by Brook Greene
“Yes?” I pinch the bridge of my nose between my thumb and forefinger. The full-blown ache that’s has been threatening to hit me finally does.
“I’ve started the social application process for Hollis. I used her given name, since that’s the one on her birth certificate.”
“Thank you, Janine, you’ve been a wonderful help. And congratulations on your new job,” I tell her out of respect for the woman who had given me her body and offered me her heart, but I’d turned my back on them both when Hollis had pushed her way back into my life. Sure, I had a girlfriend at the time, on the surface, but the only woman I’ve ever truly been faithful to in my life was, and will always be, Hollis.
“You’re more than welcome, Roman,” she says, making me remember the sweet girl she’d once been before I’d made her a jaded woman. I hang up, not seeing the need to draw out her humiliation any longer than necessary.
Immediately, my fax machine begins to buzz and spit out several papers. Retrieving them once it’s done, I settle back into my chair and add the new papers to the folder, looking at the same things and reading the same words I have for the past week and a half.
I still need to talk to Ima, and then plan a trip to this town that looms over both our heads. I hear the door in the other room open, and then a knock at mine.
I look up to see Cruz stick his head in. “Busy?” He doesn’t give me time to respond before he walks in and settles himself in a chair across from me, looking a little worse for wear after the beat down Eno had given him. “Good, I’m bored out of my fucking mind. Leo just threw me out of the garage.” He gestures with his thumb in the direction of the mechanic’s shop. “I thought Oz was a grouch, but damn, Leo.” He leans back, propping an ankle on his knee. “So whatcha got there, some double top secret case you’re working on?” The sides of his mouth turn down as he lifts his eyes, trying to see the papers I have scattered over my desk.
I kick back in my chair, mimicking him. “No, nothing like that. This is personal.” I watch as my statement peeks his interest.
“Oh, trouble in paradise kind of personal?” He chuckles. The Bastards love giving us all shit about being attached, having our dicks owned, pussy whipped if you will.
“Not really, but in some ways, yes.” I watch this time as his face pinches in confusion. I laugh and decide to throw him a bone. After all, the man’s just trying to have a conversation with me. And besides, he knows Hollis and her history, I suppose, with all the time they’d spent together in the past. “Okay, okay.” I sit up, looking back down at the papers on my desk. “Hollis asked me to find her father.”
He has much of the same reaction the others had when I told them what Hollis had asked for, but I push through his surprise. “We have this information.” I point to the mess on my desk. “All her documents are fake. The only thing we know for a fact is that she was born and her mother was a real person.”
He stands and takes the folder I’d just stuffed full of all the papers and settles himself back down in his seat before flipping it open. “That’s it? That’s all? There’s nothing else on her?”
“Nothing,” I say flatly. His words drive home the dread I’ve been fighting off.
“Hmm.” He’s totally engrossed in the sparse contents of the folder he has splayed in his lap. He picks up one black and white photo at a time, studying them intently. He stops on the third one and tilts his head, examining it a little longer than the others. He looks up at me, his lips parted, like he has something to say. Instead, he looks back down at the photo. “Hmm.”
“Hmm what, Cruz?”
He turns the photo toward me, and I see it’s one of a young Hollis, not much older than Caden, holding her mother’s hand while they both smile at the camera. “This woman looks familiar.”
“That’s Hollis’s mother.” I sit up and rest my forearms on my desk. I know better than to get my hopes up. They’re copies, and unfortunately, bad ones at that.
“How old is Hollis?” he asks, still looking at the picture.
“She just turned thirty-five, we think,” I reply.
“You think?”
I nod toward the next document sitting in the folder. “Her birth certificate was never filed. The only thing we can verify is her mother did exist and her name was Neeta Fletcher.”
He picks up the next document, whispering Neeta’s name under his breath, like he’s calling to a hidden memory somewhere of the woman in the photo. He stops when he reads over the birth certificate. “Motherfucker. Now I know where I know her from.” His hand drops to his lap with a thud. “That’s the exact same hospital and town I was born in.”
