“That’s impossible,” I said, shaking my head. “I didn’t know that woman. I didn’t kill anyone. I don’t know how that got there, but I didn’t kill anyone.”
“Come on, Josie,” the woman said, sitting down in the chair across from me. “Your only alibi witness is your father, and he’s nowhere to be found. There is testimony from other eyewitnesses placing you, or someone that looks like you, at the scene of the crime. We found the murder weapon wrapped in the victim’s shirt in your trash can. Do you really expect us to believe that you’re innocent?”
“Yes,” I said with exasperation. “Doesn’t that seem awfully convenient to you? Besides, the witness saw someone with dark hair from the top of floor of an apartment building across the street. There was no way they could ID me as that person, and the reason for that is because I didn’t fucking do it!”
“Look,” she said, putting her hands in her lap. “Just confess. Tell us everything, and we will ask the prosecutor for leniency. You understand that when we take you to court, the district attorney is going to seek the maximum sentence if you don’t cooperate. You’ll spend the rest of your life behind bars, and sweetheart, those girls are a lot tougher than your victim. You won’t last long in there at all.”
I crossed my arms and looked away, growing tired of being called a murderer. I knew how the evidence looked, but I didn’t do it. I wasn’t going to confess to a crime that I didn’t commit. I knew the deal was that I take the fall for this murder. I knew that when Paulie and Harry got wind that I was refusing to claim that I was guilty, they would probably go after my father if they hadn’t already done so, but this was serious. I had given my life to my father for the last twenty years, and I didn’t want to spend the rest of it behind bars because he couldn’t get his shit together. I could tell the detectives about Paulie and Harry, but then what? They would research it, find them, and those gangster assholes would refuse to admit it. Then they would kill my father anyway. I was pretty much stuck between a rock and a hard place.
“Fine,” she said, slamming her hands on the table and startling me from my thoughts. “We’ll do it your way. I hope you understand that when we go into that courtroom, we are going for the win. We’ll make sure you spend the rest of your life behind bars.”
The detective grabbed the bags and looked at me one last time before walking out of the interrogation room. She slammed the door behind her, and I jumped, still completely terrified of every sound. All I could do at that point was stay silent, no matter who came into the room. I had said my piece and didn’t want to say the wrong thing and have it twisted in court. I was innocent, and I was being set up by the mob. It was like a bad cop drama, only I was the innocent one, and the cops were doing everything they could to pin it on me, just like Harry and Paulie. I just wished it would all go away, like a bad dream.
Several hours later, and a dozen detectives later, one of the cops came in and grabbed me by the arm, lifting me from the chair and escorting me back to the holding cells. He took off my cuffs and shoved me into the empty room. I rubbed my wrists and looked over my shoulder, waiting for him to leave. I walked over to my bed and curled up in a ball, wrapping my arms around my body. It was so cold in there, and the orange jumpsuit they had put me in was thin. Tears began to pour out of my eyes as I laid there, shivering, and I muffled the sound of my sobs so I didn’t alert the other inmates. They had already ruthlessly teased me like I was fresh bait when I walked in. Then, as if it were a dream itself, my tears went silent, and I heard a familiar voice. I sat up quickly and looked around, my eyes falling on Blaine, standing at my cell with a sad face.
“Blaine,” I cried out, running to the bars and sticking my hands through for him to hold.
I pressed my forehead against the metal and could feel his skin touching mine. It was exactly what I needed at that moment, and for a second, I felt a little bit stronger. We stood there for several moments, just taking in each other’s presence. I had been so scared and so lonely, and I didn’t know where he was or how to contact him.
“Sorry, it took so long to get back here,” he said, pulling his head back. “I had to push my way through the ranks to even get this small amount of time.”
“I thought attorneys could do that,” I replied.
“Not unless you tell them you want to see your lawyer,” he replied. “They will keep me away as long as the law allows. They know once you lawyer up, they have lost their edge. It’s harder to bully someone when they have a lawyer letting them know what they can and can’t say.”
“But I didn’t do it,” I said. “There were these—”
“Shh,” he said, looking around. “Not here. We are not alone here, and anything that is said can be used against you. Besides, if what I gathered is what happened, you can’t trust the other inmates in this place.”
“What do I do?” I asked.
“Stay quiet, and the next cop you come across, tell them you want to see your lawyer,” he instructed. “That way, the next time we see each other, it will be private, and we can go over everything. Until then, you can’t say anything, not a word, no matter what they threaten you with.”
“They are ruthless,” I said, looking down at the floor.
“Yeah, well, I’m pretty sure from the way they are acting, this is pretty serious,” he said.
“I know,” I said, too afraid to tell him the charges. “I just want to get out of here and be somewhere safe. Be with you.”
Everything was such a mess, and from the outside, I understood that it looked like I was one hundred percent guilty, no questions asked. I wanted to be there when he had the charges explained to him so I could tell him what really happened, but that would mean getting out of jail, and they weren’t letting me go anywhere, anytime soon. I knew that all of this might have been too much for Blaine to take, and I would understand if he took off and washed his hands of the whole thing. We may love each other, but sometimes, outside events are stronger than love. Sometimes, even love can’t hold up against murder charges. I wouldn’t blame him, though. I wasn’t even sure what I would do if the roles were reversed. There was no way he could totally believe me, without questioning it in some way.
Blaine leaned his head forward and slid his hands up to grasp my face. He kissed me gently through the bars. The buzzer to the outside door went off, and a guard walked in. Blaine looked over at him and nodded, grasping my hands even tighter. He looked me in the eyes like he always did, and I didn’t see a tiny pinch of doubt in his gaze. He leaned forward and kissed me again, and I could tell our time was up.
“I want you to stay strong,” he said. “Let them know you want to see me so I can start being allowed regular visits, and we can get this all straightened out. In the meantime, I’m putting together a team of the best lawyers in the state, and we are going to find a way to prove your innocence. Whoever is doing this will not get away with it forever. I promise. There are always holes in every story, and I’m going to find theirs.”
“Okay,” I said, sniffling and walking along the cage as he walked toward the door.
“I’m going to get these ridiculous charges dropped if it’s the last thing I do,” he said. “Just hang in there, okay? And Josie? I love you.”
“I love you, too,” I said, walking along.
“You’ll see it’s all worth it when you are free and we sue the hell out of the city for putting you through this.”
I shook my head and grasped onto the bars as he was escorted from the area. The door slammed behind him, and I jumped, closing my eyes and letting the tears fall down my cheeks. I walked back over to the bed and opened up the gray, scratchy blanket. I pulled the hood of my jumpsuit over my head and laid down on the thin mattress. I pulled the blanket over my body and huddled underneath, thankful that it was at least warm. I stared at the cinder block wall, only glancing up when a guard would enter or exit the area outside the cells. I could smell the cold steel of the bars and the not so clean toilet against the wall. I turned my body over and faced the wall, not wanting anyone to see me crying. I pulled the rubber band from my hair and let my locks fall to my shoulders, covering my neck and helping me to stay warm.
I wanted to crawl into a ball and never come out. I was absolutely terrified in that place, and it got even worse when the women in other cells would start acting crazy. I knew they were bored, but I was the target of the moment, being the newest one in there and the most fragile. Those girls saw right through me, and I even heard them whispering that there was no way I could have killed anyone. I wished the police would open their eyes and see it that way, too. But they weren’t going to, and I needed to come to terms with the fact that there was a really good chance I would be spending a lot more time behind bars. I needed to start getting comfortable with the steel bars and cold floors.
Chapter 19
Blaine
I scanned through the court documents in front of me, unable to fully comprehend what I was looking at. The district attorney was throwing a long list of charges at Josie, from obstruction of justice to murder in the first degree. Anyone who talked to her for five seconds would realize she wasn’t capable of committing crimes like these, but apparently, the state of Florida didn’t agree with me.
Obviously, the first-degree murder charge was the most serious. It was a capital offense. If convicted by a jury, she could be facing the death penalty. She could be facing lethal injection or a life in prison for a murder she wasn’t even part of. I couldn’t understand how the justice system had failed her so badly. I became a lawyer because I believed in the system. I knew if the judicial system was working properly, someone’s innocence or guilt would be brought to light, but this did not feel like the system was working properly. This was a witch hunt.
Every single one of the detectives working the case seemed more interested in pinning this murder on Josie than actually finding out the truth. They weren’t trying to determine her culpability or look for other suspects. They were completely focused on proving she was guilty.
Josie was my sweet and innocent baby. There was no way she was guilty of this crime. She was the most loving woman I had ever met, and she didn’t have connections to anyone in the community where the victim lived, much less the victim herself. There had to be more to the story than what was being presented. Unfortunately, the police had some damaging evidence against her, and although the witness testimony could be explained away since they were so high up in the building, the fact that the murder weapon and victim’s clothing were found in Josie’s trashcan would be difficult to explain. There had to be a mistake here somewhere, and I was determined to find it.
I knew that I couldn’t solve this case on my own, so I had been putting together a team to help with the research and defense. I called Anderson to my office to go over the details and help consult with me on proving Josie’s innocence. I knew it would be hard for him to swallow, but I had never been surer of anything in my life, and I knew that he would respect that. I leaned back in my chair, my mind racing over the details presented so far in the case. Although our firm specialized in financial law, we had some really solid talent and were ready to start diving into criminal defense. I knew my father would have never questioned me on the decision, and I think that Anderson knew that as well, since he didn’t even try to argue us out of taking the case.
Anderson walked to the door of my office and tapped on the doorframe, bringing me out of my swirling thoughts. He was wearing one of his Armani suits, and his peppered hair made him look like Richard Gere. I nodded and tipped my chair forward, motioning for him to come in. He shut the door behind him and sat down across from me, his face twisted in concern.
“I want to say something, and you may not like it,” he said.
“Go ahead,” I replied.
“The evidence is mounting against Josie, and it’s going to be incredibly difficult to prove her innocence without a single soul seeing her that day,” he said.
“Her father saw her,” I reminded him.
“Yes, her gambling-addicted father who has been MIA now for weeks,” he replied. “I want to make sure that you really trust this girl. I don’t think it’s a strange or outrageous question to ask. You’ve only known her for a couple of weeks. Is it possible she just pulled the wool over your eyes?”
“No,” I said, looking down at the documents on my desk. “I know Josie, like really know her. She is the kindest woman I have ever met, and there is no way she did this. I know it, not just in my brain, but in my heart as well. It’s not wishful thinking. It’s just the way it is.”
“All right,” Anderson said with a sigh after watching my face for several moments. “So, let’s get to it. What are we working with here?”
I pulled out everything I had on the case, and Anderson and I went to work, starting to piece together our defense strategy. I could see the concern on his face when he went over the evidence, but I realized how good of an eye he had for details. A fresh pair of eyes was worth its weight in gold. Anderson pointed out that the knife and shirt were found in a trashcan on the curb, not necessarily Josie’s trashcan. And even if it was her trashcan, anyone could have had access to it.
We called the precinct to find out more about that and sent one of our team members over to check it out. If it wasn’t Josie’s trashcan, that could help us prove that someone was trying to set her up. Just as we pulled out our notebooks and started making lists of things to do, my secretary alerted me to a call on line one.
I picked up the phone, looking down at the paperwork as I answered. The voice on the other end of the line was a woman’s. She was quick to respond and started asking me questions about the school teacher that was accused of murder. Instantly, I realized that she was someone from the media. I replied to her with no comment and slammed the phone down on the receiver. The media frenzy was starting already.
“That was the media asking about the school teacher accused of murder,” I said, rubbing my face. “I knew it was coming eventually, but I didn’t think it would be this fast.”
“We’ll get the media crew on it,” Anderson said, pulling out his cell phone.
“Wait,” I said, putting up my hand. “The press is going to have an absolute field day with all of this, especially when you take one look at how fragile and innocent Josie looks. We need to have two approaches. We need to start out by not giving any information to the press. When the media frenzy starts going wild, then we need to approach it and show Josie’s sweet side, which won’t be hard because it’s pretty much the only side she has. We need to play up her lack of a criminal past, her challenging home life, and the fact that she was looking forward to spending the school year with her students. Make her look like the angel that she is.”
“Got it,” he said.
“Is there any way we can keep this out of the press?”
“I can make a couple of phone calls, but unfortunately, it is usually out of our hands,” he said with a grimace. “These things tend to take on a life of their own.”
I nodded in understanding and went back to work, watching as Anderson walked out and called someone on his cellphone. I was glad I had come back to the firm when I did, having gained everyone’s trust back before everything happened. People were willing to follow my lead, just like they had followed my dad. I was lucky to be in the position I was in, though I’d trade with Josie at any moment if it meant she was safe. I looked up as the secretary sent another call through to my office line.
“Hello?” I answered.
“Blaine, it’s Josie,” she said. “It’s my one phone call for the day.”
“Hey,” I said, sitting up and listening intently. “How are you holding up?”
“Okay, I guess,” she said. “They let me stay in my cell because there seems to be a jail cell bounty on my head. Everyone is taking bets on whether I’m a ruthless killer or not. Apparently, the inmates are smarter than the cops, and most of them don’t think that I could kill anyone, not for even a second.”
“Good,” I replied. “I just need you to stay safe. If you need a protective cell, you let me know, and I will make sure they accommodate you.”
“Thank you,” she sighed. “So, they are assembling the grand jury to charge me with murder in the first degree. I’m really scared, Blaine.”
“I know you are, but you are innocent, and we are going to prove that,” I replied. “Just keep doing what you are doing, and I promise this will all go away really soon.”
“The judge is holding a hearing this afternoon to decide whether I am eligible for bail,” she said quietly. “Will you be there?”
“Of course, I will be there,” I replied. “I’m your lawyer. I have to be there.”
There was silence on the other line, and I knew that Josie didn’t know what to say, but she wasn’t ready to hang up. I knew how scared she was, and it was killing me, knowing that there was nothing I could do about it. Focusing on the moment wasn’t going to help her long-term, and I needed to get this defense airtight. I needed to show the jury how much of a witch hunt this was. I also needed to find Josie’s father. He could be a very important part of the whole case. Without him, we were grasping at straws. I couldn’t even fathom what I would do if she were to be found guilty. I didn’t think that a jury would give her the death penalty, but at the same time, crazier things had happened. The press was really important in all of this as well, and the story had to be spun just right to the public in order for Josie to garner their support. These would be the group of peers that would ultimately decide her fate.
“Are you there?” I asked.
“Yes,” she whimpered, obviously struggling not to cry.
Suddenly, shouting erupted in the background of our phone call, and I could hear her shuffling to the side. I hated the fact that she was in there with those people. I hated the fact that no matter where she was, she couldn’t get away from this crazy life that was dragging her down. Everywhere she turned, something stood in the way of her happiness, and it just wasn’t fair.
“I have to go,” she whispered. “I’ll call you tomorrow. Please, find my father.”
“I will,” I said. “And I’ll see you in a few hours at the hearing.”
With that, she hung up the phone, the sound of prison life in the background. I slowly placed the phone back on the base and rubbed my face, leaning my elbows on the desk. Anderson walked back in and sat down in the chair, patting me hard on the back. I took a deep breath and went back to work, trying to figure out how to get through all of this in one piece. There was no way I was going to let Josie spend one second longer than she needed to in that place, and I knew that her safety would be in question as well. I had been in the business long enough to know what kind of women ended up in those prisons, and they were the same kind that would eat Josie up and spit her back out. She wasn’t built for jail, and she definitely wouldn’t end up being one of those girls that hardened up and made it through. I was already worried about her, and she was only in the city jail, not prison.
We kept working until it was time to go to the hearing, passing out assignments to the team and adding things to our defense. This was going to be a seriously tricky case, and although I had full confidence in our abilities, I knew there was no room for mistakes. One wrong move and Josie would spend the rest of her life beyond bars.
I just couldn’t let that happen.
Chapter 20
Josie
I walked forward through the doors at the back of the courtroom and across the floor. My hands were cuffed at the wrists, and they had put chains around my ankles, forcing me to shuffle along in my laceless shoes. The sheriff deputy escorting me tried to be gentle, but his hands were big, and my arms were already raw from all the people pushing and pulling me around. My teeth chattered in my mouth, even though the courthouse was considerably warmer than the cell I had been staying in. I had to grasp my hands together to keep the cuff chains from rattling since my hands were trembling. I was absolutely terrified of what was going to happen, and I was more than embarrassed to be walking into a courtroom to be tried for something that I would never have thought to do. I was not a murderer, but all of those people were going to see me that way, and that was so shameful.
I looked across the courtroom, and my eyes stopped when they met Blaine’s. My cheeks blushed at the fact that he was seeing me like this. I never thought my boyfriend would have to watch me walk across a courtroom in an orange jumpsuit, my hands and ankles shackled together, and my face bare from the lack of hygiene facilities. However, as I walked to the side, awaiting the judge, he smiled one of his big, charming smiles in my direction. Immediately, I felt my body relax a bit, and some of the tension released from the knot in my stomach.
Beyond just the fact that Blaine was seeing me this way, I was completely ashamed at the thought of so many people standing by, hearing the egregious charges pending against me. I knew that I was innocent, but they didn’t, and I couldn’t even start to think about how they would look at me from that day on. Even if I somehow got out of the charges, people would question my character for the rest of my life. I may have been down some rough roads, but this was the worst, and I just wanted it to be over.
I was ushered over to the table next to Blaine as the judge entered and took a seat. Everyone else took a seat after him, and the hearing began. The judge looked through the file for several minutes before looking up at me. He seemed to be surprised by the way I looked.
“Will the prosecution repeat the charges, please?” he asked.
“Yes, your honor,” the prosecutor said, standing up. “The charges against the accused, Josephine Gray are murder in the first degree.”
He continued to read off the rest of the charges, but I barely heard them after the murder charge. This whole situation still felt like a bad dream, and my head felt dazed and uncertain.
“And how does the defendant plead?” the judge asked.
“Not guilty, your honor,” I said into the microphone with a confident nod from Blaine.
