Since the idea of a bodyguard had been thrown out, Liam decided that Rox should learn how to protect herself. He brought her down into the basement, which was fitted out as a small boxing gym. The huge punching bag hung off to the side and there were also exercise machines.

They started with some basics. He showed her how to make a fist so that she didn’t break her fingers.

“Don’t tuck your thumb in,” he said, taking her hand in his and wrapping her thumb around the outside of her fingers. “Keep it like that and make sure you tighten it when you try to land it. Don’t throw a punch with a loose fist.”

He showed her showed her the stance to punch from.

“Follow through with the weight from your back foot. Don’t just try to punch with your arms and your hands, you’re punching with your whole body. And you’re not punching his face.

“I’m not? Should I go for the crotch?” She looked at him quizzically.

“I mean, sure, if you have an opening always go for the balls, but what I meant was you’re trying to punch that fist right through his skull. Don’t stop, just keep right on punching. Same goes for kicking. Don’t pull your punches or your kicks.”

Next, they walked through some grabbing techniques. He came up behind her and put her in a loose headlock and explained how to get out of that. Same with the chokehold from the front that Jon seemed so fond of. He showed her how to twist her body and use her arms to break an attacker’s grip on her.

Next, he grabbed a couple of pads and gloves, and then tossed them to Rox.

“Put them on,” he said, sliding his hand into one of the mitts. He helped her get the second glove on and then slid on his second mitt. They walked through punches and combinations and ducking hits.

“We’ll come down every morning and practice for a little bit, okay?” he said, pulling her in for a kiss. She brought her gloved hands up to his face to pull him to her.

“Yes, boss,” she said with a grin, giving him a playful tap on the chin.

* * *

“Caleb, I’m not going to sugarcoat this,” she said, standing at the counter in the kitchen with his four trial dishes laid out in front of her. Caleb looked like he was going to pass out at any moment, his nervous smile turning into a look of complete despair as she tried to keep a straight face. “Everything is amazing!”

He smiled so hard, Rox was afraid he was going to pull a muscle in his cheeks.

“Really? I worked really hard on these,” he said, practically vibrating with joyful energy.

“I can tell. They’re great. I’d like you to look at the schedule for the next two weeks and pick two of your recipes you want to include. Pick nights where you think people will want to go for your dishes and let me know. We’ll work on figuring something out.”

“Yes, Chef!” he said, proudly, his chest puffed out. He disappeared back behind the shelves and the distinct noise of Michelle’s squeal could be heard from across the kitchen. Peeking around the corner, she saw those two making out like there was no tomorrow next to the back door. Rox couldn’t help but smile. She knew that high you got when you tried out a recipe. And how scary it was to try them out for someone you looked up to. When you tasted them over and over, it was hard to figure out if what you tasted was what they would taste. Kind of like when you say a word over and over and it loses all meaning.

“Rox, delivery for you!” Charlie called out from the bar. They were getting ready to open for the afternoon. Liam had to run to a meeting with his brother, so he’d driven her there and left. It was another one of their compromises they’d reached. No more motorcycles until Jon was caught.

She pushed out from the kitchen and saw a box with her name on it at a table close to the kitchen door. It didn’t have an address on it, but her name was clearly printed on the front. She ripped off the brown paper, her hands shaking. She’d never gotten a package at work before and something told her someone hadn’t subscribed her to a makeup of the month club.

The smooth white box didn’t give anything away, so she opened the lid and was confronted with ugly memories of her past. Hundreds of pictures of her and Jon filled the box. Them smiling at events, at the beach, at his parents’ house. In each picture, she could tell what piece of clothing she was wearing to hide the bruises. Whether it was sunglasses, a scarf or a turtleneck on a bright and sunny day, in each and every one, she knew that she’d been attacked days, if not hours before.

The folded note sat proudly in the middle like a viper ready to strike. Fingers trembling, she reached down and picked it up.

Dearest Juliette,

It seems that my requests for you to return to me are going to go unanswered. I don’t know why you’ve chosen to break my heart this way, but I want you to know that I’m not going to stand for it any longer. I hope that these pictures will remind you of better times, happier times, before outsiders tried to meddle in what we have. I won’t allow them to do it anymore and I won’t allow you to continue to ignore me. I’ll be seeing you soon.

With all my love,

Jon

She picked up the box and sprinted to the bathroom. Rox puked in the toilet until she thought she’d turn inside out. A clammy sweat broke out all over her body and she shook all over. He was insane, she knew that, but why couldn't he let her go? Why couldn’t he find someone else’s life to ruin? Hadn’t she been through enough crap in her life already? Didn’t she deserve someone who loved her and let her be herself?

Grabbing a paper towel from the bathroom, she wet it and ran it along her neck. This was going to be a long night. Rinsing her mouth a few times, she looked at herself in the mirror and saw she looked like her normal self, nothing like the tumultuous mess that churned inside her right now. Every bump and bang around the bar made her jump.

Picking up the box from the floor beside the toilet, she tried to shove it in the trash but it was too big. She didn’t want to dump all the pictures out and have someone see them. She’d have to throw it in the dumpster. Pulling open the bathroom door, she ran right into Liam. As she let out a squeak, his strong arms came out to steady her. If he found out about this, he would have that security guard here in under an hour. She couldn’t say that the idea hadn’t danced on the edges of her mind since he brought it up, but the idea of someone looming over her and following her every move was just too much. There was no way she’d be able to handle it. Her already clammy hands went even colder.

