by Susan Stoker
He’d acted without thinking. So damn happy to see her standing and perfectly healthy that he’d done what he’d been aching to do for the last week. He’d kissed her with all the longing in his soul, trying to say what he hadn’t yet been able to convince her of with words.
Pulling back way before he was sated—as if he could ever get enough of her—TJ held her as he made sure both she and Sadie were all right. He couldn’t bear to let her go. Couldn’t bear to see the distrust and frustration in her eyes.
The second she caressed his chest to try to calm him down, goosebumps broke out all over his body. Her lemony scent soothing him, making him long for what he used to have. His thumb moved as if it had a mind of its own, using muscle memory, caressing the skin he knew was ultra-sensitive, brushing against the wispy hairs at her nape.
He was afraid he’d pushed too hard, gone too far, but then she gave him her weight and hugged him.
“Doc,” he whispered, overwhelmed.
He barely noticed when Sadie slipped out of the room, leaving him and Milena alone.
“I’m scared,” Milena whispered, and he felt her warm breath against his neck as she spoke.
“I’m a different man than I was back then,” he tried to reassure her. “I’m not saying opening up will be easy, but I’m going to try. I’m not proud of some of the things I did when I was in the Army.”
Her arms tightened and she looked up at him. “You’re a good man, Thomas James.”
His lips quirked in a smile. He loved when she scolded him using his full name. If anyone else dared, he’d hurt them, but he loved the way his name sounded on her lips. “I’m trying to be,” he told her. Turning his head, he kissed her forehead, then reluctantly loosened his arms and stepped back from her.
“This changes things,” he said gravely.
She took a deep breath and nodded.
“And I’m not just talking about you and me.”
“I know,” she said, not protesting his words.
“There’s no reason Jonathan should’ve been within a hundred miles of you today. Not if he and his father were truly trying to disappear.”
“I don’t get it,” Milena said. “That FBI guy said it himself. I didn’t know anything about what was going on. Why would they care about me?”
“I don’t know,” TJ said in frustration, “but I’m not about to leave you vulnerable while we try to figure it out. This past week I was on vacation from my job, but starting next week, my full-time job is protecting you.”
“TJ, no, that’s not necessary,” she immediately protested.
“Like hell. Look, the Feds don’t have the resources to keep tabs on all the girls and teenagers who were at the school. Hell, they don’t have the resources to protect even a handful of them. Not with budget cuts and all the bullshit going on in Washington these days. But that doesn’t mean that they aren’t concerned about what those two assholes have up their sleeve. I talked to Cruz the night of the raid, and he agreed that if there was any threat against you, he’d talk to my supervisor and get it approved for me to be temporarily assigned to protect you.”
Milena looked at him as if he had two heads. “That’s crazy. I’m nobody important. How is this happening?”
He took her shoulders in his hands and looked her in the eyes. “That’s bullshit. You’re important, Doc.”
“I don’t do well with confinement,” she admitted.
“I know. And it’s not my intention to spirit you away to some far-flung cabin and lock you inside, no matter how much I might want to. I’ll allow you to continue with your regular activities, as long I’m by your side every step of the way.”
“Seriously?”
TJ winced. “I know it sounds stifling, but the alternative is that cabin in BFE.”
Her brows came down. “No one says BFE anymore, TJ.”
He grinned. “I just did.”
She shook her head. “Why are we even talking about this?”
“You started it,” he teased.
She merely glared at him.
Sobering, he said, “I’m going to be around a lot more, Doc. And believe me, it’s no hardship. I can’t be with you twenty-four seven though, not unless you want to move in with me…” He let his sentence trail off suggestively, hoping that maybe she’d agree and save him a fuck ton of worry.
When she immediately shook her head, he sighed.
