Chapter Twelve
Someone is screaming. I can hear someone screaming but I can’t move. Playing Bradley’s tape was stupid, but I did it anyways. After hitting play, I made sure to back up to the beginning. How a sick, twisted, monster like Bradley was ever created I don’t know but I do know he needs to be found and killed. Jail would be too good of a place for someone like him. Hell is where he needs to go.
Bradley sat there happily retelling the story of my time with him. He called it our special vacation. Can you believe that? A vacation? He sounded almost joyful as he told me all about the evil things he did to me. After he was done with his recap, he said that our time together was his favorite because I fought him more than any of the others.
“Shit!” I hear someone roar.
“Darcy? Look at me baby.” Riker says but I can’t see him. My eyes are closed, and I just figured out who was screaming. It was me. I was screaming. I couldn’t stop either.
“Do we need to call a bus?” Erick asks Riker.
“No, she’s doesn’t need an ambulance. Just give him a minute with her.” I hear Greg tell him.
I’m still screaming but my throat is begging me to stop. Hot tears roll down my face. I go from screaming to sobbing. I’m a freaking mess right now.
Strong arms go around me, and I’m lifted out of my chair only to end up in the flood on Riker’s lap. He holds me as I fall apart. I couldn’t tell you how long we stayed like this, but it felt like hours.
When I finally stop crying Riker wastes no time at getting us off the floor and out of the police station. Erick tried to ask me a few questions as he followed us downstairs but Riker and Greg both told him to back off.
Once Riker got me settled in his truck he took a minute to talk to his brother. I couldn’t hear what they were saying but at this moment I really didn’t care. I was drained. Everything part of me was hurting. All I wanted to do was go to bed and wake up when all this was over.
***
I wake up screaming. Reaching over to turn on the lamp by my bed I realize I’m not in my own room. Panic sets in and I look around the dark room trying to figure out where I am. Then the events of the day come back to me.
My apartment.
The alarms.
My office.
The police station.
Bradley’s video.
Riker…….
Riker had brought me back to his place after we left the police station. He tried to get me to eat but I just wanted to sleep. He helped me change into one of his shirts then tucked me into bed. Him taking care of me made me smile. The gentle way he touched me, like I was made of glass and could break at any second.
The door to the room flies opens. Riker flips the light on as he walks over to me.
“Are you ok?” He asks. His voice deep with worry.
“Yeah,” I sigh. It’s my fault. If I hadn’t watched that video I wouldn’t have broken down like I did. “I’m sorry I freaked out on you. I should have never watched that video.”
“Don’t you dare apologize.” He lightly snarls at me.
“Riker…” I start but he stops me by climbing into the bed beside me and pulling me to him.
“I don’t want to hear it. You had every right to watch that video. I just wish you would have waited for me, so you didn’t have to watch it alone.” He kisses the top of me head then chuckles. “You may want to call and apologize to Erick for breaking the TV though.”
“What? I broke the TV?” I ask in shock.
“You threw the remote at it and it shattered the screen.”
“Oh my God.” I mumble. We lay there for a few minutes just holding each other. It’s nice. Really nice.
Maybe I should give Riker a chance. He would have to be understanding about my work hours, and not push me too much about working less. But if he can listen to even the small part of Bradley said and is still here with me then maybe there is a chance for us.
“There is defiantly a chance for us.” Riker laughs, and I realize I just said all that out loud.
“I didn’t mean to say that out loud.” I bury my face in my hands, trying to hide my blood red cheeks.
Hearing him lightly chuckle has me groaning. God, I’m so embarrassed. “Darcy,” Riker whispers in my ear. “I think it’s time we talked about what’s going on with us. I know what I want but I need to know what you want.”
Riker eases my hands away from my face and lifts my chin until we are eye to eye. I decided to let him know what I really think and feel about all this.
“We don’t really know each other. I think that’s my biggest problem. I know we have a connection, there’s no denying that. But even though we have known of each other for years, we really don’t know each other. What if we start dating and then see we are totally wrong for each other. The sparks between us can’t be everything in a relationship. Plus, with everything going on with Bradley and now James, I don’t really know how to feel about starting something like this with all that going on.” A smile was not what I had expected from him. But that’s what I got. A huge, sexy, sinful smile.
