25. Bax
CHAPTER 25
Bax
L ying on my back with my eyes open and Olivia’s soft body curled around mine, I listen to the steady sound of her breathing while her heartbeats soak into my skin. I woke up probably an hour ago, and since then, neither of our alarms has gone off yet.
Not that I’m in any hurry to get out of bed and leave her.
When she’s close, I feel a little more at ease. Or I did until the situation last night, when I watched someone cut me off and ride the bumper of her car like they planned on ramming into her, and there was nothing I could do without possibly causing a wreck.
When I called the police, the officer my call was forwarded to let me know that they have had numerous calls like mine, and every time they’ve tracked down the driver, it’s just some teenager being stupid. I want to believe he’s right, but I can’t help but wonder what would have happened if I hadn’t been there if she was alone on that dark road. Or why the fuck that car didn’t have a license plate on the back.
Feeling her fingers twitch against my skin, I realize my hand wrapped around her wrist has gotten tight, so I loosen my fingers and pull her hand up higher on my chest. The first time I woke up with her in this exact position, I thought I started doing it because she was moving in her sleep. But over the past week, I’ve come to realize she tends to stay in one position all night. So unconsciously, I’ve held her like this since the first night we spent together, like I’m afraid even in my sleep that she might disappear.
When the alarm suddenly starts blaring, she groans, pressing her forehead into my ribs.
“No, not yet,” she mumbles sleepily, and I let her wrist go to reach over and shut off the alarm. “Was that your alarm or mine?”
“Mine, you can go back to sleep.” I roll toward her and rest my chin on the top of her head.
“What time is it?”
“Six thirty.”
“We should go on a vacation,” she mumbles, cuddling deeper into me.
“Where do you want to go?” I ask softly.
“I don’t know. Someplace warm, where alarm clocks and work don’t exist.”
I smile at that. “We could go down to Florida for a few days if you can get some time off.”
Tipping her head back to look up at me, I pull back my chin so I can see her face and grin when I notice she’s got her bottom lip out. “It will probably be a while before I can take a vacation like that since I just started working at the spa.”
“All right.” I smooth my hand over the back of her head. “We could go up to the Smoky Mountains for a couple of days, maybe leave on a Friday and come home Sunday. It’s not warm, but it’d be nice to get away.”
“That sounds like fun. Let's plan it.” She smiles, and I lean in to kiss her gently on the lips.
“Harlen and Harmony go there pretty often. I’ll ask them where they stay.”
“Okay, but we’ll have to figure out the timing since Thanksgiving is right around the corner.”
Shit, she’s right. I don’t even know how I didn’t think about that coming up. “We should probably talk about what we are doing that day so I can give my family a heads-up.”
“Are we spending Thanksgiving together?” she asks, sounding surprised.
“Yes.” I don’t even leave room for it to be a discussion. This will likely be our life going forward, so we might as well start figuring out how to navigate holidays now.
“Okay,” she whispers. “But when I’m in town for Thanksgiving, I always help my mom cook, and I like doing that with her.”
“That’s fine. My parents normally host, and people show up when they can. We can spend the day with your parents, then go to my parents’ in the evening for dessert.”
“Your mom won't be upset?”
“First, I see my mom more than just one day out of the year, and second, she has girls. She loves having my sisters in the kitchen with her, so she’ll understand that your mom wants that time with you.”
“Okay,” she agrees softly.
“I gotta get up and ready to go. You want me to start some coffee for you, or are you going to stay in bed for a little longer?”
“I think I might doze until my alarm goes off.”
“All right, baby.” I brush my lips across hers, then get up and head to the bathroom.
When I come out a while later, she’s asleep and has dragged my pillow down the bed and wrapped her arms around it. After I get dressed, I take a seat on the edge of the mattress and slide the hair that has fallen into her face back behind her ear before I rest my hand on her hip and squeeze.
“Oli.”
“Mmm?”
“I’m going to take off, baby.”
“Okay,” she mumbles, and I smile.
“Kiss me before I leave.”
Leaning up, she tips her head back without opening her eyes, and I slide my fingers back into her hair and kiss her, sliding my tongue across her bottom lip. When I start to pull back, she grasps the front of my sweatshirt, preventing my retreat, and opens her mouth under mine. I lose myself in her taste and the feel of her beneath me for a long fucking moment before I force myself to slow the kiss and pull back.
“Message me when you wake up.” I nip her bottom lip.
“Okay.” She snuggles back down into the bed.
