They all scoffed the burgers down as soon as we got back to the warehouse. I had to separate Ty’s from everyone else’s and managed to get them back home safely. I didn’t know when he would be back but I knew that Kitty was taking over his shift tonight.
Luke had asked me if he could come over and read Eli a bedtime story, I couldn’t say no. He was so used to seeing Eli twice a day and since I’d taken Eli on my own, he hadn’t seen him all day.
I cleaned the house, tidying any mess that we had made and making sure the kitchen counters sparkled, all before Luke left. Once he was gone, I jumped in the shower and tried to mentally prepare for my video call with Corey.
This was the first one since we had spoken about Max. He’d tried to video call a few times after but each time I refused to talk to him. It was time that I pulled up my big girl panties and asked him out right, what the hell had gone on?
Stepping into Ty’s home office, I switched the computer on and typed in the password that he’d had me memorize. Twisting my wet hair, I pulled it into a bun on the top of my head and crossed my legs on the giant comfy office chair, waiting for the call to come through.
He always gave a rough time that he would call but it could be at any time if something came up. The ringing sound came from the speakers at the exact time that he said that he’d call. Taking a deep calming breath, I put my hand on the mouse and clicked the accept button.
“Corey?” I mumbled.
“Lil’ sis?” His face came onto the screen, his smile completely taking over. “Ah, it’s good to see you.”
“Yeah,” I ground out, all of my anger coming back full force.
“Hey.” He furrowed his brows, moving closer to the camera. “What’s that tone for? Something happen?”
“Yeah,” I said, moving closer. “You came back to visit nine months ago?”
His eyes widened as he stilled. His body language and demeanour told me all I needed to know, without him having to say a word.
“Listen-”
“What the hell, Corey!” I threw my hands in the air, shaking my head. “I can’t believe you would do that!”
“Kay-”
“I mean, telling me that you had come back to the country, but couldn’t see me because you were doing specialized training, is one thing.” I uncrossed my legs and planted my feet firmly on the ground. “But being this close and not even bothering to come see us?”
My hands were waving around in the air, and if I was honest, I probably looked like a mad woman. But I had every right to be like this with him, he always droned on about the importance of telling each other the truth, when he hadn’t been telling the truth.
“Kaylee, if I’d had known what that sick fuck was doing to you-” He tried to reason, his head hanging down.
“That doesn’t matter!” I leaned forward even more, resting precariously on the edge of my seat. “It doesn’t matter what he did to me…” My voice broke as I tried to hold back a sob.
I covered my mouth with my hand and squeezed my eyes shut tight. I didn’t want to bring all of that back up again or get into that head space. It wouldn’t help anything; it would just make things worse.
“Ah, fuck!” he shouted, making me jump and open my eyes back up.
“You should have wanted to come and see us.” I managed to get past the lump in my throat.
“It wasn’t safe,” he said, bringing his face back up to the camera. “I was there for Ty’s help.”
“I don’t understand,” I sniffled.
He held his head in his hands. “I had some trouble and I needed Ty and the guys to help me out.”
“But…why couldn’t you come and see us?” I asked, still not understanding.
“I had some really dangerous people after me, it wasn’t safe for me to come and see you and Eli.” He leaned back and placed his hands on top of his head. “I wanted to, fuck, I drove past your apartment block and nearly came in.”
His face was torn; I could see how much this had affected him. “So…you wanted to see us?”
“Of course I did. You’ll never understand what it is that I do, Kay, it’s dangerous. I have enemies, enemies in so many countries and if they knew about you then they would target you…and Eli.”
Nodding my head, I thought that I finally understood why he’d stayed away and had minimum contact throughout the years.
“But now that you’re there, you’re safer with the guys and I know they’ll protect you.”
“Yeah,” I mumbled, looking away. “So does this mean we’ll be able to see you soon?” I asked, hopeful.
“Hell yes! As soon as I’ve finished what I’m doing over here, I’m straight back to the states.”
“Really?” I asked. A smile spreading on my face.
“Really.” He nodded.
We were both silent for a couple of minutes, not the awkward kind where you don’t know what to say, but the kind where you’re just thinking.
“Right…” He clapped his hands and smiled wide. “Now that is out of the way, tell me how things are going.”
Blowing out a big breath, I considered how much I should tell him. He must have known Serena, I mean, him and Ty had known each other a long time according to Ty.
I didn’t know how much Ty had told him about the case, or if he had even told him at all. But I thought it was best not to mention that. I cringed when I realized that he didn’t know about me and Ty but that was a conversation for another day.
“I may as well start from the beginning,” I said, getting comfortable in my chair.
