by Linda Verji
“No,” Mason said. “From what I heard, they got out with a few burns and both ended up in prison.”
“Good.” Lee pushed out a relieved breath. He wasn’t sure what he was more grateful about; that the Boltons had been punished or that A.J hadn’t ended up a murderer because of him.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Mason watched his son keenly, worry lining his face. “It can’t be easy finding out that you went through such a traumatic experience. Maybe we should call Dr. Hocking. She was a good therapist, ri-”
“Dad, I’m fine.” Lee wanted to be angry with his father for longer, but he couldn’t. Not when he now understood exactly what the old man thought he was protecting him from. He reached for his father’s hand and squeezed. “I won’t break.”
Mason watched him for a long time then nodded. “Okay. But if you need to talk you know you can always talk to me, right?”
“I know.” Lee offered his first genuine smile since they’d started this conversation. “Our food’s cold.” He shot to his feet and grabbed both his and his father’s plates. “I should warm these.”
“No. No. No.” Mason immediately shooed him back to his seat as he grabbed the plates. “Let me.”
Lee waited for his father to set the food in the microwave before saying, “And you can stop chasing A.J away from me now.”
“What?” Mason’s gaze flew to him.
“You can stop trying to kick Amara out of my life.” Lee’s tone was as determined as the level look he gave his father. “I won’t let her go.”
Mason sighed. “Are you sure there’s nothing I can say to convince you to let her go? I get that she was the one who saved you from that place, but her life right now isn’t the kind of life I want you involved in.”
“Trust me, Dad. Her life is nothing like what you imagine it to be. She’s not a criminal anymore. And besides that-” Lee paused briefly before confessing, “I love her.”
Mason’s eyebrows shot up. “You love her?”
Lee nodded. He wasn’t certain if his feelings were the result of meeting her years ago, or of getting to know her when she’d shown up again in his life. But the fact was that his feelings for A.J were beyond just caring. She was the last person he thought of when he went to bed, even when he was angry at her, and the first person he thought of when he woke up. The thought of letting her go or of losing her was enough to send chills down his spine. He loved her.
Something about his expression must’ve struck his father because the older man asked, “That much?”
Lee nodded. “That much.”
Mason released a heavy breath and shook his head. “I don’t know what I’m going to do with you. You seem determined to screw up your life.”
Lee laughed because he didn’t believe he was screwing up his life. If anything, it felt like he was building it. Like he’d found the other piece of himself that he’d always unconsciously known was missing. Amara. As soon as he was done with breakfast, he swore, he was going to find her
It was time to get his woman back!
CHAPTER 24
Something was wrong with A.J.
She felt strange, like she was sick, yet if asked what part of her hurt, she couldn’t quite point it out.
When she’d woken this morning, it was to find Mason pacing in front of Lee’s room. He didn’t have to say anything. The look in his eyes was enough for her to guess that he still wanted her out of town. What else could she do other than leave?
She’d headed straight to Sin’s studio apartment. Sin was already awake as was Ten who, it seemed, had decided to permanently park herself in A.J’s life. Of course the two had several questions for A.J. Like where had she spent the night? She’d waved their questions away and got into bed. In fact, she didn’t even tell them that her building had burned down. They’d eventually find out on their own anyway.
It was now almost three hours since A.J had settled in bed. She felt listless and like she wanted to sleep forever. Strangely, no matter how tightly she closed her eyes or how hard she tried to empty her mind, she couldn’t fall asleep. However, she couldn’t bring herself to fully awaken either. She wanted to shove the covers off her head and yell at Ten to turn down the volume on the animated movie she was watching, yet she couldn’t summon the energy or even the anger.
It was hard to describe what was going on inside her. If she was forced to put her emotions into words, the first word that came to her mind was ‘heavy’. Yes, heavy. Like something heavy was sitting right in the middle of her chest. It was an odd feeling, and she hated it.
Also, she felt sad. So sad.
One might think that the heavy, sad feeling was because of the fire, but, frankly, that wasn’t it. Of course she was disappointed that her building was no more, but it somehow felt like an inevitable conclusion of her life here in New York. Like it was this city’s cruel way of bidding her goodbye. Besides, she had enough money saved up that she could live well even without the rent she was expecting from the building. Also, her insurance cover was excellent enough that the building would be up again soon.
No, it definitely wasn’t losing her building that was making her sad.
With a sigh, A.J pulled the covers higher up over her head. If she really, really, really had to point a finger at the culprit behind her sadness, then her finger would unwaveringly find only one target. Lee Marwick.
His odd reaction to the fire last night had shaken her. Even when Casper had captured him he’d looked determined and so defiant. But last night he’d looked like a man about to collapse. She wanted to call him and make sure he’d woken up okay. But she knew that she couldn’t.
They were officially over.
They were really over.
This time her sigh was heavier and louder, but it was overshadowed by the sound of the door opening.
“Are you planning to sleep the whole day?” Sin cheerily bounced into the room.
When A.J didn’t answer, Sin crossed the room to shake her shoulder. “A.J, wake up.”
“Leave me alone,” A.J growled from underneath the blankets.