Tucking the blanket up around her shoulder, I get up and call Gemma, who is still snoozing at the foot of the bed, and she follows me out of the room. I stop in the kitchen long enough to feed both her and Ira and to make myself a to-go coffee. Then I lock up the house and walk to my truck, opening the door for Gemma to get in. The sun is barely up as I head out of my neighborhood, and I make it to work with time to spare.
As I’m parking, my cell phone rings, and I frown when I see it’s my sister Nalia. Not that she never calls, but she’s in Colorado, putting her a couple of hours behind me. I get out of my truck, and Gemma immediately hops out and runs up to the house while I answer the call and press my cell to my ear.
“Hey, everything okay?”
“Well,” she says quietly, “define okay.”
“What happened?” I mutter, walking back to the bed of my truck.
“First, I need you to promise that you’re not going to tell Mom and Dad before I have a chance to talk to them.”
“What happened?” I repeat, unwilling to promise shit because if she’s in trouble, our parents need to know.
“Bax, please just promise,” she says softly, and my gut gets tight. From the moment she and Sage came to live with us, she had all of us wrapped around her finger. Even though she and Sage were the same age, she was the baby, and I still see her as the little girl she once was.
“All right.”
“A couple of days ago, Sharon was arrested,” she says, and I stop in my tracks. “She was caught with meth, and she apparently had enough on her that they are assuming she was dealing.”
“Assuming?” I grit out. Sharon is her birth mom, the woman who lost custody of Sage and Nalia when they were just two because she left them at home alone while she went out and partied. When Nalia was old enough, she went looking for Sharon, and for some fucked-up reason that neither I nor any of our siblings understands, she decided to move to Colorado to be closer to her once she found her.
“Okay, not assuming. They know that she was selling, which means she’s going to jail for a while.”
“Come home,” I bite out, and the phone goes quiet.
“I have Zuri with me.”
Shit. My eyes slide closed. Zuri is Sage and Nalia’s youngest sister. I think she’s around seven now, but I could be wrong. I don’t know much about Sharon’s other kids, and Nalia never shares much about them, nor her and Sage’s birth mom, because she knows it’s a topic that tends to piss Sage off—or at least the topic of Sharon does. “I want to come home and bring her with me, but we’re going to need a place to stay while I find a job and an apartment. I know Mom and Dad would let us live with them until I figure things out, but I don’t want to ask them, and I don’t know that Zuri would be comfortable at their house.”
“You can stay with me, and if you’re looking for a job, I know a company that is looking for a receptionist and client coordinator.”
“Really, where is that?”
“B she’s just a kid.”
“You’re right.” I turn to watch Talon park his truck. “When are you telling Mom and Dad?”
“After I talk to a lawyer about custody. I don’t want to talk to them until I have all my ducks in a row.”
“Talon just got here. Do you want me to tell him?”
“No. Please don’t tell anyone yet. I’ll call everyone and fill them in when I know for sure what’s going on.”
“All right,” I agree, not liking this at all. “Do you need anything—money, anything?”
“No, I’m okay, and Zuri has been staying with me since the first time Sharon was arrested, so we’re good. I’m just trying to navigate things in a way that she doesn’t feel this shift too much.”
“Okay, well, keep me in the loop, and let me know when you talk to the lawyer.”
“I will,” she agrees, then whispers, “Thanks for not being a dick.”
“We all love you. You know that.”
“I know,” she says quietly as Talon gets out of his truck. “I’ll call you as soon as I talk to a lawyer.”
“All right. Later, sis.”
“Yeah, later,” she replies, and I look over at Talon.
“Everything okay?” he asks, walking up to join me.
“Yep, all good,” I lie, instantly feeling guilty.
As a family, we don’t lie to each other or keep secrets, but I can understand Nalia wanting to figure things out before telling everyone—especially our parents, who will immediately try to swoop in and take over.
“Ready to get to work?”
“As ready as I can be when I’d rather be at home with Olivia.” I fall into step with him.
“Welcome to my world,” he mutters, and I smile.
* * *
Parking my truck in the driveway next to Olivia’s car, I hit the button for the garage door as I watch light flakes of snow hit my windshield. It won't stick except for the occasional winter storm. We rarely get snow, especially this early in the season. But the temperature has been dropping, so I’ll need to sort out the garage sooner rather than later so Olivia can park inside and not have to get into a freezing car in the mornings.
