Ascending Darkness (Shattering the Darkness) (15 page)

“
So… I’m not going to ask you to tell me what happened, but I am going to ask you if that piece of shit is dead. And if not, how can I find him? Because you found her when she was with him. Somehow, you did it. You know how these people operate. And now I want to know how. So I can end him.”

Breccan picks his glass back up and looks hard at Nikko waiting for his response. Nikko pauses for a long moment; running both hands through his hair and down his face.

“I did not kill him,” he finally answers. “I thought I had… but Harper stayed in that city for a while after, so I hung around to keep an eye on her. After a couple years I saw people watching her and I knew it was bad news, so I got her the hell out of there. I contacted some people I know that used to work for the CIA and FBI and I called in a few favors. They helped me to cover up her existence- as per her request. We changed her name and then we started traveling. I haven’t heard anything from her previous life since.”

“And you believe the people that were watching her were Stevie’s people?” Breccan asks as he leans back and takes another drink.

“Yes. It was just something I had come to pick up. I had been searching forever for her. I knew the dregs of society.” Nikko takes a long drink of his scotch and sets it back down on the table.

“How do I find him?” Breccan asks. Nikko looks up at him with sad eyes.

“I’m worried he may have found her,” he says and picks his scotch back up.

“Mya,” Breccan states and receives Nikko’s nod as confirmation that they were both thinking the same thing at dinner last night.

“I’m worried that it might be.”

“
Fuck.
” Breccan stands up and bites out, “
Fuck!
” before beginning to pace the office space. He comes back to the chair and states, “We can’t tell Harper, yet.” His finger points in affirmation. Nikko gives him a long look and clenches his jaw. “Harper is smart. She is so fucking smart,” Breccan pushes the hair out of his face, resting his hand on the back of his neck, scratching and continues to explain to Nikko his reasoning. “But not when it comes to this. If I had known everything from the beginning, I could have taken precautions to prevent any of this.” Breccan starts to pace again and hurriedly continues, holding up is hands to stop Nikko from interrupting, “I know. It was too soon for that and I understand her side of it. I truly do. But she is only going to try and push me away again. You know that Nikko.” He looks at Nikko, imploring him to understand. “She is too fragile right now; having just told me everything.”

“I know,” Nikko states as he lets out a
long breath and closes his eyes, leaning back in his seat.

“We’ll tell her. I just want to try to track down this son of a bitch. And we need to add more security to her.”
Breccan comes back and sits down on the edge of the chair, picks up his drink and takes another sip.

“And to you
,” Nikko puts in. “Hell, to all of us.” He lifts his hands up and slaps them back down on his knees. “These people are fucking sick. There is no telling what they might do to get at Harper.”

“Shit. You’re right.
” Breccan runs his hands through his hair and takes another long drink of his scotch. “Okay. Let’s see if we can get on idea on where he is today or if people working for him are around here. If we don’t have anything by Friday, then we tell Harper. How does that sound?” Breccan asks Nikko. Nikko stands up and they shake hands.

“Fair enough. Let’s get to work. I’ll go ahead and make some calls and get someone over to keep an eye on Harper.
Someone that can blend in and be unnoticed. We don’t want to scare her yet by having a bodyguard enter the bar and tell her he’s there to protect her.”

“Good idea,” Breccan says
, nodding his head in agreement. “Let’s get someone on Kara, Rich, Brynn and Avery as well. And probably all the staff at the bar.”

The men begin to work diligently
for the rest of the day to try to find an answer, after making sure that those they care about are safe.

*****

It was an odd week to say the least. Breccan and Nikko were acting rather odd whenever they were near each other.
Constantly giving each other these knowing looks. Whenever I would ask either of them about it, they just blew it off like I was imaging things. Hell, maybe I was. I still had that knot in my stomach whenever I was away from Breccan.

And I also had this feeling a few times that someone was following me. I took different routes home and to work every day trying to see if I noticed any of the same cars following me, but nothing. I finally chalked it
all up to my own paranoia.

Today is Friday and I am just about done at work. Breccan and Nikko have found a place for Mya and after some intense negotiation on their part, we will be moving her in this weekend. Brynn, Avery and I already have
all of her furniture ordered and it will be delivered tomorrow, while we take Mya shopping for clothes. Everyone at the bar is helping out so we decided to close the bar for the day tomorrow.

I step out of my office and lock it up with Bane hot on my heels. It has been so long since I have taken him to work with me, due to everything that I had been dealing with, I truly neglected him. I feel so bad
, that I am skipping out of work early to spend some time in the park with him before my date with Breccan tonight. He hasn’t told me where we are going or what we will be doing. He only told me to dress nice.

“Hey, boy. Are you ready to head to the park? Are ya?” I ask Bane as we make our way down the hall.
He wags his tail excitedly and his tongue lolls out as he pants.

Once we step out into the bar area there is quite the commotion going on and Bane immediately begins to growl. I command him to sit so that he doesn’t inadvertently hurt someone while trying to protect me and I make my way towards the bar.

“What’s going on?” I ask as I take in the scene.

There is an obviously drunk and very belligerent man sitting on one of the stools (well, falling off, really).
His clothes are disheveled and too big for his slender frame. His hair is thinning and gray. Mark looks pissed and Beth who just got here looks like she has been crying.

“This asshole just came in here, already drunk off his ass and started to grab at Beth. He followed her in and she says that he had been following her for a couple of blocks,” Mark answers staring daggers at the man.

