“I’d put her ahead of the other possibility, only because the other comes up with nothing, and this one screams of domestic abuse.”
“So where do we start?” Dane asked, “Where would you start?”
“Me?” Asked Reece, looking lost in thought, “I’d start with maybe staking out her listed address, see if you can track her down. Give me your phone,” he said, motioning to Dane. Dane raised an eyebrow at me. I swallowed a chuckle as Dane gave Reece his phone. To say Dane didn’t like Reece would be an understatement, between his condescending tone and his attempts at flirting with me, Dane was visibly far from impressed.
Reece flicked through the phone, opened up the camera and took a snap of the screen. Handing the phone back to Dane, he began writing down some information on a slip of paper.
I looked questionably at Dane, who held the phone up for me to see. It was a picture of a woman. A mug shot. Eva, I guessed. It was dated 2010, so for our purposes it was pretty recent.
“Here is her home address, her social security number, and the details of her car. Make, model, registration,” he explained, handing the piece of paper to me.
“Brownsville,” I murmured, “Where the hell is Brownsville?”
Reece laughed, “No, you can’t tell you’re not from around here,” he mocked, his face full of horror. “If you guys head to Brownsville, then you probably want to try and not draw attention to yourselves,” he added, his eyes once again roaming over my body.
“I think we will be fine, dude. Thanks,” Dane said, “If we need anything else, we will call you.” Dane’s tone made it clear our meeting was over. Reece looked confused for a moment, and then seemed to get the message.
“Right. Well I guess that’s my cue to leave. Call me if you need anything,” he winked at me, “Especially you, cutie,” he said, lowering his voice. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Dane was ready to pop. Part of me was secretly thrilled that he was so annoyed by the attention Reece was giving me, the other part of me wanted this douche to leave.
“See you, Reece,” I said, rolling my eyes.
Chapter Eighteen
Once he had gone, Dane let loose.
“Can you believe the nerve of that guy?” He ranted, pacing along the window. His arm extended up to his head, where he ran his hand through his hair, “I mean, he was harassing you,” he grumbled.
“Relax Dane. No harm done. And we have all this stuff to go on tomorrow,” I added, pointing to the list, “Where is the photo of Eva again?” Dane handed his phone to me. I studied her. She looked to be in her early twenties, though her eyes looked much older and full of torment, as though she’d been through a lot in her life. Her long dark hair looked dull and listless, and her skin was pale. At one time in her life, I didn’t doubt she had been a very attractive young woman.
I put his phone on the table, and lay down on the couch. Dane sat down, crossing one leg over his lap. He gave me a smile. I smiled back, but inside I was melting.
Oh boy. Don’t smile at me like that.
His smile made me want him so badly. It was amazing how that crooked little grin could make me drop every defence and insecurity, and just make me need him.
“What?” He said, amused. I blushed as I realised I had been staring at him like a dork. “Why were you looking at me like that?” He pressed. He grinned again. He knew. He knew exactly why I had been looking at him. He knew his smile made him irresistible to me.
“I wasn’t staring, I was thinking,” I argued, poking my tongue out at him.
“Oh yeah?” He grinned, “about what exactly?”
Oh god, there’s that grin again.
“Lil?” Dane cocked his head. He slid off his chair, and knelt down in front of me, “you’re in a world of your own tonight,” he whispered, pulling me down and kissing my lips tenderly. He was right. I wasn’t thinking straight. Maybe it was jetlag? Because yes, a three hour flight could do that to you…
I let his lips join mine, aware of his hand wandering under the confines of my shirt. I liked this. I liked this a lot. Sighing, I sat up. Thinking about how much I enjoyed kissing him had made me think about how much I liked this guy, which of course made me think of ‘that’ text message.
Love you. Argggh! Why the hell had I done that?
“Lil?” Dane’s forehead creased, half amused and half concerned. He climbed onto the sofa next to me, his arm over my shoulder. He kissed my forehead as he waited for me to say something. “Now you’re starting to worry me, sexy,” He frowned at me, his fingers brushing my blonde stands of hair from my eyes.
