Black Dawn

by Cristin Harber

  “Yes, baby?” she mumbled.

  “You leave me again, no warnings about the mutt. I’ll find you and drag your ass home.”

  CHAPTER TEN

  If there was one thing Parker enjoyed about walking into the Winters’s house, it was the food. Mia Winters loved to cook, and Parker loved to eat. So did everyone else on the team. But they had wives and kids and babies on the way, so more often than not, the rest of Titan was well fed when they were home. Parker relied more than he should on Muscle Milk and Power Bars in place of meals. Mia knew that and fed him well. She mama-beared the shit out of him sometimes, and that was a perk of being best buds with Winters.

  Judging by the lack of other vehicles outside, he was first there, and that was planned. He needed Mia’s opinion on yesterday because he was furious—and worried. After Lexi had gone back with Matt, Parker had headed back to GUNS, then hit his gym and worked out to the point of delirium. Neither activity cleared his mind. So his next step was to talk to Mia, the woman who knew how everything emo worked, because he was choking on a ton of it.

  He pushed through the front door that had been left open for the incoming crowd. “Hello? Anyone home?”

  “Kitchen,” Mia called.

  “We’re in the kitchen,” squeaked a high-pitched, girly voice.

  Parker smiled at Clara’s repeated words. He rounded the hall and saw the kids before Mia. “Hey, short stack. How’s it going?”

  “The baby’s not listening.” Clara’s little nose crinkled in annoyance. “He’s stealing all my snacks.”

  Mia popped up from behind the island counter with a pile of platters and set them down. “Don’t let Ace have any of those cookies.”

  The evidence was all over Ace’s face. He’d had at least one cookie, by evidence of the chocolate smeared from his chin to forehead, and his smile was huge as he reached for more. Parker scooped up the boy before they all got into trouble and headed for the kitchen table.

  Mia scowled, grabbing a wet cloth. “Clara. Do not feed your brother any more sugar.”

  “Sorry, Mama.” She set the cookies down and abandoned the adults and her brother in the kitchen.

  “Mama Mia, smells good in here.” He gave Mia a kiss on her cheek. “You’re too good to us.”

  “I know it.” With expert finesse, she wiped all of the smudges off Ace before the kid could think to scream, then she headed to what smelled like a giant vat of chili and a couple other pots. “Speaking of which, you want a beer?”

  “Sounds good.” He popped up and headed to the fridge to get it before Mia could move. “Where’s Winters?”

  “Out in the garage. You’re here earlier than I expected—” She stopped stirring whatever. “Nothing you do is ever accidental.”

  His muscles went tight as he thought about yesterday’s shit storm. “Nope.”

  She put her hands on her hips. The woman was petite, but she didn’t mess around. “And you’re not heading to the garage.”

  He shook his head. “Nope.”

  “Alright. Spit it out before the troops storm the spread.”

  Still holding Ace, Parker walked over to eye the food. “You know Matt Pindon?”

  “You’ve brought him around before. Isn’t he going to be here today?”

  “I doubt it.”

  “Why?”

  “I saw him wrap his hands around his woman’s throat.”

  Mia turned off the burner. “Sit down.”

  He smiled because when Mia got all bossy-therapist, good usually came of it. “Yes, ma’am.”

  She wiped her hands and sat across from him before taking Ace into her lap. “Start over. What are you talking about?”

  “I walked in on them fighting yesterday. No joke, he was choking her. I pulled them apart. She left with me but went back home to him.”

  “She went back to him?”

  He nodded. His fury at Lexi for pulling that stunt just killed him. He’d had every intention of bringing her and a sausage-and-banana-pepper pizza home with him. Then what, who knew. But damn it, he liked her being in his arms, amplifying how much he’d liked her from afar.

  “Is she safe?” Mia asked.

  “I don’t know.” The doubt made him sick. Not knowing the answer to a question wasn’t something Parker was familiar with. He always knew what he wanted to know or knew a way to determine it. He could assign a value to a situation, do a risk assessment. But this Lexi situation—he didn’t know what she thought or if she was safe. It made him feel as though he were bursting out of his skin. He wanted to call her, yell at her for being stupid and question her so it made sense.

