“I’ll let you get on with it,” Belle said, but I didn’t turn to acknowledge her. The only thing on my mind was checking the apartment. Her footsteps echoed as she walked down one of the hallways, and I let out a breath. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea sending me here to make sure she was safe. There was a tension between us that had never been there. Maybe I was imagining it?
Instead of overthinking it, I got to checking the entire apartment. There were three entry points, four if you counted the front door. One window in the living room, one in her roommate’s bedroom, and one in her bedroom. All three needed to be replaced with safety glass and then fitted with sensors. The flimsy wooden door also needed to go, and an entire alarm system had to be installed. The list was getting longer and longer, but I knew I could make it safe for her.
I pulled out my cell, about to call Brody, when Belle stomped out of her bedroom, her face red and her lips pinched. “No, Dad, I can’t just stop my studies! I only have five months left of this year.” She halted in front of me, her blue eyes no longer calm but instead fiery. “Ford’s here, he’ll make sure I’m okay—no, Dad.” Her shoulders slumped. “That’s not fair. You can’t just demand…I’m a grown-ass woman.” My nostrils flared as I tried to hold in the chuckle, which was desperate to escape. She didn’t sound like a grown-ass woman right now. She sounded like a teenager arguing with her dad. “Here, talk to Ford. I’m done letting you boss me around.”
Belle handed me the cell with a raised brow, and I glanced down at it. “What?” I asked.
“You talk to him. He won’t listen to me.” She shook her cell between us. “He wants me to come home. He said I’m not safe here with only you.”
My back straightened at her words, and I took the cell out of her hands. It was one thing for me to be worried about keeping her safe, but for Brody to second-guess what I was best at didn’t sit well with me. I’d never let anyone hurt Belle, and he should have known that. I was all for taking chances, but only when the time called for it. And when I was protecting someone who was family to me, I didn’t take chances.
“Brody,” I growled down the line, and Belle’s brows shot up on her forehead. Yeah, she wasn’t used to the way I was talking. I always spoke so gently with her, but she was going to have to learn the different sides of me, sides I’d kept her sheltered from.
“You need to bring her home,” he demanded.
I widened my stance, almost as if I was standing face to face with him, but Belle didn’t move an inch. Her eyes were focused on me, her lips parted, and her head tilted to the side. She was fascinated by the way I was acting and talking, and I shouldn’t have liked seeing that look on her face.
“Why?”
“He got bail.”
My carefully constructed control on my emotions evaporated, and anger replaced it at lightning speed. “What the fuck?” I backed away from Belle and started to pace the apartment. “How the fuck did he get bail?”
“They said he wasn’t a flight risk, but we all know it was the fuckin’ judge. He’s on his payroll,” Brody boomed over the line, and I could imagine him pacing just like I was.
“But I thought he had Judge Weston?”
“He got replaced thirty minutes before he was due in court.”
I slapped my hand on the wall next to the front door, the vibrations shooting up my arm. “Motherfucker.”
“Which is why I need you to bring my daughter home. Now. She’s not safe there, Ford. She’s not—” Brody’s voice faded away as I turned to look at Belle. Underneath the anger at being told to go home, I could see her hope. She wanted to stay here because both she and I knew, if she went home, it could be months until she’d come back, and then she’d be a year behind. But I also knew, if she went home, there wasn’t anything there for her. Her mom and dad had no idea what she’d dealt with at school, but I did. Belle had confided in me so many times over the years, and I hated the thought of her going back to the way she was before she left for college.
Making friends wasn’t easy for Belle. She talked…a lot. She wasn’t afraid to say what she was thinking. She was outspoken and had an opinion on everything. She was exactly who she was meant to be, but that hadn’t sat well with the kids at her school. Belle had made out like she didn’t care, but I knew what it was like to feel like an outsider at school. I’d been that person. I’d been the one you could pick out in a crowd because they were different.
“I can keep her safe,” I heard myself croaking down the line. “I need some things to be installed into her apartment, but I can keep her safe.”
