by A. C. Arthur
“It’s nice to finally meet you, Mr. Summerfield.” He would keep a calm head. This man was clearly near his breaking point.
Roland looked him over. Marvin and Beatriz had done well. “So you’re the one my daughter is in love with. You have your mother’s eyes,” he said more quietly than he had spoken before.
For a brief second Renny glimpsed another emotion in the man’s face. Love? Desperation? Resignation? “That’s what she says.”
“Beatriz was beautiful.”
“Yes, she is.” Renny inched closer as the extended arm with the gun in hand shook.
“I loved her.”
“I can understand why.” He could almost reach out and snatch the gun.
Bree sprinted down the hall, the silence causing her to panic, to lose all the military training of objectivity. She had to get to Renny, had to make sure he was all right. “Renny!” she yelled as she burst through the door.
“Sabrina!” Renny’s gaze flew to the door.
Roland turned, aimed and fired.
Renny heard the shot, saw the moment the tiny ball of fire was released from its barrel and jumped on Roland’s back. The gun slid across the floor as Renny pummeled the back of the man’s head. Roland twisted and the men began to tussle.
All Renny could see was Sabrina standing in the doorway; then he heard more shots and he hit the man with more force than the last time until the thin frame had gone limp beneath him. Vaguely he felt hands at his back pulling him, dragging him across the floor. But her name echoed in his head, the shocked expression on her face floating throughout his vision.
“Renny, baby. Are you all right?”
It was her voice. He felt a hand on his cheek and realized it was her touch. Only Sabrina could light his fire that way, only she could get his blood heated with one stroke against his skin. His eyes opened, cleared and adjusted on the small round face in front of him. He lifted a hand, rubbed his thumb over the high cheekbone and sank into the deep ocean of her brown eyes. “Sabrina?”
She took a deep breath and decided not to fight the tears that threatened to fall. “You big idiot. You scared the daylights out of me.”
“Me?” Renny sat up straighter. “You’re the one who came barging in here when there was a madman with a gun.” The gun. The shot. His hands moved over her quickly. “Are you hurt? Do you need an ambulance?”
Through her tears she swiped his hands away and chuckled. “No, silly. He’s a horrible shot. His bullet landed in the wall about a foot away from my head.”
At her words Renny pulled her to him tightly. “I told you to stay there. I told them to keep you there,” he whispered into her hair.
“How could I stay there and watch you run off?” She breathed into the crook of his neck, so thankful that he was safe. “I’m your bodyguard, remember.”
Bree was exhausted. As much as she hated to admit it, her concussion and then this afternoon’s exertions were simply too much for her to handle right now. Glen, one of the guards on Sam’s payroll, had brought her home while Renny and his family followed his father to the hospital. Sam and Trent took Roland Summerfield to the police station.
For some reason Lynn felt the need to be at the hospital with the Bennetts, so Jeremy was already en route to her parents’ house by the time she got home.
“I’ve made you a bed on the couch because I know you’re never going to lie still in that bed until you receive word on Mr. Bennett’s condition. I’ll have my phone and I’ll call you as soon as I can.” Lynn said all this in one breath as she slipped her arms into her jacket.
Bree would have questioned her, but simply collapsed onto the chair instead. Besides, peace and quiet would do her good right about now. She’d fixed herself a cup of tea and now sat with her legs propped on the chair, the phone within arm’s reach.
Laying her head back against the pillows, she allowed her mind to recap the events of the past few weeks. Her life had been a roller coaster of emotions and events in that time. She’d walked into this job thinking it would be the best distraction for that disastrous time in North Carolina and from the moment she set eyes on Renny he’d taken her mind off the past.
She wanted to be with Renny. She wanted their life together. The idea of a family of her own had crept up some time in the past few days as her head continued to throb from the vicious blow she’d received. But more than ever, with each morning she helped Jeremy with his breakfast and watched him leave for day care, she knew she wanted children of her own. That wasn’t going to be possible if she was gallivanting around, throwing herself in front of bullets and whatnot for the sake of a job.
