Reclaiming His Life Page 9

  I learn all about her family, what her childhood was like for the most part. I know she left some things out. We talk about what her future dreams are, and I encourage her to follow them. Dancing at the club isn’t one of them, but it’s a means to an end until she can figure out what to do. Money isn’t an issue for her. When her dad sent her away, he sent a pretty big chunk of cash with her, and because she is so smart, she invested everything but what she needed to get by on and has tripled her bank account in just four years.

  The more I learn about her, the more I realize she is the good I needed in my life. She brings out the best in me every day, makes me want to be a better person. I laugh, truly laugh when I’m with her, and when this is all over, I’m going to ask her to move in with me permanently. I need the good she brings into my life, I crave it, and I know it’s selfish of me to only think about myself, but I don’t care. I’ll find a way to give back to her what she is giving to me.

  Tonight, we both agree it’s time to reach out to her mom, but we have to do it the smart way. I picked up a burner phone from the store; this way, when she is done, we can toss it and there won’t be potential for anyone to find her.

  I sit beside her, giving her my support as she makes the call. “Mom, it's me. I can’t talk long, so please just listen. Give Bobby the properties, Mom, I’m not sure which they are, but I don’t want them.”

  She stills, eyes wide, and then she speaks again. “What do you mean, there are no properties? Bobby showed up saying Dad left you properties for me and that you wouldn’t sign them over to him until you heard from me that I don’t want them. He said you wanted me to come home so you could discuss it with me.”

  My hackles are on high alert. I can’t hear what is being said on the other end, but whatever it is has Lex shaking with fear in her eyes.

  “I don’t know why Uncle Jacob would want to see me. Dad said no one knew I was still alive, just you and Bobby. The rest of the family was supposed to be clueless.” Tears start falling from her eyes as she continues.

  “Why would he do that, Mom? Why would he tell Uncle Jacob I was alive? Dad knew I wanted no part of that life, which is why he devised this whole scheme in the first place. I was supposed to be able to live a normal life away from the family. Bobby was supposed to take over the business when Dad died, that was the agreement.”

  Lex stands and begins to pace. I tap my watch telling her she needs to wrap it up, and she nods her head indicating that she understood.

  “Mom, tell Uncle Jacob to just sign the company over to Bobby if he wants to retire. I gotta go, Mom. Tell Uncle Jacob to call Bobby back to Boston and to leave me alone, OK?”

  When Lex disconnects, she throws the phone on the ground with such ferocity that it shatters. Then she begins to pace back and forth in front of me, letting a string of cuss words leave her mouth that would make a sailor sound like a saint.

  “What was that all about?” I ask.

  With a huff and a roll of her eyes, she stops in front of me. “Dad decided on his death bed to tell Uncle Jacob that I’m still alive. See, Bobby wants to sell the business to the Cummiskey family, but Dad didn’t want that to happen, so since Uncle Jacob became president upon Dad’s death, he controls fifty-five percent of the voting stock. Uncle Jacob, like my dad, doesn’t want the business sold to the Cummiskeys, but he wants to retire, and if he does that, then Bobby takes over as the only remaining sibling.”

  I’m starting to see where this is going, so I ask the obvious. “Your uncle wants to sign the business over to you, which he can do with the majority of the stock and your mom’s blessing.”

  “Yes, Dad took the business legit after my death. He didn’t want anyone looking too deep into my death, and if the business remained on the not so up-and-up, then there would always be a paper trail back to me. That is why he didn’t share his plan with anyone but Bobby and Mom. According to Mom, Bobby has gotten into bed with the Cummiskeys, and he wants the company. Dad knew this, so he spilled the beans to Uncle Jacob so that Bobby never got a controlling share of the business and remained outside of an executive position. Mom holds the other forty-five percent of the stock.”

  “Damn, baby, that means that your mom and uncle have big-ass targets on their backs right now, and by the process of elimination you could be an issue in the future for your brother, too. Who knows if he has shared with anyone else that you are alive.”

