Affinity: A Salvation Society Novel

by Harlow Layne

  Jenner’s free hand went to the nape of my neck. “Why are you blushing?”

  “I’m not. I’m just hot,” I said out of the side of my mouth.

  “Liar.” He chuckled low in his throat.

  “Am not,” I shot back.

  “Whatever you say.”

  “Alright, Mrs. Jenner, it’s safe to look now.”

  The second I heard the drill turn off, I opened my eyes to find my cast cut down the middle. My leg hair was long and disgusting, as was the pallor of my skin.

  “I’m going to spray your leg down and clean the area, although you’ll probably want to take a nice shower or bath when you get home. Once I’m done, you’ll be free to go.” He already had the bottle poised to spray my leg. He squeezed the handle, and a cold mist fell upon my leg, making me jump. “Sorry, I should have warned you it can be cold.”

  Can be? There was no way it wouldn’t be cold.

  Jenner moved his hand from my neck to my shoulder and back up again, calming me instantly. I focused on the feel of his hand and the warmth that seeped into my body.

  “You should have a full recovery as long as you do exactly what your physical therapist says.” The doctor’s voice broke through my haze.

  “Yeah, I promise I’ll do my very best, and these two won’t let me do any less.” I smiled at the two men in my life.

  Swinging my legs off the table, I hopped down. The feel of the floor underneath my bare foot felt like a dream. I wiggled my toes against the cold floor before I moved over to my purse and pulled out my flip-flop that matched the one on my other foot. The feel of it between my toes felt strange, but at the same time comforting.

  “Are you ready?” Paul stood from his seat, a small grin tugging his lips.

  Linking my arm with his, I would have skipped out of the room if he hadn’t been holding me back. “More than ready. Let’s hit the store, and then I want to go for a hike before Alex and Mason come over.”

  “Maybe you should take it a down a notch. Don’t do too much too soon. Let’s see how you feel after the store.” Paul grinned down at me.

  Slipping an arm around my waist, Jenner leaned down as we walked. “Do you want me to come with you?”

  If Jenner came, we’d be swarmed by cameras and people, and I wasn’t sure if I was ready for that after being cooped up in the house for two months.

  We stopped in front of the car Paul had driven here. I leaned against the passenger door while Paul got inside and waited. Jenner rested a hip against the car and kept my hand in his while he played with my fingers.

  “That’s okay. We’re just picking up some food to grill tonight. Is there anything special you want?” I looked up, hoping he wasn’t disappointed that I didn’t want him to go with us.

  “Whatever you get will be fine. You know I’ll eat anything.” Dipping low, he growled in my ear. “Tonight, I’m going to wash you from head to toe, and then I’m going to get you all dirty again, only to clean you up. We’re going to repeat that until you pass out.” I felt faint at his words and couldn’t wait until later tonight. “You don’t have to say anything. The way your eyes dilated and your breathing picked up just now told me everything I need to know.”

  The window rolled down, and Paul yelled out, “Come on, let’s go. You two can talk all you want back at the house.”

  “When is he leaving?”

  Blowing out a breath, I shook my head. “I don’t know. Whenever he thinks I’m safe.”

  “So never.” He groaned before he pressed his lips to mine. “I’ll see you back at home.”

  Opening the car door, I slipped inside. “It’s about fucking time. You act like you’re not going to see him the moment you set foot in your house.”

  “Maybe you’d understand if you had a girlfriend.”

  His jaw ticked as he gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white. “I don’t have time for a girlfriend. I’m never even home.”

  “And whose fault is that?”

  “I go where the job takes me. I’m the new guy, so I have to pay my dues. The other guys have girlfriends, wives, and kids. I’ve got nothing.”

  “You’ve got me,” I answered back softly. “I’m always here if you need me, even now that I’m married. I know you don’t like the fact that Jenner didn’t ask you for permission, or that we didn’t invite you to the wedding. It was spur of the moment, and I know that’s no excuse, but we were caught up in the moment. Maybe one day we’ll renew our vows or have a wedding reception. Something to make our friends and family feel a part of it.” As each word came out of my mouth the more, I liked the idea.