“I didn’t think so. Therefore, when I’m not around, I need to know where you are. Every second. And I’m not trying to be a dick or controlling. My plan is to have one of my friends watch over you when I can’t.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means they’ll sit outside in an unmarked car, keeping an eye on your parents’ house, if that’s where you are. It means they’ll escort you to and from the clinic if I’m not available to do it myself. If you want to go to the park with JT, someone will be there with you. Me or one of my friends. I wouldn’t advise you to go to big public spaces until those assholes are caught, but I won’t stop you from doing it if you want to. My goal is not to make you a prisoner, but I don’t want you doing anything that would make you an easy target if either Jeremiah or Jonathan decided to do something stupid.”
He could tell Milena wanted to protest, but to her credit, she merely sighed. “I don’t like it. I think you know that. But what I like less is thinking about what all the girls who lived at that school went through. If Master Jeremiah and Mister Jonathan were that cruel to them, I can’t imagine what they might do to me if they thought I had anything to do with bringing down the school.”
“I lost you once, I won’t do it again,” TJ said with feeling. Then, without giving her a chance to respond, grabbed her hand. “Come on, let’s get you home. I need to call Cruz and give him an update and talk to your parents about what’s going on.”
Thankful she didn’t protest, TJ led her out the door. He collected Sadie and the three of them headed out of the clinic and to Milena’s car. He’d drive it back to her parents’ house and Cruz would help him get his Mustang later. The Delta Force soldier inside him—which had only let him down once, on his last mission—was screaming that he had to keep Milena and his son by his side at all times to protect them. And that’s exactly what he was going to do.
* * *
“She’s still working at the clinic in the mornings,” Jonathan told his father. “She gets there early, around seven-thirty, and leaves after lunch.”
“She have the boy with her?”
Jonathan shook his head. “No. Just her. Sometimes her friend comes with her.” He’d been so excited to see the red-haired bitch today. She was a bit tall for his liking, but just the thought of the beautiful little girls she would give him was enough to get him hard, and he knew he’d be able to fuck the woman without an issue. Especially when the end goal was so clear in his mind.
“You need to find out where the brat is when she’s at work. I need him. It would be better to take them together, but if need be, we can snatch them separately,” Jeremiah said without a trace of sympathy in his tone.
“There’s something else, Father,” Jonathan said. He didn’t want to tell Jeremiah this part, but did anyway.
“What?”
“They saw me.”
Jonathan never saw the fist coming.
Jeremiah hit him in the face before he had a chance to prepare. He went flying backward and fell over the one chair in the small motel room. He looked up and saw his father, full of rage, standing over him.
Jeremiah kicked him repeatedly as he berated him. “You. Dumb. Shit! You were supposed to watch them without being seen. Now they know we’re still in San Antonio and will probably be more on guard!”
Jonathan curled into a ball but didn’t say anything. He knew his father would continue to beat him until he was satisfied he’d learned his lesson.
But deep inside, Jonathan was glad his redhead had seen him. Was glad she was scared. It would make it all the better when he
captured her. She’d know he was in charge. Not his father—him. He alone had the power to impregnate her. It was a heady feeling, and one he couldn’t shake. The redhead was his. His to do with what he wanted.
He’d never had a girl to himself before. He’d always had to share with the others who visited the school. The redhead would live or die because of him and him alone.
So Jonathan let his father beat on him all he wanted. Being spotted was worth it. Worth seeing the worry in her eyes.
When Jeremiah finally got tired, he scowled and said, “Get up. We need to switch motels. Because of your incompetence, this one is probably compromised. You have one more shot, boy. You screw up again and your precious redhead will become mine. I’ll give her that baby you so desperately want, and you won’t ever get to touch her. Understand?”
His father’s words made a red haze fill his vision, but Jonathan nodded obediently.
No, she was his. All his. His father hadn’t trusted him to train a little all by himself. He’d always had his father’s cast-offs. The child the redhead would bear would be all his. She’d grow up knowing he was her master.
