Lost for You (29 page)

We got home around 8.30 p.m. last night and immediately jumped in the shower. Brax was apparently a bit messy after our train ride. I honestly couldn’t stop giggling at him as he winced and grumbled about feeling like a ‘bloody teenager’.

I can’t stop looking at the sparking ring on my left hand. It’s gorgeous, not totally over the top, but beautiful, elegant, and totally something I would choose. I can’t believe that, at twenty years of age, I’m engaged, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. The only thing I miss is having the opportunity for my father to walk me down the aisle, and my mother and sister there with me.

Picking up the phone, I dial Aunt Sylvia’s number, having asked Brax earlier if he minded me ringing her and telling her our engagement news.

“Hello?” she answers.

“Aunt Sylvie, its Elle. How are you?” I ask happily.

“I’m good. How are you, dear?”

I’m bursting with excitement, and I know she can tell from the tone of my voice. “I’m very happy! Both of us are, and I wanted to ring and tell you why.”

“Elle, what happened?”

“Brax asked me to marry him, twice!” I exclaim with a huge smile on my face. Brax walks into the kitchen wearing nothing but a towel, and my mouth salivates at the droplets of water that are still clinging to his taut chest.

He looks at me ogling him, and smirks as he walks over to the refrigerator and pours himself a glass of water. I’m totally distracted by him when I hear Sylvia say my name in my ear.

I shake my head, trying to rid my mind of the perverted thoughts filling my head. “Sorry, Aunt Sylvie. What was that?”

“I said that I’d like to give you guys a nice romantic weekend away together at my house in the Hamptons. Because it was given to me in the divorce, it hasn’t been frozen like the rest of Harry’s assets. So if you’d like it, it is free this weekend for you” she explains.

“Oh, that would be fantastic, Brax, Aunt Sylvie wants to give us her Hampton’s house for the weekend as an engagement gift.”

“Wow, um okay. Yeah, that would be awesome” he stutters, his eyes wide with shock. I can tell that he’s still unsure how to deal with Sylvia.

“We’d love that Aunt Sylvie, thank you so much” I gush down the phone to her. After a few more general pleasantries, we end the call. I turn around and look at Brax who is still wearing just a towel and leaning against the kitchen counter, looking at me.

“That is an awesome gift, hon. I am really grateful. It’s just I’m not sure how it’s going to be with Sylvia yet.”

I melt inside. This man of mine is finally showing a chink in his good looking armor. I walk over to him and lean into his chest, melting my body into his. “I know, Brax, and I love you for that. It shows me that you’re human.” My eyes soften when I look up at him. “Thank you for accepting her gift. I can’t wait to spend a whole weekend alone with you. I love Devon and Shay to bits, but two days of just you and me in the Hamptons sounds like paradise.”

“I’d do anything for you, Elle, just to see that sparkle in your eye and that gorgeous smile on her face. Anything and everything, every single moment for the rest of your life,” he adds, bending down and kissing me, thrusting his tongue into my mouth, and putting his words into action. I melt into his arms, my knees buckling as he plunders my mouth. He pulls back ever so slightly, touching his forehead against mine.

“It’s you and me, darlin’. Forever.”

After telling Shay and Devon of our plans, and giving them the task of looking for office space for the new company to work out of, we pack the car and leave for Sylvia Brimstone’s Hampton’s house just after lunch.

Of course, the boys come to see us off. They were ribbing Brax for finally becoming an honest man and being off the market. I love seeing them all acting up, teasing each other like three brothers who have spent a lifetime together. Of course, this has not been the case, but seeing them now you would never know that. After giving the boys a good bye hug, and making sure they know where we’re going and how to reach us if they need to, we set off for our romantic engagement weekend away.

On our way down, I couldn’t help but check the rear view mirror regularly, looking for a tail. I know we don’t have any threats against Elle anymore, but it is habit. I’ve been watching Elle’s back for so long, it has become second nature to always be on alert. I didn’t see anything or anyone suspicious, so I was a lot more relaxed by the time we reached the house.

I’ve always had a bad feeling about the guy in the black Honda. He gave us so much grief a few months ago, then disappeared after the shooting. Given that we still don’t know anything about him, especially who he is and what he wanted with Elle, or with me for that matter. It seems weird that we haven’t seen him again. I doubt that he would give up so easily after spending so long stalking us, even following us out of town when we were heading to Atlanta at New Years. All the evidence points to him giving up, though, so I hope for his sake, and Elle’s, that he has.

We unpack our bags and go for a walk along the beach. We decide to go into town, and end up having dinner at a small Ma & Pa seafood restaurant.

After dinner, we get back to the car, and I see that both rear tires are flat. Knowing that it is not possible for both perfect condition tires to go flat at the same time, in the space of an hour while we were having dinner, I’m immediately on alert.

