by Marie Skye
"Ever the defiant one," he said as he walked past me, heading for the shower.
Not wanting to prolong this discussion, I quickly got dressed and headed to the main house. I decided to explore the grounds a little and noticed an impressive backyard that led out to a private beach.
"It's a beautiful view, isn't it?" I jumped at the voice.
"I'm so sorry. I didn't know anyone was back here. I was just taking a walk, Mrs. Mandrake."
She waved her arm. "Lorraine, please. Sit with me, please."
I tentatively joined her on the patio, and we sat in silence for a few minutes watching the waves crash.
"It's good to meet you finally. My son was worried you wouldn't come after the weekend you two had."
I gazed up at her. "He told you?"
She nodded, taking a sip of her iced tea. "He was beside himself, and I know Grayson. He's always the strong one, but there was so much anguish. And I knew, I just knew, if there was someone who could cause that much infliction in his soul, then he loved her. You keep him on his toes. It’s good for him. So when I say ‘it's good to finally meet you,’ I really do mean it.” She placed her hand on top of mine, leaned over, and kissed the top of my head before going into the house.
I sat there with tears welling in my eyes. They'd known me for five minutes, and the love here was overwhelming. I hadn’t felt that in so long. I got up and walked out toward the beach, staring into the water.
"Hey, there you are.” Grayson's arm circled around me. I tried to hide the fact that I'd been crying, but he saw. "Hey, you okay? What's wrong?"
He started looking concerned, as his brows furrowed as he started to check me over. I shook my head.
“Eyes on me, Emmalin.” I shook my head and tried to look the other way, but he held my face firm. “Emmalin,” he whispered against my lips.
“Grayson, they say to do one thing every day that scares you. Loving you scares me. It scares the shit out of me. But believe me when I say, I'll be doing it every damn day of my life."
He kissed me with such intensity, he took my breath away. "You're mine, Emmalin.”
I nodded.
The rest of the weekend with the family couldn't have been better. If it were possible, I would say they loved her more. There were still things we needed to discuss when we got back to Chicago. This time away was a small pause until we got back to reality, but it was much needed. I already had her things brought from the hotel to the brownstone. Now we were back home from out small, but needed getaway, still trying to figure out our lives.
"I just got an e-mail. My apartment is done."
I paused at the fridge. "Maybe now is a good time to discuss you moving in on a more permanent basis.” She furrowed her brow. “What’s the difference? You live here now. What has to change?” I pulled her to me. "We're together and we love each other, that much is evident. I've no plans of letting you go. Ever. So what's the problem? I want you to move in with me. Permanently.” She tried moving out of my grasp, but I held her tighter. "No. Say it."
"I liked having my own place. It wasn't much, but it was mine. I earned it."
"It was a shitty place, Emmalin."
She went lax in my arms and went back to cutting vegetables. "Thanks, Grayson. I did the best I could with what I had, but thanks for making me feel like shit about it."
I ran my hand through my hair. Fuck, even I knew what I said was a dick move. I put my arms around her. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. I just meant your place wasn't the safest for you. I just want what's best for you."
Tensing, she slammed the knife on the cutting board. "I want to keep my apartment, Grayson. And Tyler needs a place when he comes to town.”
I tensed at that fucking name. “I think Tyler is grown enough to take care of himself, Emmalin. Why is he even a point of argument with you?”
She threw her hands up. “I’m not entertaining this discussion regarding Tyler with you anymore.”
“You do know your feistiness, your stubborn as fuck attitude, and your unwillingness to compromise has me hard as fuck right now, right? I’m two seconds from tying your ass up and fucking you so deep, you’ll sure as hell remember it was me tomorrow.”
Her eyes widened as she looked down at my pants. Granite. She shook her head. "You can't just do a mind fuck on me, Grayson. That's not how this works."
"Can't I?” I took a step toward her as she took a step back. This was going to be fun. She held her head high, looking determined.
