by Sofia Aves
Cal pulled into a driveway that dipped beneath a very nondescript building, not much different from the rest of the street, which held a distinct industrial flavour. He swiped a card halfway along, and a heavy, metal gate painted black retracted sideways. The drive was deep, but it looked low, and I hoped we’d fit, his truck was so big. The place looked like a prison. I swallowed, wondering what I’d gotten myself into.
“It looks like Fort Knox,” I murmured, as the gate closed behind us.
“It’s secure.”
We wound down, through several levels of parking. Cal slid the truck into a reserved spot without a number. I turned to make some inane comment to Ashley, but she was fast asleep. Cal grinned.
“She loves my truck. Says it sounds like a monster, bigger than all the others.” His smile dimmed for a moment. “I was going to take her for a ride in Micah’s monster truck, but I was a bit worried she wouldn’t like this old girl so much afterwards.”
It’s always about size.
I opened my mouth to tell him he needn’t worry; it was him that made her feel safe, not the truck, but he was already gone, slipping out the door as quietly as he had last night. He untangled Ashley from her car seat buckles, hoisting her gently onto his shoulder. I realised this wasn’t the first time he’d had to carry her asleep and vulnerable, and I was glad she had him to look after her, like a favourite uncle.
I collected her things and my bag, slipping the stuffed crocodile on top of it all, and followed Cal to a lift. He used a key to access his floor, different from the toggle he’d swiped to open the gate to the garage. This place had so many layers of security, and we weren’t even in his apartment yet.
The lift opened silently to a floor with only three doors. Cal headed to the middle one, opening it with yet another card. Just inside the doorway, he pressed his thumb to a glowing pad positioned halfway up the wall. It beeped softly and went dark. A short, narrow corridor opened out into a wide lounge, corridors, and rooms spearing off in different directions. His apartment must take up half the width of one of the floors, I realised. I wondered who his neighbours were and what they would think of two additional occupants.
Cal took Ashley down a hallway and into a room. I followed, holding out the stuffed animal as he reappeared. He placed it next to Ashley, who was quite happily asleep on a bed with a blue cover.
I bit my lip at the thought of where I would sleep, trying to check rooms as I returned to the lounge. I found a toilet and bathroom, but no extra bed. The apartment was huge, a maze of twisting corridors branching off from a central kitchen and living area.
Standing in the middle of the lounge, I felt lost. Cal grinned, and grabbed my hand, towing me down yet another hallway to a pair of rooms at the end.
“My study.” He pointed to the door on my right. “Please, do NOT go in there. I’ll have to uh, clean it up, today.” He pointed to the other room, motioning me in. “You’ll sleep here.”
He flicked on a light, illuminating what was clearly a man’s room. Everything was dark, with simple lines. The coverlet was black, matching a pair of bedside tables the same colour. The bed was king-sized, though a man his height would require something that large. I looked at it nervously.
“I’ll sleep on the lounge,” Cal murmured the words softly, his lips brushing my ear. I jumped as his arm slid around my waist, pulling me back against him for a moment. My hands slid up, over those forearms I loved so much, holding on. I closed my eyes, letting go of everything. Cal placed my bag onto the floor, his lips grazing my cheek fleetingly. Then he let me go and left.
I leaned against the wall, wondering what had just happened, and how I would survive the week living with him.
When I returned to the living area, Cal was chopping vegetables in the kitchen. The smell of coffee hit me hard, and I tried not to race over to the counter where two steaming mugs stood on a black, stone bench.
“Mine?” I asked, pointing to one of the mugs. Cal nodded in confirmation.
“Yours.”
I slipped my hands around the mug, grateful for its warmth. Black and strong, but I needed that right now. Frankly, in an emergency, I’d take coffee any way it came. I wandered around the wide breakfast bar that doubled as kitchen space, watching him work.
“You cook?”
