Southern Comfort

by Madison, Natasha

  “It was a long time ago,” I say, and then I hear Casey’s voice over the intercom.

  “Derek, stop flirting with my woman and get in here.” My mouth opens, and Derek just laughs as he walks out. I, of course, have no idea what to do, so I follow him also, and I step into what can only be described as a new dimension.

  The room is dim and almost black. Screens fill all the walls from top to bottom. In the middle of the room sits Casey, his hands going nuts over the keyboard as five screens sit on the desk in front of him. “What are you doing?”

  “What he does best,” Derek says, snickering beside me with a smile on his face. “Fucking shit up.”

  Seeing him in this role is so much different; at the farm, he’s a dirty cowboy with a smirk that’ll make you weak in the knees. Here behind a desk, with his hands going a million miles a minute as his eyes work, it’s so much more intense. “Okay,” he says, “I found him going in by the front door and then taking off from the side and …” He turns some of the screens. “To this parked car.”

  “He knew you were gone and weren’t coming back,” Derek says. “He would have to know.”

  “That or he trailed me, saw me get on the plane, and then came back,” Casey says. “Either way, he’s in my house.”

  “Did you take care of that message?” Casey says, and Derek nods. “Perfect. I’m going to go check into the hotel,” he says, getting up. “I also put a bug on all the feeds in the prison.”

  “Is that legal?” I ask them, and they both share a look.

  “I’ll keep an eye on it,” Derek says, then looks back at me. “Do you have a phone on you?” he asks me, and I nod, taking it out of my pocket.

  “This can also be how they know where she is.” He looks at Casey. “I’m going to see what is in here.” He looks at me. “Are there any nude pictures on here?”

  I roll my eyes while Casey growls, grabbing my hand. “Call me if you find anything,” he tells him, and we walk out. “You don’t have nudes on there, do you?” he asks, and I push him away from me. We take the elevator down, and this time, he gets into the driver’s side. I look over at him when I buckle myself into the passenger side.

  “Is this yours?” I ask him, and he just smirks at me. “You know, one of these days, that smirk isn’t going to make my stomach flutter,” I say the words, and just like that, I want to kick myself.

  “I make your stomach flutter?” he says the words so soft, and I want to slap my hand over my mouth.

  “No,” I say, trying to cover it up. “I meant to say that your smirk isn’t …” I try to think of the words at this point, any word, and when he laughs, I just glare at him. “Shut up.”

  He leans over, and right before he kisses me, he whispers, “Good to know I’m not the only one falling.” My breath hitches as he slips his tongue in with mine. His hands come to my face as he tilts his head and takes the kiss deeper.

  “Casey,” I whisper when he finally lets me go, and I want to say that I’m not falling for him, that I can’t fall for him, and he definitely can’t fall for me. But that would be crazy. It would be insane, it would be the phone ringing that makes my thoughts go out the window.

  “Hello?” he says, and Derek’s voice fills the truck.

  “Did you get far?” he asks, and it sounds like he’s out of breath.

  “We are in the parking garage,” Casey says, and I look over at him.

  “Her phone was a hot target,” he says, and Casey looks at me. “It’s got tracking; it’s got everything that a stalker would put it in.”

  “Did you know?” I just look at him shocked.

  “How would I know that I have a tracker in my phone?” I shriek out. “Who would put a tracker on my phone?”

  “I’m going to go out on a limb right now and say Dominic,” Derek says, and then Casey punches the steering wheel.

  “I should have known,” he says, looking at me. “I was.” He shakes his head. “What else did you find?”

  “The hot spot was being tracked to someone else. I’m in the middle of dissecting it,” he says. “I’ll let you know what else I find. But, Casey, if he put one …”

  “I know,” Casey says. “Email me whatever you got.”

  “What does all this mean?” I say almost in a whisper when he hangs up the phone.

  “It means that he put a tracker on your phone so he knew where you were every single second,” he says and then looks down. “He also knew what you were texting and when you were texting. I will know more when I read the report.”