I could hear Kay’s laugh as soon as I walked into the house, and when I heard Corey’s laugh follow after, I realized what she was doing. I was glad that she’d finally got to video call with Corey, I was fed up with him harassing me to get her to talk to him. There was no way I was going to push her to do anything that she didn’t want to do. I knew that when she was ready to talk to him, that she would.
Leaving her to finish her video call, I walked into the kitchen, noticing a bag from the burger joint with a note sat in front of it. Picking it up I read it.
Picked you up a couple of burgers.
Kay x
Opening up the bag, I found a couple of burgers and went to warm them through. I was constantly telling Kay that she didn’t need to do this, she always had a hot meal or something for me to eat when I came home. I knew that she was used to doing it, and I really appreciated it, but she didn’t have to.
Pulling the burger out of the microwave, I took a bite and reflected on my afternoon. As soon as Kay had drove off, Daley came through the gates in his obnoxious car and took me all around town, going on a shopping spree. I didn’t know how he did it. I hated going to the supermarket, and for me, shopping for clothes was a ten-minute activity ordering the same pair of jeans several times, online.
I couldn’t deal with shops and the assistants who always wanted to…well…assist.
After he had lunch with whom I assumed was a business associate, he came straight home and was still there when Kitty took over from me.
Throwing my rubbish in the trash, I walked through the living room and up the stairs, trying not to disturb Kay. We still hadn’t told Corey about us, that was gonna be a fun conversation. I had no doubt that he wouldn’t like it one bit but he’d have to deal, because I wasn’t going anywhere.
“Love you too, lil’ sis,” I heard Corey say when I got to the top of the stairs.
I looked at my bedroom door, then over to my office. I desperately needed a shower but the pull Kay had on me was too strong, my feet were already taking me in her direction.
Pushing the door open, I leaned on the door frame, watching her. Her legs were pulled up to her chest and she wearing one of my t-shirts pulled over her knees. I smiled at that, I loved it when she wore my clothes. My eyes followed the path of her legs up to her face, buried into her knees.
“Kay?”
Squeaking, her head shot up and she looked at me with wide eyes. “Oh! You scared me!” she said, her hand going to her chest.
I frowned as I saw her face and puffy eyes, she’d been crying, and seeing her like that always hit me straight in the gut.
“What happened?” I gritted out, moving forward. If he’d upset her-
“Nothing,” she said, shaking her head. “I just miss him.”
“Yeah?” I said, softer this time. “Did you sort everything out?”
She puffed out a breath and leaned her head on the backrest of the chair. “Yeah, it’s all sorted.”
“Then what’s with the tears, sweetheart?” I asked, sitting on the edge of the desk, facing her.
“I just…I…I wish he could come home.” She looked back at me, her eyes so sad. I couldn’t bear to see that look in her eyes.
“Did he say when that would be?” Moving closer to her, I swiped away a lone tear as it rolled down her face.
“He keeps saying soon but he’s been saying that for so long now.” She rolled her eyes, looking back down at her knees.
Nodding my head, I understood, he probably wouldn’t know when he was coming home until a day or two beforehand. It was an unpredictable life and I was glad that I got out when I did. If I hadn’t, I’d probably still be over there with him.
“I’m sure you’ll see him soon.”
“Yeah,” she whispered and looked up to me. Her beautiful eyes so open and sad, all I wanted was to change that look in her eyes.
“Come on,” I said, holding my hand out to her.
She placed her small, soft hand in mine and let me pull her up. Opening my legs for her body to fit in between, she moved closer, and I wrapped my arms around her, inhaling her sweet scent.
“He’s got good men behind him sweetheart,” I said to ease some of her upset.
It was true, he did have good men behind him, but I couldn’t tell her that he’d be safe, because no matter how much he trained, or how many men he had at his back, that could never be a certainty.
I felt her nodding against my chest as I rubbed my hands up and down her back in a soothing motion.
“Let’s go watch a movie,” I said pulling back. “Take your mind off things.”
“Okay,” she whispered, wiping her eyes.
I hated seeing her like that.
We’d all got into a good routine and for the last three weeks, we all did the same shifts and watched Daley. I always did the morning shift after I had taken Eli to preschool, then someone would take over when it was time for me to pick him up.
I learned a lot from following Daley around. He had many acquaintances but I never saw him with a genuine friend. I watched as he always had a car follow him, though it was done discreetly. Not discreetly enough for me not to notice, but still discreetly.
We hadn’t got any further with the investigation, the only plus was that there hadn’t been anymore kidnappings. That was a huge win but we didn’t know how long it would be until another girl was taken, we were on borrowed time. At least, that’s what it felt like.
