Granny gave me one last hug and pressed a note into my palm. “You call me if you ever need me. My door is always open for you, dear.”
Looking down at the note, I saw it was her phone number and something else: a photo. Alex and I were lying on a blanket in their backyard, cuddled together staring up at the stars. The angle the picture was taken from had to be from above—maybe from their upstairs bedroom?
“How did you…?”
Granny waved her hand dismissively. “Pappy and I always watched you two to make sure you weren’t doing something you shouldn’t have been.” She winked. “When I saw you two together like that, I just had to take a picture.” She patted my hand and added, “I thought it would be the perfect present for your first house together.” She hugged me again before turning to walk away.
“Where is she going?” I asked Alex. It seemed awfully strange we weren’t taking her and dropping her off.
“Her best friend lives only a couple of blocks from here. When I told her I’d walk her home, she insisted that we needed to spend as much time as we could together.” He sighed. “Granny really missed you after you moved,” Alex said as we watched her continue down the street.
A lump was still caught in my throat from seeing her again. Sitting next to her talking was like stepping back in time. If only my course had taken a different direction. Looking down at the picture, I wondered if Alex and I really still would be together. Had our paths taken different turns for a specific reason? Were we really meant to be together?
Nineteen
Cory
Being back at Jeanine's apartment made me more nervous. I wasn’t sure why I was on such high alert, but I had to admit that staying with Alex at his high-rise apartment had given me a false sense of security. I was sure I wasn’t really safe anywhere, but being with him and away from this whole area for a week had almost made me forget about my problems. I’d let my guard down with him; in this neighborhood my fears returned with a vengeance.
Especially right then. I was starting to freak out. I had come back just to grab my duffle bag that had all my worldly possessions in it and something felt off. Funny how I had told Alex I was going to swing by there and grab the bus to work. I had waved him away when he’d insisted he would take me. I hadn’t wanted him anywhere near that place and had been very adamant that it would only take me a second and he shouldn’t bother. If he hadn’t had an appointment, I was sure he’d have driven me.
The whole week with Alex had been fantastic. He, reluctantly, would leave for work in the morning. At lunchtime, he swung by to pick me up to take me to my shift at work. Usually, he would go workout at his MMA class and then come back to pick me up, but there was one night where he sat at a table in the back with his laptop working while he glanced up to look at me every once in a while. We were a normal couple.
Peeking through the tiny window, I noticed that the view from the kitchen was slightly obstructed by the roof of the pizza joint below us. I could barely make out Cisco speaking with another guy. As I squinted my eyes to try to make out the other person, I froze. Everything inside of me shook with fear, obvious by the way my hands wouldn’t stay still. Cisco was with Marco, Alejandro’s right-hand man. I hadn’t seen him in years—not since I had watched him take the hooker to the back and heard her screams. The sound still resonated through my thoughts when I closed my eyes at night. He should have been dead right along with Alejandro, if only I’d had the right opportunity at the time.
“Something caught your eye?”
I jumped at the hoarse whisper of Tito, losing my balance in the process as I stepped away from the window.
Holding my hand over my heart, I pretended to laugh, hoping he wouldn’t see the actual fear I felt. “Holy shit! Why’d you scare me like that?” I turned to see Tito, his pace slow and purposeful as he came down the hallway. His expression hardened and his dark eyes bored into me as if he knew something I didn’t. Why had he been back there and why hadn’t I heard him at all when I first came in?
He stepped in front of me and cautiously pulled back the curtain, peering just the same as I had. “Why are you spying on the boss doing business?”
“I’m not. I was going to head out for work, but stopped to check the weather.” I was glad I thought of something so quickly, but was sure he could sense the fear in me. I hadn’t stopped shaking.
