Chapter Seven #2
Torren turned her in his arms, so she was facing him.
“Not this time, baby. This time, he loses because the thought of letting you and the girls go is not one that I can stand.” He quickly kissed her lips.
“Go get dressed and pack your and the girls’ bags.
I’m moving you into my place for the time being.
I’ve got excellent security installed by Sawyer and Tag, and your ex won’t be able to even step foot in my yard without us knowing.
” Tana nodded, seeming defeated. He hated seeing her this way.
It was killing him that he let that fucker get away.
“I need a picture of your ex, baby.” Tana looked at him as if he had lost his mind.
“Why would you want a picture of Matt?” Torren held up the note that accompanied the box of dead roses, and Tana seemed to catch on.
“God,” she cried. “He was the one who delivered them?” she guessed.
Her lips trembled, and Torren wanted to stop everything and comfort her—she had already been through enough with her asshole ex.
But he also knew that they needed to act quickly.
“I have a picture of him in the family room. I kept it in one of the girls’ baby books, thinking they might want to have it someday. ” Tana shrugged.
“I’ll bring the girls and Tucker in and feed everyone breakfast. You go find that picture and meet me up in your bedroom,” Torren ordered.
Tana nodded and left the room. Torren knew that he was possibly barking up the wrong tree, but he also knew that every stone needed to be overturned; Tana and the girls were too important to leave things to chance.
He called the girls in and smiled at the way they ran into the house with Tucker trailing behind them, his tongue hanging out.
Tana and her girls were becoming his new normal, and he was settling into an existence with them that he never thought was a possibility.
Tana found the picture of Matt that she had stuck in Sarah’s baby book.
She quietly crept upstairs to take a quick shower, leaving her ex-husband’s picture on her nightstand.
She heard the girls cheering when Torren gave them the pancakes that he had made and couldn’t help her smile.
They were completely smitten with him, and she had to admit that she was too.
She was falling in love with him, but there was no room for that now with the possibility of Matt being in town.
That thought alone scared the hell out of her.
The last time she saw Matt face-to-face, he was at her mother’s house being dragged away by the local cops.
He showed up earlier that day, trying to get to her and the girls.
Her mother told him to hit the road, which earned her poor mom a backhand to the face.
They called the police and locked themselves in the master bathroom, hoping that the cops would reach them before Matt could get to them, but they weren’t that lucky.
The girls were screaming, and she could still see the terror on their faces when she closed her eyes to remember that day.
She was thankful that her mother was able to pull them out of the room and keep them safe until the police got there.
It felt like an eternity that Matt kept her up in the bathroom, barricaded in, not letting the police talk him out.
He told them that he was going to use a razor and slit her throat, and she believed him.
Tana saw the conviction in his eyes—he wanted to kill her, and all she could think about was that she wasn’t going to see her girls graduate from high school or marry the man of their dreams someday.
She was going to miss it all because she made the mistake of taking Matt back after the twins were born.
Matt grew even more agitated and distracted as the hours passed.
When she saw her chance, she took it, quietly removing the lid from the tank on the back of the toilet and hitting him across the head as hard as she could.
The porcelain lid cracked and broke in two; she hit him so hard.
For a moment, when he slumped to the ground out cold, she thought that she had killed him.
But she saw his chest rise with his shallow breaths and decided to unlock the door and make a run for it.
She ran right into the arms of a waiting police officer and collapsed, sobbing.
That was when she decided to leave, knowing that sooner or later Matt would get out of jail and come after her and the girls again.
While he spent his few months behind bars, he sent her notes like the one she received today and dead roses.
Matt wanted to remind her that he was still lurking, and it was only a matter of time before he would have the chance to get to her again.
She told her mother that she needed to take the girls and leave, and her mother agreed.
They decided that it would be best for Tana and the girls to find a safe place to land with a good neighborhood for the girls to grow up.
Her daughters already went through so much; they didn’t need their father to be able to pop up whenever he wanted to cause them more turmoil and grief.
Tana stepped into the warm spray of water and was startled by Torren coming into her bathroom.
She was so deep in thought, trying to figure out her next move, that she didn’t hear him come in.
“Sorry, honey. I didn’t mean to startle you.
” He held up the picture of Matt that she left in her bedroom.
“Is this him?” The grim look on Torren’s face told her everything she needed to know.
The guy who delivered the dead flowers and note was Matt.
“Yes,” she whispered. “I take it that’s who you saw today?
” Torren nodded. Tana started crying, unable to control her emotions that seemed to slam through her defenses.
Torren stripped out of his jeans and T-shirt and stepped into the shower with her.
He pulled her into his body, and she willingly let him encase her in his arms.
“What do I do now? The last time we saw him, he tried to kill me.” Torren’s arms tightened around her, and his whole body stiffened.
“He did what?” he growled.
Tana nodded against his chest. “I didn’t quite tell you everything, I’m sorry.”
“How about you tell me now?” he asked, still not letting her go.
“He came to my mother’s house to scare me and the girls, but my mother was able to get the twins out.
He held me hostage for hours until I was able to get the upper hand and knock him out with the toilet lid.
” Torren remained silent as if trying to process her story.
She told him about the few months that Matt was in prison and how he sent her dead roses and notes regularly, telling her that she and the girls would be his or they would all be dead.