The judge wrote something down in his notes, and I looked over as the court reporter typed away. There was a slight whisper from the crowd behind me, and I tried to ignore it. It was difficult, considering what they were saying was not shining a positive light on me. To the left was the victim’s family, and I could feel their cold stares in the back of my head. If only they could see into my memory, they would know that I didn’t kill their family member. I wasn’t sure if pleading “not guilty” was the right thing to do or not. On one hand, if I pled guilty, it would possibly save my father from further harm, but on the other hand, I would go to prison for life, and the real killer would still be out there somewhere, ready to kill again. Paulie was not joking around with me, and I knew that this was going to bite me in the ass, but I was left with very few options. Besides, there was no way that Blaine was going to allow me to plead guilty.
“Your honor,” the prosecutor said. “The state asks that the defendant be reprimanded into custody.”
That meant that they wanted me to stay in jail until the trial was over. The trial could last a year or more, depending on the defense and how fast the court moved things through. I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to survive in jail for that long. Someone would eventually mess with me. I was like a fresh piece of meat, and I wasn’t tough enough to stand up for myself. Some of those girls were used to the system and had no fear of getting in trouble. I clenched my fist and tears began to fill my eyes. Blaine patted my hands and stood up, closing his jacket.
“Your honor,” he said. “We are very much against leaving her in that jail cell. My client has never been charged with so much as a parking ticket in her entire life. She has strong ties to the community as a teacher and volunteer, and she has a father who solely depends on her for support. She is in no way a flight risk.”
“Yes, a father that is still missing,” the judge said, looking down at his papers.
I stood next to Blaine, waiting for the judge to make his decision. I could feel my heart beating so fast, I was afraid I was going to pass out, right then and there. I needed to get out of that cell, I needed to find my father, and I needed to help Blaine prove my innocence. There was nothing I could do to help myself from behind those bars, and I was too fearful for my safety to venture out into the common areas. My home was where I belonged, and it was where I needed to be.
“I am setting bail at one million dollars,” the judge said, hitting his gavel on the plate on his desk. “Defendant will remain in the custody of the State of Florida until the bail has been paid or the trial has concluded.”
There was a rush of voices behind me, and I could tell people were not happy that the judge set a bail for me. It wasn’t like it mattered anyway. What kind of school teacher had a million dollars sitting around for a rainy day? I looked at Blaine, and he smiled as if this were a win. Tears flooded my eyes as Blaine walked with me while the deputy escorted me from the building. I didn’t even know what to say, and I couldn’t help but let the tears flow down my face. My heart was racing out of control, and I couldn’t collect my thoughts enough to speak. I was completely and totally freaking out, and I felt like I was going to have an anxiety attack. As soon as the room started to spin, I reached out for Blaine, who caught me and sat me down in a chair. He looked me in the face and forced eye contact with me.
“Hey,” he said. “Take a deep breath. Deep breath.”
“I don’t know what to do,” I cried. “I can’t afford that.”
“Relax,” he said. “I’ll take care of the bail. It’s no big deal.”
“Really?”
“Yes,” he said, rubbing my hand. “I just need you to stay strong. We are working really hard to get you out of all of this. I will explain everything as soon as I can pick you up.”
I shook my head and stood back up, looking him in the eyes as the sheriff escorted me back to the jail and locked me in my cell. I took a deep breath, realizing that I was going to be out of that place really soon, and once free, I would do everything in my power to not come back.
I sat there and stared at the clock on the wall, continuously telling myself that it would be any minute. However, as dinner arrived and a tray was passed through the cell door, I started to worry that I had been forgotten. But that wasn’t possible. Blaine would never just forget me in here. He believed in my innocence, and I was sure that the first thing he did was post bail. I pushed around the mashed potatoes on my plate, hungry but wanting to wait until I got home to eat. However, as the hours passed and the lights flashed as our ten-minute warning, I realized that there was no way I was getting out of there that night. The courts were all closed at that point, and they would only release prisoners during working hours. I was going to be forced to spend another night in the cold, steel cell.
Right before the close of the night, when we all ended up lying in our bunks and staring at the ceiling, the door buzzed, and a new prisoner was brought in. At first, I kept my eyes to myself, learning very quickly that if you wanted to stay under the radar, you needed to mind your own business. I shook my head, thinking about it and realizing I never imagined that I would need to know how to survive in jail. I heard all the other girls cheering and chanting her name. As soon as the name echoed through my mind, I started to panic. It was Harry, and apparently, she was a bit of a celebrity in these parts, her nickname being Harry the Hammer. I looked through the bars of the holding cell next to me and saw her standing there, smiling and glaring over at me.
I looked down quickly, realizing that she was probably there for me. I had pled not guilty, and there was no way they hadn’t found out about that. I looked at the two other girls in my cell that had been added since the morning. At first, I didn’t mind the company, but now, with the way they were looking at me, I realized it was a huge mistake. Harry walked over to the bars and leaned into them, an angry smile on her face. She motioned for me to come over to her, but I shook my head and backed up. Harry glanced up at the other two girls, and I jumped, realizing they were with her. Before I could scream, the two girls grabbed me by the arms and dragged me toward Harry. She reached her large, strong arm through the bars and grabbed me by the collar of my jumpsuit, pulling me hard into the steel. Her breath was rancid, and her mouth was just inches from my face.
“What do you want?” I kept my tears back and tried to sound confident. “Leave me alone.”
“Sweet, sweet, Josie,” she mocked as the other girls laughed. “You done fucked up real good.”
“Let me go,” I yelled loudly, squirming to get free.
Harry strengthened her grip on my shirt and slammed me forward into the bars. My face hit the steel, and I could feel a small trickle of blood come from my lip. I slowly raised my eyes to Harry, no longer angry, but instead, pissed as hell. She chuckled at my anger and leaned in as close as she could.
“You made a serious mistake pleading not guilty,” she whispered. “Obviously, dear old daddy doesn’t mean much to you. If you want him to stay alive, then you better fix this and fix it fast.”
She let go of my jumpsuit and walked backward, laughing as she sat down on her cot and stared at me. The other girls had gathered against their own steel bars, watching the confrontation. I wiped my lips on the back of my sleeve and looked at the other girls. They smirked and walked back to their cots. Needless to say, I didn’t get any sleep that night, and I was looking forward to seeing the guard’s face first thing in the morning.
Chapter 21
Blaine
The anger flowing through my chest at that moment was unlike anything I had experienced before. My hands were balled up tightly, and I stood there, tapping my foot and breathing heavily. I couldn’t figure out how a court system could survive the way this one operated. I had left court right after the bail hearing and gone to the bank to get a certified check. I knew I couldn’t just run my credit card for a million dollars. When I got back, they made me jump through hoops to post the bail, and I couldn’t help but wonder why they didn’t seem to want a million dollars. By the time they had figured out that they had completely screwed the pooch on their end, it was too late to get Josie out of the cell. For security reasons, they had very specific hours that inmates could be released. That meant she had to spend another night in her cell.
When I arrived, bright and early, the next morning, it took them a bit to get through the paperwork. I knew she was sitting back there, wondering if I had forgotten about her, and it really irritated me that they wouldn’t let me back to talk to her. Finally, after about two hours, they escorted Josie to the front and took her cuffs off, allowing her to change back into her clothes. I could tell she was ready to go, and I noticed that she had a busted lip. We rushed from the building and headed toward the car, and she was moving so fast, I was having a hard time keeping up with her. When we sat down, she let out a deep breath.
“You need to come stay with me,” I insisted. “You will be safest there.”
“You don’t understand,” she said frantically. “My father is freaking missing. He is not only important to my life, but he is my alibi to murder. I have to go home right now. I have to get my father and take him to a safe place.”
“I really don’t think that is a good idea,” I said, shaking my head.
“Don’t you get it?” she asked angrily. “My father’s life is in danger. There are people out there, threatening to kill him. He is not safe right now.”
“Who? Who is threatening to kill him?”
“It doesn’t matter,” she said. “Please, just get me to my house so I can make sure to keep my father safe. He has a problem, and that problem takes over his entire mind. He can’t see danger when it is two feet in front of his face. Gambling is all he thinks about, so I need to make sure he stays safe.”
I sat at the stop sign leading out of the correctional facility, not wanting to take her to her house. She had been through enough already, and going back there was a recipe for disaster. Who knew what we would find when we got there? It could be a trap by whoever was doing this to her, and I wasn’t going to sit by and let her take herself out to protect the man I knew had something to do with all of this. I sighed and put on my blinker, knowing that if I didn’t take her, she would find a way. I felt better being there with her, instead of letting her go alone.
When we got there, however, the lights were off, the door was still broken from when the cops had crashed through it, and nobody was there. The house smelled like the pot roast she had cooked, which was still sitting on the table, and there was turned over furniture from the night of the arrest. She walked over to her father’s computer and picked up a small note that she had left there. I could see the fear and hurt in her eyes as she clutched the paper to her chest. It was absolutely heartbreaking, but I had no idea what to do for her.
I walked back to Pop’s room and opened the door slowly, switching on the light and looking around the room. There didn’t seem to be anything out of the ordinary in there, unless you counted the fact that her father was completely gone. There was no sign that he had returned to the house at all, and I wondered how he got away, with all those police officers at the house that night. Why hadn’t he checked on his daughter? Why hadn’t he come to her aid when he saw her name and face on the front of the newspaper? Where was the fatherly instinct to protect his child? I couldn’t even imagine watching my child be arrested for something they didn’t do, and instead of coming to help, he ran off to go gamble and get away from the situation.
I walked back out into the living room and wrapped my arms around Josie. She looked so damn sad, and I just wanted her to feel better. But I knew that wasn’t going to happen until all of this craziness was behind us. She was determined to save her father, but I was worried that he was already gone. There had been no reports of any unusual activity that involved him, but that didn’t mean that he was safe.
“Come on,” I said, leading her toward her bedroom. “Pack a bag, and let’s get out of here. We can go to my place and relax on the deck, just listening to the tides roll in. I have a good bottle of wine. I’m sure a shower was on your list of things to do as well.”
“I can’t leave,” she said, turning and staring at me. “I have to stay here and wait for my father to come home.”
I looked at her, wide-eyed, not believing how stubborn she was being. She couldn’t stay here. It wasn’t safe, and she didn’t even have a front door that she could lock. The thought was just ludicrous, and she had to know that I was going to say absolutely not. There was no way she, or I for that matter, were going to risk our lives waiting for someone who might not come back at all.
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “Absolutely not. It’s too dangerous.”
“Blaine, this is my father,” she said with sad eyes. “I can’t abandon him.”
“You aren’t abandoning him,” I said, shaking my head. “You are looking out for both of your best interests. He’s been gone for days, even after everything happened, and we don’t know where he is. He could be on his way to Vegas for all we know.”
I walked over and wrapped my arms around Josie, kissing her on the top of the head. She leaned into me for the first time since I picked her up, and I could feel her start to relax. I knew she had been through something traumatizing, and it was going to take her a bit to get back to normal.
“How about this?” I asked quietly. “I’ll have some of our investigators go look for him. As soon as they find him, they will let us know.”
“Okay,” she said, sniffling.
“It’s just not safe for you to stay here,” I explained. “There are too many unexplained things right now. We need to figure it all out first.”
“I know,” she said with a sigh. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry,” I said. “Go pack your things, and I’ll be here when you’re done.”
I watched her walk away, thinking about how crazy of an idea it was that she actually thought I would leave her here. There was way too much risk involved in letting her out of my sight, something I had already done once, and she ended up arrested and charged with murder. The stakes were too high, and there was no way in hell that I was leaving her alone, much less there at that house. There had been so many events transpiring over the last forty-eight hours that I didn’t even know my ass from my elbow. Too much had happened, and I partly blamed myself for not insisting on being there when she spoke with her father. There was no way, at that point, that I was going to let her out of my sight. Hell, there was a good chance I wouldn’t let her out of my sight for a very long time. I cared way too much about her. She was sweet and kind, and I needed to figure out a way to get her out of all of this.
She packed a bag and met me at the front door, smiling as I led her to the car. I let her in and then went to the driver’s side, pulling my seat up comfortably and buckling my seatbelt. I watched as she pulled out her phone and dialed her voicemail. She sat quietly, listening to the prompts and pressing the buttons. Her face was calm, and I could see just how tired she was from the bags under her beautiful, big eyes. She needed to rest, and I was going to make sure she did. She sighed as she pressed the erase button and continued to listen to the messages. I knew that she was praying and hoping that her father’s voice would pop up on the other end of the line. She really did love him, no matter how many things he had put her through over the years. It made me think about my father and how I wished he were here to go fishing with or have holiday dinners with. I missed him a lot, and I knew the feeling of hoping for good news but never getting it.
Josie’s father, though, was a piece of shit. I was more than livid at the old man. I knew he had something to do with Josie’s dire situation, but the messages from Josie were mixed, and there were some serious holes I was trying to fill in. I would love to get ahold of him and stick my boot up his ass for being involved in anything that caused harm to Josie. I couldn’t understand what the hell he was thinking. He could really be helpful in the case, but instead, he ran off like a scared puppy, leaving Josie to pick up the pieces once again and take the brunt of the blow. Her life was going to be forever changed.
As I reached down to put the car in drive, I glanced at Josie and watched as tears filled her eyes. She was listening to a message, and I grabbed her hand, letting her I know that I was there for her. Whoever was on the other end did not have good news, and immediately, my mind went to her dad. I was mad at the man, but I didn’t want anything to happen to him. I knew all too well how it was to lose a parent. She hung up the phone and wiped her tears, her breath catching in her throat.
“What is it?” I tried to be calm and soft-spoken.
“That was the school,” she said, sniffling. “They have suspended me without pay because of the charges. They said it was policy, and they had no choice. I can’t believe all of this is happening. Those kids were my life, my escape from the hell of my household. They will never look at me the same way again.”
“Sure, they will,” I said, shaking my head. “As soon as we solve this and prove your innocence, that school will welcome you back with open arms. Everything is going to be okay.”
I wish I believed the words that I told her.
Chapter 22
Josie
My mind was blown. I couldn’t even start to think about everything that had gone on for the past few days. It was like I was living in someone else’s world, where I had no control over what was going on and limited ability to even put it into words. It had been a whirlwind of events, but I knew there was more to come. My father almost never left my thoughts, even before all of this started. I thought about him all day, every day, wondering what he was doing, hoping he was keeping himself busy and not with gambling. My job had been my sanctuary, a way to remove myself from the madness and focus on the kids. They really gave me strength on a regular basis, something I felt I was so lucky to have. Now, though, I hadn’t heard from my dad at all since the incident with Paulie, and my job had put me on suspension.
I’d seen what happens to people when they are thrown under the bus and are charged with crimes they never committed. The public has a way of judging before they even hear the details, and the details of my case did not make me look any less guilty. I didn’t want to be the girl who was found not guilty but still had to live my life in the public, being treated like I had killed that woman. I would probably never be hired to teach again after being dubbed a murderer. The damage had already begun, and now, I just had to figure out how to not go to prison. Just being in that jail cell for three days made me realize that I was not prepared for a life of incarceration. I couldn’t stand one bit of it, from the jumpsuits and cots to the terrible, unedible food, and the constant fear I was going to get hurt. Those women did not play around, and I was in no way the girl that could harden myself to stay alive. If I was out of prison, the mob might get me, but if I was in prison, the other inmates might get me.
Out here though, away from all of that, I had Blaine. He believed me from the start and never asked otherwise, which was pretty amazing for a week’s worth of dating. He has been so gentle with me, talking me through everything, loving me at every turn, and fighting so hard to get the charges dropped. He didn’t even flinch or waver when he found out what the charges were. He just found a way to me and put his arms around me. I couldn’t have asked for a better boyfriend in this case, and I knew that he was going to find a way to help me. I honestly didn’t know what I would have done if it weren’t for Blaine. There was a really good chance I probably would still be in the cell.
When we got home, he didn’t stop pampering me or trying to ease my mind and my body. He unlocked the front door and took me by the hand, setting the alarm as we walked. He didn’t stop for food or drinks, and he didn’t put me to bed. Instead, he led me through the hall and directly to the bathroom where he started to fill up the enormous bathtub. The water was hot, and steam rose from the tub, making me think about the cold showers I had been forced to take in prison. He walked over to me and slowly pulled my shirt over my head and helped me out of my pants. He walked behind me, unclasped my bra, and finished undressing me with the gentlest touch. There were no words, just silent caring and the sound of the water flowing from the tap. He took my hand and helped me step into the hot water, smiling as I sunk down with a sigh. The water washed over me, and I could feel my stress begin to dissipate by the second. He sprinkled some bath salts in the tub, and I took a deep breath of the lavender. It was exactly what I needed.
I was so grateful to have the ability to take a bath. The nights in my cell were cold and dark, and I could still smell the steel bars in my nose. I had laid there in the cot at night, thinking about the dinners I would cook my father, the warm bed I missed so much, and Blaine’s strong, hot arms around me. When the other girls had arrived, I got myself through the night without sleep by thinking about the warm air over my body as Blaine and I walked across the sand, the ocean waves just barely touching my feet. I could still hear the waves from my windows, crashing against the shore, even in that cold dark cell. I figured I would have to start remembering a lot more of that if I didn’t get out of these charges.
I sat there while Blaine pulled the sponge from the edge of the tub and lathered it with body wash. He gently moved it over my skin, cleaning the last few days from my body. He smiled kindly at me as I sat there, feeling comfortable but still not completely at ease. When he was done washing me, he helped me out of the tub and wrapped a towel around me as he pulled out some clean clothes from my bag. I got dressed and combed my hair and then met him in the living room where he had set up a nest of blankets and pillows on the couch. He asked if I needed anything, but I shook my head no, not even wanting to eat since the exhaustion had just struck me. I watched him walk over to the table and open his laptop, files piled up everywhere.
“When are you going back to the office?” I asked.
“I’m not,” he answered. “I’m going to work here, from home. I don’t want to leave you for even a second. It’s too risky.”
“Thank you,” I said with a yawn. “And if I don’t get a chance to say it later, thank you for everything you’ve done, and everything you will do for me. I couldn’t imagine what I would do if I were in this situation alone.”
“I love you,” he said. “I would go to the ends of the earth for you. Don’t worry. We are going to figure this all out and get your life back on track.”
