His forehead rested on hers. “Are we good?”
“Yeah, we’re good. But I meant what I said. No more lying. Full disclosure going forward.”
“You got it. You had me a little worried when you said we needed to talk. I couldn’t concentrate after seeing your text.”
“You have nothing to worry about. I’m not going anywhere. Well, except to my house for some clothes, but will be in your bed tonight. And you’re going with me anyway.”
“Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Get dressed. I’m sure dinner is waiting for us. We’ll run over to your place after we eat. You need to give me your keys tonight so the guys can make your home secure tomorrow.”
“Okay.” Her stomach decided to growl loudly enough for Owen to hear.
He raised an eyebrow. “Let’s go eat.”
“I guess all of the exercise worked up an appetite,” she said and winked before bending to gather her clothes.
Owen laughed and smacked her bare ass. They got dressed and she tried to fix her hair, but being sweaty wasn’t helping. Fuck it, she thought. Steven and Adeline already know we have sex and we’re not teenagers anymore. Although she did get the butterfly feeling in her stomach whenever the man next to her appeared.
~ 13 ~
After dinner they drove over to her townhouse. They decided to take his Mercedes E63 AMG. The car was a diamond silver metallic and fast as hell. Owen didn’t think the Caddy was necessary since they weren’t under a direct threat and she was only taking a suitcase or so.
During the drive, Cali asked, “Owen, tell me why you have all of the security. What happened that made you need it?”
He knew he needed to tell her. They agreed no more secrets. Taking a deep breath, he said, “Years ago I had a client who asked us to build a large, high-end yacht. We worked out all of the details, papers were signed, started building it as soon as we were able. Well, the client kept coming by while we were building to check on the progress. Stopping by is normal. People drop in to check if they are in the area.
“This guy brought his girlfriend every time which again, was normal. But she was always covered from head to toe in clothes and had sunglasses on, even inside. The temperature could be a hundred degrees and she would be in a long-sleeved shirt and jeans.
“Avery caught on and mentioned it to me. I was so engulfed in the business aspect I hadn’t taken notice. I know Avery comes across as a bitch, but she’s very compassionate. It’s all a front. Can she be bitchy? Yes, definitely, but bitchiness isn’t her normal behavior.
“During one visit his girlfriend needed to use the restroom. The guy looked angry, like he didn’t want her out of sight, but she insisted she needed to go. Avery excused herself, faking a call coming in on her cell. When she went into the bathroom, the woman was looking in the mirror and had the sunglasses off. She fumbled for them when Avery walked in, but not before a black eye was noticed.
“The woman also had her sleeves pushed up to wash her hands. Avery saw bruising covering one wrist, like someone wrapped their hand around her wrist, hard. Avery tried talking to her, asking if her boyfriend had hurt her. The woman kept saying no he would never harm her, that she had fallen and the bruises came from the fall.
“After the couple left, Avery told me and we decided the next time they come we would involve the police. The guy came pretty regularly so about two weeks went by and he was back, but this time we asked him to call before coming. We said we had a lot of meetings and wanted to be available to show him everything.
“We get the call he’s coming by in two days, not much notice, but better than nothing. We gave the police a call and let them know we’ll call if the girlfriend is there and covered as usual. We didn’t want the police to be on-site when he arrived since their presence might scare him off. So, the guy comes, the girlfriend is covered, sunglasses on, we nod over to the receptionist and she places the call to the police.
“Ten minutes later the cops arrive and ask to speak with her. He immediately becomes irate. Demanding to know what is going on and what business the officers have with her. The police state they want to ask her some questions outside.
“He’s yelling and the poor woman is visibly shaking. She collapses to the floor sobbing. Luckily a female detective was there and talked to her quietly in an office. A few minutes later, a voice comes over the speaker on one of the officer's handheld and the guy is handcuffed.
“He is ripping into us. Telling me it’s none of my business, he’ll get even with me, I am taking away what is his, et cetera. You get, the picture.”
Owen notices Cali had brought her hand up and had unshed tears, but he continued on.
“They are both brought to the station in separate cars. After she is questioned further and examined at the hospital, a doctor finds out she is two months pregnant. The guy didn’t know until after he was in jail, the woman never told him.
“He gets five years in prison for not only assault, but endangering a child. When he’s in jail he sends people after me for getting involved. Apparently the guy had friends in very low places who owed him some favors. I received death threats. My house was broken into and my belongings stolen. I had to install a security system. We already had one at the office, so the building was secure.
“One day while I was driving home, my car was sideswiped by another vehicle. And not just once, but repeatedly until the car was forced into a ditch. After that, I hired a security detail. I had two guys who would alternate shifts so I had twenty-four hour coverage. One of the guys was Steven,” he said nodding his head toward the front of the car where Steven was seated.
“How did you get the threats to stop?” she asked with a voice full of concern.
“Well, we didn’t. We heard he was fighting with other inmates and during one of the fights he was stabbed with a makeshift knife in the throat. The crowd of prisoners near the fight was so large the guards had to fight through the mob of people, taking down other prisoners as they went. The guards couldn’t reach him fast enough and he bled out onto the floor. Once he was gone, the threats stopped. He was fueling the threats. Without him to order and threaten these people, the threats stopped.