I pulled up next to the warehouse and helped Eli out of his seat. Ty had taken over from me today, which meant I wouldn’t see him until later tonight. We had started to get a good system going, and by the time he would come home, I’d have all the housework done and his dinner ready for him. He kept telling me to stop doing it but I felt it was only right as I was living here now as well.
“Uncle Luke!” Eli shouted as soon as I opened the metal door to the warehouse, running straight at Luke who was on the treadmill.
Smiling, I looked around for Evan, knowing that Kitty was probably still sleeping after her early morning shift. I didn’t know how they did those sort of shifts, I’d freak out if I had to sit in the car for six hours at night.
“Hey, Evan.” I walked over to his corner, he pushed his chair back and stood up.
“Ready for some training?” He smirked.
“Me and you?” I pointed between us, my eyes going wide.
We hadn’t trained together since it had been a secret, I loved training with him and the possibility of getting to do it again, sent thrills through me.
Out of all the guys, he was definitely my favorite to train with. His size didn’t intimidate me like Luke and Ty, although Evan was just as tall as them but he had an athletic build rather than the humongous muscles that Luke and Ty had.
“Yep.” He walked past me, opening up the cupboard and pulling out his pads, and my gloves. “Can’t forget these baby’s.” He waggled his brows up and down, smiling manically.
I giggled and said. “Pass ‘em over.” Crooking my finger at him as I walked forward.
Pulling my vest and belt off, I lay them on top of the cupboard and pushed the gloves on. It felt good to have them back on, I’d missed them. Something I thought I’d never think, I hated exercise but this was different. This was for my safety.
Following Evan to the middle of the mats, I scanned the warehouse to see where Eli was. I smiled, but cringed at the same time, when I saw him sat with Luke next to the treadmill, both watching me with smiles on their faces.
I gulped at the audience. Although I didn’t want to expose Eli to violence, this was self-defense. I needed to know this, but I didn’t want him to think that it was okay either.
“Right, left, right. To start with,” Evan instructed me, holding up the pads.
I threw a right hook, then a left, and finished with a right.
“Good. Again,” he said in a gruff voice.
I did it again, and again, and again, until the sweat was dripping off of me, and I could barely breath. The burn in my arms felt good and I was starting to become slightly addicted to the way it made me feel.
Evan was always a happy go lucky guy but when it came to this, he was dead serious.
I sat out on the porch swing most nights, just basking in the view and partly waiting for Ty. That’s when I started to notice Evan would go out at the same time, on the same day, every week. After the third time, I asked Ty where he went, and that’s when I found out that Evan taught women’s self-defense and boxing at the local gym.
It all made sense then, why he had pulled me out of the office the first time we met, he must have seen something. He was trying to teach me how to defend myself and I didn’t even know it at the time.
Finding that out about Evan made me realize that there was still so much I had to learn about all of them. That then lead to me and Ty getting to know each other more. Just general things, like which side of the bed we preferred to sleep on, our favorite colors, that sort of stuff. I went to sleep that night feeling like we had taken a major step in our relationship. That’s if it was even a relationship. I really should clarify that.
With my chest heaving for breath, I held up a hand, signaling that I needed a minute.
“I need water,” I gasped. Walking into the kitchen, I pulled a cold bottle from the fridge and gulped the majority of it down. The sound of small footsteps following me in.
“Mama?” Turning around, I watched Eli lift up onto the chair.
“Yes, sweetie?” Sitting down next to him, I wiped the sweat off my face and tried to catch my breath.
“What you were doing out there?” He pointed back to the warehouse and continued. “Can I learn that?”
I stared at him with wide eyes, I didn’t know what to say or think. I didn’t want him thinking that it was okay to go around hurting people, but at the same time, I wanted him to know how to defend himself.
It was one of those moments where I genuinely didn’t know what to say, I sat there with my mouth opening and closing like a fish.
“You know mama only does that for her job, right?” I said, finally getting myself together and placing the bottle of water on the table.
“Yeah, but it looks fun.” He shrugged and looked away.
Gulping, I reached over, taking his hand in mine and drawing his attention back to me.
“Let me think about it, okay, sweetie?”
“Okay, mama.” He jumped down and ran back into the warehouse as if he hadn’t just asked me the hardest question that he had ever asked, while I sat staring at the empty doorway in shock.
The first thought in my mind was that I needed to talk to Ty. That made me both happy and sad. Happy that I could talk about it with someone, but also sad that it wasn’t Eli’s dad I could do that with.
Before I could think about it anymore, I finished the rest of my water off and got up, throwing it into the trash. Ready to go back and do some more training, I walked back out into the warehouse.