by Wade, Maddie
Blake wanted to wake up and make her breakfast and mow her lawns. He wanted to sit for hours as they talked about life, then strip her naked and make her scream his name until she had no voice left. The timing sucked. The shit with Eidolon and the crap with her father all made it the wrong time, but he felt unable to stop the forward momentum between them—he didn’t want to.
He plugged the mower in and tipped a wave at the older couple opposite who watched him with suspicion, making them smile and wave back somewhat awkwardly at being caught looking. He didn’t mind. In his book nosy neighbours were a good thing—they kept women living alone safer.
He was on his second turn of the lawn, his mind swimming with everything, when he saw a car pull into the small cul-de-sac. His muscles tensed as he stopped what he was doing and watched it come closer until it pulled to a stop behind his car. He was silent as Alex and Evelyn got out. Alex looked mildly apologetic and Evelyn slightly confused at seeing him there.
“Sorry, man, I tried to talk her out of it.” Alex shrugged as Evelyn turned and gave him a withering look which made Alex smile more.
“Blake, what are you doing here?” He could hear the suspicion in her voice.
“Mowing a lawn.” He knew he was being deliberately obtuse with his answer and didn’t care.
Evelyn moved to go past him. “Fine. I’ll ask Pax.”
Blake’s hand shot out as he stepped forward to stop her. “Pax isn’t feeling well.” He made it clear she wasn’t getting past him.
Alex moved in behind Evelyn but didn’t comment. Blake figured that Jack had told him the score and Alex was in an awkward position.
Evelyn turned and glared at Alex. “Is this why you kept distracting me this morning?” Blake could hear the accusation evident in her voice.
“No, mi nena, I just can’t keep my hands off you. Distracting you was a bonus.”
Evelyn shook her head but the smirk on her lips told Blake she wasn’t really angry with Alex. “I want to see her!” Evelyn’s demand made Blake realise she wasn’t an ordinary woman. Evelyn was an operative and she wouldn’t back down.
“Sorry, Evelyn. No can do.” He wasn’t willing to back down either and make Pax feel like he had betrayed her. He and Evelyn stood facing each other for a second until he heard the door open behind him and spun to see Pax.
“Pax.” Evelyn gasped pushing past him.
As he went to move to stop her, he felt Alex put a hand on his shoulder. “It’s done.”
Yeah, it was done and now he had to try and help Pax minimise the damage. Leaving the lawn mower in the middle of the lawn he followed Alex in and shut the door behind him.
He watched as Evelyn sat Pax at the dining table and then sat down beside her looking worried and accusing when her eyes came to his.
“Why the fuck are you looking at me like that?” Blake could feel fury at the unspoken accusation waltz through him.
“Calm down, Blake. She knows it wasn’t you,” Pax said the sleep still evident in her voice, along with pain.
He saw it though, even as she fought to put the wall up between her and the outside world. He hated seeing the shutters come down as she tried to shrug the persona of Perfect and Capable Pax into place.
“What happened?” Evelyn asked taking Pax’s hand in hers.
“It’s a long story,” Pax deflected, and he saw Evelyn look at Alex.
“Why don’t we go outside? I have a few things I need to discuss with you in private,” Alex said turning to Blake.
Blake turned towards her to make sure she was okay with it. “Pax?”
She waved him off. “Yeah sure.”
Blake walked towards the back sliding doors and pulled them open before stepping out as Alex followed. Blake checked his watch and knew Pax was due for some more pain relief soon but would give her and Evelyn a little time. He didn’t go far though, wanting to be close in case she needed him.
“You and Pax, huh.” Alex had no accusation or question in his voice just a plain statement.
Blake ran his hand over his head as he went to sit in the shade on the rattan sofa. Alex followed and sat opposite him letting the sun hit his face. Being from Cuba and growing up in Florida, Alex loved the heat and the sun.
“It’s complicated.”
Alex laughed. “It always is my friend. Tell me what happened to her.”
Alex’s demand sobered Blake and he was unsure for a second on how to answer him, torn between his loyalties to Pax and Eidolon. He figured Eidolon deserved his loyalty first, so he told Alex everything he knew but left out the bit about seeing two sides to her.
“Why did she wipe the cameras at Zenobi?”
“I don’t know for sure, but I think she feels embarrassed that she let them get the drop on her.”
Alex nodded as if he agreed. “Evelyn said she’s been different since Monaco but not in any specific way. I guess this would be why. I tried to stop her coming over, but I don’t think Evelyn knowing is a bad thing. Pax needs to see how much Zenobi values her and maybe that can start with her opening up to Evelyn.”
“Maybe.” He heard a laugh come from inside and knew it belonged to Evelyn. Blake took that as a good sign.
Alex studied Blake across the coffee table. “Jack told you then?”
Blake knew what he meant. “Yeah, what a complete clusterfuck. Do you have any thoughts on it that would help?”
Alex sat forward and leaned his arms on his legs that were encased in cargo shorts. “I keep thinking I do and then something happens, and I change my mind. I’ve been absolutely sure it was all of them at one time or another. Which is shit because they’re all good men, or I thought they were…”
“Has Will looked into their backgrounds?” Blake knew as he asked the answer was probably yes.