She’d just settled into a cozy little daydream of her and Renny, a beautiful house of their own filled with his artwork and three little boys that looked just like him. She would have been in a deep slumber when the doorbell ringing both startled and irritated her. Seconds passed and the bell rang again, insistently this time. Tossing her feet off the side of the chair, she wondered if maybe it was one of the guards coming with news of Mr. Bennett’s condition. She was at the door, her hand on the knob, when she realized that Renny or someone else would simply have called her with that news. But with Roland behind bars her guard was down, so she pulled the door open and stared into familiar eyes.
“Hello, Sabrina.”
He smiled as if this were a casual visit, as if she would be elated to see him. Instead her fists tightened at her sides and her shoulders squared. “Harold.”
“You look tired.” He reached out to touch her face, but she moved beyond his reach. “You’re still very beautiful, but you haven’t been taking care of yourself.”
“What do you want?” She wasn’t in the mood for his sweet talk and he was definitely full of that. She remembered the times he’d been able to talk her into phone sex with that sexy voice.
“I’ve come for you,” he said simply.
She cocked her head to the side wondering if he was serious. His ocean-blue eyes sparkled while his ebony hair ruffled in the light breeze. She remembered thinking the first time she saw him that he’d looked just like Superman and shortly after that he’d become just that in her life. She shook her head to clear the foolish thought. “That’s ridiculous, Harold. It’s over between us. It has been for some time now.” When he didn’t answer, but simply smiled at her, she added for good measure, “How’s your wife?”
His smile slipped and he took a step closer to her. “Joanne won’t be a problem for us anymore.”
Bree tried to block his entrance, but he pushed past her so quickly she almost lost her footing. “I don’t want you here.”
“That’s fine,” he said, looking around the foyer. “The sooner you get your things together, the sooner we can get going.”
Was he serious? Bree chastised herself for asking that stupid question. Of course he was serious and arrogant and always the commanding officer. “We’re not in the service anymore, Harold. You can’t just order me around.”
Harold turned to face her, enamored with the innocent beauty once more. She’d been fresh as the morning dew when he’d first seen her. He’d known right off the bat that she’d been untouched. That thought had aroused him beyond belief and sparked his need for her. When she didn’t turn away his advances, he began to crave her, just the sight of her at first and then more, he desperately needed more. And when she’d finally given it to him he knew he’d love her forever. “Once a marine always a marine, Sabrina.”
“You’re crazy.” Bree brushed past him, intending to get to the phone to call the police and have him removed from the premises, but he grabbed her arm, turning her back to face him.
“No. I’m not crazy.” He grasped both her arms, pulling her close until her breasts rubbed against his chest. He fought off a moan as his groin sprang to life. “I’m in love with you. I can’t live without you.”
He’d grayed at the temples in the time they’d been separated and thin lines had begun to form at the corners of his eyes. He was stil
l handsome, now dangerously so. “You are a married man, Harold. I can’t be with a married man.” Her voice sounded unsteady to her own ears as she prayed she wasn’t losing her grip with him.
“I’m not married anymore. I told you Joanne wouldn’t be a problem.” He pulled her closer, reveled in the soft curves moving against his body. He lowered his head to kiss her, but she turned away and he nuzzled her neck instead. “It’s just you and me, Sabrina. I need you so much. Feel how much I need you.” He pulled on her hand, placing it over his erection.
Bree tried to pull away, refused to grip the rigidness. His touch repulsed her. The fact that he thought things were okay between them made her even sicker. “No!”
“Yes! You still love me. I know you do. And I forgive you for what you’ve done with that man. I know it was only to get back at me. But that’s all in our past. We can start over tonight.” His hands were roaming up and down her body, his mind revisiting the times they’d made love, and he cringed thinking he wouldn’t be able to resist taking her right here and now.