  “Yeah, it’s all starting to make sense now why Bobby wanted me to go back home with him. I’m thinking he wanted to use me as a bargaining chip with Uncle Jacob to give him controlling interest, but I know my brother, and one thing he wouldn’t do is tell anyone I am alive. He may use me to get what he wants, but he would never place me in harm’s way.”

  “You sure about that? Because you could be betting your life on it.”

  I stand and wrap my arms around her, pulling her close to me and holding her while I say the rest. “Red, I think you might be in danger, more than you think you are. That scares the shit out of me, and I don’t scare easily.”

  Nodding her head in agreement, Lex holds tight when she speaks. “I need to find a way to make this right, Gauge. They have to know I want no part of any of this. It’s why I left. I couldn’t care less if the Cummiskeys get the business or what they do with it. I just want to be left alone.”

  “I know, Lex. We’ll figure it out together.”

  Another week goes by without any sign of her brother, and we are no closer to having a plan. Lex tries to reach out to her uncle, but he is always too busy, and she refuses to leave a message. She tries her mom once again, but that is no good and ends with her mom telling her to come home and deal with the situation like the McLean she was raised to be.

  The only good part about all of this is that I ‘ve had Lex in my bed now for over two weeks and I’ve gotten to know her on a deeper level. I now know she likes a little coffee with her milk and sugar, her toast with butter and honey in the morning, and that she can’t stand bacon. Who doesn’t like bacon? It’s almost inhuman, but I won’t hold that against her. At night, she loves it when I hold her and rub my hands in circles on her back, and when she finally falls asleep in my arms, she makes little noises that tell me she is content.

  I can’t imagine not having her with me, and I want to introduce her to my family when the time is right, so that is exactly what I am going to do. Lex already met Gunner and Paisley; both of them fell in love with her immediately, which only solidified what a genuinely perfect match she is for me. The good to my bad, light to my dark, my reason for rising every morning. But she fights me about meeting my family, saying it isn’t a good time with everything that is going on. All the more reason we need to wrap up the issue of her brother.

  “Gauge, I need to go to my apartment. It’s been weeks since I’ve been there, and I really need to go home. I can’t continue to stay here. Bobby hasn’t shown his face, so there is no reason to avoid going home. I think he got the message finally, and it’s time I gave you your space.”

  “I don’t need space, Lex, I need to know you are OK and safe.”

  “I am OK and safe.”

  “Only because you are with me. If I’m not with you, you’re not safe.”

  “Oh my God, will you listen to yourself. I know how to take care of myself. I’m not twelve, and I’ve been doing it for years.”

  “I’m going with you. If everything is in order, then I’ll let you stay. Don’t argue with me on this one, Lex.”

  “Like hell. I’ll stay if I want to stay. You may tell me what I can and can’t do in the bedroom, but you will not tell me what I can and can’t do with my life.”

  She is officially putting her foot down and stomping it like a big girl. There is that Irish spitfire coming out. I know she thinks she is putting me in my place, but if she thinks I’m going to leave her unprotected, she has another thing coming. Not going to happen on my watch, no sir, no way.

  “Let’s go,” I say as I step aside opening
the door to my apartment. I follow Lex down the stairs, my eyes glued to her ass in the tight jeans she wears, not looking up until we get to my bike. I climb on and hold my hand out, waiting for her to straddle the back and hold on, but when she stops and puts her hands on her hips, I know she has something to say.

  “You know I felt your eyes on my ass all the way over here.” Looking down at my crotch, she smiles. “You going to be able to ride with that thing so hard?” she asks, raising her eyebrow and turning up her lips in amusement.

  “Just climb your ass on, Lex. The sooner we take care of business, the sooner you can take care of this business,” I say pointing to the obvious erection in my pants, caused by watching the sway of her ass down the stairs and my need to be inside her every minute of the day.