I push the door to my truck open, and as soon as I’m out, Gemma jumps down and follows me down to the end of the driveway. After grabbing the mail, I turn to head toward my house. The soft glow of the porch light hits me in my gut because I know Olivia turned it on for me. I open the door in the garage and the smell of something cooking greets me along with the sound of music. Shrugging off my coat, I hang it on one of the hooks near the back door and head down the hall behind Gemma, who runs ahead of me, ready to see our girl.
As soon as I turn the corner into the kitchen, I find Olivia squatting down in front of Gemma, dressed in leggings and a cut-off shirt with her hair up in a bun and her cell pressed to her ear. Her eyes come to me, and she smiles a smile that lights up her whole face.
Fuck.
I never put much thought into what it might be like to come home after a long day and have someone to share that day with. I didn’t even know it was something I was missing out on until this exact moment.
“Hey, honey.”
“Hey, babe.” I toss the mail to the counter that is covered with shit from her cooking.
“Sorry, Reb, Bax just got home, so I’ll call you tomorrow,” she says into the phone coming out of her squat. “Yeah, okay. Love you too. Later.” She takes her phone from her ear and drops it to the counter. “Hi.” She walks to me, never losing the smile as she presses her hands against my chest and lifts on her tiptoes to touch her mouth to mine. “How was work?”
“Long.” I wrap my hands around her waist, then slide them back to pull her closer as her face gets soft.
“Dinner is just about done; do you want a beer?”
“I’ll get it in a second.” I duck my head and bury my face in her neck so I can just breathe her in for a moment. I missed her all fucking day. I’ve never missed a woman when they’ve been out of sight, but she’s a constant itch in the back of my mind. A reminder that something important is missing.
“You okay?” she asks softly, sliding her fingers through my hair.
“Yeah, all good.” I kiss her neck and then pull back so I can see her face. “How was work, any drama?”
“Nope, and every client who walked through the door commented on how amazing the place looked, which made Eva happy and yesterday worth it.”
“Good.” I give her a squeeze.
“Did you have drama at work?” she asks softly, searching my gaze. “Did you see Liam?”
“He and I are good, babe,” I assure her.
“Did he talk to you?”
“No.” I smile. “But when it comes to work, we’re fine, and he’ll get over things sooner or later.” I give her waist a squeeze and change the subject. “What are you cooking?”
“Just spaghetti and garlic bread.” She falls flat to her feet. “I was going to make lasagna, but it would have taken too long.”
“It smells good.”
“Thanks.” She lets me go and moves to the stove, where there are two large pots. “Will you put the garlic bread in for me? The pasta is just about done.”
“Yeah.” I go to the counter and pick up the tray that has a loaf of French bread cut in half on it that is covered with butter and a thick layer of a couple of kinds of cheese. After I get it in the oven, I go to the fridge and open it up. “You want wine?”
“Please,” she says softly, glancing over at me before she lifts the smaller of the two pots off the stove and carries it to the sink. “I talked to my mom this afternoon about Thanksgiving.”
“What did she say?” I pour her a glass of wine, then carry it over to the stove as she dumps the noodles she just drained into a pan with pasta sauce.
“She wants us to have dinner sometime before then.” She meets my gaze over her shoulder as I step up behind her and slide my hand up the front of her shirt, resting it on her stomach. “She’s worried about what happened and wants to clear the air before then. I told her I’d talk to you about it because I know it’s not easy for you to get away from work early during the week.”
“Just let me know when, and I’ll make it work.”
“Are you sure? I know…”
“I’ll make it work.” I cut her off.
“Okay.” She melts back into me as she swirls the pasta around in the sauce. “Thank you.”
“You know I love your mom.”
“I know.”
“And there are no hard feelings. I get why she did what she did. I don’t like it, but if we have daughters someday, I might pull the same stunt,” I say, and she goes completely still. “Oli?”
“Yeah.” She places the tongs she was using down on a small plate next to the stove.
“You, okay?”
“Better than I’ve ever been,” she says quietly, adding softly, “But just so you know, I won’t let you pull a stunt like my mom did.”
“You wouldn’t be able to stop me, baby.”
“Sure,” she mumbles.
Smiling, I lean in to touch my lips to the side of her throat as Gemma begins to bark. Dragging my mouth from her throat, I turn to watch Gemma run off toward the living room right before the bell rings.
“I’ll be right back.” I give her waist a squeeze and head to the front door. When I open it, I’m surprised to see Cobi and Detective Hammer standing outside on the porch. “Everything okay?”
“Sorry,” Cobi says as I stand back so that he and Detective Hammer can come inside. “I was going to call to make sure you were home, but we were in the area, so I figured we’d stop by. Is Olivia here with you?”
