Claiming What's His (25 page)

             
Hopefully she never would.

             
Sam blinked several times, trying to readjust her eyes to the light. 

             
Seconds later, Alex returned (her getting the best view of his front) with the keychain in his hand.  She reached out, taking it from him, examining at it carefully.

             
“It’s a post office box key,” she said.

             
“Yeah.  You have a box, don’t you?” he asked.

             
“I do, but I gave my only copy to Char because I’m not in the office these days and she checks the mail for me.  So there’s no way this is mine.  Plus, I would never buy this ugly keychain.  Look how tacky it is,” she stated, lifting it up to him as if he hadn’t seen it. 

             
It was a round keychain with the words ‘Ugly You’ on it.  Who in their right mind would buy a keychain like that?  It had no cute factor to it whatsoever.

             
“The boys will be down tomorrow and I’ll get them to check it out,” he told her as he threw the keychain on the nightstand.

             
“What boys?”

             
He shifted back and said, “Matt, Jason and Sean.  Sean is Dean’s brother.  Matt Bush worked for me before Dean and I merged.  Rogue Nelson won’t be here for a while, working undercover.  Security is what I mainly do but I also do other investigative stuff too.  But with this particular case, I’m leading it.”

             
“Why this one?  So, altogether there are seven of you at the company?  And you have a guy named
Rogue
?”

             
“Nickname.  His real name is Roger and if you call him by his real name, he’ll kick your ass which means he’ll kick my ass also for telling you.”  His face dipped closer.  “Then you answer to me.  And I’m leading this one because you’re involved.”

             
Oddly enough, having this conversation in bed with Alex seemed very… common and normal.

             
“I like the name Rogue.  It’s hot, it’s dangerous, it’s… unique.”

             
“Let’s get some more sleep.  We have a long day tomorrow.  Gotta figure this thing out so I can keep you safe.  And I’m leading this case because of you.  And if you call me Rogue when I’m fucking you, I’ll kick your ass.”

             
Whatever
.  “I can take care of myself.”  Even when she uttered those shaky words, she couldn’t convince herself.

             
Sam started to drift off to a much needed sleep when she heard Alex’s declaration.  “One more thing.  You’re moving in tomorrow.”

             
Her eyes shot open and she would’ve shot up in bed if Alex’s arm wasn’t holding her down. 

             
“What!”
Sam shrieked.

             
“You heard me.  Now go to sleep,” he commanded as he shifted more of his weight on her.

             
“You expect me to go to sleep after practically
demanding
me to move in with you?  Are you nuts?”

             
“Nope.  Mitch even agreed,” he told her.

             
What?
  Mitch agreed?

             
“Dad
agreed
?  You talk to Dad about it before talking to me?  Don’t I have a say in this?” she asked and not believing that the men conversed about her moving in with Alex without discussing it with her first.

             
“Nope.  When it comes to your safety, from now on I’m making it for you.”

             
“You’re nuts.  What about Buttons and Cuddles?”

             
“What about them?  Whenever we move your things, we’ll stop by to pick them up or we could have Mitch drop them off.”

             
He made everything sound so simple.  But Sam wasn’t quite ready to make it easy for him.

             
“They allow pets here?  This nice, expensive place would actually have pets poop and pee all over their nice landscape?”

             
“They have a section for pets with special fertilizers for the grass there.  They also have those doggie bags for you to pick up the poop in with a trash bin there.  So, no excuses,” he said as he settled.

             
Damn.  What else could she really say to that?  This damn complex had thought of everything in order to make it a convenient for their residents which was good but she didn’t want it to be a factor at the moment when she was trying to dissuade Alex from having her move in with him.

             
“Then, I am not moving –”

             
“Yes you are, Sam.  This is for your safety.  Someone just tried to kill you tonight or did you forget?”

             
“Of course I didn’t forget!  I was there!  He choked
me
, not
you
!  But he doesn’t know where I live –”

             
“He could easily tail you or have someone else tail you to finish the job!”

             
“I have my gun.  I do know how to use it.  I’ll keep it with me,” she told him, hoping this would ease his mind.

             
He got up on his elbow and towered over her.  “Why are you fighting this?  You know I could protect you.”

             
“Because I don’t need you or anyone else to protect me.  I can take care of myself.”

             
He was silent.  The only thing she did was stare.

             
He finally broke his stare, closed his eyes and muttered, “Damn, you’re stubborn.”

             
She was stubborn.  But she couldn’t help it.  It was in her genetics.

             
One thing she didn’t realize was that she had stopped shaking.  She didn’t know when that happened and she didn’t care, but she suspected it was between his big head tease and ‘Ugly You.’

              The next morning Sam woke up for her usual morning run and headed straight to her apartment to change.