  “How could he?” I say, my head spinning. “When?” I ask myself the questions that I’m sure Casey is wondering also. “I don’t understand.” I will not cry, I tell myself. He has taken more tears from you than he deserves, I tell myself. “I was so stupid,” I whisper as Casey takes us to the hotel, and the whole time, I wonder what else Dominic is going to do to me.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Casey

  I pull out of the parking garage and look over at Olivia who has been silent ever since Derek told us that her phone was being tracked. It’s almost as if she gave up in defeat, right after I told her I was falling for her. I shake my head. Maybe it’s a sign to let me know that it will not and can never happen. We are like oil and water.

  Meanwhile, I’m the one who overreacted when I punched the steering wheel, and to be honest, I’ve barely kept my anger in check ever since someone broke into my house and trashed her room. I know that Derek has someone over there right now cleaning it up and putting in the new system that hasn’t even been out yet. I also know that he’s running facial recognitions on the guy’s face even though all we see are his eyes.

  “Where did you want to go shopping?” I look over and try to pull her out of her head. “We can either go now, or we can check into the hotel.”

  She looks over at me and asks, “Why?”

  I look at her and then back at the road. “Why do you want to go shopping?” Laughing, I turn back to her. “I have no idea. You tell me.”

  “No.” She shakes her head. “Not that. Why put a tracker on my phone?”

  I try to answer her question, but in all honesty, I have no idea what his motive behind it was. “I have no idea. Maybe he was scared of losing you.”

  “Losing me?” She puts her head back now and laughs. “Now that I think of it, he didn’t even give a shit.” I try to say something, but she just continues. “He was just like everyone else and liked having me on his arm. I mean, sure at first, he brought out all the charm. Brought me to Italy for pizza on a Friday night.” Her voice is getting higher and higher. “Who does that? I didn’t even like pizza. I like pasta.” I try not to laugh, and she looks at me. “I mean, not anymore. Now, I like everything deep-fried and with butter.”

  “Do you now, darlin’?” I ask her softly, loving the fact that she loves what we gave her. I mean, my mother more than we, but still.

  “I do,” she says. “He destroyed my life. Literally destroyed it, and just when I think it’s going to be okay, and I can get over it, what does he do?” I look over, and I don’t know if she’s asking me or telling me. “He does the only thing a swine can do. He fucking kicks you again, hoping you fall.” She wipes away a tear, but this time, it’s in anger. “Not this time. I refuse. My whole life I’ve always had someone who wanted something from me. My first memory was when I was on the middle of the stage and my mother was standing there right in front, making sure that I moved exactly how we practiced, and when I did everything like a trained dog, what did I get from it? Even a trained dog gets a treat, but I got nothing. Not even you did good. You should have smiled a bit more, Olivia.” My hands gripping the steering wheel so tight they are turning white. “Who gets false teeth at five because Olivia, you look like Jaws.” My stomach gets tight. “Do you know that she refused to have me in open toe shoes because my feet weren’t pretty?” I don’t know this person, but I hate her. “My feet, by the way, are perfect.”

  “Everyth
ing about you is perfect,” I say, and she shakes her head.

  “Be better, Olivia.” She mocks her mother. “You can do better than that, Olivia.” She looks at me now, and I see the tears rolling down her face. “I never want to have children because I don’t think I am going to be a good enough mother.” It’s that line that breaks me. I pull over the truck, and she looks over at me. Getting out of the truck, I try to calm myself before I open the passenger door. But nothing could calm me down, so I unbuckle her seat belt and turn her in the seat.

  “Look at me, darlin’.” I try not to grab her too hard, but my hands grab her face to make her look at me in the eyes. “You are going to be the best mother I know,” I say, hoping she hears me. “You,” I say, and she looks at me, and my thumbs catch her tears. “You put everyone before yourself. You are caring and kind, and most of all, you have so much love to give.”