“I’m not asking for your opinion, Ford. I’m giving you a goddamn order,” Brody growled.
“Yeah?” I tilted my head to the side even though he couldn’t see me. “And I’m telling you, as the agent on the ground, that I can keep her safe.”
The silence stretched for so long, I was afraid of what Brody would do. There was no one in this world he’d protect more than his kids, we both knew that, but sometimes you had to trust other people to do what you couldn’t. And in this case, that other person was me.
“I don’t fuckin’ like this,” Brody started. “Tell me what you need. I’ll have it there within two hours.” I blew out the breath I’d been holding. “But, Ford?”
“Yeah?”
“She gets hurt, I’ll fuckin’ kill you with my bare hands. I don’t care about the shit we’ve been through or how long we’ve known each other. You understand me?”
“Understood.” I nodded. “I’ll email you the list.” I ended the call and sauntered over to Belle. “You can stay, but there’s gonna be a hell of a lot of changes to the apartment.” Belle took her cell from my grasp. “You might want to tell your roommate to stay somewhere else tonight because your dad is sending everything we need, which includes a new front door and windows.”
Belle’s eyes widened. “New door? Maybe I should have just gone home.”
I shrugged. “If that’s what you want, we can leave right now.”
She was silent for a beat and then shook her head. “No. I can’t go home like this. I want to stay.”
“Okay.” I pulled my cell out. “I’ll email this list to your dad, and then we can get started.”
Belle raised her hands in the air with a bored look on her face. “Yippee.”
The chuckle I’d held in earlier came bubbling up to the surface, and I let it out, staring at her back as she walked down the hallway to her bedroom. I wasn’t sure how long I’d have to stay here with Belle, but I knew it wouldn’t be uneventful.
BELLE
The inside of the car was silent, the only sound the roaring engine of Ford’s car. He hadn’t said a word since I’d won the argument on whether we would stay in or go out tonight. Ford obviously wanted to stay inside to keep safe, but after the last couple of days I’d had, there was no way I was going to stay in.
I needed a drink. An alcoholic one. And STAT.
The apartment had been a flurry of activity for the entirety of Friday night. Thank god Stella agreed to stay at Justin’s place, although I knew I’d have to explain to her what was going on. But Ford’s orders were that she was the only one to know, and I couldn’t tell her everything. I was sure Justin would wonder why the old wooden door was now replaced with a different one complete with five locks. I doubted he’d notice the windows and alarm system, but the red door turning white was a definite change you couldn’t miss.
My brows rose as I spotted the flexing of Ford’s jaw and the tenseness of his shoulders. If he was going to be like this all night, then maybe we should have stayed in. But what was the point of me staying at college if I wasn’t going to do what I normally did? Wouldn’t it have been more suspicious if I completely changed my schedule? That was the final line that had caused Ford to give in not ten minutes ago.
And now we were pulling up outside the bar, and Ford was double-parking, not having a care in the world that there was a clear no parking sign on the sidewalk.
&nbs
p; “You can’t park here.”
Ford turned the engine off and unclipped his belt. “The rules don’t apply to me.” He pushed his door open and exited the car, so I did the same, only my door opened out into the road, and a car whizzed by.
“Asshole!” I shouted at the retreating car and then sauntered onto the sidewalk where Ford was staring at me with a small quirk of his lips. “What?”
“You’re trouble, you know that? Trouble with a big fat capital T.”
My head flung back, and a brash laugh burst out of me. I jabbed my finger into his chest, feeling his muscles against my fingertip in the same kind of sensation as if I’d poked a brick wall. “And don’t you forget it.” He murmured something behind me, but I couldn’t hear what he said as I walked toward the main doors of the bar. There was only one man standing at the door tonight, and I didn’t recognize him.
I felt a hand against the base of my back, and I turned my head just enough to see Ford directly behind me. My mouth went dry at the contact, and even though he didn’t look down at me, I wondered if he could feel the way I’d tensed and then relaxed at his touch?