             
She wasn’t sure she managed to fall asleep during the night, but before she had fallen asleep that second time, she managed to set the alarm on her phone, when she asked Alex to get her a glass of much needed water, setting it to vibrate instead of ring. 

             
Instead of setting her usual three alarms, she chose to do just one this time. 

             
When it went off, she quietly and quickly rolled out of bed and dressed in her clothes that she wore yesterday, plus Alex’s tee shirt that she had worn to bed.

             
Sam had picked up her purse and shoes and tip-toed out the bedroom.  Before she shut the door, she looked back to see Alex was still asleep and hadn’t moved.

             
She made it to her apartment in ten minutes, speed walking and sprinting in the dark down the town’s sidewalk.  She unlocked the door and pushed the door open, throwing her keys on the coffee table and locking the door, stripping out of her clothes as she went toward her room. 

             
Sam took the world’s quickest shower of just soaping down her body from last night’s gruff and dressed in the first pair of shorts, sports bra and tank top she found.  She grabbed her running shoes and socks, sliding them on, and reached for her ipod, inserting the earphones in her ear and heading to the front door.

             
When she opened the door, she looked up and screamed, jumping so high she would be surprised if the entire complex didn’t hear her, immediately landing to her karate stance, lifting her knee up and her hands ready to do a karate chop her unexpected guest’s ass. 

             
Once she realized who it was, she dropped her leg, yanked the earphones out and shouted, “What the
hell
are you doing here scaring me half to death?”

             
“Why did you sneak out of bed?” Alex growled.  He still wore his messy sleepy hair-do but was dressed in shorts, tee shirt, and sneakers, ready for his run as well.

             
Sam rolled her eyes.  Did he really want to get into this now?

             
“I didn’t
sneak
out of bed.  You know I always wake up early for my run.”  It wasn’t a complete lie; it was true that she usually woke up that time for her morning run, but she sort of did sneak out of his bed.  She needed that morning time alone and not have him hover over her to death.

             
“Why didn’t you wake me up?” he asked as he placed his hands over his hips.

             
“Why should I?” she asked back.

             
His eyes narrowed and he growled again, “Sam.”

             
She kept at it.  “I didn’t see why I should –”

             
“It’s not safe for you to come out by yourself!  Did you forget that you were just attacked last night and almost died?” He barked.

             
She raised her brow.  “Don’t you think you’re overreacting on this?  I’m here and I’m alive.  What else could happen?” 

             
Just as she finished the sentence, the sound of a car screeching in the parking lot distracted her and gun shots fired in their direction.

             
Alex run to Sam and pushed her to the ground, covering her with his body.  The gun shots continued, shooting through the windows, shattering the glass.

             
The air grew thick and dusty as the bullets hit the wall.

             
Sam tried looking up to find her purse that had her gun in it, but she couldn’t see anything through the glass shatter so she kept her head down.

             
When the shooting stopped, the sound of car tires squealed out of the parking lot as Alex quickly went up to his feet and ran out the door.

             
Sam slowly got up, careful not to touch the broken glass around her.  She looked up and saw that there were holes through the windows, doors and even on the walls inside her apartment.

             
Maybe someone was after her.  This definitely got her shaken up again, and it hadn’t been twenty-four hours.

             
Alex returned and stopped in front of her, running his hands down her body.  “Are you okay?”

             
“Yeah, I’m fine,” she said in a shaky voice.

             
When she barely uttered the word fine, he declared in a loud growl, “You’re moving in with me and that’s final!”

             
Shit.

             
Shit, shit,
shit
.

*******

              The Conrad boys were there within minutes, asking questions and scoping out the area for evidence and clues.  Corey was at the office and working his hacking magic with the cameras around the area to find the car that was involved. 

             
This had been the roughest night Sam has ever had happened to her, definitely worse than when she and Maggie ended up at the police station on alleged vandalism charges.

             
Minutes later, Comfort PD arrived and asked the same questions, going through the same routine the Conrad guys did.

             
While all this went on, Sam made coffee and sat quietly at the kitchen table, nursing her own cup of coffee, pretending nothing had happened.  She tried to clear her head and think about anything – work, friends, running, her babies, bunnies, and anything she could think of.  But, none of it worked.  It all ended up with her current situation.

             
Her apartment was ruined.  There were bullet holes in the wall and in her couch that she had missed before.  Glasses were shattered everywhere.  The soot of drywall had barely started to clear the air, catching on any surface.

             
Other tenants surrounded the area trying to get a sneak peek of what happened to their unfortunate neighbor.  Some were on their way to work or school, some were still in their pajamas of choice.  Some with coffee mugs in their hands.

             
Sam was so tempted to run up and snatch one (or all) of those coffee mugs and chug all of them down her system.  She could sure use as much of it as she could at the moment.

