CHAPTER 2
HARPER
“You gonna let me in, or just stand there gawking?” Harper smiled down at the beautiful woman standing in front of him.
Elyse Lancaster was absolutely breathtaking. Her dark brown skin glowed beneath a large pink sweatshirt, and matching tights. Her face was still gorgeous even with the deep scowl. Her brown eyes were narrowed, but he could still see the excitement dancing in their depths. She wore her hair in a low ponytail that puffed out around her shoulders. Although her hair was lovely like it was, he loved it when she wore it out and wild.
“I just can’t with you. I don’t want to do this anymore, Harper. No more games.” Normally Harper would’ve responded with some snarky comeback, and his signature smirk. But he could hear the hurt in her voice, and those things didn’t work on her anyway.
“Elyse we need to talk about this.” Harper wasn’t the type of man to beg a woman for anything. Hell, he barely had to ask a woman for anything. However, when it came to Elyse, all bets were off.
Elyse shook her head and mumbled under her breath, but she let him in. “You have ten minutes.”
Harper tried hard to subdue his smirk, but it slipped out anyway because he heard Elyse grumble about him being an asshole.
“Talk.” Elyse flopped down on her couch with a glass of wine.
“You have a right to be pissed, E. But you knew what you signed up for, I never lied to you about that.”
“That’s bullshit, Harp! Omitting parts of the truth is the same as lying.” Elyse shook her head, and he could see the tears forming in her eyes, but he held himself back from going to her and pulling her into his arms.
“Sunshine…”
“Don’t fuckin’ call me that, Harper. That Sunshine shit is a façade, and you of all people know that. But you know everything don’t you. I told you all of my secrets, and you haven’t told me shit.”
“Baby, listen to me…” Harper did go to her this time. He couldn’t hold himself back any longer. He sat down beside her taking her delicate hand in his, “I can’t tell you everything because it’s too dangerous. I couldn’t tell you when I was leaving, or when I was coming back because it was part of the job.”
“I understand that Harper, but I can’t live like that. You promised me that you would get out. You told me after Eden was kidnapped that you were finished, and then you turned around and went right back. You lied to my face, and that’s unacceptable.”
Harper couldn’t respond because she was right. He had given up on a case that he thought was dead, but once he got a tip of a lifetime, he had to chase the lead.
“Elyse, I’m sorry. I had to go.” Harper pleaded with his eyes for her to understand. If it wasn’t dangerous, he would have told her exactly what he was doing, but he couldn’t.
“I know you did,” she smiled sadly. “I don’t begrudge you whatever it is that you’re chasing, Harp. But I’m not cut out for that kind of life with you. This isn’t me trying to play hard to get, or for you to chase me.
“This isn’t a boy meets girl, and girl is scared of her feelings so she runs.” Elyse shook her head somberly, “I know my feelings, and you’re the one person in the world that knows everything about me. There’s nobody like you, Harp. But we can’t keep doing this.”
“I’m not just going to let you go, Elyse.” Harper stated seriously. How could she think after everything they’d been through, and everything that he knew about her that he could just let her walk away from him.
“You don’t have a choice.” She said quietly.
****
Harper couldn’t believe that she would just give up on him. Yeah, he was vague about his whereabouts most of the time, and secretive about his job, and yes he lied to her on occasion, but it wasn’t like he wanted to. Harper had to do those things to keep her safe, hell even his brother didn’t know exactly what he did when he left town.
“It was so much easier when I was single.” Harper grumbled to himself. You’re still single. His conscience mocked him.
Not a lot of people knew that Harper Price was a certified genius. When he served in the special forces, he was literally the brain of the operations. Once he got out, he was recruited by multiple government agencies, but he chose to go into the private sector. Harper had hacked the government systems too many times to count, there was no way in hell he was working for those incompetent idiots.
Harper made his way off the elevator, and into his brother’s penthouse. Anytime he was in North Texas, he stayed with his brother. It was a matter of convenience because Harper was never in any one place long enough to set down roots, so he just crashed with his brother.