“Weather, huh?” He leaned over and checked again. “Don’t look too bad out there to me.” He turned and raised a brow. “Looks like what you’re wearin’ll be just fine.” His eyes raked over me, landing on my chest. I was thankful I hadn’t changed into my uniform yet, although my snug, long-sleeved shirt with its scoop neckline gave him the same type of view. He licked his lips as he took a step toward me.
I took one back.
“Where you goin’, Sarah?” The way he said my name, my stomach churned nervously—even worse than before, from seeing Marco. I wasn’t sure what Tito was thinking, but he smiled in the direction of the window and then back at me.
He moved forward as I stepped backward again. “I’m thinking that guy out there might know you.” His eyes grazed over my body again. “Maybe even your other name.” He took another step. “That name you asked me not to say ever again.”
I cursed Jeanine immediately. She was the one who had joked around him using my old name. I knew coming to her had been a mistake.
Faking a laugh as best as I could while my heart pounded, I said, “Pfft, that name doesn’t mean anything at all.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah.” I nodded as I turned and took a couple of steps toward the couch to get my purse and duffle bag. Tito grabbed my hand mid-air. “Let go of me,” I seethed through clenched teeth.
“Oh I’ll let go. When you tell me why that guy out there knows you. How he knows you. Why he’s looking for you.” Each statement was slow and deliberate. Not only that but his eyes continually flicked to my chest.
“I have no idea. I’ve never seen him before in my life.”
“Oh, I think you have,” he said as he pushed me harder to the edge of the couch. The hard wood dug into my back as he sneered, “I smell a huge problem for you. One that you’re gonna wanna get out of.” One corner of his mouth turned up in a sinister sneer. “And you’ll need my help to do that.”
“What makes you think that?” I tried to stick with my story of not knowing anything. “I have nothing to hide.” I fought to keep from swallowing. He’d definitely sense that as fear.
He laughed. “Yeah, that’s why you’re shaking right now.”
I shook the hair from my eyes and shoved him off me, straightening myself up.
“You had me pinned on the couch—it was uncomfortable. Besides, there’s nothing going on and I’d be careful if I were you. You’re the one dealing, not me.” I swung my purse over my shoulder and started toward the door, faking confidence but knowing I couldn’t leave. If Marco was still out there, he’d see me come down the stairs for sure. I couldn’t chance that.
Tito took a step forward, and his eyes turned to slits like a snake about to bite. “I’d watch that if I were you. You know what happens to talkers. You’re not new at this game.”
I kept my eyes focused on his, trying my best to seem confident even though inside I trembled with fear. I wanted nothing to do with him, and he was right: I knew exactly what happened when you talked to the cops about dealing. Not to mention, I wasn’t about to do that anyway, since the cops were looking for me. Yet I couldn’t keep my damn mouth shut before saying, “No, I’m not new. But pushing too hard on me, you might get smacked in the face with your own set of problems.”
He sneered, and within seconds his hand clutched my throat and pinned me against the wall next to the door—the same spot I’d hidden not too long ago from Alex.
Pain seared around my neck, and I tried to cry out as he tightened his grip. I struggled for a simple breath. “Just remember, bitch, I gave you those IDs and know exactly how to fuck with
them too. You won’t be crossing any borders if those get called in for some reason or another.” His other hand grabbed my breast as he shoved his body against mine; the hardness against my stomach clearly told me his intention. “You owe me.”
“I don’t owe you shit. I paid for those just like you asked,” I squeaked out, trying to sound bold. How confident can you sound when you’re being choked?
He pressed harder; his hand constricted around my throat. I was fighting for air then and my eyes began to tear up from the sheer pain. I dared to look at his eyes, now full of hate. “I might just need to take more payment for that. After all, I know what those are worth to you now. More than that small amount you paid me.” His grip tightened on my breast. Needing air, I shut my eyes from the pain of him groping me. “Yeah, I’ll take another form of payment from you.”
My eyes widened as he tugged at my shirt and started to pull at the button of my jeans. Terror ran through me and I tried my hardest to pull my knee up. He was leaning on me so hard, I couldn’t even do that. Not being able to scream threw my mind into full panic. “Stop,” I choked out.
