Taking a deep sigh, the memories came back as I continued, “I already knew I wanted to marry her. Had already bought us a house. The baby was an added bonus. I was ready to embrace the family life. The second morning I was back I took Jasmine to the spot I told her I loved her the first time. I proposed and then the familiar sound of a sniper shooting came through the air.”
I closed my eyes as the most painful part of the story washed over me. “Turning to get Jasmine, I noticed she’d been shot in the head. I felt the last kicks of my child within her as our daughter fought to survive. There was nothing I could do. They died because of my ties to the Black Division. If I hadn’t of gone to them, they’d be alive.”
Sniffles stopped my story. Maren squeezed my hand. “Maren, it’s why I vowed to never be close to anyone. It’s why I denied myself from telling you that I wanted you to stay. For us to have a chance to figure things out. Then, the baby was like the miracle I needed to keep you in my life.”
Anticipation filled me as I waited for her response. All I wanted was to have a chance.
The bed shifted and I felt Maren scoot closer. “The baby is a miracle, Bane. It’s our miracle. I get it, I do. I’m scared about being a mom, giving you another chance, living through this threat that I see hanging over us as we wait for the next thing to happen. It’s a lot to process.”
A thought occurred to me on what I could do. I squeezed Maren’s hand. “Let’s get some sleep.”
“Okay.” I could tell that was not the response she expected. Showing her would be better than telling her.
Through the night, we never let each other’s hand go. It was the first time in a week I’d slept.
Morning was upon us as I finished putting the bagel and cream cheese on a plate with Maren’s orange juice. For now, she kept her breakfasts simple for the slight nausea she had. Thank goodness she hadn’t been too sick. Some smells bothered her more than others … especially meat.
I nudged open the door to see Maren’s brunette hair splayed across the pillow while she peacefully slept. My angel. She’d unknowingly snuggled closer to me through the night and whispered my name. Music to my ears as I cherished the way her body felt against mine.
She stirred. Normally she woke up around seven. It was seven twenty-three. I laid the tray on the nightstand. “Morning, angel. How does breakfast in bed sound?”
Wiping her eyes she smiled sleepily at me. “I haven’t had breakfast in bed since before my Dad died. This is a treat. Thank you.”
Every moment of every day I was going to try and show Maren how special she was. “You’re welcome.” Taking a deep breath, I prepared to say what I’d been thinking about when my phone rang. Only a few people had this number. Pulling it out of my pocket, I saw it was Hampton. “I need to take this.”
Maren took a sip of orange juice. “Of course.”
Standing, I answered. “Hampton?”
The familiar voice answered me, “Hey, Bane. Division stopped by. I would imagine they’ll be at your doorstep at any minute.”
I knew they’d come, but I thought out of courtesy they’d call me first. Those fuckers had gotten my location and then kept Hampton engaged in conversation until they were too close for anything to be done. My earpiece buzzed and security came across the line. “Sir, three black vehicles have turned down the dirt road. Are they cleared?”
I muted the phone with Hampton before answering, “Yes. Stand down. I’ll be out to greet them.”
Unmuting the phone, I said, “Hampton. They’re here. We’ll talk later.”
“Sounds good.”
My heart thundered in my chest. I wanted to grab Maren and run away. We’d make it out of here, but then I’d look guilty as hell. The last thing I needed was to have the wrath of the Black Division rain down on us. We’d be on the run for the rest of our lives. I wanted a different life for Maren and our child.
With someone like Sarge vanishing they’d be turning over every stone to find him. Plus, there was a chance they knew about the communication with him. It surprised me they hadn’t come before now which was a good sign hopefully.
Of course, I had a plan if we did need to escape. Being afraid of stressing Maren out with the spotting, we hadn’t discussed the possibility of Black Division visiting. Maren took a bite of bagel and stopped when she saw my face.
“What’s wrong, Bane?”
I sat on the edge of the bed. “Division is about to be here in maybe a minute. I doubt they know. They’re going to wonder why I have security and I’m going to tell them you’re pregnant. They’ll figure it out when we go to the next doctor’s appointment as I’ll be watched for a bit to see if there’s anything out of place. Just go with everything I say. We need to be dating, okay?”
