“Waking up next to you in the morning, with the sun on your face. You…left last time.” There was a flicker of sadness in his eyes that made her feel guilty.
“So you stayed awake? Just to see me?” She couldn’t believe it.
He leaned his forehead against hers. “Stay with me, baby. Don’t go back to the apartment or wherever it was you were going to go. Just stay with me, for today, or tonight. Can you do that?”
Natalie didn’t have to think about the answer.
“Yes.” She smiled, kissing him. “Yes, Luke, I’ll stay.”
Chapter 17
Luke
* * *
Deer caught in the headlights.
That was the very image that came to Luke’s mind as he burst into Joshua’s office Monday afternoon.
It didn’t help that Joshua had a long face and large eyes that made him look exactly like a deer.
His shock to see Luke was nothing in comparison to when his eyes landed on Nick.
Joshua looked like he was about to shit himself when Nick walked in behind Luke.
Nick held a large baseball bat over his shoulders like it was part of his clothes.
Luke chuckled to himself. Nick always had a flair for the dramatic that was admirable. He reminded Luke of a tough-guy video-game character and had the image to carry it off with his jet black spiky hair, crazy tattoos, muscles and crude bounty-hunter look that screamed “don’t fuck with me”.
It was a look that helped when they served in the Marines together. Particularly when catching the bad guys.
Bad guys like Mr. Joshua here.
Shit, Luke could have strangled the idiot himself, and now he wished he’d followed instinct rather than opting to take it easy because he didn’t want to embarrass Jessica.
Luke contacted Nick yesterday, and within hours the guy came back with all the intel on Joshua.
It turned out that his sister’s so-called perfect man was heavily involved in money laundering and, surprise surprise, he assisted in funding illegal transport of weapons to South America.
Hence his knowledge of guns and the damn ability to name his weapons.
Yes, Luke could have indeed killed the guy. He was angry, enraged, but mostly furious that Joshua could have gotten his sister mixed up in all of that.
He didn’t know what he would have done if something had happened to her. Thank God Natalie came to him.
And thank God the admin assistant that sent Natalie the documents had done so by mistake and sent her the wrong ones.
“Luke, what brings you here? To this part of…town?” Joshua stuttered, eyes fixed on Nick, who had started whistling.
“Riddle me this, Joshua.” Luke gave him a wicked smile as he walked over to the large mahogany desk that separated him from ripping out Joshua’s throat.
“Riddle you? What do you mean?” Joshua looked even more terrified when Nick’s whistle became louder. “Who is that guy, Luke?”
“Lieutenant Nick Wylder, this guy wants to know who you are,” Luke called over his shoulder.
“Sure thing, Lieutenant Luke Donovan, I can tell him exactly who I am,” Nick replied.
Luke smiled and stepped aside as Nick took his place before the desk.
With one swing of his bat, Nick hit the computer screen and shattered it.
Joshua screamed, jumped up and tried to run away, but Nick elbowed him in his face and knocked him to the floor.
“I’m your worst nightmare. Tell us now what you do for a living, and don’t give me any accountant bullshit. I hate accountants with a fiery passion. Say the wrong thing and I’ll make you pee backwards for the rest of your life.”
Luke had to try very hard not to laugh.
Joshua squirmed on the floor, wincing in pain, and his nose started to bleed. Nick added to his demise by putting his foot on his chest and the bat near his head.
That only amped up the terrified look on Joshua’s face.
“Talk, we’re waiting,” Luke demanded.
He couldn’t do what Nick was doing now because he really would kill him. Nick was doing that for show as a scare tactic.
Luke would have his emotions tied to it for more things than one. It was bad enough that Joshua would have potentially gotten Jessica involved in a life of crime, but hearing what his extracurricular activities involved made Luke sick.
It was because of people like him why groups like the Ra existed. These business tactics to cover up organized criminal activities did more harm than any of the people involved would ever know.
Luke thought of the people who were murdered in the villages he’d patrolled. Men, women and children, all killed for nothing because selfish people like Joshua made an extra buck on the side by funding the illegal weapons trade.
Sure, Joshua helped fund whatever groups they had arrangements with in South America, but there was no difference.
Luke was certain that terrible things happened there, too, because people like Joshua armed the wrong people with guns. He helped give them power.
It was reasons like this why Luke became a Marine.
Luke kneeled next to Joshua. “Answer me, Joshua. You do realize that I’m mad as fuck that you even approached my sister, much less asked her to marry you, and this was the life you had planned for her.”
“I swear I just deal with the transactions and make them look legit. I don’t do all the arrangements.” Joshua winced.
“If you do the transactions, you must know who you’re transacting with. Tell us more. We’d love to hear.”
“I can’t, it’s too dangerous. That would be breaking confidentiality.”
Luke laughed out loud now. “You see my friend here, Joshua. He will kill you, and I’ll let him. He’ll most likely get off free because he works with the Chicago City Police. Me, on the other hand, I would end up in prison for murder of the worst kind. So talk, Joshua, if you want to live.” Luke patted his shoulder.
