Skepticism (Life. Destiny. Fate. #4)

by LK Collins

  “Okay,” I agree to both deals.

  “Great, I’ll email you all the documents for your e-signature. We should be closing very soon on both.”

  I hang up and Natalene is looking up at me with those gorgeous fucking eyes. “Good news?” she asks.

  “Yeah, sold both properties, but didn’t get exactly what I wanted.”

  “At least they sold.”

  I love her optimism. Leaning down, I connect my lips to hers. She melts under my touch, and as I gain access to her mouth, my world feels complete. Despite all of this fucked up shit that we are going through, being with Nat makes everything feel right.

  Looking at the picture on the wall, I wonder what made Micah buy it. It’s not white like everything else in his home; it’s blood red, very abstract, and after staring at it for so long, I really can’t make out what it is anymore. It’s kinda like when you stare at the clouds for so long and they start to morph into different things. I swear this painting is starting to move, or it could be that I am sleep deprived.

  Focusing back on the laptop, I’m reading up on Prestwell. Educating myself with everything there is to know about him. Micah has been pacing the house on the phone for about an hour and is starting to make me nervous. He’s clearly stressed; his tone rises in pitch every so often and I’m not sure who the conversation has been with.

  “Fine. Tomorrow,” he barks into the phone and then slams it on the counter. Peeking around the counter, I can see him flustered and struggling to open a bottle of Scotch in the kitchen. Walking in, I startle him. “Is everything okay?” I ask.

  He grabs my hand and directs me to sit at the kitchen island.

  “What’s the matter?” I ask.

  “Everything is just really getting to me – my work is going fucking crazy, and since I have you back, I can’t focus on that with the threat of Moretti looming over us.” He slams a shot of whisky, and I know he’s just going to drink himself into oblivion unless I put a stop to this.

  “You take on too much sometimes. You look exhausted, babe.”

  He runs his hands through his hair and nods his head in agreement.

  I reach for his hand and he takes mine. “Come on, let’s nap.” I know sleep will relieve both of our stress, even if for a little bit. He needs it.

  He nods slowly and then follows me upstairs. Getting into bed, he rests his head against my chest, holding himself tightly to my body. I haven’t seen Micah like this in so long – he’s tense and vulnerable. I need my strong man back. Closing my eyes, I pray that we can survive what lies ahead of us.

  …It’s dark and humid; looking around I can’t see anything. My breathing is ragged and with each inhale something comes into my mouth. I blink a few times and can see a tiny bit of light through the hood that is covering my head.

  “Micah?” I call out, needing to know where he is. He doesn’t answer back and I struggle more with the restraints that have my hands tied. In the distance I hear a few men’s voices, my anxiety spikes and real panic begins to set in. Rolling to my other side, I work the rope to untie myself knowing that I have to escape, but stop the second that I hit something.

  My senses are invaded by him; he’s next to me, I can feel him – smell him. “Micah,” I whisper as tears pool out of my eyes. “Micah,” I whisper again knowing that I am lying against him. He doesn’t respond and I nudge him with my shoulder. He doesn’t move and then the voices get closer. “Looks who’s awake,” Moretti says in his thick accent. I’d recognize his evil tone anywhere.

  Light blinds me as the hood is removed; blinking a few times I look next to me where Micah lies lifeless in a pool of his own blood. One of the men kicks him away and he grunts a little. He’s so badly beaten that I don’t know how he is still alive. I throw myself on top of him, but am ripped away by my hair. Being placed in a kneeling position, a noise from across the room catches me. A young girl is being brought in with a hood on, crying and screaming. My stomach sinks.

  “No! No! No!” I begin to scream, dreading that it’s Michelle.

  They remove the hood and I am haunted by her fear-stricken face. She’s scared and looks at me with pleading eyes. Helpless in this moment, I know then that I’ve failed her. Micah suddenly gets up, running to her, but is shot down after a few strides.