“I’m embarrassed!” I confessed, my hands flying to cover my face, “In that message yesterday…” My voice trailed off, too horrified to repeat those words to him. Again.
“Lil-” He began.
“No, please don’t! The last thing I want is your pity. Please, forget it,” I pushed him aside, removing myself from the sofa, away from his intoxicating smell, and that sexy, wonderful smile. I had to get away.
“I’m going to get some air,” I muttered, grabbing my key and heading to the door, ignoring his pleas for me to stop. I was so embarrassed. No, I was past embarrassed, this was mortifying. And that wasn’t even the worst part. The worst part was the fact he hadn’t said it back, or anything at all. What I thought were mutual feelings, I had obviously misread somewhere along the line.
I repeatedly hit the elevator down button, knowing it wouldn’t make it arrive faster, but unable to stop myself all the same.
“Lil. Will you wait a second.”
I turned around. Dane stared back at me, both shocked and amused at my outburst. Great, so he thought this was funny, wait until Kella and Fraser came back from dinner, and we could all have a good old fashioned laugh about it.
“What,” I growled, knowing the last thing I needed right now was him in my face.
“Jesus, Lil, let me speak,” He laughed, grabbing hold of both my shoulders so I couldn’t look away. I sighed.
“Fine. Talk,” I said through gritted teeth.
He laughed again, “You’re such a strange girl,” he said, shaking his head in dismay. That’s what he wanted to tell me? “Lil…” He warned, as I opened my mouth to speak. I quickly shut it, wishing he would hurry the hell up so I could leave.
“Okay, I didn’t want to say it like this, but here goes. I love you, Lily,” Dane said simply. I stared at him, open-mouthed, as he chuckled softly.
“Close your mouth, sexy. You’re catching flies,” He murmured. I shut my mouth. “I love you. I love the way you say whatever comes into your mind. I love the way you eat like a horse in front of me. I love the way you would do anything for the people you love, like travel halfway across the country. For me.”
“But I thought…” My voice trailed off. He loved me! I couldn’t hide the smile. I grabbed his face and kissed him.
“I didn’t want my first time telling you I love you to be in a message,” he added, “I was going to tell you here. Tonight,” He waved his arm around.
Shit, he was planning a romantic moment, and I had ruined it.
“No, you’re not going to do that,” he warned, reading my expression, “this is perfect. We are perfect.” He nibbled on my neck. The lift opened, and out walked Kella and Fraser.
“God you two, get a room,” Kella joked. She threw me a ‘what the hell is going on here’ look. I shrugged, giggling.
“How was your night?” I asked as we walked back down the hall toward our rooms.
“Yes, really nice. Fraser took me to Central Park where we ended up getting frisky-”
“Kella!” Fraser’s voice boomed down the hall. He looked flustered at her honesty. I laughed, knowing this was normal behaviour for Kella, and something he was going to have to get used to, fast.
“What?” Asked Kella, confused.
“Some things should stay between us, okay?” He grumbled, shaking his head. Kella rolled her eyes at me, mouthing something I didn’t quite catch.
“Fine. Whatever,” she sighed, making a face at his back, “so how did you guys go, anyway? Did you hear from Reece?”
“Yeah, we think we’ve tracked down Eva,” Dane showed them the photo, and filled them in on what Reece had dug up, “the only problem was your cousin kept trying to hit up my girl.” He narrowed his eyes at Fraser, who held his hands up in defence. Meanwhile, Kella raised her eyebrows and smiled. I knew what she was thinking, ‘his girl’.
“Hey, I never said Reece was a good guy,” Fraser laughed, “There’s a reason I only see the guy at Thanksgiving and Christmas. In fact, I think I warned you he’s a bit of an ass,” he grinned, wrapping his hand around Kella’s waist.
“Well, we’re going to have an early one. We need Kel to be on the ball when she faces the parents tomorrow,” he joked. I almost laughed. Poor Kella looked terrified, and she was never scared of anything.
“Good luck” I giggled, giving her a kiss. Dane and I stood in the hall awkwardly after Kella and Fraser had left, standing right outside both our rooms, which were opposite each other.