Now that Camedon was getting married, Harper needed to make other arrangements. The penthouse was spacious, but he didn’t want to intrude, although he and his brother owned a mansion on the outskirts of town, the place was entirely too large and out of the way for him to stay there.
“I’m going to have to find a place to live at thirty-years-old.” Harper ran his hand through his hair in frustration.
Harper had so much going for him, and so little at the same time. He was a multi-millionaire because of his investments, and didn’t have to work if he didn’t want to, but he was a thrill seeker. He would be bored to tears if he didn’t have a system to hack, somebody to find, or a bad guy to kill. Then on the other hand, he didn’t have a permanent place of residence, and he had never had a serious committed relationship.
“Hey, Harp!” His future sister-in-law came bouncing into the living room.
“Hey, peanut. What’s shakin?” Harper put on his cool demeanor. He was good at it, everybody thought he was the easy breezy guy without a care in the world.
Harper and Elyse had a lot of things in common, but the one thing he wished was different were the masks they both wore for the people that they loved. It was easy for Harper to recognize Elyse’s pain because he was hiding his own; he was just much better at it than she was. It was his job after all.
People tended to see what you showed them on the surface, they believed what you told them without asking too many questions; especially your loved ones.
“You alright? I thought I heard you talking to yourself.” Eden stared at him with her intense brown eyes.
It was a look that he was familiar with. Elyse would often get that same look when she knew that he wasn’t telling her the whole truth. At times like this, he hated that they were twins. To the naked eye they were identical, but Harper knew the truth. They were yin and yang, opposite sides of the same coin. They looked the same, but on closer inspection, you could see the differences.
“I was just fighting with this new app on my phone is all.” He gave a convincing smirk, and she smiled. They never look too deep.
“Uh huh. Have you talked to my sister?” Eden turned her penetrating gaze back to him, and he realized that his act wasn’t as convincing as he thought. I’m losing my touch.
“Yep,” he exaggeratingly popped the p.
“How’d that go?”
“You know us, peanut. Oil and water.” Harper chuckled, but Eden wasn’t laughing at his little joke. “What?”
“If you keep hurting my sister, I’m going to get Camedon and Jones to beat your ass.” Her expression was serious, and he knew that she meant what she said.
“How do you know that she isn’t the one hurting me?” He questioned seriously.
Eden’s expression softened, and she gave him a small smile, “Because I know my sister. She may think she’s hiding, but I see her. I may not know exactly what happened or even when, I may not know the details of my sister’s pain, but I can see it clear as day. Elyse may pretend to be tough, and she might act like everything is sunshine all the time, but I see my sister.
“I see the hurt in her eyes and on her face when she thinks nobody is looking. I see her, just like I see you.”
There goes the theory of nobody looking too deep.
CHAPTER 3
ELYSE
Elyse should’ve known that hanging up the phone on Harper Price wouldn’t have been enough of a deterrent to keep him away. His persistence was one of the things she liked most about him when she first met him, but now, it was a just another trait of his that annoyed the hell out of her.
Harper must’ve had a built-in radar on her because as soon as she decided to move on with her life and let him go, he would pop up to start this merry-go-round of a relationship. If you could even call what they did, a relationship. Harper would never fully commit because he didn’t know when he was going to have to go, and he didn’t want her worrying every second he was gone, as if she wouldn’t either way.
Harper was a good guy, and an even better friend, but he was horrible boyfriend material. And Elyse knew exactly what type of man was horrible. She had made some atrocious decisions in her life when it came to men, but it was time for her to move on from the past, and start living again. She wanted to be with someone special. It’s time.
Seven years ago
Elyse could feel someone behind her, she could feel them getting closer and closer to her as she ran through the parking lot. She had stayed at the library for hours trying to get caught up on her statistics paper, and she let the time get away from her. She hadn’t realized that it was after eight.
