I go over to her and wrap my arms around her and kiss her forehead. I kiss each eyelid as I wipe the tears away from her face and then I kiss her like I have wanted to do for so long. I pull back and look at her in the eyes. “Kat, this is my entire fault, you have no idea how much my fault this is. I left this past week to try and protect you and this world I want with you. I left this week and found out so much I didn’t know what to do. Kat, I need to tell you how much this is my fault, and let you know I will stop it, and I will make Trent pay for what he did. Trent will never know that this is the result of that night, and I won’t be going anywhere. I will keep my distance from you in the eye of the world, but I will be here for you always.”
“James, please I love you for this, but I just need you to go, please,” she begs me, tears streaming down her face. She tries to walk away into the bathroom, but I stop her. I take hold of her face and kiss her with everything I have in me.
I pull back, still holding her face in my hands and tell her, “Kat, I love you. I don’t know when it happened, but it did. I will go because you asked me to, but know this, I will make him pay, and I will love you always. I will be waiting for you to let me back in when you are ready.” I kiss her again, and when I pull back, I let go of her beautiful face and walk out the door. It about breaks me to close the door and hear her sobs on the other side. I stand there listening to her sob for I don’t know how long before I finally leave.
When I get back to The Java, I see Bren at the end of the counter with Jayce talking with their heads close together. So maybe I was wrong about him, because it looks like he is very into Bren. I walk over to Bren and grab her attention.
“Kat needs you, but please know this, I love her, and when she is ready for me in her life I will still be waiting for her.” Bren has a shocked look on her face, and I walk back to the office to make a phone call to my new-found brother.
Katarina
James closes the door, and I break—I sob, and I am angry with myself for letting him walk away. He loves me, and I basically told him that I love him but I can’t put him in danger. I won’t cash the check, but I will stay away from him to keep him safe. Not too long after James walked out the door as I requested, Bren is back bursting through the door out of breath.
“What the hell happened in here? James looks like a mixture of rage and like someone ran over his puppy. You don’t look much better than he does.”
“I may not cash that check, but I will keep him safe, and to do that I need to keep him away from me. I told him about Trent, I told him about the note left to me, and he told me it was his entire fault, everything was his fault. I don’t get it, Bren, what am I missing? How can Trent be his fault?”
Bren comes over and wraps her arms around me. “I don’t know, sweetie, but we need to take care of you and your baby first and foremost. You know, he told me he loved you and that he will be waiting for whenever you are ready.”
“I know he does, and I love him too. I don’t know when it happened, but I do, I love him. It killed me to tell him to go, that I couldn’t be with him. But, Bren, what if the threats are true? What if someone wants him that badly that they go through me? Bren, that makes me scared for both of our lives, and yours too.”
“Somehow I think he will get it all figured out, Kat. He doesn’t seem the type to leave it be. He wants you, he loves you. He knows what happened to you, right?” I nod my head yes. “He still wants you after knowing what happened. Kat, I don’t think you should make him wait for too long. He was made for you, and I believe you were made for him.”
“Bren, I think you may be right, but I also am scared. I need to worry about me and the baby before I worry about a guy. Let me get through bedrest and make sure everything is okay, and then I will see, okay?”
“You better hope that James has patience because that is still another five weeks or so of bedrest. I have a feeling that he will be on my heel as much as he can to find out about you. But I will do what you say. Five weeks of bedrest and then see what happens after that. If you are okay, I am going to head out for a bit, need me to bring you back anything?”
“Thanks, but no, Bren, I am fine. I think I am going to go and lay down for a bit before everyone is here with furniture for us. Thanks, though.”
Bren leaves and locks the door behind her, and I walk over to the window and look over the Old Port. When I look to the street, I notice someone looking up—Trent. What the hell does he want now? When he notices me looking right at him, he turns and walks up the street. I take note of his appearance on the street and then go to lie down for a bit.
About two hours later, I am woken up by knocking on the door. At this point in my life, I never know who it is going to be and if it is a good or bad person. I place the chain on the door quietly and slowly open the door the width the chain will allow me to. There again is a guy in a black suit looking at me. I go to slam the door shut when a hand pushes against it.
“Miss Kat, don’t be alarmed, but I was sent here by Mr. James. He had a feeling I would alarm you, so I wanted to introduce myself to you. But if you want me to wait while you message Mr. James I don’t mind waiting.”
“I will be right back,” I say and close the door. I send James a text
Kat: man in suit at my door. You send him?
About thirty seconds go by before I get a reply.
James<3: Yes. I will protect you even if I can’t do it myself. Max is your bodyguard. I love you
Kat: How do you even have access to a bodyguard?
James<3: I will explain it to you when you are ready to take a chance on me. Until then please trust me. I need you safe.
Kat: Okay, Thank you
I go back to the door and open it all the way and let in Max. He is tall, full of muscles, and sporting short hair. He is actually really hot, and I hope Bren can behave herself. He sure looks like the type to be a body guard.
