Stitch

by Jaime Lewis

  “I understand what you’re saying, but this time around feels so different with Mia.”

  “You’re in love with her, aren’t you?”

  One hundred percent, he was in love with her. A day never went by that he didn’t think about her. Even when they were out on missions and had some downtime, he thought of her. Even decisions he’d made within the last year, he’d found himself wondering if Mia would be happy or approve. Like when he was looking for a house after Frost and Autumn moved in together. He found one he liked, but he wasn’t sure if Mia would like it, so he passed on it. He looked at Alex. It was no use trying to hide his feelings.

  “I am. I told Ace last night.”

  Alex raised one of her manicured eyebrows in his direction, completely surprised by his statement, but he didn’t miss the sly smile playing on her lips.

  “Maybe I do need that beer after all. This is a major development in the romance saga of Stitch and Mia,” she said with a laugh, also making Stitch chuckle. “And, I am dying to know the reaction of my husband to be.”

  Stitch was still laughing. Alex could be such a wise-ass, and he loved her for it too. “He was happy for the both of us, and he’s fine with it.”

  She smiled. “Really? It was that easy?”

  Now Stitch smiled. “It was. And believe me, it was easier than I thought.”

  “Well, I’m sure he is thrilled. You’re a great guy and he knows you’ll take good care of her.”

  He studied Alex’s reaction. He thought she would be more surprised. “Why don’t you seem so surprised?”

  “Well….”

  “Alex...” He loved his best friend to death, but damn she could sometimes meddle in shit, though her heart had good intentions.

  She raised her hands up. “Okay…I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but since you are one of my best friends and Mia means a lot to me, and I want to see you both happy, I’m going to let you in on a little secret. Back when Tenley got in trouble, and you guys were getting ready to deploy, Ace and I had a conversation. Ace had been a little worried about that guy Mia was seeing.”

  “The Green Beret?” Nobody knew the guy’s name, but Stitch hated the man for how he had treated Mia. Any man who was unfaithful to his woman was just a douche bag, and clearly the asshole didn’t deserve Mia.

  “Yeah, him. Anyway, Ace noticed that Mia hadn’t been her happy-go-lucky self. He wasn’t sure what to do or how to approach her on the subject. I suggested that he ask you to see if you had any insights.”

  Stitch pointed to himself. “Me? Why would you tell him to talk to me?”

  She grinned, then took a sip of water. “Because I knew that even though Mia was dating that guy that you and her had been talking. A lot.”

  “How did you know?”

  “Because Mia told me. You know us girls like to gossip.” Oh yes, he knew very well how the women liked to gossip. Especially the group of women that included Alex, Tenley, Autumn, Bailey, and now Mia. “And, you want to know what Ace told me?”

  “One could only guess,” he said, lifting his beer and taking a swig.

  “He said that he wished it was you who was dating his sister.”

  Stitch coughed as he choked on his beer, which made Alex giggle.

  “Surprised ya, didn’t I?”

  All Stitch could do was nod his head because that was a pretty big news flash.

  “Ace said that if the both of you were dating, he would at least know she was in good hands. He respects you.”

  “And, you never thought to clue me in, knowing that was the main reason why I stood back and didn’t make a move sooner? Especially after that dick cheated on her?”

  She gave him a devilish smile. “Hey, I’ve been told not to meddle in other people’s relationships.”

  He balled up a napkin and threw it at her, and she laughed. If it weren’t for her meddling, there was no telling if Potter, Frost, or Irish would be happily married now. He could only wonder what she had told Ace.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Elijah paced the length of his living room in his penthouse. The heels of his Armani dress shoes clicked against the marble floors with every step he took. He was pissed. Two of his employees had fucked up big time, and because of their stupidity, he had some major covering up to do.

  “You okay, boss?”

  Elijah whipped his head around to see Claus standing in the doorway. Ignoring his question, he asked, “Did you take care of the situation?”

  “It is being done as we speak.”

