by L. P. Dover
“Oh my God, are you okay?” I asked, afraid that something was wrong. Taking her hands, I walked into the house, raking my gaze over her body to make sure she wasn’t hurt. She looked the same, dressed in a blue maternity dress with her hair in a bundle of red curls on top of her head. “Are the babies all right? Did you fall? Do you need to go to the doctor?”
Melissa blew out a shaky breath and shook her head. “I don’t need to go to the doctor. The babies are fine, Claire. I think the pregnancy hormones are making me emotional.”
“Really? That’s it?” I asked in disbelief. She glanced nervously over her shoulder before turning back to me. “For some reason I don’t believe you,” I scolded her. “What’s going on?”
Nervously, she tried to usher me toward the door and that was when I realized she was trying to get rid of me. Did she really think I would leave just like that? She knew me better than that. “Melissa, you can stop pulling me toward the door because I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what’s going on,” I snapped.
Before she could answer, my gaze caught a movement off to the side of the room. Someone was there, and out of the corner of my eye I realized it sure as hell wasn’t Melissa’s husband, Brett. Please, don’t let it be who I think it is, please don’t let it be …
I chanted that over and over in my mind, and even closed my eyes in hopes that it was just my overactive imagination playing tricks on me. Nope, the figure was still standing there. Even if I couldn’t fully see who it was I had no doubt in my mind I already knew. My heart pounded the same way it always would when that specific person would be near. I had done so well with moving on and now it was shot to hell. The anger I thought I had suppressed over the past few months came flooding right back, rearing its ugly head, but what was even worse was that deep down there was that little ping of excitement of being able to see him again. My traitorous heart had screwed me over again.
Melissa squeezed my hands apologetically and whispered, “I’m so sorry, Claire. I tried to call you.”
Closing my eyes, I took in a deep breath before mustering up the courage to face the man who broke my heart. I didn’t have to wait long because the moment I opened my eyes it was no longer Melissa standing in front of me, it was Mason. He was dressed in a fitted gray T-shirt and a pair of loose denim jeans that hung low on his hips with his favorite baseball cap covering his dark blond hair. What made it even worse was the way he looked at me with those piercing green eyes. It was the way he looked at me when we made love four months ago, or better yet, when we fucked, since it didn’t mean anything to him.
After all this time he had no right to look at me like that. He had no right to even speak to me.
“What are you doing here?” I asked angrily, placing my hands on my hips.
He moved closer and sighed. “I came to see Melissa and to make things right with you,” he confessed. “Can we go somewhere and talk … just me and you?”
Incredulously, I laughed in disbelief, thinking it had to be a joke. When he stared at me, with not a touch of a smile, I knew he was being serious. Out of all the times for him to come back, it had to be now, I screamed in my mind.
“Mason, you had four months to make things right with me,” I hissed. “There’s nothing you can do to make up for what you did. I’m sorry, but I have nothing more I want to say to you … ever!”
With those final words, I turned on my heel and stalked out the door.
I didn’t realize how much she despised me until the moment I stepped into the doorway and Claire saw me, and I saw the outright venom in her eyes. From that look alone I knew she wouldn’t take me back, but it wasn’t going to stop me from trying. I came here for a reason and I’m not leaving until I do what I told myself I was going to do. I was going to put everything on the line.
As I watched Claire turn her back on me and walk away, I had the deepest urge to handcuff her to a chair and make her listen to me. However, forcing her would only push her away even more. When I handcuffed her to anything it would be out of mere pleasure, not anger. I was determined to get her back. Rushing out of the house, I grabbed Claire’s arm before she could go any further and turned her to face me.
“Let me go, Mason,” she ordered through clenched teeth.
Her body was coiled tighter than a snake, but when I grabbed her other arm and pulled her closer, I could feel the tension in her muscles loosen and she noticed it, too. I wanted to kiss those lips of hers that tasted sweet like honey with the hint of raspberries, and feel her bare skin on my fingers. Seeing her now only reminded me of how stupid I had been to let her go, and now it was too late. Or was it?
