~Eight~
Nothing felt more right than to have Tessa lying next to me. Even though I wasn’t the kind of man to cuddle or show any type of real affection towards a woman, Tessa made me feel something that I hadn’t felt in a long time. As I pulled her closer to my body, a small moan escaped as she snuggled up to my arm. It had to be the sweetest act of endearment that I had ever known.
I wished that I could have stayed like this forever, but as the sun was slowly making its appearance, I knew it was time to get up and find a way to get her away from Colin once and for all. Even though I no longer needed to distract Colin from her by using the plan to get him to the tracks, I still needed to find a way to get her out of LA and to a safe place. I knew that soon he would be coming here to get her. To be honest, I was surprised that he hadn’t come already.
Allowing her to sleep for a while longer, I began collecting some things that I thought we might need. When I went back to my room to pack a few things I had gathered, Tessa was staring at the wall thinking about who knew what. Walking over to the bed, I sat next to her and waved my hand in front of her face to get her attention. When her eyes blinked and her head turned toward me, our eyes met and she asked, “What am I going to do? Colin is going to be back tomorrow, and he is going to know that I am gone.”
Her confession explained at least one thing: why he wasn’t already knocking on my door. It also let me know that I had more time than I thought to get her to safety. Pulling her close to me, I tried to reassure her that everything would be okay. Hearing a knock at the front door, I gazed over to the nightstand, seeing that the alarm read 5:35 a.m. No one in their right mind would be up this early, which led me to believe that whoever was at my door was here for one purpose, and that was to get Tessa.
Looking around the room, I realized the only place I would be able to keep her out of sight for the time being, until I could get rid of the unwanted guests, was my walk-in closet. It was large enough that she would be able to hide behind my clothes and remain unseen. After making she sure was safely hidden, I went to the door to see who it was. When I got to the door, it was just as I suspected. Colin’s men were standing at attention, both in dark suits, looking more like they were dressed to go to someone’s funeral.
Before I could ask what, they wanted, the meaner of the two, who sported a bald head and a half-ass beard, questioned harshly, “Where is she?”
Looking straight at Mr. Baldy, I replied, “I don’t know what the fuck you are talking about,” emphasizing each word.
They pushed their way past me like they owned the place. I knew there was no way I would be able to stop them from entering. My only hope was that Tessa wouldn’t be found. As they headed down the hallway they began opening the closed doors on each side of the hallway. When they reached the end of the hallway, where the door to my room was, they both entered the room. There was no way I was going to wait to intervene until they found her. Heading in that direction, I could hear things being thrown around like they were looking for something more than Tessa.
Hearing a big thud, I increased my pace, finding that the mattress to my platform bed had been flipped completely off. It would have been a great place to hide her small frame, but just as I thought, it was the first place they looked. I stopped in my tracks when melon head began heading towards the closet. I knew she would surely be found, considering the way they were ripping into everything. Getting his attention, I reminded him loudly, “Like I said before, she’s not here.”
He must have gotten the drift, because he turned around after taking a quick peek in the closet, and looked to his counterpart and said, “This is a waste of time,” before wiping his hand across his bald head.
My words must have been convincing, because they both left my apartment, with baldy on his cell. I assumed he was calling Colin. As soon as the door shut behind them, I locked the deadbolt and headed back to my room. Tessa must have heard them leave, because when I entered the room, she was slumped on the floor with her knees pulled to her chest. I could tell she was scared that they would be back. I had to reassure her that I would never let anything happen to her.
Taking a seat next to her so that we were on the same level, I pulled her close to me and said, “There is no way I am ever going to let anything happen to you.”
Her eyes, as worried as they were, met mine. There was a slight hesitation when she replied, “I know.”
~*~*~*~
Once we had everything that we needed, there was only one place that I could think of that Tessa would be safe. Even heading down the Harbor Freeway, it would be at least thirty minutes before we would be at our destination. I was taking a chance, not knowing how Tessa would feel about meeting her father this soon, but at that moment, it was the only option I had to keep her safe.
