Entice (The Fighter Romance Series - Book #2) (8 page)

“Me? I’m causing you stress?” I was a little
offended by that. I hadn’t put any kind of pressure on him at all as far as I
was concerned. I had even helped him with his sister.

“Yeah, I mean…it’s hard to explain but I don’t
usually talk to people about my life and how I’m feeling or what’s going on
with my sister, things like that. For some reason I feel comfortable sharing
all of that with you and sometimes I worry that I’m sharing too much.”

“I’m not going to tell anyone what you tell me, if
that’s what you’re worried about.” I was still a little insulted, but it was
nice to know he felt comfortable with me.

“I know. I don’t think you would…I’m sorry. It’s
just new and that’s where the stress is coming from.”

I took his hands in mine and leaned toward him.
“Don’t let me add to your stress, okay? Just trust that anything you tell me
will be kept in confidence and I will never judge you.”

He leaned in too and kissed me. I loved the way his
lips felt on mine. They were so soft, yet something about them was powerful as
well. He pulled back and looked into my eyes. He looked like he was going to
kiss me again but his phone rang. He looked at the face and then put it to his
ear and said, “Hello?” He listened for a few seconds and then said, “Calm
down…I can’t really understand you.” He pulled his eyebrows together in the
middle and I could see that he was worried by whatever the caller was telling
him. “Okay, it’s going to be okay.” His words were reassuring but there was an
undertone of panic in them. “I’ll be right there. Stay there.” He hung up the
phone and said, “I have to go, Jessie. We’ll talk later.” I watched him open
the door and leave. I had no idea what was going on, but I hoped that
everything would turn out all right.

CHAPTER
SEVEN

I hung out at the gym helping Greg out with his
clients and doing some office stuff for a few more hours after Paul left. I
kept hoping he’d take care of whatever was going on and come back. I just
wanted to know that everything was okay. I called him about an hour after he
left but he didn’t answer. I didn’t leave a message. I called him again after
two hours and this time when voice mail kicked in I said, “Hey, I’m not trying
to be intrusive, just worried. Call me please.”

At around two o’clock I hadn’t heard back from him
and I finally decided he wasn’t coming back. I sent him a text that said:

“Leaving
work.
Please let me know all is well.”

I got my stuff together and said goodnight to Greg
and Victoria and decided that I’d drive by his apartment and see if he was
there. I felt a little bit like Mitch…like a stalker, driving by to spy on him.
But if he was there, I planned on stopping, just to make sure that he was okay.
When I got to the apartment the first thing I noticed was that his big truck
wasn’t in its usual spot. That truck was hard to miss, but I drove through the
rest of the lot just to make sure. When I saw it wasn’t there, I just went on
home.

My mom was sitting on my couch watching television
when I got home. She had fixed herself all up and looked like she was ready for
a night on the town. When I was little and I’d asked her once why she looked so
pretty to just stay at home, she told me, “What if there’s a fire, honey?
Firemen are very handsome. I wouldn’t want them seeing me looking like a mess.”

“Hey, Mom.”

“Hi, Jessie.
How was work?”

“It was okay. Did you find something for lunch?”

“I did. I ate what looked to be your leftovers from
last night. Good chicken, amazing peanut sauce. You didn’t make all that just for
yourself, did you?”

My mother, the detective.
I chose not to answer her and instead I asked, “Do you have enough room for
your things in the dresser and closet in there?”

“Yes, baby. You don’t have to worry about me, I’ll
be fine. Oh, I put your laundry in the dryer. Fancy dinner and she washed her
sheets.”

“Mom, don’t start.”

She put her bottom lip out and said, “I don’t know
why you won’t talk to me.”

“About what, Mom?
There’s nothing to talk about.”

“I’m a woman too. I know the signs of a man being around.
Why not just tell me about him. Why are you hiding him?”

“I’m not hiding anyone, Mom. Let it go, okay?” I
went into the kitchen, then, to look for something to eat myself. My mother
followed me and I could feel her eyes boring into the back of my head. I
finally just snapped. “Knock it off! I’m twenty-three years old! All of a
sudden you want to be a mother and I’m supposed to just know how to have that
relationship with you? I have no experience with that.”

“What do you mean? Why are you yelling at me?”

With a heavy sigh I said, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t
have yelled at you…but you need to let it go.”

“Wow! You won’t even consider calling Justin yet
you’re sleeping with a man you have to hide.”

“Oh, that’s it! I’m not like you, okay! Not at all!
And in case you were wondering, that was no accident. I practiced my whole life
to make sure it didn’t happen. You were the last thing I ever wanted to be.
You’ve always been addicted to men. You think your looks entitle you to things
and you don’t have to work for them…and you’re a drug addict! So no, I have no
experience with having a good mother…the kind you want to talk to about things.
You were a horrible mother and sometimes I don’t know why I don’t just hate you
for it!”

I was so passionately ranting that I didn’t even
realize that my mother had tears streaming down her face. It wasn’t that it
meant much. She was a drama queen and an addict; she could turn them off and on
at the drop of a hat.

She didn’t say a word. Instead she turned and walked
out. I followed her, suddenly feeling terrible for saying such horrible things
to her…even if they were true. “Mom,” I called after her. She ignored me and
went into the bathroom. Just as I stepped up behind her the door closed in my
face and I heard it lock.

“Oh geez, Mom…really?
This is really not very mature of you. If you’re angry with me just come out
and tell me so.” There was no sound coming out of the bathroom. I reached out
and tried the handle but I had been right, it was locked. “Come on, Mom. You’re
being ridiculous. I’m sorry that I hurt your feelings, okay?”

“
Hmph
!”

