The Midnight Club

by Love, Michelle

  She rubbed the tip of her nose against his. ‘You’re presuming they’re straight, Mr. Storm, they could just as easy be enjoying your perfect body.’ She pulled his shirt out of his pants and ran her hands underneath it. Theo grinned, his eyes crinkling at the corner, obviously enjoying the feel of her hands on his chest.

  ‘I’m not sure this is quite what Max meant, but I’m okay with it,’ he said, then pressed his lips against hers. She kissed him back then pulled away, closing his office door and locking it.

  ‘Technically,’ she said with a grin, ‘This is my office and he didn’t say anything about not screwing in here.’ She closed the blinds, then in one easy fluid movement, peeled her dress off, over her head, shaking out her long dark hair. The dark red burgundy underwear she wore was glorious against her honey-colored skin.

  Theo was at her side in two long strides, scooping her up into his arms and laying her on the desk. He freed his already ramrod hard cock as she wriggled out of her panties and reached for him. He hitched her legs around his waist and thrust into her hard as she gasped. She was already so wet for him that they moved together easily and he held her hands above her head as he fucked her, urged on her cries of pleasure. It was a quick, hard fuck and soon they were coming, and laughing and kissing, dressing quickly as they heard other people moving around in the hallway outside. Theo kissed her deeply then disappeared to his own office.

  Jess sat at her desk, catching her breath, grinning to herself. She opened her laptop and logged onto her email system, glancing through the subject lines to see if anything was urgent. She might have missed it if she hadn’t accidently clicked on the spam email above it. She deleted the spam and the next email showed up automatically. Her heart froze.

  You look so beautiful when he’s fucking you. Make the most of the time you have left, Jessica.

  I’m coming for you.

  They were back. Jules grinned to himself as he watched the footage taken from their bedroom. He wasn’t disappointed, they screwed each other long into the night – not that he paid any attention to Theo Storm. All his attention was on Jessica as she fucked and was fucked, her beautiful, golden body all fluid limbs and soft curves. The camera he had installed was high definition and he enjoyed the fact he could still the see the vivid scars on her belly, the marks of his weapon. I did that. He closed his eyes, reliving the feeling of tearing through that tender flesh.

  It was the way they were with each other after they’d made love that got him. Angered him. They were tender, intimate, fun-loving, best friends. Julien Gachet hadn’t had any friends to share that kind of closeness with - certainly not women. To him, they were just something to fuck. But not Jessica. He found himself enraged by the obvious closeness, the trust between Jessica and Theo Storm. Why couldn’t that have been him?

  Because you raped and terrorized her. All that mattered to you was possession.

  He shook himself. Jessica was his, despite what he could see was between her and Storm. She would die by his, Jules’ hand, and soon. She would never become Mrs. Storm, he was determined.

  He shut off the video and sat back in his chair. Going incognito was frustrating; he wanted Jessica to feel that fear of him every day, be cowed and cornered by him. To live in terror. Happiness ruined. He smiled to himself. He would have a little fun. Jules Gachet may not be a good businessman but he did know about computers.

  Time to let Jessica know he was still waiting, still watching. Let he know he was still coming to kill her.

  Amelia Storm looked over her glasses at her future daughter-in-law and frowned. Jess was quiet, staring blankly at the menu of the seafood place Amelia had chosen for lunch. Amelia could tell she was zoned out, her dark eyes sad and tired. The waiter arrived to take their order and Amelia put her hand over Jess’ and the younger woman started then smiled ruefully.

  ‘Sorry, I’m Ms. Space-cakes today.’ Jess shifted in her chair and blinked. ‘I’ll just have a club sandwich, I think, please.’

  Amelia ordered the same and the waiter, casting an admitting glance in Jess’s direction, disappeared.

  ‘What’s up, Jessie?’ Amelia kept her tone light, knowing that if something was worrying Jess, then it probably had to do with her asshole of a step-brother. Jess sighed and rubbed her eyes.

  ‘Jules. He’s been sending me messages. Threats. Nothing I haven’t heard before but, stupidly, I was beginning to think he’d made his escape and was staying away. God, I’m so stupid.’

