Men In Control (Smith Brothers Complete Series)

by Brenda Ford

  “I don’t know. I don’t know if I’m hungry or anything. I don’t know how I feel right now.”

  I use an app on my phone to order some food and drinks for us both. Even if it doesn’t get eaten, I would rather have something here to give us the choice. “There, pizza is on the way.”

  We climb on to the couch together while we wait, and Tami leans in to me. She puts some sit com on the television for us to lose ourselves in, but I can tell that she’s as distracted as me. Those pictures. Those fucking photographs. Why did someone have to send them and ruin something so good? We were having such an awesome night and it all just fell apart. Who needs us to be so God damn miserable?

  I need Wesley. He did say to speak to him if anything else came through because he might be able to figure it all out and that’s what I intend to do… as soon as I have done all that I can to comfort Tami.

  Tami leans into me, her head in the crook of my arm as she finally sleeps peacefully. I honestly didn’t think she was going to be able to rest at all tonight so I’m glad that she has got there. I can’t though, my brain is absolutely wired. Everything that I need to do to sort this out keeps flooding me and I need to get started.

  I feel bad as I slide my arm out from underneath Tami. I know that she’s probably desperate for me to remain close to her so nothing else can harm her, but this is a call that I really need to make now for my peace of mind. I make my way in to Tami’s living room so I won’t disturb her as I speak to Wesley.

  “Hey,” he answers sleepily after only the second ring. “What’s going on?”

  “I haven’t disturbed you, have I? Sorry I just realized how late it is.” I glance at my watch. “It’s been a long day so I haven’t really got a clue what the hell is going on. Urgh, you weren’t in the middle of something?”

  “Nah, no I wasn’t. What’s going on? Has something else happened with the messages?” Instantly he knows what this is about which only makes it more annoying because it shows how consumed I am by it.

  “Er, yes. It has actually.” I sigh loudly. “Tami received some more today.”

  “Pictures again?” My silence answers that for him. “Uh oh. What of this time?”

  “Well, it was worse this time because it was taken in the office and sent moments afterwards…”

  “You got freaky in the office?” Wesley laughs. “Damn, I’m impressed. This chick really has brought you out of your shell. I never would have thought that you’d be the one to do something so wild.”

  “Yeah, yeah, that isn’t the point right now though, is it? I need your help with the pictures.” Much as I love my brother, I haven’t got the time for having the piss ripped out of me right now. “Don’t forget that.”

  “Where are you? You aren’t at home, are you? Let me come and help you.”

  “I’m at Tami’s and I don’t think I can leave her right now. She’s freaked out. Could I just send it to you?”

  “More sex pictures of my brother, great, just what I need on a Thursday night” he teases. “Yes, send it to me and I’ll see what I can do.”

  “Thanks, Wesley. And if you can’t, I’ll bring you the phone tomorrow to see what you think.”

  “Yeah, I might need the actual phone to be able to get all the details for it. There are sometimes things hidden in the coding that I will need the actual device to find out.”

  We talk for a little while longer about what we’re going to do next but I’m keen to get the image sent off and to let him get to work. I’m also excited to get back in to bed with Tami as well. To reassure her that I’m here. I’m sure that she hasn’t woken up yet because I would know about it. She’d be screaming, I’m sure. Freaked out.

  “Right, well I will let you go,” Wesley finally says to me. “So, you can get me your picture and I can get to work. I will let you know as soon as I have something figured out. Hopefully soon.”

  “Thanks, Wesley. You really are a star. I don’t know what I would do without you. You’ve been a real help.”

  I sigh loudly and hang up the phone with my head hung low. I take a moment just to gather myself up before I head back into the room to sneak Tami’s phone. I do feel a bit like I’m violating her by sneaking into her private phone but this isn’t to see if she’s sneaking anything or to be shady, I just want to help.

  “What the fuck?” I mutter as I click onto the photograph. It has come from a different number from last time, which doesn’t surprise me because when Wesley tried to call it, it was cut off. But there’s another message underneath this one. One which is really sinister. It even chills me.

  I am watching you. I am always watching you, and you are going to regret everything.

  “Fucking hell,” I mutter as I try to call but I’m not shocked to hear the same cut off sound. Someone is really fucking toying with Tami and me and I don’t like it. I will not let them stay one step ahead of me at all times. “Fuck you, asshole,” I whisper even though no one will be able to hear it.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Tami

  I am watching you. I am always watching you, and you are going to regret everything.

  “What the fuck does this mean?” I cry out with a shaky voice. “Who is watching me? Why?”

  I drag my fingers through my hair, trying to shove the head ache away. That’s the last thing I need right now. The photos were bad enough, but these are direct threats and somehow, they feel more frightening.

  “Plus, there’s this one from a new number. You are a slut, and everyone knows it. What the hell? The only thing this does is convince me more that it is Tawny and her gang because they’ve called me that before.”

  “What? A slut?” Brad is hopping mad again. “I wish you had told me, and I could have fired them.”