"We should at least compromise. It's only fair."
We both stood very still, watching each other like prey. She bit her bottom lip. Well, that was the wrong thing to do. All of a sudden, I reached up and swiped the kitchen island of all of its contents. Everything flew to the floor. Watching in shock, she didn't have time to react as I grabbed her and threw her on top as she squealed. "What's this you said about me not doing a mind fuck?" I growled in her ear. "I hope you don't like this dress.” I ripped the seam and the buttons went flying. "Hands stay flat on the table, understood?"
She nodded, and I raised an eyebrow. "Yes."
"Yes, what?"
"Yes, sir.”
Moving around the island, I never took my eyes off her. I retrieved a hand towel from the counter, folded it over, and placed it gently over her eyes. Her breathing hitched. I grabbed a pair of scissors from the drawer.
"You're so beautiful, laid out before me, like my personal feast.”
I flicked the scissors, making sure she heard the sound. Turning her head, she followed the noise. She flinched as I trailed the cool part of the blade down her neck slowly toward the apex of her breast. Snip. I watched as her bra fell on either side of her. I continued the trail, circling the blade around a nipple before taking it into my mouth as she arched into me with a moan. Slowly, I slid the blade down her stomach, pressing the tip more firmly, just enough to leave a light mark, and then harder until she hissed, and I swallowed her gasp with a kiss. I didn't want her to bleed, but I'd be lying if the thought didn't cross my mind. Reaching the edge of her lace panties, I watched the scissors slice through the material like Christmas paper.
"That was my favorite set, sir."
I smiled. "You'll get a thousand more," I whispered against her lips. "Talk to me."
She lightly sighed. "I'm scared, but I'm also excited. A part of me thinks this is all too fast, and I don't know if moving in with you is the wisest idea, yet when I'm with you is when I feel the safest.” As she talked, I lightly massaged her body, urging her to continue. "I don't want to be dependent on you. I won't be. I fought too hard to be where I am. I had to. Everyone I ever loved left me.” Her voice cracked.
I took off the blindfold and pulled her to me. This wasn't about a damn apartment. This was about her holding onto something she considered her haven because of abandonment. This was the first glimpse into her past that she ever acknowledged. I scooped her in my arms and kissed her softly as she trembled. I walked us to the bedroom, laying her down gently and covering her with my body until she started to fall asleep.
"He can't find me," she whispered right before she fell asleep.
My body froze and I stared at her. She was asleep, but I heard it, and my blood turned cold. I pulled her tighter against me. I had a call to make, but I waited, making sure she was sleep before going to my office.
It was time to dig. I picked up my phone, dialing the one number I trusted. Jack Devers. Ex-CIA. He answered on the first ring.
“Mandrake, been a while since I’ve heard from you. Must be important.”
“It is. I need you to pull up everything you can regarding two people.” I heard movement in the background.
“Somebody of importance?”
“Very. And they could possibly be in danger. I don’t know yet. Emmalin Ross and Tyler Langer. I also need eyes on Langer, just in case.” I heard typing in the background.
“And the girl?”
“She’s mine. Not to be touched, unless she
’s in danger, of course, so keep a distance. But Tyler rubs me the wrong way. I think Emmalin is in danger, and that bothers me.”
There was silence.
“Okay, give me a few days. I’ll be in touch.” He hung up.
I sent Jack the information I had before heading back to check on Emmalin. She was still sleeping. I went down to the kitchen and cleaned up the mess and prepared a quick dinner before waking her up and making her eat.
"Why are you staring at me?” She narrowed her eyes at me.
I shrugged. "I didn't realize I was."
She pointed her fork at me. "You're acting weird tonight. Oh, I forgot to tell you. I have an interview in a few days."
Now I had a reason to stare. "For what?”
She rolled her eyes. "A job. They said it's temporary, but it could lead to full time, so we'll see.” She looked up at me, smiling, but when she saw I wasn't smiling back, hers diminished.