He pushed forward and through the doors with me in front of him, and as soon as we were inside the bar, I scanned it, looking for Stella and Justin. Usually, they’d be standing at the bar talking to Curtis, but I couldn’t see any of them there.
“I can’t see them,” I said, but Ford shook his head as if he couldn’t hear me, so I lifted up onto my tiptoes and shouted, “I can’t see them,” in his ear. He pulled back a fraction, his face so close to mine I could see every speck of honey and green in his hazel eyes. His lashes framed his almond-shaped eyes perfectly and led down to what I was assuming was once a straight nose, but now had a crook in the middle.
Ford’s gaze batted behind me, but I didn’t flatten my feet to the floor. I liked being this close to him, more than I ever had. I’d always wanted to be near Ford, but something had changed in the last week. I craved being near him. Craved it so much I wasn’t sure I could breathe if he wasn’t close by.
“Someone’s waving at you,” his gruff voice said.
I spun around, trying to spot who he was talking about, and then saw the top of Stella’s head and her frantically waving arm. Lifting my arm, I waved back and then proceeded to move through the crowd around the bar and toward the booth she was sitting in near the dance floor.
“What are you guys doing in a booth?” I asked, wrapping my arms around Stella in a greeting and then nodding at Justin.
“Curtis isn’t working tonight, so we didn’t want to stand at the…” Stella’s eyes widened, her mouth opening as her jaw dropped. “Who is this?”
I pulled in a breath, spotting Justin staring at Ford with the same kind of awe, and realized they were seeing what everyone else saw. Something I never fully understood. To me, Ford wasn’t scary, but as I turned and faced him, I could see why he’d come off like that. He’d perfected his broody, don’t-mess-with-me look. His defined muscles couldn’t be mistaken, and the tattoos on his arms didn’t scream rainbows and unicorns. To the outside world, he was a threat, but to me, he was just Ford, the same guy who had let me paint his nails bright pink and played tea parties with me until I fell asleep on the floor in my bedroom.
“Stella, Justin, this is Ford.” I waved my hand at him. “Ford, this is my roommate, Stella, and her boyfriend, Justin.”
“Nice to meet you,” Ford greeted, his deep baritone able to be heard over the music. He held his hand out to both of them, the veins in his arms popping under the surface from the movement. They were in a daze as they greeted him, and I couldn’t help but laugh. “Drink?” Ford asked, raising his brows at me.
“Tequila,” I said, pushing into the booth opposite Stella and Justin.
“You do realize that’s illegal, right?” Ford commented, but I just shrugged. I’d been drinking tequila since my first party on my first night here, and I was only a few months away from turning twenty-one.
“I’ll…erm, I’ll come to the bar with you,” Justin stammered, his face paling, but from the jab Stella gave him in the ribs, I didn’t think he had a choice in whether he would accompany Ford or not.
They both maneuvered away from the table and through the crowd, and I stared at the back of Ford’s head, surprised by how well he fit in with all of the college students. But then I shouldn’t have been really, because it was his job to go unnoticed, to fit in with the crowd, to blend in seamlessly.
“So…” Stella started. I could feel the burn of her stare on the side of my face. “Are you going to tell me what’s going on?”
Ford had pushed his way to the bar and was ordering drinks, but his gaze veered back over to me. I wasn’t stupid enough to think it was because he wanted to look at me. He was making sure I was okay. Making sure I was safe.
“I…” I turned to face Stella, my gaze finally meeting hers. “You can’t tell anyone what’s going on, okay?” She raised her brow as if to say she would never, but I had to make sure I said it. “There’s been a threat.”
Her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, and she practically lunged across the sticky table at me. “What?”
“It’s nothing serious.” I wasn’t sure whether I was trying to get her to believe my lie, or to convince myself. “But Dad has sent Ford to make sure I’m safe.”
“So Ford is”—Stella glanced around us, and I did the same, spotting Ford weaving back toward us with Justin following him—“DEA?”