“Please give me this chance, Claire,” I murmured in her ear. “There are so many things I need to tell you. I know you’ve moved on to someone else, and it’s kind of obvious with his name plastered all over your body, but I can’t leave here without telling you how I feel.” I paused and took a deep breath. “I’ve missed you, Claire. I missed you the moment you drove away from me at the airport four months ago.”
“Why are you doing this now?” she asked incredulously, pulling her arms out of my grasp and crossing them over her chest.
She stepped back, one small step after another, and the further she moved away the further I could feel her slipping away. A tear slid down her cheek and she wiped it away, whispering, “Things are finally going good for me, Mason. I can’t have you screwing that up.”
Nodding, I lowered my head and blew out a shaky breath. “I understand, and if you’re truly happy then what I have to tell you won’t matter at all. I have to get this out or I may never get the chance again. Claire, I …”
Unfortunately, that was as far as I’d gotten before the sound of Cooper’s truck coming down the long driveway stopped me. Are you fucking kidding me? When am I ever going to catch a break? It was perfect timing on his part, but terrible for mine. Skeptically, he glanced from me to Claire and then settled his gaze on me with a scowl on his face. It was obvious he knew who I was, and if not it was obvious he didn’t care for me. Claire glanced nervously behind her, and I knew my moment to tell her how I felt was lost. Would I get a chance to before I left? I had no clue, but I had to try. Before Cooper could get out of his truck, I stepped closer to Claire and let her see the seriousness in my eyes.
“Meet me tonight,” I muttered quickly. “You know where.”
Past her shoulder I could see Cooper approaching, but she kept her glistening blue eyes my way. If she didn’t agree to meet me tonight there was still the possibility I’d never see her again. Any time I went undercover was dangerous and I always had to accept the probability that it could be the last mission I ever went on. It was the way it worked.
“I’m sorry, Mason, but I can’t. I can’t risk everything just because you show up on my doorstep. If you want my trust or my heart you need to fight for it … you need to earn it. Until you’re willing to do that I don’t want to see you again,” she uttered boldly.
Cooper finally made it to us and put his arm around Claire’s shoulders, pulling her into his side. “Everything okay?” he asked, gazing down at her before turning a lethal glare my way.
Claire wrapped her arms around his waist and nodded, smiling up at him. “Yes, everything’s fine.” Her smile disappeared when she glanced back at me. “I was just telling Mason good-bye.”
With those last words she turned her back on me for the second time today while Cooper stayed behind. We both watched her climb into his truck and shut the door, keeping her gaze on anything but us.
“What are you doing here?” Cooper asked angrily, crossing his arms over his chest. He was a couple of inches taller than me, but height never mattered anyway. We were almost identical as far as body size, but I knew without a doubt I could take him in a fight.
“Not that it’s any of your business,” I replied with a sly grin on my face, “but if you must know I came to visit my cousin.”
Cooper scoffed. “Well, whatever the reasons are you
better stay away from Claire. I know who you are and what you did to her. However, I guess I should be happy that you were such an idiot because now I have her and you don’t. So thank you for that.”
“I don’t think you’ll be thanking me when I get her back,” I warned with a smirk on my face. “I let her go once, but it was a mistake I’ll never make again. I’ll fight for her no matter what it takes. You can count on that.”
I was determined to get her back and of that I was certain.
“I still can’t believe Austin is gone and Summer’s missing,” Melissa murmured sadly, catching my attention. I didn’t even know she was behind me until she spoke.
“I know, but I’m going to find out what happened to them. I can promise you that,” I vowed wholeheartedly, sealing up the envelope in my hand.
For the past two hours I’d done something I never thought I would ever do in my life … I wrote a fucking love letter, and also wrote down everything Melissa would need to know if I didn’t make it back alive. When Melissa showed me to the guest bedroom I’d be staying in for the night, I saw the desk in the corner and went straight to it. The whole time I kept thinking how pathetic it all was to write a letter, but I wanted Claire to know how I felt before I left, in case I didn’t come back.