“Sweetheart, I need you to get into the car for a minute. I’m going to ring Triple-A and get a tow to the house and call Shay to come help us out in the morning.” I say, unlocking the car and ushering her inside. Once the car door is shut behind I her, I pull out my phone, dialing Shay and scanning the street around us for anything out of the ordinary.

“Brax, what the fuck are you doing calling me? You’re supposed to be knee deep in your girl” he says as he answers my call.

“Hi to you too. We’ve just got back from dinner to find two slashed rear tires on the Mustang. I have a bad fucking feeling about this. I need you to come down here ASAP because I’d like to have some backup.”

“Dude, you sure? Because Elle will be pissed if D and I come crashing your romantic weekend.” Fucking hell, he actually sounds scared of Elle.

“She’ll be fine. We can have another romantic weekend, but I can’t do that if she’s not fucking breathing. Please, man. I’d feel better having you close by.” I scan the road around us again, but apart from a few cars driving past, there is nothing suspicious.

“Okay, B, we’ll get sorted and leave in about half an hour. Should get there a little after one. All good?”

“Thanks, man. I’ll owe you one,” I say, ending the call.

I dial Triple-A, and after giving our details and location, I’m told that a tow truck is on its way and should be there within the hour. Now we just have to sit tight and wait.

Half an hour later, Elle and I are sitting in the cab of a tow truck, my car being pulled behind us, and the driver drops us off at Sylvia’s house.

“Wait here. I just want to check the house out first, just to be on the safe side,” I tell Elle.

“Please be careful, babe.”

“I will. You just lock yourself in the car and wait until I come back to get you, okay?” I say, hoping that I’m being overly cautious over nothing.

After she’s safely locked in my car, I move to the front door and unlock it. Pulling my gun out from my hip, I turn the lights on in the foyer, scanning the entrance for anything suspicious. I check the kitchen, the formal dining, the living room, and the rest of the downstairs area before heading up the stairs, making sure I turn lights on wherever I go.

When I’m happy that the rooms are all clear, and can breathe a sigh of relief, I head back down the stairs and out to my car where I see Elle staring out the window at me, a smile growing on her face.

She opens the door and hops out. “All okay?”

“Yeah. Sorry about that, but I just wanted to be careful. I don’t like that both tires went flat at the same time. Seems too coincidental, but it might just be a case of bad luck. Let’s get you inside.”

I lock the car and hold onto Elle’s hand, leading her back inside the house. I walk around the house, turning all the lights off again before turning towards our bedroom. Elle stops in front of the master bedroom door, putting her back against the door. I move in towards her, wedging my thigh between her legs as I twist my fingers in her hair and pull her head towards me, kissing her slowly, taking my time to nibble her bottom lip and trace her mouth with my tongue.

“I think I need to take you to bed, Mr. James,” she says, her voice low and full of seductive promise.

“I’m a foregone conclusion, darlin’. You can take me anywhere you please,” I say as I pull her aside and reach down, twisting the door handle and pushing the door open.

The last thing I remember before falling down to the ground is hearing Elle’s scream echo through the night as my vision goes dark and I’m knocked unconscious.

They say life can change in the blink of an eye.

Or, in this case, the push of a trigger.

One moment I’m huddling over Elle, preparing to take a bullet and die to protect her. The next I see my best friend bursting into the room and tackling the man we now know to be Silas. The man who has held us hostage for the past two hours, torturing us with his words, his memories, his intentions.

I came to about ten minutes after the fucker knocks me out cold. My first thought as my head cleared was whether Elle was okay. I try to sit up, but can’t due to the rope tightly bound around my wrists connected to the headboard of the bed. Turning my head to my right, I come face to face with Elle’s wide, fear filled eyes, her cheeks wet from tears. She is also tied up.

Looking around the room, I soon see who has Elle so terrified. It’s the same blonde haired creeper who she confronted in the black Honda all those months ago. He fucking followed us down here.

“You’re going to fucking regret this, asshole,” I spit out, my anger quickly rising.

“I see you’ve decided to join us in this trip down memory lane, Brax. You don’t know me, but you soon will. See, Elle and I have been getting to know each other. Well, she’s been getting to know me since I already know everything about her,” he replies, his voice high and excitable.

This fucker is psychotic, fuck!

Elle sobs beside me and I instinctually try to comfort her, but all I succeed in doing is rubbing the rope tighter against me. “Mother fucker! If you have done anything to her, you’ll not live to even breathe the same air!” I turn to Elle. “Babe, you just need to block him out, don’t listen.”

“Now, where were we? Oh yes, the night I decided to dedicate my life to finishing the job. The night when I killed not only your father, like I was paid so handsomely to do, but also ended the lives of your beautiful mother and little sister.”

Elle gasps again, and my body aches to cover her ears. She doesn’t need to hear any of this. I’ve read the police report on the murders. They weren’t just killed, they were tortured. Stuff so sick that you wonder how a human being can actually do such horrific things, especially to a little girl.