Breathe

by Sonnie Wolf

  “Why would you do that? I don’t want him mixed up in this crap.”

  “Oh, Gracie,” he says to me like I’m a child, patting the top of my hand with his. “He’s already in it. Just with a different last name behind it.” He pauses. “I thought he told you this last night?”

  “He did. But with him talking to Daddy and what happened with Patrick this morning,” Miles’ face turns to disgust at the mention of his name, “I’m just a little confused with everything. He has enough to do with his own family; he doesn’t need to be bothered with ours.”

  Just as Miles was about to speak again, Briar, Olive and Rafe come back and end the conversation. We all have another round. As we start winding down, I realize the time.

  “I have to go. Linc should be at my place soon for dinner.”

  “Ooooo,” Briar teased. “Dinner with the husband?”

  “Shut up.” I snap. I'm in no mood for playful banter today. Turning to Miles I ask, “Can you drop me off?”

  “Sure,” he nods.

  I give a tight hug to my three friends as we all head out of the bar. As soon as I step outside the chill is back. This is so weird. I feel as though I’m being watched, but not in a good way. It's probably just the paparazzi hiding in an alley or something. I brush it off to be just that.

  RUSHING INTO THE APARTMENT, I drop my purse in the foyer and make a dash for the bedroom only to be stopped in my tracks by the yells coming from upstairs. There are a series of playful taunts mixed with the occasional curse. I jog up the stairs. Asher’s door is ajar so I push it open further and glance in.

  “What are you two doing in here?” I ask playfully, seeing the two of them sitting in video games chares on the floor in front of Asher’s giant TV.

  “Shhh,” Asher demands.

  “We’re playing 'Halo',” Linc quickly states not looking at me.

  I clearly know that I’m not wanted in here. I stare for a few more moments at my baby brother and my new...whatever he is.

  After cleaning up for dinner, I go into the kitchen to see if I can help Amy with anything. As always, she has things under control and is almost ready for us to eat. I grab dishes and start to set the table. Reaching over to place the last plate on the opposite side, I feel two very strong hands at my waist.

  “It’s good to see you at home,” he whispers leaning into my ear.

  I twist my body to meet him. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”

  “Let’s talk about it later. I’m just glad you’re here.” He gives me a gentle kiss on the forehead and goes into the kitchen to grab a beer.

  I'm glad he's here too.

  DINNER WAS NICE AND comfortable.

  After a very heavy make out session that I had to stop before it turned too serious, I’m snuggled up with Linc and Duritz on the couch, watching a TV show about pawning things. I start to think about how my day had played out. I experienced many emotions, starting and ending with happiness caused by Linc. He was also the cause of frustration and confusion. I just don’t know what to think about him sometimes. When we’re like this in my space, everything is great. But when we’re out there in the real world, he’s a whole different person. I suppose I could say the same about myself. I try to act one way out in public to keep up appearances, but in actuality that is not who I am at all.

  I let my guard down with him at home. He keeps throwing stones and the glass is getting weaker and weaker. I need to be careful with him. I know we have things to talk about, but I don’t want to push things. I’ve seen what that can do to people. I watched from the sidelines as Miles got his heart trampled on by his last serious girlfriend over two years ago. She pushed too much, too quickly and didn’t like the answers to some of her questions. She didn’t pay attention to those answers and ran off telling certain things to certain people. When you talk about my family in an unkind way and one of them finds out about it, things happen. Things happen to certain people and things happen to certain people’s possessions. I won’t push, because I know the outcome.

  “So, do you want to tell me why Patrick was in your office today?” Linc breaks through my thoughts.

  I sit up. “I assumed you already knew why. You know, with you being in close contact with Daddy now.”

  Way to not push it.

  “That’s not fair, Grace. I had to do something and with me being friends with your brother it just made sense.” He looks down at me. “And I do know some. I just don’t understand why he went there, of all places. He fucked up and going to the one place where your dad and brothers are all day is a death wish. Believe me. I wouldn’t blink an eye at seeing him get his ass kicked. He’s lucky he got to walk out of there intact.”

