20. Lily
20
Lily
After I reenrolled Tommy in school, I headed to NSS. I would have to start looking for a new job. There was no way NSS had kept my position open after I skipped town.
I dressed in a black wraparound dress and spent a little extra time on my hair and makeup, but the makeup didn’t help the bags under my eyes. Since walking out on Jacob, I hadn’t had much sleep. Tommy and I shared a bed, and he tossed and turned all night. Sometimes, he would kick me in the side.
I reached into my purse and pulled out my lipstick. Abe promised Jacob would be excited to see me. With the danger out of the way, Abe was heading to the airport this morning. He was no longer going to be my bodyguard. I was a terrible observer—I didn’t even notice him following me for the past month. I gave him a hug and promised to visit him in Ft. Lauderdale. I planned to go back when Kat had her baby.
All the parking spots on the main floor of the parking garage were taken, so I had to park on the top floor. Taking a couple deep breaths, I tugged open the car door. My heels clicked against the pavement. The Houston heat beat down. I felt the faint tickle of sweat on my back. Houston summers matched Florida’s—the second I stepped outside, I always wanted to go back in and take a shower. I raised my hand to shield myself from the bright sun.
“Stop, bitch.” The sun was so bright I couldn’t see the person until he stepped to the side. I squinted my eyes to take a better look. It was the same man who’d attacked me a month before in front of Jacob’s building. With each step he took forward, I took one back, until my ass hit my car and I was boxed in. He reached up and scratched the side of his face. It was the gesture I saw Rachele do the day she held a gun to Jacob in the office.
“Here. Take my purse.”
I threw my purse at the thug and he kicked it to the side. “Because of you, I didn’t get paid.”
Clearly, it was my fault I hadn’t let him kidnap me. “There’s a thousand dollars in my purse.” I held my hands up and tried to sidestep to the left. Abe was on his way back to Ft. Lauderdale, and Jacob had no clue I was coming to work. Nobody would know I was dead until they found my body. I was sick of people thinking they could walk all over me.
I slipped my fingers into the pocket on my dress and pulled out the burner phone.
“Rachele was supposed to pay me, but instead the bitch got herself arrested. I was about to give up on you showing your face again. It must’ve been my lucky day when I saw you stop at the same school my son goes to. Now I came to collect from you, either you can give me the money Rachele owes me or I can find another way for you to work it off.”
A chill ran down my spine. The man was strung out. I had to wonder if the guy was one of Rachele’s dealers. At the same time, my heart broke for his child. He didn’t look like he was hurting for money. He wore a long, diamond-encrusted chain around his neck, and when he sneered, I could see that his teeth were silver with more diamonds. “There are cameras out here. You’re going to get caught.” I hoped they had cameras in the garage. I wasn’t completely sure.
The thug shrugged and stepped closer. He was right next to me. I was pinned between the parking garage half wall and a car. I looked over my shoulder—the fall would kill me. Jumping over the edge wasn’t an option.
He slowly dragged the gun down my neck until he got to the edge of my dress and pulled the top back. “You’ll make a good ho.”
A loud bang sounded near the stairwell, tearing the man’s attention away from me. I used the opportunity to run, but it was hard to run in heels. When I looked over my shoulder, he had the gun pointed at me. I dove between two cars when he pulled the trigger.
The bullet missed me and shattered the car window next to me. Blood dripped from my knee, and my hands had pebbles in them from the fall. I fought through the pain and crawled around to the other side. I watched for his feet under the car, trying to stay one step ahead of him.
“I’m gonna kill whoever walks out that door, then I’ll take care of you.” He fired a couple rounds at the door, and the banging stopped for a second. I didn’t want anyone to die, so I stood and held my hands up. “If I go with you, will you leave everyone else alone?”
He started walking toward me when the door burst open. Jared and Jacob stood at the entrance. “Leave! He has a gun!” I screamed.
Jacob and Jared didn’t make any movement to leave. Instead, they watched my every move. They walked in separate directions. Each man had a suit and tie on. They were dressed for a business meeting, not a shoot-out in the parking structure.
The thug sneered at me. “I told you I would shoot them.” He turned the gun on Jacob and pulled the trigger.
My life went in slow motion. I screamed as I watched Jacob duck to the side. Jared fired two rounds. Unlike the thug, Jared hit his intended target, and the thug dropped to the ground.
I raced over to where Jacob was. He was getting up off the ground as I wrapped my arms around his neck and sobbed into his chest. “I love you,” I murmured.
“Good.” Jacob pressed his lips to mine, and I lost myself in the kiss. He tangled his fingers in my hair and deepened the kiss.
Jared cleared his throat behind us.
Jacob rested his forehead against mine. “God, I’ve missed you. Never do that again, okay?”
I nodded, and he kissed the tip of my nose. “I missed you too.”
Jared cleared his throat again. “Can your reunion wait until after the police drag his ass away? He’s still alive.”
I scrambled off Jacob’s lap. “He’s still alive?”
Jared cocked his head to the side and motioned for me to come over. He still had the weapon trained on the man laying on the ground. Jared wrapped one arm around me. “Don’t leave the family like that again. You don’t understand how much of an ass Jacob was.”