  Her apartment is about fifteen minutes from mine. Nothing special considering all the money she has banked away. The neighborhood is less than ideal for a single woman to be in late at night all alone, but I’m going to soon change that. When we get to the front door, it is ajar. Clearly, someone has broken in.

  “Wait here. Let me go in first,” I whisper to her, and she nods her head indicating her understanding. Entering the living room, I see everything is in its place, nothing appears to be disturbed, which is odd. When I don’t respond to her question, Lex pushes past me and into the room. Looking around for a moment, she shrugs and then speaks.

  “See? Nothing to worry about. Everything is in order.”

  “Like hell. Did you not see that the front lock was broken? That means someone was or is still in here.”

  “Yes, probably Bobby, waiting for me to show up, and when I didn’t, he left. If it makes you feel better, you can check the rest of the place out.”

  “The only thing that will make me feel better is if you leave here with me right now.”

  “Such a control freak.” Turning, she walks down the hall to her bedroom, and I quickly follow behind. When she gets to her room, she pauses, causing me to run into her back and push her further into the room.

  “What the fuck, Lex?” I mutter as I push past her, seeing the suitcase open on her bed and all her stuff inside it. “When did you do this?”

  “I didn’t,” she whispers. “When I left, I just grabbed a couple of items and threw them in a duffle, the one I have at your place. I never packed a suitcase because I wasn’t planning on being gone that long.”

  Then I spot the envelope lying on top of the clothes in the suitcase. Reaching for it, I snap it up, open the label, and pull out the paper inside. Distinctively male handwriting is scribbled across the page.

  Kassidy,

  It’s time you came home. I know you’ve talked to mom and that you know there are no properties as I stated. The business should have been mine from day one, but you made sure that didn’t happen. I’m giving you until the end of the month to get here and talk some sense into Uncle Jacob before I take matters into my own hands.

  Trust me, Kassidy, you don’t want to see what “matters into my own hands” means. You won’t like it. As long as you are still breathing, Uncle Jacob won’t give me any part of the business. So you either need to make him see what a mistake that is or spend the rest of your life looking over your shoulder. Trust me, my partners won’t think twice about cleaning house, and that includes you once I tell them you are alive.

  One way or another, I’ll get the family business. How that happens is up to you.

  Bobby

  I watch as my woman crumbles to the floor and wraps her arms around her middle, holding tight as the tears fall from her face. I stand there and watch her body shake with her sobs, knowing there is nothing I can do to console her. So I let her cry until she can’t cry anymore, and then I pick her up off the floor and carry her to the couch, where I sit with her in my arms, and I hold her.

  It seems like an eternity before she realizes where she is. But when she speaks, she does so with conviction. “I have to go home, Gauge. If I don’t, their blood will be on my hands. I can read between the lines just as easily as you can, and you know that will happen. I can’t let that happen. I need to talk to my uncle.”

  “I know, Lex, you’re right, but not about going there. You can’t. I have a bad feeling about it. You can talk to your uncle by doing it over the phone. Please.”

  “He won’t listen, Gauge, not unless I am standing in front of him to make him understand. Plus, I’ve tried calling. You see that isn’t working.”

  “Come on, let's get out of here, and we can talk about it more at my place. I don’t want you here alone. It’s not safe.”

  I expect an argument, but Lex doesn’t fight it. She just follows me to my bike, climbs on, and holds on tight as I whisk us back to my place.

  Waking Up Alone

  IT HAS BEEN three days since we found the note at Lex’s place. I can’t tell you how many times we fought over her heading back to Boston. I don’t want her anywhere near her family, but no matter how hard I try to tell her what a bad idea it is, she won’t listen.

  The end of the month is approaching faster than I like, and I know I have to come up with a solution that will pacify her enough to keep her here in Arizona. 2300 miles is not far enough away from Boston if you ask me, but she isn’t asking me.

