Guarding Presley (Black Spade #1)

by C. M. Allen

  "I tried but you didn't answer."

  "So you just barge in here?"

  "Well I heard you yell out 'no', and I wanted to make sure you were okay. I didn't know that you were just having a bad dream."

  "Hmm, I see."

  "Anyway, do you have any extra clothes in there?"

  Peaking back out she asks, "Yes I do. I always keep some here. Why?"

  "Because I'm going to need you to pack a bag, I'm taking you out of town tonight."

  "Ah okay, and just where are you taking me?" She asks walking back into the closet.

  "Wyoming."

  Laughing for a few moments she finally says "Yeah sure Wyoming, no seriously, where are you really taking me Hudson?"

  Knowing a fit throwing session is about to commence I answer. "Wyoming, just like I said the first time Presley."

  Walking back out of the closet fully dressed now she says. "I am not going to Wyoming. No way. Why would I ever need to leave Dallas?"

  "Because I said so, and since I'm the only one who's making the decisions where your safety is concerned, that's the only reason I need."

  "This is my life! I have commitments I need to be here for! I have the charity ball this weekend for God sakes! So, I'm sorry but I'm not going to be going to Wyoming, you’ll just have to figure something else out that keeps me here."

  "Presley, we don't have time for you to pull one of your spoiled brat acts right now, so get your butt back in that closet and pack a bag or I will do it for you." I tell her pointing at the closet and losing my patience.

  CHAPTER TEN PRESLEY

  Pissed as hell that Hudson thinks he's going to just drag me off into the sticks of Wyoming of all places, I put my foot down. Walking closer to him I poke him in the chest to make my point. "I. Am. Not. Going to Wyoming. And that. Is. That."

  Not flinching he holds my stare. "I'm giving you one more chance here princess to pack your own bag. If you don't I will."

  Placing my hands on my hips I hold my stance firm. "Nope, the only way you're going to get me to go to Wyoming is if you hog tie me, throw me over your shoulder and carry me there yourself buddy." I tell him as I turn to walk out of the room. Reaching for the door handle I feel an arm wrap around my waist as Hudson picks me up making my feet flail in the air. "What the hell are you doing!?" I scream at him. Walking into my closet he carries me with him like I weigh nothing as I twist and turn trying to break out of his tight grip. “Hudson! Put me down right now!"

  Ignoring me he grabs the sash from my robe and goes back over to my bed and drops me on it, face down. "I told you if I have to come after you for not listening to me you weren't going to be happy Presley, you’ve left me no choice." He says as he wraps the sash from my robe around my wrists he's got pinned behind my back.

  "You're crazy! You can't do this to me!" I scream at him trying to free my wrists.

  "I'm only going by the terms you set forth princess.” He answers sarcastically wrapping the sash around my ankles.

  Having had enough of his caveman bullshit, I begin to scream for back up "Daddy! Daddy! Help me!"

  "Scream all you want, I'm still taking you out of here tonight."

  Throwing one more threat out to try to get him to stop, I tell him. "You just wait till my father finds out about this!"

  Just as I'm finished saying that my father and Dominique burst through my bedroom door. "Presley? What's go___?"

  Walking closer he asks in a demanding tone. "Just what the hell is going on here? Did you hog tie my daughter up like this?"

  Waiting for the boom that's about to fall on Hudson’s head, I hear him say. "Yes sir, I did."

  "And just why in the hell would you do that?"

  "Well if I'm being honest here, it was the only way she said she was going to go with me tonight, tough love, remember Mr. Crawford?"

  Watching my father shake his head and Dominique cover her mouth to stop from snickering at my predicament he asks. "Did you really need to tie her up like some animal?"

  Not able to sit here in this humiliating situation any longer I lash out. "Would you two just shut up and get me out of this! And wipe that damn smile off your face Dominique!"

  "Presley!" My father says in an angry tone I've never heard him speak to me in before, renders me speechless. "Now while I am not happy with how you've treated my daughter here tonight, I know you're only trying to keep her safe. But I will not allow you to take her out of this house tied up like that! There has to be a compromise here."