  Moretti laughs and I watch Micah’s body fall, so slowly, so softly, so…

  “Baby,” Micah screams, shaking me by my shoulders. I pant for air climbing out of the nightmare that I just lived and relish the glory of his face. Gasping, my heart is racing so fast, and I cling to him. He holds me, my chest heaving against his. He’s just as scared as I am. “What happened?” he asks.

  “It was only a bad dream,” I say pulling away and looking back into his eyes, clear as glass. He’s alive and okay. I won’t let Moretti hurt him or Michelle. We will get this money and pay him off.

  “Do you want to talk about it?”

  I shake my head, getting up and walking into the bathroom. I can’t put those thoughts into Micah’s head.

  “You sure?” he asks, following me and then holds me by my hips.

  I nod and he says, “Thank you for earlier.”

  “Baby, you don’t ever need to thank me.”

  He turns on the shower and undresses. “No, I do.” He stands under the water and asks, “Are you getting in?”

  “Yeah,” I respond, loving to shower with him. I undress and his eyes are all over me. Looking at his body, even covered in bruises, he’s still so sexy. He holds the door open for me and waits for me to get in. The warm water wets my skin, sending a chill down my spine. The three showerheads spray us perfectly, hitting both of us from every angle.

  Micah has his lip in between his teeth and runs his hands through his hair and then up and down my body. He stops and teases my nipples, making me moan from the attention. “God, I’ve missed your tits,” he says, leaning into one breast with his mouth. The water cascades down his face as he covers me.

  My pussy aches for him to fill me, and it doesn’t help that I can feel his hard dick throbbing against me. Reaching for him, I get a good grip with one hand and begin to jerk the skin of his shaft. He grunts and stands straight up, pushing his cock even farther into my hand. Leaning his back against the wall, he watches me handle him and I take this opportunity to give him what he wants. Dropping to my knees, I wrap my mouth around him and reach up with my hands as I begin to move my head. With both of my hands just below his chest, he holds on to them with one and then weaves his other hand into my hair, pummeling his cock into my mouth.

  With each suck, I moan, so turned on to have his hard dick in my control. Nothing else matters right now. All of my worries are washed away.

  “Yes, just like that,” he growls, slowing my movements and getting even harder. I know then that he is close. Needing to push him over the edge, I slide one hand down his body, feeling the ridge of his stomach muscles beneath my fingertips. Then I clench his dick, stroking along with my mouth and prepare to suck a good strong come out of him.

  Fiercely he squeezes my free hand, his body frozen, no longer moving along with me and lets me take full control. Working him just the way that I want, I keep steady long sucks ’til finally he explodes. My mouth is drenched with his sweetness and I can’t contain the satisfaction that I feel. He moans and curses, slowly milking the cum from the tip of his dick all over the back of my throat.

  I swallow what he’s given me and enjoy playing with him in such a sensitive state. Sucking a little more and swirling my tongue around the end, he stops me. Micah doesn’t seem to like it though and yanks me from the floor, pushing me flat against the wall.

  “You’re such a good dick sucker,” he whispers into my shoulder. “Now spread your legs like a good girl so I can fuck you.”

  I obey and he rubs my clit with his fingers. “Do you like this?” he asks.

  I shudder, loving his touch, and he chuckles. “What about this?” he asks, sliding two fingers inside of me.
/>   “Fuck yes,” I cry out.

  “And this?” he asks now rubbing his cock between my ass cheeks. I nod my head, whimpering from the affection. He wraps an arm around my body and pulls me away from the wall. Leaning my head back, I search for his mouth. We are standing out of the water, the shower so big that there is plenty of room.

  He kisses me, caressing his tongue over mine and pushes himself inside of me, the fullness amazing. I tighten my pussy around him and we stand like this, immobile for a moment, doing nothing but kissing. His cock throbs inside of me and I’m so grateful that we are back together. I’m not even sure how I survived the last ten years without him.

