There You Are

by E. L. Todd

  “How was work?” she asked. “I forgot to ask.”

  “It was fine.” I undressed and tossed my clothes on the floor. Normally, I would take the time to place them in the hamper but right now I didn’t care. I’d get to it in the morning.

  Skye removed her shirt and stood in her white bra. Her tits were bigger than they used to be. She’d been a C cup all her life but she was pushing it at a D. Now that she carried more weight she was curvier. The way her body distributed the changes was definitely sexy. She was luckier than she realized. All this talk about losing weight was stupid. “I’m so tired…” She pulled back the sheets and got into bed.

  She better not be too tired.

  I moved into the bed beside her, set my alarm, and then turned off the lamp.

  She lay beside me and didn’t move.

  I was immediately on her, ready to get dirty.

  “I thought you were too irritated with me to have sex.”

  “Never.” I pulled her panties off then situated myself between her legs. “There’s nothing you could do to kill my mojo.”

  “That’s good to know.” She ran her hands up my chest. “I guess I can be a brat all I want.”

  “I’ll just fuck you until you stop.” I leaned far over her then inserted myself. Her lips were tight around me and eventually stretched. I moved myself completely inside and felt her warm tightness.

  Day-yum.

  Skye ran her hands up my back then dug her nails into the skin. “You’re so hot…”

  Her tits shook as I rocked into her. “You’re hot.”

  A dreamy look came into her eyes as she looked up at me. She rocked with me every time I moved, and we got lost in each other. I didn’t think about anyone else besides her. Work, fatherhood, and everything else faded away.

  Chapter Six

  Slade

  “I found a few guys that would be perfect.” I held up their resumes and their pictures. “This guy is a retired navy seal. That’s pretty badass.”

  Trinity had a bored look on her face.

  I moved onto the next one. “This guy worked for the CIA for ten years. He’s well trained and tough. This guy wouldn’t let anything get close to you.”

  Her face was still blank.

  Why was she being so difficult? I grabbed the next one from the pile. “This guy worked for The White House during Bush’s administration. This guy is legitimate.” I tossed the applications aside. “They’re all pretty damn great.”

  Trinity pulled a pillow to her chest and crossed her legs.

  “Baby, come on. He’ll pick you up every morning and take you to work. He’ll stand outside your office or inside it if you prefer. Then he’ll take you home. You’ll have someone by your side every single second of the day. And he’ll carry a firearm.”

  “I don’t care.”

  “You don’t care?” I asked. “Trinity, this is perfect. You can go to work every day and do what you love. You’ll never feel unsafe again.”

  “Unless one of these guys decides to take advantage of my situation.” She wouldn’t look at me as she said it.

  She was paranoid as hell. “Trinity, that would never happen.”

  “How do we know?”

  “Because these honorable men who served our country wouldn’t ruin their reputation to get a quick lay. The whole reason why they do this is because they want to protect people.”

  “There’s no guarantee.”

  “How about we interview them?” I asked. “You can meet them and tell me what you think.”

  “I don’t want to meet them.”

  “Baby…” I understood she was scared but she wasn’t giving me anything to work with.

  “I said no.” She tightened her arms around the pillow.

  “Come on,” I pressed. “These guys aren’t going to hurt you. You’ll have your life back. Everywhere you go they’ll be one step behind you.”

  She wouldn’t look at me. “I know you’re just trying to help but this is pointless. Let it go.”

  I bowed my head. “Trinity, do you think I would ever put you in danger? Do you think I would ever encourage this idea if I was even a little worried that something might happen to you?”

  She kneaded the pillow with her fingers.

  “I wouldn’t. You are my life, baby.”

  Her eyes slowly inched to my face. “I know…”

  “So, let’s keep an open mind to this. Let’s have a few interviews.”

  She quickly returned to her former fear. “No.”

  My patience was waning but I had to keep it under control. After everything she’d been through she was entitled to be as difficult as she wanted. “Why not?”

  “I don’t want to go back to that office.”

  “Why?”

  “I just…” She looked away again. “I don’t want to be in that room ever again.”

  I closed my eyes because I felt like an idiot. Why hadn’t I thought of that? Why would anyone want to return to the place where they were assaulted? I considered myself to be fairly sensitive and thoughtful to my wife but I guess I wasn’t. “I understand.”

  “And he’ll come back. I know he will.”

  “Trinity, don’t worry about him.” I’d make sure he wouldn’t bother her again.

  “But I know—”

  “Trust me.”

  She watched my face before she looked away.

  I changed the subject before my mask of calm disappeared. “Why don’t we get you a new office? There’s got to be a room in that building you can use.”

  “I don’t know…”

  “We can completely redo it. It’ll feel like a different place. And we can have a bodyguard stand outside your door every hour that you’re there.”

  She still looked hesitant. “It’s hard…”

  “I know.” I put my arm around her and held her close to me. “I don’t want you to give up on your dream because of this. It’s important to you so it’s important to me. I’m not letting some jackass take that away from you.”

  “I’m just not sure if I can walk up to that floor…”

  “What if I came with you?” I asked. “We can go together.”

