The Basement II
It was hard to tell how long we lay there, with me half-naked and asleep in Lucas' arms. But when I woke up to the light scruff of grass against my knee, the red-orange of the sky told me we had been there in that position for quite a while.
"I'm sorry," Lucas rasped, and I realized we had shifted from the position we were in when I fell asleep.
Lucas sat with his back against the wall of the maze, holding me to himself.
It was the closest we had been to each other, with the obvious exemption of how intimate we had been before I drifted asleep. "I didn't mean to wake you up,"
"How long did I sleep?" I asked, with quite an idea in mind.
"Not long enough, you needed the rest." he stroked my head as he spoke.
"You should have woken me," I gave a brief chuckle, followed by a wince at the numbness in my hands as I attempted to pull myself away from him and sit up.
Lucas held on to me tighter though, tutting and shaking his head as he did. "I don't want you to leave just yet, stay here in my arms for a while."
A sheepish smile crawled up my face and I dropped my arms back around the ridges of his sturdy muscles, deciding to relish the moment. It had been so long, too damn long since I got to be this close to Lucas and I planned to enjoy it as much as I could.
The silence that followed was anything but awkward. It was not the 'I don't know what to say this is weird' type of silence. It was the 'I have a million things to say but would rather live in this quiet with you right now' type of silence and I loved it.
I knew though that it was time to go back to reality when Lucas sucked in a long breath and spoke a few minutes later. "I almost went crazy when I didn't see you in our bedroom." he paused and I felt him swallow hard, "I thought you left."
I lifted my head, making sure I met his eyes as I spoke, and cupped his cheeks, "I'm never leaving you, Lucas," I did not bother telling him that I feared he was going to take back his ring.
His shoulders visibly relaxed at my words, his eyes filled with obvious relief.
And then he smiled, and for a second all I wanted to do was pull him in for a deep long kiss, but then he started to reach for something in his pocket.
He held up the ring and suddenly that thrill I had felt when he had first put it on my finger coursed through me again.
"Does that mean you want me to put this back on your finger? "
"Nothing would make me happier," I smiled, holding back tears. I did not want to give Lucas the impression that I was still fragile even if they were happy tears.
I chewed on my lip, nearly bursting it open as he slid it back on my finger. He took my hand in his, placed a soft kiss over it, and said, "right where it fucking belongs."
I felt my heart bursting open with joy and I was sure it would have if the sight of the knuckle bandages on his fingers did not snap my attention to my earlier worries.
I sat up, shifting my legs so I was now straddling him. "Is everything alright Lucas?"
"It will be tonight," his simple answer was supposed to make me feel some relief, instead they did the very opposite.
"What happened to your fingers?" I asked, taking his hand in mine, as I examined it carefully. It looked red and sore, with minor cuts all over it. Even with the bandage covering most of it, I could still see a few bruises peeking out and it did a lot more than just worry me.
He looked away, and I knew right there that whatever he was about to say was not the whole truth or worse, a complete lie, "had to let off some steam. There were no gloves for the punching bag in the gym."
I cupped his cheeks, forcing him to look at me and meaning to get the truth from him, but the sound of his phone ringing in his pocket drew both our attention.
Taking his phone, he held a finger up. I could tell it was someone from security calling from the name flashing on the screen, but could not make out what the call was about.
I knew it could not be anything good though.
Security did not call to give good news and they most definitely did not call when everything was going as it should.
It was the way his blue eyes narrowed in a darkened gaze though, that left me even more on edge.
The call was seemingly simple. Words such as "Is it done?
" "Did he talk," "I'll be right there." was all Lucas said, yet I got the sick feeling that he was hiding something from me.
It was the same look I had seen in his eyes the day Baron attacked me at the hospital.
It spelled pure murder, and I did no like it in the slightest.
As the call ended, I did not get a chance to ask what the call was about because we were already on our feet. While he was still half-clothed, Lucas helped put my dress and underwear back on first, wiping the grass debris off my dress and rearranging my hair.
There was no rush when he got dressed too, but I felt a sense of urgency and I blurted out the question burning my mind. "What's going on Lucas. What was that call about?"
He gave a small smile, obviously forced, "It's nothing to worry about, just the guards calling for a routine check. You're safe."
I knew I was safe, but this time that was not why I was worried. Lucas was up to something and I could feel that it was not good. "Did you hand Baron over to the cops?"
His hands tucking his dress shirt into his slacks halted briefly and then he looked up at me with a smile that finally reached his eyes. "Do you think you're ready to see the kids now? They have asked for you every single day."
If he was aiming at distracting me with his question, he definitely achieved that.
So far, I had apologized to my best friend and Lucas, but I had also neglected Abby and Aiden.
The twins were supposed to be my first priority, no matter how sad or upset I was.
Yet I selfishly put my own feelings before theirs.