“Come in, Max, I am sorry. I wasn’t aware that you would be coming, but it looks like we are about to spend a lot of time together. I am on bedrest and can’t really go anywhere, so I apologize for the boring job you have encountered here.”
“Miss Kat, there is no job that is boring if I am protecting and keeping my bosses loved ones safe.”
Max almost reminds me of a gigantic teddy bear; he seems so quiet and fierce yet has this feeling about him like he has a heart of gold. I think just by initial introductions I am going to like him. But I also don’t want to waste his time when I just need to stay in one place for a while and stay out of anyone’s eye sight. “So, Max, exactly what do you plan on doing while you are working? I mean, I have to sit around and do basically nothing for the next five weeks. Will you just sit around with me, or out in the hall, or I don’t know … I’ve never had a bodyguard before I don’t know how it all works. “
“Miss Kat, I can be in here, I can be in the hall by the door; I don’t mind as long as you are safe and I can do my job.”
This is going to take some getting used to and not to mention I can’t wait to see Bren’s reaction. Speaking of Bren, she comes walking in the door and stops in her track as she sees Max standing there. “Um, Kat. Where did he come from?”
“James sent him. Meet Max, my new friend or bodyguard, as I was told.”
“Why on Earth did he get you a bodyguard? What kind of trouble are you in?”
“Well, I told him to leave me alone that I needed space from him, and in return his idea of protecting me is to send Max over to babysit, I mean, guard me.”
“Okay, so what is he not telling us? There has to be a reason that he would send Max here other than to just be his replacement protector. I’m going to go talk to him.” She turns around quickly before I can stop her and walks out the door with a Mama Bear look in her eye.
James
When I get back to my office, I pick up my phone and dial my brother. He answers on the third ring.
“Hey, James, you get your girl yet?”
“We ha
ve a problem. That note and guy in the black suit scared her to the point she won’t have anything to do with me. She won’t let me near her, and she is on bedrest because of the night Trent attacked her. I have more information about that, too. My bastard of a father got her raped by that asshole. She is pregnant because Trent raped her at a party one night. I want to kill Trent; he doesn’t deserve to live.”
“Whoa, wait, let me get this straight. Trent raped Kat while on dear ol’ dad’s mission to keep her away from you? Is he still bothering her? Does he know he is the dad? Fuck.”
“Kat won’t let me near her. I need to make sure she is safe. Do you have anyone we can put with her until we can get this shit straightened out?”
“I still have Max in the area, he already knows her, and I actually checked today to see if she has cashed the check just to make sure, and she hasn’t. I honestly think she is trying to protect you by staying away. I will get a hold of Max and send him over to her place, but this time we need her to know he is there. He is a big guy, but he is one of the few that have a heart. He will make sure that she is taken care of while you aren’t allowed to. Now, don’t be surprised if the girls have a reaction to Max, I hear he is a hottie. But I’d be more worried about her friend Bren.” He laughs
“Thanks, man. I know we don’t know each other well, but I hope we get the chance to know each other better soon. Now what do we do about Trent? I want to make sure he won’t bother her again even if I have to do it myself this one time. For her, I will do anything.”
“I will get my guys on it. Make sure he knows who he is dealing with this time and make sure he no longer will bother her. Just keep an eye out, man. Let me know if you see him around. We will destroy him and make sure he never knows that baby is his.”
I hang up the phone and go about my day the best I can. I walk out of my office to the counter and make myself a drink. When I turn toward the front window, I see red … Well, actually, I see Trent across the street and he is looking up. It dawns on me why he is looking up—he is looking at Kat’s apartment. I go back to my office and call my brother back.
“He is watching her apartment from the street.”
“Max is on his way up now. Stay away from him, we will get that bastard. No worries, brother.”
I get a text message from Kat as I hang up the call. Max is there and she is confirming I sent him. Thank god she has a brain on her head. I shoot back a reply, ending it with I love you.
I thought that when my father died I was done with all of this shit, but it seems to be getting worse. About thirty minutes later, Bren walks into my office like she owns the place and doesn’t look happy.
“Why does Kat need a bodyguard? What aren’t you telling her?”
“Bren, she won’t let me look after her right now, and I need to. Can you leave it at that?”
“Fuck no! Tell me what is going on, and tell me now before I call the cops.”
“Bren, please, don’t call the cops. Fine, I will tell you, but please don’t tell Kat. She didn’t give me a chance to talk to her about all this before she asked me to leave today.”
“Talk.”
For the next fifteen minutes, I fill Bren in on my entire life story, ending it with my father’s death and my half-brother’s succession to the throne. She stares at me for a moment, silently wondering if I am telling the truth or if I have completely lost my mind. Eventually, after opening and closing her mouth like a fish out of water, she speaks.
“Wow, okay I get it. You need to tell her eventually, but I get why you want to wait. I will just tell her that you sent Max because you can’t watch out for her. She thinks something else is up, though. But, James, she is my sister, blood doesn’t matter, and I want her safe too, so please let me know if I can do anything. Please keep me in the loop.”
