by Vi Keeland
“With you?”
“Until it’s over.”
“Until what’s over? You just said it was over.”
“We don’t know for sure. My men will watch over your roommate and your boyfriend, but not you. I want you near me.”
“But—”
Then he clipped out, “I won’t protect them unless you come with me.”
“You won’t?” Panic stirred inside of me again. He had said, but we needed his protection. They needed his protection. His hand reached up to cup the side of my face. I flinched. It was so tender, so gentle, but his words had been so harsh. I needed Mallory to live.
Then he whispered, “You’re AJ’s sister. I have to protect you, Emma.”
Guilt speared me. He was right. AJ would’ve wanted that. But Mallory—I looked up. “You’ll watch over my friends? Mallory will be safe?”
He nodded.
“Your men will watch her? I won’t go with you unless you promise to protect her. That’s my final word.”
He nodded again. He was so tense. “My men will watch her, but as long as you’re with me.”
I knew what I had to do. “Okay, Carter. I’ll come with you.”
—CARTER—
Carter jogged back to the car and slipped into the backseat. He didn’t look over, but felt his associate’s disapproval. He didn’t care. When he didn’t say anything, the older associate asked, “What did you tell her?”
His reply was short. “She’ll live with me.”
“You’re a fool.”
Carter had the man against the door in a flash. His hand was at his throat and he held him paralyzed within his grip. The older man didn’t fight. He knew better. Neither said a word. It was a standoff between the two and Carter waited until he sensed the acceptance in his associate. “You will express your judgment when and only when I ask for it. But with her, I will never ask for it.”
He held him for another few beats before he released him. Two other guards sat in the car with them, but no one made a move or sound.
After the car traveled a few more blocks, the associate remarked as he rubbed at his throat, “I’ve known you a long time. I’ve never seen you like this.”
“She’s different.”
“She must be.”
Carter didn’t respond.
The associate waited another few blocks. “What did you tell her about the others?”
“That I’ll have men watching them and protect them as much as I can.”
“So you lied to her.” He started to scoff his disapproval again but caught himself. He straightened abruptly, his hand still at his tender throat. “You know you can’t protect her friends, even if you have men watching them. The second a Bertal shows up, our men have to scatter. They can’t know about our involvement. It’s too soon.”
“I don’t care about her friends. I care about her, and she’ll be safe.”
“What happens when she realizes you’ve lied to her?”
“She’ll accept it. She’ll have to. The second Dunvan entered their lives, no one was safe. And when she pulled that trigger, she became the hunted. Not them.”
“You sure she can handle all of this? You know how ugly it’s going to get.”
Carter sighed and remembered the look on her face when he saw her sleeping in the penthouse. She’d been exhausted and starving, but she’d been at peace in that moment. He hadn’t the heart to wake her so when he returned and found her awake, he was a coward. He remained in the shadows as he interrogated her as he would one of his enemies. He had to know and he did. He told his associate now, “I pushed her, Gene. She has fight, more than I did when I started. She’ll handle it.”
She’ll have to or she’ll die.
Carter kept that thought to himself.
SEVEN
“I don’t understand.” Ben wrung his hand through his hair. It stuck up in the air. “You’re leaving now? It’s the first night she slept through. She didn’t scream once. Mallory needs you here.”
I looked over to the couch where she was huddling. She sniffled and wiped a tear away from her eye, but she didn’t say anything. She hadn’t said a word since I told her that we were protected. She didn’t ask me how I knew or what I meant, but she nodded. She never said a word, not even when I told her that I had to go somewhere else. But she looked away and a tear slid down. I pulled her in for a hug and tried to reassure her again.
It was so hard. I couldn’t explain. Carter didn’t want them to know about him and I didn’t want them to know either. Carter’s connection to me had to be kept a secret. I didn’t know why, but I felt it in my gut. But how did I explain things to them when I couldn’t explain anything?
Mallory had hugged me back. She’d been on the couch since.
Amanda looked confused as she sat beside Ben, who paced in the kitchen, but she remained quiet as well.
My phone vibrated. It was a text from Carter. A car is outside for you. Take your time with your goodbyes.
“Who was that?” Ben asked. His eyes were wild as he grabbed fistfuls of his hair again. “I don’t understand this, Emma. I really don’t. You need to be here for Mallory. She needs you.”
“Ben,” Amanda spoke up, calm and sad. “Read between the lines. She’s done something for us. Emma would never leave unless she had to. Now she’s saying we’re safe and we don’t need to worry anymore. You’re not stupid. Think about it.”
“But—” He stopped with his hands still in his hair. His eyes went to the living room and didn’t move. “Mallory needs her. That’s all I can think about.”
“I’ll be fine.” The words were whispered and all of us whipped around. Mallory pulled the blanket tighter around her. Her eyes were wide and full of fear, and her lip trembled as she cleared her throat. It was like she was fighting for her voice. “I’ll be fine. I will.”
Ben started forward. Mallory held a hand up to stop him. He skidded to a halt.
Then Amanda coughed. “Well.” She blinked rapidly with shock on her face. “That’s that, then.”