I smiled at him, thinking about those words and wondering if I should tell him the entire story. I wondered if he should know that Harry the Hammer had come to visit me inside the jail. But then I remembered that they were not playing around, and if I brought Blaine into this, there was a good chance he would get hurt, too. I couldn’t, for one second, even start to think about putting his life in danger, not after all he had done for me. If there was a way out of this without revealing my secret, I was sure Blaine was going to find it.
I watched him as he pulled out his pad of paper, his notes, and his files and began to work. There was something so amazing about the way he handled himself. He was so organized, and everything that he had gone through so far was tabbed and highlighted. Now, I understood what made him such a good lawyer. He really put himself into his work. I knew that he was way more invested in this case than probably any of the others, but still, if he did this on a normal basis, he would be unstoppable. His parents must have known that when they left him the firm. I wondered if everyone on his staff was this diligent, and I felt an ease come over me, knowing I had people like Blaine slaving away at my case, trying to find me a way out, any way they could.
Even the way that Blaine talked on the phone was incredibly impressive, and I smiled at the way he twirled his pen while he waited for someone to pick up. His tone of voice was completely different than the one he talked to me with. It was assertive and dominating, while his voice was always so gentle and loving with me. I thought about how he might sound in the courtroom, and I wondered if it would make me giggle. Probably not, especially since in the courtroom, I would be fighting for my freedom and possibly life. There would probably be no moments on that stand that I felt good about what was going on, regardless of whether I felt I was winning or not. I listened to Blaine talk to some man name Anderson on the phone.
“I have a private investigator out looking for her father, but I think that it would be a good idea for her to file a missing person’s report soon,” he said in an authoritative tone. “Yes, I have all that documented. Now, if you could go over the state’s case with me again, that would be great.”
I smiled to myself, not wanting to distract him. Anderson must be someone important in the firm since he seemed to have my case right in front of him. As they talked, Blaine started taking notes, stopping to ask questions that I already knew the answers to. Part of me wanted to jump right in with the team and help in my own defense. Who knew the details of my case better than me? I knew where everything was, who everyone was, and exactly what happened. From the sound of it, though, I might not have any real options when we got to court. The prosecutors had tied this one up pretty tightly and were very secure in their reasoning. They had arrested me because of an eyewitness that said they saw someone that looked like me walking into the victim’s home at the time of the murder. Then, when they searched my house, they found the murder weapon, wrapped in the victim’s clothes, in a trashcan outside of my house. It was set up by Paulie perfectly, and in my mind, a little too perfectly. I was shocked that no one was questioning why I would have that weapon in a trashcan out front, a trashcan that had been emptied at least twice since the murder by the garbage men.
It didn’t help that I couldn’t show any proof that I was at my house that night. My only alibi was my father, and he was still missing. I figured that Harry and Paulie probably had him locked up at this point, unable to leave to give us that information. In reality, I didn’t even think they would spare my father’s life once I was convicted. That was too many loose ends for the mob. They would kill him and throw the body in the river like so many others that had crossed their paths. My mind tried to block that image out, knowing that there was still a chance to correct all of this.
I had no idea what to do or even where to start. There was so much stacked against me, and I wasn’t sure how to prove them wrong. I felt a lot better knowing Blaine and his firm were already ten steps ahead of me. They had picked up the case as soon as I was arrested, and they’d been working the details ever since. If there was a way out of this nightmare, Blaine would find it, and that, in itself, gave me the ability to relax just a bit. I couldn’t spend the rest of my life behind bars.
Chapter 23
Blaine
“All right man,” I said to Anderson. “Thanks. I’ll give you a call back in a little while. We should go over the timeline this afternoon.”
“Sounds good, buddy,” he said.
I hung up the phone and looked down at my notes. It looked absolutely impossible, but I knew that it wasn’t. Besides, Anderson had gotten me some good information on this Paulie character, and I wanted to hear Josie’s story again while Anderson dove deeper into the two mobster thugs. She was lying in a huge nest of blankets and pillows on the couch, but she was anything but asleep. I could tell she was restlessly listening to everything going on, and I knew that her mind must be running a million miles an hour. I walked over and sat down next to her, grabbing onto her hand.
“I need you to do something just one more time for me,” I said. “I need you to recite exactly what happened on Wednesday. I know you’ve told me over and over again, but I want to make sure I have everything perfect.”
She took a deep breath and pulled herself up on the couch, reaching over and grabbing her bottle of water. I could tell she was already running the events through her mind, and I could see the stress start to build. I didn’t want her to be stressed, but I knew right now it was inevitable. She recounted her story, beginning at the conversation with her father at dinner about his gambling addiction.
She went through all of the events, but what really caught my attention was what happened in the jail cell after she was taken by the police. My eyes widened as she talked about Harry the Hammer, and how that woman, the same woman from the night Josie was arrested, ended up in the cell right next to hers with a violent message. She threatened Josie again, but this time, there were witnesses, and I knew no matter how loyal someone was to another inmate, the thought of freedom would make them sing like a bird. I was pretty pissed that none of the guards were there to help Josie.
As soon as she was done with her story, I leaned over and hugged her tightly, wanting her to know just how great she was doing. She smiled at me as I kissed her forehead and picked up my cell phone. Anderson needed to know this information, and the team had to get a jumpstart on it.
“Hey,” I said when Anderson answered. “I just found out Harry, the woman from the night of the arrest, was in the jail cell next to Josie the other night. She threatened her and gave her a bloody lip. The normal intimidation.”
“Shit, man,” Anderson said. “What do you need me to do?”
“See what you can find out about this Paulie and Harry duo,” I said. “There has to be something about them we can dig up. Josie said the woman was like a celebrity in jail, so there’s a good chance she’s been in and out of trouble. Find out if she is still in jail.”
“Will do,” he replied. “Call you back as soon as I have that information.”
“Great, thanks,” I said before hanging up.
I looked over at Josie and saw that her arms were covered in goosebumps, and she was shivering. It was warm in my place, so I knew it had to do more with telling the story than it had to do with the temperature. I walked back over to her and sat down, pulling my arms around her body and bringing her close to me. Slowly, her body began to relax again.
I worried that she was going to have some serious issues with all of this when it was done. She looked so tired, so frail, and so lost, and it was breaking my heart. He skin was pale, but where her usually rosy cheeks and pink lips were, was no color, only skin. She had bags under her eyes, and her hair wasn’t as shiny as it normally was. I could see this whole thing taking the kind of toll on her that illness did with other people.
I leaned forward and kissed Josie’s lips, missing her touch and her taste so much. She reached over and wrapped her arms around my neck, falling into me. She was so beautiful, and her mouth began to push harder against mine, her tongue running over my lips. She was passionate, and I could feel every part of her wanting more from me. She unwrapped her hands from me and smoothed down my shirt, her fingertips pressing hard into my skin. I opened my mouth and kissed her lustfully, feeling the heat in my chest rising. What started as a gentle kiss was quickly turning into something much more, and from the feel of her body against mine, she had more on her mind than just a gentle kiss. She pulled back and breathed deeply, looking into my eyes. I could see the lust covering the fear and stress that she was struggling with. She reached up and kissed my cheek, sliding her lips over to my ear.
“Make love to me, Blaine,” she whispered. “Make me forget everything. Make me forget all the bad things that have happened. Remind me how much you love me.”
I smiled at her words, knowing that she wanted to feel as cherished as I felt she was. I knew she needed to feel close to me on every level, and I felt the same. I had missed her so much, and in my worry, I had kept my distance physically, letting her decide what she wanted. Now, with her lips near mine and her soft body close, I couldn’t help but want every single part of her. I wanted to once again feel that passion and intensity that I had taken for granted when we first met, thinking it would always be there. I wanted to give her everything inside of me. She wanted me, and who was I to refuse a request from the woman I loved? It was impossible.
I ran my fingers over her shoulders and leaned forward, kissing her neck. She cooed softly at the feeling of our skin touching. She smelled absolutely amazing, like the lavender I had put into her bath water. I ran my hands over her cheeks and pulled her face in for another long and sensual kiss. I could feel my cock start to rise in my pants as she closed her eyes and put her hands on my thighs. I brushed the hair from her face and hugged her tightly to my body as my hands trailed down her back and onto her exposed skin right above her waistband. Goosebumps popped up everywhere my fingers touched, and her breathing started to increase. My hands were gentle against her, wanting her to feel the calm sensation of our lovemaking. She had been through so much drama, I wanted this to be an escape.
I couldn’t help but think about our time together, and the fact that no matter how optimistic I was, this might be one of the last few times I would be able to show her how much I cared for her. It might be one of the last few times I could feel her wrapped around me and hear her moans as I brought her to a climax. She needed every part of me, and I was more than happy to give it to her.
She grabbed onto my arms, my muscles tense as she squeezed my biceps. She moved forward and straddled me, linking her ankles behind my back and kissing me lustfully. My hands went up under her shirt and unclasped her bra, feeling her large, bouncing tits press against me. I ran my fingers down her spine and cupped her ass, pushing my rock-solid cock against her warm mound. She flicked her hips, giving me an electric sensation in my legs, and the gentle lustfulness began to pick up. As our lips moved across each other’s, she swirled her hips in my lap. I pushed against her ass, thrusting my cock forward and rubbing it up her body. She moaned loudly, and immediately, I wanted to tear off her clothes and make love to her. As if she felt the same way, she began to pull off her clothes, exposing her skin to my eyes.
I ran my palms down her tits, stopping to pinch and rub at her nipples. She leaned her head back as I kissed her neck gently, feeling the pulse in her neck increase as my tongue slipped from my mouth and I tasted her salty skin. Her hips continued to glide over me, and she moaned loudly as her mound got wetter and wetter. I reached my hand down and slid it into her pants, cupping her pussy and rubbing hard as she continued to grind against me. She grabbed onto the side of the couch and lifted up slightly, allowing me to slip two fingers inside of her. She was so wet, and my fingers went right through her folds. It was sensual and trusting, the way she fucked my hand, and my cock was bulging in my pants. She reached one hand down and grabbed my wrist, moving her body like a wave against my palm. I could tell she wanted me to make her come, and that was exactly what I had in mind.
It was the most amazing and sexual thing I had ever seen, watching her bounce up and down on my hand, grinding on it the same way she did my cock. I wanted so badly to feel my dick inside of her, but I knew she needed to do whatever it was that she wanted to do. Her tits bounced up and down, and her head fell backward as I wiggled my fingers side to side as she came down hard on my palm. I pulled on her pants, moving them slightly down for a better handle on the situation.
“Fuck,” she moaned, as she pushed herself further and further toward climax.
“Yes, baby,” I said. “Come for me, baby.”
She slid her hands up her body and grabbed her breasts, squeezing them hard as I pumped my arm up and down, giving her a deeper sensation. She was grasping at my arm with her nails as her body began to tense, and her moans became louder and louder. She dropped her hands to her sides and closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath before screaming loudly as the orgasm pulsated through her. I pulled her down hard onto my fingers and finger fucked her, fast and deep, as she climaxed in my lap. I could feel her pussy convulsing, and the juices ran down my hand. It was extremely erotic and sensual, but I was ready to feel that on my cock.
Before she was even done, she stood up on the couch and pulled her pants and panties off, giving me time to remove mine as well. She looked down at me, breathing heavily before coming back down and resting on her knees in front of me. She looked me straight in the eyes as she pulled my cock forward and slid her wet, juicy pussy down. She sat there straddling me, completely filled by my shaft. She ground her hips slowly against my skin, slowing her heart rate and gathering her energy to continue.
She was incredibly erotic on so many levels, and I had never experienced anyone quite like her. All I could think about was leaning her back and fucking her hard, but she had other ideas. This was her time to call the shots, her time to pleasure the two of us however she saw fit. And it was her time to feel everything she could, just in case she didn’t have the opportunity in the future, a thought that was always on our minds.
Chapter 24
Josie
Everything in me wanted Blaine on every level. His willingness to help me in every way imaginable was unbelievable, and I couldn’t help but fall deeper and deeper in love with him. My body wanted him so badly, it was hard for me to keep control. I sat there with his cock deep inside of me, staring into his beautiful blue eyes. He looked at me with lust, but I could also see his love and desire penetrating through my soul. My legs were wrapped tightly around his body, and his hands searched my skin, touching every part of me. I leaned forward and kissed him passionately, my hips grinding against him softly. He groaned into my mouth as I lifted my hips and felt his shaft move up and down inside my wetness. Everything about this moment was perfect, and it felt so right. I missed his strong arms around me and his hard body pressed against me.
He pushed me backward, keeping my legs wrapped around him and his dick inside of me. As we landed on the couch, he pushed forward, going deeper inside me. I screamed out, reaching above my head and grabbing onto the armrest as he pulled one of his legs up and thrust deeply. There was something about the way he moved his body that sent electricity through every part of me. He looked down at me, keeping his eyes locked on mine as he thrust his hips forward, back, and then forward again. The motion of his body was like a wave, pushing across my clit as I felt every inch of him inside of me. I gripped down on the arm of the couch, wanting more and more, and feeling the heat of climax begin to resurface. As his hips pounded against mine, I clamped down and arched my back, already feeling the explosion of an orgasm circulating through my veins. I could barely even breath, the feeling was so intense, and my body began to shake and convulse in his arms.
As my climax exploded, he leaned his head down and licked my breasts. They were sensitive and tingling, and it forced a giggling moan from my throat. He grabbed onto me around my arched back and began to move faster, shifting me downward and pushing up with his hips. I looked back in his eyes, and I could see his determination. I let go of the couch and ran my hands up to my tits, massaging them gently as my body took him deep inside. He growled softly as he reached the edge of his orgasm, his legs tightening and his muscles flexing in the light.
“Come for me, baby,” I whispered.
He groaned loudly as if my voice were the trigger to push him over the edge. He thrust one more time deep inside and laid his body against mine as the waves of pleasure flew through him. I could feel his cock bulging and pulsating inside me as he released his seed.
He laid there silently, breathing heavily into my neck until every last feeling of pleasure had left him. I ran my fingers through his hair and down his back. He pulled me in even tighter as we laid there on the couch, cuddling and taking in the moment. When he had regained his strength, he pulled up, kissing my lips and sitting upright on the couch. He put his clothes on as I pulled the blankets around my naked body.
When he sat back down, I leaned into him, wanting to feel the comfort of his arms. He wrapped them around my shoulders, and I laid my head against his chest, feeling his heart slowly come back to a normal speed. We sat there for several minutes, but then his phone rang. He kissed me on the forehead and got up, walking to the table and answering it.
“Anderson, what’s up?” He looked over at me and shook his head. “Hold on. Let me put you on speaker so that Josie can hear as well.”
He walked over to the couch and sat down, looking at his phone and hitting the speaker button. I sat there, tense, waiting to hear the news. Hopefully, whatever it was could help us in the case.
“Hi, Josie,” Anderson said.
“Hi,” I said with as much cheer as I could muster.
“I’m glad you are home safe,” he said. “We are doing everything we can to help you.”
“Thank you,” I replied.
“So, what news did you find on Paulie and Harry?” Blaine leaned forward and listened closely.
“Well, it seems that they are definitely tied in with the mob,” he said, sinking my heart. “Paulie is Paul Giorntino, Jr., and is the son of an infamous mob boss, Paul “The Killer” Giorntino. His father has been on the run for years, and the authorities have yet to catch him. He was definitely a high-stakes gambling fiend that loaned money out to the locals. His tactics for recovery have not been out of the ordinary for mob bosses. Paulie has some minor crimes, but no one has been able to get him on any specific charges yet. This isn’t abnormal since organized crime figures are notorious for having others do their dirty work. Most of the time, Paulie is the voice, and from what it looks like, Harriet is the hands. Harriet “Harry the Hammer” Benetti is his right-hand man, or woman, I should say. She has a rap sheet as long as the Seven Mile Bridge. There are so many crimes on this woman’s record, I'm surprised she hasn’t gone away for life yet. She is the enforcer for the Giorntino crime family and has done a bang-up job ever since she came in contact with them. She has been on the cops’ shitlist for a long time, but they can never seem to pin the big crimes on her, like murder. Everything she has is so petty that Florida Judges can’t find the precedent to put her away for good. It’s a slick move by the family, but it works really well. They keep their people out of prison, which means they don’t need as much manpower to get the job done.”
“Is she still in jail?” Blaine asked. “I could go talk with her.”
“No, she was released just hours after Josie,” he replied. “Besides, you aren’t going to get anything out of her. She’s had some of the hardest men come down on her from the FBI and never once broke. That’s why they call her the hammer. She not only brings the hammer down on the mob’s enemies, but she is the breaker, not the one being broken.”
“So, she’s out there,” I said, shaking my head. “Has anyone found any news on my father? What if they have him?”
“No,” Anderson responded. “But we are definitely doing everything we can. We gave this info to the investigator, and he’s going to head over to that side of town and see if he can find out anything circling around Harry and Paulie. We will definitely let you know as soon as we find anything.”
“Thank you,” I said, grateful that Anderson was so good at his work.
Blaine switched off the speaker and walked away, talking to Anderson quietly by his notes. I looked down at my hands, trying to get them to stop shaking. I guessed that part of me thought it would be discovered that they were acting alone, not as part of a mob scheme that could get everyone involved killed. I had heard the stories about people being killed by the mob before court hearings. It wasn’t pretty. It still happened today, except the mob has gotten smarter, and they used outside forces to cover their tracks. It was no longer the tommy gun in the alley kind of murder. It was more like the slit your throat in your sleep and walk away kind of murders, the sleeping with the fishes being one of their favorite ways to hide the bodies. I watched as Blaine hung up the phone and walked over, sitting down next to me. I could tell that he was visibly shaken, and I couldn’t even fully comprehend what that might be like for him. I felt so bad, knowing that I had now gotten him and his firm tangled up in mob business. That was not my intention, ever.
“I’m so sorry,” I said.
