Chapter 3
CHAPTER THREE
Sadie was in the kitchen of the small apartment making lunch, trying to avoid Chase and figure out exactly what was going on between them, when he came in to help her. The kitchen wasn’t big enough for the two of them, but he didn’t seem to notice…or care.
When she turned to open the fridge, she bumped into his chest. He put his hands on her hips and smiled at her as he said, “Excuse me.”
Three minutes later, when she reached for the handle of one of the cabinets to grab a plate, Chase was there, his hand covering hers as he gently pushed her out of the way and got it down for her.
Minutes after that, when he put his hands on her hips and moved her aside so he could get to the sink, Sadie’d had enough.
“Chase, this kitchen isn’t big enough for the both of us. I got this. Go…sit or something.”
He tightened his fingers, and Sadie swore she could feel his thighs against hers. “I wanna help, Sparky.”
“It’s only sandwiches,” she said, clenching her eyes tightly closed and praying he’d step away before she did something stupid, like turn around and throw herself at him.
“Maybe you can check with TJ and see how Milena is doing?” she asked, trying to think of something he could do outside the kitchen.
“I can do that,” Chase said quietly. Then he leaned close and whispered in her ear, his warm breath against her neck sending goose bumps racing down her arms. “I like mayonnaise on my sandwich.”
Shit, she was so screwed. Her body reacted as if he’d said he wanted to rip her clothes off and take her right there in the kitchen, instead of telling her how he wanted her to make his lunch.
She couldn’t get his earlier words out of her mind.
You’re mine. And I’m personally going to make sure that asshole is wiped off the face of this earth so he can’t look at what’s mine anymore.
So he can’t touch what’s mine. So he can’t even think about what’s mine.
Then, when he’s dead, I’m going to marry you—and spend the rest of my life making sure no other asshole thinks he can do the same thing.
The words were just as shocking now as they’d been before.
He hadn’t done anything inappropriate since, and hadn’t brought it up again.
But the space he’d been keeping between them when she’d been at his apartment was gone.
He’d been touching her constantly since he’d declared she was his.
Brushing his shoulder against hers. Touching her hand with his when they walked next to each other.
If she was honest with herself, she had to admit she loved his touches, although she wasn’t sure how she should respond, and that left her confused.
Sadie nodded stiffly to his comment about mayonnaise and held her breath until he backed away and his hands dropped from her hips.
It wasn’t until he’d left the kitchen that she let out the air she’d been holding. She finished the sandwiches before heading out of the kitchen. She put the plate with Chase’s sandwich on it next to his right elbow and went to sit on the other side of the small table.
“Sit here,” Chase ordered, not harshly. “I want to show you what TJ sent.” He gestured to the open laptop in front of him.
Reluctantly, knowing she hadn’t had enough time to shore up her defenses against him, Sadie put her plate down and pulled a chair closer. The delicious smell that emanated from Chase filled her nostrils, and she tried to tamp down her body’s reaction. Leather and peppermint.
The leather was easy to understand, because of the jacket he’d taken off when they’d arrived at the apartment.
But the peppermint was harder to explain.
She hadn’t seen him eating any mints and she didn’t think he was the kind of man who would wear any cologne, let alone something that smelled like peppermint.
After she’d settled into her seat, Chase reached over and pulled her chair closer, then turned the laptop so she could see the screen.
It was open to an email from TJ. She quickly scanned the short note.
Chase,
Things are calm at the moment. Milena and JT are doing good. Don’t tell anyone, but she’s pregnant. We’re beyond thrilled, and Milena wanted me to make sure Sadie knows.
We haven’t seen or heard from Jonathan, but I’ve been keeping a careful eye out since the FBI received that tip that he’d been spotted in the area.
I appreciate you getting your commanding officer and the post general involved in what happened at the school…
I’ve been officially cleared of any consequences for killing Jeremiah.
Oh…and please tell Sadie thank you from me again. She didn’t have to stay once the school was shut down. She’s a good woman and is always welcome in our home. She’s tough as hell and I’m glad Milena has a friend like her.
~TJ
PS: Tell Sadie that Milena wants her to stand up with her at our wedding. No date yet, but as soon as Jonathan is caught, she should be prepared to come back down here because I’m not waiting a second longer than I have to in order to make Milena officially mine.