That pleased me to no end — I loved cooking. It was just hard to be bothered when you had no one to cook for. Maybe this week had at least one more perk — though I hadn’t yet decided if being in proximity with Cal was a perk, or not. Surprises I didn’t like kept popping up with him. I wasn’t looking forward to discovering what the next one might be.
“Ashley said you like Iron Chef,” Cal murmured, not looking at me.
“We love it. Watch reruns together on YouTube when I take her to the park. She watched it the night before. They’re just old episodes, but they’re fun.” I was a little defensive; it was a quirky TV show, but something we enjoyed doing together.
“I know.”
“What?” I was saying that a lot recently.
Cal tilted his head, looking sideways at me. “I’ve watched it since I was eight. Dad–" he swallowed, “Dad used to put it on after we’d gone fishing. My favourite was the Sea Cucumber. Chen Kenichi made sea cucumber–”
“Ice cream!” I finished for him, laughing and grimacing at the same time. He grinned. “I loved that one, too.”
I settled on a bar stool on the other side of the bench, content to watch him. Not only was I out of practice, but I also didn’t want to intrude on his peace. There would be plenty of time to pay back the lunch from yesterday. That had been yesterday. I closed my eyes, suddenly exhausted, then realised Cal must be running on empty. He’d had next to no sleep in the last day.
I was about to suggest he take a nap while Ashley was sleeping when he slid a plate filled with a Mediterranean vegetable salad across the counter. I nearly squealed, salivating at the sight. Cal slid onto the stool next to me, digging into his own bowl.
“Sorry, I only have one or two of everything. I’ll have to get groceries. Maybe the boys can bring some up.”
“Please don’t apologise, Cal. We’re invading your home as it is. Thank you.” I stopped, not knowing what to say. He had opened his home to not only a girl he used to date — was dating? — but to a small girl, who was regularly displaced. That brought new tears to the surface.
The thought of Jenny losing her daughter broke my heart. I blinked away the tears, suddenly angry it had come to this. All because of him. Again.
“It’s okay; I’ll go home and grab some things. I have boxes stored under the house–”
“You can’t go home, Mila.” Cal’s voice was low, and a touch of pity flashed across his face. I stared at him, my mouth hanging open.
“Why ever not?”
Cal sighed, placing his fork carefully on the benchtop.
“He knows where you live, sweetheart. If you’d been there last night…hell, I don’t want to think about it.”
“I–I thought I was just here because, you know, I was a female and you needed one around a little girl, for safety and transparency…” I trailed off as his face tightened.
The idea I couldn’t go home hit me hard. Ashley and I were homeless, with a madman chasing us. I grabbed my cup and drained it, wishing it held something far stronger. My mug emptied too quickly. Cal passed me his.
“Drink it; it’s yours.” He yawned, reloading his fork. “I need to get some sleep. If the guys come by, buzz them up,” he pointed to a grey box on the kitchen wall. “I’ll message Black, ask him to get some extra things for you two.”
He finished his plate with efficiency and began to wash up. I leaned over the counter, tapping his arm.
“Don’t. I’ll do it as soon as I’m finished.” I gestured at my still-full plate. The enormity of what Cal was doing struck me in full. The least I could do was to try to make as little impact on his life as possible, while we invaded his home.
He nodded, gra
bbing a blanket from the back of a recliner that faced the TV, heading for the sofa. I stopped him again, waving at his bedroom. He raised an eyebrow. I wished for a moment I could wipe the thing off his face.
“Go on, Cal, it’s your house. Apartment, whatever. Get some rest.”
I turned back to my food, ready to eat with gusto once he left the room. I was starving. I jumped again when his hand landed on my hip.
“Would you stop doing that!” I twisted around. He gave a cheeky grin that spread warmth through me. He squeezed my hip, which elicited a completely different reaction.
“Thanks, Mila.”
He said the words softly behind me, dropping a kiss into my hair. When I turned around, he was already halfway up the hall.
CHAPTER TWELVE
CAL
My lounge was awash with testosterone and glitter when I emerged from my bedroom. Ashley’s backpack must have contained gallons of the pink and purple stuff. It hung in the air like a unicorn had hosted a frat party while I was asleep.