“But I didn’t drop my guard. I kept the security on for a year after the threats stopped. Steven and I became close friends. I asked if he wanted to stay on as part of the team. He agreed and here we are. Now you know why I keep surveillance on all of the properties and why one of the vehicles is armored. But also why I will never take a chance where your safety is concerned.” He stared into her eyes and said, “I will always protect you, Caliana.”
“I know you will, Owen. Do you think my cabin being burglarized is part of whatever happened to you years ago?”
Shaking his head, he said, “No, I don’t, but I can’t rule it out yet. We need more evidence.”
Cali lifted her hand to wipe the tear running down her cheek. “That poor woman. Did you ever find out how she was doing after her boyfriend was in jail?”
“Avery stays in touch with her. We helped her move out of state and change her name. She kept the baby and lives far away in the mountains. They are both doing really well now and she even recently began dating. She is scared and taking it slow, but getting there. We told her if either of them ever need anything to contact us.”
She reached over and grabbed his hand. “What you’re doing is very kind. And Avery, I had her pegged all wrong.”
“Well, Avery can be a bitch,” he said laughing lightly. “She’s a good person though. Just has her own issues she is working through.”
Nodding, Cali turned her head to look out of the window. She mentioned they were only a few minutes from her place. He squeezed her hand and kept trying to figure out who was out to harm her. He let his thoughts drift and run through different scenarios. One, he thought could have been a drug addict looking for money, but why slash the tires and what was with the red X? Another, maybe the burglar thought a rich family was staying inside and would get lucky when the
y broke in.
Her voice interrupted his thinking. “Make a left into the development,” she said to Steven. “Then your second right and my place is number two-forty.”
Steven nodded, but when he rounded the last turn hit the brakes. Police and ambulance lights were flashing, blocking the car from driving further. “Stay in the car.” Pointing to Steven he said, “And you stay with her.”
Owen got out of the car and walked over to the first police officer he could find. “What’s going on?”
“I’m sorry, but we can’t divulge any information. You’ll need to stay back.”
“My girlfriend lives here and is in the car waiting to get inside. She lives at two-forty. What happened?”
The officer motioned his head for Owen to follow. They walked off to the side, away from the curious neighbors. “Go get her,” the officer said. “I need to see verification she lives here, then I’ll fill you both in.”
He nodded and went to get both Cali and Steven from the car. She showed the officer her license and he began to explain what the police think happened. “Your home was broken into, ma’am. Someone kicked in the front door and ransacked the home. They also spray painted a red X on the front door.”
She gasped and started to sway. He reached for her shoulders to steady her. “Unfortunately, that’s not all. One of your neighbors heard the commotion and came out to see what was going on. She walked to your front door and was hit in the head, hard. Hard enough to knock her unconscious.”
“Which neighbor?” Cali asked.
“A Mrs.,” the officer looked at a slip of paper, “Emerson.”
She turned and buried her face into Owen’s chest, letting tears fall as her body shook. “Is she going to be okay?” he asked.
“I’m not sure. She is on the way to the hospital in the ambulance as we speak.”
“Can we get into her place?”
“You should be able to in a little bit. We are dusting for prints and taking pictures of everything now. We’d like to know if anything of value was stolen or if you can think of any information that might help us capture the person responsible.”
Owen gave him a run-down of what happened at the cabin and said by leaving the X on the door it had to be the same person. They both agreed Cali was being targeted. He held onto her tight as they went through her house. It appeared they only destroyed the kitchen and living room. The neighbor must have interrupted the person before more damage could be done.
Steven began cleaning the kitchen by gathering the glass. Cali and Owen went to the bedroom and she packed as many clothes as she could into a spare suitcase. “I ran out of room.”
He went out to the kitchen, grabbing a large trash bag to put the shoes and other items in. “It’s not pretty, but will work.”
“I want to stop at the hospital on the way to your house and make sure Mrs. Emerson is okay.”
“Of course.”
“I don’t know what I did to make someone come after me.”
He crossed the room to her and pulled her in close. “You didn’t do anything. We don’t know what this person is after, but we will figure it out.”
“I want it to stop. I don’t have anything someone could possibly want. No one knows I inherited the money and even if they did, that was years ago. Why now?”
Rubbing her back he said, “I don’t know. This doesn’t make any sense.”
* * * * * * * *
Cali finished in the townhouse and the men boarded the door up the best they could. Owen said he would have people out to fix it the next day as well as to install the security system. Whoever was after her would not only have to deal with the police when they were found, but him too.
They visited Mrs. Emerson every day. Her condition hadn’t changed and she was still unconscious. The doctors said she had bruising on the brain and she had to be monitored closely. The police were also kept notified of her state. They were all hoping she caught a glimpse of who the attacker was.