Another reason why you don't deserve to be a mother. That cruel voice of self-loathe screamed at me and it took a good effort to kick it back down. I would let it back up, just not right now when I was about to see the kids.
I looked up at Lucas to meet his expectant eyes. I had almost forgotten he asked me a question. "Where are they?"
"You know there's no pressure on you to see the twins yet," he said carefully, but I could see that flicker of hope in his eyes before he suppressed it down.
"I know," I nodded, taking his hand as we walked back in the direction of the house, "I miss them too and it's been too long since I read them a bedtime story."
"They would love that,"
Time with Abby and Aiden and Zoey was never time wasted.
The joy on their faces when they saw me made my heart clench, and I made a conscious effort to give them my all for the rest of the day.
My full attention until they were ready to go to bed.
Even after putting them to sleep, I snuggled up in their bed, watching them sleep until I caught sight of the time in my peripheral view.
It was not exactly late but Lucas had been gone for quite a while. He stayed a few minutes after I joined the kids and after giving each of us a kiss, he headed out the door. It could not possibly take so long to do a routine check.
Pushing back my curiosity, I headed downstairs. Mia, Lilian, and Celine sat at the back porch, gisting and laughing over a bottle of wine. It felt good to watch them all get together like they had known each other for years, but even better to be in their midst again.
We talked about a wide range of topics for what felt like hours and I was thankful that neither of them was giving me those looks of pity or treating me with as much carefulness as Lucas would.
While it was obvious that they were making a conscious effort to steer the conversation in a way that would make me comfortable, I knew they only did so because they cared, and they even let me have a glass of wine.
Not like I would have had more though. Those medications from the doctor already did enough to make me feel fucked up and I only even took the wine to help with my nerves.
Yes nerves, because it had been too long and Lucas was still not back.
My worry and curiosity were back and this time they were not easily going to be thrown in the back seat.
I said goodnight to the girls, promising to hang out with them like this again before leaving them.
I had absolutely no intentions of going to bed though.
Just like the house in San Diego, the security in this house was operated by an underground panel somewhere in the basement.
I found it old-fashioned and a little over the top, but that was how Lucas wanted it so it was fine by me.
Besides, I preferred not having to be reminded every few seconds of how heavily guarded this mansion was.
Thankfully, Lucas had shown me the basement once, when we first got here and while it was harder to find it on my own this time, I eventually got on the right path leading there.
I tried to convince myself that I was only doing this because I was worried about Lucas and wanted to know he was fine, but if that was the whole truth what was a cell phone for?
I needed to see for myself, needed to know that Lucas was not doing something he was sure to regret soon in the haze of trying to protect me.
A muffled scream, distant, and male made me stop dead in my tracks.
I paused, holding my breath. Why would anyone be screaming, except there really was trouble or my mind was now playing tricks too?
But it came again in no more than a few seconds later, distressed and coming from a man who was clearly going through a great deal of pain.
I considered taking a step back and going back to take my medication and so I could fall into a deep sleep that would clear my mind.
I would feel better tomorrow and hopefully no longer be suspicious of my fiancee.
But the third scream filled my ears and I knew I had to find out exactly what was going on.
I braced myself, sucking in a sharp breath and taking bolder steps towards the basement door. The man's screams grew louder as I pushed the unlocked door open. It made a light creak, but I was sure the noise down there would drown out that sound.
The strong scent of sweat and thick air along with something I quickly recognized as the metallic stench of blood filled my senses, and I knew for a fact I was right about my suspicion. Lucas was doing something, and it was not good at all.
Holding my breath, I crept down the remaining steps, thankful for the lights on the wall lighting up my way and keeping me from falling and cracking my head open.
My legs halted as I reached the step that brought me right into the scene playing out.
Bile rose in my throat, I held a hand to my mouth too late allowing the horrified gasp to leave my mouth.
In front of me, Baron sat, if sit was the word for it.
It was more like the metal chair along with the bounds strapping him to it was the only reason he had not toppled over.
A man I recognized to be one of the security stood behind him, holding his head up.
If I thought Lucas had disfigured his face that day at the hospital, I was overstating the fact, because this face I was seeing right now was the true definition of a disfigured face.
Horror filled me as the thought of Lucas doing this to him crawled up my mind.
But the man crouched down next to Baron holding a bloodied plier over Baron's nails was definitely not Lucas.
It took a moment to realize the familiar face and even longer to realize that all the gazes in the room were focused on me.
They had probably been alerted when I gasped in shock.
He rose to his feet and I almost backed away at how tall and heavily muscled he looked.
The heat of his gaze, cold, stern, emotionless, and very different from the warm eyes I had seen when I had met him for dinner that night finally made me cower back in fear.
He was scary, imposing, and if he caught my neck in one hold I was sure it would only take him a simple wiggle of his fingers to snap it off my head.
I swallowed hard, contemplating which way to run, but then he spoke in the most menacing voice I had ever heard, "What the fuck is she doing here?"