  Mia’s eyes focused on him, and Parker swore she could read his soul. “Who is she to you?”

  “Matt’s fiancée.”

  “To you, Parker. A friend?” Her eyebrows raised.

  “I don’t think I know her well enough that I’d say friend.” But somehow he’d had eyes on her since she first walked into Matt’s life.

  “But?”

  His thoughts had been semi-easy to ignore until yesterday, and now he couldn’t stop replaying every stolen look, every questionable action, the way she’d gone from the wild woman Matt brought out on occasion to a toned-down version of a Stepford wife. Parker jumped out of his chair. “I don’t get this.”

  “Get what?”

  “It’s—” His chest twisted. “Personal.”

  “I can see that. So why?”

  “She’s a good person and doesn’t deserve that shit.”

  “No one deserves that, Parker.”

  “I know. It’s—I just like her.” He shrugged. “She deserves better than that.”

  “You have feelings for her.”

  “Come on, Mia. I’m not here to talk about what I feel or whatever. I’m worried about a girl who—” A girl he’d been feeling deeply, who always made him curious, who even made him feel guilty. He dropped back into the chair. “I care about what happens to her. What do I do?”

  “You have a conversation with her. You make sure she gets to a safe place, and you ask her if she values her safety. If she knows her self-worth. Then you hold her hand—”

  His eyes shot open. “Whoa now.” Even though he vividly remembered placing his hands over hers in his car and the sense of calm that had washed over her sweet face.

  “Figuratively, and help her realize that she is worth more than that.”

  Parker leaned his elbows on the table and buried his head in his hands. Behind him, Winters’s boots came down the hall.

  His hand slapped Parker’s back. “What’s up, boy genius?”

  Parker rubbed his eyes and pushed back. “Matt’s persona non grata for anything Titan.”

  Winters held his eye. “Alright. Won’t be allowed in this house.”

  “Alright.”

  “Want to let me in on what’s going on?”

  Parker was closer to Winters than anyone else in or out of Titan. Winters had spent his share of time with Matt and never liked the guy, but he didn’t say much. Old friends were old friends. That was the way things went. Winters and Parker had a much different relationship. They saw eye to eye on most jobs and were a tactical yin and yang. Winters would blow things up and could escape almost any situation, given enough brute force. Parker preferred the analytical, strategic planning side of operations. Either way, they trained together, tested together, stayed in shape and sharp on weapons together. But letting anyone besides Mia the psychologist in on Lexi’s issues was too personal.

  “Later,” Parker said.

  Winters looked at Mia then back at Parker before picking up Ace. “Alright, later.”

  Clara ran back into the kitchen. “Cash is here.”

  Which meant a very pregnant Nicola would be inside in a minute. Soon she would be followed by Roman and a pregnant Beth, then Jared and a pregnant Sugar. So many pregnant women, it was almost scary. Parker had never had anything like that—babies, uncles, aunts, all that family stuff. They were like a living, breathin
g security blanket.

  Mia, maybe thinking the same thing, moved back to the stove. “We’ll talk more later. Okay?”

  “Yup. Appreciate it.”

  She nodded. “Not sure you know this, honey, but you’re allowed to color outside the lines if you want.”

  He chuckled because that was something he’d never do, and the statement, much like every Lexi-focused thought, didn’t make sense. “I don’t know what that means, Mia.”

  “One day, it might make sense.”

  “Maybe.” Parker sat back in his chair and watched everyone come in.

  So much had changed since Mia Winters started having big meals after Titan came home from jobs. The guys used to all get together, have a bonfire, and barbecue whatever was around. They still did that, though maybe not in forty-degree rainy weather. But now serious love was put into the food. That was a difference.

  Another knock sounded on the door before it opened down the hall. “We’re here.”