“Bren, I appreciate who you are to Kat and how much you care. Like I said before, I love her, and I will swear to you she will be safe. I swear to get that bastard that ruined her, and I swear to you that she will be happy in the end. I hope with me, but as long as she is happy, I will be happy.”
“Okay then.”
Bren leaves after our conversation with a coffee in hand and I am back to it, trying to let Jackson handle it all and trying to not go crazy. It is only just after lunch time and it’s going to be an even longer day now with everything going on. Mid-afternoon, both Jayce and I take off for the day. He tells me he was heading over to help move furniture into the girls’ apartment. Thank god for that; Kat needed something comfortable to sleep on. I was about to go buy a bed for her this afternoon. I go to my apartment and do some laundry and little things around the house since I have been gone for a while. Nothing helps. Nothing makes this day any better. Nothing makes the look on Kat’s face when I left this morning leave my mind. So now, I wait for the phone call to give me an update.
It seemed like days before I heard anything, but in all reality it was just hours. Apparently, Trent has gone rogue; he is no longer on the mission that was ended the day my dad died. Jackson told me he was going to send a couple of his guys up to help out and to get to Trent. He wants answers as much as I do. I am really beginning to like the guy I met a week ago.
Katarina
A couple of weeks have gone by. We have our furniture, and I finally have a comfy place to sleep and relax during the day and a small table where we can sit and eat. But with the furniture came a lot less space to move around and Max is a big guy. I have come to call him Teddy Bear since he is so deceiving with his looks and how he actually is. He is such a kind sweet guy. We have been playing a lot of cards, watching a lot of movies, and even talking about ourselves. I’ve told him about what has been going on with me, and I have also told him that I have noticed Trent outside on the street a few times since his arrival. This is when he reassures me that no one will harm me or my baby. Speaking of the baby, I have actually been on bedrest for a month now and we get to go to the doctor today to see if the tear is any better.
“Max, are you ready to head to the doctor?”
“Yes, Miss Kat, let me go grab the car and bring it around. Lock the door with the chain behind me, and I will be right back.”
Max leaves, and I do as he says and locks the door. Five minutes go by, and I hear a knock on the door. It seems too soon to be Max, but I open it up anyway. I just learned a good lesson: don’t assume it is who you are expecting because it probably isn’t. Trent is on the other side of the door and pushes it open, knocking me down to the floor.
“I knew he had to leave your side eventually,” he snarls at me then grabs me up off the floor and throws me over his shoulder and walks out of my apartment. I’m kicking and screaming, but that doesn’t last long because he drops me on the floor and wraps a bandanna around my eyes and in my mouth, gagging me. Once again, I am over his shoulder and we are leaving out another door at the other end of the hallway leading out a different exit than Max would use.
Trent drops me in the back seat of his car, gets in behind the wheel, and we are off. I have no idea where we are heading, but this isn’t good. He drives us about ten minutes away to what has to be a place right outside of the city. He again throws me over his shoulder and goes into the basement of a nasty smelling house. I get thrown down on a nasty couch and he ties my hands and feet together with rope. The rope is digging into my wrists and ankles, and it hurts. I don’t bother to make any sound, and I try and stay as calm as I can.
“You are mine now, bitch. I’ve wanted you again since that night at the party. You didn’t think I would forget, did you? We are going to make a call and get your lover man all worked up. For what he did to my family, he deserves everything he gets.”
I have no idea what he is talking about, but I continue to stay as calm as I can. He grabs his phone and starts to dial a number. When the person on the other end answers, he puts it on speaker so I can hear.
“Hey, James, this is Trent. I have something you may want.”
“Where is she,
what did you do to her?”
I hear the panic in his voice and tears start to form in my eyes. I haven’t spoken to him or seen him in four weeks, and now all I want to do is hug him and never let him go. Why was I so stupid to push him away?
“She is just fine. I just wanted to let you know she is mine now. You can go to hell.”
“Let me talk to her. I need to know she is okay.”
“Sure thing, but you will never find her. She will be gone before you can even find this place.”
“What do you mean gone? What are you going to do to her?”
“I guess you will never know. But the three of us will be fine without you.”
He removes the gag from my mouth and holds the phone close by. I take a long breath steadying myself before I speak.
“James, I’m fine.”
With panic in his voice and rage he tells me, “Kat, I’ll find you, I love you. I will find you.”
“I love you, James.” Right then, Trent disconnects the phone and James is gone.
Trent puts the gag back on my mouth and starts to pack things up. I sit there watching him and try to figure out how he knows about the third person in the picture when someone else walks into the basement. Jayce. My eyes go wide, and I try and gasp, but I can’t with the damn gag.
He looks right at me and says, “I see you have finally made it. Did the guard dog let down his guard?”
I have never seen the look in Jayce’s eyes like I do right now. I want to know what is going on, but I have no voice. At this point, I can’t control my fear anymore. I’m terrified, and I have no idea what is going on. Jayce walks over to me and removes the gag as soon as I agree not to scream.
“What are you doing, Jayce? Why?”
The Night He Saved Me Page 14