Slow Burn (Boston Beauties #2)

by Dawn Edwards

  ‘Well, you’re not going to stop me,’ he snapped, taking a step forward as my sister kicked the back of his knee causing him to fall. She tossed me a roll of duct tape, as she was already trying to immobilize him, and I stood on his back.

  ‘Don’t put too much pressure, we don’t want bruises.’

  It appeared to me that she already had a plan, I looked to her with horror in my eyes. She was quick with taping Josh up. I didn’t want to know where or how she learned that, but knowing my father, it was one of their extracurricular activities. While most fathers taught their kids how to ride a bike, apparently mine was all about the finer points of kidnapping.

  ‘What are you doing?’

  ‘He’s going to rat us out to the cops and to his family,’ she hissed at me, picking up her phone. I didn't have to look to see who she was calling, I knew it would be our brother.

  She explained the story to him, and at the end all he had to say was, ‘Finish him, I don’t want any loose ends.’

  Josh had heard the entire conversation. His eyes were wide and frightened. I couldn't bring myself to look at him when she walked down her stairs to the salon, returning with a needle that was used for botox injections that were done on-site, by a man who wasn’t qualified to baste a turkey let alone perform medical procedures.

  She rooted through the bags until she found the heroin. I refused to do it, but I also didn’t stop her, I couldn't. Our brother was in charge and he gave his orders, but she created this. She was the reason Jean-Luc knew where we were.

  ‘I’m out,’ I said turning and slamming the door behind me, not able to look back, not able to see the pained look on my sister’s face or the terror in Josh’s eyes.

  ‘So you didn’t inject him?’ the detective asked me, bringing me back to the present, to the interrogation room at the jail.

  I shook my head. I felt a tear in my eye, ‘No, that was Jules.’

  ‘But you were there?’

  ‘Not when she did it. Like I said, he was alive when I left. His body was found the next day in a motel down near the Cape. I never asked her about how it got there, I didn’t want to know. She left pretty much right after that for a while anyways.’

  ‘If we have any further questions, we’ll be in touch,’ the detective said, standing up.

  ‘What did my siblings say?’

  ‘Your brother said word for word what you just told me. Your sister’s story was a bit different, but regardless, that’s up to a jury to decide.’

  ‘A jury?’ I demanded. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Just because Jessa is alive and well, doesn’t mean that you are a free man,’ the detective said. ‘No, quite the opposite. We have dozens of new crimes to charge you with, Josh’s death just happens to be one of the most serious of the charges.’

  I took a deep breath and knew it was all too good to be true.

  They were coming after me with everything they had, and I would bet my left nut that Jessa was leading the charge.

  CHAPTER 32

  JESSA

  Drew’s phone buzzed on the counter as I was getting our breakfast ready. When it buzzed again, I glanced over at it. I wasn't sure how Drew would feel about me looking at his text messages. As I was now his wife, I would hope we didn’t have any secrets. At least I didn’t think they would be on the level of what Matt had kept from me.

  I may have grown and worked on myself, but I was human, a female one at that, and my insecurity showed sometimes. But even when my thoughts went to familiar corners, I always knew Drew loved me.

  Knowing Joe was typically the first on-site and texted if there were any issues, I reached for his phone thinking there may be an emergency at one of the sites.

  When I looked at the screen without even unlocking it, I saw that there were two messages from Lisa. Not only was my insecurity surfacing, my jealousy monster was also rearing its ugly head before eight in the morning.

  I measured the fruit out for our smoothies and blended them as Drew walked out of our room wearing nothing but a towel, wrapping his arms around me and nuzzling his face into the crease of my neck before bending down to kiss the barely noticeable bump that was my belly. He’d been doing this multiple times a day, and I had to say it made my heart just melt. He was going to be the best dad. Even though he worried what kind of dad he would be, as he hadn’t had many positive role models growing up—male or female.