She nodded. The stress on her face was what I’d been trying to avoid this entire time. Fuck. I should have warned her this was a possibility. “Angel, get dressed. I promise I won’t let anything happen to you guys. Okay?”
She nodded her head rapidly. “I’ll be right out.”
I kissed her on the forehead. “I’ll keep you both safe. Trust me.”
“I do.” I knew she trusted me with her safety, her heart was another thing.
Quickly, I left the bedroom and grabbed a cup of coffee. The more normal I appeared, the better. Making it out on the front porch, five black unmarked SUV’s pulled up. Only six men deployed out of the vehicles. There were probably twelve to fifteen. Another good sign. From the middle car, Alex came out wearing a dark business suit. He looked the same as when I was in Black Division with his white, slicked-back hair.
Alex had been Sarge’s superior.
“Bane. Mind if we talk inside?”
I took a sip of coffee. “Of course not. My girlfriend is in there. Besides these three men …” I gestured to the two guys on my left and one on my right. “I’m alone.” My guys were relaxed in their posture, but were watching my every move in case I signaled to them. They were good. Hopefully, with me identifying everyone up front, it helped sell that I had nothing to worry about.
The fact was, I had everything to lose.
“Mind if we go in alone?” Alex still prodded me with questions to see my reaction.
And he meant, mind if we go in without your men. “Of course not.”
Alex looked a lot like Hampton with his white hair and tall lean build. Regardless of rank, everyone in the Black Division was fit—conditioned to take on a fight in a moment’s notice.
I hoped to hell that this worked. It had to work. Outwardly I stayed unaffected, but I was a nervous wreck on the inside. Only two of the other guys followed us in. It meant they trusted me or didn’t believe I was part of anything. My record was impeccable. Maren came out dressed in jeans and a long-sleeved shirt. Her face took on a glow and I smiled at her.
“Alex, this is my girlfriend, Maren. Maren, this is Alex—a friend from the past.” Maren knew not to talk about the Black Division from previous discussions.
She glanced at the security guards who accompanied us in. Alex spoke. “For my protection, dear. They’re like secret service men.”
Maren stuck out her hand. “Oh wow. It’s nice to meet you, Alex.”
“Likewise. Do you mind if I speak a few minutes alone with Bane?” His voice was silky smooth, but I could tell he assessed her every move to see if she hid anything. So far, Maren hid her emotions well.
“No, not at all.” Walking to me, she gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. “I’ll be in the bedroom.”
Maren left the room. Alex remained standing and so did I. Hopefully that meant this was going to be a short visit. If not, he’d done a hell of a job separating Maren and me.
I CLOSED THE bedroom door behind me and heaved a sigh of relief. My palms sweated. Leaning against the bedroom door, I tried to hear what they were saying. The voices were too low. Why was Division here? Were they on to us? The possibility always lingered in the back of my mind. The last thing I wanted was to be separated from Bane. If some
thing did happen, I wasn’t sure if he could get to me.
There was no reason to have those types of thoughts. Bane found a way and nearly died. I shuddered at the thought of something happening to him. I spoke lowly, “We’ll, be okay little one. Your daddy is going to make sure.”
To busy myself I made the bed and then finished off my bagel. I wondered how long it would be until I got the baby bump as I looked at my still flat stomach. There was a life in there. It was still amazing to me as I tried to think of myself pregnant.
From what I read I would begin to feel the flutters of the baby around four and a half months. I couldn’t wait. Turning around a man stood in the window staring at me with his hands cupped around his face.
I screamed, “AHH! Bane!” and backed toward the wall. The man wearing the black solider uniform disappeared from the window as the door busted open.
“Maren, are you oaky?” Alex was close behind as Bane drew a gun searching the room. More soldiers came close behind Alex. He held up his hand.
I stared out the window. “There was a guy staring at me with his hands cupped to the window. I had my shirt raised looking at my stomach. It startled me. I’m okay.”