The calm manner in which he spoke highlighted the seriousness in his threats. Joshua hadn’t really hung out with Luke much, but whenever he did he would have gotten used to the jovial manner in which Luke spoke. Luke only used the calm, calculative tone in which he spoke now when he wanted to get his point across.
“I’ll tell you at the police station. Not here. Please,” Joshua begged. “That brown leather-covered book on the shelf has a list of names.”
At that, Nick removed his foot from Joshua and walked over to the shelf to get the book.
He looked through it and his face contorted into a frown.
“This is serious shit, Luke. Outside our remit. It’s not just South America these people trade with. There’s more,” Nick declared.
Luke looked back to Joshua and shook his head.
“You make me sick,” Luke told him and moved away before he did anything he’d regret.
* * *
Natalie
* * *
Natalie waited patiently in the sitting room for Jessica to come home.
She went over and over in her mind what she was going to say and came to a conclusion on how she would begin her conversation, but when she actually heard Jessica come in, she froze.
They hadn’t spoken since Friday night.
Apart from a handful of days back in college, this was the longest that they’d gone without speaking to each other. It was also the only time in Natalie’s life that she could remember Jessica being so mad at her.
And the situation was about to get worse.
Luke called her over two hours ago to let her know what had happened with Joshua. His instructions were not to get into any deep conversation with Jessica on the details but to tell her to call him and he’d fill her in.
Jessica and Laura both came into the room with shopping bags. While Laura looked at Natalie with the same warm pleasant look she always offered, Jessica frowned at her.
“Hi guys,” Natalie said, standing up to greet them.
“Hey, we haven’t seen you all weekend. Whe
re’ve you been?” Laura gave her a mischievous look.
“With Luke,” Natalie replied, much to Jessica’s surprise. She probably thought Natalie had retreated to her parents to avoid the atmosphere and tension here.
She probably also didn’t expect Natalie to come right out and say that.
“That is good. It is good, right?” Laura asked with a little glint of excitement in her eyes.
“It’s good,” Natalie replied.
She’d had the weekend to do a lot of thinking.
Jessica’s words the other night had definitely woken her up and she’d decided to take the steps of risk she’d been holding back on.
The weekend taught her that she couldn’t be without him, and it was crazy to have him here and not be with him. It was crazy to allow the fear to stop her. Fear that she’d fall for him and then end up heartbroken if something happened to him if, or when, he left to go back to the Marines.
That was her decision, and it felt good.
She felt like she was back on track.
She just had to sort this out with Jessica first. Luke had already told her he’d speak to his father so that when Natalie approached him with her findings that would be okay, too. She’d worried about that part, because technically what she found was confidential and she shouldn’t have shared it with Luke.
Luke went on the premise that the company belonged to him, too, so he was just acting in the course of his ownership by conducting further investigations on Joshua.
“Laura, could I speak to Jessica for a second in private? I’ll need you to come back, though, once I leave.”
“Okay, that sounds a little serious.”
“It is,” Natalie replied.
“Okay, I’ll be in my room until you leave, then,” Laura stated and backed away.
Natalie waited until she heard Laura going up the stairs before she focused on Jessica, who was already looking at her.
“Is this for an apology? Because you need to apologize,” Jessica said, folding her arms.
When Jessica heard all that had been unveiled about Joshua, she would be the one apologizing, but that wasn’t what Natalie was searching for. And she wouldn’t take pride in the fact that she was right about Joshua the whole time.
“I’m sorry that you were upset by what I said.”
Anger filled her eyes. “That is your apology? So you’re not sorry for what you said, only that it upset me?”
“Yes,” Natalie replied.
“Unbelievable, Natalie. You really are a nasty piece of work. The best thing ever happens to me and you want to destroy my happiness. I hope Luke sees you for what you are.”
She would pretend that she didn’t hear that, and that this whole thing would show that when it came down to choosing, Jessica chose to believe in Joshua and not Natalie.
“Um, you need to call Luke now.”
“Why?”
“You just need to. And when he tells you what happened, I really hope you don’t get too distressed. I also hope that you’ll feel that you can call me if you need me. You’re my best friend, and all I want is the truest happiness for you. I want the absolute best, only that, and I am sorry that you’d think I’d want to destroy what you have. Anyway, if you don’t want to call me, I know Laura will be here for you. Just don’t shut yourself away.”
“What the hell is going on?” she snapped.
“Call Luke,” Natalie replied with a curt nod, and then she stepped around her and headed for the door. She’d already said too much.
“Natalie,” Jessica called out.
Natalie turned and saw the frightened look in her eyes.
“Tell me what is going on.”
“No. This needs to come from Luke, not me. You hate me enough as it is.” Natalie offered a soft smile.
“I don’t hate you.”