  “Casey,” she says my name softly, putting her own hands on mine.

  “Listen to me,” I say. “You are going to have all the babies and be the best mother.” Just saying the words makes my stomach burn. Knowing that eventually she’ll move on, find someone who loves her and who can give her all the babies she deserves. “They are going to have the best mom. You know why?” I ask, and she just looks at me. “Because you’re you, and that,” I say, my voice going down, “is everything. You …” My thumbs rub her cheeks as more tears fall. “You are everything.” I lean forward, and I kiss her, a soft kiss. A kiss for her to feel everything that she should feel. I want her to feel safe, I want her to feel comfortable, but most of all, I want her to feel love. Even for a brief time. I try not to think about her getting married, and I try not to think about her pregnant with someone else’s child. I try to live in the moment except I can’t. I already feel her loss, and she’s not even gone yet.

  “Cowboy,” she says, letting go of my hands and running her hand through my hair. “I was always told there was no such thing as a perfect man.” She starts to tell me, and she looks into my eyes while she does this. The blue of her eyes going soft. “They were wrong,” she whispers and leans forward to kiss the side of my mouth. “He does exist; he’s just deep undercover.” I try not to let her words get to me, but they do. They seep into my bones along with her touch.

  “We should get you something to eat.” I try to avoid her eyes this time and build a wall around my heart. Except it doesn’t go up as easily, and I have a feeling the more time I spend with her the longer it will take me to get over her. She smiles at me, and I get lost in her once again. “What do you want to eat?”

  “Anything you want to feed me.” She winks at me, and I throw my head back and laugh. “Hint, hint.” She laughs, and I shake my head and turn her around in her seat, closing the door as the sound of her laughter fills the air.

  I walk around the truck, glancing over at her to see that she is looking in the mirror and dabbing her eyes with a Kleenex. “You look perfect,” I say, and when she looks over at me her whole face lights up.

  “You know, in all this time, no one has ever said that to me,” she says, looking back in the mirror. “I was told I’m beautiful, and outstanding, exquisite, but I was never perfect.”

  “That’s because you weren’t asking the right people.” I turn back and make my way over to the hotel.

  “So does this hotel have room service?” she asks, and I have to laugh.

  “If it doesn’t, they need to rethink their prices.” I pull up to the front of the hotel. I park the truck, and two bellhops come out right away.

  “Welcome to the St. Regis Hotel,” he says, and I hear a gasp from beside me.

  “Sorry, it’s not the Waldorf.” I wink at her, getting out. One of the bellboys grab the bags from the trunk.

  “Are we checking in?” the bellhop asks, and I nod my head.

  “Mr. Barnes,” I say my name, and he nods. “Your butler is waiting for you at the concierge station.”

  “Thank you,” I say and look over to see Olivia standing beside me. My hand goes out to hold hers. There is no way I’m walking into this hotel and it’s not known that she’s mine or at least that she’s with me.

  When we walk in the lobby I look around and someone must have called them because someone in a suit walks up to us. “Mr. & Mrs. Barnes, so great to have you with us.” I don’t correct him and neither does Olivia. “I’m Diego, if you will follow me this way.” He smiles at us and I nod following him to a secret hallway where a private elevator is waiting for us. “You are on the twenty-sixth floor. The penthouse takes the whole floor.”

  “Penthouse,” Olivia whispers from beside me followed by a whistle. “Mr. CEO.” She laughs and I look down at her as she leans over and pinches my ass. “You think you know someone and then poof. Millionaire.”

  I shake my head, looking over at the butler who tries to hide his smile. The elevator pings open and the butler waits for us to get out. “It’s a two-bedroom penthouse,” he says, and I look over to see if Olivia noticed, and of course, she did. For the past week, we’ve been sharing the couch. She follows Diego as he takes us from room to room showing us the master bedroom, his and her bathroom. The kitchen that leads to the great room and then finally to the private covered terrace. “Is there anything that you would like to eat?” He looks at me, and I just look at Olivia.