Immediately, tears began to well up in the corners of my eyes, and I couldn’t help but begin to sob. I had done exactly what I didn’t want and gotten him involved in all of this. I cried hard, leaning into his shoulder and letting the emotion take over. Blaine wrapped his arms around me and shushed me, trying to calm my nerves. I could feel him running his hands down my arms and kissing the top of my head. He should not be comforting me when I just got him in a really bad situation. He pulled away and stood up, straightening himself. I looked up at him as he reached down and scooped me and the blankets into his arms. For a moment, he stood there cradling me, letting me hug his neck tightly. I could tell he wanted to comfort me so badly. He started walking with me in his arms toward the bedroom. Once inside, he clicked on the light and laid me down in the bed. He pulled the covers from underneath me and pulled them up to my chin. He sat down on the edge of the bed and leaned forward, kissing the top of my head.
“I’m going to get some more work done,” he whispered. “You don’t need to be sorry for anything. You didn’t get yourself into this mess, and you didn’t get me into anything that I wasn’t ready for. I want you to get some good sleep in a real bed. I’m sure the cots were not comfortable at all.”
“Thank you,” I said, grabbing his wrist.
He smiled at me and kissed me one more time before walking out of the room and turning off the light. I laid there listening to his footsteps as he walked back to his desk and pulled out the chair. I could hear his fingers quickly tapping on the keyboard. I turned over and faced the window, looking out over the ocean. The skies were gray, and the sea was angry, and I felt like it was exactly how I felt. My heart hurt so bad and for so many reasons that I felt I was swinging angrily around but never actually coming in contact with anything. My mind couldn’t even start to wrap itself around what had happened.
I cuddled into the pillow and shut my eyes, knowing that I needed to get some good sleep. The bed was so warm and inviting that it didn’t take me long to drift off, but peaceful sleep wasn’t what came my way. Instead, I saw my father’s body floating in the water. I ran down the pier, but when I got there, he was gone. I stood there looking at the angry sky and wondering what was going on. Behind me, I heard a creak in the pier, and I whirled around, trying to figure out where I was. Standing in front of me were a thousand men, all lined up in really nice suits. On their faces, they were wearing masks that resembled Paulie’s face. I looked down at their hands, and they all were carrying bats, and I stepped back, crying out for them to leave me alone. As I stepped backward, the pier disappeared from under my feet, and I screamed out, my body falling and falling with no reprieve.
Chapter 25
Blaine
I walked through the living room, unable to fully grasp what Anderson had told us on the phone. My mind was completely blown away, and I needed a second to really come to terms with all the facts. How had a woman as sweet and kind as Josie fallen in with the mob? She was not the kind of person that came to mind when you thought about gangsters, and she definitely was not the kind of woman that could hurt a fly, much less kill a person. I had thought that I knew everything about Josie, everything big at least. How could I have missed a sign that huge? Was I completely wrong about my perception of her? Was she not actually as kind and sweet as she had shown herself to be? My mind was swirling in circles, and I stood at the window, staring out at the gray skies and raging sea. The ocean looked how I felt, completely off-kilter. Outside influences forcing me to act completely out of character.
Anderson had asked me how I really felt about her. He had asked me if I could actually trust the woman that she seemed to be. I had told him yes, easily, with no question, but maybe I was wrong. Maybe I had gotten caught up in a love affair with someone that was the opposite of how she appeared. Anderson was right about one thing. I had only known Josie for a week, a week to the day to be exact, and I had already professed my love and put myself in harm’s way to protect her. What if she was playing me for a fool?
Maybe that sweet demeanor and that kind smile were all an act. Maybe deep down inside of her, she was really an evil person. Just thinking it made me shake my head, but I had seen men tougher than I get played by a woman before. If she was this murderous mobster, then why was she clinging on to me? The evidence, at face value, pointed straight to her, no questions asked. Any other time, it would be an open and shut case. I had a hard time believing this sweet school teacher was a mob boss, but I had been wrong before.
I had really changed everything about me in the span of a week, giving up my bachelor status, changing the way I thought about life, and jumping back into the firm, full speed ahead. Maybe I had made a mistake doing all of that so quickly. Maybe I should have taken my time and gotten to know Josie before giving up everything I knew and taking her life as my own. In reality, the changes I had made weren’t bad, but they were definitely geared toward a different type of life than just hooking up with chicks and drinking whiskey. I was starting to feel like everything was blowing up in my face.
I turned away from the raging ocean and walked through the house, trying to ease my mind. I tiptoed down the hall and stopped, listening to Josie whimper quietly in her sleep. I poked my head around the corner and saw her laying there, tangled in the covers. She was tossing and turning, and her face was scrunched up as if she were in pain or scared. Sweat was starting to bead up on her forehead as she flung her arm over and grasped onto the bedspread. It was obvious that she was having a nightmare. I walked into the room and sat down on the edge of the bed, stroking her back and whispering to her. She wasn’t waking up like she normally did at my touch, so I leaned over and gripped her shoulders, lightly shaking her awake. When her eyes flew open, she took in a deep breath of air and grabbed onto my wrists.
She sat up and looked around as I rubbed her leg and waited for her to realize where she was. She turned to me and immediately burst into tears, laying her head on my shoulder as she sobbed. I rubbed her back and felt her heart, which was racing a million miles an hour.
“I’m so sorry,” she cried. “I got you involved with something that I don’t even understand how I’m involved in. My father, he just couldn’t stop gambling, and now, I have to pay the price. I never wanted you to have to feel that way, too.”
I gripped onto her tighter, trying to calm her nerves. She leaned into me and grasped her hands against her chest as I shushed her to a silent whimper. She was so upset, and I couldn’t believe that I had questioned her for even a second. She hadn’t asked for any of this to happen, but there she was, taking the brunt of everyone else’s issues. And at the end of the day, she was still only worried about the people around her, not herself. It was very telling that she was so kind and empathetic, even in times of stress. The real culprit here was her bastard of a father who couldn’t keep himself from gambling. The idiot had taken too much money from the mob and had no way to pay it back. So, what do they do? The normal thing that any mob does. They get what they are owed. This time, they weren’t after the money, but instead, planned to exploit Josie and put her in prison for the rest of her life. If her father had just come forward and been responsible for once, she would not be in this mess, and the police and FBI could have helped keep them safe. It was a huge mess.
There was no way that I could hold Josie responsible for what was going on. She had been put into a position, and she’d done what she knew best. She couldn’t sit there and let her father be alone, so as a young teenager, she decided that she would take on the responsibility of taking care of him. Ever since then, she had been living her life for her father, while he lived his life for the poker table. Now, he had really gone and done it, getting in so deep that both of them had the chance of having their lives ripped away from them. I knew the mob, I knew how they did things, and once Josie was tucked away in prison, they would off her dad anyway, not wanting to leave any loose ends behind. He was a walking dead man, but instead of coming and saving his daughter, he ran, and probably straight into Paulie’s trap.
I knew from the first moment I laid eyes on Josie that she was special. By the time the first night was over, I was hooked, unable to get her out of my mind. She had broken every single one of my walls down, and she didn’t even have to try. I loved her very much. I loved her before I even knew that I did, and although it used to scare me to death, it was what drove me to do better, be better, and create a beautiful life for the both of us. Nothing was going to stand in the way of that love, not the mob, not her father, and definitely not some bogus charge that had found its way to Josie’s doorstep. My father told me that I would fall in love one day, and it wouldn’t be simple. That love never was.
Well, he was absolutely right. There was nothing simple about loving Josie. Our love was being tested, but I knew if I stuck in there and kept pushing, our relationship and bond would grow in strength. My mother had always said that she loved my father from the first moment, but she didn’t really feel like they were unbreakable until they held hands and walked through the tough times together. I knew that was going to be true for Josie and me. It just had to be. There was a reason that the universe led me to this woman, that it broke my walls down and made me fall in love so quickly. She needed me as much as I needed her, and I had made a commitment to her well-being. When all of this was over, we would finally be able to enjoy each other the way it should be. Everything in our lives had been challenged. Beyond her father possibly losing his life, Josie had the most to lose. I would be fine, but she was facing life in prison, and possibly even a death sentence. Our love was the only thing holding us together, even if it was by threads at this point.
When Josie calmed down, she laid back down on the pillow and fell asleep pretty quickly. I sat there thinking about a way to get her out of this whole mess. Nothing about this situation was easy, and everywhere I turned, there was some sort of roadblock. I let out a deep breath once she was good and asleep and crept back out of the room. I walked over to the window and watched as the sun started to peek through the clouds. Florida never stayed cloudy, and I was happy to see the light beaming down on the rolling waves. My mind continued to work through the problems, not finding an easy solution to what we were facing. I walked back over to the table and sat down, opening up the file and going over every detail again, thinking maybe I had missed something.
I knew that she couldn’t go to the police. It would only put her in more danger at that moment. The police were already pushing her away, anyway, not wanting to hear anything she had to say. They had dubbed her a murderer, and there was no changing their minds. If I found something that would get her off, there was still the danger of the mob looming over our heads. They didn’t waste any time, and I would be surprised if she made it out of the courthouse alive. It sounded like some dramatic movie, but I didn’t put anything past these guys. In reality, if I let her take a guilty plea to make the mob happy, she would be locked up in prison for the rest of her life. If she took a plea bargain, she would still end up in prison, and there was no guarantee that the mob wouldn’t come after her when she got out. On top of all of that, she was facing an uncertain future behind bars. That was a tough life, and my delicate angel would never make it behind those bars.
Whichever way I looked, it seemed like I was in a pickle. There was no easy answer in any of this. Every single solution led to possibly having Josie killed, whether it was by the mob, or while she was locked up in prison. Of course, I was afraid to lose her, but that had to be the last thing on my mind. My selfishness wanted to keep her close, but that didn’t mean it was the right answer, either. She was going to have to make some decisions and have the tough conversation, something that I had been completely terrified of doing. I didn’t want her to think we had given up. I would never give up. Even if something were to happen to Josie, I would spend my life proving her innocence. She really had two choices, and both of them had less than happy endings. It seemed like no matter which way I looked, we were fucked, and I couldn’t let that happen to the love of my life.
Chapter 26
Josie
When I finally woke up, I felt worse than before. The nightmares had really taken a toll on me, and I couldn’t get my mind right. I dreamed the same thing over and over again. My father was dead, and the mob was coming after me. I would step backward off the pier and just fall endlessly until I woke up. I went through that over and over again until finally I had enough and pulled myself from the bed. My stomach growled, and I remembered that I hadn’t had anything to eat in a couple of days. I was so exhausted before and worried about my father that I couldn’t seem to find my appetite. I needed to do something that made me feel normal.
I walked out into the main area and kissed Blaine on the top of the head as he finished up a phone call. I went through the cabinets, trying to find something to cook. Eventually, I landed on steaks, mashed potatoes, and fresh green beans. I liked this housekeeper. She had good taste in food. Without even a thought, I went to work cooking us a good meal. I knew if I didn’t, Blaine would order takeout, and I really didn’t want him to leave the house right then. Besides, there was nothing more comforting than a homecooked meal, and I didn’t know how many of them I had left to enjoy.
As I cooked, Blaine walked over, putting his cell phone in his pocket and kissing me on the forehead. I watched as he made himself a drink and walked into the living room to stare out of the floor to ceiling windows facing the beach. For a moment, everything seemed absolutely perfect and almost like a dream. I could almost believe that I belonged here in this big kitchen, cooking dinner for my man, and getting to sleep in the same bed with him every night. There was something calming about it all. It had actually been the first normal moment I had experienced since everything went down. I could remember what I was thinking when I was cooking last, making a pot roast for my father and preparing to tell him things needed to change. Even then, life was stressful, but at least I had my father around and I knew he was safe. I swirled the chopped potatoes around in the water and sighed. It really did feel like I belonged in Blaine’s home with him by my side. Well, if it weren’t for thoughts of the mob floating in my head, it would feel normal.
I pushed the thoughts from my mind and put the steaks in the pan, listening to them sizzle. I watched as the outside turned dark and then flipped them, not wanting to burn them. It wasn’t often that I got to cook steaks like these, and I wasn’t totally confident about how to do it. I grabbed the thermometer from a nearby drawer and stuck it into the center, deciding to cook it just a bit more. When they were done, I pulled the plates down from the cabinet and then began mashing the potatoes and pulling the green beans onto the plates. The dinner smelled delicious, and I was pretty proud of my accomplishment. Now it was time to get the opinion of the foodie in the house, Blaine.
I sat the plates down on the table and waved at Blaine to come eat. He smiled as he stood up and walked over, a visible worry hidden under his forced smile. I grabbed a bottle of red wine from the small wine cooler and opened it, pouring us both a glass before sitting down. I placed my napkin in my lap and waited for Blaine to cut into his steak. The color looked good, so I knew I could give myself at least one pat on the back. He put it in his mouth and chewed, his face staying in the same position. Suddenly, he wrinkled his nose and looked up at me, frozen.
“Just kidding,” he said, laughing. “It’s delicious, thank you.”
“No, thank you,” I said. “Your housekeeper can come do my grocery shopping anytime.”
As soon as I said it, the smiles slipped off both of our faces. I didn’t even think about the fact that I might not ever be able to do the grocery shopping ever again. Suddenly, my phone went off, shaking us both from our thoughts. I pushed the chair out and jogged over, not recognizing the number.
“Hello?” I answered.
“Yes, this is the West Palm police department,” a man said, his voice somber. “I’m looking for Josephine Gray.”
Instantly, I could feel the color drain from my face. My hands started to shake, and my eyes filled with tears. I knew things were too good to be true right now. They were going to tell me I had to come back in. They were going to rip me out of my life again, not even twenty-four hours after I had been released. There was no way I could go back to that cold cell. My heart was racing at a speed I knew couldn’t be healthy, and I could feel it in my veins. I took a deep breath and swallowed, knowing I was going to have to face anything that they had to throw at me.
“Hello?” the man asked.
“Yes, sorry,” I said. “How can I help you?”
“Is your father Carl Gray?”
“Yes,” I said excitedly. “Yes, that is my father. Have you found him?”
“We have,” the officer said.
“Oh, good, where is he? Can I pick him up?”
“Ma’am, I think there is a bit of a misunderstanding,” he said. “Your father has been found, but he is dead. We have him at the city morgue ready to be picked up when arrangements can be made.”
“I’m sorry, what did you say?” I didn’t think I heard them correctly.
“There was an accident,” the officer said. “Your father wrapped his car around a telephone pole.”
“There must be some mistake,” I said. “My father doesn’t have a car.”
“Yes, we are aware,” he said. “It looks as if the car was stolen from the Highland Casinos a couple of nights ago. His speed was more than three times the legal limit, and his blood-alcohol level was pretty high. I am sorry that I had to give you this news over the phone. We knew you weren’t at home with everything going on.”
“All right,” I said in a daze. “Thank you for your call.”
Before the officer could say anything else, I turned the phone off, letting it slip from my hand and bounce across the floor. I stood there for a moment as if my brain was trying to catch up with what the officer had just told me. Before I could even control it, I let out a scream and dropped to my knees on the floor. My father was dead. He was really dead after everything I had been through for so many years, trying to keep him alive.
I looked up as Blaine rounded the corner and ran into the living room, bending down and wrapping his arms around me. It was like he already knew what happened, and I couldn’t even get my mouth open enough to tell him the entire story. My heart was breaking in my chest, and I felt like the only thing keeping me in one piece were his arms. That was the only thing that seemed to ever keep me in one piece anymore, and I could tell that he knew that. He squeezed tighter as I sobbed, still unable to talk. Everything was spiraling out of control, and I was powerless to do anything about it. I could feel my heart beating wildly in my chest, and everything was getting fuzzy. I was starting to have a panic attack, something I’d only had one other time in my life, and that was when my mother left me alone with my father. I had felt helpless then but never anything as bad as this. There was a dread deep down in my stomach that I just couldn’t shake. My breathing picked up, and I felt like I couldn’t take in a deep breath of air.
My life had become so off-kilter, I couldn’t even recognize it anymore. Hell, I didn’t even recognize myself anymore. I gripped onto Blaine’s shoulder, letting the tears flow, trying to get control of myself. Everything was wrong, and none of it was my fault. Well, maybe it was. Maybe if I had forced my father into a treatment program the first time, I wouldn’t be sitting here on the floor, completely losing it. My father was dead, I was on trial for a murder I didn’t commit, and I had lost my job. What else could go wrong?
I lifted my head and looked out at the waves, and as if my thoughts had summoned bad luck, I ducked, seeing a brick flying at the window. It crashed through the glass, creating a cascade of broken shards that reflected the light of the sun peeking through the clouds. I gasped, seeing the brick bounce across the floor and into the dining room. Blaine ducked his head down over mine, and we huddled there in each other’s arms for several minutes until we knew we were safe. Slowly, I looked out of the broken window, but there was no one in sight. Whoever had thrown the brick had taken off as fast as they had arrived.
Blaine stood up and shook the glass from his hair. I did the same. Carefully, I tiptoed over to the couch and looked at the shards strewn everywhere. I walked up to the kitchen where the floor was clear and watched Blaine open up a note taped to the brick. He looked angry, and I hoped that his anger wasn’t aimed at me. I waited patiently for him to show me the note, and when he did, I gasped in shock.
“Die, Snitch,” was written across the paper in black marker.
I thought about the words for several moments, and then I realized that the mob had found me. I couldn’t believe they had tracked me down in Palm Beach, off the beaten path, at a boyfriend’s house no one even knew I had. It was absolutely insane. What was I supposed to do now? I couldn’t hide anywhere from these people. I didn’t have any protection except for Blaine, and now that I had lost my father, I knew I couldn’t lose Blaine, too. He was the only person I had left. My thoughts started racing, thinking of the dream I had, thinking of Blaine, and wondering if he was next. I put my hands up to my head and dropped the letter to the floor, trying to make my mind stop racing so fast.
I blinked my eyes, but everything around me was blurry. All I could see were fuzzy shapes of the things in front of me like a fogged-up window in a car. I reached out, trying to find something to hold onto, but there was nothing there. I knew Blaine was calling to me. I could see him, but everything was coming out in slow motion and muffled. My hands started shaking so badly that I couldn’t control it. My feet felt as if they were rising from the ground, and the floor was spinning underneath my feet. I could see Blaine step forward as I groaned. The light from the room slowly faded away and everything went dark. The last thing I could make out was my body falling, falling like my dream, but instead of waking up, I could feel Blaine’s hands grabbing on to me. And that was it.