“Yeah, that’s right, bitch. Beg for it,” he whispered harshly through clenched teeth.
A pounding on the door made Tito jolt his head toward the intruding noise. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that Cisco would be the one to come to my rescue. “Tito, come on man, we gotta go.” There was just enough urgency in his voice that gave me some sort of relief that he wouldn’t join in Tito’s torture.
Tito shoved me, furious he wasn’t going to finish what he’d started. I gasped, fighting to breathe as the pain from when his hand was around my neck throbbed with agony. I coughed and sputtered, doubling over as he laughed and grabbed the doorknob. “Yeah, just remember your place, bitch. I’ll find out what that guy wanted. Cisco will definitely back me up on getting more out of you. Hell, he might even want in on some payment.”
I cringed as he left and hated myself for going there—for seeking out Jeanine and asking for her help. Nothing good ever came from asking her who she knew. Obviously, I never learned my lessons.
When we lived in the trailer park, she had always hung out with the worst of the worst. Jeanine had been the first girl I became friends with—one I probably shouldn’t have. She was everything my dad had always told me not to hang around—drugs, drinking, smoking, and boys. Lots of them. She actually had them lined up to pay her for sex.
Knowing all of that, I had still gone to her for help because my choices were limited. I should have figured out how to get a passport somewhere else. Instead I had taken the easy way, which was creating an even bigger problem. Especially now that Alex was in the picture and Marco was in town. With Marco was so close, I should have left town then; it was only a matter of time before he found me. After giving Lisa all my money, I didn’t have enough money for even a bus ticket. Not to mention, the bus station would be the first place he or his buddies would look for me.
Considering Jeanine didn’t pay much attention to where I worked, and I hoped Cisco and Tito had no idea, continuing to work at The Freckled Maiden and hiding out at Alex’s apartment was my best bet for the time being. I’d sit tight and hang back in the shadows for just a few more weeks, careful not to run into Marco.
As I continued to think of a way out of this, my neck throbbed with pain. Running into Jeanine’s room, I checked the mirror. The red mark was incredibly apparent, so I stole the closest thing to a scarf I could find. Wrapping it fashionably around my neck, I grabbed the bag I had gone there for and double checked out the window to make sure that everyone had left.
The second I hit the pavement, I peered around the corner and exhaled a sigh of relief, seeing no one around—well, except for the customers at the pizza place. Heading toward the bus stop, I looked back and spotted the bus I needed coming down the street.
I took off running just as the bus blew by me. With no one already waiting at the stop for it, the bus didn’t even slow down a little. Shit. I checked my watch, knowing I was going to be late for work because of Tito’s stupid blackmail bit.
The bar was still a couple of miles away, and walking wasn’t really an option. Nor was a cab, as I thought about my money options. I didn’t want to waste any of what little money I'd made in the past week if I didn’t have to. At the same time, I also didn’t want to be late and miss out on more tips. It was Friday and I knew most of the guys in there wanted to blow their paychecks on some beers.
“Need a ride, pretty lady?” My heart stopped, until I turned to see a sleek black BMW. I smiled, seeing the one guy who made coming to that town actually worthwhile. Although he was also turning out to be my problem, seeing as he made it more difficult for me to move on. Thinking about Tito and his threats, leaving town might have to be the better decision.
I peered into the rolled-down window. “You’re a lifesaver!” I laughed as I grabbed the door handle. “I just missed the bus!” I plopped into the soft leather, exhaling a huge breath, and swept my hair back just as his hand snaked around the back of my neck, tightening the scarf I had thrown on. I realized my neck was still tender from Tito’s bribery attempt and tried my best not to wince. Alex asking questions about that wouldn’t help matters. There was no way I wanted to drag Alex into the drug-dealing world of Cisco and Tito. All of my problems were mine to fight. Knowing him, he’d want to make them his, and I wasn’t about to taint his world with any of my crap.