I nodded, not wanting to say anything else because if I opened that can of worms, I wasn’t sure what would pop out of it. “He’ll be staying with us for…a while—on the sofa. Is that okay?”
Stella’s gaze slid to my right as Ford pushed into the booth. “Yeah, I’m good with that.”
“Good with what?” Justin asked, glancing at all of us in turn. His expression looked like a weird mix of scared, excited, and apprehensive. It was not a good look on him—at all.
“Nothing.” Stella pushed closer to him and smiled. “Belle was just asking if it was okay if Ford stayed on the sofa for a while.”
“You need a place to crash?” Justin asked, leaning his elbows on the table. I cringed, thinking about the last time it was probably wiped down, and then reached for the glass Ford placed in front of me. I took a sip, knowing full well this definitely wasn’t the tequila I’d ordered. “You can crash with us if you want.”
“Who’s ‘us’?” Ford asked, and I turned to face him, wondering why he wasn’t shutting him down right away. And why the hell would Justin say that anyway? He’d met Ford a few minutes ago and was already offering up his place.
“Me and Curtis,” Justin said, his gaze not veering off Ford’s. “He’s my roommate, works here too.”
“Where is Curtis?” I asked, interrupting the conversation. Whenever we were here, so was Curtis, especially on a Saturday night because tips were his life.
Justin leaned back in his seat, his eyes meeting Stella’s briefly. “He had to go home a couple days ago. Said there was a family emergency.” He paused and cleared his throat. “His mom is in the hospital.”
“Oh…” I’d never met any of Curtis’ family, but when I really thought about it, he hadn’t really spoken about them either. We’d had conversations about seemingly everything, but when it came to all our families, we seemed to stop sharing. “Well, I hope it’s nothing too serious.”
The conversation lulled, and I shuffled in my seat, taking another drink of…what the hell was this anyway? It definitely wasn’t alcohol.
“I’m good staying with Belle,” Ford finally said, and for a second, I wondered what he was saying, and then remembered what Justin had suggested.
Justin nodded, and then Stella whispered something in his ear, and I knew what was about to happen. This was the exact reason why neither Curtis nor I liked to be a third wheel. They’d go off into a world of their own, and within seconds—yep, there it was. Now they were practically swallowing each other’s fac
es.
I felt Ford lean closer to me, his shoulder brushing against mine, and then his breath brushed the side of my neck. “Do they do this often?” his deep voice whispered.
“All. The. Time,” I replied, not turning my head to face him. I knew if I did, we’d only be inches apart, but the temptation was almost too much to resist. I lifted my drink again, then slammed it back down onto the table. “I’m going to get a real drink.” I didn’t wait for Ford to reply and pushed on his arm so he would move out of the booth. He raised his brows at me, and I raised mine right back. “I need to get past,” I told him. He shrugged and didn’t make to move, so I climbed over him and made a beeline for the bar, ordering a shot of tequila.
I’d wanted to try and forget all about what had happened over the last couple of days, but being here, the music pumping throughout the bar and Ford’s watchful gaze focused on me, made me think about it all the more. I needed a break, something to lull my thoughts into a false sense of security. So, as the girl behind the bar handed me my shot, I ordered another one and downed them both.
I turned, looking right at Ford, and then sauntered onto the dance floor, intent on losing myself to the music, and giving my mind a break.
Chapter Six
FORD
College had never interested me. I didn’t see the point in going to school for an extra four years just so I could party and then leave with a degree I probably would never use. So being here in this college town wasn’t the highlight of my life.
I’d expected Belle to not know her limits, to get so drunk I’d have to carry her home, which was why when she’d ordered a tequila last night, I’d gotten her some froufrou non-alcoholic cocktail—a cocktail was what the bartender had called it. I should have known she’d have gotten herself tequila anyway, but I hadn’t expected her to only do two shots and then spend three hours dancing away.
Bonded Duet: Ford & Belle: Torn Bond & Tied Bond (Easton Family Duet Boxsets Book 3) Page 7