“Do you want to come in?” I asked shyly. Why was I so nervous? Because this would be the first time since we’d said the ‘L’ word.
“Of course I want to come in, do you really need to ask?” Dane whispered in my ear. He slid his hand around the nape of my neck, holding me as he kissed me. Every part of my being responded, from the tingling in my toes, to the way my stomach fluttered at the feel of his touch, to the shivers that rippled down my spine.
I turned to my door, swiped the card, and led Dane inside. His hands roamed my body, as if he couldn’t stand not touching me, for even a second. Once the door was closed, he began to unbutton my top. As the last button came away, his hands slid around my waist, his touch warm against my skin. I jumped, the sensation tickling me.
“What, you’re ticklish?” He chuckled, tickling me as I yelled for him to stop.
“No!” I gasped, collapsing against him in a fit of giggles. I removed my shirt, looking him straight in the eyes and my hands moved to unfasten my jeans. He stood back, watching me with anticipation as I wiggled free of my pants.
“God, sexy…” He moved towards me again, this time taking me in his arms roughly, hoisting me onto his hips. His erection pressed against me through the confines of his pants. If his inability to keep his hands off me didn’t tell me he wanted me, this certainly did.
I kissed his neck, his ear, working my way around to his mouth. I could taste the chocolate from his dessert, which only fuelled my need to have him, taste him, and feel him.
Standing against the bed, he gently lowered me, gazing upon me for a moment before slowly unbuttoning his jeans. I kept my eyes fixed to his, briefly running them over his body as he removed his clothes. He cocked his head, amused at my distraction. I blushed.
Caught checking out my hot boyfriend. Is that what he was? My boyfriend?
He gently held my feet, bending them until my knees were pressed snugly against my stomach, before parting them and crawling between them.
“You feel so good,” He gasped as he made his way inside of me. My hands, wrapped around his back, dug tightly into his skin, my nails drawing blood. “You’re amazing, Lil.”
“Ohh!” I gasped as he pushed his length deep inside of me. With one hand gripping my shoulder, the other massaging my breast, he rode me faster, harder.
“God, Lil, I’m gonna come,” he cried out. With one final thrust, I felt him empty inside of me. He slowed down, finally stopping, still inside of me.
“I love you,” He murmured softly as I snuggled into him, his arms enclosing me, stroking my arm.
Chapter Nineteen
The next morning, Dane and I woke early to get a start on tracking down this Eva woman.
Fraser had left us with his driver, Marco, a tall, rather scary looking man who never smiled. We stopped at the café opposite the hotel for breakfast to plan our attack. I looked over the menu, finally deciding on a breakfast with the works. Eggs, bacon, tomatoes, mushrooms and hash browns. I ignored Dane’s chuckle as I ordered from the waitress.
“And a coffee. Oh, and a juice,” I added, blushing. The waitress smiled and turned to Dane.
“And you?” She asked, batting her eyelashes. Her voice, which only a moment ago had been dull and bored, was now full of sugary sweetness as she gazed down at Dane. I fought back the urge to poke her skanky eyeballs out with my fork.
“Uh, blueberry pancakes, please. And a coffee,” he handed her the menu, looking uncomfortable with her attention. He turned his attention back to me, “what’s the matter Lil? You’re not jealous, are you?” He chuckled, raising his eyebrows.
“Of some slutty waitress?” I scoffed, “as if,” I grumbled, trying to push my jealously away. I hated seeing other girls swoon over my man, and I had seriously been resisting the urge to bitch slap her.
“So, what’s the plan? One thing’s for sure. If we show up in Brooklyn’s roughest neighbourhood in that,” I pointed outside to the shiny black Mercedes Marco was sitting in, “we are going to stick out like a sore thumb.”
Dane frowned. “I hadn’t thought about that,” he muttered, his brow furrowing in concentration. He reached for his phone.
“Hey, Reece. What kind of car do you drive?” Dane said, as I waited impatiently for the conversation to end. I was impressed, it hadn’t even occurred to me to call Reece for help, and knowing how Dane felt about Reece’s interest in me, I was sure this wasn’t easy for him.