“What is that?” Melissa asked, glancing down at the envelope clutched in my hand.
Releasing a heavy sigh, I passed it over to her and said, “It’s a letter to Claire, and all the information you will need in case I don’t come back. I need you to make sure Claire gets the letter after I leave.”
Melissa took the letter and papers cautiously, furrowing a brow. “You’re not telling her good-bye, are you? Because so help me God you better come back in one piece after all of this shit.”
Seeing my pregnant cousin looking at me like she wanted to kick my ass made me chuckle. She threw a pillow at my head and huffed, “I’m being serious, Mase. This isn’t a laughing matter. Fighters are showing up dead and you’re going right into the middle of it. Promise me you’ll stay safe.”
Taking her hand, I pulled her up from the bed and hugged her tight. “I promise I’ll be safe, Mel. I know what I’m doing.” She sobbed against my chest and I hated that I was causing her pain, but I wanted to see her before I left, and more so I wanted to see Claire.
“All right, Mel, stop crying.”
She released the death grip she had around my waist and looked up at me. “Will you be able to call me when you’re out there?”
“Probably not every day, but I’ll make sure you know I’m safe, okay?”
She sniffled and blew out a shaky breath before saying, “Okay.”
After she left, I shut the door to my room and lay down on the bed, staring at the ceiling. There were so many things running through my mind that I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep if I tried. From the information Ryan’s sources had gathered for him there was a man who seemed to be the number one key suspect in the deaths and who was possibly in charge of the illegal underground fighting ring. He sent me over all the information before I left home to come to California. No one had gotten close enough to get the guy’s name, but there was one thing that would make him a little easier to spot … he had a dragon tattoo on the right side of his neck and a jagged scar by his left eye.
Finding him wasn’t going to be easy, but I had to try.
“What do you want to do today, babe?” Cooper asked, entering the kitchen with only a towel wrapped around his waist. “We can drive down to the bay. We haven’t done that in a long time.”
When he walked by me, he kissed me on the cheek before pouring himself a cup of coffee. Driving to San Francisco was over a two hour drive from my house, and if we stayed down there all day we wouldn’t get back until later. From the confrontation Cooper had with Mason yesterday it wouldn’t surprise me if he wanted to get me away just so I wouldn’t see him. All night I tossed and turned wondering if I’d made a mistake not meeting Mason when I had the chance. For the first time since I’d known him he actually seemed sincere with his plea. It was too late now.
However, I couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling in my gut saying that I made a horrible mistake in not hearing him out.
Leaning against the counter, Cooper blew the steam away from his cup and took a slow sip, lifting a brow in the process while waiting on my answer. Putting thoughts of Mason aside, I slid our omelets onto the plates and passed Cooper one before answering as excitedly as I could, “Driving to the bay sounds great. After we eat I’ll take a shower and get ready to go.”
Smiling, he seemed to be appeased at my answer, except deep down I really didn’t want to go. My traitorous heart wanted to see Mason again and I felt guilty for even thinking it. After I ate half of my omelet, I couldn’t stomach anymore so I took a shower and made sure to stall just a bit by putting my makeup on slowly and fixing my hair. I had to get Mason out of my mind.
“Babe, are you about ready to go?” Cooper called out from the living room. “I thought maybe we could go to lunch at that restaurant you like so much on the way down there.”
I slipped on my little white sundress and zipped it up as far as I could get it before grabbing my sandals and joining him in the living room. Dressed in a pair of khaki shorts and a blue polo shirt that hugged his perfectly shaped biceps, I smiled appreciatively at him before turning my back so he could zip me up the rest of the way.
Instead of zipping me up, he did the opposite and lowered it, leaning his head down to kiss my neck. “Or better yet, we could just stay here and make love all day. You look so damn hot right now.”
