“Fine.” She rolls her eyes. “We can wait until the morning.”
I laugh at how cute she looks. “You seem pretty sure of yourself.”
“Oh, I am,” she says matter-of-factly.
“Yeah? Well, I’m pretty sure of something too,” I say with a smile.
“What’s that?” she asks with a smile of her own.
“That you’re safe here with me.”
The smile falls off her face, and her eyes widen with fear. I hate how that makes her look. She should be happy. Relieved. “When was the last time you felt safe, Skye?” I can’t help but ask. The fact she woke up last night wanting the light on. How I scared her in the kitchen. I have a feeling this woman fears many things. I just don’t know what yet.
She looks up at me through her dark lashes. “I can’t remember,” she whispers. “I’ve spent my life running from guys like you.”
I frown. “Guys like me?” I ask, not really knowing what she means by that statement.
“Men with power. Men who others fear.”
“What about your ex? Robert?” I ask, wanting to beat this bastard up. I still need to find him and beat his ass over him laying his hands on her. He’s a fucking douche, but I want to hear what she thinks of him. How he treated her when they were together. “He didn’t make you feel safe?” I ask.
She snorts. “No. But he also had no power.” She rolls her eyes as she moves to lie onto her back. I can tell that he is a subject she has no problem talking about. She holds no love for him, and that makes me smile. Less competition. Like I would lose to competition anyway. “He has a rich daddy. He had someone to give him everything he needed, and he had a trust fund. Out of the four months we dated, I swear I never saw the guy work a single day.” She laughs to herself.
“Four months, huh?” I ask. That’s not very long for a relationship. But then again, the only relationship I’ve ever had was with Nicole. “How did you meet him?”
“He came into the diner one night with some of his friends. They had just left the club. He was pretty drunk and kept hitting on me. I wanted nothing to do with him, but Tiffany gave him my number.” She laughs at that memory. “I was so thankful when he didn’t call me. But he was there waiting for me to start my next shift. He said instead of calling me, he wanted to apologize in person. Then he asked me to dinner. I said no at first, but he wouldn’t leave until I said yes. So eventually I cracked and said yes.” She looks over at me. “And that was that.”
“How long ago did you guys break up?”
“Like three months ago. I’m not sure. Not counting.”
“Wow.”
“What?” she asks with a laugh.
“I would say I feel sorry for the guy, but …”
“Why would you feel sorry for him?” she demands, not liking what I had to say.
“Because he lost the best thing he ever had.”
She looks up at me. “People have very different opinions on what they consider to be the best thing,” she says softly.
“Why do you say things like that?” I ask.
“Like what?” she huffs.
“Like you have no worth.” Has all of her boyfriends been like Robert? Like nothing?
She sighs as she places her hands on her stomach, one on top of the other. “Not everything is worth something,” she says simply.
I place my hand on her face and force her to look over at me. Her dark green eyes glisten from unshed tears. “I agree with you,” I say, and she swallows. “But I think you’re worth something,” I say without thought.
A single tear runs down the side of her face. I wipe it away. “Brecken …” She whispers my name as if it’s too painful to say.
I lean in and press my lips to hers. It’s a soft and gentle kiss. Just our lips touching. When I pull away, her eyes remain closed. I lie down and pull her to me. “Get some sleep, baby,” I whisper.
***
I wake to my phone ringing. “Hello?” I say yawning.
“Wake up,” Jet snaps. “I’m on my way over. Case is meeting me there.”
I pull the phone away from my ear. “It’s four in the morning,” I say looking around the dark room.
“I know what time it is. Get up,” he snaps and then hangs up. I sigh as I drop my phone on the bed. I look over at Skye sleeping as she softly snores, and I smile. I lean over and give her a soft kiss on her hair. I get out of bed and throw on a pair of sweatpants followed by a t-shirt and then make my way out of the bedroom to the kitchen. I’m gonna need some coffee.
***
“Do you know who did it?” Case asks.
