Whoa. Where the hell did that come from? My mind is spinning so hard I can barely see straight. I remember from when we were little that Tracey’s dad was in the military or something, gone for long periods of time, weeks, sometimes several months. He had a giant safe in his office where Tracey told me he kept tons of guns. She used to brag that her daddy taught her how to shoot and how good at it she was. I just figured she needed to boast whenever possible because her dad was rarely around, unlike my dad, who was always there for me.
“Damn, Tracey, I know you’re pissed I didn’t call you, but you don’t need to take it out on Paul. He’s doing me a favor by watching out for me, and he’s Parker’s brother and a veteran. I’d appreciate if you’d show him the respect he’s earned.”
Tracey looks at Paul and then back at me before she inhales long and slow. “I’m sorry for my outburst. I was worried about my best friend. You got caught in the crosshairs.”
Paul doesn’t say anything, just nods, his jaw looking tight as he tips his head and looks Tracey up and down as if he’s analyzing her. I wonder if he does that all the time to people or just to people who are connected to me because I’m his new charge.
Finally he breaks his silence. “Hurry up. I prefer you locked in tight with my brother for the night, and pretty soon, he’s going to start worrying.”
He’s right about that. If I don’t get back to my man soon, he’ll cause a ruckus by getting out of bed and coming after me.
Behind me, Paul pokes his head into the women’s restroom, crouches low, and stands. “You’re safe.” He nods at the bathroom, and I want to roll my eyes but realize again, he’s just doing what he feels is necessary to keep me safe.
“Well, pretty soon she’ll be getting on a plane and going home to New York, and you and Parker won’t have to worry about anything. Right, Birdie? We’ll get you back safe and sound.” Tracey’s tone drips with annoyance.
I blink at Tracey a few times in utter disbelief as Paul’s lips thin into a hard flat line.
“This true? You bailing on my brother and going to New York?” Paul’s voice is suddenly filled with emotion, and not the good kind.
“Of course,” Tracey says at the same time I respond with, “Absolutely not.”
“Trace, we need to talk about what you think is happening, because there is no way I’m going back to New York. I’m moving in with Mick and Wendy for a couple of weeks until our house is done and Parker and I can move in together.”
Her nostrils flare, and her face flushes red. “You could have been killed tonight! Someone wants your boyfriend dead, and they’ll kill you in the process! You have to come home where I can take care of you!” Her voice is strained, bordering on hysterical. She’s two clucks from the cuckoo’s nest, proving how much this is freaking her out. She’s never experienced me being at risk like this, and regardless of our fight about Johan and everything else, she loves me and wants to see me safe.
I run my hand down her arm in an attempt to comfort and soothe. “Flower, I’m fine. You don’t need to worry about me. Paul has me covered. The cops are working on this. They’re going to find out who planted that bomb and set the fire and bring them to justice. In the meantime, though, I’m not leaving Parker’s side. He’s all that matters to me. I love him more than anything. He’s my entire world.”
Tracey’s expression goes blank, and I watch as tears fill her eyes. “What about me? I love you. I want you safe. I couldn’t bear to lose you, Birdie.”
I shake my head. “I’ll be fine. Trust me. It’s all going to be okay.”
“You’re putting yourself at risk for a man who will probably hurt you in the end. Just like everyone else has. I’m the one who’s been there for you.”
I grab both of her arms and force her to look into my eyes. “Trace, you are my best friend, and I love you, but you need to understand, I’m choosing to spend my life with Parker. If it ends up being a mistake like you think it is, it’s my mistake to make. Except I know what I see when he looks at me and when he tells me he loves me. I see our lives together playing out in my mind, and honey, it’s beautiful. So damned beautiful it brings tears to my eyes.” Which is happening at this very second.
“You are in so deep you can’t see the forest for the trees. He’s going to fuck you over. Mark my words.” Her voice is dripping with acid.
I grit my teeth. “I can’t hear this right now. I have to use the facilities and get back to my man, who’s lying in a hospital bed because of me, not the other way around. Someone wants to hurt me by hurting the people I love. That’s my cross to bear, but right now, I’m tired. I’m so damn tired, Tracey. I can’t listen to you second-guess my relationship another minute. Just go home. Go back to New York. Once this is all over, we’ll find the time to talk. Right now . . . I don’t need you.”