Sadie swallowed hard to try to keep the tears at bay. She’d only done what Milena would’ve done for her if the situation had been reversed. “Did you reply?” she asked Chase, trying to keep her voice normal. She wasn’t like this. She didn’t fall apart.
He eyed her for a long moment, but finally nodded. “Yeah. Told him you said hello and were worried about Milena. Also told him I agreed you’re tough, but that I was pissed I didn’t get to you before Jonathan’d had a chance to touch you.”
“I’m no tougher than anyone else would’ve been in the same situation. I just did what needed to be done.” She reached for her sandwich and opened her mouth to take a bite. Her eyes strayed to Chase—and she halted mid-bite at the look on his face. “What?”
“When you wouldn’t tell me what happened in that room, I made inquiries on my own.”
Sadie paled, but refused to rise to Chase’s bait. He might be bluffing. He might not know what she’d done. But his next words dashed her hopes.
“You gave a complete statement to the Feds. I pulled some strings and got a copy.”
“You had no right,” Sadie said, looking down at her sandwich rather than at the man next to her. She’d never wanted anyone to know everything that had happened between her and Jonathan.
Something occurred to her then. She whipped her head up and stared at Chase in a panic. “You didn’t tell my uncle or TJ, did you?” Only the Feds knew what she’d gone through during her hours trapped alone with Jonathan Jones. And she’d meant for it to stay that way.
But not even the Feds knew everything.
“No, Sparky, I didn’t tell anyone.” He reached out and turned her chin so she had no choice but to look him in the eyes. “Why? Why’d you do it? You could’ve gotten away. You had the chance.”
“There was no way I was going to leave Milena at the school with Jonathan and his father. What kind of person would I be if I left her to suffer the consequences of my escape?”
Chase ran a hand over her hair and left his warm palm resting on the side of her neck. “Tell me what happened,” he ordered.
“You already know,” she protested.
“Tell me anyway.”
Sadie struggled with herself. She wanted to put it all behind her, but how could she when Jonathan was still looking for her?
When she was living in someone else’s apartment and being guarded for her own protection?
She wouldn’t be able to put it behind her until she knew for sure that Jonathan wasn’t ever going to pop out from behind a tree and force her to do everything he’d threatened.
“I woke up from whatever drug Jonathan had knocked us out with and saw Milena next to me, still unconscious. He’d untied us, so I got up, falling a couple of times before I got my balance back, and wandered over to a window.
I realized we were at the school and tried to come up with a plan to get us out.
I probably could’ve gotten out the window and disappeared into the night, but I couldn’t leave Milena there by herself.
Then I heard Jonathan and his father talking nearby.
” Sadie shuddered, hating the memory of how helpless she’d felt.
“They were talking about how Jeremiah was going to take Milena’s son down to Mexico and start a new school, right?” Chase asked.
Sadie nodded. “Yeah. Then Jeremiah asked Jonathan if he thought he’d be able to ‘get it up’ long enough to impregnate me.
Jonathan told his dad that he’d lifted my shirt and looked at my boobs, and while they were way too big, he could close his eyes and picture the babies I’d give him, and that would ensure he’d be able to get hard. ”
Taking a deep breath, Sadie closed her eyes, trying to control the nausea that nearly overwhelmed her at the thought of Jonathan Jones looking at her body when she’d been unconscious. Out of everything he’d done, that alone had the power to break her.
Well, that, and what he’d told her when he was handcuffing her to the bed in one of the rooms at the school.
“You’re perfect,” Chase said softly.
Sadie’s eyes popped open and she stared at Chase.
“You’re not too big. Your tits are perfect.”
She wasn’t sure how to respond for a moment, but humor finally won out. Sadie rolled her eyes and chuckled before responding. “Thanks. I think.”
They shared a smile before Chase said, “Go on. What else?”
Sadie sighed. She’d tell him only what she’d told the Feds, leaving out the things she’d never told anyone—and swore she never would.
“Jeremiah said he’d reconsider making Jonathan go to Mexico with him, if he would agree to give him one of my babies at some point down the line.
They got into an argument about it, a loud one, and Jonathan threatened to hurt Milena.
So I made sure they knew I was awake by pounding on the door.
That distracted them, and Jonathan came in and hauled me out of the room. That’s it. That’s all I did.”