“So, you admit to feeling this connection between us? Even seeing sparks.” He teases me.
“Lying about it would be a waste of time. Especially since every time we kiss it’s like we set each other on fire.” His eyes go dark and his nose flares. He starts to lower his head, knowing he’s about to kiss me I pull back to stop him. “That’s not going to help anything right now.”
Riker smirks at me, then leans back against the head board. I rest my head on his chest. How safe this man makes me feel is unreal. Never in my life have I ever felt so totally and completely safe with just one person.
“How would you propose we get to know each other better? It’s not like we can do things like a normal couple, with all that is happening. So, tell me how you want to do it and I do whatever you want.”
Hmm, he’s right about not being able to do things normally. It really wouldn’t be safe to do the whole public dating thing right now. Even though I’ve only been on three dates in my whole life, I do know that it usually takes three to five dates to even start to get to really know another person. Then an idea hits me.
“We could do the question game.”
“What’s that?” He asks, and I swear I can hear him smiling but I don’t look up to check.
“Well, it’s something my friends and I used to play at sleepovers. Usually only if it had been awhile since we had all been able to hang out together. What you do is ask someone a question, and they have to answer it or do a dare. We can skip the dare part, but the answers have to be a hundred percent truthful, and no skipping questions.” I remember sometimes the girls and I wouldn’t even sleep we’d just stay up all night playing this game. The dares were hilarious to us, but I doubt I’ll be asking Riker to write the name of his crush on the inside of his bra. Wow, we really were stupid teenagers.
“I think we should keep the dare part.” He says as he lets his hand roam down my side and cups my hip.
“Yeah, I think we’ll skip the dares this time.” I giggle and push his hand off my hip.
“Fine, but next time we do the dares.” He growls playfully.
“Whatever.” I mumble.
“Who goes first?” He asks.
“I’ll go first. What made you want to go into real-estate?”
“A safe question.” He mutters. “At first I just wanted to buy and flip houses. The first house I bought I ended up losing money on. I would have made a couple grand on it had it not been for the agent’s fee. I thought if I got my license then I could handle the sale and wouldn’t lose out on the money. However, I found I had more of a skill for selling houses than I did for fixing them up. So, I got a job with the local national chain, but it just wasn’t for me. Working with Brice and Dean is great. Also getting to help owners with their properties is nice too. They pay us a fee to look out for their tenants when they aren’t able too. It’s a win-win for everyone. Plus, we try our best to take really good care of all the properties.”
You can really hear his passion for his work in his voice. I remember him sounding the same way back at the cabin when he first told me about what he did for a living. It’s always wonderful when you do something you love. I know because it’s how I feel about making my jewelry.
“Mine turn. How did the idea for you company start?”
Now this is something I could talk about all day long. I tell him about how everything started in college and how people started asking to buy things for gifts. It didn’t take long before I had told him the whole story and even some little funny things that had happened after we moved into the office space. I rambled and rambled, but I loved talking about my work.
“That’s amazing Darcy. To take a small idea and turn it into a successful business is not easy to do. But you did it, and your work is really beautiful.” His praise fills my heart with so much pride.
“Thanks.” I give him a small hug. Even laying here together we still have our arms wrapped tightly around each other. “My main goal with my jewelry was to make pieces that everyone could wear on a daily basis. We don’t use high cost metals or gems. We use materials that will hold up to heavy wearing, but that also is low in cost. Growing up when I would shop for jewelry, because I’ve always been a lover of fun and funky pieces, I would hate that most of what I liked was so expensive even when it wasn’t made with higher priced materials. So, when we started the company I wanted to make sure that anyone who shopped with us, no matter what their budget was, could find something that would work for them. We also try to have sales every few months because everyone knows women will buy more if it’s on sale.” I giggle just thinking about some of the feedback emails we have gotten from customers. Some women clearly telling us they over spent but would tell their husbands that everything was on sale and they just couldn’t pass it up. Then we’d get emails from women who had been waiting for the sale, so they could afford some new jewelry without hurting their budgets.