Her eyes fill with tears, and her mouth drops open.
“Go. Not only do I not need you, I don’t want you here. Just go. Let me deal with my life. I don’t need you, Tracey. Not anymore.”
On those parting words, I turn around and go through the door to the bathroom. If she can’t understand how much Parker means to me and be a part of that, I’m going to have to let her go.
I take care of business, and when I leave the bathroom, she’s gone and Paul is waiting patiently. I expect him to walk behind me; instead, he loops his arm over my shoulder and tucks me close to his warm, massive chest.
The tears don’t come.
I’m done crying.
Paul squeezes the ball of my shoulder and kisses the crown of my head. “It will be okay. That life you want with my brother? You’re gonna have it. I swear.”
I pat his stomach and kiss the underside of his jaw. “Thanks, Paulie.” I use Parker’s nickname for him.
His chiseled features gentle, and he smiles, kisses the crown of my head one more time, and opens the door to Parker’s room.
I can see my man is awake and frowning. “Peaches, you took a long fucking time.”
“Yeah, I had a chat with Tracey.”
Paul pats my shoulder and leaves us alone, closing the door behind him.
“What was she doing here?”
I shrug and run my hands through my ratty-ass hair. “I don’t know. She must have found out about the trouble somehow and then came here. She’d been texting since it happened, but I had my phone on silent.”
“So, she tracked you down here?” He frowns.
“Yeah, said she was waiting for me for hours. Probably saw one of the guys or whatever.” I yawn, my entire body feeling heavy.
“Get in bed, baby. You’re dead on your feet.”
I kick off the slippers the nurse gave me earlier and get back into bed with my man. The second his arms tuck me against his solid chest, I hear his heartbeat and start to drift.
“We’re going to have a beautiful life together . . . ,” I murmur against his heated chest.
“Yes, baby, we are. No doubt about it. This is just a rock in our path,” he whispers, and kisses my forehead.
“More like a boulder.” I sigh.
He chuckles, and the comforting feeling of his warmth, the sound of his breathing, and his hands holding me close take it all away.
Two days later, and I’m snoozing on the chaise lounge in the large suite in the Pritchard McMansion when I’m awakened by the sound of Parker gleefully booming, “Finally!”
I push up onto my hand as Parker comes around the chaise and eases down slowly, his body still recovering from the explosion. He rubs a hand down my calf. “They got him, baby!”
Fully coming awake at his smiling face, I sit up and tuck my feet underneath my ass. “Got him?” I push the hair out of my eyes and focus on my guy, who has his phone pressed to his ear.
“Benjamin Singleton. Five-O picked him up trying to sneak back into his apartment. Dumbass.” He grins. “What else you got for me?”
And as suddenly as that grin appeared on his face a second ago, his expression falls flat. “You�
��re kidding me.”
I reach for Parker’s hand, but he’s already up and pacing. He winces and tucks one of his hands around his sore rib cage. We have it wrapped for stability to help keep the pressure off the bruised ribs, but that won’t do much if he’s jumping around or moving too quickly.
“He’s a fucking liar!” he roars.
I stand up and come to a stop at his back and wrap my arm around his waist to remind him of his injuries. I press my forehead to his warmth so he’ll feel my presence, hopefully grounding him through whatever is setting him on a tirade.
“Seriously? This is a joke! I can’t believe this shit. That’s all you can get him on?”
As he’s barking into the phone, there’s a knock on our door, and without me saying a word Paul and Wendy walk in.
Parker turns around and scowls, his face a mask of rage and pain. He looks at Paul, and his mouth tightens. “Yeah, Paul’s here now. Fine. Thanks.” He says this as if it hurts him to say it. “He’s not the guy?” He stares at Paul.
Paul shakes his head once, obviously knowing exactly what they’re talking about. Wendy must know too, because she looks as though she’s smelling something rank right at this very moment.
“Honey, tell me what’s going on,” I prompt softly.
