Morgan, Nicole - Sweet Redemption [Sweet Awakenings 1] (Siren Publishing Allure)

by Неизвестный

  Rex could sense the tension building in Jack. He wasn’t cranky. He was worried. Something was obviously nagging at him. “Come on, man. If you can’t tell me, who can you tell?”

  “Truth?”

  “Yeah, dumb ass, the truth. What is it?”

  “I don’t really know. Something just doesn’t feel right, though.” Jack shook his head.

  “Do you regret popping the question or something?”

  “No! I would marry her right this second if I could. It’s just…I don’t know, damn it! I called Tamara about a half hour after I got to work this morning. She didn’t pick up.” Jack held up his hand, stopping Rex so that he could explain. “I know, that means nothing. At first I thought she might have just not gotten to the phone or something. It’s not like I left a message. So I blew it off.”

  Rex waited to hear an actual problem. “And?”

  “And I expected to hear from her. The truth is, we usually talk to each other a couple of times a day. I’m sure you think that’s lame, but trust me, if you had Tamara in your life, you would call her every hour on the hour. Anyway, I got busy and never tried her back. I’ve had my cell phone with me all day. It hasn’t rung. Something just doesn’t feel right. It’s like I have a bad feeling or something.”

  “Oh, geez, don’t be such a wuss! What, are you afraid she’s having second thoughts?”

  Jack said nothing, just looked at Rex.

  “You do think that, don’t you? You idiot! Didn’t you almost lose her once to your stupid insecurity? Don’t do or say something stupid that you’ll just end up regretting. How many chances do you think you get in life, man?” Rex was really raking him over the coals.

  “I told her about what happened,” Jack confessed.

  “About the other woman, I know you, told me. You said she forgave you. What, don’t you believe her?” Rex rolled his eyes at Jack in annoyance.

  “I’m not talking about the other woman. I’m talking about what happened in Columbia.”

  “Oh, you told her that. You really are tackling all of your demons, aren’t you? Sit down and tell Uncle Rexy what happened.” Rex went to sit on a bench across from the wishing well.

  “You are an antagonistic asshole, do you know that?” Jack smiled and sat next to Rex.

  Chapter 19

  Brent walked Tamara back into the living room. She had hoped she would find Shelby either gone, or aiming the gun straight at Brent when they returned. But no such luck. Shelby was still lying on the floor. Her breathing looked steadier, though. That had to be a good sign, she hoped.

  “We never ate. Let’s go raid the freezer,” Brent instructed her excitedly.

  Brent seemed so happy now. He looked more relaxed, too. It disgusted her to think of why he was so content. When he got in the shower and started washing his body, she just tried to hold on to images of Jack to get her through it. That plan failed as Brent started to talk dirty to her. Some of the things he said truly did shock her. She had no idea he was into dominance and submission. He talked about leather masks and whips and dog collars, the whole time watching her as he was stroking himself. The sight of him in that shower was detestable. It made her queasy.

  When it became obvious his fantasies took over, he started muttering things that she could barely understand. She had thought she had heard him make reference to her using a dildo to stick into him, but she couldn’t be sure. His breathing was erratic, and his voice was a mere mumble. When he finally came, he looked at her and smiled at her as if she was somehow responsible for his release. His smile sent shivers up and down her body, and not the good kind. Tamara had never felt such revulsion for any other person in her life. She was just glad that it was over and she didn’t have to play a part in his release.

  Brent led her into the kitchen. He still hadn’t gotten the gun from the entertainment center shelf. She hoped that meant he was relaxing around her and starting to trust her more.

  Tamara opened the freezer door and looked in. The cold air was a relief to her senses. The steam that had built in the bathroom was unbearable. His hot shower made the air thick and humid. It was hard to breathe.

  “Anything good?” Brent leaned over her shoulder and kissed the side of her face.

  “We could either have pizza pockets or pizza pockets. I haven’t done too much grocery shopping lately.” She could feel him leering at her suspiciously as if considering what her statement meant.