  “I’m good with anything,” she tells him and then looks at me. “Do you want a burger maybe?”

  “Yeah, that sounds good.” My phone pings in my pocket. I get it, seeing that it’s a text from Derek.

  “Excuse me.” I look at them and walk out to the terrace calling Derek.

  “Hey.” He answers right away. “They just left your house.”

  “Good,” I say. “Did they get everything done?”

  “They did,” he says, and then his voice trails.

  “What aren’t you telling me?” I ask him and turn to look over my shoulder seeing Olivia talking to Diego.

  “They left a note,” Derek says, and the hair on the back of my neck stands up.

  “What do you mean? What kind of note?” I ask him, my eyes never having Olivia out of my sight.

  “What the fuck does that mean?” I ask him and then see that Olivia is coming outside and the smile on her face goes away when she looks at me.

  “What happened?” she asks, and I look down and wonder how I can say this.

  I think about lying to her but then I will be like all the other ones and I refuse to be in the same category. “They left a note,” I say and she walks over to the couch and sits down.

  “What note?” she asks almost in a whisper.

  I put the phone on speaker. “Derek, Olivia is here, and you’re on speakerphone. She wants to know what was in the note.”

  “Um,” he starts and I know he isn’t sure what to do.

  “The truth,” I say and I watch her face as he tells her what he just told me and her eyes fly to mine.

  “Okay,” he says, his voice going low. “The sooner you give us what we want, the sooner you get to live your life.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Olivia

  It’s a good thing I’m sitting down because the words on the note would have had me on my ass. I shake my head, and my legs start to move up and down automatically. “I have no fucking idea what I have that they want,” I tell them, almost shouting. “If I knew what they wanted I would give it to them gladly.” I look up and blink away the tears. “I have no idea what they want.”

  “I know you don’t.” Casey comes over, taking me in his arms sitting with me in his lap.

  “Is there anything else?” Casey asks Derek.

  “Not that I can see,” he tells him. “But we are looking into her phone and there was an application on there that I’ve never seen before.”

  “I don’t really have applications on the phone,” I tell them. “I mean, I have Instagram and Pinterest.”

  “Um,” Derek says. “You have at least seventeen, and it was in a hidden folder.�
�

  I look at Casey. “I can barely get my computer to work, and when it doesn’t, I do what every single other person does. I shut it off and then hope when I turn it back on everything is working.”

  He looks at me. “You do not.” The look on his face is that of utter disgust almost.

  “I don’t do computers,” I tell them. “I’m a stylist. I style things. Then I walk over to Kallie’s office and explain it to her, and she makes it come to life.”

  “I can teach you,” he says, his voice going soft and I almost forget that my life is a mess. Almost. But sitting in his arms I know that soon this nightmare will be over and someone else will be in his arms.

  “Okay,” I whisper out and then Derek cuts in.

  “I’ll see you guys tomorrow, and if I get anything else, I’ll let you know,” he says, disconnecting.

  “I have a dinner tonight,” Casey says to me, and I nod my head.

  “It’s okay. I can stay, order room service, and eat in bed,” I say with a smile. Putting one arm around his shoulder, I lean in to kiss his lips because I can.

  “I was hoping that maybe you could be my date.” He looks down, and if I didn’t know any better, I would think that he was nervous.

  “Really?” I play with him. “What does being your date entail?” I lean in and put my head on his shoulder. He puts one hand around my waist and another one over my legs.

  “Well, it entails you dressing up,” he starts with a chuckle. “Then it entails us leaving and attending a stuffy dinner. Where tech people will be.”

  “That sounds interesting and not at all dull,” I say and lean in to whisper in his ear. “Does it end with me and you in bed?” I swallow down the nerves as I wait for him to answer.

  “That sounds like something that can happen.” He looks down at me. “It’s definitely something I’ve dreamed of happening.”