“Yeah, he ran all that. They all came up exactly as we expected with nothing of any consequence to be found.”
“What about family or close friends? None of these three would betray Eidolon without good reason and I don’t believe it’s simply for money. We make a fuck load more than most men in our position. Have him look into their families along with friends from way back. I think the link is there, and we need surveillance on all three of them.”
“Backgrounds we can do,” Alex shot off a text most likely to Will, “but surveillance is going to be almost impossible without A them knowing and B who the fuck would we ask? We can’t ask our guys because we don’t want that kind of poison leaking through the team. We can’t ask Fortis as they have enough of their own shit going on.”
“What about Zenobi?”
“No. Jack won’t hear of it. If he can’t trust his own men, there’s no way he’ll trust outsiders.”
Blake sat back and thought for a minute, there had to be a way to figure this out. “What about we give each of them intel that nobody else knows except us? If it gets out, we have our answer.”
“We could do that.” Alex swiped a hand over his chin. “Give me three scenarios and I’ll see if we have enough to make it believable.”
“Fine, give me tonight to put something together.” Blake was relieved that at least he was getting somewhere. “I have to go to the US at the end of the week with Pax to try and sort this shit with her father out. There’s more to that than I think she realises.”
“No problem. Keep in touch daily though. With things as they are and targets on our backs, we don’t want anyone off the grid. The men know to keep their trackers on at all times. Jack put that in place after the last mission went south.”
Blake had been there when Jack had made the announcement that all time off was cancelled and trackers were to be left on until he knew they all had their heads in the game.
He had been pissed at the time. He’d felt Jack was blaming them for things that weren’t their fault but now he understood. Jack was trying to keep a close eye on the three suspects.
“The trackers are on watches though, so aren’t foolproof.”
“Jack had some
planted in their vehicles too and on the new weapons holsters they wear. They may take the watch off and maybe even find the trackers, but the holsters usually stay on them and can’t be detected on a usual scanner unless they go through an airport scanner. As no leave has been granted, it shouldn’t happen.”
Blake looked at the door as it slid open and Pax and Evelyn walked outside. Blake felt his eyes move over Pax as she walked towards them behind Evelyn. Her gait was slightly lopsided, and he knew she was in pain. He waited until she got to him and sat down, her body leaning into his slightly but not touching.
“Pax told me everything. Thank you for taking care of her when we should have been doing so.” Evelyn’s tone conveyed her upset and anger. He instinctively knew most of it was aimed inwardly. “I have agreed with not saying anything to Roz, but Pax has also agreed that when this is over, she’ll tell Roz herself.”
“You don’t have to thank me, Evelyn.” Blake dropped an arm behind Pax and pulled her into his side kissing her head. He felt her tense and then she seemed to relax into him as she let whatever misgivings she had, go.
“No, I see that,” Evelyn said with a smirk, “but you have them anyway.”
“Will you lot please stop treating me like I’m a sick child?”
Blake chuckled at her pout. He leaned forward and whispered in her ear, feeling her shiver. “Want some more pain killers, honey?”
“Yes. Please,” she said waspishly as if the manners that were natural to her forced themselves past her pain.
“Sure thing.” He chuckled again before kissing her hair and standing.
She swatted him away. “Don’t kiss my greasy sweaty hair, you freak.”
“And on that note, it’s time we left.” Alex’s grin was filled with sympathy.
He walked Alex and Evelyn to the door to see them out.
“Anything you need from us before we go?” Alex asked.
“No, not right now. I’ll call you later with those things we discussed though.”
Alex nodded. “Cool. Good luck with the patient. If she’s anything like Evelyn, she’ll have you pulling your hair out in a week.”
Evelyn punched Alex in the gut at hearing his words which he took as he wrapped her in his big arms laughing and kissing her cheek.
He watched them walk away and thought he had never seen a couple more in love. They lit up for each other. They were the people others wrote or sang about. They completed each other in a way he’d never thought he would have, and he’d been okay with that. But now he wondered if he wanted it and if maybe Pax could be that person for him.
He laughed off the idea of him and Pax having that kind of love. She wanted him yes, but she was in no way catching feelings for him. She was too guarded and prickly but perversely, it made him want to peel back the layers until he got past the prickle and found the soft and sweet peach inside. They would either be mind-blowing together or kill each other. He was eager to find out which one it would be.
Chapter Eight
The last two days, much to her continued surprise, had been uneventful and somewhat relaxed—even pleasant if she didn’t count the continued nagging pain in her ribs. Blake had spent them pottering around her house, fixing things she hadn’t asked him to fix but none the less needed to be done, and she hadn’t gotten around to it. Their evenings had been spent either watching boxsets. One about a gang of outlaw bikers, the leader of which had a strong resemblance to Blake, the other had been a series about nerd scientists who shared an apartment.
Pax had never really watched anything like them but she found herself hooked and eagerly waited for Blake to join her so they could watch a couple of episodes together before he crashed on the sofa and she went to bed alone.