  If I have any shot at keeping her here, it’s time to come clean about how much she means to me. The day she fell apart in her bedroom was the day I came to terms with it myself. The ache I felt in my chest as I watched her disintegrate into nothing as she cried, I knew I had to make things right in her life for her. I need her happy, I need her whole, and as long as her brother’s fucked-up threats linger out there, it isn’t going to happen.

  While she slept that day completely exhausted from crying, I made a couple of well-placed calls. The first was to Gunner; he had connections, and I needed to know exactly what the McLeans and Cummiskeys were up to.

  What I found out was McLean Industries is an import and export business. They offer shipping needs to large corporations who need to move their products around the world. Some time back, the McLeans were mixed up with an Italian crime family and a few members of a pretty well-known MC, but they went legit four years ago just as Lex said they did.

  Cummiskey Corp. is another story. They are still very active in the drug trade, and they need the McLean’s export business to take their business to the next level. Bobby McLean stands to make a mint if he is named the successor to the family business and then merges it with or sells it to Cummiskey Corp., which is why I can’t let my girl step one foot back in Boston.

  For the last several days, Gunner has been working on getting me in touch with Jacob McLean. I need to talk to this man and make him understand that he needs to leave his niece out of this mess. So what if the business goes to Bobby? Lex wants no part of it. I don’t give two shits if Bobby sells it off to Cummiskey Corp. I just want them to leave Lex alone. She’s been off the grid for four years; why now do they need to bring her back into this mess? If her dad were alive, I’d kill him myself for telling her uncle that she is alive.

  Today, Lex and I work the early shift. You won’t believe how many fucks come to a strip club in the middle of the afternoon on a Sunday. I guess the wives go to church to pray for forgiveness, while the husbands come here to pray to the pussy. As I stand there watching Lex work the pole on the stage, I’m in awe of just how well she can move. I never paid attention to any of the dancers or their performances. I am paid to watch the door, not the girls, but tonight, something has me checking out the show, and I’m mesmerized by how effortlessly Lex makes it look as she wraps a leg around the pole and swings all the way down, landing on the stage then crawling to the edge. Hell, she even makes my dick twitch in my pants, and if I don’t get back outside, I’m liable to blow my load in my pants or kill a motherfucker for fantasizing about my woman.

  IT’S STILL EARLY when both of our shifts end, so I think what a great time it would be to take a ride. I always love riding with the wind in my face; it he
lps clear my mind, and today, I need to clear my mind.

  “Lex, do you mind going for a ride with me? Thought we might head north, see how far we get before the sun sets.”

  “Sure, whatever you want,” she replies, but I can tell her mind is somewhere else. She isn’t with me the whole ride; she may be present in body, but that’s it. I can’t take it any longer, so as we pass through the town of Strawberry, I pull off and head down a gravel road. I know this road well; it leads back into the hills and comes up on the back side of Fossil Creek. It’s just a short walk to the waterfall, and we can make it there before sunset if we hurry.

  “Where are we?”

  “Fossil Creek, Lex. Come on, I want to show you something.”

  Lex follows me along the trail about a mile in when we come upon the falls. The sound of the running water can be heard before you actually see them. So many people don’t even know the falls are here; everyone always comes to see Tonto Bridge, but very few make the hike to the falls this time of year.

  “Wow, this is beautiful, Gauge,” she says as she drops to the rocks and stretches her legs out, leaning back on her elbows and pushing her face up toward the sun. I watch her close her eyes and just relax, her chest rising and falling with the sound of the wind in the trees. I was right to bring her here even if it only gives her solace for a short time.

  “You know, you are so beautiful all stretched out there. Just looking at you makes my dick hard.”

  She laughs without even opening her eyes. “Your dick is always hard when I’m around.”

  That is an accurate statement. If Lex is in the room, my dick is in a semi-hard state of mind, just waiting for its chance to be set free and find its way into her pussy. Hell, all I have to do is think of her and my dick starts to get hard. I stretch out beside her and just listen to the water running and her breathing. I feel all the tension from the last few days leave my body. I’m working up the courage to tell her what I need to say before I wimp out again.