When we pulled up to the stylish warehouse, Tess immediately asked, “Where are we?”
Cutting the engine to the car, I turned to face her and explained delicately, “My only concern is to keep you safe, Tessa, and the only way I could do that is to bring you here. I knew that this would be the last place Colin would ever look for you.”
“So where is here, Xavier?” she questioned.
“This is Criss Cross. It is your father’s company. I took a chance that you would be okay with meeting him now instead of later.”
The breath that she was unmistakable holding in was let out. I could see the apprehension on her face, but was surprised when she replied, “Let’s do this.”
Rounding the car, I helped her exit, closing the passenger side door behind her and pressing the key fob to secure the lock. Taking her by the hand, we walked to the front of the building where the glass entrance was. I knew by the look on Tessa’s face that she was just as impressed as I was when I first saw the warehouse. As we entered through the glass doors, Darcy came into view, displaying a smile that went from ear to ear.
Stepping up the counter, I let go of Tessa’s hand and instantly placed my arm around her waist in an affectionate manner. The smile on Darcy’s face disappeared as I asked, “Can you please let Jonathan know that I am here to see him, along with Tessa Sands?”
“Of course. Please take a seat and I’ll let him know you are here,” Darcy replied in an even tone, which was different than when I first came here.
Taking a seat in the waiting area, I reached for Tessa’s hand and asked, “Are you nervous?”
“I think I am more anxious than nervous,” she confessed.
I knew exactly where she was coming from. I would have been anxious as well if I was meeting my father for the first time. The only difference between her and I was that I knew that meeting my father would never happen unless by some miracle he rose from the dead. Even though I had other family, namely a brother who lived in New York, I broke all ties with him the day I became Xavier London. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen between Tessa and I, but one thing I did know, she couldn’t find out about my past. Hopefully she would never ask.
Completely lost in thought, I didn’t hear Jonathan walk up to us until he said, “London, I hope this visit is to bring me some good news.” His sights were on Tessa as he spoke.
Standing to my feet, I stepped up to him, shook his hand and said, “Jonathan, I would like to introduce to you Tessa Sands.”
With his eyes fixated on hers, he sidestepped past me and held out his hand to her. There was an uncanny resemblance between Tessa and him. There was no doubt in my mind that she was his daughter. “Tessa, it is a pleasure to finally meet you. Mr. London has told me so much about you,” he stated, inflating what we actually talked about.
“As he has told me so much about you,” Tessa smiled back.
There was a gleam in her eyes that presented itself the minute Jonathan introduced himself to her, which told me that they were going to get along very well. After the formal introduction was made, we headed up the flight of stairs to Jonathan’s office with me following behind Tessa and him. As we entered his office, Jonathan waited just inside the door, allowing us to enter first.
Taking seats in front of Jonathan’s large desk, we waited for him to take his place behind the desk. The room got uncomfortably silent before Jonathan began, “I think it is evident why you are here. When you said there was a possibility that my daughter was still alive, I had no idea just how serious you were until now. Of course, there will need to be tests done to confirm it, but I have no doubt in my mind that Tessa is my daughter.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem, but there is another reason we came here. Tessa needs to be kept safe, and given your history with Colin, I think this would be the one place he wouldn’t think to look for her,” I explained.
“What are you asking, London?” he inquired.
“That she remains here until I can find a way to deal with Colin,” I answered.
“I have a better plan,” Jonathan offered.
As we sat and discussed an option for Tessa’s safety, I knew that Jonathan’s idea was a much better solution than my own. Nowhere in the documents that Colin gave me did it mention another home that Jonathan owned. It was in a wooded area just northeast of LA. It was used as a safe haven many years ago when Jonathan thought his life was in danger. It was registered under a fictitious name so that there wouldn’t be any way it could be tied to him. Even though it was a good two-hour drive from the city, it was the best option to keep Tessa safe.