“I saw you running and knew I caught you in time.” He laughed and I had a slight panic as I noticed him eye the scarf I wore. Though it didn’t match, it was cold enough outside that I’d be able to get away with it, especially since I didn’t have a jacket.
“What were you doing on this side of town?” I tried to put his mind back on something else. The last thing I wanted was to have to add on another lie.
“I came to pick you up.”
My smile faltered, as I hoped he didn’t see Tito or Cisco leaving my apartment. “Oh, wow. How’d you manage to get out of work?”
“I just left. A little late though. I took a chance in case you made it to the bus. My plan was just to follow it along to the bar.” He chuckled and I relaxed a little. If he had been there a few minutes sooner…
He leaned over and his lips touched mine. I melted. Everything and all of my problems dissolved by his warm, soft mouth. That familiar bubblegum scent seemed to resonate through my mind, although he now had a more manly scent. I definitely preferred sandalwood and spice compared to what I remembered.
A car beeped in the distance and I wasn’t sure it was directed at us, but Alex still pulled back, smiling.
“How are you?” he whispered as he pecked my lips again, searing his kiss into my memory.
“Good now that you’re here.” I gave a silly pout. “Although it’d be more fun if I didn’t have to work.”
“I could talk to the owner. I know him pretty well,” he joked as he veered the car into traffic. After being with him through the week, he’d told me how Tommy was one of his best friends from college. Alex had helped him design the bar. We joked about the uniform. Alex told me how Tommy had this fixation on German barmaid outfits ever since a sorority Halloween party, yet he had his mind set on having an Irish pub. Tommy was convinced the contrast would bring in more customers to discuss it. It worked. Half my nights were spent trying to explain that Tommy just liked the “uniforms.”
“No. I need to work. Besides, I feel bad for Cassie having to cover for me last weekend and the day I flaked out on her.”
His eyes didn’t leave the road. “Yeah. About that.” I could hear a nervousness to his voice and my heart quickened. “I’ve been thinking, we’re pretty much reconnecting.” He swallowed and I held my breath. “Things seem to be going well.”
“Things?” I laughed, trying to deflect my nervousness. “It’s only really been a week.” Although being with Alex was like stepping back in time. Things between us were just as they were before. Familiar, fu
n, and everything so very…normal. That was not a word I’d have used to describe my life since my dad died. My life had been anything but that since.
“I just meant that, well, since you want to save money and my place would be more comfortable than Jeanine’s couch, maybe you’d want to…move in. With me.”
I stared at him in disbelief. How often did he do that with women? Although from what I understood from Cassie during the past week, Alex had turned into some kind of player since I’d last seen him, not really ever settling down with a woman. Cassie had insisted she’d never seen him like this. Not with anyone and never in this short amount of time. Yet after only a week, he wanted me to move in.
The temptation was most definitely there. To hide up in that gorgeous apartment, away from having to scrounge for money. Not smelling like pizza all the time and definitely not having to deal with the likes of Cisco or being threatened by Tito. That was a huge temptation. One I really sat there thinking about.
“Sorry. I hope I wasn’t overstepping any boun—”
“No. You weren’t.” I gave a timid smile. “I was trying to come up with a reason not to.” Except for hurting him in the end. “Let me think about it. Maybe through my shift?”
He smiled so bright you’d have thought I’d given him an answer to a different question. What I wouldn’t give to see how he’d react if he proposed and I told him yes. My smile dropped just thinking about that, and I turned to look out the window quickly. His warm hand wrapped around mine and he squeezed.
“You do that. No pressure. But I’m really hoping you’ll say yes.”
I looked back at him and wanted to say that one small word, but my insides screamed how much I was going to hurt him when I had to leave. That wasn’t an expression I ever wanted to see him have.
Trust Me Forever (Forever Happens Series Book 2) Page 12