~~~~~~
Roman
Cruz and I had spent the rest of the day trying to figure out how Hollis’s mother had gotten around the system, where the kind of money needed to do so came from, and how in the hell Hollis didn’t remember Cruz. When we finally figure out our exhaustion is getting us nowhere, we call it a day, making plans to get back at it tomorrow. He says he has a few people he can call, then he walks back over to the clubhouse and I head home.
I’m left with more questions than I have answers to, but now I feel like I can breathe. I’m not sure how to tell Hollis all the things I’d found out today, but she needs to know that she’s never existed as a person on paper, and it’s going to break her heart even more.
~~~~~~
I walk through the door of our house way after dark, and I’m surprised to see a set of tapered candles burning on our dining table with a lone glass of amber liquid sitting between them. The sounds of a blues song plays softly, filling the air around me along with the feeling of sex. My cock begins to react to the mood Hollis has set for me. But then I worry, am I too late? Did she expect me sooner?
I lay my keys down as quietly as I can on the table just inside the door, looking around the house for her. I want to find her, not yell out for her to come to me. I retrieve the glass and take a drink as I follow the pale light of the candles she has burning through the house. I follow them up the stairs and stop when I turn the corner to our room, nearly dropping the glass I have in my hand at the sight before me.
Hollis is standing with her shoulder leaning against the doorframe of our bedroom, her curvy body dimly lit from the candles that burn around us. She lifts one leg and slowly drags the top of her foot up the back of the other leg.
She’s covered from head to toe in black lace, and the heels she’s wearing are screaming for me to fuck her. Her long hair falls in loose curls around her small shoulders. She smiles at me, and the candlelight dances across her beautiful face.
I watch as she lifts her hand, her fingers pulling at the ribbon that holds the lace robe she’s wearing free. She lets it fall to the floor, and the lacy garment pools at her feet. I gasp, I fucking gasp for air.
The corset she’s trussed up in stops right under her plump breasts, pushing the full globes up, showing off their perfection. It laces down the front to a pair of barely there panties that hug her round hips. Her legs are clad in thigh-high stockings, held up by a pair of garters. She runs a finely manicured nail down her cleavage, stopping only to tweak a nipple, letting out a moan that lands right at the base of my cock.
I set my glass of whiskey down, and take my erection in my hand, hoping to calm the storm raging in my body. I watch as she begins to walk towards me, slow and seductively, neither of us saying a word, only our hard breaths filling the air around us. She stops only inches from me, and I smell her light perfume as she reaches for the hand between my legs. Taking it, she brings it to the apex of her sex, singling out my index finger that she drags through her bare folds. Crotch less panties. Jesus Christ, this woman’s going to kill me.
She’s wet, dripping actually, and as we reach the top, I feel the swollen little nub and give my finger a wiggle, making her gasp and her body jerk.
“You been waiting for me, baby?” I ask as I take over, distracting her by pushing a finger inside her so deep, I have to bend at
the waist. I lower my head to her neck, letting my lips drift over the sensitive skin. I can feel her pulse quicken as I glide them up to her ear. “You naughty woman,” I whisper as I gently slide my finger in and out of her, her pussy growing wetter with each pass in and out.
“Roman,” she whispers her surrender to me, and I feel as she begins to tighten around my finger. Her hands are on my shoulder and she’s biting her lower lip. My eyes are locked on her face that’s glowing with the pleasure we share.
My thumb begins to rub circles around her swollen clit as I continue to push my finger in, and slowly draw it out. I catch her as her legs give out from under her with a scream.
I take my hand away and pick her up, wrapping her legs around my waist. “Was that good, baby?”
She lays her forehead on my shoulder. “This was supposed to me seducing you.” Her voice is breathy.
“You did,” I tell her, laying her on her back.
I look down at her, tugging my shirt over my head. She props herself up on her elbows to watch me, a satisfied smile on her face. Her eyes devour me, and I feel my skin heat at the way she looks at me. I unbutton and push my jeans and underwear down over my hips and kick them off, standing in front of her naked and bare. This woman owns me heart, body, and soul.