  Needing to feel him, I start to move my hips and he follows. Grinding himself deep inside of me, I can barely keep the shudders at bay. Tiny moans escape me, met with his groans, and I stand, trying not to come. Micah’s lips are now on my shoulder, and as my head hangs, everything slips away. A fire bursts inside of me making the fear of Moretti disappear. I yell out Micah’s name, clinging to the tile wall, but finding no traction, my body stiffens and I let his thick dick take me away. With my legs apart, he hits that spot. Micah lets go as well, coming again. His hot cum fills me and we share in this bliss together. Slowly, he brings me back to reality. I reach my hands back for him and wrap them around his neck holding him close to me.

  He holds me, kissing me tenderly, still slowly pumping in and out of my sensitive pussy. His warm lips soothing me, he is my salvation in this fucked up world and the nightmare that we are living in.

  Why did I agree to go into work today? The question still puzzles me. Watching Nat sleeping so peacefully in my bed with her hair splayed around her, I really hate myself for having to leave her today.

  However, when I got the call yesterday from C.J. and Vincent all worked up over some security issues with the marijuana dispensaries that we represent, I knew I had to fix it myself. It’s my line of work, I brought it into the firm, and I normally manage their day to day problems. I thought for once I could depend on them to help, but since they can’t seem to pull their heads together and give anyone a fucking answer regarding how to fix a problem, shit’s hitting the fan. So I have to go in and clean it up. I guess my time of playing sick is over. But I need to keep a low profile during the next few weeks anyways, as I don’t need anyone having any suspicions as to what’s going on with me.

  Kissing Nat on the cheek, I get out of bed and head into the kitchen to make her breakfast in bed. I start a pot of coffee, and then look in the fridge trying to decide what to make. I settle on some fresh cut fruit and am suddenly startled by Nat as she comes up behind me, wrapping her arms around my waist. “Morning, babe, how did you sleep?”

  “Very well,” I respond, loving her closeness.

  I kiss her forehead and put the fruit into a bowl, then rinse my hands before pouring us each a cup of coffee.

  Nat hops up on the counter and grabs a strawberry, popping it into her mouth. “What’s the plan today?” she asks.

  I add cream to the cups and decide to tell her, sooner rather than later, about work. “I have to go into the office.”

  She’s quiet and I look over my shoulder at her.

  Fuck, she’s pissed.

  I should have told her last night, but I just couldn’t. Things were so good between us. The last thing that I wanted to do was add any unwanted stress. “I’m sorry, some shit came up I have to handle.” I stand between her legs. “I should have told you sooner, but it caught me by surprise too. I thought the guys had a handle on things.”

  “Yeah, you should have. What the fuck are you going to tell people about your face and where you’ve been?”

  “I don’t know, but it’s no one’s business.” I’m pissed that I didn’t think of this before I agreed to go in. I guess my mind has been unfocused lately.

  “Well, we need to think of a story. You can’t just be a prick about things and act like your face being all bruised and cut is something no one’s gonna ask about.”

  “What should I say then?”

  “What did you tell them the reason was for being out in the beginning?” she asks me, eating some more fruit.

  Running my fingers up her arm, I say, “I told them I was sick.”

  “What if you say that was a lie, which it was. Then say you got jumped leaving a bar and hoped that you would look better by now, but you just didn’t want to be in court with your face all messed up.”

  “Do you think my face is messed up?” I ask jokingly and tickle her sides.

  She laughs, so cute and out of breath, and says, “Stop, you know what I mean.”

  Looking at her and how gorgeous she is, I’m thankful to have her by my side.

  “Bring your fruit, sexy, I gotta get dressed.”

  She hops off the counter taking her fruit and coffee upstairs. Walking behind her, my cock starts to twitch. Knowing that I can’t have her whenever I want all day today drives me mad.

  “Would you pick me a suit out of the closet?”

  “Yeah, any color preference?”

  “No, not at all. Whatever you like.”

  “This one?” she asks after only being in the closet for half a second. I nod in agreement. She’s making it hard for me to stay focused as she lies across the bed and watches me, wearing only one of my shirts. As I dress, I pray that I can keep my cock under control. Nat hops up, her ass jiggling, and grabs the Neosporin off my nightstand.