             
The news crew arrived, setting up to shoot the latest news that shocked the small town of Comfort.

Management reluctantly stopped by a few minutes ago while Alex was off talking to one of his guys and told her that she could no longer live there due to the safety of the other tenants.  And he had informed her that she wouldn’t be getting her deposit back since he was using it to repair the damage.

That was great.  Just what Sam needed first thing in the morning after getting shot at.

             
Sam needed to do something.  She just couldn’t sit there and not do anything.  Except that there was nothing to do.  She couldn’t begin to clean up yet because PD hadn’t finish collecting their evidence.  She couldn’t work on any of her other cases because all of her files were at the offices. 

             
This would probably be one of the few times where Sam wished she had taken up a hobby of some sort, maybe knitting or reading or puzzles, anything that would keep her busy.  She didn’t even have her girls there to keep her company but that was probably for the best.  The sound of the bullets being fired would’ve scared the fur off of them.

Sam felt a callous finger stroking her shoulder.  She looked down to it.  It was a thumb.

She glanced up to find Alex looking down on her.

“Are you okay?” he asked softly.

“Are you?” she asked in return.

His reply was instant.  “I’m more worried about you.”

“Physically, I’m okay.  Emotionally, I don’t know.  My body feels numb with what happened tonight but I’m sure it’ll eventually hit me.  So my emotional status may change.”

He nodded then carried on.  “The boys are almost done here.  After that we’ll pack up some stuff and go to my place.”

“What about after that?”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t have a home anymore.  The apartment manager stopped by and told me I can no longer live here.  I have nowhere else to go.  I guess I could always move in with Dad until I find another place.”

“Sam, you’ll come live with me.  I want you to live with me, not just temporarily.  I mean permanently.”

“That won’t last forever.”

Obviously that was the wrong thing to say.

              Sam felt the air the in room shifted.  She knew that last question got to him and that he was getting angry.  So she quickly continued, “Alex, I didn’t mean anything by it.  It just slipped.”

“Obviously you did, otherwise you wouldn’t have said it.

Sam opened her mouth and immediately shut it.  She didn’t know what to say.  What could she say?  She was physically and emotionally drained from everything that had happened.  She had been attacked twice in less than twelve hours.

All she wanted now was a hot shower and a bed. 

However, the couch may be better for her tonight.

*******

The sun had already risen, peaking over the horizon when they made it back to the condo.  It was quiet between them and it had been that way since they left Sam’s apartment.

Sam walked in and headed straight to the bathroom, dropping her bag by the bed and quickly stripping out of her clothes.  She turned on the hot water and stood there for a few minutes before washing herself.  She dried off, pulling on a
cami tank and shorts on, walking back out to the living room.

             
Alex was nowhere in sight.  But she did notice that the lights in his office were on so he could’ve been in there. 

             
She figured since she didn’t get much sleep that she would catch a few hours of sleep before heading to the office.

             
Sam turned back to the bedroom, grabbed a pillow and headed to the couch.  She lay down on the couch, pulled the throw blanket from the arm rest, covering her body, and closed her eyes where she immediately fell asleep.

*******

              Sam thought she had been dreaming when she felt herself being lifted in the air.

             
She wasn’t floating.  If she was, it wasn’t smooth.

             
There were arms that were lifting her up and moving her.

             
She opened her eyes and saw the bare chest of Alex.

             
“Alex –”

             
“Quiet, Sam.  You sleep in the bed.  I’m working on the couch.”  His tone wasn’t harsh but it was still angry.

             
“But –”

             
“Shut it and just go to sleep.”  He nearly threw her on the bed, pulled the covers back, pushed her legs under and covered her up.  He stalked back out, shutting the door behind him.

             
He was definitely still angry.  He’s never been angry at her before, not like this.

             
It wasn’t like she couldn’t blame him.  The words did slip out of her mouth.

             
Sam knew it was her fault that he was like that.  She didn’t mean anything when she said that they wouldn’t last forever.  But, apparently, it had meant something to Alex.  In all honesty, it meant something to Sam too.  She had waited so long to be with Alex that the thought of him being mad at her like this brought tears to her eyes, literally.

             
Tears slid down her cheeks and she quietly cried herself back to sleep.

*******

                Her body was being shifted.  Strong hands were rolling her over and she was tucked to the side of a body, a body that was very familiar.

             
“Alex?” Sam mumbled sleepily.

             
“Shh, go back to sleep.” He ordered softly, kissing her head.

             
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, her voice hitched as she tried to bury her body further against him, her arm wrapping tightly around his waist.

             
“Me, too.”

             
She fell asleep with her body relaxed against his.

*******

              Today was it.

             
The day of the unknown meeting taking place at Daisy’s.

             
The day that would finally give her a glimpse of who the guilty party was (or so she hoped).