Tana could feel the anger pouring off Torren’s body, and she wondered if she told him too much.
At some point, he was going to have enough of her crazy life and decide that she wasn’t worth the trouble.
She worried that Torren would look for a good time elsewhere, leaving her and her girls broken-hearted.
“The local police department couldn’t do anything but place him under a restraining order.
They were short-staffed and couldn’t patrol my mother’s house at all hours of the night.
My mom and I agreed that the girls and I would be safer if we just left and started over somewhere.
So, we ended up here.” Torren nodded, still processing her story.
“Listen, Tor, I know you didn’t sign up for all this crap.
The girls and I are a lot to take on, and now with my crazy ex in the mix, you probably don’t want to get tangled up in my mess.
I would understand if you walked away, but please do it now.
I don’t think that my heart could take it if you decided to walk away later because I think that I’ve broken my rule about light and casual, and I’m falling for you.
” Torren pulled back from Tana. She wanted to hide, but she knew that Torren wouldn’t let her shy away from him.
He tilted her head up to face him, placing his finger under her chin.
“Say that again, honey.” His gaze heated, and she knew what he wanted to hear, so she smiled up at him and repeated her words.
“I’m falling for you, Torren.” That seemed to be all that he needed. He dipped his head and took her mouth like a starving man who had waited his whole life for someone to say those words to him. He broke their kiss, leaving them both breathless.
“Thank fuck, honey, because I’m pretty sure that I’ve fallen in love with you and your girls.
” Tana gasped, surprised by Torren’s declaration.
“So, you and the twins are just going to have to get used to me taking care of you and making sure that you are all safe. Will you let me do that, Tana? Will you let me take care of the three of you?” Tana felt like a huge weight was lifted off her chest. She didn’t realize how much she missed having a life partner, and now Torren was asking her to let him be that for her and the girls.
“Yes, Torren, I will let you help us. Thank you.” Tana pulled him back down for a quick kiss. “We can’t stay here all day. The girls will be looking for us if they aren’t already.” Tana said.
Torren chuckled, “After they finished their pancakes, I told them that they needed to clean their room and get dressed. They grumbled something about me being meaner than you, and I took that to mean that I did something right.”
Tana laughed, “Yeah, the louder they grumble, the more I know that I’ve nailed the whole mom thing. You’ll get the hang of it. Just give yourself and them some time to adjust.”
Torren nodded, “How about we get you all soaped up and dressed before your tiny terrors come looking for us. We will get everyone packed and moved in at my house.” Tana sighed and nodded.
She knew that moving in with Torren was a good plan to keep them safe, but she also hated giving up her freedom.
The one thing that leaving Matt taught her was how to rely on herself.
Now, she had Torren, and while she loved having him in her life, she needed to find balance and her voice.
She was sure that Torren would give her the support she needed and help her find her way.
“Don’t worry, honey. We’ll get your ex, and this time, he won’t be able to touch you or the girls.
After we get you all settled, I’ll call Sawyer and have him come over.
We need to come up with a plan. And, after some of the dust settles, we need to go shopping.
” Tana looked at Torren, confused about his last statement.
“Shopping?” she questioned.
“Shopping,” he confirmed. “We have a wedding to go to, and now I will have three beautiful dates. I’m thinking that I need a new suit, and I bet the girls would love new dresses.”
Tana shook her head. “I can’t afford that, Tor.
I barely make enough with my paycheck from the library to pay our regular bills.
” Torren pulled her in for a kiss, soaping his hands up and running them over her body.
She loved the way he touched her as if he had never touched anyone else but her.
Torren made her feel special, even loved, and she would never tire of it.
“Tana, let me do this. You three will be my first real date, and I’d like to make it a night we won’t forget.” She thought about his words, not realizing that Torren never went on a real date. He’d been with so many women, she just assumed that he had at least taken them to dinner.
“This will be your first real date?” she asked. Torren shyly nodded. “Well, Mr. Harrison, the girls, and I will be honored to be your first. And, we would love to go dress shopping, thank you.”
Tana grabbed the soap from Torren, soaped up her hands, and ran them over his body, paying special attention to his erection, liking the way he hissed out his breath.
The ability to turn Torren on like that was heady.
She felt powerful and in charge, and she liked it.
Torren lifted her and backed her against the shower wall as she straddled his cock.
He kissed her lips, sliding his tongue in and out of her mouth, mimicking what he was going to do to her with his cock.
He pulled and plucked her nipples, not giving her time to think about what she needed—he already knew.
Torren slid into her body, and they both moaned.
“Yes, Torren. Just like that. I just need you,” she groaned.
He thrust into her body fast and hard until they both found their release.
He seemed to know that she craved a connection with him, no matter how quick the pace.
Tana loved that Torren already knew her as if he was reading her thoughts and could give her exactly what she wanted and needed.
Torren lowered her slowly down his body, kissing and nipping at her lips.
“Sorry, it was so fast, but you need to get dressed, baby.” He lightly slapped her ass, and she yelped. She liked the way that he teased and played, never taking things to extremes.
“Yes, sir,” she mocked, earning her another slap as Torren exited the shower.
She watched him walk out of her bathroom, enjoying the view of his sexy ass.
Yep, she could get used to Torren being a part of her life.
She just needed to get her shit together and figure out how to get her ex to leave her and the girls alone, which was going to be easier said than done.