I couldn’t look away from my roommate. She tried to summon a small smile. It was so tiny, but it was there. She whispered now, “I’ll be fine, Ems. Don’t worry. Do whatever you have to do. I know you helped us somehow.”
“That’s it?”
I stiffened.
Outrage came over Ben as he looked between us. “That’s it?! Are you serious?”
“Ben!” Amanda chastised.
His voice softened, but his eyes were still wild. “I can’t believe this. I can’t believe any of this. What the hell is going on here?”
I grabbed the bag Amanda brought with clothes.
We had divided the rest earlier and left a pile in the bedroom for Mallory. Carter said she could go back to the apartment, but when I told her she could return home, she withered into a ball on the bed. I knew then that we weren’t going to be roommates again, not for a long time. So I had hugged her and whispered that I would contact the landlord. I would take care of everything, the packing, getting all of her stuff put away until she knew where she was going to be. When I told Amanda those were my plans, she said she would help. She would stay for a while to help Mallory get back on her feet.
I made Mallory promise that she would go to counseling. She shuddered as I said it but nodded a second later. Then she curled back into her ball again. Amanda and I shared a look as we finished folding up her clothes, with mine already in my bag.
And here we were. Ben was freaking. Amanda was still quiet but confused. Mallory seemed to have withdrawn into her own world again.
It was time for me to go.
I walked to the front door with a heavy heart. I didn’t know when I would see them again. As I reached for the handle, there was movement behind me. Tiny arms wrapped around my waist, and I turned to hug Mallory back. She whispered against my chest, “Be safe. I know you’re doing this to help me.”
I nodded, unable to speak. This was harder than I thought it was g
oing to be. I squeezed her so tight.
Ben and Amanda came to the doorway. His hand was still in his hair. He hadn’t let go. Amanda tried to give me a reassuring smile, but her eyes flooded with tears. She turned away. I sighed. I had to go. That was all there was to it. They would be safe, so I had to go.
“Okay.” I pressed a firm kiss to Mallory’s forehead before I opened the door. “Be good. Be safe.”
She stood there, looking lost.
A gurgle ripped from Ben’s throat. He stood gaping at me. “You’re really going? I can’t believe this.”
I jerked my head in a nod. A ball of emotion was in my throat, big and too thick for me to talk again. Then I left. Tears blinded me, but I didn’t brush them away. I didn’t look back as I strode towards the big black car waiting for me. A driver got out and opened the car. I flung myself in and turned away from the door. I didn’t look. I couldn’t.
As the car pulled away, I still couldn’t look back. Carter wasn’t in the car waiting for me, and I was glad about that. I felt like I was going to the dark side. Even as I thought about him, my body started to throb with need. I shook my head. Carter was dangerous. He couldn’t have so much power over me. When we knew Franco Dunvan wasn’t going to come for me, I needed to leave him. A foreboding sensation started low in my gut. It grew the closer we got to Carter’s home.
When this was all done, I would have to leave. I knew it, otherwise he would destroy me. But when the car pulled into a basement garage and stopped, my heart skipped a beat.
A rush of dark excitement went through me. The thought of living with him, being with him, sent my heart into a tailspin. He already had too much power over me.
Then the door swung open and a guard was there. He was Goliath in a dark suit. He could’ve been a professional wrestler with a strong jaw, bald head, and bland eyes. There were bulges underneath his suit coat. I knew enough to know those were guns. Then he indicated the elevator. “We’ll show you to your new home, Miss Martins. If you would follow me.”
With my bag in hand, I stepped out on unsteady knees. The door closed behind me. Another guard had shut it. He could’ve been a twin to the first one. He followed behind me as the car pulled away. Then we were in the elevator. The first guard pushed the top button.
“Are we…” My voice was hoarse as I asked, “Where are we?”
The first guy turned to me. “You’re at Mr. Reed’s private residence. You have the top floor.”
My eyes bugged out. The top floor? As in…the whole floor? “Does he own the whole building?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
There were six buttons in the elevator. This building had six floors to it? I knew Carter was powerful, but how powerful was he really? He owned an entire building as a home, in a city where no one owned a home like this.
When the elevator stopped and the doors opened, it was similar in layout to the penthouse. A small hallway led from the elevator to a door. A bench, light, and mirror were in the hallway with an opened closet to the side. Empty hangers hung in the closet. As both guards crossed the hallway and stood at each end of the bench, I wondered if it was the same set-up as before. They stayed until I left? But the other guard was gone when I left Carter’s penthouse.
“You can go on in, ma’am.” The first one gestured to the door. His arms crossed in front of him and his shoulders relaxed in his dark suit.
I took a deep breath and went inside.
Unlike the penthouse, which had been housed in darkness, this floor was bathed in light. The floors were marble white, the walls white behind bright wall decorations. A long table was in the middle of the room. It was also white. All of the walls were floor to ceiling windows. The city spread out around me as I circled around the floor. I couldn’t believe that this was where I would be living.
A stairway led down at one end to the floors below. The entire building was brightly lit.
Then I looked around my floor again. There were two bedrooms. Each of them had a private bath. I had my own living room set-up with two white couches around a fireplace that had candles inside of it.