  “I get it. You're a big strong man. There's no need for you to react to my shit like this. You don’t need to be involved in this or what the family does with it. You have your own shit, your own family and your own life to take care of.”

  “I am in this, Grace. What I do with my time is up to me.”

  “Why do you want to do this? Spend all this time fussing about me. I'm really starting to question your sanity. You have your own family to deal with. Why join in mine?”

  “You,” he states very matter-of-factly.

  “Me?”

  “Yes, you.” He grins. “I want to keep you as safe as I can. And to do that I need to be close to the source of those who are already doing their best to do that. Like I said before, I’m already good friends with Miles, so it was easy.”

  He turns me so we’re facing each other. He slides his big hands behind my neck and kisses my forehead. “Ever since I saw you at my club a few weeks ago, I’ve had this feeling, this urge, to be near you. And then we met last weekend in Jersey and those feelings got stronger.” He plays with my hair as he takes a breath in and out in one heavy stream.

  “I care about you and what happens to you. Probably more than I should after such a short time of knowing you. I'm a man of instinct, and it's telling me to be with you, to protect you. Knowing what I know about your family and how it works and what I can do to help, it was a logical move for me. I have plenty of people that work for me that can take care of my businesses when I can’t be there. I want to be here for you when you need me and even when you don't.”

  He presses his lips to mine to let me know just how much he does care for me. How can these feeling be happening so quickly?

  This kind of stuff only happens in romance novels.

  His kiss is smooth and inviting. He moves his lips down to my neck and finds the sweet spot right below my ear. I moan as his hands start to explore my upper body. A hand drifts under my top and heads north. It stops at my breast and he teases my nipple through my unlined lace bra. More moans escape me. The next thing I can comprehend is my shirt being lifted. Out of instinct I raise my arms. Linc's soft lips are immediately back on mine while his hands run up and down my back. As he leans me back on the sofa, one of his rough, beautiful hands returns to my breast and finds the nipple again, rolling and teasing it. I feel the fiery sensation starting to build low in my belly. The same hand that is torturing my helpless little nipple heads south and finds the button of my jeans.

  Whoa.

  What am I doing?

  I gently push against Linc's chest. “I can't do this.” I wrap my arms around myself.

  Just breathe.

  His hand stops and he leans back on his knees. “I'm sorry. I shouldn't-”

  “No. It's me. I thought I could. I thought I was ready.”

  Actually, it's not me. It's Patrick's fault. That fuckwad.

  I look away from him, suddenly extremely embarrassed. “I shouldn't have led you on like that. I'm sorry.” I rock myself back and forth. “I'm so sorry.”

  “Don't be. You didn't do anything wrong, Grace.” He leans down and picks my top up off the floor and helps me put it back on. “When you're ready, I'm ready.”

  This man is amazing.

  I lean in and kiss him. I let this kiss tell him w
hat I feel in this moment.

  “Stay with me tonight,” I blurt out against his mouth without thinking.

  “I shouldn’t.” He pulls back and my face drops. “I want to, but I shouldn’t. You need time to digest all of this and I have some things to take care of at Mercury tonight.”

  “Okay,” I pout. This always works on Daddy and the brothers. Maybe it’ll work on Linc, too.

  He sighs and shakes his head. “Don’t do that.”

  Ha!

  It's working. “Don’t do what?”

  “Pout like that. It makes me feel like an asshole.” I grin a little, more for my sake than his. “That’s better.” He kisses my lips softly again. “How about this, I leave now and get some work done. Then I’ll come back and keep you nice and warm with this big body while you sleep.”

  I perk up a bit. “Big body, huh? That sounds good to me.”

  “It’ll be late. Is that okay?”

  “Wait a sec,” I say as I get up off of the couch. I shuffle over to the table in the foyer and dig around in a drawer until I find what I’m looking for. I approach Linc, who’s now standing by the kitchen bar. “Take this.” I hold out my arm with a key sitting in the palm of my hand. Ironically, I think that's where Linc is now, too.