Hiding his anger from his father, Jonathan got up off the floor, ignoring the aches and pains from where Jeremiah had kicked him, and he quickly collected his things, stuffing them into the small backpack he’d brought with him from the school.
He tuned out his father’s plans for the bitch and her son, and instead made his own.
He’d help Jeremiah, but in the end, he’d do his own thing, go his own way. He’d take the redhead and start his own school. And the first student would be his very own daughter.
Chapter 9
Two weeks later, TJ had gotten into a routine with Milena. He came by early in the morning and escorted her to the clinic. One of his friends—Cruz, Dax, Quint, or Hayden—would meet him there and take over watching her for the morning. He would either go home and take a quick nap, do errands, or continue to try to find where Jeremiah and Jonathan were hiding out…with no luck.
Then he’d arrive after lunch to escort Milena back to her parents’ house, and he’d spend the rest of the afternoon and sometimes the evening with her and his son.
After TJ left each evening, he would drive away as if he was going home, but then circle around and park down the street from the house. He’d spend the rest of the night keeping watch over the two most important people in his life. He’d done a piss-poor job of making sure Milena had what she needed to be happy and healthy once; he wouldn’t fail again. Especially not with Jeremiah and Jonathan still on the loose.
TJ yawned and looked at his watch. Two forty-seven in the morning. He was tired, but unlike during other stakeouts he’d done, he didn’t have the slightest urge to take a quick catnap. Not when the people he was watching over were so precious.
Since he’d begun staking out the house, he’d yet to see anything out of the ordinary. He looked up from his watch—and froze. He blinked to and squinted his eyes, looking at where he’d clearly seen the silhouette of a man slinking around the side of the large house before whoever it was had disappeared.
Without thought, TJ eased out of the car and headed in the direction he’d seen the figure. There absolutely shouldn’t be anyone lurking outside the house, and if it was Jeremiah or Jonathan, he wanted to catch them in the act and turn their ass over to the cops.
Taking out his pistol, TJ ran as silently as he could toward where he’d last seen the figure. Using the stealth he’d perfected during his time on the Delta Force teams, he eased around the side of the house. He didn’t see anyone and continued along the bushes. When he got to the corner, he put his back to the stucco and cautiously looked around to the backyard.
Standing under a large tree was a man dressed all in black. He was holding something in his hands, but TJ couldn’t tell what it was. He was looking up at one of the windows in the house.
It was…odd. He wasn’t trying to break in at the moment, and because it was the middle of the night, all the lights were off…so it wasn’t as if he could be watching any of the occupants inside.
Adrenaline coursed through TJ’s body. He wanted this guy. Bad.
He’d taken one silent step toward him when he was spotted.
TJ didn’t even have time to say a word before the mystery man turned and sprinted toward the back fence.
Without hesitation, TJ raced after him.
The likely identity of the man in black was confirmed when he easily vaulted over the four-foot-high chain-link fence without any difficulty whatsoever. It had to be Jonathan, as TJ didn’t think Jeremiah would’ve been able to get over the enclosure so easily.
TJ had one hand on the top of the fence and was two seconds away from leaping it and continuing the chase, but stopped. Frustration coursed through him. He couldn’t risk leaving Milena and the others vulnerable. What if Jonathan was the bait and Jeremiah was waiting for TJ to leave the house unprotected? He couldn’t risk it.
Watching the man in black until he disappeared into the night, TJ turned back toward the house. He went back to where he’d seen Jonathan standing under the tree. Every muscle in his body tensed when he saw what had been left lying on the ground.
Zip ties.
Anger welled inside TJ. It was more confirmation that the man hadn’t just been a pervert hoping to get a glimpse of someone without their clothes on. The Joneses were still out there—and for some reason, they had Milena in their sights. It didn’t make sense. Milena hadn’t been the one to call in the tip on the school.
TJ paused and took a deep breath. Milena hadn’t…but Sadie had.