I fall, letting my hands catch me right before our naked bodies touch. “Put my dick inside you, Hollis.” She reaches between us, and we both watch as she guides me into her. I flex my hips and bury myself to the hilt, both of us letting out loud groans at the sensations flying though us. I’ve fucked a lot in my life, but I’ve only made love with one person, the one that’s laying under me. Her nails bite into the skin of my back as I move in and out of her.
She rolls her hips, fucking me. The heels she’s wearing dig into my ass, and I feel her tightening around my dick, pushing me to come along with her.
“I love you,” she cries out as her body jerks, her hips bucking wildly with her orgasm. No longer able to hold it, I give it my all with the last pump, spilling my soul into her, leaving nothing of myself as an individual, only wanting us to be blurred lines.
I rest on my elbows above her, both of us breathing heavily. Kissing her lips, I feel her smile. “I love you too,” I tell her, and I’m rewarded with a larger smile. “But I have to ask.” I push up and look between us at the sexy as fuck body lying beneath me. “What got into you?”
“I thought we could use a distraction,” she says sweetly.
I lower myself back down onto her, feeling the heat between us. “Well, feel free to distract me like this anytime.” I fall to the side and land on my back. She lifts herself up and leans to look down at me, tracing the ink I’ve marred my body with.
“How was your day?” she asks, her eyes following the motion of her finger as it travels over my chest.
I pause, not wanting to break the moment we’re in with what I have to tell her. There’s a time for that, and it’s not right now.
“It was just a boring day in the security business.”
Chapter Twelve
Roman
I look over the rim of my cup at Hollis, who’s reading the paper as she eats the eggs I made for her. She looks and catches me staring. “What?”
I lower my cup, setting it on the counter between us. She senses my mood and lowers hers as well. “We should talk.”
“I’m getting this a lot from you lately.” She casts a weary glance at me. “I take it that yesterday wasn’t just a boring day in the security business?”
“No, it wasn’t.” I shake my head regretfully.
Twenty minutes later, she’s sitting silent across from me.
She breathes heavily, letting her shoulders slump. “So the only thing we know is that my mom was who she says she was, but if that be the case, why did she give me the last name Keaton?”
“We don’t know that yet, but we will.” I reach across the island and take her small hand in mine, lacing our fingers together. “Hollis, we’ll figure this out.”
She squeezes my fingers back, her glassy eyes meeting mine as she withdraws her hand. “I know.” She tries to hide her doubt behind a weak smile. “So where do we go from here? I mean, if a government agency can’t find me, then what?” She lowers her head into her waiting hands with a loud sigh.
I watch as she struggles, and I feel guilty that I hadn’t told her everything. Cruz and I decided to keep him out of this until we can figure out what his connection is.
She slaps her hands down on the counter and stands. “You know what? I can’t do this right now, I’ve gotta go to work.”
I quickly grab her wrist, turning her back to me. “Hollis.”
Her eyes cut to mine. “It’s not you,” she quickly tries to explain.
“I never thought it was.” I pull her around to the end of the bar and wrap her in my arms. “I just don’t want you running off with your head full of shit and not know what you’re thinking.”
I feel her shake her head against my chest and her hot breath through the thin material of my shirt. “Don’t blow me off or shut me out again, I can’t take it anymore.” I take her by the shoulders and separate her from me, tilting her back so that I can see her eyes. “We’re in this together. You’re not alone, Hollis.” She ducks her head, but I lift it back up by her chin. “Talk to me.”
She leans into me, resting her forehead on my chest and takes a deep breath. I know this is hard for her, and it’s killing me to watch her go through this. I’m going to do everything in my power to help her and let her know I’ll never leave her side, regardless of what we find out.