  I had to keep reminding him that he turned out great and so would our son or daughter. We had agreed that we didn’t want to know the sex of the baby, that there were few real surprises left in life and we wanted this bundle of joy to be just that, our biggest surprise in every way imaginable. The whole being pregnant in the first place was just the tip of the iceberg

  'Um...' I started, not knowing how to broach the subject of his missed texts. 'You have a few texts...from Lisa.'

  He looked at me curiously, and I explained, 'Sorry, I just saw the name pop up, I didn’t read it, just thought it might have been Joe...'

  He placed a soft kiss on my lips. 'Cupcake, you have my code, you can read anything. I have no secrets from you and I never will.' He reached across the counter to retrieve his phone. 'I just don’t know why she would be messaging me is all. She hasn’t in months, we’re hardly on speaking terms.'

  He showed me the phone when he read the msg.

  LISA: Hey sorry to bother you but I need a pair of bolt cutters.

  LISA: Do you have a pair I can borrow or know who might be able to lend me a pair

  LISA: I don’t want to buy a pair for one lock

  Drew looked to me. ‘Do you mind if I drop a pair off to her?'

  I looked up to him with raised eyebrows, surprised he was asking for my permission. ‘I really don’t care. But it’s a bit suspicious she’s asking now when the news broke two days ago.'

  'I don’t have to...'

  'No, help her out...I’m just saying maybe don’t give any info about me. I’m sure there’s money to be made off me.'

  He laughed, 'That’s so bizarre...'

  'I know, but I think I’m going to talk to Miley, give her an exclusive. '

  'Wow, that’s bold.'

  'Zoe said everyone had emailed asking for a one-on-one sit-down with me, including her, which is pretty amazing, as it’s nothing she’s done before. She’s always been very private, and no one knows her identity.'

  As Zoe handled all the PR for my father’s company, she had been tasked with handling all inquiries related to me and my reappearance. So far, there’d only been two press releases. One to say that I was alive and another personal statement from myself to ask for privacy during the time of being back with my family.

  On the plus side, Zoe and I spoke multiple times a day and texted often too.

  'You going to do it?'

  I nodded. I had given it a lot of thought over the past few days. And it seemed like my favorite option. 'Yeah, as soon as I’m cleared obviously. '

  'Okay, let me know. I’ll support you one hundred percent. '

  I raised on my toes. 'I know, that's why I love you. '

  'Want me to show you the other reasons why you love me?' He pressed into me.

  'You’re already late,' I protested but knew I was seconds away from caving.

  ‘So what, I'm the boss,’ he started to peel off my undies. ‘I’m going to indulge in all the fringe benefits I can.’

  I turned off the blender and stepped out of my panties as Drew lifted the t-shirt I was wearing up over my head. 'You are so beautiful,' he whispered, appreciating my body, cupping one breast with his hand while sucking on the other greedily. They were starting to grow just like my belly. He made his way down my body, worshipping it with kisses and his hands. This man made me feel like a sex goddess, even this early in the morning.

  He knelt in front of me, hitching one leg up on his shoulder as he used his fingers to spread my folds, making quick work of sliding his fingers into me while his tongue danced around my clit. He was dev
ouring me like a starved man. Grinding against his mouth, my legs began to tremble, and when my knees gave out as I rounded my own finish line, he held me up with his spare arm. I cried out his name in pleasure, not stopping until I was completely finished riding it out. He never stopped, always making sure I had my fill. I slowly slid my leg from his shoulder as he rose to kiss me. I could taste my orgasm on him. He picked me up by my ass, wrapping my legs around him as he carried me to the sofa. I tore his towel off as he laid me down, not surprised at all to see he was more than ready for me.

  'You've come to play I see.' I stroked him.

  'No, cupcake, I've come to fuck you until you cum again.'

  I smiled, pulling him down to me. 'That sounds like more fun.'

  He ran his hard cock against my folds. 'Always so wet and ready for me,' his voice was dripping with desire as he pushed into me. He let out an audible moan as he always did when he entered me, filling me over and over again, building to the rhythm that drove me wild. It was primal, our need to maximize each other's pleasure. Clawing at his back and pressing my teeth into his shoulder, I could feel myself on the verge of my next release and he knew it too.