Chapter 27
Blaine
“Josie,” I said, tapping her cheek. “Josie, wake up.”
She stirred in my arms and slowly opened her eyes. She looked up at me, blinking for several moments before coming all the way awake. She tried to sit up, but I laid her down on the floor and grabbed a wet washcloth to lay over her forehead.
“What happened?” she asked.
“You passed out,” I said. “I caught you, but you went down pretty hard. I need you to lay here for just a few minutes while I take care of some things.”
I walked over to the living room, the glass crunching under my shoes. I stood there for several moments, just glaring out over the ocean. The anger in my chest was out of control, and I couldn’t believe that the mob had found Josie. They had thrown a damn brick through my front window just to prove their point. On top of all that, Josie’s father was dead, apparently from some sort of car accident. Now, I knew he wasn’t a model citizen, but I didn’t take him for someone who would steal a car, get wasted, and drive around until he crashed into a telephone pole. I felt like there was more to the story than that, and I wasn’t going to sit around and wait for the mob to give me the answer.
I picked up my phone and dialed the security service I used for the office. I asked them to send several men over and keep them on rotation until further notice. Whether we were home or not, the place and everyone in it needed to be protected from these guys. I knew I could trust this company because their background checking policy was so thorough, I probably couldn’t even work for them. Most of the men they hired were former military or worked for the secret service in the past.
I knew that it was going to be hard on Josie, but we needed to go down to the morgue and talk to the person that worked there. There were a lot of missing pieces to this puzzle, and I wanted to know for sure that her father had died from the accident and not from mob involvement. I couldn’t leave Josie there at the house, even with security. I needed to know where she was at all times, and the risk was just too great. Before we left, I called a window company and told them to check in with the men at the front. They would make sure they got in to get their work done. I needed the house to be put back together and the mess to be cleaned up because it was the last safe place that I knew of, unless I packed Josie up and took her out of the country. Unfortunately, that scenario wasn’t possible since she wasn’t allowed to leave the state.
When we got to the morgue, Josie clung closely to me, and we walked up to the front desk. I requested to see the coroner on duty and then waited to be called back. Josie leaned her head against my shoulder as we waited for the coroner to emerge. I could feel that her hands were still shaking, but at least, the color had come back to her cheeks and lips. This poor girl had been through enough, and now, she had to bury her father. It just didn’t seem fair. When the coroner arrived, we followed him back to the main area of refrigerated coolers holding bodies.
“We are here to talk to you about Carl Gray,” I said.
“Carl Gray,” he said, thinking. “Oh, yes, the car accident. I don’t think you will want to view the body. The damage is pretty extensive.”
“We aren’t here to see the body,” I replied, feeling Josie grasp harder to my hand. “I wanted to ask you a couple of questions.”
“Okay,” he said. “I’ll do my best.”
“Are you sure this was a simple drunk driving accident?”
“I am positive,” he said, picking up a file and opening it. “Mr. Gray’s alcohol level was three times the legal limit. He died on impact since he was going about thirty miles over the speed limit. It is really a shame to see that kind of thing, especially with an older man. However, from what the police had told me, he had more going on than just having a bit of a drinking problem. Apparently, he had a gambling problem as well. I’m not judging, but that type of accident is pretty normal for people like him. I’m sorry if that is not helpful enough.”
“Was there any way that his death could have been a homicide?”
“I mean, anything is possible, but I highly doubt it,” he said, shaking his head.
He walked over to his desk and opened the file so he could read the details. I stepped in front of Josie since there were several pictures inside of her father’s body. She clung to my back like a scared little mouse, unable to move from that spot. The place was sterile, and the smell of formaldehyde wafted through the air. It made me remember when I had to go in and identify my parents’ bodies after they had been fished out of the water. Anderson had offered to do it since I was still recovering from my injuries, but I insisted, so he wheeled me in my wheelchair, and I looked down at their broken and bloated bodies. That image was still burned into my mind, so there was no way I was going to let Josie see her father like that.
“To be honest,” he said, shaking his head. “And I don’t mean any disrespect, but I’ve seen my fair share of dead drunks before. To me, this just seems like another sad case of a man that drank too much and met his ugly fate against a telephone pole.”
“Thank you,” I said, turning to Josie and nodding toward the door.
We left the morgue and walked out to the car, looking around to make sure there was no one following us. I had already made Josie an appointment at the funeral home for the next day so she could begin the arrangements for her father. I knew she was highly shaken, but I also knew that I needed to ask her some questions. I needed to really understand what shape her father was in when he met his end. I didn’t want to rule out mob involvement, but it was looking pretty straightforward.
“Look,” I said, taking her hand. “I’m sorry you have to go through this. If anyone can understand how the death of a parent feels, it’s me, but I have to ask you some questions. They may be hard to answer, but I need you to muster up that strength and give me your best shot.”
“Okay,” she said, sniffling and shaking her head.
“Was your father a drinker?”
“No,” she said. “I mean, he didn’t use to be. The only time recently that I would see him drink was when he didn’t have any money to gamble with. Even then, he wasn’t wasted. It was more like he had a few drinks and then went to bed, tired from the alcohol. Of course, I haven’t been around him when he was out, so I guess anything was possible. Everyone told me one addiction often could turn into another.”
I nodded my head and rubbed my hand down her hair. She buckled her seat belt and sat back as I put the car in drive and pulled out of the coroner’s office. This was definitely a shock and a terrible way to go, but it looked pretty simple. In reality, it looked like Josie’s dad wanted to gamble, but between the mob being after him and his bank account being low, which we checked during the investigation, he decided on a cheaper habit to indulge in. I didn’t know the story behind him stealing a car, but at this point, anything was possible. I guessed he probably felt guilty about his daughter being pinned with a murder she didn’t commit, and it sent him off the deep end. I knew he loved her, he must have, but I also knew as a man, having an addiction and depending on someone else to take care of you probably could easily turn you into a harsh and angry man. It was pretty clear to me that we could rule any mob involvement out of her father’s death. It was a shame that he died in a car accident, but if he really had gone on impact, he might have saved himself a really painful and agonizing death at the hands of the mob. They weren’t known for having mercy for the people they were after, and for Josie’s father, there was no reason for them to be kind.
“I hate to even ask this question,” she said, looking at me. “But what in the world could happen next?”
“Hopefully, we find out what is going on, and we can completely get these charges wiped away,” I responded trying to calm her nerves. “Right now, though, we are going to get some dinner, and when the window is done being fixed, we are going to go home, clean up the dinner we never got to enjoy, and relax a bit. I have some good movies, and we can veg out and just enjoy the rest of the day. I know it sounds hard to do, but you need to relax.”
“Everything in my life has gone to shit,” she said with tears in her eyes. “My whole world is crashing down around me, and I am powerless to stop it. My father is dead, the mob is after me, I’ve been framed for murder, and I don’t have a job to go back to anymore. I don’t even know what to do with myself. I’ve lost everything.”
“Not your entire world,” I said, taking her hand and smiling.
She pulled my hand up to her cheek and rested her face on it. I could feel the tears running down her cheeks, but it was okay. She had been so strong, it was bound to come crashing down on her at some point. All I knew was, I needed to protect this woman in any way I could. She had become my world, and I loved her with all my heart.
“You still have me,” I said, smiling.
She looked up at me and gave me a watery smile, no words escaping her lips. She was so upset, and there was nothing I could do but be there for her. She knew I loved her, and she saw everything I was doing to protect her, but I still felt helpless in the situation. I couldn’t protect her from prison unless I started to figure out the missing pieces. I could keep her safe at my house, but how long would it be until someone came knocking again, and this time, with something way deadlier than a brick? What if someone had been standing outside of the house with a gun? Both of us would have died, and nothing would have ever been figured out.
I tossed the thoughts from my mind as I headed out of West Palm and back toward my house. I really needed a good walk on the beach, but I knew that was no longer safe for us. The security was there to protect us, but they weren’t sworn to take a bullet for us. I needed to get everything together and relax with Josie for the night, clearing my head until I could move on to the next missing piece. That was going to be harder than it sounded, especially now that Josie’s dad, and only witness of alibi, was dead in the morgue. Something had to give, or we were both going to break.
Chapter 28
Josie
It was Sunday, and after everything that had happened the day before, Blaine had given his staff the day off to spend with their families. He, however, posted up at the table and continued to work, making phone call after phone call, getting irritated at the fact that no one was picking up. He wanted to make headway with the case, but he couldn’t seem to remember that this was our problem, not everyone else’s, and most people did not work on Sundays. I tried to coax him to relax throughout the day, but he just wasn’t having it.
I laid there on the bed, looking up at the clock that read two in the morning. Blaine had finally succumbed to exhausted sleep, and I wanted to make sure he got plenty of it. Me, on the other hand, I couldn’t seem to clear my mind enough to sleep. Everything was running through my head a mile a minute, and I thought maybe I could come up with some kind of solution that was better than turning myself in. I wanted so badly to curl up in Blaine’s arms, but I knew if I didn’t do something soon, he might not be there to cuddle with.
The coroner had been honest. I could tell, and sure, he thought it was an accident brought on by no sleep and way too much alcohol, but I was still unsure. What I was sure of was that his death came at a very opportune time for the mob, and without him there to corroborate my story, it would now be my word versus theirs. It wasn’t safe for anyone If I argued with the mob, especially Blaine. The mob didn’t hold back when it came to offing the families of the people they were after, and Blaine was just as much family to me as anyone else was. I was having a really hard time believing that the mob had no hand in my father’s death. It was just how. That was the question. The mob was sneaky when they wanted to be, though the woman everyone said I murdered was definitely not killed quietly or with discretion.
I was almost glad that I didn’t have any more family close by. I didn’t need more people to worry about on top of what I already had. The school and the kids were protected the moment they suspended me from teaching, and that only left one person in my life, besides myself, that I had to worry about being in danger. I knew if I didn’t turn myself in and take the rap for this murder, many more people would die, starting with Blaine. Blaine was my whole world, and there was no way that I could let him be hurt or killed because of my father’s mistakes. I may not have made the mistakes, but I was definitely the one that was going to be the most affected by it, and I needed to protect Blaine at all costs.
I knew exactly what I had to do, so I slowly pulled the covers back and inched toward the edge of the bed. I stopped for a moment as Blaine sighed and turned over in bed, wrapping the pillow up in his arms. I continued forward, putting my feet on the floor and tiptoeing over to the chair where my clothes were. My hands were shaking as I dressed, and I had to take a deep breath to try to control my emotions. Once I had my clothes on, I walked out into the hall, slowly closing the door behind me and putting on my sandals. I looked around the living room for Blaine’s car keys and found them hiding under the file on the table. I looked around at the house, knowing I was going to miss being there, but I had to keep Blaine safe, no matter what it took. I walked over to the alarm system and quietly disarmed it, pausing to make sure that Blaine didn’t hear the sounds. As I opened the front door, my body began to tense, feeling absolutely terrified of what I was about to do. I closed the door and locked it, knowing if I didn’t go now, I would lose the nerve.
If Blaine knew what I was doing right now, he would have a complete breakdown, but that was because he didn’t care about his own safety, just mine. Well, I had gotten him into this mess, and I needed to make sure that he stayed safe through it all. There was nothing he could do for me if the mob got ahold of him, and I would never forgive myself if something happened to him, so I was going to turn myself in. Not only would I fess up to the crime, but the bail would be revoked, and Blaine would get his million dollars back. He would be safe, which was the most important thing to me. The plea wasn’t that bad and would keep me out of the electric chair. I would spend ten to fifteen years in prison, depending on good behavior, and then be set free to spend the rest of my life figuring out what to do from there. Hopefully, in that amount of time, the mob would forget about me, if they, or someone else, didn’t get me on the inside first.
I knew that Blaine thought I was much too quiet and fragile for prison, and he was probably right, but I could toughen up and show them that I wasn’t going to be walked all over. I was determined to stay alive and keep Blaine alive. Who knew? Maybe when I got out, he would still be single and open his arms to me again. That was a big if, but I was totally going to have to start making a bunch of those up in my head in order to survive what was about to come. I had fallen in love with Blaine immediately, and since then, that feeling had only grown. There was nothing I wouldn’t do for him, and there was nothing he wouldn’t do for me. I loved him far too much to allow something to happen to him, and that was how I knew I was making the right decision.
Before I reached the turn, I slowed down and looked out over the dark waters of the ocean for the last time. It was so beautiful and had been my strength as a kid. I wanted to frame that picture in my mind to look at while I was away, so I could find comfort and strength in it. I knew it was stupid, but I was going to prison an innocent woman. I didn’t have the ruthless nature in me that so many other women in the prison would have. I didn’t care about making friends or becoming part of one of the gangs. I just wanted to sit quietly every day for the next ten years and hope for the best to come. My mother was going to have a heart attack when she found out her ex-husband was dead and her daughter was in prison.
It would seriously mess up her reputation at the yacht club.
I sighed as I thought about it, turning away from the beach and heading toward the precinct. There was no one on the road, which was strange, especially when I crossed over into West Palm. I was about two blocks from the police station where I had been taken before, and I stopped at a red light. There were no other cars on the road, but I didn’t mind sitting there and having a few more minutes of time before I was taken back into custody.
As the light turned green, I sighed, stepping on the gas and moving slowly into the intersection. The headlights from a car to my right caught my attention, and I looked over as I heard their engine rev. Before I could even step on the gas, the car was barreling toward me, slamming into the passenger door at full speed. I put my hands up as the airbag deployed, and I screamed as the car slid sideways and then flipped on its side. I sat there for several seconds, breathing heavily. I wasn’t hurt, not even a bruise, but I was definitely shaken up by the incident. I undid my seatbelt and looked around, trying to figure out how to get out. I stood up on the broken window and climbed up, pulling myself through the window on the passenger side. Once I was on top of the car, I sat down, looking around at the mess all over the place.
Steam came out of the hood of the other car, but I couldn’t see the driver. I had to sit there for a few minutes to collect myself, feeling like I had just been hit by a freight train. Part of me was pissed. Why would that car speed up when they saw me passing through the intersection? I had a green light, and they weren’t there when I went to start across. They had hit me at full speed, enough power to roll Blaine’s car. I took in a deep breath and looked around for anyone who may have witnessed the crash, but the streets were empty, and all that was around us were shops with all their lights off. I scooted to the edge of the car and carefully lowered myself down, trying to avoid the broken glass everywhere. Everything was a mess, but at least, I had made it through it with barely a scratch. I hoped that Blaine wouldn’t be mad when he found out about the car. I reached down to grab my cellphone but realized it was still in the car.
I needed to check on the other drivers. No one was moving or getting out, so I wanted to make sure they didn’t need immediate assistance. I walked around the car, took one step forward, and froze. The car door flew open, and I could see a black boot emerge from the passenger side. Everything from that point felt like it was going in slow motion. As the person stood up from the car, I recognized them immediately. It was Harry, and she had the evilest smile plastered across her face. For several moments as she walked toward me, I felt like my feet were glued to the cement. The driver got out, shaking me from my stare, and I turned and started to run down the street.
I thought I was a good distance from Harry, but I was wrong. I yelped as she grabbed my shoulder and dragged me back, putting her hand over my mouth and her arm across my chest. As she pulled me back to the scene, another car’s tires screeched around the corner and stopped in front of us. Harry dragged me to the back of her vehicle and popped the trunk while the first driver limped into the car. I struggled to get free, but she was too strong. Before I knew it, she tossed me into the trunk of the car and smiled as she slammed the lid.
I looked around me, but it was so dark. Immediately, fear flew through my body. The adrenaline was gone, and I was absolutely terrified. I screamed loudly, but I knew the metal doors of the trunk muffled the sound. I kicked at the trunk, but it was no use. It was not going to budge. So that was it. I had made it so close to fulfilling what the mob wanted, but they caught me before I could make it. I was in some serious trouble, and no one knew where I was.
Chapter 29
Blaine
I opened my eyes and looked out the window, laying there for a second, just taking in the fact that I felt so much better. I had really needed a good night’s sleep, and between the fact that I hadn’t slept in days and knowing there was security watching the house, I felt comfortable enough to drift off. It had been amazing to wake up feeling strong and ready to face the day. I rolled over in bed to kiss Josie good morning, but she wasn’t lying next to me. I sat up quickly, startled by the emptiness I felt in the room. It was early, even earlier than my alarm was supposed to go off, and I knew there was no way she was awake yet.
I jumped from the bed and threw on my slippers, peeking in the bathroom to see if she was in there, but the lights were off and it was empty. Her clothes were no longer folded and sitting on the dresser, and fear started to creep over me. I walked out into the house and checked every area I could, hoping she had just found something to keep her mind busy. The kitchen was empty, the living room was empty, and there was no one in the spare bedrooms. I walked out of the hallway and over to my table, picking up the folders and searching for the keys to the car. They were gone.
I grabbed my phone from the charger and dialed Anderson at work. I wasn’t surprised that he was already there since he kept earlier hours than even my father did when he was alive. I waited as the phone rang and let out a breath when he answered the phone.
“You’re up early,” he said.
“Josie is gone,” I said, slightly panicked.
“What?”
“I woke up this morning, and she was gone, along with my car,” I said. “Can you send out one of the investigators to look for her? I’m going to go searching as well.”
“Yes, I’ll call them right away,” he said, sounding more awake.
“I’ll call you as soon as I know anything,” I said before hanging up the phone.
I jogged back to my room and pulled clothes out the drawers, throwing them on and brushing my teeth really fast. I pulled on a pair of sneakers and grabbed the keys to the SUV I barely ever drove. I went into the garage, uncovered it, and jumped inside, turning it on and taking in a deep breath. I couldn’t believe she was gone, and I had no idea she even left. How did I sleep through her getting dressed and taking the car? The thing definitely wasn’t quiet.