  I didn’t want them fired because I thought it would only make the drama worse. But now I’m wishing that I had just let Brad do whatever the hell he wanted. Maybe if they had seen that their behavior wasn’t going to be tolerated then everyone would have just left us alone. Me and Brad could just be happy right now.

  “You can’t fire them though, can you? Not without proof and we don’t really have that right now.”

  “No.” He shakes his head. “Wesley has been looking into it, but he’s going to need your phone for it.”

  “Wesley?” I furrow my eyebrows. “You told your brother again about this?”

  “I had to. He’s the only person I know who can deal with this shit.”

  I don’t have any reason to cling onto my cell phone right now, not when it’s a source of so much stress, so I hand it over willingly. I do get a little relief as the weight falls off me a little, but I know that it will only come back. As soon as I’m given that cell phone back, it will all start over again.

  “Okay, so we’ll go to the office, then I will head over to his place of work to see Wesley. Get him to take a real deep look through the phone and see what he can work out.”

  “Right…” I don’t know if I like the sound of that because it means I will be in the office alone. But then again, that’s the only way this is going to get solved is with Wesley. He needs to be a part of this if he’s as smart as Brad keeps telling me. The only problem is the stalker seems to be smarter. “Okay, that’s fine.”

  “You will have Angelo. He will take care of you, don’t worry.”

  “Okay. Well, I’m going to need a shower if I’m going to face those bitches alone.”

  Brad grabs me and kisses me reassuringly, trying to let me know that he’s going to be there for me. But he isn’t, not today. I’m going to have to face those girls who are after me all by myself.

  “You’ll be fine,” he says quietly. “And if it is those bitches then we will get them. You don’t need to worry.”

  “Do you think it’s them? Like really? It seems like it has to be, doesn’t it?”

  He shrugs. “I guess so. It does seem like it. I can’t think of anyone else who would do this. But I don’t really want to think that it’s
them either. That I hired people who could be like that.”

  It’s hard to know that judgement is wrong, I sure know that it’s a difficult thing to admit. That’s what hit me hardest about Daniel. Just knowing that I was a dumb ass for such a long time. But then getting rid of him worked out for the best for me. Sometimes, you just have to admit it then you can trim the fat.

  “Right, I guess that it’s time to face the day,” I sigh. “Luckily, it’s Friday.”

  “True that!” he chuckles. “We will do something nice this weekend to make up for the shitty week.”

  It seems like we’re doing a lot of that recently. Making up for shitty weeks, but at least we have one another. I don’t know how I would get through any of this without him. The end of this should be happy. That’s one thing to cling on to. The fact that when we get through this, all will be good.

  “What do you want to do?” I ask as I head towards the shower. “How can we make it good?”

  “Anything with you is a good time to me, so it’s up to you.”

  I smile to myself, so grateful that at least we have this budding relationship, this building love, to work with. That’s something to always be happy about even if everything else has gone to shit. I have a bright side to look at and that’s all I need to give me strength.

  “Let’s get out of the town. Go away just me and you,” I call out. “Escape from it all.”

  Surely, no stalker will be that committed to following us, which means we can just be me and him.

  “Love it. I will plan it all this afternoon. I’ll solve this, then plan a weekend away.”

  The past to the future. That sounds good enough to me. Especially when my future includes him.

  I feel like all eyes are upon me. And this isn’t just paranoia I’m sure of it. Everyone really is looking at me, wanting to know why I’m such a fucking mess. I honestly don’t know why I bothered to come in today. I’m not getting anything done and I’m just a total melt down.

  “Are you okay?” Angelo asks me while resting his hand on my shoulder. “Do you need anything, Tami?”

  “Er, no I don’t think so. I think I’m fine.” I try to smile but I can’t make it happen. “Just… you know.”

  “I’m about to go to lunch. I can grab you something if you want me to?”

  I don’t have any food with me, but I shake my head regardless. I get that he’s trying to take care of me and that’s really nice of him, but I wouldn’t be able to put any food in. I couldn’t last night either.

  “Okay, well I will have my cell phone with me so just give me a call if you need me.”

  I nod, completely forgetting that I don’t have my own phone with me because Brad still has it at Wesley’s office. It doesn’t really occur to me that I am really going to be on my own now. Not until he arrives back.

  “Shit.” My heart balls up in my throat. “Fucking hell, what am I going to do?”

  I need to distract myself, to make sure that I’m not focused on everyone watching me. I open up my email, ready to start answering them instead. But I immediately spot something that isn’t quite right. An email that comes from someone I don’t recognize. Anything from anyone I don’t know frightens me right now. I click on to it, my pulse racing at the same time, and as soon as I see the threatening words, I freak out.

  ‘Yes, bitch. I can get you here as well. I can get you anywhere. You are not safe.’

  “Fuck, no.” I shove my chair backwards as an automatic reaction. “No, no, no.”

  For someone to get me here is less frightening than my personal cell phone since it’s information that is more publicly available, but it hurts. It hurts me a whole lot more. I don’t know what to do about it. I immediately reach into my pocket to grab my phone but I don’t have it. Of course I don’t have it.