  Rocco walked in with Caterina tucked under his arm. Squeezed between them was a bundle of blankets. Parker watched the room ooh and ahh over the new baby. None of the Delta guys were there yet—no guests outside of Titan had arrived—so he was literally the only single guy in the room. It was just their core group, and while he wanted to be there, he suddenly couldn’t stop wondering what in the world Lexi Dare was up to and if she was okay.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Lexi trembled as Matt guided her into the house with his hand on the small of her back. She didn’t know what to expect, but whatever his punishment for her was, it would be the worst yet. But as soon as her feet hit the carpet, nothing.

  She wanted to run and find Bacon, but she also didn’t want to remind Matt how much she loved her dog. So she sat on the couch and watched him go about normal everyday life. Still nothing in terms of her punishment happened.

  Bacon ran over to Lexi. She scooped the dog up and cuddled all the pug’s squirmy rolls, but Lexi kept her eyes on Matt. Maybe it was a mind game. He’d told her to think of her own punishment. Maybe this was part of that.

  She squeezed Bacon tighter and whispered, “I’ll never let him hurt you.”

  Matt reappeared with a beer and threw himself on the couch with her. “Sorry, peaches.”

  Her heart stilled. She didn’t know if this was a test. She clung to her dog, uncertain how to respond. “You don’t have to say that.”

  He took a swig off his beer. “Serious. I fucked up. Shouldn’t have done that—though you shouldn’t have put me in a place where I lost control. Maybe that car I saw wasn’t what I thought. But…” He shrugged and slugged back more beer. “But I didn’t mean for that to happen.”

  “Okay,” she whispered.

  “C’mere.”

  Terrified, she inched across the couch and had to put Bacon down when the pup growled. Lexi perched against his chest like she knew he liked, and Matt tossed his arm over her shoulder and settled in to channel surf as if he hadn’t choked her earlier and she hadn’t run away with his friend. They watched TV until her stomach growled. Her mind went back to the pizza place, where Parker had ordered what she wanted without comment or question.

  “You hungry, peaches?”

  Lexi bit her lip. “I’ll start something. Sorry—”

  “No, I got it. Just relax. You’ve had a hard day.”

  She’d had a hard day? Because he’d choked her the day after he’d had sex with her when she hadn’t been a willing participant. “Matt, it’s not—”

  “Sit,” he growled. “See, there. Why do you have to bring out the worst in me sometimes?”

  “I’m sorry.”

  He kissed the top of her head. “How’s spaghetti sound?”

  “Really great.” She nodded enthusiastically, hoping to cover her confusion.

  “Good answer.” Matt pushed off the couch and headed toward the kitchen. It was a semi-open floor plan, and she saw him putter around the pantry.

  Over the next three nights, he made dinner, not letting her out of his eyesight except for very quick errands. It was confusing, and his condescending jabs were sandwiched between compliments. None of it made sense. He bought her flowers. He said he loved her. He did things that should’ve been sweet, but all they did was muddy the waters. She wanted to leave. She wasn’t in love, but every time she blinked at his words or responded too slow, Matt gave her lines that tied her down.

  “I’d never leave you, peaches. Just like you’d never dare leave me.”

  “Lexi, if you tried harder, last weekend would never have happened like that.”

  “I know you better than you know yourself, peaches.”

  And she couldn’t forget… “It would be awful if something happened to Bacon, wouldn’t it?”

  Everything he said reeked of manipulation, but she couldn’t entirely disregard the attention, the promises of love and to never be abandoned. She seriously needed a break. Just a breather, a few hours where Matt wasn’t watching her work or commenting about everything.

  Facts of life dictated that Matt would have to leave her alone eventually. He had a new job lined up. She was counting down the days until he started. But while he had her on his hyper-vigilant crackdown, she was able to work through the last details that Shadow needed for Monarch. It also let her map out ways she could disappear so that if Matt hunted her down, she and Bacon would be far off the grid and unfindable. Interesting how she could find or hide anything on screen, but when it came to her, she didn’t know what to do. She didn’t even have her own transportation. Well, until she got her Gixxer back—how would that work with a dog? If it came to running, she’d figure it out. All part of the recover-Lexi plan.

  Finally, it was the day. Matt had a new job, and it was still too early for him to get himself fired.