Danny sat cross-legged on the floor while Ashley tied tiny bows in his short hair. It stuck up at all angles, like an over-pampered dog in an animal primp parlour. Mila passed him a refilled bottle of water, wandering across the living room to where Micah and Black had parked themselves in a pair of my recliners.
Black snagged Mila around the waist, pulling her onto his knee. She slung an arm around his shoulder, tipping her head back to laugh at something Micah was saying. The easy movement reeked of familiarity.
The green monster in my chest awoke with a vengeance, roaring his disapproval. Black spotted me over Mila’s shoulder, eyeing me with caution as he continued his conversation. His hand closed around her waist, and a growl rose in my throat. The grin that grew across his face told me he was taking the piss, and my monster retreated a little.
Mila leaned forward, slapping a high five with Micah. I decided enough was enough. The boys should definitely not have their hands all over my girl. I was halfway across the room when Ashley stopped me, attempting to drag Danny across the room, and failing wonderfully.
“Cal, Cal, look!! Doesn’t he look sooo pretty?”
Danny grinned, reclining on a stack of pillows while Ashley jumped on his shoulders, trying to reach me. I couldn’t not smile at the madness that filled my house and gave Ashley’s pigtails a playful tug.
“You’ve done a great job, kid.”
Ashley beamed with pride. I gave her a quick hug, eager to reach Mila. Conversation ceased as I approached, three sets of eyes watching me with varying degrees of wariness. It gave me pause, realising I was far too close to letting the monster break the surface.
I forced a smile, and Micah turned back to Theo, making some snide comment. Black smirked and shifted Mila, so she straddled his leg. She swatted at him, leaning forward with the ghost of a smile, enthralled in whatever anecdote Micah was regaling them with.
It hurt that she didn’t seem to notice my pain. Having someone else’s hands on my girl set off an ache deep inside me. But was she my girl? There were still the same sparks, the same tension between us there had been since that first day, only a week ago. So much had happened, I wasn’t sure of my place with her — or if I even had one, beyond the bond we shared with Ashley.
I leaned over, liberating the mug from her hands. She looked up at me with wide eyes that narrowed when she saw me drain the mug. The asshole in me was back, grinning at her irritation.
She slipped off Black’s knee, yanked the mug from my hands, and stalked to the kitchen, ostensibly to refill it.
“You don’t have to be an asshole all the time, you know.” Black stood beside me, watching Mila. He turned hard eyes on me. “You could have something special with that woman if you let it happen.”
I scraped one hand over my scalp, shaking my head.
“I think that boat has sailed, man. I want her, but she shies away…”
“Are you surprised?”
I shook my head sadly. “No.”
“She’s open to it.”
“You think?”
Black considered, head cocked. As if sensing our attention on her, Mila paused mid-pour with the kettle in hand, and very slowly, looked up. She was still, for a moment. Then, with the faintest smile curving her lips, she returned to making herself a fresh cup of coffee.
“She won’t run.”
A hand nudged me. Mila proffered a steaming mug to each of us, and I took mine uncertainly.
“It’s yours if you like?” I held it back out to her, but she shook her head with that same, enigmatic smile, and stayed put beside me.
The monster in my chest subsided, a warmth spreading through me.
The day was almost over when Black took me aside, an open beer from my fridge in each hand. I eyed them suspiciously; Black had never been a big drinker.
“Tell me.”
“Logan was sighted in the city...we think.” He held up a hand to stop me from interrupting. “It was a partial match. Thought it might be the brother. I doubt Logan will show his ugly mug until he intends us to see it.”
I nodded; Black was right. Logan screwed with your head, that’s just how the bastard worked. I knew that as well as any of us.
I looked across to Mila. He’d been in her head for that long, too, and she was coping well, considering her situation. Ashley played quietly on her lap, pushing pieces of a puzzle around as she lounged back onto the most gorgeous woman I’d ever seen. Mila stroked her hair, shadows darkening beneath her eyes. Ashley’s too; they both needed rest after the last twenty-four hours. Which I would see they got.