I shake my head as I yawn while sitting on the couch. I’m on my second cup of coffee, and it’s not working. “She says she didn’t see anything.” I guess Jet had spoken to Case at some point after I told him about Skye’s accident, and they both felt they needed to drag me out of bed to discuss it. “Don’t you guys ever sleep?” I yawn again.
“I was asleep,” Case says, “but I agree with Jet. We need to do something about Skye.”
“What do you mean do something about Skye?” I ask slowly.
Jet turns to me. “She needs to be protected.”
I stand slowly as I pull my shoulders back. “I am protecting her.”
“She got in a wreck …”
“Yes, I know that,” I snap interrupting Case. “She is safe with me.”
He goes to open his mouth when I look up and see Skye enter the living room. “Brecken?” She looks at Case and then at Jet. “What’s going on? Everything okay?” She looks at me. “You were yelling …”
“Everything’s fine,” I say raising my hands. “Just go back to bed,” I order. I hate the fact she is standing there in front of my best friend and a guy who I thought was on my side in my t-shirt with no bra on.
“Are you sure?” She looks at Jet, and her eyes light up. “Have you found out anything about—?”
“No,” he interrupts her, and the smile drops off her face.
“I’ll be in bed in a second.” I point to the hall. “Go back to bed, Skye.”
She stares at me for a few long seconds, her eyes narrowing on me. But she does as I say. When I look back at Case, his eyes are on me, and they look hard. “You’re sleeping with her.” It wasn’t a question.
“That’s none of your business,” I say.
Jet snorts. “You sound surprised.” Case throws him a fuck you look. “I saw it coming, sooner or later.” He shrugs as if he couldn’t care less.
And I sigh, tired and fucking pissy. The woman was in a car accident today, and all I wanna do is lay in bed with her and hold her. But no, they wanna have a fucking meeting about her safety at four in the morning.
“What are you doing, man?” Case asks as he stands. “Does Jones know about this?”
My head drops back as I let out a laugh. One that has my entire body shaking. “Why in the hell would I tell Jones my personal business?” I demand.
“Because this has to do with a case,” he snaps.
“Let me ask you this,” I say, and his shoulders stiffen, knowing what I’m about to ask him. “Did you tell Jones that you were fucking Blane’s sister?” Jet looks over at him in surprise. He doesn’t know my history with Case. “When you called Jones up, and said ‘Hey, I have a guy who is trying to get his father out of prison. He wants to help us work undercover in order to get Cricket.’” We’ve been trying to catch Cricket for five years now. And he just vanished last year. Not one word from any of his guys. It’s as if he jumped on a plane and left the country.
“What does Blane have to do with this?” he demands. “Jones would have agreed to anything in order for us to get Cricket.”
“Exactly. But then you went and slept with his sister, compromising our entire case. Even if we had caught him, it wouldn’t have been enough because you were fucking her,” I yell. “We had been working on that case for five years,” I remind him.
“Yeah, and those five years we were fucking Rachel
, too.”
“We?” Jet asks sounding amused. “You guys fucked the same chick?” he asks sounding impressed.
“Yes,” Case snaps at him. “Then Brecken went and killed her.” Jet’s eyes widen in surprise.
“To save you and your girlfriend,” I shout. “I killed her because she pointed a gun at you and Taylor. What did you expect me to do?” I shout.
“I don’t know,” he shouts back. He drops his hands to his side and lets out a long sigh. “You did the right thing.” He breathes. “You saved the woman who is now my wife.” He looks up at me, and his eyes soften. “Once again, you saved my life, Brecken. But who is here to save yours?”
“Don’t,” I growl.
“Is that her?” he asks lifting his right hand and pointing at the hallway where Skye was just standing. “Do you think she is the one who is gonna save you?” I fist my hands down by my side. “Because if that’s what you think, then I will back you a hundred percent. But I’m supposed to be your partner. Your best friend. Why do you keep things from me?”
“Because my problems are no longer yours,” I say truthfully.
“We’ve been through so much,” he says swallowing. “You almost died. Rachel had you shot.”