Going to bed alone was something she had done most of her life, but it was getting harder and harder not to invite the sexy man who was intent on looking after her into her bed. Blake was a shock to her system in some ways.
After their talk where he’d said he’d cared and wanted to help her, and the subsequent kiss to her hand where he’d made it clear he would pursue her—he hadn’t. Despite thinking she would find it annoying and she’d be trying to fight him off, he wasn’t even trying. It made her wonder if he had changed his mind about wanting her.
After Alex and Evelyn had left the other day with Evelyn promising not to tell Roz, Blake had handed her two ibuprofen and informed her he was going to help her wash her hair and shower. Despite her initial protestations she had given in.
Blake had told her to kneel on the bathroom floor while he bent her head over the bath and proceeded to wet her hair with the shower head and then massage the shampoo into her scalp until she felt a groan of pleasure slip from her lips.
“You enjoying yourself?” he asked with a chuckle.
“This is like a religious experience,” she returned. “Where the hell did you learn to do this?”
“I spent a summer working a Saturday job at a hair salon when I was sixteen,” he replied as he rinsed the suds away and then worked the conditioner through her long hair right to the very tips.
“You did?” She was thrown by the vision of Blake in a hairdressing salon.
“Yep. One of my buddies worked there. He said that on weekends it was a flood of teenage girls. He was gay so it wasn’t his thing, but I saw the opportunity to pull lots of girls and applied. I got the job and spent a delightful summer washing hair and pulling girls. It was a good summer.”
Pax laughed at the wistfulness of his tone but inwardly felt jealous knowing he probably did this for all the women he had ever been with.
“I haven’t done this in years, probably not since I left the salon,” he said as if reading her mind.
“Yeah, well, anytime you feel the urge…”
“Oh, I know where to come when I feel the urge, Pax. Don’t you worry.”
His chuckle made her blood heat. It had been sensual and intimate, and she had thought he would take things further but after helping her wrap her hair in a towel, he had run her a cool bath and left her alone, telling her to shout if she needed help.
She hadn’t and every day her ribs felt a little better and although her bruises were now turning a sickly green colour, they also felt a lot better. But Blake hadn’t touched her or been in any way flirtatious with her and she found she was disappointed.
“You want anything before I sit down?” he asked as he walked in the room fresh from his shower with his hair still wet, wearing gym shorts and a wife beater top that made his arm muscles look huge.
“Do we have any of that birthday cake ice-cream left?”
He nodded and went to fetch it. Returning with the tub and two spoons he settled beside her and handed her a spoon as he grabbed the remote. “What do you want to watch?”
“The biker one please.”
There was no way she was telling him she had an unhealthy attraction to the main character because he reminded her of him. Blake grinned and hit play on the last episode of this season. Pax was relieved to hear there were eight more for her to binge on when she was ready.
She sat through the first episode noticing that Blake was leaving all the big cakey bits for her to eat and smiled.
He motioned to the near-empty tub. “You done?”
“Yeah, I’m fit to burst.” She patted her belly as she leaned back on the sofa.
“Ready for season two?”
“I need to get another drink first.”
Standing, she felt happy that she had managed to go longer without the pain killers. She got herself a cold glass of water and grabbed him a beer from the fridge before moving to sit back down. She felt Blake’s eyes on her and turned to look at him. “What?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Just impressed with how you’re recovering from such a nasty attack,” he said as he studied her.
“Yeah, well, I can’t take credit for that. I guess I just heal quickly,” she replied with a shrug.
“I meant mentally. You seem to
have taken it in stride.”
She felt him slide his arm along the back of the sofa and became acutely aware that he would only need to move his hand an inch and he would be touching her. Her instinct was to tell him that she was unaffected by the attack and that she didn’t think about it and relive it but that would be a lie. The truth was, she was affected. She did relive it, but she wasn’t afraid and that was because of him. Because Blake hadn’t left her side since he’d arrived two days ago.
She slept easy knowing that Blake stood between her and anyone who wished to harm her. He had become her protector, her constant.
“I’m stronger than I look but mostly it’s because it’s hard to feel afraid when you have someone willing to stand between you and those that want to harm you.” She knew he deserved her honesty.
“I think it has more to do with you than me. You’re much stronger than you realise. I don’t think that it’s training either. I think you have an inner strength.”
“Roz has taught me a lot. I owe her more than I can ever thank her for.”
“How did you end up with her and Zenobi?” His finger began to trace a line from her shoulder down her arm. It was an innocent touch, in no way meant to be sexual, but it was driving her insane.
She tried to ignore it and answer his question. “When I left my parent’s home, I had five hundred dollars in my checking account and a suitcase full of big dreams and not much else. I was determined to prove to my father I didn’t need or want his money. Within two days I’d had my suitcase stolen and was staying in a pay by the hour motel off the highway. I ran out of money pretty quickly and was down to my last cent when I heard shouting outside my motel room door. I was terrified but I’ve always been one of those people that was too curious for her own good.”
Blake lifted a brow and she laughed softly. “Well, you can guess what happened next. I opened the door. I shouldn’t have, I know it was foolish. I cringe every time I think about what could have happened.”