“You’ve been pretending to be asleep since you walked in.” The mattress dipped under Sin’s weight as she sat beside A.J. “Did something happen? Did you and Lee argue over your leaving?”
When she’d told her friends that she was leaving town, they’d tried to convince her not to leave. When that didn’t work, they’d tried to find out why she was leaving. That didn’t work either. It wasn’t that A.J didn’t trust her friends. She was just not the sharing type. The only person who’d ever made her reveal more than she planned was Lee. And now he was gone too.
A.J’s non-response to questions prodded Sin to turn to Ten. “Do you know what’s wrong with her?”
“Easy,” Ten said. “She’s depressed.”
The statement was enough to drag A.J from her lethargy. She shoved the covers off her head and lifted slightly off the bed to glare at her sister. “I’m not depressed.”
“Do you feel lethargic?” Ten asked even as she kept her eyes on her movie. Sounding like a TV commercial, she continued, “Like you have nothing to live for? Do you feel hollow inside?”
Goodness! That was exactly how A.J felt.
“Sick but not sick?” Ten turned slightly to offer A.J a smirk. “Then you’re depressed. Try Zoloft.”
“Oh wow.” Sin laughed. “You sound just like a commercial.”
“Thanks.” Ten grinned. “I’ve been practicing.”
“And you summarized all of A.J’s symptoms perfectly?” Sin’s amusement faded and worry took its place as she turned her gaze to A.J. “I think Ten’s right. You’re depressed.”
“What is she even doing here?” A.J asked in an attempt to draw attention away from herself. She glared at her sister. “Aren’t you done with spy duty now that Casper has his painting?”
Ten shrugged. “I was bored.”
“And you thought this was the place to relieve your boredom?” A.J asked.
>
“Yeah.” Ten’s expression was unrepentant as she added, “You guys have a TV.”
The younger woman’s answer begged so many questions. Did she not have a TV in her own apartment? Where was her apartment? Believe it or not, A.J still didn’t know where her sister spent her nights. Though Ten was notoriously nosy about other people’s business, she could be ridiculously reticent about her own. If A.J had any energy, she would’ve taken this opportunity to question her, but she didn’t. So she just sighed and shook her head.
Sin piped up, “I still can’t get over the fact that you have a sister and a dad.”
“Most people don’t know about us,” Ten offered helpfully. “She’s always been closemouthed.”
“Look who’s talking,” A.J retorted.
“You still should’ve told us though.” Sin kissed her teeth disapprovingly.
“Sometimes I think I don’t even know you.”
Sometimes, A.J wished she was a different person, a more open one. But she wasn’t. Thankfully her friends didn’t mind who she was. Most of the time.
“Come on.” Sin slapped A.J’s butt. “Get out of bed. If you keep on sleeping, you’ll only feel more depressed.”
“I’m not depressed,” A.J insisted even as she pulled the covers back over her head. “And go away.”
Sin didn’t go away; she just watched her friend in silence. A.J could feel the other woman’s stare burning into the covers but she didn’t say anything either. The silence lasted for an uncomfortably long while before Sin squeezed A.J’s shoulder. When she spoke, her voice was soft. “If you love him so much, why are you leaving?”
A.J didn’t have to ask who ‘him’ was. Drawing the covers down so they were underneath her chin, she met her friend’s worried eyes. “Who said anything about love?”
“You’re acting like a woman with a broken heart.”
“No, I’m not,” A.J protested. “I don’t have a broken h…”
Her words drifted into silence as a sudden thought niggled at her mind. Was she suffering a broken heart? Was she in love with Lee?
No, no, I’m not, she wanted to say but for some reason she couldn’t.
Love wasn’t a feeling that she was entirely familiar with. She’d received so little of it in her life that it was hard for her to determine if that was what she felt for Lee. However, nothing else could explain how much her heart ached whenever she thought of him. Nothing could explain why she was sadder about not being by his side than of losing a building that had cost her a pretty penny.
Dear Lord! Was she in love with Lee?
“You should call him again,” Sin suggested. “Talk to him and maybe you two can come up with a solution to whatever’s bugging you. Then you won’t have to leave the city.”
“Talking won’t help,” A.J murmured, still stunned because of the sudden realization that had just smacked her in the face.
She really loved Lee, didn’t she?
Still, that didn’t change anything. If anything, it only made her leaving more imperative. If you loved someone then it was your duty to protect them. The only way A.J knew how to protect him from his past was to leave.
“Maybe it will,” Sin coaxed. “You never know-”
“Sin.” A.J cut her off. “Could you give me a minute? I need to think.”
Sin looked like she wasn’t ready for the conversation to be over. But after studying A.J for some time, she sighed. “Okay. If you need to talk, I’ll be downstairs, helping Teddy with the café.”
As soon as Sin left, A.J tucked herself back under the covers. How ironic was that? She’d never fallen in love with anyone, and the first time it happens, she’s forced to leave town. Maybe this was Karma’s way of punishing her for her crimes. That bitch! Wasn’t giving her a lousy father like Casper then sending her to prison good enough?
A.J wasn’t sure how long she pretended to be asleep, but sometime later, the door opened again and someone crossed the room. When a hand squeezed her shoulder, she angrily pushed her covers back.