“I remember. I was there,” I say flatly.
I take a quick look at Jet, and his eyes go back and forth as he tries to take in bits and pieces of our past.
“And now, we’re here. And I know you mean well when it comes to Skye. But I want you to answer one question. Just one and if you say yes, then I will back you one hundred percent.”
I sigh. “What is it?” I just wanna go to bed.
“Do you trust her? Do you think she is another Rachel? Working for someone else and trying to get an in?” I open my mouth, but he keeps going. “Rachel had been working for Cricket. You killed her, and he disappeared. Didn’t hear a word about him. Skye could be working for him.”
“That was like ten questions,” Jet says, leaning back with a smirk on his face. God, I hate his dickish side and humorous side.
I know what question he meant to be the question, and that was, do I trust her? And I do. “Yes. I trust her.”
“Then where do we go from here?” Jet asks.
I look at him. “You go and meet with James. And you never bring up this shit about putting her into protective custody. Because she’s not leaving my side.”
Then I look at Case. “And we need to meet with Rusty. That fucker is past his five-day mark.”
SKYE
The bedroom door opens, and I watch as Brecken walks in. He reaches over and shuts off the light. I quickly sit up and turn on the lamp that sits on the nightstand. He doesn’t say anything as he walks around the bed as he undresses. His shirt, then undoes his pants, followed by his boxers. He climbs into bed and gets under the covers.
“Everything okay?” I ask.
“Yes,” comes his clipped response.
“Would you tell me if it wasn’t?” I ask as I look at his tight jaw.
He snorts. “What kind of question is that?”
I prop myself up on my arm. “It was a question that required an answer.”
He lies on his back, his arms folded over his chest above the comforter. “You told me that you were here to protect me. Has anyone ever been there to protect you?” I ask softly. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but I could tell that he and his best friend were still fighting. And I pray that it’s not about me. I don’t want to come between them. I just want to find my best friend’s killer.
He’s silent, just lying there looking up at the ceiling. And I know he won’t answer. But he doesn’t have to. I already know the answer. Men like him; the ones who are the good guys. They are that way because they have seen the evil side.
I scoot closer to him. Placing my hand on his upper left arm, I feel him stiffen, but he allows me to lift his muscular arm. I wedge myself between his arm and his side, and I close my eyes as I feel his warm body next to mine.
I love the way this feels. He really does make me feel safe. If only he could really protect me. But for the moment, I feel as if I do belong to him. As if my past never existed. And as if I’m going to wake up tomorrow and go meet Tiffany for lunch.
I close my eyes as I take a deep, calming breath. I never knew it could feel so good to be in someone’s arms.
“How do you feel?” His voice is rough.
“Fine,” I say with a sigh. “Great, actually.”
I feel his other hand come up to my face. “You’re not sore?”
I shake my head against his body. “No.”
“Good,” I hear him say.
He rips his arm out from underneath me, and my head falls onto the bed. I look up surprised as he hovers over me. He places his hands on the bed by my head, and he stares down at me. His dark eyes hard, and his jaw still tight.
“Are you mad at me?” I ask.
His brows draw together. “Why would you ask me that?”
I give him a soft smile. “I can tell that something’s wrong.” He just stares down at me. “If you need me to leave, I can.”
His frown deepens. “Why do you think I want you to leave?” he asks.
“I feel like I’m a problem. Like your friends are mad that I’m here.”
“Fuck them!” he says flatly, and I swallow. He didn’t say that I was wrong, but I knew I wasn’t.
“Brecken, it’s okay. I can go.” I reach up and place my hands on his face. His facial hair is rough against my skin.
He removes his hands from the bed and grabs my hands. He pins them down by my head. “You’re not going anywhere,” he growls as his hands tighten around my wrists and like all the other times he touches me, I lose all thought. My back arches and my body begs him to dominate mine.
He leans his face down to mine. “You are staying right here. With me, where you belong.” Then his lips crash to mine.