“How were the goodbyes?”
I swung around. Carter stood at the top of the stairs. Gone was the dark sweatshirt and pants. He was dressed in a pristine-looking suit now. It was grey with blue lines that matched the blue in his eyes to perfection. A tie enhanced the colors even more.
My mouth watered. “You look nice.”
He frowned. “You don’t want to talk about your goodbyes?”
I drew in a breath and looked away. “Are you going somewhere?”
He sighed, but then moved towards me. “I have some meetings I have to get to.”
Of course. That made sense. I had waited until Amanda returned after work to say my goodbyes. He was in the mob. Their work probably happened during night-time hours. “Oh. Okay.”
His frown deepened. “I’ll be back in the morning. If you need food or anything, you can ask Thomas or Mike.”
“Those are the big guys out there?”
“Yeah.” A small grin appeared.
I drew in my breath. His face transformed, even from that small change. I had seen it before, but it was still startling to see it again. He was beautiful—there was no other way to put it. His eyes darkened as he heard my reaction. He moved a step closer and reached for me.
I reacted, stepping away from him, before I realized what I had done. I gritted my teeth together. I wanted his touch, but I feared his touch at the same time. A storm exploded inside of me from the dueling needs.
His hand retracted to his side. “Okay.” His smile softened. “If you need anything, you can call me.” He gestured to the long table behind me. “There’s a new phone there for you. It’s safer for you to use that one, not your old one. Your old could be—someone could be listening in.”
Oh. My brows furrowed together. Did that mean Dunvan knew it was me?
“It’s just safer. Use this new one.”
I looked back and was caught. I couldn’t look away. He had moved closer to me, within touching distance now. His voice grew quiet. “Franco Dunvan has no idea about your involvement. I have a phone company that’ll keep your line safe. I can’t guarantee that with your other phone. This would be a favor to me. It’ll make me worry less about you.”
I jerked my head in a nod. I was overwhelmed with so many emotions.
“Emma,” my name came from him in a soft whisper. He reached out and his hand slid to the back of my neck. He cupped my head and then stepped closer, almost pressing against me.
I closed my eyes as I felt him. My arms twitched. I wanted to wrap them around him and pull him to me, but I couldn’t. So I hugged myself harder. I hadn’t even realized I’d been hugging myself from the beginning. He pressed into me. His breath teased against my lips as his forehead rested on mine.
His other hand lifted and thumbed the corner of my lips.
I gasped, my mouth parted.
His thumb slipped inside, just an inch.
Before I could stop myself, my tongue darted out and swiped against it.
He whispered again, “Emma.” He drew in his own breath, tensing against me.
“Sir.” A different voice broke us apart.
Carter’s eyes were dark with desire as he stared at me, but then he cleared his throat. “Be right there, Gene.”
“Sir.” And then the door shut beneath us.
“I have to go.”
I nodded, trembling before him.
He groaned and reached for me. Instead of feeling his lips against mine, where I wanted them, he pressed them to my forehead. He whispered against me, “I’m glad you’re here. AJ would’ve wanted me to look out for you.”
He tore himself away and was gone within seconds. I was left in a mess behind him.
Was that all he was doing this for? For AJ?
My phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out and saw it was a text from Amanda. Ben keeps walking in circles. He can’t understand any of t
his. We ordered a pizza and he pulled a knife on the kid. Or he tried. It fell and almost sliced his toes. He’s a bumbling idiot. What did you leave me with?
I grinned. Make him go for a walk tomorrow. It would do him good, Mals too. Good luck. Hide the knives.
Now you tell me. Hope you’re ok wherever you are.
I struggled for a second. My hands shook, but then I took a deep breath. Everything would be fine. I knew it. I am. You too. Take care of Mals for me.
Will do.
After I looked at the new phone Carter left for me, I texted her the number and said I’d be using that number from now on. When she said that she had programmed it in and would give it to Mallory, I relaxed a little. She hadn’t questioned it. I’d been worried about that, but Amanda and Mallory hadn’t questioned a lot of what I had done over the last week. They trusted me. That was the truth. They knew I would take care of them, and I had.
I looked around my new home.
I shook my head. This was my new life, at least for now. With that final thought, I grabbed my bag and went in search of my bedroom. My priorities were to shower and then get a good night of sleep. Everything could go back to a normal routine.
But as I went into the master bedroom and saw the king-sized bed in front of me, I just wondered what my new normal routine would be. I didn’t think it would be anything like my old life.
EIGHT
My first night was spent in a restless sleep. I didn’t know when Carter would come back. I didn’t know what he expected of me. Did he expect something more? Was I in his home for a reason, other than to keep me safe? I had closed my bedroom door, but when he got home I didn’t know if he would come to me. Or maybe I wasn’t there for that? Every time I thought I heard something, I jerked awake and my heart would start hammering in my chest. Then nothing would happen, so I would relax back in bed.
The last time I looked at the clock it was nearing five in the morning. When I woke, groggy, it was after eight in the morning. Three full hours of sleep. I looked around the spacious room, and everything rushed back at me. I sat upright, fully awake with no grogginess at all.