But first, I needed to know where we were at.
“You think he’s a decoy or a scout? Does everyone know?” I fired questions off. Black nodded at all, bar the last one.
“Yes. Possibly, and no, not yet. We all came in Micah’s truck, so I’ll brief them on the way home. It’s a safe space, at least.”
“Yeah, let’s not get our asses handed to us like last time.”
Only two years ago, we’d been so close to catching Logan I could almost smell his fear. But he’d escaped again. It took us six months to figure out why a set-up we’d spent weeks on had failed; the bastard had bugged us. It was the first time I’d realised there might be an insider amongst us.
I’d never been able to figure out how Logan had accessed our office, my paranoia developing like a canker in my brain. The bastard truly knew how to mind-fuck his victims. Which I refused to be.
Black, Liam and I had kept it mostly between us; the rationale being the fewer people that knew, the better off we were. It had been Logan’s little brother, Joey, who had been sighted early on then, too. This had the same off feeling as last time, and with the girls so closely involved, I was keen to get this thing finally put to bed.
Until I spoke to Liam, the state’s safe houses weren’t an option. My apartment was as secure a building as any — if not more, with the added security measures — plus, I could be there around the clock.
“Keep an eye on everything outside; I’ll drop into the office tomorrow, then I need a favour.” My gaze connected with his, and I hoped to god this was going to work.
Black listened while I outlined my plan, a cheeky grin growing over his face. He slapped my shoulder, giving it a decent squeeze. I refused to wince, and his grin grew wider.
“Welcome back, brother.”
MILA
The boys left us with a huge amount of food and kitchen items enough for a small army. Which, I supposed, they were. Ashley kicked tiredly, half dangling over my legs, pushing puzzle pieces around on Cal’s carpet. There were so many sparkles embedded in it that a carnival could have camped here overnight. We waved the boys away with tired goodbyes from the floor, Danny and Micah trundling eskys along the slim corridor to the elevator.
Teddy hung back, talking to Cal outside on the balcony that overlooked the river. Small tugs and pilot boats constantly trundled along the shipping lane, bringing the bigger ships into th
e port to unload. It was nice to have something to look at.
I’d quickly realised we were on the top floor of Cal’s apartment block. Black re-entered the room, clasping Cal’s arm. I was relieved to see the rift between them healing. A rift I’d caused.
Teddy headed straight for Ashley and I. He gave the tiny girl a hug, leaning down to kiss my forehead. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders as far as they could reach, my hands not quite meeting on either side of his back. He tucked his head into my shoulder.
“Let him look after you.” He drew back, and I read concern in his face. “You’re safe with him, Mila. He needs someone like you. You don’t have to be alone.”
I resembled a guppy as he followed the boys out the door, Cal calling after him to have the alarm checked. He secured the apartment as they disappeared into the lift, their ribald comments disappearing with them.
“What’s wrong with the alarm?” I asked, hoping the nerves that writhed in my stomach wouldn’t show in my voice. After all, wasn’t that why we were here, because of some fancy alarm? Though the rest of his building was so well secured, I doubted we could get out, let alone someone else get in.
It occurred to me I didn’t know where the front door of the building was, or if there even was one, as we’d entered through the internal door connected to the garage where Cal’s truck resided. I said as much, and Cal laughed at me. I shushed him quickly, pointing to Ashley who had fallen asleep beside me. He smiled down at her, and I was amazed at the peace in his face. Not a single shadow remained, and my golden god-man was back.
He covered her with an oversized knitted rug. Straightening, he offered me his hand. I eyed it warily, Teddy’s words swirling in my head. I let Cal draw me off the floor, and with a gentle tug, he pulled me right into him. His fingers brushed over my hair, sending goosebumps down my arms.
“Glitter,” he murmured, stepping back to inspect the rest of me. “Actually, you’re covered in it.”