I stand in the middle of an alleyway with buildings fifteen stories high on either side of us. I lift the gun in my hand and point it at James.
“Skye.” I hear Brecken’s voice to the right of me, but I refuse to look away from James. The buildings cast a shadow over him, so I can’t make out his features in the dark, but I know it’s him. “Skye. Put the gun down, baby. You don’t want to do this,” Brecken says. His voice is desperate, but I don’t know why. Why does he not want me to kill this SOB?
“He doesn’t deserve to live after what he did to her,” I say through gritted teeth. Hot fresh tears run down my face. “He killed her,” I shout.
“I know,” Brecken says softly.
James stands there feet away from me. Still unable to see him. “She asked for it …”
“Don’t,” I yell. The gun shakes in my hands. “Don’t talk about her as if she didn’t matter,” I cry out.
“She didn’t.” He actually takes a step toward me. And I’m thankful. The closer he gets, the less odds I’ll miss him. “She was a druggy.”
“Shut up,” I scream. My legs are heavy, and my arms tired. My heart races, and my breathing comes fast.
“Skye.” This time, when Brecken calls my name, it’s a growl. A warning. If I don’t lower the gun, he’ll have to take me out. He’s a cop, after all. I’m just another woman in a city full of men.
“He needs to die,” I say, thinking of Tiffany. What did she feel when he killed her. When he wrapped the wire around her throat and choked her? Beat her? Burned her? Did she panic? Did she cry? Did she beg?
“Not like this,” Brecken continues. “Prison will be a much worse punishment than a quick death.”
I know he’s right, but I have the chance, so I have to take it. I can’t let him go. Not again.
“No.” I hear Brecken yell, and I take a quick look over at him to see why he’s yelling. He’s staring down at my chest. I follow his sight and see little green dots on my shirt. I look up and see nothing, but now, I know they’re there. The men who have guns trained on me. Brecken’s backup has arrived
, and all they know is that I’m the crazy one holding the gun.
I look back up at James with my mind made up. If I go, he’s going with me. I pull the trigger just as I’m hit from the side. Shots ring out in the alleyway, and my hearing is temporarily taken from me. When I stop rolling on the uneven ground, I look over to see Brecken lying beside me. “Brecken,” I say as his eyes are shut. “Brecken,” I yell as I reach over and touch him.
I don’t know why I feel like I’ve been here before. It seems familiar. “Brecken?” I shout as I get up on my shaky knees. He lies there, head to the side and blood pouring for his chest. “Brecken?” I can’t help but keep screaming his name. My hands are covered in blood, and it’s his.
I go to speak again, but I’m grabbed. I’m ripped from his body. I kick and scream as more hands than I can count hold me back. I’m thrown to the ground face-first, and knees go in my back. I look to my right and see Brecken still laying there, his face toward me, and men now around him as they perform CPR.
I scream when my arms are yanked behind my back to the point they feel bones may break. They’re arresting me. They shot at me, and he saved me. I killed him only to go to prison. James will get off scot-free.
I sit up straight, covered in sweat and screaming. I’m in darkness. Nothing but darkness. Hands land on my shoulders and I turn in the direction of them. I reach out, frantically hitting anything that I can make contact with. “No …” I yell. I hit something warm and solid then a sound of a man grunts. I swing a fist and then the sound of my hand making contact with a cheek followed by a growl so deep that if it hadn’t have been skin I felt, I would have thought it was a bear. I’m still dreaming. I have to be.
A hand wraps around my right wrist like a vise, and I buck my body trying to dislodge whatever have my legs restricted so I can kick too. I fist my left hand and swing. “Fuck!” a male growls as I hit something hard and unforgiving.
He catches that wrist as well, and I fight him. The next second, I’m flat on the bed. “Stop,” I scream as I buck. My hands are shoved above my head and pinned down. He straddles my hips, and I let out a sob as I know I’ve lost. Two muscular and heavy legs pin mine down. I’m helpless.
Obsession (Seven Deadly Sins Book 2) Page 25