  ‘That’s it, cupcake,’ Drew cheered me on as I was chasing my second orgasm. ‘Cum all over my cock for me, I want to feel how crazy I make you.’

  Just as I was on the verge, the doorbell rang, and I immediately tried to sit up, but felt Drew’s hand on my chest, pushing me back down, as he continued plunging in and out of me. ‘They can fuck off, I’m in the middle of fucking my wife,’ he growled.

  But it was too late, the build was gone. Especially after the second time the bell rang. ‘For fuck's sake, it’s early morning,’ Drew yelled, slowing down, but not stopping.

  He looked down to me. ‘Cupcake, I’m close, I’m finishing, and whoever the fuck is at the door is just going to have to wait.’

  I smiled and pulled his face down to mine to kiss him. He was a man on a mission, and right now, that mission was to finish what he had started.

  ‘Cum in me,’ I whispered. ‘I’m done, but finish in me.’

  He rose, holding on to my hips and pounding into me. He was no longer afraid to hurt me or the baby after our doctor assured him it was safe. Recently our lovemaking was better than ever . My hormones made me horny almost all the time and ready to go, which suited Drew just fine.

  ‘Yeah,’ he moaned, and I knew he reached his release, just as the doorbell rang again followed by loud knocks.

  ‘Fuck!’ he yelled, clearly annoyed as he pulled out of me and tossing me the towel to wipe up with as he walked into our bedroom and quickly changed into a pair of sweat pants.

  ‘I swear this bitch only comes to catch me with my dick out,’ Drew said as he walked to the front door. This was the second time in as many days the detective showed up early in the morning.

  ‘Then maybe don’t answer the door looking like that,’ I commented, wrapping the towel around me and walking back into the bedroom, looking over his body. His chiseled chest was on full display, as were his drool-worthy abs and that V-shape thingy flanking his hips that just made grown-ass women stupid. It drew the eyes down to his groin, which his sweatpants weren’t doing much to hide. He may just have cum, but he was still rather hard.

  Yeah, he was the total package, and he was all mine.

  I heard him answer the door. Gone were the pleasant greetings that Drew had the first night and yesterday afternoon, when he welcomed the detective into our home with a smile. Now she was just getting to be annoying and intrusive.

  ‘Did I wake you?’ I heard the detective say in an equally annoying voice, but I knew she was eye fucking my husband in the entranceway.

  ‘No, I was making love to my wife. By the way, you owe her an apology, I only had time to get her off once before you rudely interrupted us,’ I heard him say. It was so out of character for him, but I knew he hated this whole house arrest situation. I was the victim, after all, and he didn’t think the arrangement was fair in the least.

  He was already walking back into the kitchen when I emerged from the bedroom, dressed in a sweater and a pair of capri leggings.

  ‘Hey,’ I said walking into the entrance of our house. ‘I’m here like I am every morning, noon, and night.’

  ‘I’m just doing my job.’

  ‘At eight in the morning?’

  ‘Would you rather I did it at three in the morning? Because I was up and working then too.’ She was rude and snarky this morning too.

  ‘Whatever,’ I rolled my eyes at her. ‘I’m here like I always am, so go on and record it in your little black book, and I’ll see you tomorrow sometime.’

  ‘I just wanted to let you know personally that they got the testimony yesterday from your ex…’

  ‘I know, my cousin was there, she told me all about it.’

  CHAPTER 33

  JESSA

  It was nearly three in the afternoon, and I was expecting Jose, the son of one of Drew’s crew members, to show up at any time. He was in high school and we were all trying to keep him out of trouble. He had recently fallen in with the wrong crowd, and while it had been slowly snowballing, last week shit hit the fan. Drew couldn’t afford for Carlos to quit his job to stay home and keep an eye on his teenage son, and he also didn’t want me left alone.

  Jose was a little shit and fought it tooth and nail for the past few days. I was hoping that I made some headway with him yesterday during our heart-to-heart of sorts.