  “You’d do that?”

  “I’d do anything for you and for you to accept Jenner as part of our family. He only has his dad, and he’s . . . well, saying he’s the worst is putting it lightly. Jenner doesn’t know he needs family because he’s never had it, and I want to give that to him. I hope you’ll help me do that.”

  Paul slammed his head back on the headrest and gritted his teeth. “You had to say the one thing you knew would get to me. Family.”

  “I’m only telling you the truth. You might as well accept him now because he’s going to continue to be in my life no matter how much you hate him.”

  “Hate is a strong word. I don’t hate him, and I’m going to lay off. I promise. Now let’s hit this grocery store. It doesn’t look that busy.”

  I eyed the store he’d pulled into and spotted only a few cars in the parking lot. It was crazy that I was giddy to be able to go buy groceries, but I was. I felt like I could do laps around the store.

  “You look like a kid in a candy store. Maybe save some of that excitement for when your friends come over tonight.” Paul laughed as he pushed the cart behind me.

  I picked out vegetables to grill, and fruit to eat, and then moved onto the rest of the store.

  “You didn’t tell me we’d be here forever,” Paul moaned. “Do we really need to go down every single aisle?”

  “We do indeed need to go down every aisle because I’ve never been here before and have no clue where anything is.”

  “Why not? Aren’t all grocery stores the same?”

  Stopping in the middle of the aisle, I looked at him with disbelief. “Do you only eat out?”

  “No, but I eat simple and shop at one store.” He looked around our surroundings. “It doesn’t look like this, though, so I guess I shouldn’t expect you to know where anything is.”

  Slapping him on the arm, I turned to take control of the cart this time. “It’s nice going to a store where there’s hardly any other shoppers. Maybe I’ll start coming here.” When Paul didn’t follow, I looked over my shoulder to find him staring at the other end of the aisle. His body was taut with tension.

  “Paul?”

  I took one step in his direction but stopped when he clipped out. “Stay where you are, Abbi.”

  “What’s going on?” I asked, my voice shaky from his body language.

  “Do you have what you need?” he gritted out.

  “Mostly. Why?” I asked as I slowly stepped toward him.

  Paul’s head swiveled in my direction. His jaw was tense, and his eyes were filled with a harsh glint. “If you want what’s in your cart, we need to check out and go. Now,” he ordered.

  “Okay,” I drew out the word as I followed him to checkout. The entire time we walked, he was constantly on high alert, his eyes on our surroundings as he made sure I was within his reach.

  By the time I slipped my card through the card reader, I was a paranoid mess. I kept looking over my shoulder, expecting someone to jump out at me, but I never saw anything suspicious. Maybe Paul hooked up with a girl, saw her, and was trying to make a getaway before she saw him.

  “What the hell is going on?” I whisper-yelled as I tried to keep up with him on the way to his car. “I know I said I wanted to go for a hike, but I didn’t say I wanted to break any speed records while doing it.”

  Paul turned to look at me, a
nd his face was as hard as granite. When he saw how difficult it was for me to keep up, he immediately slowed down, “Sorry, I—”

  “Did you already dump him for this beefcake?” a voice from behind called out.

  I knew that voice. In fact, I hated the person it belonged to because she’d damaged Jenner and ruined his life for a short time. Turning on my heel, I wasn’t surprised to find Poppy striding toward us, but I was shocked to find an evil glint in her eyes. What the hell was she doing here?

  “Not that it’s any of your business, but this is my brother. In fact, Jenner and I couldn’t be happier.” I smiled wide and fake at her.

  A look of annoyance came over her face before she shut it down. “If you’re so happy and in love, why are you here with your brother and not him?”

  Placing my hands on my hips, I narrowed my gaze on her. “Why are you here?”

  “It’s a free country,” she shot back.

  I noticed she didn’t say she was there to buy groceries. It seemed Paul had the same thought as me. His hand wrapped around my bicep and started to pull me toward the car.

