She was thinking with her heart.
“Your theory is flawed. Mostly likely he took her at her word when she told him to go and granted her wishes.”
I gave her a pointed stare, hoping she’d make the parallels to us.
“Maybe.” Her pause wasn’t long. “The question remains if I should reach out to him.”
It didn’t take long for me to decide on an answer.
“I don’t think you should drop the bomb on him over a text. But yeah. Like I said before, I lost my mom. There are so many things I wish I could have told her. You have that chance.”
A smile brighter than the sun formed on her pretty face.
“Thanks. I needed to hear that.”
She cupped my face and planted a kiss on my lips. I was fairly certain she didn’t think before she acted. She steepled her hands over her mouth in shock.
Unfortunately for her, she lit a wildfire in me that couldn’t be contained. I plunged my fingers in her dark hair and down to the base of her neck. I drew her close and when I kissed her, I sought entrance to take things deeper.
She let out the tiniest of gasps like she felt how right this was. I took advantage.
Her arms looped around my neck as she shifted closer. I continued her forward movement until she was straddling my lap. When she wiggled her sweet center against my straining erection that had been ignited to life at our first kiss, I skimmed my hands down her back. I clutched at her waist to stop her from moving. That caused her shirt to rise and my fingertips to brush over the smallest amount of bare skin.
Before I took things too far, I moved my hands up the sides of her ribcage and stopped at the undersides of her breasts. They were heavy where they rested above my thumbs.
Nothing else mattered but her. I lost track of where we were as I shifted our position. I laid her down on the bench like it was Thanksgiving and she was the feast. I kissed her hard and long, groaning with need.
Her shove wasn’t totally unexpected. It just came a long time after I thought it would. She sat up as I tried to rein in the pressure that had built inside me.
She sat up, swung her legs around, and remained seated for only a second before she was on her feet.
Her finger was like a sharp knife as she pointed it at me.
“We are so not having sex here.”
She spread her hands to remind me we were out in the open.
“I’m game to wherever you want.”
The devilish grin didn’t go over well, especially when her eyes narrowed and she planted her hands on her hips.
“Never going to happen.”
She spoke each word with finality.
“You want to bet on it?” I dared.
She rocked on her feet like she wanted to stomp them. Damn she was too irresistible.
“Look, I’ll be honest, I want you. But I’m not that girl. I can’t…” She waved as if she could find the words in the air.
“Bang me.”
“Yeah, I can’t do that and survive the rest of the semester watching you with other people. One day I want love, family, and the picket fence. I’m not wired to just hit it and quit it.”
That made me laugh and feel disappointed at the same time.
Soberly, she added, “Can you tell me that you want more from me than a hookup?”
I closed my eyes because if I’d ever wanted it and even more than Ashley, I wanted that with her.
“That’s all I got.” I spread my hands in defeat.
She pulled something from around her wrist and bound up her hair in a ball at the top of her head. Was she planning to fight me? I might have smiled, but the invisible steam that was coming out of her ears said she was going to nail my balls to the ground if I did.
“Then why this? Why are you stalking me?”
“I’m not stalking you,” I said, but she continued as if I hadn’t spoken.
“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph! You keep kissing me and making time stop. I don’t get it. I don’t get you.”
“I wish—”
“Yeah, and you keep giving me mixed signals along with cryptic messages. Are you in the mob or something, because I think we could have something. I’m not dumb. I see how you look at me and it’s not like I’m just a piece of ass. You can get that from anywhere. Is it the chase? Do you get some perverse thrill out of wearing me down until I give in?”
“Megan—”
She held up a hand and I buttoned up.
“I’m just so done. Why can’t you just leave me alone? You’re making this hard on both of us, because I can’t seem to get you out of my head. When I get close, you show up and act like a human being.”
When she finally stopped talking, the silence grew heavy.
Part of me wanted to explain that us bumping into each other was by accident. But what did that matter?
“Well?” she asked.
I couldn’t have what I wanted and never would.
“I’ll stay away from you.”
“Good.”
Although she’d snapped out the word, I wasn’t done.
“But you have to do one thing for me.”
“As if I owe you a thing.”
Her sarcasm wasn’t lost on me.
I planted my elbows on my knees and held my hands as if in prayer. I hid one side of my face while I spoke.
“Stop being reckless.”
“What?”
The word cracked in the air like a whip.
“Sitting out here in the dark in the middle of the night. Getting drunk and walking back to campus and letting strange guys pick you up.”
“So you’re admitting you’re strange.”
She may have thought that was funny, but I was dead serious.
“For all you knew of me that night, I was.”
She bit her lip and got serious. “You’re right. And that scaring the bull spit out me proved I hadn’t been aware of my surroundings,” she admitted.
“Good.”
I’d see her home whether she liked it or not.
“Just one more thing,” she said.
“What’s that?”
I didn’t relish the idea of what she might say next.
“You’re a coward.”