I laughed and smacked his hand when he tried to grab my breast. “Zip me up and let’s get out of here. It was your idea to go on this day trip, was it not?”
He groaned and reluctantly zipped up my dress. “Yes, it was, but that was before I saw you in that dress and before I got a raging hard on. I want you so bad right now.”
Pushing his hard cock up against my back, he reached up under my dress, trailing his fingers up my thigh and further up to …
Before he could go up any higher, a knock sounded at the door. Grumbling under his breath, Cooper straightened my dress and marched to the door saying under his breath that it better not be Mason. My pulse quickened as I anxiously waited to see who was behind the door, and when Cooper stepped out of the way, Melissa walked in with a frown on her face.
“Can I talk to you for a minute?” she asked, glancing at me warily.
“Of course,” I uttered slowly, cautiously. Again, something wasn’t right because I could see it in her eyes.
When I joined her at the door, she nodded her head toward outside, indicating she didn’t want to talk around Cooper. I shut the door behind me as I followed her out. We walked around to the garden which was full of multi-colored flowers and herbs. The water fountain we both took a seat at had been a recent addition to my flowery escape.
“What’s up, Mel? Why do you look so sad?” I asked.
She sniffled and pulled out a thick white envelope she had stowed away in her bag, handing it to me. “I swear, I think I’ve cried more with being pregnant than I have in my entire life. This is absolutely ridiculous,” she sobbed, pointing to the letter in my hand. “It’s from Mason. He wrote it last night.”
“Really?” I gasped incredulously. I turned the envelope over and slid my finger underneath to break the flap. “What, was he too afraid to bring it to me himself?” I inquired, rolling my eyes. Pulling out the letter, I started to unfold it when Melissa’s next words halted me.
“There’s a reason he’s not here to give it to you, Claire,” she muttered sheepishly. “He left this morning.”
“What?” I shrieked, dropping the letter on the ground. “He already left to go back home? How can that be? I can’t believe he gave up so quickly.”
Sighing, Melissa closed her eyes and shook her head. “Claire, he didn’t give up on you, but I do think there’s some things you need to know.”
Usual
ly, I could handle surprises, shocks, and bad news with an open mind. I had to say, I wasn’t prepared for what she said next.
The more Melissa explained Mason’s mission, the more I grew sick with fear. What made me even more upset was that I didn’t find out before he left, or better yet he told Melissa not to tell me. He left the letter, which I had yet to read, and was somewhat nervous to read it. Mason was on his way to Las Vegas, and for a while I had grown to know that city very well.
After recovering from an injury that ruined any chances of a dancing career for me, I lived in Vegas for a while, doing things I knew my family wouldn’t be proud of, but I was angry and upset and I needed the outlet. I experimented with drugs a little bit and enjoyed the high it offered, but it only helped temporarily. I didn’t stay on that path for long; I finally came to my senses and sought solace in dancing again. Dancing was my savior and I owed it to a very special person from my past … someone I hadn’t spoken to in over a year.
I’d seen the news reports on the dead fighters, but I never in my life thought it would ever involve Mason. Yeah, he fought in the ring years ago, but at that point in time I didn’t know who he was. I hadn’t met him yet. Mason mentioned it to me briefly on one occasion when I went to North Carolina to visit my brother and Melissa when they got married. I had no clue he was on his way to getting a name for himself until he had to drop out to take care of his mother.
He gave up one of his dreams to take care of his family. It just occurred to me that we both had something in common. Mason lost his chance at fame, and I lost mine at a dancing career when I fractured a knee after a biking accident. The day I had to turn down my spot at Julliard was one of the worst moments in my life; hence, the reason I spent months in depression and fled to Vegas to get away. I was twenty-one at the time and just figuring out how the world worked, and that not everyone always got what they wanted. After two whole seasons, I traded my Vegas life in for a business management degree so I could help with my family’s vineyard and winery. It was one of the best decisions I ever made.