  For every step we took away from Poppy, she took two toward us.

  “You need to stop right there,” Paul growled out as he stepped in front of me, blocking me from Poppy’s view.

  “Ah, how sweet. He’s like a little bulldog trying to protect his master.”

  “Get in the car, Abbi,” Paul said through the side of his mouth only loud enough for me to hear.

  I stepped toward the car, but when I did, I heard a woman gasp and then Paul’s deep voice. It was low and soothing, but deadly at the same time. “You don’t have to do this. If you decide to leave now, nothing bad will happen to you.”

  “Nothing bad is going to happen to me, but I can’t say the same thing about you or your sister,” she said in an all too serious voice before she laughed maniacally.

  What the hell was going on?

  As if sensing I wasn’t moving toward the car and instead to him, Paul turned his head and our gazes locked. The only thing I could see was fear etched all over his face.

  “I think it’s best if you look at me, big boy,” Poppy laughed again.

  Placing my hand on Paul’s back, I peeked around his arm to find Poppy pointing a gun at him.

  When did she get a gun?

  I knew the second she spotted me. Her smile grew until she resembled the Joker, and when she aimed the gun at me, my heart stopped.

  I wasn’t sure when it happened, but Poppy had become unhinged. It probably didn’t help the situation that she was surely on some drug that was fueling her craziness.

  “Someone call 9-1-1,” a man shouted from the next row of cars over.

  “Why did you have to ruin my life?” she shouted. Her eyes were wide and crazed as she watched Paul and me.

  “I didn’t do anything to you. If anything, it was you who messed with me. I know you had something to do with me getting run off the road,” I shouted back.

  “Shut up, Abbi. Can’t you see how serious this is?” Paul gritted out.

  “Of course, I can, but this isn’t my fault. Maybe if she realizes that, she’ll leave.” It sounded stupid even to my own ears.

  Poppy’s lip curled over her teeth. “Don’t be a dumb twat. You ruined my plans to get back with Jenner.”

  If she thought he’d ever take her back, she was delusional. Which she clearly was.

  Trying to get past Paul and not succeeding, I tried to stall for time. Someone surely had called the cops, and they’d be here any minute. “Please explain to me how I ruined your plan. You haven’t been in his life since you filed for divorce and cleaned him out. Did you think you’d win him back by going to the press with false stories about his life?”

  “I never lied. All of it was true, and you know it.” She waved the gun around before she zeroed in on me again.

  “You’re going to get us killed,” Paul gritted out.

  I watched as he slowly took the smallest of steps toward Poppy. I wanted to yell at him to stop, but I knew it would only make the situation worse. The fact that he was an ex-marine and knew what he was doing didn’t help my fears of him getting hurt.

  “You should listen to your brother,” she tilted her head to the side and twitched. “Better yet, keep going. I want you dead. Once you’re out of the picture, I’ll be there to console the poor and damaged widower, and then I’ll swoop in.”

  My phone started to vibrate in my back pocket, and somehow I knew it was Jenner. He’d found out about Poppy holding us at gunpoint. If he knew, then the police had to know, meaning this would all be over soon. I wanted to answer, but I didn’t know how without alerting her of my movements.

  “Just put the gun down, and we can talk about this. If you want Jenner, you can have him,” Paul negotiated.

  “She can’t have him. She’s already had him once and threw him away. He’s mine.” Why had I said that? I could have let her believe she could have him until she was behind bars, but my possessive side reared its ugly head.

  “He was going to be mine again,” she shrieked. “It was supposed to be me in Vegas, not you. It was always me,” she yelled up to the heavens.

  Paul’s brows furrowed in confusion. “What is she talking about?”

  “Oh, your dear old brother didn’t know you were drugged?” Poppy cackled.

  “Explain,” he demanded.

  “Your sweet, innocent sister here was drugged. It was supposed to be for Jenner, but she drank it instead. When he finally drank his drink, he couldn’t keep his hands off her. I tried to intercept them, so it would be me in his arms, but they were all over each other. No matter what I tried, I couldn’t separate them. The next thing I knew, they were married and getting tattoos.” Poppy’s eyes grew angrier with each word she spoke. By the end, she was spitting out the words with venom in her eyes.

