I Won't Give Up on You (20 page)

“Sir, I apologize I haven’t been forthcoming.” Terrance stands by the doorway in the waiting room.

“Terrance, if you want to keep your job with me, never, ever, keep anything from me again.”

He nods and pulls out his phone to confirm the plane should be ready for take-off in a half hour. I motion for him to sit because I need to know everything.

“Please, tell me everything again, so I know what I’ve been missing all these months.”

Once he is seated, he clears his throat. “Since Sabrina’s shooting I’ve had extra security added undercover throughout all of your companies. They’re working as regular employees and have been filling me in on anything out of the ordinary.”

“Who are they?”

“Sir,” Terrance looks a little uneasy, “I’d rather not say.”

I nod. I’m not happy about it, but I can understand it.

“Well, after the shooting I started tracking Beverly’s off shore accounts and noticed that there was a regular amount being taken out. I knew it wasn’t for James because his accounts never went up in those increments. I got Will on it, and he did some digging. That’s when we found out Mark was involved with her.”

“You knew this whole time and never told me?” I seethe through my teeth.

“Sir, it was for everyone’s safety. Please, understand that. We’ve been tracking his activities and following him, so I know what he’s been up too. He’s followed the girls a few times.”

“WHAT!” I jump out of my seat and have Terrance by the neck of his shirt.

Somehow Terrance stays calm with me in his face. “We’ve had people following him, so he would have never gotten close.”

Loosening my grip, I sit back down and run my hands through my hair. “How did I not see this?”

“Sir, that’s my job. You were focused on Sabrina getting better, as you should be.”

“Who’s been following Mark?”

“Well, it was Jake.” Knowing that Jake was assigned to watch over the girls this weekend, my head snaps up. Terrance holds his hand out for me to calm down. “I’ve also had someone get close with Mark. We have an inside advantage now.”

“What? Terrance, what are you saying?”

Before Terrance has a chance to answer the question my cell chimes. I check the message; it’s the notification that the plane is ready for us. Once we get to the plane, I don’t continue my conversation with Terrance. I know he has things worked out. The bottom line is I trust him, I just wish he would have told me instead of me finding out from Broc.

I’m anxious the entire flight to Mexico. I’m worried about what Mark could be planning, and I need to get to Sabrina. What’s even worse is I’ve been trying to reach Jake, but his phone keeps going to voicemail, and no one is answering at the house. My heart is in my throat by the time we land. Terrance knows of my reluctance to let Sabrina go to Mexico to begin with, but Sara talked me into it, just like she usually can. Damn her!

Descending the stairs the heat hits me like a slap in the face. It’s dark, but the runway is lit up like Christmas. I make my way across the tarmac to the waiting car. Terrance opens the car door, gets in the driver’s seat, and begins the thirty minute drive to the villa.

The tension in the car is so thick you could cut it with a knife. What will we find when we get there? Would she be okay? My heart’s beating a million miles a minute. I close my eyes and lift my head up, sending up a silent prayer that everyone is safe.

I see the lights of the villa in the distance and my stomach turns over. There are some vans in the driveway. I shake my head, knowing exactly who they are. Sara had gone and thrown a party, even though she promised she wouldn’t.

“Terrance, what the fuck? How did she do this?”

He shakes his head. “You know Sara.”

I let out an exasperated sigh.

When Terrance stops the car, I get out before he can open my door. The cleanup crew greets me as they’re carrying the furniture back into the house.

“When did the party end?” I ask one of them.

“It was still supposed to be going on, but there was some sort of incident and everyone left. We decided to just clean early. I hope that is okay, sir?”

I clasp him on the shoulder. “Of course.”

Terrance walks up, so I fill him in on the situation. “There was some sort of incident that ended the party early.”

Making my way through the open door, everything is silent. Terrance takes his phone out of his pocket and dials Jake again. Through the silence we hear the ringing. Walking in the direction of the sound, we find it wedged in a crease of a chair.

“Fuck! That explains why he wasn’t answering us. When I find him, he’s fucking done,” Terrance declares.

I’m pulled toward the wing of the house that has the master bedroom in it. I feel the electricity flow through me when I reach the room. Stopping in front of the door, I reach down to the knob. I know she is on the other side. I test the door and it’s locked.

“I’m going to go to the balcony and go in that way. I can’t imagine she is in trouble. There would be a lot more going on around here if there was.”

Terrance nods and waits by the door as I make my way to the balcony.

Once inside the room, the fan on the ceiling makes a humming noise, but the sound of the waves crashing on the beach almost drowns it out. Looking toward the bed, I find her illuminated by the moonlight. She looks like an angel sleeping safe and sound. I turn to Terrance and just nod. He returns the nod and walks back down the hall, leaving me with my girl.

Finally able to let the breath I’ve been holding this whole trip out, I walk to the chair by the window and begin to undress. My eyes never leave her, though. Her rhythmic breathing, the white sheet draped over her sun-kissed skin rising slightly with each breath. Her hair is fanned out on the pillow behind her. She’s curled up clutching a pillow on my side of the bed.

Slowly moving toward the bed, I see her phone light up on the floor. Grabbing it I turn it over. All of my phone calls and voicemails are there. Then I see all the texts from Sara. The last one was from her.

I’m so sorry.