  She sent Shadow some of what he needed and nervously putted around the house, psyching herself up to leave. Despite the days of Matt being semi-nice, she knew deep in her heart that even his nice words were caked with lies. Her bag was packed with a change of clothes, cash he didn’t know about, a roll of crackers, a jar of peanut butter, and dog food. She planned to take the bus to her sister’s, camp out there for the night, and disappear until she had to meet up with Shadow in about two weeks for the auction.

  So far, Operation Get the Fuck Out was going well, despite the churning, guilty-excited nausea rolling in her belly. Even Bacon knew it was go-day. The pup never left her side.

  She called Meredith, but there was no answer. The voicemail beeped, and she sighed. “Hey, Mere, sorry to leave this as a message. We need to catch up soon. I’m changing things for the better. Call me. I love you. And, Mere, I really miss you.”

  Ending the call, she checked the screen. The clock flashed two o’clock. Matt would be at work for another couple of hours. If Lexi was on her normal schedule, she would’ve worked at the dining room table until she had to start dinner. Just like the perfect soon-to-be Mrs. Pindon.

  She looked at her trembling hands. “Just walk out the door.”

  Bacon yapped in agreement.

  It was so close. Just feet away. Her escape that could change everything. Freedom tickled her tongue, making her blood rush with the excitement and anxiousness of the unknown. Lexi swallowed the last of her self-doubt and squared her shoulders. Of all days, today was the anniversary of their first date. How ironic and appropriate. She grabbed her bag and laptop and headed to the door with Bacon on a leash.

  But it opened when she was still feet away.

  Matt.

  Her stomach dropped. Panic rushed through her veins.

  “Happy anniversary.” He smiled at her, then his gaze drifted. “What’s going on, peaches?”

  “Hey.” She tried for a smile but knew it didn’t ring true. Faking it when so much uncertainty ran in her blood was near impossible. “Happy—” Her throat knotted. “Anniversary, baby.”

  “I wanted to surprise you. I left work for you.”

  “Awesome.” Bullshit. He’d
been fired again. And on day one? God. What now? Please don’t let it be drinking…

  His gaze locked on her bag. “What’s in there?”

  “Nothing.” She took a step back as he took one forward. The scent of beer finally hit her. “I was headed to the grocery store.”

  “With Bacon and your laptop?”

  “We needed some air. I was going to work outside.” Waiting until the afternoon seemed like the stupidest move she’d ever made. “It’s nothing.”

  She tossed aside her bag and casually dropped her laptop’s bag. She needed to distract him. An anniversary hug. Or a blow job. Something. Anything. That was her new, quickly made plan.

  She stepped forward. “Glad you’re home.” She put as much sexiness into her voice as possible. “We can celebrate.”

  “Open the bag, peaches.”

  Lexi stepped toward him. “That thing? Why don’t I show you—”

  Smack. The back of his hand hit across her face. Blood seeped into her mouth as Bacon growled and attacked Matt’s leg. He kicked her dog, making the poor thing squeal. If Lexi hadn’t been numbly shocked, she would have screamed. Matt reached for the dog and hooked Lexi as she tried to run for the door.

  “You’re on the couch—” He threw her down then stormed to the front door. “And you’re gone.” He tossed her dog, leash still on, out the front door, and slammed it. “Why do you make me do this?”

  All she could think about was the bag. If he looked in it, she really would be dead this time. Lexi closed her eyes and waited for him to beat her until she blacked out.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Parker rubbed his eyes as he stared at the screens. The past few days, he’d run through his normal schedule but felt like a shell. Nothing much was happening, but he still liked to keep an eye on the Titan teams around the globe. Tossing a pen and ignoring his nearly all-consuming concern over Lexi, he flipped from screen to screen, doing absolutely nothing.

  His cell phone rang, stealing his attention from the uninteresting screens, and he didn’t recognize the number. His thumb hovered over the button. For a brief second, he hoped it was either Lexi calling to explain or Jared with something to take Parker’s mind off everything. He accepted the call. “Hello?”