She spun and in Megan fashion strode away, giving me the loveliest view of her ass. That should have made me smile. Instead, her words would haunt me as I tried my damnedest to keep my promise to leave her alone.
24
megan
The words had physically hurt to say, but I’d done it. And so far he’d kept his promise.
Reagan walked in humming.
“You seem happy?” I asked.
She gave me a grin as if I’d spoken the word, “cheese.”
“I am.”
The date she had with Tade had gone well. She’d even gone sailing with him the next day. Things were looking up for her. She strolled off, continuing with her melody.
I looked at the search bar for the millionth time. I hadn’t yet taken Gavin’s advice and reached out to my father. Closing my eyes, I took the plunge and typed in, Weber International Group.
It came right up and I clicked the link. On the about us page, a more recent picture of my father took up half the page. He hadn’t changed much. I could see why Mom had been so attracted to him.
His bio was sparse with details. Outside of his undergraduate degree from Harvard and a master’s at Wharton, I found out very little about the man. He had no social media presence and nowhere was he linked to Alonso Aparicio, the drug lord. I also couldn’t find out if he was married or had other kids. Either he was a ghost or he had people working day and night to keep him out of the public eye. I was betting on the later.
I closed my laptop, unsure how to approach him. There wasn’t an email listed for him. If I called his office, what would I say? Can I speak to Gregor Weber? And when they asked me who I was, the only thing that might get me to him would be to say I was his long-lost daughter. That was if they’d believe me. Gavin w
as right that springing it on him like that wouldn’t work.
I wanted to talk to Mom. Though she hadn’t told me not to contact him, I didn’t think I could talk to her about it. As it was, I worried day and night about her safety. The case that she couldn’t tell me details about put her life in jeopardy.
Lee had pulled me aside that night after dinner and told me protecting my mom was his number one priority. The fact that I believed him had earned him extra points in my book.
I also hadn’t talked to Reagan about it. How could I? She was so sweet and couldn’t lie to save her ass. If her parents ever asked her who my parents were, she’d cave and tell them. I didn’t want to be the catalyst that sent her mother over the edge and made her pull out of school.
Thus, I was stuck to bear the secret alone. Which brought me back to Gavin. It had been freeing to talk to him about it.
I took a cleansing breath. I had to stop thinking about him.
Not wanting to stay inside another minute, I went for workout clothes. My classes were done for the day, so maybe yoga would help clear my head. I checked my watch. There was a class starting about this time.
I jogged over, not needing any more time in my head.
“Megan.”
Silently, I groaned.
When would he leave me alone?
“Derrick, I’m running late. I don’t have time to talk.”
He snagged my arm. “Please, give me a minute. It’s important.”
I stopped and turned to face him, crossing my arms.
“I think you should be careful.”
What the heck was up with everyone worried for my safety? I held his gaze and said nothing.
“Your boyfriend is bad news,” he added.
I looked up in silent prayer, searching for calm.
“How many times—”
“I know.”
His tempered exasperation gave me pause.
“There’s a girl who knows him,” he said.
Ah yes, probably one of his card-carrying fan club members. As if I would trust something from some girl who probably wanted him, not that I could blame her. I reached for inner strength to not curse like I wanted to. He wasn’t worth it. I got a grip on my emotions before I spoke.
“Why would you be talking about me or him to some girl?”
“It wasn’t like that,” he exclaimed. “We were out and she saw him.”
He paused as if he realized what he just said. It didn’t bother me, but he waited for a reaction. I gave him one.
“Go on.” I spoke evenly.
“She said she went to school with him five years ago.”
Quickly, I did the math. “She’s a freshman?”
“Yeah, so. It’s not like you want me back.”
I gestured with my hand in a rolling motion for him to speed it up.
He sucked in a breath before speaking again. “She said that there were rumors he was with the mob or his family was.”
A giggle burst out of me. “And she lives here—” I pointed to the ground. “—in Maryland?”
“Yes. She doesn’t live far from the school. Why is that funny?”
I couldn’t stop—my eyes were watering. “And you believe that? The mob in nowhere Maryland?” His expression remained steadfast as he nodded. “Look, thanks for the laugh. I needed that. But I have to go.”
He stood stupefied at my continued chortles as I darted into class. Did I think organized crime existed? Yes, my dinner with my mom was proof that really bad people were in the area. But the mob? I highly doubted the “mob” was in Maryland. But something tickled the back of my mind, but I brushed it off. I would deal with that thought later.
That evening Reagan and I were discussing a text message Tade sent her when she got an urgent call from her father. As she hung up, all the color had drained from her face.
I jumped to my feet worried she would pass out. “What’s happened?”
“They’re here.”
I covered a gasp. “Let me help you,” I offered.
Reagan had dyed some of her blonde hair pink. Her mother would so stroke out if she saw it. We worked as quickly as we could to pull it into a bun that hid the offending colors.