“That’s good to know.” She wanted to say more but held back. There was no point talking to Jessica if she was angry. Anger blinded people from the truth and made them act irrational.
“I wish you would just tell me what’s going on.”
Natalie shook her head. “Call Luke. It really is best that you speak to him.”
It would be better for him to tell Jessica that Joshua’s name wasn’t even Joshua, and that the guy was in league with J.J. Belmont, who were not only guilty of money laundering, funding illegal weapons trading activities in South America and also the Middle East, but also an illegal sex trade.
No, she couldn’t tell Jessica that.
She turned back towards the door and left. She thought she’d stop by her parents’ first and then head to Luke. By then Jessica would know what had happened.
It would all be over, and Natalie could lay her concerns and suspicions about Joshua to rest.
Chapter 18
Luke
* * *
It was hard speaking to Jessica.
Hard to hear her cry so much, and he wasn’t with her to offer the comfort she needed. It was even harder to not go to her when she told him not to.
He wanted to go and see her to offer his support, but she refused. He respected her privacy, because he knew how embarrassed she must have felt.
He would go in the morning to check up on her. Once the shock faded, he knew she’d want people around then. He’d spoken to his parents, too, and they were in agreement to see her tomorrow, although they both called her.
With that at a standstill, he decided to use the time to hang out with Nick for a much needed catch up.
They sat on the steps leading up to the front porch of the lake house, talking like they used to when they served together.
Luke had forgotten how crazy Nick was, and sadly he’d forgotten how much they had in common. It had been close to three years since they’d seen each other and spoke like this. Keeping in touch would have been difficult, but Luke wished he’d tried to make contact sooner.
Talking to someone who had a similar background and had made several changes to their life after the Marines was exactly the kind of person Luke needed to talk to.
Nick was a notable private investigator who worked with several different government bodies and the police. He was also engaged to be married in the fall.
“You did good, man.” Luke smiled.
Nick chuckled. “Thanks. I try. It’s all you can do, right? Try to be the best you can be.”
“How did you know when it was time to leave? I mean the Marines. How did you know you wanted to leave and do something else?” Luke asked. That was the sort of question that only someone like him could answer. Particularly someone who loved being a Marine as much as Luke did.
Nick thought for a moment and ran his hand over his beard, bright blue eyes narrowing as he contemplated. “The time felt right. It felt like I’d reached the end of my service and it was time to move on to the next phase of my life. I guess it depends on what you want.” He rested back against the wooden beam.
“I don’t know what I want to do,” Luke confessed. “I feel like I was forced to be in this situation. I didn’t choose to come home, and if I stay, I fear that I’ll feel like I…” His voice trailed off as he thought about that word he hated. It was a word that he’d banished from his mind.
“Failed in some way?” Nick filled in.
Luke nodded. That was the word. Failed.
“I don’t want the incident to be the sole reason that I leave. I’m tougher than that,” he expressed. It felt good to open up and explain himself.
“Luke, as Marines, we just keep going and going and never stop. It’s how we’re built. We don’t stop until we’re made to stop, and a lot of us don’t have plans for the future because we know damn well what we signed up for and each mission could be our last. We accept death. So it isn’t about whether or not you’re tough. You know you are and they know it too.”
Luke straightened up and really listened. It felt like he was forming some level of clarity. It was what he’d craved all these long weeks, months.
�
�I wanted to serve until I retired, or…well, you know. This feels premature for me.”
“I hear you, but has the situation given you a chance to stop and see what life could be like if you weren’t in the Marines?” Nick offered up a smile because he already knew the answer was yes.
“My friend’s advice was to join the police.”
“You could.”
“What made you become a PI?”
“I don’t like to be controlled.” Nick chuckled. Luke smiled, too, because that was the exact way that he would describe Nick. “I stuck by rules when I was a Marine, but this is me. I play by my own rules and do things my way. There’s a lot you can do, Luke, you just have to open your mind. Don’t see the incident as something that forced you into a premature situation. Use it for what it is: a break. That is all it is. If you ask me…” His voice trailed off and the smile came back.
“What?”
“If you ask me, I’d say the fact that you’re even contemplating leaving means that you’ve come to that natural pause that’s given you the chance to stop and take a look at what else you may want in life. The next phase.”
“You think so?” Luke had never considered that point. But Nick was right, and his advice felt true.
Luke felt like he was at a fork in the road and he could either go right or left.
The important part was that he was at that point, where he was given the opportunity to have a choice. It was something he was certain his comrades would have valued.
“I think you know the answer to that.”
Well, Nick had certainly given him something to think about.
Definitely.
It looked like this whole Joshua thing helped in more ways than one.
The sound of a car pulling up distracted him. He looked down the length of the garden and over to the driveway.
It was Natalie.
His heart soared when he saw her, and he couldn’t help the smile that inched across his face.
“Well, who’s this, Luke?” Nick looked on, too, at the beautiful Natalie, who had just stepped out of her car.
Only You Page 14