Bane glared at Alex who walked out of the room. His lips came to my ear. “Everything is fine. I won’t leave you again.”
I didn’t say a word as I hugged him and took in his manly woodsy scent. This was all too close to what we’d gone through not long ago. The fear and loss was still too close to home. I took deep calming breaths. The last thing I needed to do was alert Alex that more was going on than appeared. Footsteps came back into the room. “Is she okay?”
“Yes, just shook her up a little.”
Alex’s voice was directed to me. “I’m sorry, Maren. He’s back in the car. It will be dealt with.”
Pulling back, I gave Alex a quick smile and got my emotions under control. “I’m okay. The hormones have me a little more emotional and jumpy than normal.”
Alex gave me a smile. “I hear congratulations are in order.”
“Yes, we’re very excited.” Glancing up to Bane, he looked down at me with … could it be love? Little flutters filled me as the possibility seemed more likely from Bane’s actions. I hoped our paths were going in the same direction. I wanted to give Bane a chance—to be a family.
Alex nodded, pleased. He was different than Sarge had been. He shook Bane’s hand. “We’ll be in touch. I need to get going.”
“Thanks for stopping by.”
Leaving the room to follow Alex, I blew out an imperceptible breath as we made it to the door. Was it that easy? I remained in the living room as Bane stepped out the front door. I’d only been up for less than an hour, but felt exhausted from this morning’s activities. Overall, I was more tired than normal from the pregnancy. Cars cranked and Bane stepped inside, holding his finger to his lips. I nodded and laid on the couch.
If we weren’t able to talk about anything, I’d close my eyes for a few. A blanket covered me and lips pressed to the side of my cheek. “Angel, I’m going to work on my laptop for a bit. Rest.”
“I will.”
That was all it took for me to fall asleep.
I woke up with the sun high in the sky when I glanced out the windows. Bane sat at the kitchen table with his laptop, doing who knows what. “I feel like I could give the dead a run for their money with how much I’ve been sleeping lately.”
Bane closed the laptop and gave me a smile. “You’re creating a life. It’s normal until the first trimester ends.”
“How do you know all this?” Bane constantly seemed to know more than me when it came to this sort of thing even though I read about what to expect all the time. Faith. Instantly, I felt like an ass. “I’m sorry. I forgot. That was insensitive of me.”
Coming to sit on the coffee table in front of me, Bane grew serious. “I wasn’t a part of Jasmine’s pregnancy except for two days. I’ve been reading up on everything while we’ve been here this last week, making sure I’m doing everything I can for you.”
The warmth spread inside me as a smile spread across my face. “You’re showing me up already.”
He chuckled and his voice resonated. “There’s nothing I could do to show up the mother of my child.”
I sat up and Bane took this as an invitation to sit beside me. Against his shoulder, I asked. “Can we talk?” What I wanted to ask was, are we safe?
“Yes, we’re safe. We’ll be monitored from afar, but we are safe. Alex asked why we were here with security. I explained you were pregnant, we were dating, and that I wasn’t taking any chances this time around given my history. He understood and wanted to know how I’d explained it to you.”
Oh, I was glad that Alex hadn’t pushed for information from me. Bane coached me on the standard answers, but I didn’t want to be questioned by someone at Black Division. After my experience with Sarge, I had a rather dismal view of the group. “What did you say?”
“What I’d told you—that I’d made some questionable enemies while I worked for an oil company in the Middle East. That I lost my first child and all you cared about was keeping the baby safe.”
How many lies had Bane told Jasmine? Or did she know the truth? It wasn’t my place to ask. If Bane wanted to volunteer the information, he would. “Did he ask anything else about Sarge?”
“Yes, he wanted to know what happened. He knew about my communication with Sarge. I told him Eric Thornhill came after us and you believed it was someone from the Middle East. Sarge had been contacted. Originally, I’d been set to meet them, but I received a message from Sarge that Eric had been eliminated. I never left your side, saw Eric or Sarge.”