  “I’ll miss you,” I tell her, letting her take care of my face.

  “Me too,” she says tucking the hair over her eyes behind her ear after she’s done.

  “I need to give you something.” She follows me into the closet where I open my massive standup safe. I pull out a gun for her, extra ammo, and a gun for me, just to be safe. “For extra protection,” I offer passing her the nine-millimeter. She cocks it back checking if it’s loaded as I put on my holster, then insert my gun, before putting on my jacket.

  “Do I really need a gun and this much ammo?” she asks. “I thought Moretti was going to leave us alone while we came up with the money.”

  “Honestly, baby, I don’t know what Moretti will do. My gut says if he wanted us dead, he’d have already done it, but I can’t risk anything happening to you.”

  She walks out of the closet, setting the gun on the bed.

  “Please keep it close today.”

  “I will.” She looks up at me and I hold on to the back of her head, threading my fingers into her hair while I study her eyes.

  “I’m so fucking thankful to have you, you know that, right?”

  She smiles at me and asks, “I know. When will you be home?”

  “Not sure, but I’ll text you.” She pulls my head down to hers and rests her lips tenderly against mine. I kiss her back, breathing her in before forcing myself to pull away. Leaving her is hard, but this time it’s only temporary. Grabbing my car keys, I head for the door and pray that today goes by quickly.

  “See, I told you, man, something was fucking up with him,” C.J. says to Vincent.

  “I’m right here, douche.”

  He looks at me and shrugs his shoulders. “We’re just glad that you’re okay, Liam,” Vincent says.

  “Thank you,” I respond, glaring at C.J. who is no longer interested in the conversation now that he knows he was right. “Well, guys, I wish I could chat all day, but I gotta get caught up,” I say to them, standing to leave.

  “Get to work. Let us know if you need anything at all.”

  Heading to my office, I check my phone on the way. A text from Nat says, This Prestwell guy really seems like an ass.

  I’m sorry, baby, I wish there was another way.

  Finding some peace and quiet in my office, I lean against the door, shutting my eyes to calm my nerves. I feel like I’m living two different lives. A knock on the door startles me.

  What the fuck now?

  Quickly I sit behind my desk, not wanting to seem off, and say, “Come in.”

 
My assistant, Max, slowly opens the door, and I know I’m going to have to explain my face to him. “Can I come in?” he asks, barely peeking in.

  “Sure.” I nod my head watching him close the door then take a seat across from me.

  “I’m sorry to bombard you.” He’s clearly stressed. “But these dispensaries have been going crazy.”

  “I know, I know,” I tell him raising my hand. “That’s why I came in today. I’ll handle things.”

  “Do you want my list of notes from their calls?”

  “Yeah,” I reply, even though my head’s about to explode. He passes me the notes sensing that I’m aggravated and stands to leave. “I’m glad you’re back. We missed you around here.”

  “Thanks.”

  He closes the door and I feel bad for being short, but leaving Nat alone today has been harder than I thought. Then fabricating this lie, all the while I have a gun under my suit jacket…it’s a lot. I’d gotten used to being just Liam. Now I’m playing at being both Micah and Liam, and the mindfuck of it all is getting to me. Placing my face in my hands, I focus on work. Nat is safe at home, so the quicker that I handle shit here, the quicker I get to be with her.

  Booting up my computer, I look through the notes that Max gave me. Five of the messages are from Tony. Needing to release some pent up aggression, I give him a call knowing the fucker might need to be put in line.

  “Tony?”

  “Hey, Liam, thanks for calling.”

  “No problem, what’s going on?”

  “A lot. Listen, I wanted to apologize for my actions previously. I got mixed up with some bad people and made some shitty decisions. But it won’t happen again. I returned the Bentley and have been dumping every penny into the dry cleaners.”

  Getting his money laundered through the dry cleaners is a priority, if not a tad ironic. And of course, my cut is what I’m most concerned about at this point.

  “Good, what’s the urgency then with security and all your phone calls?”

  “Six of my stores have been robbed during operating hours.”