by BJ Harvey
“It’s okay, hon. I’m here for you if you need me. I’m just getting dressed now and I’ll be there as soon as I can. I’ll knock on the door twice when I get there.”
I sigh with relief. “Thank you. I don’t know why it’s affected me so much this time.” This was definitely the worse dream I’ve had so far.
“See you soon, babe. I’m leaving now,” he says and hangs up.
I get out of bed, put some pajama shorts on, then head to the kitchen to get some water. I walk over to the loveseat next to my front window and look out into the night. I see that car again, the black Honda that has been there off and on for over three weeks now. This is getting to be beyond a joke. I wonder if I should speak to the security people at Brightlight to get them to look into it. I’m starting to wonder if the media is interested in me again now that I’m getting close to inheriting Brightlight. They’ve always been relentless in the past when it came to the ‘Reclusive Halliwell Heiress.’
Straight after the murders the media were ruthless in their pursuit of me, and the news articles were just as bad.
Everywhere I went, there would be a camera. It was really bad when the house was sold. There were so many people who came through solely because it was known as the ‘Halliwell Murder House’. Who wants their childhood home branded like that? I sold it because there was no way I was ever setting foot back inside that house again. Apart from my mother’s jewelry and some family heirlooms, everything was sold or destroyed. My happy childhood memories of my father, mother and little sister were ripped away in a moment by an unknown killer.
It was pure coincidence that I was not in the house that night, some might call it fate. The night before I came home was the night my world crashed down around me. The nightmares have been a frequent occurrence ever since. Sometimes they are happy memories that end with a sea of blood, and other times they are re-enactments of the murders, as if I was there. The one tonight was exactly that, except this time the killer finished with my family and found me in my room. I was standing in front of him with a gun in my face and just as he were about to pull the trigger, I woke up.
I wonder what is triggering the nightmares this time. Maybe it was Uncle Harry’s visit. He was close to my father, so maybe it has brought all the pain back into my consciousness. I have to admit, Uncle Harry was acting rather strange tonight, especially when Brax arrived. It was like he couldn’t work Brax out, like he had seen him before but couldn’t peg him.
I leave the window and snuggle down on the couch under a blanket. Nothing like mind-numbing television in the middle of the night to disrupt my thoughts. Twenty minutes later I hear Brax knock twice on the door. I unlock it and he bursts in, pulling me into his arms straight away and I instantly feel safe again. I can’t believe I’ve only known him for a month, yet I can’t bear the idea of being without him. He joins me back on the couch, lies down and pulls me on top of him so I’m covering his body. He pulls the blanket over us and we start watching TV as he strokes my hair mindlessly. Pretty soon I’m relaxed and limp, falling back to sleep in his arms and the nightmares all but banished.
After my last minute meeting with Shay, all I want to do is eat and see my girl. Shay told me that Harry Brimstone is in the area, but the last thing I expect is to find him inside Elle’s apartment when she opens her door.
All the intel we have on Harold Brimstone confirms he has his hands in many dodgy pies. I had dealings with Brimstone many years ago, and he has also had dealings with my boss in the past. Lately he has been connected to former agent—now crooked cop—Michael Evans, who is as corrupt as the day is long. We think Evans is either on Brimstone’s payroll, or at the very least linked to him.
I wonder why Harry decided to drop in for a visit all of a sudden. He told Elle that he was ‘just in the area’ but of course I know better than that. We’re a good hour from the city, this trip had a purpose. I’ll have to find out from Elle what he wants because whenever Brimstone is involved, I know that something bad is going down.
Once Brimstone leaves, I am able to relax and enjoy the rest of the evening with Elle. I try not to show my concerns about Brimstone to Elle. I’d hate for her to get suspicious about me.
I leave Elle’s apartment around midnight and head out to the bar around the block to catch up with Shay. I need to find out what happened once Harry left the apartment. Shay followed him to a bar in lower Manhattan where he met up with another man he couldn’t identify. A short time later Evans joined them and that is when Shay texted me, saying we needed to catch up. When the men had concluded their meeting and gone their separate ways, Shay followed Brimstone back to his hotel where he said he must have retired for the night, because he stayed outside for a couple of hours and never saw Harry again.
When I get Elle’s text telling me she needs me, I swear I’ve never moved so fast in my life. I race over there and can see she was shaken up just by the look on her face. I want to ask her what happened, but I can tell she is exhausted so I walk over to the couch and lie down, pulling her down on me. She’s so light I can barely feel her, but having her on top of me feels so right. Her soft warm body just melts into my mine. I pull the blanket up around us, wrap my arm around her waist and she burrows her head into my chest as we start watching some random television sitcom. Within minutes, I feel her breathing slow down and I know she has gone back to sleep.
All is right in my world, especially with Elise asleep in my arms. I can’t imagine ever wanting to let her go.
Chapter Six
I wake up on top of Brax, still laying on the couch. The television is blaring music in the background and I’m not sure what the time is, but the light streaming through the gap in my blinds is telling me it is definitely morning. I try to get off Brax, but I feel his arm tighten around me. I look over and see his bright blue eyes staring back at me. How can someone wake up and look this sexy? We lie there, just staring at each other and I’m not sure what to do. I’ve just spent my first night ever sleeping in a man’s arms.