  "The compromise is that I untie her and she gets up and packs herself a bag just like I asked to do the two times before I had to convince her to cooperate." Hudson answers.

  Looking over to me my father says. "You know I would do anything for you Presley, but this time I'm not stepping in. You will get up and pack yourself a bag just like Hudson’s told you to do, and you will stop with these antics of yours. Do you understand me?"

  "Bu_."

  Barely getting a word out my father balls his fists and yells at me. "God damn it Presley! I'm trying to keep you alive here! Dillion died today because they were trying to take you! Now I need you to get it through your head that they will take you from me if they get a chance, and I am trusting Mr. Drake here to keep that from happening. So I need you to get onboard with this right now. Do you understand me?"

  Tears clouding my eyes at the mention of what happened today I answer in a small voice. "Yes."

  Turning to Hudson he says. "Now as for you, where are you taking her?"

  "I'm sorry, but for both of your sakes I can only say that she will be in Wyoming. Where I'm taking her exactly, you're better off not knowing just to be safe, but you will be able to talk to her once we get settled."

  "I'm placing my daughter’s life in your hands Mr. Drake, and if anything happens to her on your watch, I will make sure you never guard so much as a rat in this town again. You got me?"

  Hearing Hudson take a deep breath he answers "Your daughter’s safety is my number one concern Mr. Crawford."

  "Good. Now get her out of this contraption you've tied her up in so she can pack a bag." He says waving his hand and leaving the room with Dominique hot on his heels.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN HUDSON

  After Gordon let's off some steam from his day he’s spent in hell, losing his bodyguard and almost his daughter, I start to untie Presley as she makes a sniffling sound. Getting her completely free of the ties, she gets up not saying a word or even looking at me and walks straight into her closet shutting the door behind her. As I sit and wait for her, I text Vance, and let him know that I'm going to be on the ten o'clock flight tonight to my grandfather’s ranch. Presley barges out of her closet with a bag that she throws down on the floor, taking another smaller one she has into the bathroom and slams the door behind her, again with not so much as a word or a dirty look. Waiting another fifteen minutes she finally storms out of the bathroom throwing both bags over her shoulders as she walks out the door snapping, "I'm ready, let’s go."

  Looking up at the ceiling, I pray for all the patience God can bestow upon me so that I make it through this assignment with my sanity in tack, then head out the door to find her. Walking down the stairs I see her bags by the front entrance but her nowhere in sight. "She's in the den with her father” Dominique says surprising me.

  "Oh. Okay, I'll just take her bags out to the car and wait for her there."

  Before I can even pick up the first bag she says "You sure are talented in tying women up Mr. Drake."

  Knowing just where she's taking this, I tell her "It's not something I typically do, she just left me with no other choice, I need to get her out of here tonight and to a safe location.

  Slithering up to me, she gets far too close for my taste when she says "You wouldn't have to force me to go anywhere with you, I'd go willingly. But ah, I could always play the role of the bad girl just so you could tie me up anyway."

  "Dominique!" Presley yells as she walks into the room

  giving
me some reprieve from this woman who is clearly not happy in her marriage.

  "What? We were just talking is all” she says with a sideways up and down glance at me.

  Walking over and snatching the smaller bag out of my hand she turns to face her step mother "Yeah I'll just bet you were." Looking back at me for a split second before she walks out the door she snaps. “Let’s go."

  Saying good bye to Dominique, I head out the door behind her. Watching as she gets in the back seat of my SUV instead of the front passenger seat, I put her bags that she's left on the ground by the car in the trunk knowing this is going to be a long night, and a long trip. Getting into the driver’s seat I shut the door and look in the rear view mirror. Seeing she's got her cell phone out and is tapping away on it I tell her. "I'm sorry but you're going to have to leave your phone here, they can track you with it, but I'll give you a non-traceable burner phone to use when we get there."