She tilts her head back and pulls her bottom lip through her teeth. “I really don’t know how to put how I’m feeling into words, you know? Numb, I guess, would be the best way to describe it. It’s kind of like how I felt the night I found her dead. I’m not surprised or shocked. I never thought she would’ve gone to such lengths to cover it all up, though.” She gives her shoulders a slight shrug. “Do you think she was hiding me from someone?”
I smooth a loose strand of hair that’s fallen from her ponytail behind her ear. She steps back, shaking her head and holds up her hands. “You know what? Don’t answer for that. It doesn’t matter. Because,” she steps back to me, wrapping her arms around my waist. “This is my life now and you’re my world. I don’t care what she did or why she did it, I just want to get this shitstorm over with and find out who I really am.”
“I know who you really are, and that’s all that matters,” I say making her smile up at me, and it’s the most beautiful sight.
“I love you.” She reaches up and kisses me like she’s never going to see me again. I take her ass in my hands and hoist her up to sit on the island and step between her spread legs. I tangle my fingers in her hair and push my tongue past her sweet lips.
We kiss until we have to separate for air, both of us panting heavily. “This is real, Hollis. You, me, us, and our family. Whatever drove your mother to this isn’t real, and like you said, it doesn’t matter. You’re the air I breathe.” I hope she knows that my last statement isn’t bullshit, and that I’m not saying it just because of her state of mind. She is everything to me, and now that I’ve had her back I can’t see me living without her by my side.
~~~~~~
“Shit, man, how did she take it?” Eno’s sitting across from me as I tell him all the shit Cruz and I had gone over the day before, and the things I’d told Hollis this morning.
I rest my elbows on the desk and run my fingers through my hair. “Just like Hollis always takes things.” I slump back in my chair with the memory of her glassy eyes in my head. “She went to work,” I reply flatly to a smirking Eno. Hollis had tried to hide her hurt from me, but I know her too well, and she isn’t that great of an actress.
“Damn.” He whistles. “Do you think keeping the whole Cruz thing from her is a good idea?”
“It is for now, or at least until we figure out the whole same hometown angle. He’s leaving this aftern
oon to head back.” I look at him and change the subject. “I heard Oz headed out this morning?”
Eno’s face turns grim. “He did.” He stands and begins to pace nervously. “There’s just something about this whole thing. Don’t get me wrong, I really don’t care for Oz Kellen, but man,” he stops and turns to me. “I don’t want the asshole to get himself killed.”
“Me either, but it’s out of our hands now. Oz is dealing directly with the agency and taking orders from them.” I understand where Eno’s coming from. Over the past couple of years, we’ve developed a kind of brotherhood with the Bastards, even though it started out with us almost busting them for drug trafficking. They’ve all turned out to be stand up guys, and have helped us out of a pinch on more than one occasion.
The bell over the door in the other room dings, and Cruz peeks his head into my office. “Hey.” He steps through and takes the seat to the right of Eno, giving him a chin lift in the process. Even though the two had worked things out, there’s still tension in the air between them. He tilts his head at Eno in question.
“He knows,” I say as Eno turns in his seat, smiling from ear to ear at Cruz.
“Okay. So, I made some calls last night but haven’t heard anything back, so I’m heading out this afternoon.”
“Thanks, man, I appreciate this.”
“Why the hell are you doing this?” Eno asks with an eyebrow raised skeptically at Cruz.
He shrugs his shoulders. “Ain’t got nothing else to do, and I’m fucking curious as hell too.”
~~~~~~
Four days later….
Roman
I lay on the bed, watching Hollis rush around our bedroom, trying everything she has in her closet on. Finally, she stops, dropping what she has in her hands to the floor and turns to me. “I have nothing to wear.”
I push up on my elbows, eyeing the four-foot-high pile of clothes at her feet. “Yeah, I can see that.” She huffs in frustration. “I don’t understand why you’re dressing up. Just wear blue jeans and a T-shirt. You’re just going to get your wedding dress.” She turns and looks at me like I’m a complete moron, making me shy back a little. “What?” I ask, holding up my hands in surrender and biting back laughter. I’ve been baiting her all morning long.