  “Fuck.” In a moment of panic, I fire off an email to Ruby because that’s the only person I can think of. I beg her to meet me at home because there isn’t any way that I can be in the office any longer. No way. Once that’s sent off, I grab all of my belongings and I race off out the building. I don’t even care if anyone is looking at me anymore. Soon, I will be on my own locked away in my home and everything will be just fine.

  “Tami!” someone yells out behind me as I race away. “Tami, where are you going? Come back!”

  My ears are buzzing too loudly. I can’t quite work out who’s yelling me, but it doesn’t matter. It might even be Oliver, but I can’t stop. This environment is too claustrophobic for me. I can’t hack it. I can’t breathe. I just need to be by myself when I can get my head screwed on properly.

  It will be fine, I try to convince myself. It will, it will.

  I run through my front door and slam it behind me, trying to catch my breath as soon as I do. It is better being here rather than at the office, but the sheer terror hasn’t gone anywhere. It’s still rocketing hard through me.

  “I need to call the cops now,” I tell myself. “I can’t stop that now. I have to. When I get my phone back.”

  I didn’t want to because I wanted the whole thing to just blow over already, but since it hasn’t, and it just keeps getting worse and worse, I don’t have a choice. I will have to listen to Brad at last… God, I wish that I could call Brad already. I wish that I could get his comfort. I wish that he wasn’t with his brother. I also wish that his brother would just find out one hundred percent who’s behind this already.

  “It’s Tawny,” I tell myself while staggering towards the kitchen to grab myself some water. “And Beth. Amy too. And Hayley It’s all of them. Doing this off burner phones or something. Trying to push us apart because they don’t like me and Brad. Nor my promotion.”

  I grab water and suck it all back. I take it all the way in to my stomach and try and drown the butterflies. But they keep flapping through everything. The nerves don’t go anywhere. If anything, it gets worse.

  I grab my laptop and switch it on. I can’t access my work email from here, which is a good thing because it means I can’t access the frightening emails, but I also don’t know if Ruby has replied to me. I don’t know if she has even seen it. Sometimes, she’s great at emails and she sees them right away, but other times she’s terrible which means I don’t know if she’s coming or not. I really need her. I need someone.

  I send off another email from my personal email account, silently praying that this is one of Ruby’s good weeks. I could also contact Brad as well, I should also let Angelo know what’s going on, but I feel like the Smith’s have enough going on right now. My girl can help me through this if anyone can.

  Knock, knock.

  Relief floods me as I hear the knocking at the door. It means that although Ruby hasn’t replied to my email, she’s here to save me. She will give me the best advice about what to do next. Whether that involves the cops or not. I can’t trust my own advice anymore do whatever she tells me to do, I will.

  “Hold on, Ruby,” I call out while finally chucking off my jacket. “I’ll be right there.”

  I kick a bit of mess under the couch, so she doesn’t see it – not that my best friend will care that the stress has made me a little bit sloppy – and I race towards the door to swing it open. Relief floods me as I know that my best friend will now take control of everything and help me out.

  Chapter Twenty

  Brad

  “Where is Tami?” I demand to Angelo as soon as I return to the office. “I have her cell phone here.”

  “Apparently, she freaked out and ran out.” He shrugs helplessly. “I’m sorry. I just ran out to grab lunch and when I came back she was gone. I thought that she must have spoken to you which is why I left it.”

  I growl with frustration at that information. I don’t like this at all. I didn’t want to leave her in the office at all, but I knew that I needed to speak to Wesley to try and get this sorted. I also went to speak to the cops to see if there was anything that they could do but right now, it doesn’t seem like anything.

  Some
one is doing this well. They are stalking and tormenting well, and I need to know who.

  “Where do you think she has gone then, if she isn’t here? I really need to speak with her.”

  “Home, maybe? I don’t know. Sorry, Brad, I know that this is all really messy.”

  It isn’t his fault, but I’m too pissed off with the whole world right now and unfortunately, he’s a part of it, so I storm away and head to my own office to see if there are any clues there. She might have left me a note or something before she ran off… unless something happened and she’s in too much of a panic.

  There aren’t any stray bits of paper littered around, so I flick my computer on and wait impatiently for it to switch on. I tap my fingers angrily on the desk as I consider Wesley’s confused face as he tried to fathom out what was going on, and the police’s uninspiring words as well. They really didn’t seem to care enough about it. I don’t think they saw it as a real threat. More girls just being bitchy with one another.

  That’s probably my fault because I mentioned the mean girls crew here… the women who I am seriously considering just firing already because they are pissing me off. It would even be worth the unfair dismissal cases just to not have to look at them anymore and to know that they are upsetting Tami.

  “What the fuck?” All of a sudden, I notice a new email popping up on my screen. One from an email address that I don’t recognize at all. “Who the fuck is this? What the hell now?”

  ‘Yes, bitch. I can get you here as well. I can get you anywhere. You are not safe.’

  This wasn’t directly sent to me; it was sent to Tami, but I’m attached just so that I can see it. this fucked up game of cat and mouse is escalating wildly. I’m being toyed with all over again. Being let know that I am being played with like a fucking fool. I am behind yet again. It doesn’t matter how much I do. They will always win.