“Is everything okay?” Olivia asks from the doorway to the kitchen before I can answer.
“We just want to talk to you for a few minutes and fill you in on a few things recently brought to our attention.”
“Sure,” she says, then motions over her shoulder toward the kitchen. “I just need to get something out of the oven.”
“We can talk in there,” Cobi says, and I follow both men into the kitchen behind Olivia.
“You want something to drink—water, tea, soda?” I ask as Olivia removes the garlic bread from the oven.
“I’ll take a water,” Cobi says, and Detective Hammer requests the same. After handing them each a bottle from the fridge, I lean my hip against the counter next to Olivia.
“Did you find out who broke in next door or vandalized my car?” she asks, picking up her wineglass.
“Unfortunately, no,” Cobi says, pulling out one of the stools at the counter, and Detective Hammer does the same. “But we did come across three open cases around Middle Tennessee similar to yours.”
“How so?” I ask, and the moment Cobi’s gaze comes to me, I brace from the look in his eyes.
“Over the past six months, there have been four break-ins with the same MO, not including yours. In each situation, the house or apartment was lived in by a woman with a female roommate. The suspect gets into the house and makes it look like a robbery took place before he leaves, not taking anything of value with him and leaving no sign of forced entry.”
“Okay,” Olivia whispers.
“After some time has passed, who we are assuming is that same perp comes back when one of the roommates is gone.” His jaw gets tight. “And in each situation, the woman is then raped, tied up, and left for the roommate to find.”
“Oh my God.” Olivia breathes, pressing her hand against her stomach while I reach for her, wrapping my hand around her hip.
“This morning, the suspect struck again, only the woman woke up and said that something felt off when she heard someone in her house since her roommate works the overnight shift at a factory. After her break-in, her father got her a handgun and took her to the shooting range, so when a man she did not know entered her bedroom, she shot at him without warning, and he took off.”
“Is she okay?” Olivia asks, and I hate the fear I hear in her voice.
“Scared as you can imagine, but okay. The suspect was gone by the time the police arrived, but he left blood at the scene from where she hit him. They are currently running that evidence through CODIS to see if this is someone who has any priors and to confirm that he is the same suspect from the other two cases.”
“Do you think he’s after me?” she whispers, my fingers digging into her side as my skin suddenly feels too tight.
“We wish we knew,” Detective Hammer says softly. “Right now, Cobi and I are just going with our guts that these cases and yours are linked. That hasn’t even been confirmed across departments. And your situation was a little different since money was taken.”
“So it might not be connected?”
“It might not, but he could have just seen the cash out in the open, knew that it would be impossible to trace, and taken it. Right now, we just want you to be aware of the possible danger that you are in.”
“I appreciate that, but it still doesn’t make me feel good to think that someone might be after me or my friend,” she says as her weight settles heavy against me like she can’t hold herself up under this new information.
“I’m sorry,” Cobi says quietly, holding her stare. “We’re going to do everything we can on our end, and I know that Bax won’t let anything happen to you.” His eyes come to me. “It might be smart to get her a gun.”
Turning to me, she starts to shake her head. “I’m not carrying a gun.”
“We’ll talk about it.”
“We won’t,” she says, looking panicked. “I would probably shoot myself on accident if I had a gun.”
“I’d take you to the range and show you how to use it.”
“I’m not carrying a gun,” she repeats, and my jaw clenches. I can tell just from the look in her eyes that she’s not going to be swayed, and I’d never want her to do something that makes her uncomfortable, even if it makes me feel better.
I look over at Cobi when I hear his stool scoot across the wood floor. “We’re going to take off.” His gaze moves to Olivia. “As soon as we have any information, we’ll be in touch.”
“Sure.” She nods, then asks, “Is it okay if I tell Kourtney what you told us?”
“Of course.” He starts moving toward the kitchen doorway, asking, “Did she get the security system put in?”
“No, not yet,” Olivia tells his back as we walk through the living room.
“Just try not to be over there alone until it’s installed.”
“She’s staying here with me,” I assure him.
“That’s smart,” Detective Hammer says softly, patting my arm as I open the front door. After he steps out, I turn to watch Cobi give Olivia a one-arm hug.
“It will be okay.” I hear him tell her, and she nods.
“I’ll call you tomorrow,” Cobi says, bumping his fist against mine. He steps outside, calling over his shoulder, “Night.”
“Night.” I close the door behind him and flip the lock into place. The moment I turn around, Olivia falls against me.
“I hate this.”
“I know.” I wrap her up in my arms and just hold her for a long fucking time while she clings to me.