What the fuck happened? I turn the phone off and set it on the table next to the bed. Slowly moving the sheet, I slide in behind her and pull her into my embrace.

“Caston?” she mummers sleepily, her voice barely audible.

“Sleep, baby.” I kiss her shoulder and pull her closer.

Her breathing returns to a steady rhythm, and I know she has fallen asleep once again.

The morning light brightens the room, and I feel her stir in my arms. Our legs are tangled among the sheets like usual. The relaxing sound of waves crashing makes me want to stay in here all day with her in my arms.

Feeling her stir again, I crack my eyes and see hers flutter open.

“Are you really here, or am I dreaming?” she whispers, trying not to break the spell if she’s dreaming.

“I’m here, sweetheart.” I place a kiss on her nose.

I know she’s still not awake because she nuzzles her head under my chin, and I feel her relax again in my arms.

It’s been another hour or so before she starts to stir again. This time I tip her head up and place a deep kiss on her lips, letting our tongues mingle and dance over each other. Once I withdraw, she rolls to her back and rests a hand over her head.

“Caston, you know I love waking up to you.”

I can sense a but coming. I let my finger tip trace the side of her body before circling her plump breast and then her peaked nipple.

“But,” I urge her to go on.

“Why are you here?” Her eyes open and lock with mine.

Her breath hitches when I pinch the nipple hard.

“You’re so beautiful.”

She runs the hand that was above her head through her hair and sits up, allowing the sheet fall to her waist.

“Nope, not going to distract me.”

I roll to my back and laugh. She knows me too well.

“Okay, but can I have another kiss first?”

She licks her lips as she moves toward me. Stopping millimeters from my lips she demands, “Answer me.”

I reach up, sliding my hands in her hair and pull her toward me, our lips colliding together. She taste like heaven. I can’t get enough of her. She doesn’t break our kiss, but she lifts up and straddles my lap.

I can feel her moisture through the fabric of my boxers and her panties. I know she’s missed me too, but I need to tell her what brought me to her last night.

She sits back, and I enjoy the view of her bare breasts on display for me. I sit up and wrap my arms around her waist as I scoot back to rest my back on the headboard.

I know she can see the worry in my eyes because she tenses up. I stroke her cheek. “I hate to see you frown.”

“I know something is wrong. You wouldn’t be here if everything was okay.”

I flash my wicked smirk. “Are you sure about that? You know I can’t get enough of you.”

The blush I love so much creeps up her cheeks, giving them a rosy glow.

I let my arms slide down to rest on her thighs. “After you called, I continued working, all but forgetting to check your email like you asked me to.”

She giggles. “You didn’t have to come all this way to tell me that.”

“Bre,” I raise my eyebrow to her, “I’m not that desperate. May I continue?”

She nods her head with a smirk of her own.

“So anyways,” I try to sound annoyed, but fail miserably, “when I did get to your office and checked your email, you had three emails from Broc.”

I can see her confusion on her face. “Why the fuck would he be emailing me?”

“Exactly what I thought. So I opened them. Sorry.”

“Don’t be,” she says as she’s tracing the lines of my abdominal muscles, making me lose my train of thought.

“Bre, you’re not making it easy for me to concentrate.”

Her smile is evil, and she wiggles her hips in my lap.

I laugh and shake my head. “So, as I was saying, I opened them. Well, to sum it up he was concerned for your safety.”

She shakes her head. “That doesn’t make sense. Why would he be concerned for my safety? What aren’t you telling me, Caston?”

I can see the worry on her face again. “He said that he has been lurking around Beth’s apartment, trying to get her to agree to meet with him. He said he saw Mark coming out of Beth’s apartment a few weeks ago.”

“Now, Caston that’s just silly. Why would he have—”

“He said he drives by Beth’s occasionally to check on her place, and he saw Mark walking out of her place.”

Anger flashes over her face. Not what I was expecting. She scrambles off my lap before I can explain what I learned from Terrance. I try to grab for her, but she gets tangled in sheets, and we both go tumbling to the ground. Getting away from me again, she grabs her long t-shirt and flings the door open.

I scramble off of Caston’s lap so fast we fall to the floor. How the fuck could she do this to me? I thought we were friends. I haven’t moved this fast in a long time.

“Bre! Sabrina, stop.” Caston is stumbling to get his pants on as he chases after me down the hall.

Thoughts are flying around my head. I make it into the main room and see Sara at the breakfast bar. I pause for a minute as our eyes meet. Caston comes to a sudden halt behind me, almost knocking me over.

“Bre, let’s calm down.”

I turn my head to look at him. “No, Caston. I want answers now.”

“Sabrina.” Sara’s voice quivers hesitantly on my name.

Looking back over at her, my eyes narrow. “Not now,” I hiss as I turn on my heels and head toward the stairs to confront Beth.

I hear Caston behind me say to Sara, “What the fuck happened?”

Not waiting to hear her answer, I grip the banister and head up the stairs. My mind is once again swirling with all sorts of scenarios.

“Beth!” I scream when I get to the top of the steps.

I make my way to the door of the room she’s staying in. Caston just hit the top of the stairs, and I know he’ll stop me if I don’t do this now.

Flinging her door open, there’s a scrambling of body limbs trying to cover up with the sheet. I walk further into the room.

“Beth! Look at me. I need you to fucking look at me.” My voice raises and cracks as I continue to make my way to the bed.