Bree allowed her body to go slack as he caressed her, then with a swift move punched him in the throat, stealing his breath, and hurried beyond his reach. “No! You’re wrong. I don’t love you. I never did. You were an infatuation, a figment of my imagination, and now that’s over. I’m happy now without you.”
Still gasping for his breath, Harold let her words register. She was turning him away. That was impossible. She loved him, she’d told him so. “Sabrina,” he gasped.
Bree moved and reached for the phone. “No, Harold. This has got to end here and now. I’m calling the police.”
But Harold had other ideas. He jumped on her back, knocking the phone off the hook so that it tumbled across the room. Bree fell onto the sofa with Harold on top of her. She struggled to break free, but felt his protruding arousal inching between her legs.
“You remember this, too, don’t you, Sabrina? You remember how good we were together.”
“No! Get off of me!” Bree screamed at the top of her lungs, hoping, praying someone would hear her.
“Oh God, I need you, Sabrina.” He wasn’t going to be able to wait. With an arm pressed securely on the back of her shoulders he held her still while his other hand unzipped his pants. “It’s been so long, baby. So very long.”
She heard the zipper and felt icicles of fear slide down her back. He wouldn’t rape her. He couldn’t be that out of touch that he’d do something that stupid. When she felt his hands at the band of her pants she knew that’s exactly what he planned to do. “Harold! No! Please! No!” Again those incessant tears crept up only to spill into hot rivulets down her face. She didn’t have all her strength, her head was throbbing, her limbs tired from today’s earlier exertion, but she knew she had to do something to stop this madness.
“It’ll be quick, baby, this first time.” He felt himself close to exploding just from the way she wriggled beneath him. “Then we’ll go back to my hotel and I’ll take real good care of you.”
Bree kicked and twisted, making him lose his grip on her pants before he could get them down over her hips. He pulled her hair and she screamed.
“Now that’s enough! You didn’t fight when he touched you!”
Bree was crying in full force now, her vision blurred, her scalp burning, but she continued to fight, to move and squirm until Harold pushed his hands down her pants and groped her bottom with enough force to have her gasping for breath.
“Don’t make me hurt you, Sabrina. Joanne made that mistake,” he breathed into her ear. “Please, I don’t want that to happen to you. Baby, please be still. I just need you real quick, please.”
His fingers were moving between her legs searching for her entrance and she squeezed her thighs together tightly. “No! No!” Then her thoughts shifted from herself to the man she truly loved, the man she needed now more than ever. “Renny, please,” she whispered.
Harold heard her words just as his fingers slipped inside her. Bree screamed at the contact, knowing that it was only a matter of moments before Harold took her completely. Then as suddenly as she’d felt his heavy form atop her it was gone.
Renny had stepped out of the car and heard the screams coming from the house. Not bothering to question his own tired limbs, he broke into a run and pushed through the half-opened door. His heart hammered in his chest and all but plummeted when he saw the man on top of Sabrina. Instead his vision turned red and he reached for the man’s neck, pulling him off her and tossing him to the floor.
Harold rolled over quickly, ever the soldier, and looked into the face of his temporary replacement in Sabrina’s life. “You son of a—” He was on his feet in seconds only to catch Renny’s vicious right blow and fall back against the bookcase.
As Renny closed in, Harold reared back, extended a kick that landed in Renny’s midsection, bending him over in pain. He pounced on Renny’s back with long, swift blows designed to break him down. But Renny was strong even if he wasn’t a trained soldier. One solid punch to Harold’s exposed groin had the man falling to his knees instantly. And then it was on.
Renny kicked him and watched the blood spew from his mouth. “So you want to force yourself on a woman!” he roared as the bottom of his foot came down on Harold’s ankles. “You’re a sorry excuse for a man and somebody should have kicked your ass a long time ago!” But that was okay because he planned to administer that whipping himself tonight.