Eight at night wasn’t really late for college standards, but it was the weekend before Thanksgiving break, and most people had cleared off campus already. Elyse had one last final, and assignment to turn in; then she would leave for home. Her sister had left already, not that they had been particularly close for the past two years.
Elyse heard a muffled grunt come from behind her, and she knew that it wasn’t her overactive imagination.
Shit! Somebody is following me!! Why did I try to take a short cut this late at night? I just should’ve gone through the quad where there was more light. Elyse thought as she sped up her pace.
Elyse hadn’t been thinking clearly however, because she was so excited to get back to her room and get ready for her date. She hadn’t been out on a date since she’d finally gotten rid of her ex-boyfriend. Being with him was one of the biggest mistakes of her young life, and it took her almost a year to get out of the dysfunctional relationship.
Elyse shook her head, to dispel the dreadful thoughts. There was no time to reminisce when some jackhole was following her through campus like she was in a thrasher movie. I will not be the heffa that falls, pick up the pace, Elyse!
She picked up speed running faster and faster; she could hear her heartbeat louder and louder. Elyse was almost in a full sprint to get to the lit blue light area of the parking lot. The blue lights led to different phones that were reserved to specifically connect to emergency services instantly. The area was flooded with light, and it was there to make students feel safe. Elyse never would’ve thought that she would ever be one of the girls on campus that had to use that particular security feature.
She was almost there; Elyse could see the lights right up ahead. However, she knew that whoever was behind her was close, but she refused to turn around.
I can make it; I can make it. I can…
Before she could finish her thought, the wind was knocked out of her. The person was huge, and their body tackled her small frame to the ground. She tried to scream, but she didn’t have any air left in her lungs.
Her attacker turned her over, and although he was wearing a mask Elyse could imagine the glee he had about capturing his prey. She was struggling, and fighting the best that she could, but he was practically sitting on her chest. She was still breathing hard from his tackle.
“You thought you could run from me bitch?” The attacker growled in her ear. “I was just playing with you. You’ll never get away.”
Elyse wanted to cry, but she knew she had to fight. She went limp staying as still as possible; in her self-defense class she remembered that the instructor said that most attacks were about power not sex, and most attackers wanted an easy target. So if necessary act as if you won’t fight, and then catch them off guard and fight for your life.
Elyse slowed her breathing, she needed all of her strength if she was going to be a survivor and not a victim. As her attacker struggled to get through all of her layers of clothing he took his arm from one of her hands, and Elyse took her chance. With an upward motion with the palm of her hand she hit the person in his masked covered nose. He howled out in pain, and Elyse tried to get away, but he was too heavy.
He slapped her hard across her face, “You’re going to pay for that bitch!”
Her attacker began to choke her, and Elyse could feel herself slipping away. His hands tightened around her throat, and everything went dark.
****
Elyse jolted awake from her nightmare. She hadn’t had that particular nightmare in a while. Old memories of bad decisions always snuck up on her; not that her attack that night was her fault, but previous poor decisions had led her exactly where her attacker needed her to be. It ate at her day and night for years, that someone was able to rob her of her sense of self.
Arguing with Harper reminded her of all of her poor decisions of the past. It haunted her, hanging over her head every time she let him back in. She just couldn’t let Harper be another bad decision.
Elyse was tired of the self-destructing cycle. But she just couldn’t seem to get herself together. That was all about to come to an end. She was done with pretending that everything was okay. Elyse was determined to make everything okay.
She never told a soul about what happened to her; that is until Harper Price. She trusted him, confided in him. She told him about the lowest time in her life, and he didn’t trust her enough to tell her what he did for a living.
Elyse figured it was some secret organization because he was always running off like a thief in the night, hopping on private planes, and having unlimited access to things nobody should even know about, much less have access to.
She shook her head trying to dislodge the awful memories of both her past, and Harper. Elyse knew that she deserved better, even with all of her flaws, she was still a good person. She loved her family and friends, and she would do anything for them. She deserved to have a man that would love her enough to stay by her side.