I headed over to her house, but it was still empty. I then drove over to the school, but no one had heard from her or seen her anywhere near the grounds. I drove around to different cafés and then over to the beach, thinking maybe she just needed to be alone. The security at home said my car was gone after they came back from switching shifts, so she snuck out between the guards’ watch. I was so frustrated, and I had no idea what to do. I pulled back in front of her house and put the car in park, trying to think of where she could possibly be. She wasn’t anywhere she normally would go, and it was the first time since everything happened that I felt like I wished I knew her a little better. Then, maybe I would have an idea of where she would hide out.
I sat there staring at her house, thinking about the night before and everything that had gone on. If she had gone to the police, I would have gotten a call, being that I was her attorney, but I had heard nothing. She hadn’t answered her phone when I called her, and she didn’t send any texts back to me, either. She couldn’t be mad at me. I hadn’t done anything, and I knew she wasn’t reckless enough to leave angry anyway. I looked down at my phone as it began to buzz and saw the police department’s number on the screen. Instantly, I could feel butterflies in my stomach, and I was almost afraid to pick up the phone. Slowly, I clicked it on and brought it to my ear.
“Hello?” I answered.
“Hi, this is Deputy Parsons with the West Palm Police Department, trying to get ahold of Mr. Blaine Andrews,” he said.
“This is he,” I said.
“Mr. Andrews, we found your car on the corner of Trade and Carson, just two blocks from the precinct at about four in the morning,” he said. “There was another car there, and it looked like the other car hit your car and rolled it in the intersection.”
“Oh my God,” I said, immediately scared. “Is everyone okay?”
“Well, that’s the thing,” he said. “No one was in either car. They just disappeared.”
“No, that can’t be right,” I said, shaking my head. “My girlfriend was in the car.”
That was when it hit me like a freight train. I dropped the phone and put the SUV in drive, pulling out from the house and heading over to the office. The worst had finally happened. Josie must have been on her way to the station to turn herself in, but the mob got to her first. They must have taken her from the scene and dragged her off somewhere. God, why was she so stupid? She should have stayed with me where it was safe. She was all alone, trying to do what she thought was best for everyone, and the mob had gotten to her. They didn’t have patience for someone who didn’t do what they were told, and I knew her life was now in grave danger.
I pulled into the firm’s parking lot and jumped out of the car, running for the door. Anderson looked up as I entered the office and quickly stood, seeing how frantic I was. I ran into his office and shut the door, telling him to sit down. I took a second to catch my breath before starting.
“I just got a call from the cops,” I began. “They found my car flipped and another car that had hit it, but there was no one at the scene from either vehicle.”
“Shit,” Anderson said. “That means—”
“That the mob got her,” I said, finishing his sentence. “We have to do something.”
“Blaine, I know she didn’t want it, but I think it’s time we go to the FBI,” he said. “Her father is dead now, so he is no longer in trouble. They have an organized crime unit that is very familiar with these guys. They can help us.”
“You’re right,” I said, sighing. “And really, we should have gone a long time ago.”
We got our stuff together and headed out of the office. Anderson called one of his contacts at the FBI and let him know we were on the way and we had information on one of their cases. They met us at the doors when we arrived and took us straight upstairs. I sat there nervous as the agents stood around, waiting for the agent in charge. Apparently, the information we gave them was a big deal, and this wasn’t the first time they had heard of the Giorntino family.
“We are pretty sure, and we have some witnesses, that Josie is being stashed in the back of Ricardo Deli off the main strip,” Roger, the head agent said. “But this is where it gets tricky. I can’t waste years of work, years of Intel, and blow our cover. We have Paulie on the run, and he knows there is something going on. If we send in agents now, we might as well pack it up, because they will be gone, and Josie will be an afterthought.”
“Okay, use me,” I said, watching Roger shake his head. “Look, I’ll go there, and if I’m wrong, you haven’t blown your cover. If I’m right, I'll be wearing a wire, and you can sit on the place until you hear confirmation that they have Josie held hostage. Then you can bust into the place and arrest them. It’s a win-win for you.”
“But not for you,” Roger said. “If you are wrong, they could put out a hit on you. If you are right, they could either shoot you where you stand or discover the wire and then shoot you where you stand.”
“I don’t care about that,” I said. “I am not going to just leave Josie there to die. You can’t ethically do that, either.”
“This meeting was off the record,” Roger said, standing up. “We can do whatever is necessary.”
“God damn it,” I shouted, banging my hands on the desk and catching his attention. “I don’t think you get it, Roger. I am going to the place, with or without you. If you know what’s good for your investigation, you will go with me. Otherwise, when I walk in there, I am going to tell every motherfucking mobster in the joint about your little operation. I’ll use it as leverage to get Josie back. Either way, I’m going there now. It’s your choice.”
Roger stopped and turned around to look at me, studying my face. He took a deep breath and sat back down in front of me. He tapped his pen on the table before speaking.
“You know this is an arrestable offense,” he said. “Telling the mob about an official FBI investigation. You could get our inside men killed.”
“And you know I don’t give two fucks, as long as Josie gets out of there alive,” I said quietly but sternly.
“You’ll have to sign some paperwork,” he said.
“I’ll sign any waiver you put in front of me if you want, but I am doing this,” I said.
Roger sat there for several moments staring at me, thoughts obviously running through his head. He motioned for the guy behind him to step forward and then whispered into his ear. Turning back to me, he put his hands on the table and laced his fingers together.
“Fine,” he said. “But you are going to do this our way, and we are not liable for your safety in any way. This is not an official bust until we have the mob in our grasp, so if you die, no one will ever know the real reason. You understand?”
“Perfect,” I said.
“You can’t just walk in there blind, so go across the hall,” he said. “We will brief you on the building and set up a plan for your entrance. And good luck. These guys are the real thing.”
I nodded my head and shook Roger’s hand. He walked out of the office. I looked over at Anderson, who had wide eyes. He’d never seen me assert myself like this. He chuckled as we stood up and were escorted across the hall where they were already busy at work, getting prepared for the operation. I didn’t want it to take all day, so I jumped right in, letting them know what my intentions were. Despite Roger’s resistance to the idea, the other guys were more than happy to help me save Josie’s life. Many of the young guys had seen more death than most elderly people, and a chance to save someone’s life was really exciting to them.
As we prepared, I thought about Josie and wondered what she was going through. I was going to get her out of there. There was no question in my mind, even if I had to kill every single one of those bastards on my way. I was tired of laying down and letting them walk all over us. Their time was now.
Chapter 30
Josie
I rolled my neck, trying to get the cramps to go away. Being tied to a chair was not a comfortable situation at all, and that was exactly what had happened to me when I got there. The car had been pulled around the back of a deli of some sort, and Harry had grabbed me out of the trunk, dragging me inside with her hand over my mouth. They took me through the meat lockers and into a small room off of the office where they tied me to a chair and tied my arms around my back. The place smelled terrible, like rotting meat and old food, which was making my stomach turn. It didn’t help that my arms and legs had gone numb, and the ropes were tied especially tight. There was literally no way that I was going to get out of that chair, and even if I did, with the way my legs were feeling, I would hit the ground before I could take two steps. The panic in my chest was gone for the moment, but I knew that eventually, it would return.
They had all ignored me so far, walking past me without even so much as a glance. Harry had come in and given me some water, but before I could swallow, she shoved my chair hard, sending me toppling over. She picked me back up and laughed before leaving the room again. I knew it was only a matter of time before they came back in. They were waiting for someone, and I could only assume it was Paulie. I hated that guy with a passion, and I spent the long hours thinking about what I would do to him if I had the chance. He had taken everything from me, and now, he had me right where he wanted me.
By now, I assumed that Blaine had caught on to the fact that I wasn’t home. I knew that he would come looking for me, going to any lengths necessary to find me, but that wasn’t what I wanted. I left to keep him safe, and the last thing I wanted was for him to walk straight into the fire. I figured it was going to be difficult to find me, but being who he was, he had a lot of contacts. But I loved him so much, and I didn’t want to see anything happen to him, even if it meant that I met my end at the hands of the mob. He was stubborn, though, and I knew that eventually he would track me down. I just hoped he didn’t come alone. No one could take on the mob on their own, especially not the kind-hearted man that Blaine was. I was sure his partner, Anderson, would let him know that, but that didn’t mean Blaine would actually listen to him.
I sat there for a bit longer before hearing voices out in the front. I recognized the new one immediately as Paulie, and I shifted in my chair as much as I could, knowing he was coming for me. As the door to the room flung open, I squinted my eyes, the light blinding me after sitting in the dark space for so long. Standing in the doorway was Paulie, wearing an extremely evil grin and rubbing his hands together in front of himself. He was dressed just like I thought a sleazy gangster would, with a nice suit and slicked back, black hair. Harry was standing behind him, a grin covering her face. There was that fear again, creeping slowly back into my chest.
“I don’t appreciate your little stunt earlier, trying to escape,” he said, walking into the room. “What? You think because Daddy is dead, that gets you off the hook? No, we collect debts whether the guy is dead or alive. And you, my dear, are the next in line. We set this all up pretty and perfect, and you are making it very difficult for us. We don’t like that and neither does my father.”
I shook the chair, pulling hard on my arms as Paulie watched and laughed. I gritted my teeth and took in a deep breath, trying to be careful of what I was going to say next. I needed him to get pissed, but not so pissed he put a bullet in my head.
“I was going to turn myself in,” I said. “But you stopped me.”
“Yeah, right,” Paulie said, laughing and looking back at Harry. “You were gonna go in there and sing like a canary. I am not as stupid as you think I am, little lady.”
I watched as he began to move toward me, his shiny leather shoes tapping on the concrete floor. I looked around the room for the first time since I had gotten there and realized this wasn’t some stock room. By the looks of the stains on the floors and the fact that I was sitting right on top of a drain, this room had a less savory purpose that I really didn’t want to find out about. He stopped and smiled as I continued to smile.
“You should calm down,” he said, laughing. “I’ve got plans for you.”
I wriggled a bit more in the chair and watched as he waited for me to stop. I wasn’t going to go down like that. It wasn’t in my plans. I had a lot of goals, but being murdered by a gangster was not one of them. He stepped forward a bit more so the light was shining on his face. He reached his foot up and slammed it in my lap. I groaned and stopped moving, looking up at him in anger.
“You’re going to kill yourself,” he said. “Too distraught over the life that you took, you felt so ashamed and terrible that you just couldn’t go on anymore.”
“I’ll never write a letter like that,” I yelled out defiantly.
“Oh, you will,” Paulie said, laughing. “And it will be the most poetic letter you’ve ever written. And if you don’t, I’m going to make sure that when they find your body, they have to put you back together like a fucking puzzle. And I like to take the non-vital parts first.”
“Screw you,” I said.
Paulie and Harry laughed, standing in the light coming from the office. I cringed as he barked loudly at me, my natural instincts telling me to hide. I picked my head back up and stared at him angrily as he got really close to me. He ran his finger down my cheek, down my neck, and across my chest, stopping at the buttons to my blouse. Slowly, he began to unbutton my top, one at a time. I squirmed, trying to make it harder for him to get to me. I could smell his disgusting breath and bad cologne, and it was almost choking me. He laughed loudly as I rocked the chair back and forth, desperate to keep his hands off of me. Just the thought of that man touching my skin made me want to vomit. He leaned his head back and laughed loudly, signaling to Harry to come over and hold me down. She put her hands on my shoulders and held me firmly in place as he leaned back down. I gathered all the spit in my mouth and spat on him, right in the face.
I watched as he reared back, wiping away the saliva that was running down his cheek. He shook his head, laughing, an angry face shining between smiles. I looked up at him, gritting my teeth, and watched as he reared back and slapped me hard across the cheek with the back of his hand. Before I could lift my head back up, he had shoved his hand down my shirt and started fondling my breasts. I struggled to get free, but Harry had me pinned down. I screamed out, tears filling my eyes.
“Stop,” I cried. “Get your fucking hands off me you disgusting pig.”
Before I knew it, he was slapping me again. Only this time, he didn’t stop after one. Over and over, I felt his hands alternating sides, colliding with my face and sending spit and blood spewing from my mouth. Every time I picked my head back up and faced him angrily, he hit me, and every time, he hit me just a little harder until I could no longer speak. My brain became fuzzy, and I felt his hands on my body, but I was unable to do or say anything. My face was throbbing, and I could feel my lip bleeding, the warm blood running down my chin. I groaned slightly but stopped, knowing I couldn’t take much more of the abuse. As my vision cleared a bit, I leaned my head backward and sighed, looking up at Harry.
All she did was just stand there, looking in the other direction as Paulie sexually assaulted me. I didn’t know how far this would go, but I knew if I spoke up, he would continue to beat me. I could taste the blood in my mouth, and I swallowed, almost ready to spit on him again. The pain was unbearable though, and I told myself that it wasn’t a surprise. I knew this was coming the entire way to the deli in the trunk of that car. I knew that I was going to face some hard things, but I also knew I had to be tough. In all likelihood, I would be dead by the end of this, but that didn’t mean that I was going to go out without a fight. Paulie was a sick fuck with a fetish for molesting his prisoners, and if I could have, I would have gotten out of that chair and cut his dick off just for spite, but that wasn’t an option. I was faced with the decision to either fight and be in pain before I died, or accept my fate and take whatever was coming my way.
I closed my eyes and thought about Blaine and how he had such a charming smile. I let my mind wander to the day we walked on the beach, hand in hand. I thought about the first time I heard him tell me that he loved me, and the feeling I felt inside when those words came out of him. There was nothing in the world I wanted more than to be in his arms. Well, that was a lie. I wanted him to be safe more than anything. So, I sat there accepting the fate that had befallen me, blocking out the pain and feelings of my physical body. I turned my focus inward. I thought about being a child and playing sports with my father in the front yard. I thought about the friends I had at school and all the students that loved me so much. I let my wander to each and every happy moment in my life, knowing that from that moment on, there would be no more. I knew that I was going to die, and before I died, I would suffer unimaginable pain, but it was okay because my family gave me the strength to close my eyes and block it all out.
When my thoughts turned back to Blaine, all I could think about was how grateful I was that he would get to move on from this. I was grateful that he’d realized his dreams and that he was determined to follow them, and not for me, but for his own self-interest. I was thankful for the time that I got to spend with him, and how I had, for the first time in my life, and the last time, found out what true love was really like.
Chapter 31
Blaine
I sat in the van parked around the corner, watching as they taped the wire to my chest. My nerves were going crazy, but I had to keep my wits about me. I was determined to get Josie out of that place, no matter what it took, even if it was my life. She had obviously left to go turn herself into the cops to keep me safe, but in the process, she’d gotten herself kidnapped by the mob. I knew she had to be terrified, so I had to be strong for her.
I got out of the van and walked down the street to the deli, breathing deeply as I opened the door and walked inside. The guy behind the counter nodded at me as I walked over to the counter and put my hands down.
“I want to talk with Paulie,” I said quietly.
The man stood there, shifting uncomfortably and saying nothing back to me. I was irritated by his refusal to answer me. I clenched my fists and pounded them on the counter.
“Did you hear me?” I clenched my jaw and stared at the man, watching his hands to make sure he didn’t pull a gun. “I have some information about a murder that Paulie was involved in, and I want to talk to him right now. I am not going to move from this spot until I get to see him.”
I stood there staring at the man as he looked me up and down. He looked pretty pissed that I was talking about Paulie in front of the people eating in the deli. He took in a deep breath and cocked his head back, trying to look intimidating. There was nothing intimidating to me about a middle-aged man in an apron covered in pigs’ blood, and I couldn’t help but think about how well the movies got these mobsters right. But it wasn’t the fifties anymore, and I wasn’t afraid of these douche bags.
“You need to get moving,” he said, sniffling. “Or I’m calling the cops.”
I slowly cracked a smile and started to laugh, hoping this guy saw my craziness as something not to mess with. I tapped my finger on the counter and shook my head, still laughing to myself.
“Oh yeah?” I said. “You’re going to call the cops?”
“Yeah,” he said with a growl in his voice.
“Good,” I whispered. “I can give them the evidence I brought with me. Wouldn’t you the love to be the douche bag that got Paulie locked up for murder? That might not sit too well with his father.”
I cracked my neck, and even though I looked calm and collected on the outside, I was terrified on the inside. I was terrified I would get killed before even getting back there. I was terrified that Josie was already dead, and I was terrified that maybe I did actually have the wrong place.
“Wait here,” he grumbled.
I watched as he shuffled to the back, presumably to fetch Paulie. I looked over at the guys eating in the deli and noticed that every single one of them had a gun on their hip. They nodded their head at me but kept a close watch, knowing I wasn’t one of them. I heard footsteps and expected to see Paulie, but instead, a large woman whose face matched the mugshot of Harry the Hammer came rushing from the back, holding her gun straight at my face. I put my hands up in the air and groaned as she grabbed my arm and dragged me to the back.
As soon as we were in the back of the store, Harry pushed me in front of her and shoved her gun into my back. The guys working in the back looked over at us and stared as we moved through the kitchen area and into an office. Straight in front of us was a gray door that looked like an old meat locker. She grabbed my arm and shoved me to the side, pointing the gun at my face. I looked over at the empty desk and realized there were no computers or filing cabinets. This was nothing but a front for the mob, and it was so obvious. Harry stepped up to the door and pounded with her fat fists, a gleaming stream of sweat coming from her brow.
“Fuck off,” a man’s voice shouted from inside.
“Boss,” Harry shouted. “We got company, and you ain’t gonna like it.”
We stood there as I heard shuffling on the other side of the door. Slowly, the doorknob turned and the door flew open. The man I recognized from the FBI photos as Paulie stood there looking at me. Harry grabbed me by the arm and brought me into the doorway. Paulie started laughing, his voice high-pitched and evil.
“Well, well,” he said, rubbing his hands together. “The boyfriend shows up. Won’t you come in?”
Paulie stepped to the side, and I saw Josie strapped to a chair, her head hanging down and blood dripping from her mouth and lip. She tried to pick her head up, but it just fell back down, swaying from side to side. Her blouse was torn open, and there were red marks on her skin. The ropes were tied so tightly around her ankles that skin was turning red and purple. Her hair was matted, half from sweat and tears, the other from blood. It fell loosely around her face. Immediately, my blood began to boil, and I gritted my teeth. Harry lifted the gun to the side of my head and grunted. I was going to kill both of these motherfuckers by the time the night was through, no matter what I had to do. They had hurt Josie, and now all I could see was red.