"Why are you looking for another job? You have one."
She set her plate to the side. "After we broke up—"
I cut her off. "We didn't break up.”
She paused before continuing, "I didn't think working for you was a good idea anymore, and I started looking for other jobs."
"Were you that eager to get away from me?"
"Yes. I didn't want it to be any more awkward than it already was, Grayson. It would've been hard to see you. This is why people shouldn't date those they work with.” She kept talking, but I was already wondering if Jack had come up with anything.
I finally honed back in. "Who’s your interview with?"
"No one you need to concern yourself with, Grayson.” That damn mouth of hers.
I smiled, turning off the lamp and pulling her toward me.
"What?" she asked.
"Oh nothing. Just thinking how it's funny that you think that by not telling me, I still won’t find out. You do recall I knew where you lived without you telling me, right?"
She laughed. “Right, I forgot you’re a bit of a pain-in-the-ass stalker.”
I pinched her ass hard. “What can I say? I go after what I want, and I always get what I want.”
She yawned as I pulled her closer. She was who I wanted, and I planned on doing everything in my power to make sure she was safe.
Grayson wasn’t thrilled with me interviewing with another company and fought with me every chance he got. Of course his idea of fighting was fucking some sense into me. I was just going over some reports when my phone beeped with a message from Tyler.
Tyler: You ever get the feeling something strange is going on?
Emmalin: What do you mean?
Tyler: Idk. Maybe I'm paranoid
That didn’t sit right with me. Tyler was never paranoid. If anything, he was the one telling me to calm down. Before I could respond, he texted.
Tyler: I’m passing through for a few days. Maybe you could meet Molly. Be in tonight.
I was excited to see Tyler again and meet the girl he was dating. It was good to see him having a life. I finished my work for the day, eager to get home. Grayson was working late but was highly insistent I leave with Alistair. He looked stressed, and as much as I wanted to fight with him about it, now didn’t seem like the time. I decided to let him know later that I’d be hanging out with Tyler.
I was waiting until everyone left before Jack came to my office. I made sure Emmalin left with Alistair to head straight home, and if she needed to go anywhere, she needed to let me know.
Jack said he found something, but he wouldn’t tell me what. Fucking asshole. It was going on ten before I received notification that he arrived. There was a knock at the door.
“Come in.”
Jack walked in carrying a file. “Mandrake, always good to see you.”
We shook hands. “You only say that because I pay you well.”
He smiled.
I gestured to my desk. “So let’s cut the shit.”
He placed two files on my desk. “Anything stand out?”
I reached for the files on both Emmalin Ross and Tyler Langer. I started going over Emmalin's. Nothing looked out of the ordinary, pretty much everything she told me so far. From Arizona, mother died from cancer, birth father deceased, stepfather murdered. Wait. What?
"Yeah, I found that interesting, too. Her stepfather was well known in the community, and was the victim of a house robbery gone wrong. Victim stabbed multiple times."
"Trust inheritance?” I looked at Jack.
"Yeah, I found that odd, too. Didn't you say she worked more than one job? She has an inheritance trust fund that was available to her upon turning eighteen with over seven million dollars in it. There's a signed declaration of a refusal of trust. Every year she signs a declaration refusing funds on her birthday."
I looked at the last date of signature. It was dated two months ago. I looked over the documents in front of me. Something wasn’t adding up.
"It was harder getting Langer's since it was sealed, and it took a lot of digging and hacking to get this information."
I picked up Tyler’s record. Prison record for juvenile homicide. What the fuck?
Tyler Lee Langer
Age: 29
Convicted for murder. Age 13. Served five years in juvenile detention until the age of an adult, and then transferred to the state penitentiary.
My mind thought back to when Emmalin said she met Tyler. She said he had done time for things such as car theft, but that was it. I turned to the last page.