“I’m so very proud of you Darcy.” He says, leaning down to kiss the top of head. “You’re turn.”
“Where do you go to de-stress?”
“The roof top of my office building.” Wow, wouldn’t have thought there. “It’s a peaceful place for me. I sometimes take a bottle of good whiskey up with me and just unwind after a stressful day.” I can picture him there. Standing on the roof top, tie long gone his white dress shirt undone at the collar, maybe even partly untucked.
“Sounds like a nice place.” I tell him.
“I’ll take you up there with me one day soon.” He kisses the top of my head again. “Now, it’s my turn. Favorite TV show?”
“I’ll only tell you if you don’t laugh at me.” He nods but I can see he’s lying. “I love shows like Kitchen Nightmares, Hell’s Kitchen, and Bar Rescue. I love when they scream at the idiot owners or when Gordon Ramsey screams at the chefs.” Riker doesn’t even try to hold back his laugher.
“My sweet little Darcy loves to watch people get screamed at?” He says through his laughter.
“Oh, shut up!” I shove him a little but can’t help but giggle.
“Ok, you’re turn.”
“Tell me more about your bothers. How did Greg get into the security business? What does Paul do?”
“That’s two questions.” He teases me. “Greg started out working for a guy named Ryan Marks. He did body guard work for him all over the country. But traveling got old. When Ryan passed away, Greg decided to come home and start his own company. Ryan’s sister tried to get Greg to stay. From what I was told Ryan had left his company to his family and two of his friends, but some bad stuff went down between the father and everyone else. I don’t know the whole story, but it was one big mess. Greg just didn’t want to be in all that. Plus, our father was sick at the time and his coming home was good for our whole family.”
“That’s so sad.”
“It was, but it brought Greg back home. Our dad passed away a few months after Greg moved back and I know he was happy to have that time with him.”
Oh wow, I didn’t know Riker’s dad had died. I wonder how he died. I’m glad Greg got to come home before that happened. I couldn’t imagine not being here if something happened to my parents. My sis and I are very blessed, our parents are in great health and are move active than we are. They go hiking, camping, and even water skiing when the weather is right.
“Your parents sound like very happy people.” Riker laughs, knowing I didn’t mean to say all that out loud. Damn it, I’ve got to be more careful about that. “And my dad passed away from a heart attack. He hated doctors and would only go if mom forced him. But he’s in a better place now.”
I reach up and kiss Riker softly and sweetly. “I’m sorry you lost your dad.”
“Thank you,” He tries to kiss me again, but I know it will stop the game.
“Answer my second question.”
Riker grunt in disapproval. “Paul is a chef at Kick Back and Eat. The owner is one of our clients and when she told me that her chef had up and left her hanging I told her about Paul. Not only had he graduated head of his class from the Culinary Institute of America, he also did an internship at Wolfgang Puck’s restaurant in New York. She hired him without even meeting him.”
“Well, damn you pimped your brother into a job.” We both laugh but it’s kind of true.
“My turn, and since you got two questions I get two questions. Tell me about your family. You seem really close to them. Have you always been close? And is it hard working with your sister?” Guess we are trading family stories.
“Yeah, my family has always been close. My parents have been married for forty-six years. They had my sister later on in the marriage. In fact, my mom thought she wasn’t able to have kids. They tried for eleven years before she had Missy. About two years later mom went to get her tubes tied but couldn’t because, surprise, she was pregnant with me.” I couldn’t help but giggle. The last few minutes all I’ve done is giggle and laugh. “Sis and I lived at home until after we graduated from college. Missy found a cute little cottage house not far from mom and dad, but I wanted an apartment. I didn’t want a yard or anything because I didn’t want to have to do the upkeep on it. My place was an amazing find. When I moved in my mom stayed with me the first week to help me get settled. I knew it was more for her benefit than for mine, so I let her do it. After a week she saw that I would be ok and went home to dad. As for working with my sister, I love it. We are best friends. The others are just like my sisters so all five us are one big happy family. Not to say we don’t argue, because we do, but we never stay mad for too long. I just hope the new people fit in as well as we hope they will. Morgan is a nice guy and did a great job while I was gone. Porsha and Gigi should be fine once they start. But you never really know until everyone is working together.”