  “Good. I don’t want anything traced back to me. Where are Oscar and Jules?”

  “Down at the docks working on installing those new cages on that cargo ship so everything will ready for the shipment scheduled for next week.” Claus walked a little more into the room, and Elijah saw him holding a shopping bag.

  “What is that?” He asked.

  “The items from the girl that were left at the warehouse. Vargas bagged it up. He is also taking care of the clean-up.”

  Claus handed over the bag, and Elijah took a peek inside. It was just a pair of socks, running shoes, and a black zip-up hoodie. A smell tickled his nose. It was a familiar scent. He removed the hoodie from the bag and brought it to his nose, and inhaled again. It was sweet, not too strong, but enticing. It was Mia. The scent from the hoodie was the same perfume that Mia wore, and instantly the vision from the night at the gala fluttered through his mind. He damned himself for telling her to take a few extra days to visit with her brother. She wasn’t due back to the office until Wednesday. With the situation he was currently dealing with, it could turn out to be a good thing since he’d be preoccupied making sure Oscar and Jules’ fuck up was concealed.

  “Are Oscar and Jules sure she didn’t get a look at them?”

  “No, they said she was blindfolded the entire time. They are aware of how bad they fucked up.”

  “They both are lucky they aren’t floating in the Hudson River right now.”

  “I can still make that happen.”

  “No. We have enough to deal with right now. I don’t need another reason for the cops to start sniffing around. We need to find out who that woman was that escaped and deal with her. Press Oscar and Jules for more information. I want to know where they picked her up from, and have them give you a better description than a ‘hot raven-haired woman with a fuckable body’.”

  “I’ll talk with them. I’m supposed to meet up with Vargas later next week to go over plans for the next shipment. He said he knew of a more concealed place outside the city to hold the dogs until they were adopted. Since he was at the warehouse, I’ll see if he can provide any other information. However, he got there just before she escaped.”

  Elijah let out a frustrated sigh and sunk down into the chair.

  “What are we doing about the Willow situation, now?”

  Willow was the woman Oscar and Jules were supposed to nab off the street. Now he was faced with two problems.

  “There is no situation with Willow.”

  Elijah quirked his eyebrow, and Claus grinned, then looked at his watch. “Willow should be on her way to her new home.”

  “New home?”

  Claus shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t have an exact location, but Chen Pham was more than willing to take her off your hands. I was surprised at the price he offered for her.” He gloated.

  “You sold her to Pham?” Elijah ran his hand through his hair. “Jesus, she probably would have been better off if you just killed her. I’ve heard stories about Pham. Not many women last more than a month with him.”

  Claus, again gave a shoulder shrug. “Do you really care?”

  “No. As long as she can’t open her mouth around here, I don’t give a fuck what happens to her.”

  “She was an easy target. I picked her up this morning as she was out walking in Central Park. Not sure anyone taught the stupid girl not to walk alone in the park while it was dark.”

  Claus gathered his coat and car k
eys. “I have the crew meeting me at the warehouse. I’m concerned with the amount of close calls we’ve had the last few weeks. Ones that could have been prevented if those responsible had been paying attention. I’m going to let them know that if there are any more screw-ups, heads will roll. Literally.”

  Elijah nodded his head as Claus showed himself out the door. Elijah grabbed his glass and walked over to the windows overlooking Central Park; it was a magnificent view as the windows pan floor to ceiling. He lifted the glass of whiskey to his lips and took a long sip. In his other hand, he still clutched the jacket belonging to the woman who could potentially bring down his empire. He swallowed hard. Finding her in the city was going to be like looking for a needle in a haystack. His only hope was that she was too out of it to remember where she was.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Mia started to stir. She felt as if her body and mind were playing a game. Her mind said it was time to wake, but her body seemed to disagree. At the moment, she felt secured and at peace. Her mind might have been a little fuzzy, but she recognized right away that she wasn’t in her bed. Her mattress was nowhere near as comfortable as the one she was curled up in.