  Her whole body slumped. Amelia studied her. ‘Have you told Theo?’

  Jess nodded. ‘We have no secrets, not anymore. He’s mad, of course, but Jules used an untraceable I.P. address to send the emails so…’

  Amelia sipped her water. ‘Have you ever talked about the night you were stabbed? To anyone? Theo, or a psychologist?’

  Jess shook her head. ‘No. I thought it would be better not to. I don’t want Theo to see me like that, broken and dying. I mean, I know he found me but I want him to focus on the fact I survived. And no, I’m afraid I’ve gone for the head-in-the-sand method of coping.’

  Amelia nodded. ‘Understandable but I wonder, if you talked about it, if you named it, it would become less of a terror for you. You could talk to me, you know that.’

  Jess chewed on her lip. ‘Possibly. But would I say? Jules stabbed me, it was painful and terrifying and I thought I was dead. He was brutal, merciless. All I could do was lay there and take it, I was so concussed from the mirror hitting me. He used a piece of the mirror to stab me, I assume, because he knew it would be more painful…. see, that,’ she broke off and pointed at Amelia’s face, which had paled and turned green so sickened was she, ‘That right there is why I don’t talk about it, Amelia. It just horrible and sickening and it won’t ever leave me. It might even happen again and I…’

  ‘Stop. Stop.’ Amelia held her hands up. ‘It will not happen again, Jessie. I won’t permit it. Nor Theo nor any of us. You are loved, you are protected.’ She cut her eyes at the huge bodyguard sitting a few chairs away. ‘If he steps foot on the island, or even in Seattle, we will know.’

  The waiter brought their food then and they thanked him, the strain in both of their voices obviously. They ate in silence for a time then Jess put her sandwich down.

  ‘I’m sorry, Amelia, I shouldn’t have told you all of that.’

  ‘I think you needed to. I think you’ve been keeping it all in for too long to protect the rest of us. You are my daughter, Jess, and I love you. Let me carry some of the weight.’

  Jess had tears in her eyes and she dashed them away impatiently. ‘I love you too. And I’d love to change the subject now. What’s happening with you?’

  Amelia smiled. ‘I think I’m seeing someone.’

  Jess gaped at her. ‘What? You kept that quiet. Who is it?’

  Amelia grinned her wicked smile. ‘He’s a younger man. Yes, I’m a cougar or whatever they call it.’

  Jess looked impressed, grinning at her friend. ‘Have you…’

  ‘Jessica Wood, you are a nymphomaniac. No, we haven’t, we’re just dating for now.’

  ‘Will he be your plus one?’

  ‘To the wedding?’

  ‘No to the circus. Of course to the wedding.’

  She rolled her eyes at Jess’s wide grin. ‘You are a pain in the butt, girl. I don’t know. I mean, I enjoy Clem’s company but…’

  ‘His name is Clem?’ There was a catch in Jess’s voice and Amelia’s eyebrows shot up.

  ‘Problem?’

  Jess shook her head. ‘Sorry, it’s just, it reminded me, Clement is Jules’ middle name.’

  Amelia patted her hand. ‘And about a million other men’s first name. Anyway, Clem is a blue-eyed blonde.’

  ‘Does he live on the island?’

  Amelia nodded. ‘I actually ran into him a few weeks ago, the day we went to the farmer’s market. I had hoped to introduce you but he said he had to go.’

  ‘Next time.’

  Amelia drop
ped Jess off at home and she walked through the house, looking for Theo. He was in the garden playing with the dogs. Jess stood at the French windows watching them, smiling. Dressed in a simple vintage tee and jeans, Theo looked like a catalog model but acted like a kid, teasing the two barking dogs, throwing their toys for them to fetch.

  Oh, you are my love, she thought, watching his athletic body as he twisted and ran with the animals. He looked up and saw her, and the biggest smile stretched across his face, it made her weak. He jogged over to her and kissed her hello.

  ‘So much for spending the morning working,’ she grinned at him. He shrugged good-naturedly.

  ‘What’s the use of being the big boss unless you can blow off work once in a while?’

  He followed her inside, watched as she grabbed a pitcher of cold lemonade from the chiller. She smiled at him, pulling an errant leaf from his hair.