  “Yeah?” She looked at me, the fear still in her eyes. Trinity was usually resilient but now she wasn’t herself at all.

  “Of course. I’ll be there the entire time. We’ll take a look around and find an office. If you aren’t comfortable we’ll just leave.”

  “I guess I could try—as long as you’re there.”

  I grabbed her hand and squeezed it. “I’ll be there the entire time.” I wouldn’t let something happen to her again.

  Not ever.

  ***

  “Do you have an appointment, sir?”

  I walked passed the secretary’s desk and kept going.

  “Sir?” She stood up and leaned over the desk like that would stop me. “Do you have an appointment? Mr. Shot is very busy.”

  “Fuck. Off.” I gave her a hateful look before I pushed the door open.

  Maximum sat behind his desk, the phone pressed to his ear. He looked up at me and fear immediately washed over his face. His skin was suddenly pale and bloodless.

  I slammed the door behind me then locked it so that annoying secretary of his wouldn’t interrupt me. As I approached his desk my hands began to shake. This man did something unforgiveable to the person I loved more than anything.

  So much hate.

  I couldn’t contain it all.

  I came here just to talk but now I didn’t think I could do that. I needed his head on a spike. I wanted to shove his body through the glass window and watch it fall right into the street. His body would be crumpled and broken, and there wouldn’t be an ounce of remorse in my body.

  Maximum didn’t say a word to the person on the line. He hung up then picked up the phone again, his finger aimed for 9-1-1.

  Savagely, I wiped everything off his desk and sent if flying to the floor. His computer, phone, picture frames, and eve
rything else crashed onto the ground and broke into pieces.

  He stayed in his seat, his chest rising and falling from his deep breathing. He was a large man with muscle but he was obviously afraid of me. I had the edge.

  I had the rage.

  I slammed both of my fists onto the desk and looked him in the eye. I hadn’t blinked once since I entered that room. My blood boiled just from being in his presence. His hands were on my wife, the mother of my child. He took her spirit away. He took her freedom.

  Maximum watched every move I made without making one of his own. He was obviously smart enough to understand he was in serious shit. I may not be the size of a gladiator but I could do some real damage.

  “Let me make this clear.”

  His hands were in his lap but he didn’t look comfortable.

  “I will destroy you for what you did to my wife. If you’ve spent the last few weeks thinking you got away with it, you’re a fucking idiot. I’ve been taking my time, plotting exactly how I can hurt you the way you’ve hurt her.”

  He held my gaze like a soldier but swallowed the lump in his throat like a child. He tried to pretend he wasn’t afraid but his eyes gave him away. He was scared, shitting in his pants scared.

  “I thought about killing you. Honestly, that option isn’t completely ruled out yet. But before that, I’m going to take away everything that means anything to you. Take a good look at this office because it won’t be yours much longer. Enjoy your Bentley because it’s going to be repossessed. Treasure the clothes on your back because those are going to be gone too.”

  He didn’t move at all. He was still like a statue. But his chest rose and fell uncontrollably. He needed oxygen to fuel his adrenaline.

  “You took something that doesn’t belong to you. She belongs to me.” I pointed at my chest, making sure there was no mistake. “She’s afraid to leave her home. She’s afraid to go back to work. She’s afraid of the goddamn world.” I directed my finger at him. “Because of you.”

  His eyes drifted to my finger then to my eyes again.

  “Set foot in her building and I will kill you. Go to her office and I’ll castrate you. Go anywhere near her and I will slit your fucking throat like a swine.”

  Maximum wasn’t so formidable when he was terrified.

  “Do you understand me?” I gripped the desk to stop myself from lunging at him. I wanted to kill him right then and there but I’d never get away with it. I’d be in jail forever.

  He nodded slightly.

  “Do you understand me?”

  He opened his mouth and the words came out a second later. “Yes.”

  I released his desk and rose to my full height. “You’ve started a war. And you’re about to lose every soldier, every tank, and every piece of land. Unfortunately for you, there’s no surrender. There is only defeat.”

  ***

  We interviewed the last candidate at Mega Shake. Trinity sat beside me and didn’t participate at all. She didn’t ask any questions and she hardly looked at him. If you didn’t know what happened to her you’d say she was being rude.

  “You worked for The White House for a while?” I asked.

  “I was there for eight years. When Bush left office, so did I.”

  “Any reason why?”

  He shook his head. “Those eight years went by instantly. I was busy so often I never had a chance to truly enjoy them. Now I live with my wife and kids in the city and I spend much more time with them. While I love serving my country, my family is more important.”

  “A family man…I like that.” I turned to Trinity to see her reaction.

  She was staring at her phone.

  I tried not to show my irritation and turned back to him. “You seem like a nice guy. I need someone tough.”

  He chuckled. “You don’t need to worry about that. Your wife will be much safer with me than anyone else, including you. I know things that I can’t even begin to tell.”

  I glanced at Trinity again.

  She was still in her own little world.

  Abe eyed me for a moment before he stared at her. He looked into her eyes then rested his hand on the table. “I’m sorry for whatever happened to you, Mrs. Sisco. But I promise nothing else will ever harm you while I’m around.”