She’d been the one to call her uncles and let them know something wasn’t right at the school, which had started the entire investigation in the first place. What if Jeremiah had figured that out? And he’d wrongly assumed it was Milena?
“Damn,” he said in a whisper as he took out his phone and quickly took a picture for the evidence techs. He didn’t want to touch the plastic restraints in case DNA or fingerprints could be retrieved from them. He then eased his way back around to the front of the house.
Jonathan lurking around Milena’s house upped his sense of urgency. He was already protecting her full-time, but tonight’s sighting just had him all the more determined to keep his eye on Milena. No way were Jonathan or Jeremiah getting their hands on his woman. Not in this lifetime.
Frustration coursed through TJ’s body. He wanted to be inside with Milena. Wanted to make sure she and his son were all right. But if he couldn’t be, then sitting outside the house they were in was the second-best place.
No longer tired, TJ settled back into the driver’s seat of his car. His eyes constantly scanned the area around the house. A part of him hoped Jonathan would come back and try again. He wouldn’t get away a second time. TJ had underestimated the man tonight. Hadn’t expected him to be as agile as he was. If he dared show his face anywhere near Milena again, he’d discover exactly what TJ had learned while he’d been a Delta.
* * *
Jonathan stopped running and leaned against the side of a house several blocks away. He was breathing hard and could feel his heart beating out a frantic tattoo. That had been close, too close. He couldn’t get caught now.
He hadn’t realized someone was watching the house until he’d already been spotted. Luckily he was agile and had a head start, allowing him the precious seconds he’d needed to hide from whoever it was who had seen him.
Father would be pissed if he knew what he’d done. “That’s why I won’t tell him,” Jonathan said quietly.
All he’d wanted was a glimpse of his redhead. It had been stupid to go to the house, but he couldn’t help himself.
Taking a deep breath, Jonathan stood up straight and, after looking around to make sure he hadn’t been followed, slunk around the back of the house he’d been leaning against to double back for his car. He needed to get back to the motel and his room before his dad realized he was gone. The sleeping pill he’d slipped in
to his father’s nightly beer had done its job and allowed Jonathan to slip out without Jeremiah noticing, but he didn’t want to push his luck.
Looking back in the direction of the house where his redhead was sleeping, he said softly, “Soon. I’ll be seeing you soon.”
* * *
TJ stretched. He’d been sitting outside the Reinhardts’ house all night and the sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon. He hadn’t relaxed since he’d chased Jonathan away, and was feeling antsy about seeing Milena with his own two eyes to make sure she was safe. He reached for his phone when it vibrated in his pocket.
“Rockwell,” he answered.
“This is Captain Jackson. What’s the word?”
TJ had been speaking periodically with the captain since the raid on the school. For some reason, the other man seemed to be inordinately interested in everything that had been going on. “Chased a man who was lurking around Milena’s house.”
“Fuck. You didn’t catch him?”
“No. I couldn’t leave the house unprotected.”
“How’s Sadie?”
TJ cocked his head and didn’t answer for a long beat. It wasn’t as if Jackson hadn’t asked about Milena’s friend before—he had—but this time, TJ heard something more than professional interest in the man’s voice.
“She’s good. She sometimes goes with Milena to the clinic, but she got a part-time job in a coffee shop. She works on the weekends and occasionally in the afternoons.”
“Keep your eye on her,” the other man ordered. “I don’t like this. And her uncles are getting antsy. They want her home. They’re going to lose their shit when they hear someone was sneaking around the house.”
TJ refused to get pissed at the captain. He wasn’t saying that he didn’t think TJ could keep her safe, just that her relatives, who were definitely able to protect her, wanted her home. He couldn’t blame them.
“Of course I’ll keep my eye on her. I have no proof that whoever it was I chased away was Jonathan or Jeremiah,” TJ warned. “It could’ve just been a kid.” He didn’t believe that, and the zip ties sitting on the dashboard of his car inside a plastic bag mocked his words.