  She let her eyes adjust to the little bit of sunlight peeking through the slats in the wood blinds. The first thing that caught her attention was a picture on the table next to the bed. She couldn’t help the small smile that formed. It was a picture of Stitch in uniform standing with what she assumed were his parents. Stitch carried both his mom and dad’s features.

  Her eyes slowly moved about the room. It was very homey—calm and peaceful, just like Stitch. The contrast of the dark logs that made up the house's interior and exterior, along with the wildlife photos blended with the military pictures and decor, made her smile because it was what she would expect from Stitch. Even the wood frame of the bed matched the color of the logs. She may live in the city, but her blood ran country, and the look and feel of the room made her feel right at home.

  She snuggled further into the down pillow that smelled like Stitch, but that teensiest movement set off a chain reaction of pain throughout her entire body, bringing tears to her eyes. Parts of last night started to come back to her. She remembered meeting the Sheriff, and he had driven her to the cabin. Her brother and Stitch had shown up with a few other people. She recalled talking to them—about what she couldn’t remember, because she had been out of it. Her mind wasn't firing on all cylinders between the pain, adrenalin crash, and pain medicine. She did recall a doctor had examined her.

  Suddenly she let out a gasp and touched her lips. Had Stitch really kissed her last night?

  Before she could put any more thought into it, she groaned, feeling the need to use the restroom. She was content and didn’t want to move, but her bladder was going to burst if she didn’t relieve herself soon. She could see the bathroom door just a short distance away, but with the way her body felt, it may as well have been a mile away. She wasn’t even sure if she could walk. But if she didn’t find a way to get her ass out of bed, she would have a messy and embarrassing situation on her hands.

  Slowly, and with a lot of small movements, along with a few expletives, she was able to get her legs over the edge of the bed. Trying to use her core muscles to sit up was another story. She tried to channel happy thoughts while battling through the pain and agony until she was in an upright position. She even gave herself a weak fist pump for the little feat, though it felt as if she just conquered the world. The impromptu celebration quickly faded to a thing of the past when she realized the bed was so high off the ground. Her feet didn’t even reach the floor. She hadn’t remembered the bed being this high when she got in it, but then again, last night had been a complete blur.

  Her mouth dropped open when her eyes landed on the clock sitting on the nightstand. She had slept almost the entire day. In the next hour or two, it would be getting dark and time for bed again. Not that she would complain, because she still felt exhausted.

  Scooting her butt closer to the edge of the bed, she damned her bladder. She just wanted to curl back up in the warmth of the fluffy comforter and go back to sleep. Once she got far enough off the edge and her toes touched the hardwood floor, she pushed off. She had no chance of standing as her legs felt numb and gave right out from under. She crumpled to the floor with a hard thud. “Sweet baby Jesus,” she whimpered when the pain erupted through her body. Tears filled her eyes.

  She wasn’t sure how long she had laid on the floor, trying to calm her breathing and racing heart, but she gasped when a set of strong arms lifted her. She was cradled against a warm, broad chest. Without opening her eyes, she knew it was Stitch. His scent gave it away.

  ◆◆◆

  Stitch and Blake were putting away the groceries that Stitch had ran out and picked up. Ace and the others had left around noon to head home, and since Mia had still been asleep, he decided to make a quick run to the store to pick up some food and fill the prescription that Doctor O’Neal had left for Mia. Sheriff Prescott had stopped by to see how Mia was doing, and since he was there and wasn’t on call per se, he offered to stay at the cabin while Stitch ran out to the store.

  “I told Tink to let his Detective friend in New York know that if I can be of any assistance to reach out,” Blake said to Stitch.

  Stitch stopped what he was doing and turned toward him. “I appreciate that. I just want to find out who was responsible and make them pay. They need to be caught.”

  “I agree.”

  Suddenly, there was a loud thump from upstairs. Stitch dropped the box of noodles he had in his hand, and both he and Blake took off running, taking the stairs two at a time. When Stitch got to his bedroom, Mia’s sobs from inside the room ripped through him. When he pushed the door open and found her on the floor, he rushed to her side.