“Hey, you. In a hurry?” She plastered on a smile when he asked.

“No, just wanted to get back in there.”

“Are you feeling okay?” he said, putting the back of his hand to her forehead. “You look really pale. Are you sure you’re okay to work today?”

“Sure, I’m fine. I just need to get back to the kitchen,” she said, avoiding his gaze. Deep breaths, Rox. Stay calm. Things would be okay. If she stuck to the bar and home, Jon would be arrested eventually, then it would all be okay.

“What’s that?” He pointed to the box under her arm.

“Nothing, just a delivery I got. I was going to put it in the car.”

“Here, I’ll take it.” He grabbed for the box and Rox pulled it away. “I’ll stash it up in the office until it’s time to go.” He put his hand on the box and tried to take it out of her grasp.

“It’s okay, I was actually going to go put it out in the dumpster.”

“Rox! We need you in here!” Someone called from the end of the hall leading back out into the bar.

“See, they need you. Let me take this and I’ll put it up there.” He slid it out from under her arm and her mouth opened and shut like a fish, trying to think of something to say that wouldn’t raise his suspicions and get the box back. She floundered as he jogged up the stairs to the office. Despondent, she walked back to the kitchen to put out whatever fire had happened in her absence. She prayed it hadn’t been an actual fire and Liam wouldn’t open the box.

* * *

Liam was up in the office throughout the evening. He’d hired a few more servers, another bartender, and a couple more kitchen staff to help keep pace with the increase in customers they’d been seeing lately. Apparently, the word was out about The Bramble and it was spreading. They had begun taking lunch and dinner reservations because the wait times were getting ridiculous. After dinner service ended and it was solely bar food, things got even crazier with shoulder-to-shoulder crowds. They weren’t even running drink specials most nights, but the musical talent that showed up every night, coupled with Rox’s food, was a home run for this area. He couldn’t be prouder of how well this place was doing. And Mark had finally narrowed down the new location to two spots. Things were taking shape in a way he never could have thought. Most importantly, things with Rox were going well. They’d weathered the Jon argument for now, but his unease at her being unguarded most of the time made him want to punch something.

He pulled a couple of folders out from under Rox’s box. He still hadn’t stashed it in the car and it fell off the side of the desk. The lid popped off and the contents spread out across the floor. They were pictures. Had she ordered pictures? Crouching to pick them up, the office door swung open and Rox popped her head in. The look on her face when she saw the pictures spread out all over the floor should have been enough to clue him into the fact that something was wrong. Very wrong.

“What are you doing?” she shrieked, crouching down on the ground to pick up the pictures.

“The box fell off the desk. It’s fine, we’ll just put everything back inside.” He bent to pick them up.

“Don’t touch them!” she screamed, trying in vain to get all of them into her arms. He crouched down and picked up one of the pictures that slid next to his shoe. Turning it over, a well-dressed man and a beaming Rox stared back at him. She had much longer hair, coiffed like you’d imagine any trophy girlfriend or wife would be. She was so much younger. They were smiling at the camera seated at a table at some sort of event.

She frantically threw all the pictures into the box, but a green piece of folder paper amongst the photos caught his attention and he picked it up. Reading it, he crumpled it in his hand and glared at Rox.

“What is this?” he demanded.

“It..it…it’s a delivery I got today.”

“A delivery from Jon that you were hiding from me. That you didn’t want to tell me about.” His voice got louder with each word. She’d hidden this from him. She didn’t trust him enough to tell him about this.

“I didn’t want you to worry,” she said, trying to calm him.

“More like you didn’t want me to tell you this was the last straw and you’re getting security,” he fumed. He searched for his phone. This ended tonight. He’d ensure she was safe whether she liked it or not.

“If he wanted to hurt me, he would have done it already. I’m starting to think he’s only talk at this point,” she reasoned, stupidly. He was biding his time for the right time to attack her again. What if he succeeded this time?

“And you’re willing to risk your life on that?” he shouted, taking a step forward. Stopping himself from approaching her in anger, he took deep breaths to get his rage under control. “You may be willing to, but I’m not.”

“I’m not going to live my life in fear of him. The police are looking for him, there’s not much more that can be done beyond that. I’m not walking into dark alleys. I don’t even really go anywhere by myself. I’m here or I’m at the house Liam, be reasonable,” she said, trying to brush it off like it was nothing. It wasn’t nothing. He wasn’t going to allow the woman he loved to be in danger.

“I am being reasonable. You’re the one that doesn’t want to have protection, out of some misguided idea that I’m trying to control you.”

“You’re trying to control the situation. You can’t control everything in life. It’s not always going to go your way.”

“You don’t think I know that?! But it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to stop bad shit from happening.” Why couldn’t she let him handle this? Why did she have to be so damn stubborn?

“You’re not getting me a security guard and that’s it,” she said, storming out of the office, slamming the door.

Liam unlocked his phone, found the numbers he was looking for and made a few calls.

“Yes, great. He can be here tomorrow? I need him to meet me at the address I gave you at seven tomorrow morning.”

Rox may not have thought that she needed someone to look after her, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to lose her. Whether she liked it or not, she was going to have someone protect her. She didn’t have to know about it - this company could ensure that they sent someone discreet.