“He’s. Not. The. Guy.” He twists his lips into a snarl, and his voice rises, rage so clearly displayed across his handsome face, I’m worried steam is going to come out of his ears.
“Had a gut feeling, brother. Told you that.” Paul shakes his head in obvious apology.
“You told me that. What the fuck, Paul! You said you’d handle this. Get your guys on it.”
“And I am, brother. If you’d think clearly once you cool down, you’ll realize that it was my guys who tipped off the cops to get Benny in the first place.”
Parker’s head jolts back, and his jaw locks. “Cool down? How the hell can I cool down when my woman and I are not safe? We’re hiding out in our friends’ house waiting for the shit to go down. And this guy is out there waiting for us to make a move! And you’re telling me and the cops are telling me that Benjamin fucking Singleton is not our guy!” he roars, and tosses his phone on the couch.
Wendy glances at the phone and then back at Parker and finally at me. Her eyes are pools of sadness and concern.
Benny is not the guy.
“So what did Benny say to the cops?” I ask.
Parker huffs, tosses his hands up in the air, and lets out a pained groan, hunching over as if he’s just been sucker punched in the gut. He pulls in quick bursts of air as I rush to his side.
“Honey, you’ve got to sit down, take it easy.”
“Tired of takin’ it easy, Sky,” he says through clenched teeth as he hobbles to the nearest love seat.
“Can one of you three tell me what’s happened?”
Paul takes a wide-legged stance and puts his hands behind his back as if he’s addressing a superior officer. “Benjamin Singleton was picked up and questioned at the station. He copped to writing and hand delivering the two letter-sized notes to Parker. He says he’s in love with you, and he was attempting to warn off Parker. He admits to following you around New York and securing a job in the building where your boyfriend works so he could be closer to you.”
I can’t stop my mouth from dropping open and my blood from boiling. He followed me? Around New York?
Paul keeps hammering the nails into the coffin. “Then when you moved here and leased the penthouse, you basically made all his twisted dreams come true. He told the cops you were considering dating him but Parker was in the way. Which, of course, had the cops believing he was your texter, as well as the person who set the fire in your penthouse and the bomb in Parker’s home.”
“Makes sense.” I sit next to Parker and rub my hand up and down his thigh, trying to calm him as much as myself. He covers my hand with his own, brings it up to his mouth, and kisses my fingertips. I take a slow breath, getting my bearings as best I can.
“Yes, it does. Only he’s got several alibis for the time frame of the fire. Also, he took the week off when you left to go to Spain. One of those days he came and visited the IG offices and dropped off note number two, which we have on the security feed. It’s the note that says, ‘You can’t hide her forever. She is mine. We’re the same.’ Which is very similar to the first one that said, ‘I am her. She is me.’”
“I don’t even know what those mean.” I frown and squeeze Parker’s thigh.
“Apparently, he meant to remind you that you were both child actors, grew up in the business, and had done that one commercial together, making you”—he motions air quotes—“the same.”
“He’s nuts,” I whisper.
“He proceeded to tell the cops that the second note was to warn Parker off and remind you of your connection. He denies having anything to do with the fire or the explosion and has been able to provide proof of his location during the time frame the fire was lit. He’s spent the last week visiting his mother in Hoboken, New Jersey. Repeated toll images show him driving in and out of the city, and there were several credit card charges this past week. He’s also given the cops a list of people to confirm his whereabouts in New Jersey.”
“And all of this means . . .” I let the thought dangle, hoping one of them picks it up and goes with it.
Parker turns toward me, grabs my hands in both of his, and holds on to them. “Baby, it means the bomber is still out there, and right now, we have very little to go on.”
I feel as though I’m shrinking, and I pull my hands away, curl my legs up into my chest, and wrap my arms around them. Sunny notices my movement and wiggles her doggy body up to the love seat and hops on it to snuggle against my side. Midnight had at some point placed his booty next to his daddy’s feet and stuck himself there to watch the show.
“Which brings me to why I’m here,” Wendy chirps, effectively lessening the blow of Parker’s explanation.
She moves around the room until she finds my purse and holds up her finger, showing me a tiny square the size of a Chiclet piece of gum. “This is a tracker. It’s going inside the lining of your purse. I’ve already put them on all of your vehicles, and of course your phones.”