  “Mia?” He questioned as he lifted her into his arms and sat on the edge of the bed. Her low gasp and tense body signaled to Stitch that she was in tremendous pain. He felt bad for making her hurt worse, but dammit, what had she been thinking trying to get out of bed by herself. Doctor O’Neal told her she needed to take it easy and let others help her.

  “Mia.” He said, brushing her hair from her face. “Talk to me, Mia. What happened?”

  She opened her eyes and met his gaze. The agony that filled her showed in her eyes. He adjusted her body as she leaned against him.

  “Ow, ow, ow.” She whispered in a raspy voice.

  “How can I help?” Stitch asked.

  “I don’t know. Everything hurts.” Her body was tense, and he could feel her holding her breath. When he looked down, her face was all scrunched up, and she had closed her eyes again.

  He pulled her close to his chest, and soon he felt her body start to relax as her warm puffs of air could be felt through his shirt. When he brushed her hair off her face, her cheeks felt a little warm, and he wondered if she could be running a low fever.

  “I’m so sorry that you’re hurting,” he told her as he looked into her brown eyes.

  “I can’t move a muscle without something hurting.”

  Blake cleared his throat, and when Stitch looked up, he was standing in the doorway. Stitch didn’t miss the slight twitch of the former Marine’s lips before the man nodded his head and left them alone. Blake was the one person who Stitch had confided in about his attraction to a certain woman, though he never revealed who the woman was. They had been out having a few beers when the subject was brought up about Stitch settling down. Apparently, the alcohol that night had been truth serum.

  He turned his attention back to the beauty in his arms. When their eyes met again, the rope around his heart tightened even more. He hadn’t lied to Ace when he told him that he was in love with Mia. What started as a crush quickly morphed into love the more time he spent with her. He wanted to tell her how much he loved her, but she wasn’t in the mindset for that proclamation. He gently wiped the tears from her red-stained cheeks, and she flinched. He had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep
his anger at bay. He didn’t want her to think he was angry with her.

  “I can’t believe that I slept all day.” She said in a husky but sexy voice that totally turned him on.

  “You need the rest.”

  She nodded again, then laid her head against his shoulder. One of the many things he was taught during his lengthy combat medic training was to keep the injured calm, even during the midst of a battle. And, Christ all mighty was this a battle.

  ◆◆◆

  So many emotions filtered through Mia’s head, making it hard for her to think straight. Her brain didn’t want to cooperate. That was probably from the drugs the doc gave her. Being in Stitch’s arms grounded her. He was full of warmth, and his presence gave her the sense of protection she was seeking. She moved just slightly and felt the ache in her ribs, then as if right on cue, the pressure on her bladder increased. She looked up at the handsome man embracing her, and she felt her cheeks flush. Jesus, woman, get your shit together. You need to pee.

  Stitch chuckled, and she saw the amusement dancing in his warm eyes. He smiled and kissed her forehead. “Before you ask, yes, you said that out loud.”

  She ducked her head in complete embarrassment. Her brother used to make fun of her when they were kids because she would talk to herself, or ‘think out loud,’as she liked to call it.

  “I really need to use the restroom, but I don’t think my legs want to work.”

  “No worries, sweetheart.” As if she weighed nothing at all, he stood with her and walked to the bathroom. He set her feet down on the cool tile floor in front of the toilet and held her hips to help steady her. “Can you handle this by yourself?” He asked, nodding his head toward the toilet. She should have been embarrassed by the situation, but right now, she couldn’t care less. All that mattered was emptying her bladder.

  “I think I can handle it—alone.” She watched him as he studied her, probably asking himself if she was telling the truth. Once he seemed satisfied, he nodded his head. And, thank god, because she really didn’t want to tinkle with him watching and listening. Before he left, he told her to holler when she was finished, and he’d help her back to the bed.