  “Are you sure?”

  Not really.

  “I know it seems weird because we’ve only known each other a week. And I know I just said I wasn’t ready for that yet, but if you’re going to be spending all this time with me, and let’s face it you already have access to just about everything else, then you might as well have access to the apartment.” He gives me that sexy-as-hell smile. “I'm not letting you move in, but I'll put you on the list at the front desk and you can come over whenever you like.”

  So much for taking your time with this, Grace.

  Idiot.

  “Thank you.” He takes me in his arms and kisses me.

  Hard.

  If this is how he shows his thanks, he can thank me all he wants.

  Chapter Seventeen

  “I know. I can’t believe I did that either. It just seemed like the right thing to do at the time. Do you think he thinks I’m moving too fast now?” I ask as I file my nails sitting cross-legged in the middle of my bed, holding the phone between my chin and shoulder.

  “No way. He’s the one that worked his way into your life, into your family in the matter of a week.” Rafe has always been the most honest person in my life.

  “True. Enough about me. How’s Sam? You haven’t talked about him for a while.”

  “Oh, Sam is Sam. He's British and I'm not.”

  “Nope. Not even if you tried.” I giggle. “Please don't try. Your attempt at the accent sucks.”

  Rafe and Sam have been sort of dating long, long distance for about two years now. He met him in London when Rafe was there for work. Every few months one of them will fly over to see the other for one or two weeks. I don't know how they do it. Especially Sam. I would fall apart without Rafe near me.

  I wander into the kitchen as we talk and talk and talk some more. I’m thirsty for some wine. I’m always thirsty for wine when we talk. As I pour a second glass while Rafe goes on about an upcoming photo shoot he’s styling, I hear a set of keys being dropped on the foyer table. It startles and distracts me from what Rafe is saying. Before I know it, Linc is standing by the bar staring at me.

  “I gotta go Rafe.”

  “Oh, is he there.”

  “Yep. Love you.”

  “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

  “Well that doesn’t leave me much.”

  “You bitch. Love you, too.” He hangs up.

  “Hi.”

  “Hi back.” He looks tired. I glance at the clock and realize that it’s almost three o'clock in the morning. “I wasn’t expecting you to be up still.”

  “Rafe called. We ended up talking about his boyfriend, Sam and stuff.”

  “Ah. I see.” He winks at me and gives me a sly look.

  “What?”

  “Nothing.” He drops his head, shakes it and looks back up at me. “I like coming back here after a hard night at work.”

  He knows how to make me smile. “Do you want a drink or something?”

  “No. Just bed. There was a lot to deal with tonight. I’m exhausted.”

  “Okay.” I come around to stand next to him. “Let’s go big boy.”

  I tug on his arm to get him to follow me. He takes my hand in his. It feels different, rougher. I raise it so I can see better.

  “What is this?” It looks freshly beat up with cuts, scrapes and a few forming bruises.

  “Nothing for you to worry about,” he says passively.

  “Tell me. What—” Damn it. Interrupted by my stupid phone again. I look at the screen. It’s Briar.

  “Hold on a sec.”

  I answer. “Hi...what’s wrong...stop crying. I can’t hear you very well...Miles? No, he wasn’t here at all tonight. I haven’t talked to him since this afternoon...yeah, he just got here...no. Why...WHAT!” I look over at Linc and find a sad look on his face. “No, he didn’t tell me. Let me talk to Miles.”

  While waiting for Miles to get on the phone, I speak to Linc. “Are you going to tell me what happened tonight?” Miles gets on the line and saves his ass...for now. He walks over to the bag he dropped by the front door and heads down the hall to the bedroom.