  Looking up and glaring at me in the mirror, seconds later I see her phone come flying past me between the seats as it hits the dash dropping to the floor. Grabbing it up, I decide it's time to make a point; if she doesn't care about the damn thing then neither do I. As I start to drive out of the driveway I open up the passenger side window and chuck it out "What the hell did you do that for?” She screeches at me.

  “Well by the way you threw it at me slamming it against the dash I didn’t think you’d give two shits about me throwing it out the window."

  Crossing her arms over her chest, she moves herself over behind the driver’s seat without a word so I can no longer see her in my rear view mirror. Making the drive to the airport in silence, we pull into the overnight parking garage and get out grabbing our bags. Getting mine I reach to grab for hers only to have her yank it from my hands and storm off ahead of me. "Presley!"

  Turning around she asks. "What?"

  "Look I know you're still pissed at me and that's fine, but you will not leave my side. I am still responsible for your safety, like it or not."

  Standing there she lets out a dramatic sigh. "Fine, so are you coming, or am I standing here all night?"

  Slamming the trunk on my car and setting the alarm I walk by her and repeat her own orders from earlier. "Let’s go."

  As we wait in line I answer a couple of texts from Carter and Vance. Finally reaching the counter, I check our bags in as the airline woman looks over our tickets and checks us in. "Okay so you're all set and the two seats will be together in coach."

  Thanking her I go to pick up my carry on and begin to walk away expecting Presley to follow, turning to walk back when I realize she isn't. "I'm sorry; did you just say our seats are in coach?" She asks the airline woman.

  "Yes ma'am."

  Looking at me she snaps "I have never flown coach, and I'm not about to start now."

  Tapping away quickly on her key board the airline woman's says. "Well we do have a couple of seats still left in first class if you would like to upgrade?" Pulling her wallet out of her purse Presley says. "Yes I would like to upgrade, but only the one seat." Looking at me as I get closer then back to the girl as she goes to hand her a credit card. "He's just fine being in coach."

  Finally reaching her I grab the card out of her hand and a hold of her elbow yanking her out of line as I tell the woman. "We're just fine with the seats in coach, thank you."

  Struggling against my hold she begins to throw one of her epic bratty fits again. "No I am not! I want the upgrade!"

  Pulling her around the corner I back her up against the wall holding her there with my hands on her waist getting in her face. "Are you trying to tell everyone in here who you are and where we’re going?" Dropping my hands I run my fingers through my hair then over my face so I can try to get my anger at her stupid materialistic bullshit under control. "You just don't get it do you? I paid cash for those tickets today so we couldn't be traced by our credit card activity, and then here you are trying to give them a damn map to where I'm taking you! You have to be smarter than this Presley! Please, just let me handle things from here on out okay?"

  Letting out a huff she says "Fine. After all I'm just a dumb woman, what do I know," then walks over to sit in one of the chairs.

  Walking over and sitting down next to her, I mentally begin the countdown to how long it will be until we reach the ranch, so I can beat the living shit out of that punching bag I hung in the barn.

  CHAPTER TWELVE PRESLEY

  Not talking to my father tonight and squaring things away between us before I left was a regret I didn't want to have; God forbid something did happen to one of us. So I went into his office to apologize for my outburst and we of course made up. Now sitting here at the airport waiting for what seems like forever for our crappy coach seats, we're finally called on to board the plane. Hudson hands the stewardess who greets us our tickets while she ogles his body like a horny teenager and tells us where we’re sitting.