  ‘Big kid. Talking of which, your mom has a new boyfriend.’

  Theo nodded. ‘She told me.’

  ‘And you didn’t mention him?’

  Theo shrugged, pulling her to him. ‘Seen it all before. I wouldn’t say my mom’s mercenary about her love life but she’s not interested in candy and flowers. Very few people make the cut after the third date.’

  ‘She seems pretty keen. Even mentioned double dating.’

  He rolled his eyes. ‘God, please no.’ Jess laughed.

  ‘I thinks she was kidding. Anyway…’

  ‘Anyway?’

  She slipped her arms around his waist and relaxed against his hard body. ‘I’m actually really tired.’

  ‘You sick?’ His hand went automatically to her forehead but she shook her head.

  ‘Nope, just tired. I think everything is catching up with me.’

  He stroked his big hands down her back. ‘Wanna go nap?’

  Upstairs, she changed into her sweats and curled up on the bed. It wasn’t more than a few minutes later when Theo and the dogs were snuggled up with her and she smiled to herself. This right here is all that matters. Their family.

  She fell asleep smiling but the nightmares still returned. Ever since the messages had started to arrive, she’d had at least one a week and it was always the same.

  You look so beautiful when he’s fucking you.

  Jules forcing his way into her bed, into her body.

  Make the most of the time you have left, Jessica.

  Knives. Cutting. Hurting. Killing.

  I’m going to kill you, baby girl.

  Blood. So much blood.

  I’m going to stab you until the light in your eyes goes out. You won’t survive the next time, Jessica.

  I’m coming for you.

  She’d learned how to wake herself from these nightmares without the screaming, without scaring Theo. Stan whimpered a little as she slid quietly out of bed and padded quickly to the bathroom down the hallway.

  She just about made it before she threw up.

  Sunday morning, Max came over from the mainland. Since Josh’s death, he’d been more or less a homebody but seeing Theo, Jess and Amelia more than made up for it. He and Theo – already like brothers – had grown even closer and he loved Jess like a sister. There was not one part of him that blamed either Theo or Jess for what had happened – lord knows they’d been through enough themselves.

  But he missed Josh. He missed the fun, the love, the sex. There had been no doubt in his mind that he and Josh would grow old together. None. And now…

  Amelia prodded him. ‘Hey, you still with me? I need you to decide some of this. Which champagne?’

  They were at a little store which sold artisanal wines and champagnes. He looked over what Amelia was holding out to him.

  ‘Amelia, how do I know? I know nothing about champagne.’

  ‘Sacrilege.’ The owner of the deep, resonant voice stepped out of the backroom. Tall, broad and with a wide gap-toothed grin, he greeted Amelia like an old friend. Amelia turned to Max.

  ‘Max, this is my good friend, Seth. Seth, this is Max. He’s single, and handsome and knows nothing about champagne. I have to go grab something from another store. I’ll be back in ten.’

  And just like that, she was gone. Max blinked at Seth. ‘Did that just happen?’

  Seth laughed, a deep rumble from the center of his big chest. ‘I find, with Amelia, the best thing to do is just go with it.’

  Max looked at this huge lumberjack of a man and a slow smile spread across his face. He was silent for a long moment then said. ‘You know what? I think you’re right.’

  He saw Seth’s shoulders slump with relief and realized he was just as nervous as Max – even if he had been in it with Amelia. Seth nodded.

  ‘Good. So… you really know nothing about champagne?’

  It was paranoia. Plain, simple paranoia. She was at home, safe, guarded, enclosed. And yet she felt watched, observed. Hunted.

  Jess reasoned with herself. Yeah, okay, Jules was still threatening her life but all the emails had gone to her work email, Theo’s private security team and the detective had reported no sightings in Seattle. You’re wigging, girl.

  But the fatigue she was experiencing wasn’t helping. She had no idea where it had come from and now, feeling too emotional, the paranoia was really starting to get to her. There was something else bugging her and it was Amelia. Well, not Amelia, but her new paramour. Clem. Amelia had tried, twice now, to arrange a double date but Clem had canceled both times, pleading work. Clem… Clement… Julien Clement Gachet… Oh wow, you really need to get out, girl.