  “I’ve been too upset. It’s been hard to eat.” She turned to him as she said it for added effect. “The pain of what you did made me feel nauseated.” She wasn’t completely lying. She had felt that pain for a short time. But it was only because she and Jack had fought at Flannagan’s.

  Brent leaned his forehead against hers and closed his eyes. “I know, honey. I’m so sorry. If it helps, I know that pain, too.”

  He was really starting to believe her. You can do this, Tamara. You will survive Brent Townsend. Pulling the pizza pockets from the freezer, she watched Brent as he retrieved a pan from the drawer under the oven. She wondered whom he was referring to earlier when he mentioned a woman named Katherine. There were obviously many things she didn’t know about this man. He caught her staring at him and beamed at her. He obviously mistook her stare for love, not disgust. She mentally shrugged it off. She was accomplishing what she had to. Hopefully sooner rather than later he would completely trust her, and she would find a way out of here and a way to help Shelby.

  Together, Brent and Tamara placed the pizza pockets on the pan. Brent kept brushing his hand up against Tamara’s, meticulously arranging the pockets. She hadn’t eaten much for breakfast this morning and didn’t think she could manage to eat a meal with Brent as if everything was normal. Of course she would have to try. It would buy her more time.

  Brent set the time and temperature on the oven, and Tamara placed the pan on the top rack. When she turned away from the oven, she noticed the time on the microwave. It read 5:22. Had it really been seven hours that she had been stuck here in this apartment with Shelby unconscious and Brent losing his grip on reality?

  Realizing so much time had passed, she wondered when Jack was coming by her place. She didn’t expect him for a while. She knew that Tuesday was the day that he always set aside for his staff meetings at the gym. Plus, he had told her that he had some “shopping” to do after work. She knew he meant shopping for a ring, but she couldn’t think of that now. She had to remain focused.

  Did she even want Jack to come here? Tamara knew that he would walk over hot coals and through fire before he let anyone hurt her. But would that same fierce determination cause him to lose sight of what was important? Would his retribution cause him to be careless and get hurt himself? Tamara remembered the gun. She knew Brent wouldn’t think twice about shooting Jack. The thought of anything happening to Jack made her sick. She ran to the sink and began dry heaving. Nothing came out, but the feeling was horrible. Brent ran to her side to hold her and comfort her.

  “Oh, you poor thing. I should have fed you sooner. You’ll feel better after you eat.” The dry heaves had subsided, and Brent was rubbing her shoulders. “Honey, have you had your period lately?”

  Oh, no! If he thought that she might be pregnant with Jack’s baby he might lose his last shred of sanity.

  “You know it’s only been a little over a month since you and I made love. Maybe we made a child. Oh, can you imagine how wonderful that would be?” Brent looked overjoyed at the possibility.

  No, I can’t imagine how wonderful it would be, Brent! It would be horrible. She knew that there was no way she was pregnant with Brent’s child. She had just finished her period a week ago, and she and Brent had always used condoms. Wait, why would he think she was pregnant if he always used condoms? “Brent, I couldn’t be pregnant. We always used condoms, remember?”

  Brent started to snicker and looked decidedly pleased with himself. “Perhaps I may have played a little game a few times?”

  What? “What kind
of game?”

  Brent was grinning from ear to ear. “I sort of played a little Russian roulette with the condoms occasionally.”

  What? “How do you play Russian roulette with a condom?”

  “Well, occasionally, when I could sense you were about to pull away from me—I always hated when you made me convince you not to leave me—I would poke a couple holes in the condoms using a sewing needle. It got to be such a rush of adrenaline for me that I stopped paying attention to which packages I poked the holes through and figured I’d let nature take its course.”

  The stupid bastard was very proud of himself. She would have died if she had ended up pregnant with Brent Townsend’s child. Maybe she should just reach behind him into the utensil drawer and grab the biggest knife she could find and kill him. She tried to smile back at him. She didn’t want him to see her hatred for him. She turned back to the sink to splash cold water on her face. Reaching for the towel to dry her face, she saw the time again. 5:35.