Elyse punched her pillow, and laid down again. She closed her eyes and prayed for a peaceful sleep, but her mind just wouldn’t be still. The thoughts of Harper ran on repeat like a bad episode of Scandal. He was so many things, so annoying, so arrogant, so selfish, but she missed him so much.
“Why Lord? Why can’t I just have at least one healthy relationship with a man?” Elyse sighed into the darkness of her bedroom.
It was another hour before she had to get up, and she hadn’t gotten anymore sleep. Elyse decided that the universe must’ve been telling her to get out of bed. She figured she would get in a quick work out, and then head to work. Maybe if she got enough done, she could find a dress for next week’s event with Travis.
Travis, now that’s a man that I should focus on. Elyse thought as she slipped into the bathroom to get ready for the gym.
Elyse’s gym visit was very productive; she was able to get in three miles on the treadmill before the gym became packed with the morning rush of people. She showered, and changed at the gym and headed out for work.
As of late, Elyse’s make-up had been simplistic. She wore a light dusting of powder to combat her shine, and a nude lip gloss. Her normally wild curly hair had been tamed into either a low bun or a loose ponytail. In her mind she blamed it on her busy schedule, but she knew the truth.
Elyse had been falling deeper and deeper into the hole she had dug for herself. Pretending to be perpetually happy was exhausting, and she could no longer keep up the act. But maybe if she tried really hard, she could actually be happy. Just maybe she could outrun the demons of her past.
****
Today is going to be a better day. Elyse chanted the motto over and over in her head. Today she was going to go shopping with the girls, then dinner, and drinks. She was going to smile and laugh, and have a good time. And maybe, she would drink enough to keep the nightmares away.
Elyse strutted into the small boutique where Farren and Eden were already browsing through racks of clothes. Fake it till you make it Lysee.
“Hey there, honey pies!” Elyse put the usual sass into her words as she greeted her girls.
“Hey, Lysee.” They both said in unison.
“So do you know what you’re looking for?” Farren asked as she shifted dresses around.
Elyse was always envious of Farren’s curves. She had a classic pin-up body, and she made anything she wore look sexy.
“I need something that’s going to turn heads.” Elyse replied as she headed to the section reserved for gowns.
“Oh, okay!” Farren snapped her fingers, “So, we’re going to give the people some sexy elegance.” Farren nodded her head with a devious smile, “They won’t know what hit them.”
“Ohh.” Eden clapped her hands together happily. “I saw just the dress; it will look stunning on you.” She rushed to a rack of dresses, and pulled out a gorgeous canary yellow show stopper.
The mermaid style dress was strapless with a cinched natural waist, and a dramatic ruffle down the side. The color alone would be eye catching especially against Elyse’s dark chocolate skin, but the shape would show off her curves just right.
Elyse tried on the dress, and instantly she knew that it was the one. Eden was right. She felt confident, and beautiful. I will surely turn heads in this.
It was definitely a show shopper. The dress skimmed her curves in all the right ways. And she was right, the yellow color made her skin pop. It glowed against the shimmery fabric bringing out the golden undertones of her skin.
Farren whistled, “Yes, girl. Give it to the people!” She snapped her fingers and they all laughed at her silliness.
“So I guess we have a winner! Time for cocktails.” Elyse smiled.
After Elyse made her purchase, the ladies headed over to Fabiola’s; a Spanish infusion restaurant and lounge that they frequented.
As they sipped on their cocktails and chatted, Elyse felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. She took a chance to glance around the space, but nothing caught her eye.
“Are you okay, baby sis?” Eden asked with a curious expression written all over her pretty face.
“Uh… yeah. I just felt a little…” Elyse’s words trailed off at the sound of his boisterous laughter. There was no mistaking that sound because it gave her goosebumps every time she heard it.
“Oh shit.” Farren mumbled.
Elyse turned around and made eye contact with Harper. It wasn’t a shock at all. She had just had a conversation with him a couple of nights before, so she knew that he was in town. However, what Elyse didn’t expect was the tall statuesque black woman that was holding his hand.