My first instinct was to punch Paulie, but the cold barrel of a gun kept me from lifting my hands. I tightened my fists at my sides and gritted my teeth, not knowing what to do at that moment. I ran forward toward Josie, but before I could get there, Harry pistol-whipped me in the back of the head, sending me down onto my knees. My head throbbed, and I felt Paulie lean down and grab me by the hair.
“I was just in the process of feeling her up,” Paulie said, laughing. “But hey, I like an audience. You can fucking watch.”
He threw my head back down, and I lifted it toward him, gritting my teeth. I stared at him for several moments, picturing myself strangling him where he was standing. He snapped his fingers in front of my face and laughed, walking back over to Josie and stroking her hair.
“I’m going to fucking kill you,” I said.
“Sure,” he replied sarcastically. “You know, I’m thinking it’s actually going to be the other way around. In fact, you can now be a part of the murder-suicide that I’m planning. The two lovers are racked with guilt over the murder that the boyfriend, that’s you, set up, and Josie carried out. It’s all very romantic. You can both write suicide letters, and when they find the bodies, you can be the one holding the gun. Don’t you think that’s sweet? You put her out of her misery and guilt.”
I could feel the wires pulling at my chest, and I knew that the FBI had heard everything. However, they didn’t have all the details, so I decided it would be a good idea to get as much information as possible. Paulie seemed like a complete idiot that would spill the beans without checking for a wire, and there wasn’t much more they could do before killing us. I took in a deep breath and fell back on my ass, rubbing the lump on the back of my head.
“Whose death are we supposed to have masterminded?” I asked.
“Not that it matters, but if it’ll make you feel better, it was this two-timing bookie who was skimming off the top,” he explained, taking the gun from his belt and waving it around. “Nobody steals from our family, so we sent Harry to take care of it. Unfortunately, some nosey old lady saw her, so we were forced to use your beautiful girlfriend here to take the fall. It was all too fucking easy in the end.”
I knew that the FBI had everything they needed to come in and take this operation down, but that meant that I had to keep us alive a little bit longer until they moved in. Paulie laughed and put his gun back in his belt, lifting Josie’s face up and then dropping it. He shrugged and stepped back, putting his hand to his chin again and staring at her. I knew what was coming, and I needed to brace myself. He leaned down on one knee and grabbed her tits, squeezing them hard. He moved his hands all over her body and I grimaced, wanting to do something. Harry walked back over and grabbed me, lifting me to my feet, and putting the gun back to my face. Josie screamed out in shame, twisting in her chair as much as she could. I gritted my teeth as he reared back and slapped her hard, watching her head drop down again.
I couldn’t stand any of it, not for one damn second. I couldn’t take the sounds of her screams, and I couldn’t take the vision of another man’s hands on her. I glanced over at Harry, who was looking around the room. There was a sound behind us, and I knew that was the perfect moment to make my move. As Harry turned her head to look at the doorway, I grabbed her wrist, twisting it so hard I could hear the bones popping inside and knocking the gun from her hand. She screamed and fell to her knees.
I lunged forward and tackled Paulie, throwing him to the ground and punching him repeatedly in the face. He groaned and reached for his gun, so I kneed him in the balls and threw the gun to the other side of the room. I reared my arm back and punched him hard in the face. Blood poured from his nose and mouth. Suddenly, I heard the cocking of a gun, and I froze, feeling the barrel pressing against the back of my head.
“Stop,” Harry said angrily. “Or I’ll blow your fucking brains out.”
“Freeze,” voices shouted from behind us. “Drop your weapon, and put your hands in the air.”
I slid off Paulie and leaned back against the wall, watching droves of FBI agents flood the room. I looked down at the broken skin on my knuckles and then back over at Paulie, who was laying in his own pool of blood, barely conscious. I stood up quickly and showed the agents my wiretap before bending down in front of Josie and untying the ropes from her ankles and wrists. She slowly picked her head up and smiled, rubbing her wrists. The paramedics moved me to the side and immediately starting to tend to her wounds. She looked worse than she actually was, but still, the sight of blood and bruising made me want to turn around and kick Paulie another couple times.
I sat back down against the wall as another paramedic came over to me, wiping the blood from my hands and checking out the bump on the back of the head. They said neither of us had to go into the hospital, but we were welcome to get some x-rays if we were worried. Both of us refused and decided we just wanted to get back to the headquarters so we could get all of this taken care of. I was proud of Josie, and I could see that she was more than proud of me.
Chapter 32
Josie
The FBI agents were really kind, probably the first law enforcement that had been nice to me since all of this crap had started. I couldn’t stop shaking as I sat in the chair and went over my story. I had to tell it from the beginning, when Paulie and Harry had first come to the house. I had to try to remember every single detail that I had experienced. It was a bit exhausting, and my face was throbbing. Blaine sat beside me, refusing to leave and claiming he had the right to be there because technically, he was my attorney. I was glad to have him there. Even though I’d wished he would stay away, now that the air was clear, I was so relieved that he’d shown up when he did. I couldn’t believe that I had given up the way I had, and all to keep a man safe. A man who would never leave me to die. I was silly for even thinking it.
Telling my story was easy until it got to the kidnapping. Then, it became a little more difficult to talk about. It was starting to sink in that I had gotten abducted, that Paulie had groped me, and all the other things that happened behind closed doors. I was feeling a bit traumatized.
After several hours, the FBI made sure we were safe, and they released us. I felt okay going back to Blaine’s house, although I didn’t know if I would ever go back to my father’s house again. There were too many bad memories there. The Giorntino crime family was pretty much screwed, and they ended up catching all but one of the members of the mob, the last making a run for it and plunging his car, accidentally, into the ocean. It was definitely a good day for the FBI, the state of Florida, and most importantly, me and Blaine. I knew then that all my charges would be dropped, and there were definitely some issues we had to take up with local law enforcement for not listening to me at all.
Blaine helped me gingerly up from the chair and kissed my forehead, pretty much the only part of my face not black and blue. He held my hand as we walked through the FBI headquarters, smiling at the celebrations going on around us. I guessed that they had been trying to take these guys down for a long time. Who knew little ole me would help solve a ginormous case for the FBI? Well, I didn’t do it alone. That was for sure. I looked up at Blaine and smiled as we walked hand in hand out to the car. He opened the door to the SUV and got inside, reminding me that I had demolished his car.
“Sorry about your car,” I said with a cheesy smile.
He laughed. “That’s why I have insurance, love. Gonna get a brand-spankin' new one real soon.”
I sighed with relief as we pulled up to his house, breathing in the salty sea air as I stepped out of the SUV and back on familiar ground. The security was still here, and Blaine planned on keeping them around until everything had settled down, just in case. We walked inside and put down our things, and Blaine gently grabbed my wrist and pulled me back toward the bathroom. Once inside, he helped me get my clothes off, hardening his face every time I winced.
My wrists and ankles were all cut up from the ropes, and my face felt like a punching bag. He turned on the hot water and helped me in, taking his clothes off and climbing in after me. Very carefully, he filled the soft loofah with body wash and washed Paulie off my body, minding all the cuts and bruises. Then, as if he were reading my mind, he turned me around and washed and conditioned my hair, laughing as he struggled to get it all out. I reached up and kissed his cheek, lifting my arms painfully over my head and rinsing it well.
I was still amazed at this man standing in front of me, who happened to be the only person I had left in the world. When he was done showering, he helped me out of the shower and wrapped a towel around me. He dried my body and wrung my hair out before combing through the tangles gently. I smiled at him with every stroke, knowing I had never been treated this well by anyone in my life. It was almost astonishing what he was doing for me. I looked up in his big blue eyes as he pulled my hair back in a low ponytail to keep it out of my eyes. I didn’t have the heart to tell him no woman could sleep with her wet hair pulled back at that angle, and instead, I figured I would fix it when he wasn’t looking. He then sat me down on the stool in the bathroom and pulled out the tube of ointment the medics had given us. He got down on his knees and gently applied it, carefully running his fingers over the cuts. He smiled at me as he did the same with my wrists.
I watched Blaine as he washed the ointment from his hands and dried them off. He walked over and grabbed me under the arms, helping to lift me up. My legs were still sore from being tied up, and my knees were weak, buckling at every turn. He walked me into the bedroom and helped me climb up under the covers, pulling them up to my chin and walking around the other side. I watched as he pulled his shirt off and showed his muscles, his body shimmering in the light. He was so sexy, but neither of us were in any shape to do anything about that. He pulled his arms around my body and tugged me in close, laying his head on my shoulder and watching my fingers move in and out of his. We sat there, silently watching each other for several minutes, just enjoying the silence and the ability to be close to one another. I couldn’t even begin to thank him for what he had done for me, and I decided not to try. The words were just not fitting together.
“Why did you come back for me?” I asked.
“Why?” He lifted his head and furrowed his eyebrows. “I had no choice. I love you. I couldn’t for one second be okay with letting you go. I will never let you go.”
I smiled and laid my head down on the pillow, feeling his hands trickle over my back. He had risked his life for me, and not just once. This time, though, it was a life or death situation, and I was so glad he brought the FBI with him because if he had come in alone, we would have never made it out alive. I still hadn’t faced all the things that had happened. I still hadn’t mourned my father’s death or even made arrangements for him, but knowing that Blaine loved me so much really helped seal those wounds.
“Why did you leave?” he asked.
“I didn’t have a choice,” I said. “I love you. I wanted to protect you. I never wanted to think that I was responsible for you getting hurt or killed. I couldn’t have lived with myself if something like that happened. I was going to turn myself in and take the plea, because at least then, the mob would have left you and me alone.”
He rubbed my shoulders. “Do you really believe that? The mob would have always kept you on a string. When you got out of prison, they would have had a new demand. It would have been a never-ending process.”
“I just didn’t know what else to do,” I said, sighing. “My father was dead, and the only other person they had to come after was you. I could never live with being the cause of any pain in your life. I could never imagine my life without you. It would be horrible, and I couldn’t survive it. Honestly, a life behind bars sounded better than a life without you in it. It’s my responsibility to protect the people I love so that’s what I did.”
“No,” he shushed. “It was your father’s responsibility. But I understand now why you go above and beyond to protect others. It’s because no one was there to do that for you. You were left as a kid to take care of your father, and he got so far into his addiction that he didn’t care anymore.”
“You’re right,” I said, my voice beginning to shake. I turned over in the bed and faced Blaine. “I am so sorry. I have put you through hell and back. I put your life in danger, your practice in danger, and everything because my father didn’t pay his debts, and I was too afraid to tell the truth about the mob. I could have gotten you killed. I don’t deserve the amount of amazing things you do for me on a regular basis. I don’t deserve the kind of dedication you put into this whole case. You risked your life for me.”
“And you did the same for me,” he said. “So stop. I would walk through hell for you. If I had the option to do this all over again, the only thing I would change would be being there for you more. I would have never let you go, and instead, I would have taken you to the FBI so they could clear up your charges instead of you putting yourself in harm's way. You are too precious to me to ever think otherwise.”
“You are crazy,” I said, chuckling.
“Well, everything is done now,” he said, sighing. “Now, we can really get back to life, strengthen our bond even more, and really let our love go free. You and I have such an amazing future ahead of us, and it’s just because we will be together. Everything we choose to do from here on out will be done as two people in love. There won’t be anymore drama or questions, and the only thing I’m hoping to have to save you from is when you stub your toe on the corner of the table.”
“I do that a lot,” I said, smiling. “You might have to buy me special shoes when I’m old.”
“I’ll get matching ones so you don’t feel self-conscious,” he said, leaning in and kissing my forehead.
“Thank you,” I replied, smiling at him. “Thank you for loving me like you do. Thank you for changing who you are to be a better person for us. Thank you for holding my hand no matter what. It is absolutely the best feeling ever in the entire world.”
“I will always be there,” he said, smiling. “Now, we need to cuddle up and get some sleep. It’s been a really long two weeks.”
I smiled as I turned back over and let him slide his arms around me. I grabbed onto to his hands and pulled them close to my mouth, kissing each of his fingers. I had never felt so close to anyone in my entire life. I loved this man so much, and I owed him my life, something that I would spend the rest of my days making up to him with kisses, love, and support wherever I could give it. I truly felt that the universe had brought us together at the perfect moment, a moment when we needed each other, even if we didn’t see it right away.
Chapter 33
Blaine
I grasped onto Josie’s hand, feeling completely and totally at ease. We were walking down a hallway layered in windows and bathed in light. The hardwood floors shimmered in the rays of the sun. I looked down to see that I was wearing a white shirt and white cotton pants like the ones you wear at the beach. Josie looked up at me and smiled, her face no longer scarred or bruised, and her hair cascaded in large curls down her back. Her white dress flowed with each step, and her adorable little feet were bare. The air was crisp, and the temperature was absolutely perfect. I looked out the window to see the ocean lapping gently against the shore, it’s blue color clearer than anything I had ever imagined.
As we moved forward, the sound of birds echoed through the hallway, and I could see the doves sitting happily in the bushes to the side. We approached a room, the door sitting open and the sunlight cascading across the floors. I stepped forward, letting go of Josie’s hand but feeling her presence behind me. As I stepped through the archway, the sun brightened the room, and the sounds of the birds faded slightly into the background. I looked up to the side and closed my eyes, feeling the warmth of the sun washing over my body. It was the most complete and calm feeling I had ever experienced. I felt Josie’s hand slide into mine, and I opened my eyes to look over at her. She smiled and nodded her head toward a small oak crib in the corner.
Suddenly, it all became clear. I was standing in a nursery, but instead of murals on the walls, there were real trees and animals running in and out of the limbs. Beneath my feet were soft grass and beautiful flowers. I stepped slowly toward the crib, hearing the coo of a child. When I reached the edge, I peered down into the crib, smiling as a small, dark-haired baby laughed and giggled inside. I reached down and pressed my finger against its nose, something my father had always done when I was a small child. The baby laughed and smiled, reaching up and wrapping his small hands around my finger and squeezing. I looked over as Josie walked up beside us, smiling at me and then leaning over and picking the child up. I watched in amazement as she smoothed her hand carefully over the baby’s head, holding it close to her breast.
I followed the two across the room to a bed of soft white pillows and blankets nested on the ground. We sat down in the softness and laid the baby between us, playing with him as he laughed and cooed, looking lovingly at Josie. The child shifted his glance, and I saw that he had Josie’s eyes, bright and wondrous, like they had been the first time I met her. We sat there for what seemed like hours, loving each other, kissing the baby, and basking in the light from the sun. There was a warm feeling in my chest, and though no words were being spoken, I could feel the bond getting stronger between the two of us. She looked so happy and pleased, just lying there with the child, unable to keep her hands off of his soft beautiful skin. I looked up at the sun as it began to dance toward the horizon, feeling saddened that the day was coming to a close.
When I looked back, Josie and the baby were gone, and I stood quickly, walking forward into the darkness that had approached. My feet suddenly felt the sand, and I whirled around, realizing I was now walking along the beach under the light of the moon. I looked down the sand and saw Josie standing there, now wearing a long black dress, her body filling every curve. She was absolutely stunning, and she reached her hand out for mine. I walked quickly toward her and took her into my arms, looking deep into her eyes. She smiled up at me, her hands moving up my torso and landing on my chest. I could feel her body close to mine, and she leaned forward, closing her eyes and puckering her lips. I closed my eyes as well and leaned into her, feeling her lips brush across mine.
When I opened my eyes again, I had woken up, and I found myself safely tucked away in my bedroom, Josie’s lips kissing me softly. I was slightly bewildered for a moment, looking around the room and wondering where that beautiful dream had gone. I could feel Josie pressing her lips against my neck and my collarbone as I regained my consciousness. It had only been a dream, an amazingly beautiful dream. The smell of lavender filled my nose, and I realized that it had been in my dream as well. I pulled back and looked Josie in the eyes as she continued to kiss my skin. She was just as stunning with her bruises and cuts as she was in my dream. The thought of her holding our child made me feel weak in the knees and sent butterflies floating through my chest and stomach.
I ran my hand down her long hair as she kissed up my neck and back to my lips. I closed my eyes and kissed her back, feeling her love through every single touch. She ran her hands up my torso and rested them on my chest, just like she had in the dream, and I couldn’t help but think that maybe that was more than a dream. Maybe it was a vision of what we had to look forward to in the future. A beautiful home, a beautiful baby, and an even stronger bond than we already had.
I took in a deep breath and brought her close to me, feeling her heaving breasts against my chest. She reached up and pulled her fingers through my hair, leaning forward and kissing me again. This time, though, I could feel the passion behind her lips, and she grabbed onto my face, moving her lips against mine. My hands slid down to her waist, and I leaned into her kisses, parting her lips with my tongue and making the kiss even deeper and more passionate. I could feel my cock getting hard inside my pants, but I tried to slow it down just a bit. Josie, however, didn’t seem to be in the same mindset, and she pulled her body closer to mine, rubbing up and down against my shaft.
I took in a deep breath as our mouths parted, and I ran my finger down her face to her lips. She pulled my finger into her mouth and sucked hard on it, opening her eyes and looking deeply into mine. Her hand slid down my arm to the band of my boxers, teasing me as her fingers danced across my skin. My cock throbbed, and I thrust my pelvis forward into her, feeling her hand drop down and rub me softly through the fabric. Everything about this woman was sexual and sensual, and I loved the taste of her lips. Immediately, I wanted more, but I was holding back. She had been through so much, and I was terrified that I was going to hurt her.
I pulled back and looked deep into her eyes, noticing the small cuts I hadn’t seen the day before. She was so fragile and soft, and the last thing I wanted to do was make her injuries worse. Her bandages were tightly wrapped around her ankles and wrists, but I could still see slight stains of blood that had seeped through during the night. I leaned back and looked at her smiling.
“You have been through so much,” I said. “We need to take it slow. You need to get your rest so that your injuries can heal. I don’t want to hurt you any further.”
“You won’t hurt me,” she said, leaning forward and kissing my lips. “We can take it slow, and I’ll be on the bottom. I just want you so badly.”