“Fuck you!” the man screams and makes to jump across the bar at Mark, but before he reaches him he falls back and barely keeps from hitting the floor by grasping onto the edge of the bar and the stool.

I make my way over to the other side of the bar where the man is trying to get upright.

“Sir, I think it is best if you just leave,” I tell him.

He stares at me with beady eyes that flash with pure hatred. The kind of hatred that I have only seen a few times in my life. My spine begins to tingle and my stomach starts to twist. A massive sense of déjà vu comes over
me, which has me taking a step back.

I don’t recognize the man, but the look in his eyes is far too familiar. Someone who doesn’t know me should not hate me this much. After a few seconds I straighten my spine and give the infamous Harper-Bitch-Glare.

“Uh… boss… Maybe you should step back?” Mark says apprehensively.

“Yeah. Maybe you shou
ld step back you fucking whore,” he says as we face off.

The man spits the words at me like he would to anyone at this moment. But those specific words cut at me like a million fucking knives slashing into my skin and I’m sick.

Sick of all of it.

Sick of the fear.

Of the always wondering when my past will catch me.

I’m fucking done with it.

Done hiding and backing away.

Done with the heartbreak that the past has cost me.

I am not that person anymore.

I have changed
…

I am capable and worthy of something more.

“Fuck. You.” I take a step closer to him.

Something is off.

His acting skills are superb, but I cannot smell even a hint of alcohol on the man. What is his game? Is he a reporter looking for a story on the bar of the woman who snagged
The
Breccan Caldwell?

Well, I’ll certainly give him something to write about.

“Get the fuck out of my bar,” my voice is low and, I can tell by Mark and Beth’s reactions, extremely threatening. I am giving him my best ‘don’t fuck with me’ look.

“You really think you something else?” the man slurs at me, but it really is no use. I am not falling for his tricks anymore. “You ain’t
nothin’ but a fucking whore. How much you charge, bitch?”

“Why don’t you come at me and find out?” I smile at him.

I know exactly how to push these assholes. And a challenge from
any
one, especially a woman is game on. He takes a slow stumbled step towards me, hoping to catch me off guard by underestimating him due to his intoxication level. Playing his part to a ‘T’.

He jumps at me and I quickly move to the side, stumbling a bit thanks to my fucking heels, but I quickly correct my footing and grab his hand, twisting it behind his back and using his own momentum to slam his face
hard into the top of the bar. Once I have him pinned I can feel why his clothes were so much bigger. He was trying to hide how lean he was. He may be slender, but it is all muscle. Thankfully I am used to training with Nikko, so I know just what hurts the most and how to keep anyone, no matter how strong, right where I want them.

“Holy, fuck
,” I hear Mark say, shock apparent in his voice, from behind the bar just as the bell above the door chimes.

“Who the fuck are you?” I ask the man while I twist his arm higher up making him cry out in pain.

I feel a hand touch my arm and I quickly twist to the side. I keep one hand on the drunk fuck’s arm high up in his back and throw out my right arm as I twist to hit whoever is trying to stop me.

“Whoa, baby girl,” Nikko says as he blocks my strike.

The door opens again and I look to see Breccan step in through the doors and freeze in place for a split second, taking in all the whole scene, before he sprints into action. Nikko sees him at the same time that I do and blocks his paths from the little bitch that I am holding down.

“Easy, Brecc. Easy,” Nikko tries to calm him down
holding him just a couple feet away from me and the man.

I almost loosen my grip on the man that I’m holding down, because I am so shocked at the murderous expression on Breccan’s face. I feel the man squirm so I put both hands on his arm and jerk it up to an almost impossible angle. He screams out at the pain.

“Is this him?” Breccan rages, trying to get past Nikko. “Is this the piece of fucking shit that-”

Nikko moves his hand over Breccan’s mouth, cutting him off. Breccan’s eyes move to make contact with Nikko who
gives an imperceptible shake of his head to Breccan. Breccan then visibly relaxes and looks at me. Nikko moves his hand from Breccan’s mouth but still keeps a hold on him.

“Are you okay?”
Breccan asks me.

“What the fuck was that?”
is my only response to him. I turn back to the man and try to push aside what just happened. For now. “Who the fuck are you and what are you doing here?” I ask him again.

“Fuck you whore!”
he says with his mouth squished into the bar top.

I hear a commotion behind me and know that Breccan is trying to get to this guy, but Nikko is keeping him back.

“You better watch what the fuck you say next you motherfucker!” Breccan yells at him.

I mentally roll my eyes and grab what little hair the man has. I lift his head up and smash his face into the bar top. Hard
, again. I lean my mouth close to his ear as I turn his face in the direction of Breccan and Nikko.

Through clenched teeth, I snarl,
“Now, you better fucking answer me before I let that big guy have a go at you.” The man swallows hard as he sizes up Breccan who still has a murderous expression on his face.

Nikko is straining to hold Breccan back. I can see the veins in Breccan’s temple throb
as he tries to get past Nikko. It terrifies me and turns me on all at the same time. He is the most beautiful man I have ever seen and he gets this enraged at seeing me endangered.

I come back to the task at hand and continue speaking low to the man, “I know you are not drunk. So you had better tell me who the fuck you are and what you are doing here
or it is his turn.”

Before the man answers I hear the door open followed by: “Paradise PD! What’s going on?”

Shit! Fuck! Dammit!

*****

“Are you okay?” Breccan asks me as he runs the back of both his hands down my cheeks and cups my face.

The police just left with the man who attacked me and was following Beth. We never did find out his name, because he didn’t have any identification on him.