Victim: Aaron Michael Ross found with multiple stab wounds, a total of seven throughout the body. Knife located approximately eight inches from the body. Fingerprints tested to be Tyler Langer.
Tyler Langer found six blocks from the scene covered in the blood of the victim. Langer confessed to the crime and was later sentenced.
I felt the blood drain from my face. Tyler killed Emmalin's stepfather, and she didn’t even know it.
"I've heard of shit like this happening before. The person would befriend family members of the victim in hopes of seeking out further revenge with the family or to steal money, especially if they have a trust fund. I would bet that’s who she’s in danger from and doesn’t realize it."
“You have men on him?”
Jack nodded.
“Where is he now?” I demanded.
Jack didn’t even have to answer for me to know.
I picked up my phone and dialed Emmalin. She answered on the third ring.
“Where are you?”
"Hey, babe. I'm at your place getting dinner ready. What's up?"
"Are you alone?" When she paused, I asked again. "I said, are you alone?” I was now screaming into the phone.
"Yes… I got here about ten minutes ago."
"Do not move. Do not let anyone in. I’ll be there soon.” I hung up the phone. I knew I didn't like this guy. He killed her fucking stepfather, and for all I knew, he was plotting to kill her, too. I grabbed my coat and turned to Jack. "Keep your men on him. I don't want him within so much as a mile, so help me God."
I got in my car and sped. It was a fucking miracle I didn't run anyone over. I had to get to her. She wasn't safe anywhere near Tyler.
"Emmalin!” I stormed into the apartment, slamming the door. She wasn't in the living room. I started toward the kitchen where I heard pots and pans. "Emmalin!”
She looked up at me with those big green eyes I loved. "Hey, you. You okay?”
I stopped to catch my breath. “Where’s Tyler?”
"He and I parted ways about twenty minutes ago.” She continued stirring whatever was in the pot. “How’d you know he was here? Look, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you he was back in town. I was going to. He wants us to do dinner with him and Molly. I haven’t met her yet. She’ll be in town in a few days, but he’s excited.”
"I need to talk to you.”
She looked back at me and smiled. "What's on your mind, babe? Everything okay? I can't wait for you to try this sauce.” She continued talki
ng.
I didn't hear a word. All I could think about was how I had to tell the woman I loved that her so-called best friend killed her stepfather.
"…and Tyler thought it would be good, too.” The mention of that motherfucker’s name snapped me out of my reverie.
"You're not going to be around Tyler anymore."
She paused before carefully saying, "Grayson, you know he's my friend. We've talked about this, and you’re going to have to let that jealousy go—"
I banged my hand on the table so loud, she jumped.
"Dammit, Emmalin, listen to me.” I laid the file on the table and ran my hands through my hair. "There's something you need to know. Tyler is a very dangerous man, and he's going to hurt you."
"Tyler would never hurt me," she whispered.
"That's where you're wrong.” I picked up the file. “You said your stepfather was killed in a house robbery?” She nodded, taking a step toward me. I took a deep breath. "Baby, Tyler killed your stepfather, and I'm pretty sure he's after you too."
She took a step back. "Why would you say that?" she whispered.
"I've always been suspicious of him."
"So, because you're suspicious of him you think he killed my stepfather." She raised her voice.
"It's not a suspicion… I was able to get his sealed record. He told you that he was in and out of jail for theft. Baby, he was in prison for the murder of your stepfather.” I opened the file on the table. She came toward it and studied it.
"No.” She covered her mouth and walked out of the kitchen. I followed her.
"Baby—"
"No! Tyler did not kill my stepfather." She was in shock.
"Baby, I know it's hard, and I hate that you have to find out this way, but he shouldn't even be near you. He can go to prison just for violating that term.” She shook her head and faced the window.
"Emmalin?"
"This is a nice view, everything is so pretty when it gets dark." She had tears welling up in her eyes. "He didn't do this,” she whispered.