The sound of her voice telling me how much she wanted me drove me mad. I wanted her, too, but I was afraid. She was hurt pretty badly, not to mention what she went through behind closed doors with Paulie. But she was insistent, pressing her body up against mine and kissing me sensually. She would suck my bottom lip into her mouth and pull away slowly, making my dick go crazy. She was so sexy.
“I just want you to take it all away,” she whispered. “Put my mind on something else.”
Finally, after several moments of her coaxing me into it, I let out a deep breath and pulled her toward me, kissing her passionately on the mouth. She moaned as I explored her mouth with my tongue, pushing and pulling at her hips as she ground her body against me. I turned her on her back and slowly lifted her up, pulling her tank top over her head. I reached up with one hand and grasped her breast, massaging it gently as my tongue ran over her nipple. She leaned her head back and smiled as I played with her until she was ready for more.
I moved my lips down her body, feeling her soft skin beneath me. I ran my hands down her thighs and watched as she closed her eyes and threw her head back. She moaned softly at my touch and ran her fingers over her thighs. It was sensual and soft, and immediately, I knew I was in no serious rush. I moved down her body and pushed her legs up over my shoulders, pulling her shorts and panties off. I reached my face down and slowly moved my tongue through her folds, feeling her writhe in my arms. My tongue flicked against her clit, tasting every inch of her as I felt her moving her hips to the rhythm of my tongue. I wanted her to feel how much I loved her, to grow closer to me with every moan and every growl.
I grabbed her hips and pulled her toward my face, lashing my tongue around wildly through her juices. She screamed out, grabbing the sides of the bed as I pushed her closer and closer to orgasm. I loosened the grip on her and slowed my mouth, deciding that I wanted to feel her come. I wanted to be inside of her, watching her body move, and feeling her grip tightly to me. I moved up her body, wiping my mouth on my arm, and took off my boxers. She gasped as my cock flew out from the cloth and slapped against her stomach. I reached over and took her hand in mine, pulling it to my lips and kissing it gently. I looked down into her eyes as I put her hand gently back, pulling her head upward and kissing her lips. Her breathing increased as I rubbed my shaft through the folds of her wet pussy.
I sat over her, rubbing my hands through her long dark hair and staring deeply into her eyes. She reached up and touched my face, a small tear leaving her eye and trickling down her cheek. Instantly, I dove my face down and kissed her lips, rolling to the side and pulling her on top of me. She pressed her hands against my chest and straddled me, looking down in my eyes. I pulled us backward and sat up, leaning my back against the bed frame, watching her as her tits bounced around. She looked deep into my eyes and sat up, grabbing my cock by the base and slowly sliding downward, pulling every inch of me inside of her so we became one.
Chapter 34
Josie
I leaned my body back as I lowered myself down onto his raging erection, feeling him fill me up fully. He pulled his body forward and wrapped my legs around his waist, running his hands down my body. As my eyes connected with his, I began to rock back and forth, feeling him move in and out of me. Our eyes were locked as we moved toward complete ecstasy. He groaned at the feeling of my body against him, taking us toward our climax. I fixated on his face, trying to hold back the feeling of the heat erupting from my stomach. I could feel his hands moving up and down my back, his nails gently grazing my skin.
“I love you,” I whispered as I leaned forward.
“I love you, too,” he said as darkness ran through his eyes.
He pulled his legs up underneath of him and pushed me forward, gently laying me on the bed, my legs still wrapped around his body. There was a need in the way he moved, and I couldn’t get enough of it. I loosened my legs, feeling the strain on my ankles, and looked up into his eyes as he took my thigh in his hand and thrust his hips forward. My back arched as his dick slowly moved out and then thrust forward, deep and hard. I clawed at his shoulders, feeling myself on the edge of ecstasy. He lowered his body down and pushed in and out of me, groaning loudly in my ear as my juices flowed over his shaft. I spread my hips open and took all of him into me, feeling his body begin to move faster and faster. The room was completely silent, and I listened to his raspy growls as he took me completely, our bodies wrapping around each other in total bliss.
He thrust faster, in and out, and my breathing began to increase, our bodies slamming into one another. I lifted my hips from the bed and felt as he pushed deep and hard, every inch of his cock entering me in one full movement. I screamed out, reaching to the sides and grabbing the blanket, allowing myself to let go of everything I had been holding inside. As my back arched and my body tensed, Blaine lowered his head and pressed his mouth against mine. I moaned as he pushed one last time, grabbing onto the covers above my head and letting go. As if we were cosmically in tune with one another, our orgasms synced, and I could feel his cock bulge against my vibrations. I moaned into his mouth, feeling every wave of pleasure echo through my bones. I could feel the groans escaping his throat, and I reached up, squeezing his muscles as he allowed the orgasm to completely take over.
As our pleasure decreased, he lowered himself to the side and kissed me gently, bringing his arms around me and pulling me close. I laid there listening to his heart beating in his chest, thankful that we were back together. I had never felt ecstasy of this magnitude, and I knew there would be no other man in my life that would bring that kind of pleasure to my body. I leaned in close to his chest and closed my eyes, taking in the moment for as long as it would last. Finally, as both of us began to recover, we rolled onto our backs and held tightly to each other’s hand. We lay there in silence, staring up at the ceiling and listening to the waves outside the window. I finally felt calm for the first time since everything happened, and knowing the family was behind bars and we were securely tucked in the house brought a level of solace to my life.
“What happens now?” I asked the question, unsure of the answer myself.
He lay there for several moments, contemplating what I had wondered. His eyes scanned the ceiling, and his hand grasped mine even tighter. I turned my head and looked at his face, wondering if he was going to answer or just let the question simmer. I was never the kind of girl that needed to know what every step in life was, but with the recent events, I needed some sort of beacon of hope. I needed some kind of guiding light, otherwise I feared that I would sit perfectly still.
“Now we are free to build a life together,” he said, turning his head toward me.
I looked into his deep eyes and wondered what type of life it was that he wanted. I questioned my ability to move forward after such traumatic events, but I knew that Blaine had done it when his parents had died, so it wasn’t unreachable. I knew that I would have to be strong in ways that I had never experienced before, and I knew that Blaine would be there to help me every step of the way. I wanted him, and that was it. I still had all my dreams, but I knew now that none of it mattered without him in my life. I knew that life was not going to be as beautiful and full of light without Blaine standing beside me and me beside him.
He turned his head back to the ceiling, and I knew he had more to say. I knew that he wanted to tell me something personal, something from deep inside of himself. I turned my head so I didn’t make him nervous, and I brought his hand up to my lips, kissing it softly. My lips lingered over his skin as he cleared his throat and took a deep breath. I sat there waiting for him to tell me just how he felt, and all of the things he never had the courage to tell me before.
“You changed me,” he said. “You made me want to be a better man from the very first time that I met you. There were so many dark corners of my life, but you have brought your light, and now I can see everything. You made me want to be stronger, to be virtuous, and to fight for what I believed to be true. You allowed me to trust another person with my heart, something I haven’t done since my parents died. You have been my angel and my savior. I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve given me. When I thought I was going to lose you, it tore my heart from my chest, and I knew that you were the only woman on this earth for me. I knew I couldn’t lose you.”
Tears welled up in my eyes as he spoke those beautiful words. There was something so poetic about a woman pushing a man to be better. I was incredibly touched by how he felt about me and how he looked at his own future. I felt the same way as him, and without him, I knew that there was a good chance I wouldn’t be here. He saved my life in so many ways, and because of that, I was confused by his statement. There was no way that I could allow him to not take credit for being the man that literally saved my life. I couldn’t allow him to take away from the fact that I would have died a terrible death had he not had enough faith in me to come searching.
“I’m confused,” I said.
I turned my head toward him and looked at his beautiful eyes. He sat there thinking about what I said and I waited for him to finish, wanting to know just how much he understood where I was coming from. This was probably the most important question in our entire time of knowing each other, and for that, I did not want to rush it. There was too much at stake here. There was too much that we could lose by not being completely upfront and honest with each other. I was the one that felt as if I owed him more than my life. I had been the one that brought nothing but chaos to his. I brought death, danger, and craziness, and we had only known each other a little over a week. There was no way that I could be as important to his future and his person as he was to me. There were too many times that he talked me off a ledge and moved me to be a better person. I owed him so much, and I couldn't sit there and let him take away from all the things that he had done for me. My father was gone, and my mother was nowhere to be found. He was really the last person I had in the entire world.
“I thought you saved me,” I said, smiling. “You pulled me from the wreckage of my life and swooped in like a superhero, saving the day. You gave me hope when I had completely lost it, and you gave me strength when mine was all but gone.”
“Don’t you see,” he said, turning over on his side and staring down at me. “You rescued me from a life of loneliness. I don’t just mean relationship-wise, but companionship-wise as well. I was terrified to get close to anyone because it hurt so bad to lose my family. But when you came into the picture, you made me realize how short life really was, and that meant that I needed to open my heart to you and to the goals and dreams that I held so closely guarded. You made me not be lonely inside of my own head by pushing me to be a stronger man.”
I was speechless and didn’t even have the first clue as to what to say. He leaned forward, smiling and brushing his lips against mine. I took in a deep breath and leaned forward, laying my head back on his chest. He brushed my hair away from my face and closed his eyes, listening to the sounds of the waves. I was so completely and utterly in love with this man that it was insane.
As he drifted off to sleep, I stayed awake, listening to his heart and dreaming about our future. There were so many things that both of us wanted to accomplish, and though they were on different sides of the spectrum, I could tell that our lives crisscrossed right In the middle. That was what a true relationship was really about, having the ability to be your own self, but at the same time, find your paths crossing at the absolute perfect time. Blaine was that crisscross for me. He was that absolute, perfect moment in life, and I never wanted to give him up. I knew that no matter where I went in this world, Blaine would be with me every step of the way.
I turned over in the bed and snuggled my head into the pillow, feeling Blaine turn over toward me and slide his arms around my waist, pulling me close. I had loved the feeling of his arms since the first time we made love, and now, it meant even more to me, knowing that we had almost died. I couldn’t help but think that although the situation had been terrible, it was almost a blessing that it happened the way it did. I no longer had to make a decision about my future. I was free to do whatever I wanted. What I wanted the most was to have Blaine close to me every night and kiss me every morning before I went to work. It may be simple, but it sure as hell beat the mobsters.
Epilogue
Blaine
It had been two months since everything had happened. Every single one of the mob family ended up with a prison sentence, and after the judge heard what Paulie and Harry had done to Josie, he threw the book at them. I was pretty sure Harry wasn’t going to get out of prison alive this time, having made some enemies squealing on them in an attempt to get a plea bargain. The judge dropped all the charges against Josie, paid her restitution, and made a public apology for the way she was treated by the department. She didn’t seem to like the attention, but I was happy she was getting vindication. She was able to get her father cremated, and his ashes sat in the living room of my place, which is now our place, on a marble pedestal by the fireplace.
I took Josie’s hand and carefully helped her up the short flight of steps. She was blindfolded and feeling around her, trying to figure out where I was taking her. I opened the shop door and stepped inside, pulling her forward into the space. I was so excited to give her this gift, it was unbelievable. I closed the door behind us and stepped behind her, pulling the blindfold from her face.
“Ta-da,” I said, walking around and watching her face.
“Wow,” she said, looking at the open space. “But I don’t understand. What is this for?”
“This is for your project,” I said proudly. “We are now standing in your new office space.”
I watched as her eyes grew big, and she started to excitedly walk around the space. She had been invited back to teach, but there was still a bit of a stigma, so she had stayed home since then. I was pretty sure that she wasn’t going to go back to teaching, which was fine with me. She sold her father’s house and moved into mine, and now, we got to sleep in the same bed every night, which was amazing. However, with the lack of employment, she was starting to go a bit stir crazy. She just didn’t know what she wanted to do with her life. She knew that she had the passion, but she really needed the purpose. I sat down and talked to her about her dreams, reminding her that it was never too late to reach for those goals. So, after a lot of thought and about a million sheets of paper, she had started to make a lot of headway into the non-profit sector.
She was starting to run out of room at our place so I thought, what better way to show my support than to get her the space she needed to create the way she wanted to. I could already see that she was ecstatic. Everybody with an idea as big as hers needed their own space, a place to spread out and really put some power behind their ideas. Josie had my kitchen table, and I could tell she wasn’t happy about working from home. So, once I knew everything was totally safe, I bought Josie her own office that was big enough for her to expand in and to bring in employees when she reached that point.
I watched her and smiled as she walked around the room, running her hand over the desks and separators that kept each person in their own little cubicle. She was so excited, and she made me laugh loudly as she jumped up and down and squealed. She came running back over to me, throwing her arms around me and hugging me tightly.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she said, laughing.
“It still needs a bit of work, and new carpet and such, but when we are done with it, you will be the hottest office in all of non-profit,” I said, smiling. “Besides, you have been stuck, and I was really impressed with how much dedication you have been putting into getting this whole thing together. You are really putting your heart and soul into it, and I want you to have the space to explore. I could tell the other day that you were struggling to get out of work mode when you were working from home. Now, you have a place to come to.
“Thank you so much,” she said, leaning up and giving me a big kiss. “You are the world to me. You treat me so good, it’s nuts.”
We wandered around the main area of the office a bit more, exploring the closets and the bathrooms before I nudged her and pulled her over to the corner office. The place was beautiful, already decorated for her with some of the art that she always drooled over in our place. I had the artist do some specialty pieces just for her. The windows in the building were floor to ceiling, and she gasped as she walked over and looked at the view. There were no high-rise buildings in the background, no brick walls, or parking garages. Instead, she could see way out into the ocean. The back of the building faced a private beach, and if you tilted the windows open, you could hear the sound of the waves.
“This is so amazing,” she said, shaking her head and looking out over the water. “I never thought I would have an office, let alone one that looked out over a beach.”
“On top of all that,” I said, leading her away from the window. “This is the desk you will be creating your empire from.”
“Wow,” she said, looking down at the oak desk in front of her.
She walked along, rubbing her hand across the desk and plopping down in the chair behind it. She looked at me and smiled. She looked sexy sitting there like that, and I thought about messing around in the office to break the place in. However, knowing I had somewhere I was trying to take this whole office visit, I controlled my urges and stepped back.
“Now,” I said, standing back. “Turn your chair to the right and open the drawer.”
She looked at me curiously before doing as I asked. She turned her chair slowly, looking at the drawer and then back up at me. I laughed at how timid she was, as if something inside was going to get her. She was so beautiful, and the backdrop of the ocean just made everything ten times better. She slowly pulled the drawer out and stared down at a small box inside. I could see her curiosity swirling around as she reached down and pulled the box out. She turned back and set it in front of her on the desk, moving it around but not opening it. I shook my head and crossed my arms, looking at her with humor on my face. She smiled big and popped open the lid, revealing a very large, round, sparkling diamond ring. Immediately, her hands flew up to her mouth, and she shook her head in shock.
I walked over to her and bent down in front of her, taking her hands in mine. She turned toward me and smiled, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. This was it, the big moment that would determine all of my future happiness in this world. I loved this girl so much, and I knew without a doubt that this was the right move.
“Josie,” I said, looking up at her. “From the first moment that I met you, you stoked a fire in my soul. It was a fire that made me the happiest man on the planet. You pushed me to do things, like take my career seriously, follow my dreams, and do what was best for me. Now, I am helping others who, like you, were falsely accused of crimes that landed them in jail, their lives put on hold because no one would listen to them. I have found my niche in life where I can be the lawyer my parents always wanted and actually make a difference in this world. I owe every part of that to you. I have been down the road where I almost lost you. I have watched you slipping from my hands, and it was more devastating than anything I had ever been through before. You are the love of my life. I cannot imagine going a day without seeing that beautiful smile, watching that stubborn tick when you don’t get your way, and feeling my arms around you as we sleep at night. I want every part of you. I want to love and cherish you for the rest of our very long lives. You are the one for me.”
I cleared my throat and pulled the ring from the box, holding it up in front of her. The sun glistened off the diamond, casting moving shadows throughout the entire room. She looked around and laughed, with the wonder of a child glistening in her beautiful eyes. I rubbed a tear from her cheek and took a deep breath, ready to make everything finally come together.
“I am satisfied with my career, I am satisfied with my person, and I am satisfied with the direction in which our lives are going,” I said. “Now, it’s time for me to be satisfied at home, too. Josie, will you please make me the luckiest man in the world and marry me?”
My hands were shaking as I held the ring in front of her. It was like time had stopped, and my heart was beating out of my chest. I knew without a doubt that I wanted to live the rest of my life with this woman in my arms. Anderson asked if I thought it was too soon, but I knew it wasn’t soon enough. We may have only been together for a little over four months, but we shared a soul that had been together for centuries. There wasn’t a moment in my life that I didn’t think about her and our future. Everything I did on a daily basis was for this woman, and everything she did was for me. We were an amazing team, the best of friends, and incredible lovers.
“Yes,” she said finally, shaking her head up and down and laughing through her tears. “Of course, I will marry you. You are my world.”
I smiled and slid the ring onto her finger. She held her hand out in front of her and shook her head, watching the sun catch the curves and dips in the stone. She put her hand down and stood up, pulling me to my feet. I leaned down and wrapped my arms around her waist, picking her up in the air and hugging her tightly. She leaned her face back and pressed her lips against mine, giving me a long, passionate kiss. I set her back down on the floor, and we turned toward the window, watching the waves crash jubilantly against the shore. She shook her head, leaned it against my shoulder, and sighed.
“What is it, baby?” I asked.
“Nothing,” she said. “I’m just so incredibly happy, and for the first time in a very long time, there is absolutely nothing wrong. My life is perfect.”
“You are perfect,” I replied.
“Far from it,” she said, laughing.
“You are to me,” I said, turning toward her and looking her in the eyes. “We are perfect for each other.”
“We always have been,” she replied. “For centuries.”
“I love you,” I said, leaning down and kissing her lips.
She looked up at me and smiled, folding her arms over my shoulders.
“And I love you, Blaine,” she replied. “And I will continue to do so for the rest of our lives.”