  I was nominated as his babysitter. Over the past week, Drew had arranged for an Uber to pick Jose up at his school and drop him off at our house where he helped with some of the projects currently underway upstairs.

  The entire first floor was now completely finished, and we had curtains covering all of our windows, blocking out our lives to the camera crews that had been stationed at the end of our driveway earlier this week. Thankfully, they had gradually left as of yesterday when it was clear they weren’t going to get anything from us. When I woke up this morning, they were no longer there.

  After the renovations, the upstairs would have three bedrooms. Two bedrooms ran along the front of the house and were connected by a shared bathroom, while one of the two master bedrooms took up the entire back of the house and had a large walk-in closet with a master bathroom. The bathrooms had been fully completed and were the only things that were finished upstairs. The bedrooms and hallways had gyprock and bare subfloors.

  Jose had been priming the walls and ceilings this week, after having filled in and sanded the caulking last week.

  I spent the mornings doing some exercises, followed by lunch and finalizing plans to start moving ahead with my business. Sometimes I had meetings with Abby or the DA over the phone.

  In the afternoons, I’d do some light work with Jose, but more often than not, he’d put on his headphones and get to work on the projects that Drew and his dad had assigned him to.

  I was in the kitchen starting to prepare a snack to share with Jose when he arrived. The doorbell rang, which I thought was strange, as he typically just knocked and walked in. I questioned if I had forgotten to unlock the door after my shower.

  Drew had put up a small curtain the other day, meaning I had to pull it back to look out to see who it was, but I did see that the door was still unlocked. I pulled back the curtain to see Lisa standing at the front door. I let the curtain fall back into place, and I momentarily froze. What the hell was she doing here? I couldn’t very well ignore her, she obviously saw me when I looked to see who it was.

  Taking a deep breath, I opened the door. ‘Hello,’ I greeted her.

  She looked at me a bit confused. ‘Oh, hi.’ She looked behind me, but not seeing anything, she looked me over. ‘Um...I’m looking for Drew?’

  My heart sank, I hated that his ex-girlfriend had shown up at our house. ‘Sorry, he’s at work,’ I informed her as I saw recognition cross her face.

  ‘Jessa?’ she asked, clearly shocked and looking me over again. ‘
Is that you?’

  I smiled and nodded, ‘Yeah…’

  There were no recent photos of me released to the media, they were recycling the old ones from my disappearance and as I hadn’t left the house yet. The cameras hadn’t gotten any glimpses of me either.

  ‘Wow.’

  I stood there for an awkward moment. Seeing a cargo van drive by and thinking it was a reporter, I moved behind the door a bit, watching it drive away. Lisa looked back over her shoulder and then back to me with a worried expression. ‘Sorry, the paparazzi just left yesterday, and I thought it was them in the van.’

  ‘I know, I tried to come back the other day but couldn’t get past them,’ she told me.

  I opened the door farther and motioned for her to come in, closing the door behind her. ‘Is there something that I can help you with, or did you want to wait for Drew?’ I asked. ‘He’s going to be another few hours yet.’

  She reached into her large purse and pulled out a large metal tool. ‘I just wanted to return this to Drew and thank him for dropping it by the bar.’

  She held the bolt cutter out and I took it, turning around to place it on the small bench that we had in our entranceway. With my back to her, I saw out of the corner of my eye her hand holding a white rag, and felt her up against my back as she grabbed me, placing the white rag over my face and pushing me into the wall, holding me there with her body. I tried to struggle out of her hold, but she was much bigger than I was. I could smell some kind of chemical on the cloth and was trying to limit my breathing, but the longer it took for me to break from her hold, I started to panic. As a result, my breathing was getting heavier and labored.

  If only the paparazzi were still out front.

  I needed to calm down to try and buy myself some time. Jose would be here any moment. I was getting dizzy, and I knew I’d never be able to hold out that long. As fear engulfed me, I heard her voice, ‘Just give up already.’

  It was the last conscious thing I could remember.