  She went to find Mike, Theo’s head of security. She liked the man, he was no nonsense and commit to his role but he also had a great sense of humor. They had long chats about his wife and kids before and Jess counted on him as a friend.

  ‘Hey Mikey,’ she smiled at him now. ‘Do you have some time, I could really do with going into town, getting some air?’

  ‘Sure thing.’

  She drove them into the town, parked next to the bookstore and was about to get out when she saw Amelia on the far side of the street, talking to a blonde man with a cap pulled low over his eyes.

  Jess’s skin prickled and itched. The guy was the same creep that had made her feel so uncomfortable in the store all those weeks ago. She tried to reason with herself: maybe he’d been about to say hello and was shy. Then why did he walk off when Amelia had called you?

  It wasn’t just that: his build, the shape of his body, the way he stood. He was dressed like a good old boy but that posture was too perfect, too studied.

  ‘Jess?’

  She’d forgotten that Mike was beside her in the car. She turned to him. ‘Sorry, I was miles away.’

  Mike nodded to Amelia. ‘You want to go say hello?’

  Jess looked across the street again, saw Amelia kiss the guy on the mouth. She looked so happy. Just go over, introduce yourself, put your fears to rest. It’s not Jules, of course, it isn’t. Amelia had seen photos of Jules, hell, the whole of America had. She shook her head.

  ‘No, I think she’s busy. I just want to go grab a book or two then go home. That okay?’

  She could tell Mike didn’t believe her. His eyes narrowed slightly, studying her, searching for anything he could help her with. She gave him a wan smile.

  ‘Everything’s cool, Mike, I’m just not feeling myself lately.’

  Mike discreetly checked out the bookstore before nodding that it was safe. Jess got out of the car and went in. She felt a bit embarrassed at the fuss but no one in the bookstore seemed to care. They chatted with her, friendly and knowledgeable about the books she wanted. She wandered down the aisles, breathing in the smell of books and a calm settled over her. She was being paranoid.

  She was nose-deep in an art history book when it happened. The feeling. She was being watched. She looked up in time to see the retreating figure of a man disappearing around the corner of the aisle. The cap he was wearing, she recognized immediately. She threw the book down and rushed after the guy.


  ‘Hey… wait!’

  But he was heading out of the door. She rushed after him, down the street.

  ‘Hey! Clem!’ She was screeching now but she didn’t care about the stares people on the street were giving her. She had to know. Now.

  ‘Clem’ didn’t turn at her call, just headed around the corner. Jess cursed to herself and anger roiled through her. ‘Hey! Jules! Come and get me, you cowardly son-of-a-bitch.’

  She was almost running when two strong arms curled around her. She struggled furiously.

  ‘Jess! Calm down. Calm. Down.’ Mike’s arms were too strong and she gave up and slumped. Mike wrangled her back to the car and locked the doors.

  ‘What the hell do you think you were doing? You never run off like that, I just…. god.’ Mike had never raised his voice to her before and Jess suddenly came down from her frenzy and stared at him, ashamed, humbled. His face was red but his eyes were scared. The adrenaline left her body and then tears started to drop down her cheeks.

  ‘Oh god, Mike, I’m so sorry… I just got it into my head that…. Jesus, Mike, I don’t know what’s happening to me, I’m so sorry….’

  And she began to sob in earnest. Mike patted her hand awkwardly. When the sobs turned to gasps and sniffs, he made her look at him.

  ‘Given everything you’ve gone through,’ he started, his voice calm, reasonable,’ It wouldn’t be a surprise if you rocked back a little. Hell, a lot. No-one should ever have to go through what you did and god knows, Mr. Storm, his mother, me, we are all here for you, Jess. But look, I think you should talk to someone. A professional.’ He sighed. ‘I’m sorry if I’m overstepping but I think sometimes it helps to hear it from someone outside your family. Did you really think that guy was Jules?’

  Jess was sucking in great lungfuls of breath. ‘I don’t know, Mike. It’s like I’m losing all reason.’ She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. ‘You’re right, though. I should see someone.’

  Mike was quiet for a moment. ‘You want me to tell Mr. Storm about this?’