I smiled and pulled back. “So, he acted like you for a month?”
“I’m never as bad as he was.”
“Ha,” Kaylene said as she walked up and gave me a hug. “Not even back a little while, and you cause another scene.”
“Go inside, Kaylene. It’s dangerous out here!” Jared barked.
Kaylene looked from the guy on the ground clutching his leg to Jared. “I think you have it under control, and I wanted to see my friend. I waited behind the door until I saw you shoot him and kick the gun away. Let me tell you, that was sexy as hell.”
Jared looked at her in disbelief. “You think me shooting someone is sexy?”
“Don’t judge, we all have our quirks. I’m going to take Lily inside while you guys handle this mess.”
I followed Kaylene up to the office, and she got me caught up on the latest gossip. Jacob wouldn’t let HR fill my position because he knew I would be coming back. And I was—I couldn’t wait to get back to work. I’d missed everyone at NSS.
* * *
That night, I lay in Jacob’s bed. We’d just finished making love again, and my body was draped over his. I needed to feel my body pressed against his after almost getting killed. Everyone who had come after me was behind bars. The man admitted he was the same person who had attacked me the first time.
I pushed my hand behind Jacob’s back and rested my head on his shoulder. He loved me. I still couldn’t believe he’d said it. Greg, over the years, would tell me he loved me after I was crouched on the floor, crying in pain.
Jacob never yelled at me for being stupid and running away. He just kept pulling me into his arms and telling me how happy he was to have me back. Tommy wouldn’t leave his side for most of the night and I had to draw the line when he wanted to sleep in the bed with us. I needed alone time with Jacob.
“I’m sorry,” I said softly.
“I understood why. I just wished you would’ve had more faith in me to fix the problem. Hell, I would’ve gone with you. But you wouldn’t stop and listen.”
“You would’ve gone with us? Then why didn’t you?”
“Honestly? You hurt my feelings, and I knew we had to take care of things around here first to make it safe for you and Tommy to return.”
“Kat said everything was cleared up over a week ago, and you knew where I was.”
“Greg was back in custody a week after you were gone. As for Rachele, once I set the trap, she walked right into it. She believed I would get back together with her after everything she did. The police swooped in and took her to jail. I’m going to have to go to the trial and testify against her.”
“I hate her,” I whispered. “Why did she wait so many years to want to be with you?”
“She snorted or shot up all her money. When Neal helped me look further into her family, it turned out her father lost his fortune in a bad investment. Neither she nor her family have money. She won’t have to worry now,” Jacob told me as he pulled me in closer.
“I can’t imagine how someone could spend fifty million dollars.”
“She never thought I would divorce her. When I really started to push for it, that’s when she got the idea about her and I.. I found out later on that she had a friend at NSS who was giving her information. That’s how she learned about you so fast.”
“Did the person get fired?”
“Yes.” Jacob shifted me onto my back. “That’s enough talking about my ex-wife while I’m naked in bed with the woman I love. God, I missed you.” Jacob leaned down and pressed a kiss to the side of my neck and ran his fingers over my nipple. My body responded to his touch immediately. “You can’t leave me again like that,” Jacob told me as he ran another kiss along my neck. “You and Tommy are mine.”
“I’m yours”—it was hard to concentrate with his lips running along my neck—“as long as you’re mine.”
“You’ve had my heart since the second you called my brother an asshat.”
Jacob pressed his erection against my leg. I couldn’t believe he was already hard again. He’d brought me home right after we finished with the police, stripped my body naked, and fucked me in the living room. We lay on the floor exhausted for at least an hour then got ready and broke Tommy out of pre-K.
After we tucked the sweet boy into bed, Jacob had his way with me again. I pushed my leg out to rub myself against him.
“Lily,” Jacob warned, pressing his hand to my hip to still me.
I rolled to my side and captured Jacob’s lips. His soft lips melded against mine. I reached between our bodies and grabbed his member. He was already hard and ready to take me any second.
“Wait.”
“I want you, Jacob. Why are you making me wait?”
“We’ve had a lot of sex today. Aren’t you sore? I don’t want to hurt you.”
I pushed on his shoulder, so he lay on his back. I climbed on top and slid down his member. “No.”
Jacob let out a groan. As I slowly worked my way up and down, it felt as good as the first time. I didn’t think I could ever get enough of him.
Jacob quickly shifted and flipped me onto my back. “This is going to be quick.”
I bit down on his shoulder as he thrust into me. His pace was fast and urgent. My orgasm came quickly, and I screamed his name into his shoulder to muffle the sound of my voice.
He thrust in a few more times before he went over the edge. Jacob moved next to me and pulled my body into his.
“We didn’t use a condom,” he said.
I hadn’t even thought about that. We hadn’t used one earlier in the day, either, and I wasn’t on any type of birth control. “Do you want kids?”
“Yes.” He didn’t stop for a second to think about the answer. “Do you?”
“I never really thought about it after Tommy. He was a lot of work to raise pretty much by myself.”
“I would be there every step of the way.”
Jacob rested his hand on my flat stomach and whispered, “I love you” in my ear.