My mind is focused on the feeling of Brax’s hard body underneath me. He feels good, way too good. I wonder how he feels with me laying on top of him. I try to move again and he tightens his arm even more, that smirk of his larger than life.
“Where do you think you’re going?” he says, his voice deep and husky from waking up, making my insides clench. Damn, that is sexy.
“I thought you might be uncomfortable,” I try to explain, losing my train of thought as I stare at his mouth. His lips beg to be kissed but I’ve never been one to initiate things. His eyes are all-knowing, like he can hear my inner monologue.
His grin slowly disappears as his gaze shifts to my mouth. Deciding to take charge for once, I lean down to gently nip his bottom lip as he opens his mouth to let me in. My fingers take on a mind of their own as they run through his bed hair, pulling his head closer to mine. It feels so natural to be waking up to him, to kiss him. Is this what love is supposed to be like? Am I in love with Brax? I can’t deny that I’m falling for him, and his kisses are the perfect antidote for any bad nightmare.
We pull our mouths apart, breathless and full of desire. I giggle and he quirks his eyebrow at me.
“Is kissing me funny?” he asks, grinning at my laughter.
“I just figure I’d have morning breath, I’m so sorry,” I say between laughs. He pulls me down to him again and kisses me deeply, plunging my mouth with his tongue. He pulls away so our lips are barely touching,
“I don’t care,” he whispers as his hands roam down my shoulders, around my waist and slowly inch down to my ass as he pulls me even closer to him. I gasp when I feel how much he wants me, he feels divine. I make myself pull away because if know if I don’t I won’t be able to control myself, and I’m not quite ready for that kind of interaction. Leaning my forehead against his, I try to calm my racing heartbeat. It feels like it is going to beat out of my chest.
“That’s to prove how delicious your morning breath is, babe.”<
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He kisses my nose and lifts his shoulders up, propping himself up onto his elbows and giving me the opportunity to roll off the couch.
“Now, where is my coffee? I need a reward for being your knight in shining armor.”
It feels so good waking up with Elle this morning. Her warm body all over me, my arms wrapped tightly around her. After ravishing the hell out of her mouth and taking the opportunity to let my hands wander all over her body, she jumps off me and goes into the kitchen to put the coffeemaker on. I groan at the loss of contact, a groan that gets louder when I spy the small tank top and shorts she’s wearing.
Her outfit is not doing anything for my hard morning predicament.
I know we need to have a conversation about what happened last night, but she needs to trust me enough to open up. What scared her so much that she didn’t want to be alone?
The fact that she text me to come over warms my heart, because more than anything else, I want to be the one she turns to and if I can’t come, Shay would be there in an instant. Thinking about him, Elle and Shay need to be introduced. He’s my best friend and she’s my girlfriend, so it’s logical
Shay’s part in this job is to collect intel and watch over Elle when I can’t be there. He’s always been the one behind the scenes when we work together. We both have contacts all over the country through the boss man’s connections but Shay specifically has extensive surveillance skills learned during our time in the army. We met each other while doing our basic training, before we headed off to separate divisions. He was in the intelligence unit whereas I was infantry.
Shay and I talked about the case last night and about what would happen if the boss and Gibbons find out about my relationship with Elle. We’re pretty sure the shit would hit the fan and we’d be replaced, more than likely sent back to Georgia to return to standard security detail. Shay told me that I’m in too deep with her and that it may start hampering my judgment. I did my best to reassure him that the job is not in danger, but the end of the day, I just can’t say away from Elle.
We talked about Harry’s visit and what went down when he was here. He was not impressed that Harry had seen me. We still don’t know why Harry met with Evans last night, but we suspect that they’re working together on Brimstone’s attempted takeover of the company. Evans and Brimstone together though, that means the threat to Elle has increased ten-fold.
Elle walks back into the living room and places a cup of coffee and a plate full of toast on the coffee table. Smiling at me, she sits down and starts eating. I checked the time when I was in the kitchen. It’s 8 a.m. and my first class isn’t until 10.
“How’s your morning looking?” she says through a mouthful of toast. I smile at how adorable she is in the morning.
“Well, my day started off great with a hot young brunette on top of me, so no complaints so far,” I say with a grin. She hits my arm while laughing at my comment.
“You know what I mean.”
I smile. Her laugh is so infectious.
“Yes, I know what you mean, hon. I was thinking about going to the gym for a workout before my finance class at noon. Then I was thinking we could go out for a movie and a burger later on. We could meet up with Shay, if that’s okay with you?”
She smiles. “That sounds great. I’d love to meet him.” She leans over to kiss me with her peanut butter smeared mouth. I pull her in tight and lick her lips after our kiss.
“Hmm, Elise and peanut butter. My new favorite breakfast.”
After coffee and breakfast, I lean back on the couch and pull Elle into my side. She snuggles into me and we sit there for what seems like ages, just enjoying the moment. I take a deep breath and look down at her.
“We need to talk about last night, Elle.”
“I know,” she replies with a sigh.