  “What is this, Miles...I don’t care what you think he deserved. He may be a total dickhead, but he didn’t deserve what you two assholes did to him...he was only talking, he didn’t touch me. Daddy came in later anyway...no he doesn’t want me back...what? He told you that...Well, he didn’t tell me that...I don’t care. That is not how I feel about him. He can’t have me back. He needs to deal with this mess he started, but he didn’t need this to happen...I’m done talking to you about this. Put Briar back on...Wait, once she gets off the phone, you tell her everything. This is her first time dealing with the aftermath of what you do...take care of her...you, too.”

  Briar gets back on. “Hey, it may be hard to take right now, but let him explain things to you...yeah, I’m pissed too, especially since it didn’t need to happen...it's okay to be angry. Yell at him if you have to or hit him if you have to. He can take it...just do me a favor and listen to him, okay...you too.” I hang up and forcefully drop my phone on the bar counter.

  “Jesus Christ!” I scream. Linc walks down the hall toward me looking sexy in only pajama pants. They hang off his hips in just the right way so that his masculine V appears. It's like his hips are directing my eyes where to go. Oh my God. My loins are on fire.

  Stupid loins.

  How can I be mad at him and want to jump his bones at the same time?

  Stupid female hormones.

  I lunge at him when he gets close enough to me. He catches me and pulls my body in tight enough that my fists land right on his chest.

  “Why in the Hell did you do it?” I scream as I push at him, but he has me so tight I can barely move.

  “Baby, stop.” He lets me go. I hit him some more so he grabs me by the wrists. “We weren’t expecting it to go down like it did.”

  I struggle to get out of his grasp, knowing damn well that I never could until he let me go. “What did you think was going to happen when you had Miles lure Patrick down to your club to talk? Miles knows better and you should have too! You don’t even know him! You don’t know what happened with us! You had no right to do what you did!” My voice is loud and I can't help but cry out of anger and frustration.

  “Keep your voice down, Grace.” He sounds strong and controlled. It’s annoying. “You’re going to wake Amy and Asher. Let’s go in your room and talk about it in there.”

  “No. We’re finishing this right here,” I say a little quieter, my voice quivering.

  “Fine.” He drops my wrists. “You really want to know what happened?” he asks. Now he has a louder voice. He runs a hand through his hair and the other rests on his hip as he
starts to pace.

  Oh God. Did I push too far?

  Wait. I don't care. I need answers.

  “Miles and I knew that we needed to do something to keep Patrick away from you. We talked about what that douche did this morning. He can’t come see you whenever he wants, Grace. He lost that right a week ago.” He stops pacing and stares at me for any kind of response.

  I don’t give it.

  “We needed to scare the shit out of him somehow to warn him off. Just yell at him a bit. So, Miles called him and had him meet us down at the club, having him think that it was a nice public place for us to talk. He arrived alone not knowing that it was my place and probably thinking he was only meeting your brother. Miles brought him back to my office.” He sat back down on a stool and took a deep breath.

  “I introduced myself and we started talking, discussing the events that led us to this meeting, which turned into yelling. He accused me of putting you in harm’s way and that I was just a replacement to tide you over until you were ready to take him back. He said a lot more unsavory things about me, then Miles, your father and then...” He drops his head and shakes it as though to clear it of his bad thoughts.

  “God, Grace. The way he was talking about you like you were his property, like a pair of shoes or something was unnerving. Actually, it pissed me off more than anything. He kept saying you were his and until you were ready to come back to him no one could touch you, no one else could have you.”

  Tears are pricking the backs of my eyes.

  He lifts his head so our eyes meet. “I lost it. I couldn’t hold back. I tried. For you I tried, but I couldn’t. You don’t deserve to be spoken about that way. Especially from someone who supposedly loves you. Like I said, I'm a man of instinct and it took over. Once I got in the first hit, Miles tried to stop me. After a few more hits he finally got me off of him. That’s when he went after Miles, shouting things about your family, blaming them for all this. He was trying to throw punches at him. He was wild with rage, more than either of us. Miles took two good swings at him and he went down. The asshole took hit after hit until Miles thought he had enough. He called Landon and had him pick Patrick up at the back alley. Miles threw him in the car with Brody's help and they sped off.” He looked down at the floor again.