when he comes back? Please. Tell him I’ll talk to him later.”
“Sure thing,” she answered as the door closed behind me.
Rushing to my car, I immediately dialed Alek’s number. It went straight to voicemail. When I tried his office, his secretary told me he was in a meeting and wasn’t to be disturbed for any reason.
I raced home in hopes Alexa was there so I could tell her everything.
I needed someone to talk to and since I couldn’t reach the one person I needed most, my best friend was the next best choice.
~19~
Alek
Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.
What the hell is that sound? Still groggy from passing out drunk, I couldn’t wrap my head around where the irritating noise was coming from. I closed my eyes again in hopes it would stop.
Buzzzzzzzzzzzz.
My lids parted again, trying to figure out where I was before I even attempted to get up. Taking a few deep breaths, the room spinning around me, I made to stand up but instead fell on my ass.
Goddamn it! That hurt.
Buzzzzz. I glanced over at my phone, but it wasn’t making any noise. The only other thing it could be was the front gate.
Buzz. Buzz.
Scrambling off the floor took every ounce of energy I had left in me. Whoever was out there was going to surely get an earful from me. Unless it was Sara.
Shit! I wasn’t ready to deal with our relationship yet.
I shook my head as I reached for the intercom. “Hello,” I mumbled.
There was a crackling sound before I heard a woman’s voice. “Hi, sweetheart. Can you let me in, please?” I couldn’t place who it was, not at first, but knowing it wasn’t Sara gave me a fleeting feeling of relief.
“Who is this?”
“It’s me, silly. Cora. Can you please open the gate so I can come up?”
What the hell is going on? Was I still dreaming? Cora? No, it couldn’t be. Why would she come back here after all this time? And why the hell was she calling me ‘sweetheart’ and acting as if we were still on good terms? I made it clear the last time we saw each other I wouldn’t be held responsible for my actions if she ever came near me again.
Even though more than a year had passed since I laid my eyes on the despicable woman, my hatred for her was still as intense as the day I found out she aborted my child.
“Go away, Cora. I’m not letting you in.” I walked away from the intercom but she was relentless.
Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.
“If you don’t let me in, Alek, I’ll stay out here and lay on the horn, disturbing whatever neighbors you have.”
“What do you want? Why are you here?” I mumbled.
“Let me in so we can talk, then I’ll go if you still want me to. Please, sweetheart.”
“Don’t fucking call me that,” I barked. I reached up and grabbed my neck, pulling down to assuage the tension which was quickly building. If I didn’t let her in, she would definitely cause a scene, which would only make things worse. It was already almost midnight and I was fucking cranky and tired, never mind a pulsating headache was already starting to rattle my brain.
Deciding to find out what she wanted, I pushed the button to open the gate. The quicker I let her in, the quicker I could kick her out.
My doorbell rang thirty seconds later and I was instantly enraged, mainly because she was forcing me to deal with my past. Seeing her again was going to put me in a dark mood for a while to come, and I had enough on my goddamn plate.
Looking back on my time with Cora, I realized I never truly loved her, not like I loved Sara. There was simply no comparison. Which was why when she cheated on me, I was able to cut ties without a second thought. But when I found out she killed my child on purpose because I wouldn’t take her back, that was the clincher which pushed me from not loving her to full-on hating her.
Ready to engage the crazy bitch, I flung open the front door. I knew I looked like I was hit by a train, but I didn’t care. I was far from trying to impress her. Hell, she was lucky I didn’t reach out and throttle her right where she stood.
Our eyes connected but neither one of us spoke. I was instantly hit with all of the bad memories of the last conversation we had. After a minute of simply standing there and staring at each other, she decided my rudeness was no longer tolerable. She smiled and pushed past my foreboding body, entering my personal space.
I think I was still drifting between reality and drunken stupor, the alcohol wearing off a little the more I was forced to be in Cora’s presence.
After I shut the door, I turned around and realized I was only half-dressed. I’d quickly thrown on my jeans which had been tossed over the edge of the couch. They weren’t even buttoned all the way, for God’s sake.
She was busy taking in every facet of my home, her eyes widening the more she looked around. She was definitely impressed. If she’d only kept her legs closed, she coul
d have had it all. But thankfully, she and my cousin Cameron were cut from the same cloth. Her betrayal essentially forced me to find my one true love.
Sara.
My thoughts flitted to the woman who was going to hate me soon enough.
“What do you want, Cora?” I pulled her attention to me, and it was a mistake. The way she drank me in actually gave me chills. I hated I was standing in front of her, shirtless and pants half-undone.
“I’ve come to win you back, sweetheart.” She took a step toward me but I held up my hand. One look in my eyes and she knew she would be in for it if she came any closer.
Teeth clenched and jaw squared tight, I yelled out again. “Don’t fucking call me that, Cora.” My sudden rage startled her, and she took a step back. As I was about to tell her there was no way in hell I would ever take her back, my doorbell rang.
Now who the hell is here?
I turned back toward the door and as I tried to control my anger, I gripped the handle and swung it open. Standing there on my doorstep, at midnight, was Sara. She looked a little worse for wear but still stunningly beautiful. Her eyes were red and puffy. There was no argument she’d been crying.
“Sara, what are you doing here?” I was shocked she’d showed up so late but then again, I didn’t blame her. It wouldn’t have taken me long to barge in on her if the roles were reversed, and she was the one who was constantly blowing me off. I knew she wanted to give me some space, most likely believing the whole time I would work through whatever shit I was dealing with. “How did you get past the gate?”
Clearly my question was rude because the look on her face told me so. “It was open." Taking a deep breath, she continued with, “I know we haven’t spoken a lot recently, but we really need to talk, Alek. Enough is enough already. I need to know what the hell is going on between us.” A brief look of relief washed over her, and I was positive it was because she’d finally been able to broach the subject I’d been avoiding. I remained silent, not quite sure what to do or say.