“It will be fine,” I said as she left out the door.
Only I felt sick for her. I picked up the phone and called my mother.
“Meggie.”
Though I’d told her not to call me that, the truth was I loved it. Hearing it reminded me of home.
“I’m surprised to hear from you,” she said.
My steps ate up the floor as I paced.
“I just wanted to hear your voice.”
I could almost feel the hug she would have given me if she were here.
“Honey, is everything okay.”
“Are you sure you’re safe? Should you be staying in a hotel or someplace else?”
Her exhale came loud and clear. “I shouldn’t have told you. I don’t want you to worry. This is part of the job. I knew that when I took it. But I believe in our system of justice and I…”
“You trust Lee to keep you safe.”
“Yes. I do.”
I trusted her. She would be honest with me even when she didn’t want to.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Sure, honey. Anything.”
She probably wouldn’t have said that if she’d known my question.
“Does your case have anything to do with the mob?”
Her quick laugh gave me some relief.
“Do you mean like The Godfather or Scarface mob?”
I’d heard of those movies before, though I hadn’t seen either.
“Yeah.”
“No. I wish I could tell you more. But I can say that organized crime does exist in our state.”
“But not the mob?”
“Not as far as I know. But there are still bad people no matter where you go.”
Though I felt relief, I still had another question.
“What about those two guys? You knew them. Are they from around here?”
She blew out a breath. “We’re crossing tricky ground. But I can say that I was surprised to see them there. Had we been in Baltimore, different story.”
“Okay, thanks.”
That put my mind at ease. But Mom wasn’t stupid.
“What brought on all of these questions?”
“I don’t know. I heard something about the mob. I was sure the person was exaggerating and it sounds like they were. But with everything that happened, I wanted to make sure.”
She wasn’t appeased.
“What exactly did they say?”
There was no reason to hold back.
“She said five years ago when she was in high school, a boy there was rumored to be in the mob.”
Of course I’d heard that third hand, but didn’t think I needed to clarify that. It was a dumb rumor. Mom seemed to think so too.
“Oh, crazy high school theories. I bet the guy in question was dark and mysterious.”
I laughed because he was. “Well, kind of.”
We joked some more and she told me some of the crazy things she thought about classmates when she was in school. By the time we got off the phone, I felt a million times better. Except, I still wasn’t sure about what to do about my father. I opened up the computer and used the bookmark I’d saved to pull up the site. I found myself clicking the careers tab. I searched the available jobs, unsure if I were bold enough to apply.
When the door shut, I found Reagan with her back pressed to the door. I closed my laptop and went to my friend.
“How did it go?” I asked.
Her story had my head spinning. By the time I lay down that night, I’d forgotten about the T-shirt covered pillow I hadn’t yet disrobed. I tossed it on the floor, but immediately picked it up. I laid my head on it and remembered how Gavin’s touch had set my skin on fire. And as I closed my eyes, I promised myself I would remove the shirt and toss it in the trash in the morning. The
same thing I vowed every night.
The next morning would be different because I could bet that Gavin wasn’t thinking about me.
25
gavin
I lay staring at the ceiling trying not to think of Megan with her sassy mouth and smoking body. I should be balls deep in pussy with anyone instead of thinking of her. But I told myself I was waiting for Tade to get back from his date. There was shit I had to do because of him, though he didn’t know it. But that didn’t explain the weeks of no pussy, did it?
Shifting gears, I thought about what needed to be done tonight. Days ago, Tade came home pissed as hell that someone had been taking pictures of him and Reagan when they’d gone sailing the other morning. I had to do some digging to make sure he was safe. No one could learn who his real dad was. Although Tade hadn’t said it, he wasn’t sure if they were after him because of his adopted father, the senator, or Tate, his incarcerated biological one.
I’d found out it was the latter. Good thing the private dick that had been hired by the family was a greedy motherfucker who could be bought. I just had to pray that I wasn’t caught playing both sides. The boss was worried Tate had cracked and was making a deal with the Feds. They needed leverage. Tate had no family left. The only person they could link him to was the boy who’d lived with him for a while. They had their suspicions that he could be his son, but no proof.
Tonight I had to trade hush money for cooperation. It wasn’t the kind of thing you did alone. That was how you got killed. So I’d been forced to ask Tade to come along because he could handle himself.
My phone buzzed with an incoming text from Tade. Finally.
I grabbed the duffle full of money I’d dug up from a grave the other night. That had been fun. Tate had money hidden away for such things. And it turned out fine. I’d shoveled working off anger over my shit life.
When I got in behind the wheel, Tade scooted over since he’d borrowed my truck. He had his own car, but wanted to use mine. I tossed the bag in the small space behind the seat and put the car in gear.
“So how was it? You didn’t fuck in my truck, did you?”
I laughed but he didn’t see the humor in it. Instead, he stared out the windshield like he had shit on his mind.
Captivated by Him Page 14