  Trinity slowly turned his way, surprised he could read her so well.

  I never told him what happened to Trinity. I guess it was obvious just looking at her.

  “A person should never be scared to live their life,” Abe said gently. “And anyone who hurts a lately is piss in the gutter. Don’t let this person crush your spirit. No one will ever bother you under my watch.”

  I hoped Abe’s speech would affect Trinity. I wanted her to feel comfortable with someone, to live her life the way she wanted. If she had someone to escort her everywhere perhaps things would be different.

  Trinity held his gaze for a moment before she looked away.

  I knew nothing more was going to be said so I ended the interview. “Thank you for meeting us, Abe. We’ll give you a call.”

  “Great.” He shook my hand. “I look forward to it.”

  ***

  “What’s going on?” I walked into Sean’s office and sat down. “Do you have anything? How are the plans coming along?”

  He was typing on his computer but stopped when I came in. “You really should call first.”

  “Why?”

  “How am I supposed to explain to Mike why you’re here?”

  “Tell him it has something to do with Skye or War Chief. I don’t know.”

  “Or we could just meet somewhere after work,” he suggested.

  “But someone could overhear us. At least here we’re in the clear.”

  “I guess.”

  I knew I had to admit to what I did. “So…I visited Maximum.”

  “You did what?” His voice completely changed, turning a little hysterical. “Slade, we agreed you needed to stay away from him. I can’t protect you if you kill him then are caught at the scene of the crime.”

  “I didn’t kill him.” Somehow. I didn’t realize I had that kind of restraint until now.

  “Then what did you do?”

  “Trinity wants to go back to work but she’s afraid he’ll show up. It’s important to me that she does what she loves without fear of someone assaulting her. So, I basically told him not to come near her or I would kill him.”

  “Did you touch him?”

  “No.”

  Sean breathed a sigh of relief. “Good.”

  “Yeah…”

  “I wouldn’t have been able to do that,” Sean said as he shook his head. “I would have killed him then stuck out my wrists for the handcuffs.”

  It didn’t sound so bad. “It was tempting. But if I’m in jail Trinity is alone.”

  He nodded. “What did you say to him?”

  “Just threatened him…and said I was going to destroy his life.”

  Sean sighed. “Why would you give away the plan before we even do it?”

  “I didn’t tell him exactly what we’re doing,” I argued. “And it just came out, okay? I’ve never been so angry in my entire life. My hands were shaking and I couldn’t stand still. I don’t know…I wasn’t myself.”

  Sean didn’t berate me for it. “I get it.”

  “So, what are we working on?”

  “My PI did some digging. He found some interesting stuff.”

  “What?”

  “First of all, Maximum Shot is married.”

  Both of my eyebrows rose. “He is?”

  “Yep,” Sean said. “She lives in Italy. I guess he flies back and forth a few times a month.”

  What a sleazebag. “And he keeps her there so he can catch tail in The States?”

  “That’s my best guess.”

  “What else?”

  “I found a woman who used to be his assistant. She worked there for three months then suddenly quit. In the fashion world, you don’t quit a job like that unless you have a
good reason.”

  My heart picked up in excitement. “He did the same thing to her?”

  “Probably,” he said. “I’m going by her apartment to speak to her. If I can get her to talk about it to the media it would be a great scandal. I’m also having my tax lawyer look into his taxes. If he’s shady enough to do these things I wouldn’t be surprised if he was doing some kind of tax evasion.”

  I rubbed my hands together greedily. “This is fucking awesome. Can I come with you to talk to her?”

  Sean slightly cringed. “Do you think that’s the best idea…?”

  “Why wouldn’t it be?” I was going to bring this fucker down.

  “It’s just…” Sean rubbed the back of his neck. “Won’t it be difficult to listen to her story since Trinity went through the same thing?”

  I hadn’t thought about that—at all. “Oh…you’re right.”

  “I know this is hard and you shouldn’t make it any harder than necessary.”

  I nodded and looked at the ground. “You’re right.”

  Sean fell quiet and continued to stare at me. “I’ll let you know how it goes.”

  “Okay.”

  “Well, I guess I’ll see you later.”

  I stood up and put my hands in my pockets. “Where does his wife live?”

  “Why?” Sean asked.

  “Maybe I should pay her a visit.”

  He tensed the second I finished speaking. “What does that mean?”

  “I think she should know exactly what her husband is up to when he’s away.” I’m sure Maximum wouldn’t like that very much. Maybe I could even get her to leave him. His wife would be gone, and it would be the first step in my destruction.

  “Hmm…”

  “I think it’s a good idea.”

  “As long as you don’t threaten her to get back at Maximum.”

  I gave him a stupid look. “Shut up. I would never do that.”

  “Just had to make sure…we do crazy things to protect the ones we love.”

  “I think this is the first step in my master plan—destroying the things that mean the most to him.”

  ***

  I knocked on the door with Trinity by my side.

  Cayson opened it then eyed the suitcases in my hands. “Uh, hi.”

  I walked inside then set the bags by the doorway. “What’s up?”

  “Nothing much…we just finished dinner.” Cayson crossed his arms as he stood in the entryway.