Bending down, he lifted Harold at the collar and threw him across the room until his body slammed against the wall and he slid to the floor. Renny felt as if he were reenacting a Floyd Mayweather fight as his fists connected repeatedly with Harold’s face. All he could see was the man on top of Sabrina, all he could hear were her screams. She was crying. Yelling his name, calling out to him. He was supposed to be protecting her. She was the bodyguard, but she needed him to protect her, to save her from this nightmare.
He continued swinging until her voice sounded closer, her crying seemed to cease and she touched him.
“Stop it, Renny! Stop it, baby, he’s not worth it. Please stop it,” Bree whimpered from behind him. While Renny and Harold had been fighting she’d pulled herself up from the sofa and called Sam on his cell phone. He and Trent were on their way here, anyway, and should be coming through the door at any moment. But from the way Renny was beating Harold, Bree didn’t think the man would live that long if she didn’t do something.
“Come on, baby. Come with me now.” She pulled on his shirt, urging him away from Harold’s battered body. “Please, Renny. I need you to come with me.”
His knuckles throbbed, his head screamed with rage. “Sabrina,” he whispered as his shoulders slumped in defeat.
“That’s right, baby. Come on with me.”
He turned to her then, scooping her up in his arms and holding her so tight she almost couldn’t breathe. But the contact felt so good, Bree wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and sobbed. “I love you, baby. I love you so much.”
Renny rocked her in his arms. “I won’t let him or anyone else hurt you, Sabrina. Not ever.”
“I know. I know.”
“I’ll be your bodyguard,” he told her with all the emotion he felt. He would protect her for the rest of their lives.
Epilogue
Nine Months Later
In the backyard of their multimillion-dollar estate, Renny and Bree hosted their family’s summer cookout. The grills were smoking, tables heavy with food while Earth, Wind & Fire’s rhythmic tunes blared from the speakers.
Carrying a bowl of fruit to the table, Bree looked around at her family and extended family. Marvin Bennett, now her father-in-law, had healed well after miraculously only suffering first-degree burns on his hands and parts of his arms. Visions of that horrible day still crept into her mind sometimes. Beatriz looked ever beautiful in her flowing white sundress and her long hair.
Her father was busy giving Renny a crash course on the proper marinades and smoking times f
or spare ribs and beef. Jeremy chased a big red ball over the lush green grass as the sun beamed down over them. She was really happy as she plucked a ripe piece of cantaloupe and stuck it into her mouth.
“Whatchu see, chile?”
Bree didn’t startle and didn’t have to turn to know Gramma Ruby was standing right behind her. The aging voodoo mistress had come up from Louisiana for her wedding in January and hadn’t returned yet, saying she had business up here to tend to. Bree had to admit, she kind of liked having her around.
“I see all my family enjoying themselves and eating me out of house and home.” She grinned.
Ruby shook her head, placing a hand on Bree’s shoulder. “No. What do you really see?”
Instinctively she knew what Gramma Ruby meant and she relaxed herself, scanning the yard once more. What she saw this time was drastically different from what she’d seen only moments before.
Lynn sat on the step of the gazebo, Rico leaning against the frame looking down on her. Trent, who was returning to Las Vegas shortly, sat across the table from Adriana staring besottedly while she sipped from a glass of lemonade. Jeremy continued to play with his big red ball, this time with Sam—who was happily single these days—running alongside him.
Then walking through the midst of her new visions was the man she loved more than anything else in this world. He wore white shorts and a tangerine-colored polo. There were some men that looked damn yummy in those bright colors, and Renny was definitely one of them. He’d let his beard grow in, a look that both suited him and warmed her. Without a word he reached for her and she took his hands, walking into the cocoon of his love, going up on tiptoe to share in a quick kiss.
“Did you see it?” Gramma Ruby asked.
Not leaving Renny’s embrace, Bree turned and nodded to her grandmother.
“It’s your job to spread it around.”
Bree smiled. “It feels so good. I’ll make sure I do just that.”