“Wait, who is Porsha and Gigi.” Riker asks in confusion. Damn, I thought I told him about them.
“That’s an extra question,” I tease him. “But they are Heather’s cousins. They helped us out when the company first started, and we were still working out of our dorm room. They just moved back to town and asked Heather about working for us. I told her to have them come in and fill out an application. I’m also going to set up a test bracelet for each of them to see where their skill levels are. I know they can make the jewelry just fine, I have no worries there, but we need new stock and we need it fast. Right now, we are only able to keep one of each item in stock. Porsha and Gigi’s jobs would be to make items we already have for sale and make multiples of each piece. We’ll be able to market the jewelry better with more in stock and it will help us see what styles sell better.” Yet again I went rambling about my jewelry.
“Remind me to do a background check on them.”
“Excuse me?” I ask shooting straight up, looking down at him completely shocked.
“What?”
“You don’t need to do a background check on anyone.”
Riker sighs and tries to pull me back down to him but I jerk away. Climbing out of the bed I realize I’m only wearing one of his shirts. I spot my jeans on the floor and quickly slip them on.
“We’ve ran background checks on everyone around you Darcy. We don’t think anyone is involved with Bradley, but we wanted to be sure. Everyone came back clean. Hell, Greg even did one on me so that it would be in his file. The police probably ran background check on everyone around you too. It’s not because we don’t trust them, it is mainly to cross them off the list. It’s a precaution not an accusation.”
“What else have you guys done? Who else did you run checks on? God, Riker I feel like I’m being left out of all of this.” I feel so defeated. I try to hold back my tears, I’m so sick of crying right now. I’m not even really mad at him right now I just feel so left in the dark that it scares me. “I don’t like it when people hide stuff from me.” I whisper to him.
Riker slowly raises from the bed, never taking his eyes off me as he walks over to me. “We’re not hiding things from you. Greg is investigating what is going on. So are the police. I’m only being kept update because I threatened to break Greg’s neck if he didn’t keep me in the loop. Think back over the last couple of days. Each time something big came up, you were told. We talked it out, and even made plans on how to handle it.”
He’s not totally right but he is mostly right. He didn’t tell me about all the stuff he add to my apartment and office, the cameras and stuff, until afterwards. He also didn’t tell me about talking to my parents after I went to sleep. I don’t know if he would have ever told me if my mom hadn’t spilled the beans first.
But he did keep me update on the mess with who owned or didn’t own the apartment next to mine. Also, we all sat down and talked about what needed to happen once Riker and I came home from the cabin. And he did go with me to the police station to help me there. He also got me out of there and brought me home with him when I fell apart after watching that video.
“I can see your mind working. You know I’m right.” Riker cups the back of my neck in his hand but doesn’t pull me to him.
“You’re partially right, you haven’t told me everything upfront, sometimes it was after the fact or if someone else told me first, but yeah you have kept me update to on most of it.” I roll my eyes at him when he gets the biggest eat shitting grin on his face. “Don’t gloat, it’s not a good look on you.”
“Come on silly girl, lets go cook dinner. It’s late and you need to eat.” Riker leads us to the kitchen and processed to teach me out to make a chicken and rice casserole.
We kept the question game up all through dinner, but we tried to only ask easy or fun questions. We had both had enough stress for today. After dinner we watched a movie before going to bed. Riker tried his best to convince me to stay with him in his room but I’m not ready for that, I don’t think we are ready for that. He finally gave in but insisted on tucking me in. Secretly I thought it was sweet, but I didn’t let him know that. Sleep came easier than I thought it would. Maybe it was because I knew Riker was just down the hall. Maybe it was because I was worn out from the hellish day I had just had. Either way I feel into a deep peaceful sleep, were I dreamed of Riker and only Riker.