  After going to the section she's pointed to, I find myself next to the toilets. Disgusting! God help me if someone takes a dump in there before we reach our shit hole of a destination. Still angry at Hudson for the way he humiliated me back at the house, I continue my freeze out towards him. Did I cause it in some way? Yeah probably, but seeing Dominique laughing at me was just too much for me to deal with, and the way she was coming on to Hudson, was so slutty I made a mental note to speak to my father about her behavior when this is all over. And, if I'm being honest it just plain pissed me off that she was hitting on him. I just can't figure out what's going on with us, one minute we're fighting, the next we're getting along and he's being so caring, and then in the next he's hog tying me on my bed and calling me a brat…it’s just so frustrating! Especially since I know I shouldn't, I find myself very attracted to him. He's nothing like the men I usually date. He's very dominating, expecting me to always do things his way and think’s only he knows best. The men I usually date dote on me and make sure I always feel special. Because hey, I know I'm good looking, they should worship me right? At least that's what I used to think until Hudson. Fighting with him has been more arousing than a guy going down on me for an hour. Sitting here staring straight ahead so as not to look at him, I can still see him stare at me out of the corner of my eye every once in a while as if he wants to say something. Hearing him clear his throat I know he's finally going to. "I know you're pissed at me for how I tied you up at the house, and I just wanted to apologize for that."

  Turning to look at him and crossing my arms I ask. "Are you going to apologize for throwing my phone out the car

  window too?"

  "No I'm not, but I will accept your apology for throwing it at me."

  Knowing he's right but not wanting to cave I simply say. "Yeah okay, like I was really trying to hit you Hudson."

  Letting out a breath he says "Look, we are going to be stuck together for a while here and I think we just need to try and make the best of a bad situation. I promise not to be so rough on you if you can just learn to cooperate with me."

  Letting out a chuckle I ask "So what you're really saying is; as long as I do everything you tell me to do, we will get along just fine, do I have that right? Or am I missing something here?"

  Shaking his head at me. "Can I ask you something?" "Sure, shoot."

  "What is it that you get out of acting like such a spoiled bitch towards everyone? I mean obviously you're well aware that you do it and feel bad for it after something like today happens. But for the most part it just seems like you're playing some fucked up role you've been told you have to play."

  Knowing he's getting to close to the truth of why I do what I do and if I'm being honest the hurt I feel from his harsh question. I lean forward and grab the headphones that hang on the back of seat in front of me, put them on and close my eyes, closing him out with the sound of the music that plays.

  After we land and get off the plane, we stand together in silence waiting for our bags. Finally getting them, we head over to pick up the rental car and load all our lugg
age in the back. Opening the passenger door, I slide in the seat shutting it behind me. Hudson getting into the driver’s seat lets out a defeated breath starting the car and heads down the highway. Having thought a lot about what he said to me on the plane I struggle with the decision of whether or not to let him see the side of me only my closest friends do. So many times in the past I've let my guard down with men only to be burned in the end. It's what's caused me to become the stellar bitch that I'm known for today. One that no one and I mean no one takes advantage of or tells what to do. The person I've become can do it all on her own, even if I don't always show it. Not knowing how to fix the situation without making myself look vulnerable, I decide to just keep my mouth shut so I can't do any more damage than I already have. After falling asleep on our drive to tim-buck-two I hear Hudson’s voice as he tries to wake me. Then feel his hand on my shoulder causing me to jump from the spark of heat I feel when he touches me. "We're here."

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN HUDSON

  Asking Presley why she acts like such a bitch towards people definitely hits a nerve, it's almost transparent how she puts on this whole spoiled brat act now that I've gotten to know her I can see it. While I felt bad for saying it, it had to be said. Her life is in danger and I need her to learn to trust me and look to me for help. If she continues to keep up with this defiant act of hers it could cost her, her life. After we get our rental car and head off on our way to the ranch, I decide to just let things go for now hoping that tomorrow will be better. Watching her sleep as I drive us to the ranch I wish the attraction that I feel for her would fade, but it just gets stronger as the time passes and makes zero sense to me. I mean here is this pain in the ass woman who does nothing but insult me at every turn, acts like a spoiled bitch and I can't seem to get my dick to calm down. It's like he even knows it's all an act, but why? What or who caused her to be this way? Everyone I've seen caters to her, never letting her want for anything or ever says no to her. Letting the thoughts drift away we pull on to the driveway that leads up to the ranch. After stopping in front of the house, I lean over laying my hand on her shoulder gently nudging her to wake up. "Presley, we're here." Jumping up she turns to look at me. "I'm sorry if I scared you, but we're here."