“Perfect, dude. Look, would you be willing to swap your car for the use of a Merc and a driver all day?” Dane paused, a grin spreading across his face, “Hell yes I’m serious! Great. Text me your address and we will head over there.”
It turned out Reece lived in a townhouse on the edge of Brooklyn, in a relatively nice looking neighbourhood. I smiled when I saw the beat up old shit box parked outside his house. So long as it didn’t blow up with us strapped inside, it was perfect.
Reece walked outside, eyeing the Merc with a look of awe.
“I can see why you’d prefer my car, but I don’t know whether to be grateful at the chance to drive this baby, or insulted that you thought of me,” he joked. He smiled at me, his eyes lingering a moment too long.
Long enough for Dane to scowl at him.
“Thanks for this, man,” He said stiffly, putting his arm around me. I frowned at Dane, shuffling out of his embrace. I didn’t like feeling like I was someone’s property, and that’s exactly how he was making me feel right now. Reece eyed us both curiously, his smile widening at my apparent dislike for Dane’s actions.
Great, now Reece probably thought he had a chance with me.
“Well, have fun,” Reece threw the keys at Dane, “Let me know when you’re done with her.”
I knew he was talking about the car, but the way his words came out, I couldn’t help but feel they were also referring to me. Dane scowled next to me, as though he were having the same thoughts.
“Settle,” I said, my hand running over his back, “It’s fine. If it didn’t obviously wind you up, he’d probably stop doing it,” I couldn’t resist adding.
“Maybe if you stopped enjoying it he wouldn’t do it either,” Dane shot back. I glowered at him. Really? He went there?
“Give me one example of when I’ve encouraged him, Dane, just one,” I shot back, my arms crossed.
“Look, I’m sorry. The guy’s slimy, and I guess it annoys me that his seems to have a thing for you,” Dane said stiffly as he opened the driver door and climbed in, unlocking my door. I slid into my seat. My lip curled up as my feet crunched empty chip packets. This car was a mess.
“Fine, but how is it my fault the guy has a thing for me?” I grumbled.
“It’s not, and I’m sorry,” he reached for my hand. I glanced at him. He did look sorry.
“Fine. You better drive, or we might miss her,” I added, ready for this conversation to be over.
As we drove toward Brownsville,
I pulled out my phone to text Kella. I knew her, and I knew meeting his parents was a huge, huge deal for her. I really hoped it went well.
Good luck today, Kel. You’ll rock it! Love Lil xx
Less than a minute into Brownsville, and I had never felt so happy to be in such a piece of shit car. This place was awful. In plain daylight, I could see kids peddling drugs, and hookers standing on a corner looked completely drug fucked. A man lay in a gutter, an empty bottle of whisky next to him. I wasn’t sure if he was passed out or dead, and I was not about to get out and check.
In the distance, sirens rang out, as did the sound of people shouting and screaming. Subconsciously, I leaned over and locked the door. I stole a look at Dane, wondering what he must be thinking. Was his sister here somewhere?
Dane followed my directions to Eva’s home. We pulled up outside what looked like a public housing complex, which looked no different to every other apartment complex on the block. In fact, the whole town looked like one giant public housing complex.
“What do we do now?” I asked nervously. Sitting in the car wasn’t an option, as any vehicle sitting outside this kind of area was going to arouse suspicion, especially when the residents were most likely paranoid about being watched.
“Well, I guess we pay Eva a visit,” Dane said, his voice sounding much more confident than he looked. I watched as a group of boys walked past, all looking to be in their early teens. All were yelling and swearing, two eventually getting into a fistfight, before being dragged away by their buddies.
“Let’s get this over with,” I mumbled, taking a deep breath. I waited until Dane was out of the car and around my side before I exited.
“This one,” He motioned toward a building. We quickly walked inside. The lift was broken, and looked as though it had been for quite a while. Even if it was working, I probably wouldn’t have used it.
Graffiti lined the walls. As we walked into the stairwell, the stench of urine was overpowering. More graffiti, and the odd used syringe littered the stairs. I walked carefully up each step, so as not to touch anything, especially not the hand rail.
Inseparable Page 13