  “I knew it was too strange that neither of us could remember the night before,” I mused.

  “It’s true?” Paul asked with hurt evident in his tone.

  “Yes, but it doesn’t matter because Jenner was never going to go back to her. He loves me, and I love him.”

  “Don’t do this, Poppy. You already tried to ruin my life once, don’t do it again.”

  My body shook at hearing his voice, afraid of what Poppy would do now with Jenner in her sights. She was deranged enough to do anything.

  Turning toward his voice, I almost cried at seeing the terrified look on his face as he took in the scene of Poppy holding a gun on us.

  “I ruined your life? You ruined me. Do you see what I’ve become because of you?” she shrieked.

  I could tell Jenner wanted to say more to her, but out of the corner of my eye, I saw Paul rush Poppy, and time stopped. My heart stilled as I watched Paul grab her arm and disarm her in one fluid motion.

  When the sound of a gunshot went off, my knees buckled, and I was one second from hitting the ground when strong arms wrapped around me. Jenner shielded me with his body and took off with me in his arms as I struggled to see my brother. I couldn’t let there be a world where my brother was shot or even worse. Especially not by fucking Poppy.

  “Stop fighting me,” Jenner growled as he sat me down in the passenger seat of his car. The sound of sirens filled the air and grew louder. “I am not going to let that crazy bitch hurt you.”

  Tears filled my eyes, and my chin trembled. “But what about Paul?”

  Squatting down until we were eye to eye, Jenner cupped the side of my neck. “Listen, your brother knows how to take care of himself. He’s ex-military.”

  “I know, but he’s still my brother. My only connection to my parents. I can’t . . . ” I choked on a sob.

  “Okay, I know. I know,” he hushed me. “I’m going to check on him, but you need to stay here. Promise me.”

  I nodded my head rapidly. I needed to know Paul was okay, and I’d do anything that was asked of me to get that information.

  “I’m going to lock the door
s, so if you try to get out, the alarm will go off.”

  “I’m not going to try and escape.” Placing my hands on his solid chest, I narrowed my eyes at him. I understood he wanted me safe, but not knowing about my brother was killing me. “Now, hurry up before I push you out of the way and go see for myself if Paul’s alright.”

  Jenner gave me a stiff nod and stood to his full height. Turning on his heel, he faltered. Breath caught in my lungs. Gripping his hand, I pulled to stand next to him but couldn’t see with the car next to us in the way of my view.

  “He’s fine,” he murmured against my ear. “The police have Poppy in cuffs, and . . . ”

  I stood on my tiptoes, trying to see. Was Paul okay?

  “Paul’s fine. He’s glowering at Poppy and talking to the police. He looks pissed, but that’s it.”

  “Let’s go up there and find out what’s going on.” I tried to push past him, but Jenner wrapped an arm around my middle.

  “Hold up, baby girl. The cops won’t let us through, so we might as well hang back here until he’s finished. Come here.” He pulled me in front of him so I could see all the action, but clamped his arms around me so I couldn’t go anywhere.

  Leaning back into his body, I watched as the police put Poppy into the back of one of their cruisers. She turned to look out the window, her murderous glare on us. If looks could kill, we would have been eviscerated on the spot.

  My body started to shake at the realization of what had almost happened. I could have died at the hands of a deranged woman hell-bent on stealing my husband.

  Resting his cheek to the top of my head, Jenner spoke in a quiet, soothing voice. His hands moved to rub up and down my arms, trying to calm my frayed nerves. “It’s all over now. Everything’s okay,” he kept repeating as if that would make the situation better.

  “She wants me dead,” I cried, turning in his arms to bury my head between his pecs.

  Pulling me even tighter to his chest, Jenner placed kisses to the top of my head. “She’s never going to get the opportunity to hurt you again. I promise you; I’ll make sure of it. Do you trust me?”