Everything seemed too easy. Maybe Bane and Hampton’s incessant planning paid off. The answer was obvious, but I had to ask. “What happens if they find out we’re lying?”
“They won’t, angel. Hampton and I have covered our tracks. We’ll be fine. If something goes wrong, we’ll disappear.” Being on the run wasn’t something I wanted to do for the rest of my life. Hopefully, it wouldn’t come to that. “How about I cook you something? We could talk.”
That was an abrupt change of topic. Talk? We always talked, but I enjoyed spending time with Bane. Talking helped lessen me missing the intimacy we’d once shared. “I’d like that. What do you want me to do?”
Bane led me over to the bar where he directed me to sit at one of the two high-backed chairs. “How about grilled cheese?”
I giggled. “Really? Grilled cheese?”
“It’s one hell of a grilled cheese.” He wagged his eyebrows.
My stomach rumbled. “I can’t wait.”
Bane moved around the kitchen with ease. Grabbing the bread, mayo, butter, cheese, and a skillet he got to work. “When I was a boy I loved grilled cheese. They were easy to make.”
“Did your mom or dad teach you?”
Bane grimaced. “I never knew my father. My mother could hardly be considered one.”
My heart hurt for Bane. So much pain in his life. Was this his way of opening up to me? “I’m so sorry, Bane.”
“It’s in the past. I’ve dealt with it. I’ve made a vow to make sure my kid knows what unconditional love is like.” He paused as he prepared the sandwiches. “As soon as I was old enough, I left and joined the marines, which led me to the Black Division. Seems the group that saved me nearly destroyed me also.” The pan sizzled with butter. I couldn’t believe how open Bane was being. “No one ever knew this except now you.”
No one? Jasmine was having his kid. Surely she knew. I couldn’t bring myself to ask. It was trivial. She was dead and he’d loved her. I understood, but it made it hard to navigate these conversations at times knowing I wanted to be the center of his world. The damn hormones kicked in as I tried to keep back the tears.
Bane placed the grilled cheese in front of me. I took a deep breath as he knelt beside me. My heart hammered. “Maren …” I focused on the sear marks of the bread. The last thing I needed to do was
cry. “Maren, please look at me.” I did. “Not even Jasmine knew about all that. She didn’t know any specifics about the Black Division. She didn’t know about the darkness that’s inside of me. Only you.”
“Bane—”
He put his finger to my mouth. “I wanted you to have a little more of my past to explain why I reacted the way I did. Love doesn’t come easy for me. Giving myself to someone is even harder. I’ve lost everything I’ve ever loved or wanted … except you and the baby. I’m terrified if I get too close or don’t stay focused that the same thing will happen to you.”
Removing his finger, I stayed silent as the tears fell down. Bane sat beside me and took a bite of his grilled cheese. I followed suit as he watched me. The flavors burst across my tongue. “Oh wow, the sandwich is delicious.”
The cheese melted in my mouth with the savory butter bread.
He gave me a wink and I saw the carefree side of Bane that was rare. “It’s all in the mayo that’s used.”
I giggled again. “Well, I can see these being in high demand through the pregnancy.”
Bane beamed. “I’d like that.”
A few days passed since Alex paid us a visit. No one triggered any of the alarms that surrounded the property. My mind eased, but maybe that was what they wanted. It was tiresome constantly wondering what was going to happen.
Bane tirelessly checked everything and kept in contact with the security. They had to be making a pretty penny being with us nonstop. Money wasn’t an issue with Bane. It was hard to imagine me being in my apartment with all the bugs. So much had changed … for the better.
The security team had been on regular scouting trips to check for snipers. Every time I heard the word I felt queasy knowing that was how Jasmine was killed while Bane felt his child die in her womb. There were no words to describe the pain I would feel if I was left without Bane or our child.
Through the days and nights, Bane and I continued to share more about ourselves on a more personal level. We knew all of the surface level stuff about each other, but he was going beneath the surface. His mom had been a terrible person with what she’d done to him. I knew it all and it only drew me closer to him.
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