I rolled my eyes. She couldn’t see me. “Mother, this
is ridiculous. You’re acting like a child!”

“I guess I have a history of it,” she said. “Maybe
that’s what makes me such a horrible mother! I haven’t taken a single pill in
months and since you never come around, you would have no idea how hard that is
for me! I just lost the only person in the world other than you that I thought
cared about me and now you tell me what a bad mother I’ve been…”

God, she was a master at the guilt thing. I felt a
pang beginning in my chest and I knew she had won. It was the reason I usually
didn’t say anything at all. She always ended up winning.
“Mom.”
My tone was less hostile now, apologetic, I hoped. “I’m sorry. You’re right.
I’m just having a bad day. I didn’t mean it.”

“Words hurt more than a slap in the face,” she said.

“I know, I’m truly sorry.
Please come out here and talk to me.” Before she could answer me, my phone
rang. “Shoot! Mom, I’m going to get that because I’m waiting for a call…about
work,” I lied. “I’ll be right back.” I went in the living room and picked up my
phone. It was Paul. “Hey! Are you okay? Is Marie okay?”

“Can you meet me by the lake where we swam that
day?”

“Yeah…sure.
Is everything okay? What happened?”

“I’ll be at the lake in fifteen minutes. Meet me
there, okay? I’ll explain it all to you then. And Jessie…”

“Yeah?”

“Please make very sure that you’re not followed,
okay? Mitch has been driving a brown four-door car…but he could be in anything.
If it looks like anyone is following you, don’t come.”

“Okay, but…” Before I could say anything else, the
line went dead. I was beginning to feel like I was trapped in a spy novel.

I heard the bathroom door crack open just then. I
went over and looked my mother in the face and tried to remember all of the
good things about my life…there were a lot. “I’m truly sorry, Mom. I love you.
Thank you, for everything you have done for me. Thanks for being my mom.”

She started crying again and hugged me. “I love you
too.”

“Good,” I told her with a smile. “I have to go meet
a client, but I’ll be back in a bit and we’ll figure out dinner, okay?”

“Okay,” she said with a smile.

********

I walked outside and surveyed the parking area and
the street along my apartment complex. I didn’t see any brown cars. Remembering
what Paul said, I looked again as I walked to my car at each and every other
one, trying to make sure they were all empty. There was one with a lady and a
baby inside and one with a teenage boy on his phone. Neither of them looked
like Mitch, or a cop. I still felt paranoid as I got into my car and drove
toward the lake. I even slowed as I passed the gym to see if anyone behind me
might think I was turning in there. The other cars seemed annoyed with me, but
otherwise not interested. I found a spot to park near the entrance to the lake
and hiked along the little path the rest of the way there. Paul wasn’t there
yet.

I stood facing the lake with all sorts of scenarios
playing out in my head.
I was afraid for him and his sister
and his nephew…and maybe even me just a little bit.
When I heard Paul
walking up behind me I startled and turned around so quickly that I almost fell
into the lake. “Hi,” I said. His face looked drawn with worry.

“Hi. Thanks for coming.”

“Of course.
I’ve been so worried.”

He reached out and softly brushed a piece of hair
off my face and tucked it behind my ear. It was a simple gesture, but so
intimate that it made me shiver a little. “I’m sorry we’ve worried you.”

“Don’t be sorry. I wouldn’t be worried if I didn’t…
If you weren’t my friend.”
I was about to say, “Care about
you,” but that had so many connotations that I didn’t think we were ready for
yet.

“Mitch found out where Marie was staying.”

“Oh my God!
How? Is she okay?”

“We’re not sure. I think he found out where Victor
was going to school and maybe followed them home from there. Sensei was there,
thank goodness and he threatened to call Mitch’s supervisor if he didn’t leave.
He left, but he’ll be back.”

“What is she going to do?”

“I have to take them away again. They’re going to
have to start over again.” His fists were balled up next to his sides and I
knew how angry
that made him without hearing him speak
the words. It suddenly dawned on me that he had said, “I have to take them
away.”

“You’re going too?” He looked sad, but determined.

He nodded and said, “I have to. They need me. I have
to get them to some place safe and get them settled. Marie has a really hard
time getting a job…her history is so sketchy with jobs from one town to the
next and leaving them with no notice…she can’t get government aid because Mitch
just uses it to track her.”

“What about the police, Paul? Can’t they help you?”

“I don’t trust them. Mitch has told them all that
Marie stole Victor for no reason. He has the old evidence against her that he
kept…and he keeps telling me that he can have me arrested in a heartbeat and
make the charges stick.”

“The charges?
What can he make stick?” I was confused.

“He says he’ll frame me. He’ll do something and make
it look like it was me, set me up.”

“Oh my God.
What a horrible man.” I knew that was stating the obvious, but I was just
appalled. Poor Paul…this was no way to live his life…. “Oh shit! What about
your fights?”

“They’ll have to stay on hold for now…until we get
rid of Mitch somehow.”

“Oh, Paul,” I put my hand on the side of his face. I
felt so bad for him and so helpless. I didn’t want him to go for me as well. I
was just getting used to him. He put his hand over mine and then slid it across
his lips and kissed it. Then he leaned in and kissed me on my lips and said,
“I’m sorry, Jessie.”

“It’s okay, it’s not your fault,” I said. My heart
was breaking for him. It had to be so hard to keep starting over. “Please be
safe.”

“I will. You too,” he said. I stood by the lake and
watched him leave. When he got back to the little lot he got into a small
yellow sports car. It must be his Sensei’s or someone else who was helping
them. I stood there until he drove away. I felt bad for him and for Marie and
for Victor…but I felt bad for myself as well.

Book
3 Comes Out February 15th