“What happened between the time I left and your text? When I left at midnight you seemed happy but tired. I thought you’d go straight to bed” I look at her, silently imploring her to open up to me.
“I had a nightmare. When I woke up I was shaking and scared out of my mind. The only thing I knew would make me feel better was you.” She drops her head like she is ashamed.
I pull her chin up so that I’m looking straight into her eyes. “You can call me anytime, sweetheart. Anytime at all and I will always be there for you. I hope you know that.”
She gives me a small smile. “I do now.”
“So, what was the nightmare about?” I ask.
“It was about my family. I haven’t told you what happened to them. I will, I promise I’ll tell you about it all soon. I just don’t like talking about it because it still hurts so much.” A single tear rolls down her face. I lean down and kiss the tear away, then I lightly kiss her lips.
“I hope you will. I want to know everything I can about you. I care a lot about you, Elle, and nothing from your past will change that.”
I smile at her, hoping she believes me.
There is something in the way Brax looks at me that makes me feel grounded.
When I’m with him it feels like I’m his whole world—that his sole focus is on me and he’d move heaven and earth to make me happy. I feel like the gaping hole in my heart is slowly being closed up by him. He has given me hope that life can be good for me again, despite my horrific past.
I tell him about last night’s nightmare and how I’ve been having them for a while now, but I can’t bring myself to explain what happened in the dream. I want to, but I’m scared it will bring it all back—the horror, the heartache, the sudden loneliness that has only just started to wane. I know he could so easily find out what happened by just googling my name and I have made a promise to myself to tell him soon. I’m relieved he hasn’t pushed me into telling him more before I’m ready. I’ve never met anyone as thoughtful and understanding as him.
How did I get so lucky?
I suddenly remember about the car parked outside last night. “Brax, did you see a black Honda parked on the road when you left last night?”
He thinks for a bit. “No, I didn’t. Why?”
“I’ve seen a black Honda on the street off and on for three weeks now. There is always a guy sitting in the driver’s seat, but he doesn’t seem to move. At first I thought he was just a visitor, or maybe that a neighbor had a new car, but then he would get out of the car, right? It’s probably nothing, but it just seems a bit weird.”
His body goes rigid as he looks at me, blinking his eyes like he can’t believe what I’ve just told me, then he jumps to his feet.
“Are you okay, Brax?”
“Yeah. I just remembered I have to see my accounting professor this morning and if I don’t go now I’ll miss him.” He heads to the kitchen to tidy up our dishes, then turns and heads back towards me. Wow, he seems to be rushing now.
“Brax, did I say something to upset you?”
“No, sweetheart. Just running late. I’ll see you later, beautiful girl,” he says, leaning down and kissing me deep and hard. He picks up his jacket and walks towards the door.
Wow. If that’s how he says goodbye, I don’t mind him leaving me. The look on his face and a cheeky wink tells me he knows exactly how he makes me feel.
He closes my door and I’m left standing in my living room with a goofy smile on my face.
Damn, that man is good.
As I leave Elle’s building, I look around for the car she told me about. I can’t see it immediately, then sure enough—on the corner of the street—there it is. I try to identify who the driver is, but he’s not someone I’ve seen around before. I discretely take a photo of him with my phone and send it through to Gibbons for an ID. I hope he can track him down quickly so we can work out whether he is involved or not. My gut is telling me that this is not a good thing.
Of course I had to make up a story about needing to see my accounting professor to get out of Elle’s apartment. I would love nothing more to stay there all day with her, but we both have classes and I want to te
ll Shay about the black Honda Elle has spotted. At first I thought she had seen Shay but he’s in a red Toyota and is a hell of a lot more careful.
I meet Shay at the coffee shop where I took Elle that first day. Grabbing two black coffees, we take a seat near the window.
“Elle asked me this morning if I’ve noticed a black Honda hanging around outside her building. Have you seen anything?” I ask him, burning my tongue on my coffee in the process.
“I’ve seen it, but it didn’t raise any alarm bells with me. But when I think about it, that car has been around a lot. I just thought it was one of her neighbors,” he says, shrugging his shoulders.
“Dude, we’re supposed to keep an eye out for this type of thing. That’s why you’re on the outside,” I reply angrily.
“Hey Chill, B. I’m on it now. I’ll get a plate number and follow it up. We can also try and get a photo of the guy and send it through to Gibbons to run through the computer.”
“I’ve already sent a photo through before I came here. What if he’s working for Brimstone or Evans?” I ask, letting out an exasperated sigh. “Sorry, Shay. I’m just as much to blame as you are. I should’ve realized that the car was suspicious.”
“All good, B. We’re on to it now. So, why did you end up going back last night?” he asks, arching his brow. I know exactly what he’s thinking.
“No, Shay. It wasn’t a booty call,” I shake my head. “She had a nightmare that really freaked her out, so I went over to stay with her. We slept on the couch.”
“Right. Not even this morning?” he questions with a wink.
“Not even this morning, although I wouldn’t have said no. She was wearing a small tank top and pajama shorts that would make a monk hard.”
“Shit, dude. That’s some wicked self-control you’ve got going on.”