“Great. I’m being tracked by a psycho and by one of my best friends. Awesome,” I announce flatly.
Wendy comes over to my side and gets down on her knees. “Sky, I get that this shit is extreme. No one should have to deal with it. Especially not someone as kind and sweet as you. Since it is happening, we have to be smart. This is the only way I know to make sure you’re safe at all times. Are you okay with it?”
I shrug. “It’s fine. Whatever.”
I can’t tell her right now that I do not want to deal with any of this. It seems like every time we take two steps forward, we have to take four back. Benny’s not the bomber. Great. Fantastic.
Then who is?
Wendy pats my knees, and I curl myself into an even tighter ball.
“Sky, I’ve got my men on this,” Paul says. “Skilled men. Experts. Trained in this type of scenario. They’re tracing the bomb’s signature now.”
“And why haven’t they found it?” Parker asks in an accusing tone.
Paul’s jaw tightens as if on reflex. “It’s tough to narrow down. The bomb has all the benchmarks of someone who’s in government. Black ops as we said, only it’s so closely linked to what they’re trained on, it’s hard to decipher the calling card from that of the instructor who teaches the coursework.” He tilts his head, and his lips compress. “My guys are on it, though. Very close. It won’t be long now before they can narrow it down more.”
“I get you. What I’m upset about, and I’m certain you can understand, is that I don’t know how to keep my woman safe. I feel like we’re sitting ducks, and the last thing we want to do is bring any trouble to Wendy and Mick’s door.”
“Oh please. You’re family! Don’t you ever worry about putting us out. You’re in trouble, we’re in trouble.
That’s how family works, right?” Wendy says.
I watch Parker as he offers a small, sad smile. “No, Wendy, that’s not how family works. We protect one another; we don’t bring more harm. Skyler and I need to get out of here. Disappear for a while. Let Paul’s team do their magic.” He glances at Paul before tugging my wrist and pulling it from around my legs so he can slowly unravel my little cocoon of safety. “Come here, Peaches.”
And without even blinking, I’m cuddling up to his side, letting his warmth invade the chill that crept over my skin as the situation seemed to get more bleak by the minute.
“You feelin’ the need to escape?” Paul asks vaguely.
“Yeah, man, I think it’s the best plan.” His voice comes out tired and ragged. My poor man is aging a year with each day that we don’t have a resolution.
Paul smirks. “I may just have a stellar idea for that. You’re going to need your passports and a jet.”
Parker smiles at me with one eyebrow cocked. “Looks like we might be needing that fancy jet of yours again, Peaches.”
I nudge his shoulder and snort. The ease with which this man can bring me back from the brink of despair is mind-boggling. Still, I need to give as good as I get. “Told you it was a good investment.”
4
PARKER
“I cannot believe you talked me into this, Paulie.” I wince and hold on to my sore rib cage as I maneuver into the now familiar camel-colored lounge seat in Skyler’s jet.
Skyler hovers over me like a momma over her baby chick. Making sure I have a pillow behind my back, running her fingers down the side of my head to check the stitches that are currently uncovered.
“Well, I simply cannot wait to introduce you to my beautiful country,” Dennis announces with a huge smile on his face.
My brother grins and runs a beefy hand down his boyfriend’s arm. It’s sweet and a bit odd to see my brother so affectionate. Sure, he’s a back-slapping, shoulder-squeezing type guy. Also shows his love for our mother and father when expected, but I’ve never seen him with a mate. Ever. And definitely never expected my big, burly, special ops, alpha brother to fall in love with a sweet, shy man like Dennis. Or any man at all for that matter. I’m still tripping off the fact that my brother is bisexual, not that it offends me. I firmly believe love is love, and any way it comes is a good thing for the person receiving it. It’s just been a surprise, and having met Dennis and seeing the way he dotes on my brother, overall it’s been a pleasant one. Plus, Ma loves that Dennis is in touch with his feminine side. He’s always open to talking about clothes and style, books, cooking, decorating—basically all the same things she enjoys.
International Guy: Volume 4 Page 17