Owen thought it was best to hire on extra security. Steven recommended his friend Erik who used to work with him before becoming full time with Owen. Erik had dark brown hair, was tall and muscular, but a little on the leaner side. He was very friendly, but kept himself in work mode at all times. Not relaxing much, always seeming to be on guard. Cali thought that made Owen like him even more.
She spent the next two days on edge, although nothing new happened. No new information on who was behind everything. She did get the Jeep back with nice new tires. Owen wouldn’t let her go anywhere in it, but that didn’t bother her too much. She was too scared to leave without him, but knew Steven or Erik would go if she really had to leave.
Thursday night Owen came home in a terrible mood. Said a quick hello to her before going upstairs to get changed. Fifteen minutes went by and he didn’t come downstairs. She stood and decided to go see what was wrong. Walking in, she saw him lying on the bed. She laid down beside him and put her head on his chest.
“Bad day?” she asked.
“You have no idea.”
“Want to talk about it?”
He let out a breath and said, “I went to the main floor today to check on Ethan and he was on break, leaning against the wall talking to Mia. I was shocked to see her standing there. He saw me and straightened right away. Mia took one look at me and came over while Ethan hung back. From the look on his face he knew he fucked up.”
She inclined her head to look at him. “What did she say?” She didn’t get any good vibes from Mia the one time she saw her.
“She asked how I was and tried flirting with me. The closer she got, the farther away my feet stepped. I told her if she wanted to visit Ethan fine, but not to make a habit out of it. I needed him to focus on work and having her around could mess with him. I thought seeing Mia with him would piss me off. Outside of surprising me, I really didn’t care.”
Owen moved to kiss her and Cali gladly accepted the warmth of his lips. Those were the words she wanted to hear. The thought of the bitch at Owen’s work didn’t make her happy. She didn’t want to become the jealous, crazy girlfriend, but that chick was nothing but trouble. The thought reminded her to ask him, “How’s Ethan working out?”
“He’s really good. His work is amazing, always has been. I need him to keep his head in the game though. How Mia came back into the picture I don’t know, but will ask him. What did you do today?”
“Ummm, let’s see. I went from the bedroom to the kitchen and out to the pool. That’s about the extent of my day. Oh, and I read.”
Owen smiled and said, “More relaxing than my day. You’ve been trapped in the house. I’m sorry. Why don’t we do something fun tomorrow night?”
“Don’t be sorry. I understand why I’m stuck here. At least the house has a library and pool. And an amazing cook. Adeline is fabulous. You got lucky with her.”
“Yes I did, with both of them.”
“I would love to do something tomorrow night though. Any ideas?”
“As a matter of fact, I do have one. Not telling you, however,” he said and stuck his tongue out at her. She moved fast and caught his tongue between her lips, sucking on it gently. Owen pushed her onto her back, bringing her hands up to pin her to the bed.
“Want to play, do you?” Holding both of her wrists in one hand, he used the other to tickle her side. Cali was laughing so hard she had tears falling from her eyes. She brought her legs up to try to push him off. Both of his legs positioned on either side of hers, making it impossible for her to do more than wiggle. He pressed himself down on her and she could feel that he was hard.
He ground himself against her while licking and sucking on her neck. Moving his hands to pull her shirt over her head, he unclasped her black bra. Owen shifted enough so she was able to capture his waist with her legs. The little bit of teasing from him made her fill with want and desire. His head lifted and she opened her eyes to look at him.
“I want you, Caliana.”
“You have all
of me.”
He stood to remove his pants and briefs. Her shorts and panties came off. Owen stayed where he was and took ahold of her legs, dragging her to the edge of bed. He reached down and used his thumb to spread her wetness. Grabbing his cock, he slowly pushed into her.
Cali moaned, playing with her nipples, pinching and tugging the stiff peaks. She was never shy when it came to sexuality and knew her body well. She knew what would make her come fast and what to do to prolong the climax.
However, with Owen she found herself having little control over her orgasm. When she would move to slow the pace he would shift and she was unable to fight the feeling.
“You touching yourself is really fucking sexy.”
He lifted her legs to grasp behind her thighs, controlling the movements. He was deep inside of her and her body had to stretch to take all of him. She watched as the muscles in his chest and stomach flexed with his movements. The way sweat trickled down his face to his chiseled jaw.
Owen stroked her clit causing her to fist the bedding and writhe under his touch. No longer able to focus on his movement, she let the sensation take over. His every touch sent a current through her.
He was breathing heavy. She loved the way his body reacted to her. The feeling of him hitting the perfect spot within was driving her mad. She moaned causing Owen to quicken the pace.
A couple more thrusts and she let go. Her body convulsed in ecstasy. Owen pulled her hips higher and found his own release. He called out her name as he jerked inside of her. She went lax on the bed, recovering from another blissful encounter with him.
“You are amazing.” Each word was said in between breaths.
“As are you, Mr. Matthews. Now tell me more about this idea you have for tomorrow night.”
“Nice try,” he said chuckling. “You get me all sexed up and think I’ll give my plan away. No way, not going to work. Nice try though. And feel free to try again later.”
“You’d like that wouldn’t you?”
My Salvation Page 10