  “I think I’m a little jealous, man!”

  Jack cocked a brow at him. “Meaning?”

  “I’ve known you for thirteen years, and you just finally opened up to me about how that mission in Columbia affected you yesterday. You’ve known Tamara, what, a month now? You open up and share your feelings like some girl.” Rex mimicked sobbing sounds.

  “Smart ass!”

  “Okay, sorry. So, you told her all that and what? I still don’t get where this bad feeling you’re getting is coming from.”

  Jack tried to explain it, but he couldn’t. “I guess it’s just a combination of everything. I opened up about all of that, and she was wonderful. She even said that she was glad I had left. She claimed that it was fate finally bringing me to her. But maybe deep down she is worried about some ex-Navy man flipping out in a fit of some PTSD.”

  “Man, you are such an idiot!” Rex shook his head.

  “I know. I know that when I say it out loud it’s crazy. But then why can’t I shake this feeling like something is wrong?”

  “What are you not telling me?” Rex inquired.

  “She is supposed to be packing as much of her stuff as she can today. We’re going to move as much of her stuff into my place as we can. She should have been at home when I called her. And not only that, I know her. I might have gotten busy, but Tamara would have called me by now.”

  “That doesn’t mean she’s having second thoughts. Maybe she’s just busy.”

  “No. I know her. She has never once been too busy to talk to me or call me before. So I don’t know what else to think. She swore she wouldn’t talk to or deal with that asshole Townsend at all, and I believe her, so I…” As soon as he heard himself say it he had to stop. He looked over at Rex.

  Rex could see the fear in Jack’s eyes. “You don’t think he’s done anything to her, do you?”

  “What time is it?” Jack asked as he was reaching for his cell phone.

  Rex glanced at his watch. “It’s 5:35.”

  Not even waiting long enough to hear Rex’s reply, Jack began dialing Tamara’s cell phone number. “It’s going straight to voice mail,” Jack said to Rex.

  “Tamara, honey, it’s me. Listen, I haven’t talked to you all day, and I really need to hear your voice. Call me on my cell. I love you.” Jack closed his phone. “Rex, she never turns her phone off!”

  “Maybe the battery died?”

  “What if it didn’t?”

  “All right, don’t jump the gun here. Why don’t you try her house number?” Rex said, trying to calm Jack down.

  Jack knew Rex was probably right. It had been a stressful couple of days. Maybe he was overthinking this. He dialed Tamara’s house number and waited.

  Tamara and Brent were sitting at the kitchen table. They had just gotten the pizza pockets out of the oven and were about to dig in when she almost jumped out of her skin. The phone was ringing. Tamara knew it had to be Jack. Please just hang up, Jack. Don’t leave a message. Please! Her machine came on, and then the beep, she waited, she couldn’t breathe. Brent was luckily staring at the machine, not her.

  “Tamara, it’s Jack. Call me on my cell. Right away!” That was it. He hung up.

  Brent turned back to Tamara. She couldn’t read the blank stare on his face. Was he going to blow? He grinned at her and raised his brows. “I know how the sorry SOB feels. Too bad for him, though. He never really had you anyway. You’re mine. He’ll probably call for a while. We’ll just ignore him until he gets the hint. It will be easier that way.”

  Tamara expelled the biggest breath she had ever held in her life. Relief didn’t begin to describe the feeling that had just washed over her. “You’re right, Brent. You always are.” She smiled right back at him.

  Chapter 20

  Jack hung up the phone and tilted his head at Rex. “This doesn’t feel right. Something’s wrong. I can feel it in my gut!”

  “Look, why don’t we go to one more god-awful jewelry store and see what we can find. If you can’t find the most perfect ring for Tamara by then, and you still haven’t heard from her, you can call her again. But I’m sure everything is fine.” Rex slapped his hand against Jack’s shoulder.

  “Okay, besides, I think there is only one more jewelry store in this mall. We’ve seen all the others.” They got up and headed down the mall through the crowds of people.