“Sin, didn’t I-” Her words screeched to a halt when she saw the person bending next to her. Her eyes widened as they met his smiling ones. “Lee?”
“HI.” LEE LOWERED himself to his haunches and set his arms on the bed right beside her face. Grinning, he studied her. “Isn’t it a little too late to still be sleeping?”
His words were enough to force awareness through A.J. Her heart pounding fast, she jolted up to sitting position. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to see you.” Lee’s tone held a ‘duh’ quality.
“Me?” A.J asked even as she realized that she must look like a frightful mess. Her hair had escaped the headscarf she’d tucked it into and some strands were hanging along her face. She pushed the rogue strands behind her ear and swiped a hand over her face to clear any sleep lines. “Why did you want to see me?”
“Is it okay if we talk in private?” The pointed look he gave Ten was enough to make the younger woman turn off the movie she was watching and stand.
“I think I’ll go help out in the café.” Ten strode out of the apartment leaving the couple alone.
“Why did you want to see me?” A.J asked. However, before he could answer her, worry overshadowed her panic at seeing him and she asked, “Did you wake up okay?”
“Yeah, I woke up okay.” Lee lifted to sit beside her on the bed. Taking her hand in his, he added, “But I would’ve wanted to wake up with you beside me.”
A.J didn’t say anything because that was what she’d wanted too. After weeks of not sharing a bed, being in his arms, even without sex, had felt amazing.
Lee studied her for a long moment before saying, “I remembered.”
A.J frowned. “Remembered what?”
“What you and my dad were hiding from me.”
Immediate shock raced through A.J. The muscles in her stomach tensed and her breath hitched in her throat. “You remembered?”
Lee nodded. “I got my memories back last night because of that fire.”
So that’s why he’d been behaving so oddly. Last night’s fire had forced out memories of the fire she’d started. No wonder he was so shaken. Worry rushed in to replace her shock. Squeezing his hand, she asked, “Are you all right?”
“I’m okay.” He smiled. “You don’t need to worry about me.”
“How can I not worry?” A.J asked. It couldn’t have been easy dealing with his traumatic past. She shouldn’t have left so early in the morning. She should’ve stayed by him. Without conscious thought, she launched herself into his arms. “I’m sorry.”
“You should be.” Lee’s arms came around her waist as he dragged her even closer to him until her breasts were brushing against his chest. “For lying to me.”
It felt so good to be back in his arms, like coming back home. Closing her eyes, A.J melted into his embrace, reveling in his strength and warmth. She lost track of where they were, and where her body stopped and his began. But eventually reality called her back.
Reluctantly, she pulled back from the hug to meet his eyes. “Are you sure you’re okay?’
“I told you. I’m good.” He lowered his head to buss his lips against hers. “And you don’t have to protect me anymore.”
How could he ask something like that from her? It was her job to protect him.
“Is that why you were running?” Lee pushed a strand of her hair back behind her ear. “Because you were worried I’d remember Reverend Bolton?”
The mention of that monster’s name sent hot anger pulsing through A.J. Was she happy that the Boltons had escaped the fire? Sometimes. At least she wasn’t a murderer. But on her angry days, she often wondered if it wouldn’t have been a favor to children everywhere to get rid of the couple for good. It would be a lie to say that she’d mourned when the Reverend had died in prison. His wife, she heard, had been moved to a psychiatric facility after her release. Good riddance.
“Come on,” Lee interrupted her angry thoughts. He
stood and grabbed her wrist, urging her to rise from the bed. “Put some clothes on.”
“Why?” she asked even as she clambered off the bed.
“We’re leaving.”
“To go where?” She met his eyes.
He smiled. “Away from everything.”
His answer sounded familiar. Too familiar. Then the memory of where she’d heard those words flooded through her. They were the exact words she’d said to him when they were running away as children.
She couldn’t help her own smile as she repeated what he’d said that time. “But we don’t have money.”
“Come with me anyway.” Lee lowered his head to press his smiling lips to hers in a soft kiss. Against her lips, he murmured, “I’ll take care of you.”
Grinning, she lifted onto her tiptoes for a deeper kiss.
CHAPTER 25
The couple ended up at Lee’s apartment.
To say Lee was relieved that A.J had decided to come with him would be an understatement. A.J was stubborn enough that he’d expected it to take more convincing to halt her misguided attempt at protecting him. Thankfully, she was here now. In his turf.
“Are you hungry?” he asked as he kicked off his shoes.
“Uh uh.” A.J shook her head right before she walked into his arms again.
Lee was so startled by the unexpected hug that for a second, his arms hung uselessly by his side. However, feeling her warm, lush body against his was enough to bring a smile to his lips. He brought his arms around her waist and tilted his head so he could see her face. “You missed me, didn’t you?”
“Mm,” she readily admitted as she rubbed the side of her face against his chest, like a cat that had found a comfortable spot.
“I missed you too.” He kissed her forehead.
She lifted her head from his chest to meet his eyes. “I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you the truth.”
“It’s okay.” He tightened his arms around her waist. “Actually, now that I know what you were hiding, I understand. Sort of.”