  Entering what seemed like the only jewelry store on the planet that they hadn’t been to, Jack was surprised at the lack of commissioned sales vultures. Every other store they had been to they had literally been attacked. One store, he thought they might actually split his body into two just so they could each gnaw on a bit of commission. Rex and Jack both kind of separated as they heard a voice from the back yell, “I’ll be right out.”

  “Take your time,” Rex yelled back.

  A sweet old man waddled out from the back room. He was dressed in a brown suit, which was too tight and at least ten years out of style. His tie was short and fat and didn’t match the suit or the green shirt he was wearing. Looking at him, the only thing that did match was the ketchup stain that had spilled from his tie and then to his shirt.

  “Well, hello there, young lads. What can I do you for today?”

  Jack noticed he had a slight Irish accent to his voice. “Are you from Ireland?”

  “Oh, not for many years, no siree.” He chuckled. “I’ve been in the States now, oh, going on thirty years now.”

  Rex, not paying much attention to the conversation, interrupted Jack when he was about to say something. “I don’t see any two rings the same. Are these all custom?”

  “Oh, yes, indeed. Some are new custom pieces, and others are antiques. Some of these here are as old as two hundred years. But, as any young lass will tell you, a diamond is still a diamond. Is it not?” The old man chuckled.

  Jack laughed. He liked this guy. “Yes, indeed.”

  Rex even had a little grin on his face.

  “So what sort of piece might you be looking for then, lad?”

  “An engagement ring. The fool popped the question.” Rex held up his hand in defense of his comment. “The proposal doesn’t make him a fool. Him expecting the bride to not fall madly in love with me makes him the fool.”

  They all laughed. Even Jack wasn’t annoyed by Rex’s usual arrogance.

  “Perhaps you would like to see a piece that is from the turn of the century, the last century that is?” He started to waddle away and peered back over his shoulder. “I assure you, it is a spectacular piece.”

  Jack and Rex waited a few moments, and the man came back out carrying a small purple and gold velvet pouch.

  “I’m Jack, by the way. This here with the giant head is Rex.” Jack grinned at Rex.

  “Pleasure to meet you, yes, indeed.” He shook both of their hands. “And my name is Cullen Bristow.” He placed a velvet cloth on the counter and pulled out a sapphire and diamond ring. “Now, before you decide I have to tell you that my lovely wife Colleen just picked it up ye
sterday at an estate sale. It hasn’t been properly cleaned yet. However, it has been appraised, and I can assure you the stones are genuine.”

  Jack was entranced by the beauty of this ring, just as he always was by Tamara’s beauty. This could be the one. “May I?” Jack asked as he began to pick it up.

  “But of course.” Mr. Bristow motioned his hands at him as if it were silly of Jack to even ask.

  Jack picked up the ring. It was spectacular. It had a raised square cut sapphire—which judging from the size of it had to be at least two carats—in the center and was flanked by two round sapphires. Those were then surrounded by diamonds forming two circles on either side of the ring. More diamonds followed down the band of the ring, stopping just before the bottom of the band. Wherever there wasn’t a stone, there was intricate detailing and filigree scrollwork. It was set in a silver setting, but Jack had learned today that that could mean anything.

  “What is the setting made out of? White gold? Silver?”

  Mr. Bristow laughed so hard his whole belly shook. “No, no, my young man. This is set in platinum. It costs a bit more. But you know what they say. You pay for what you get. Platinum is the best money can buy.”

  At the mention of the word platinum, Rex whistled, indicating he knew that meant more dollar signs.

  “How much is it?” Jack asked. He had plenty of money in the bank and in a savings account. He just hated to spend so much and not have Tamara like it.

  “First you have to ask yourself, is this young lass you wish to give this ring to, is she your heart?”

  “Yes, of course she is,” Jack answered, feeling strange for even answering.

  “I see, I see. But is she your soul, your fire, your passion? Is she your reason for waking up in the morning and going to bed every night?”