Together Forever Read online

“Can— can I talk to Paxton for a minute?” His hands go up in surrender. “I can just stay right here at the door. Just a minute?”

  Looking at Pax, I nod and smile. She rolls her eyes and shrugs. I pat her hand and get up, walking to him. I take his arm and squeeze, looking into his eyes. “Be gentle,” I whisper. He smiles at me and winks. I roll my eyes. Oh, my God! I have to stop doing that! I leave the room, but stay in the hall right outside the door. No way am I leaving my bestie alone with him right now.

  “So, um, how’s your head?” I hear him ask her. No answer back. “I, um, I hope you know I just fell asleep last night. Sorry, I— sorry I cuddled you. I—” Man he sucks at this.

  “It’s ok. Didn’t even know you were there,” she answers finally.

  Oh, no Pax! Come on, drop the bitch queen act. Let him in.

  “I mean, Thanks. Um.” Silence.

  “Well, I gotta get to the shop so— Maybe I’ll see ya before you leave. Maybe,” he says quietly. He turns and walks past me down the hall and the stairs. I walk into the room and stand in front of her, crossing my arms.

  “Well. That went well.” I smirk. She just looks up at me with tears in her eyes. I sit down immediately and wrap my arms around her. Patting her head that landed on my shoulder again, and I whisper, “Baby steps. Baby steps.”

  She decided to lay down for a bit, so I went into my office to check on my book, fan page and whatever else I needed to check on. I haven’t been on my laptop for a few days. I was just booting it up when Shane walks in with another latte for me. So sweet, my sexy man.

  He bends down so I can give him a thank you kiss. My hand cups his face. “Oh, darling. You’re so good to me. What did I ever do to deserve you?”

  He places his hand over mine, rubbing his thumb across over it. “Love, all you have to do is be you. The question is, what did I do to deserve you?” I sigh. He kisses my cheek, then my forehead. “I’m gonna leave you to do what you do best and I am going to the shop for a bit.” He smiles. “Now, don’t get mad.”

  I look at him and frown. “Why? Why would I get mad?” My eyebrows crease over my eyes. “What did you do?” I cross my arms under my boobs, taking them up a notch. He looks right at them and lick’s his lips. “Ahem, Shane!” That got his attention.

  “Oh! Oh, sorry. I hired Rock to keep an eye on you and Pax while I’m at the shop.” My eyes go big. “He’s out on the front porch, and won’t get in the way.” He cups my face and my eyes soften. “I’d feel better, ok love?” I nod and he kisses me with passion. Our kiss starts to go into more than a goodbye kiss until he breaks it. “I gotta go now or I’ll never leave and I have a few clients that need their artwork done.” He winks and leaves me to go do his work.

  I take a drink of my fresh latte that he is becoming a master of and open my emails. My book! It’s back from the editor! I spend most of the day doing the edits, until my eyes cross. As I get ready to send the edited copy back to her to check again, an instant message pops up on Facebook.

  Hey, chickie! What’s up? I’ve been missing my fav author! ☺

  I can’t help but laugh. Lana and her emoticons.

  Hey, am just sending the edited version of my book back to the editor for her to check again.

  She shoots one back quickly.

  Too fucking awesome! Woot! So proud of you! So, did she say how long until she would get it back to you again? ♥

  I roll my eyes. Oh. My. God! I punch myself in the arm. Stop that!

  She said a day or two, not long. Squeeeeee! I’m so excited! And, I found the best cover designer and she said she will have it done tomorrow. Holy shit! I’m really doing this!

  She’s pinging me over and over but all I can do is stare at the screen. I can’t believe I’m doing this. I feel a slap across my arm. Ow! I look up and see Pax smiling at me, like she ate the canary.

  “Shit, woman! Answer her! She’s gonna have a coronary on IM,” she snickers. She sits down in the big oversized chair I have, for reading, propping her feet over the arm. She’s got a bowl of popcorn in her lap, munching away. Well, looks like someone is feeling better.

  I turn my attention back to my laptop screen that is blowing up with IM’s.

  Ok! Awesome! I am sending out the form for your cover reveal and getting a bunch of other blogs on board. Then how long do you think before you hit the publish button? Wait! If she gets it back in a couple of days, wow! Ok, sending out the form to get blogs signed up for your book tour too! Shit! This could all happen really soon! Allie? Allie?

  I laugh as I envision the vein in her neck popping. Oops.

  I’m here. Just watching my IM blow up. Ok, seriously, what do you need me to do?

  I sit there watching everything she is telling me, nodding. Like she can see me. Ugh! I just rolled my eyes again. Help me!

  I do what she says and post on my Facebook page about the cover reveal and book blog tour coming soon. I also make a separate post that I will be publishing my book very soon. I get a ton of replies. I love interacting with everyone.

  I look up from my computer and see that Pax has left the room and apparently she turned on the light that sits next to the chair. Wow, I had no idea I had been here this long. My phone starts ringing on my desk, so I reach for it but stop. The number shows as unknown. I get the creeps and look around the room. It stops ringing and buzzes that I have a voice mail.

  My hand shakes as I pick it up. I punch in the code and listen.

  “You know you can’t hide, Allie Cat. I’m watching. When I get you and I will get you, I’m gonna fuck your brains out and then beat them outta you. You’re gonna pay for what you did. You and your family. Slut! And, the man you think that’s gonna protect you? (Evil laughter) He’s never gonna want you again, after I’m done with you.” Click.

  I drop the phone on the desk and run to find Pax. She’s in the kitchen getting out leftovers from the fridge. I barely stop from running as I collide into her, grabbing her, and hugging her tightly.

  “Hey, baby girl. What’s wrong? Oh, my God, you’re shaking. What happened?” She says pulling my face up to look at her. Tears are making their way from my eyes, and I can’t seem to get the words out of my mouth. “Ok, come here, come with me.” She keeps a firm grip on me as we walk to the front door. She opens it and yells for Rock. He comes barreling in looking concerned. “Call Shane. NOW! Something’s happened and I can’t get her to talk.” He nods and pulls out his phone and follows us to the kitchen. My legs begin to buckle. Rock grabs me by the waist and sets me in a chair. I hear him talking but it seems all muffled. I can’t think. I need Shane.

  ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

  My phone rings as I am finishing up a client. “Just a sec,” I tell them. I see its Rock’s number. “Rock. What’s up?” My heart starts beating fast. Something’s wrong. He never would call me if it wasn’t. I listen to him talk and start to stand. “I’m there. Keep her safe!” I shut the phone and look at my client. “Sorry, man. I have an emergency. I’ll do the rest tomorrow, for free, ok?” He nods at me and smiles and tells me to drive safe. Good thing I rode my bike today, I should be able to get there a lot faster.

  I break all kinds of speed records to get home. I run into the house and find Rock, Paxton and my girl in the kitchen. Paxton is kneeling beside Allie. My girl’s head is down between her legs. What the fuck? I reach her and pick her up, her body shaking uncontrollably. I sit down with her and cradle her in my arms. “What the fuck happened?” I ask Paxton.

  She shrugs, “I’m not sure. She won’t talk. It’s like she’s in shock or something. What do we do?” She’s in tears now.

  I bring Allie’s face up to look at me. “Love. What happened? What do you need? What can I do?” I beg. I look at Rock and cock my head towards our liquor cabinet. He nods and gets the Jack out and pours a shot. He brings it over and hands it to me. “Here, take a sip of this.” I hold it up to her mouth, her eyes go to mine and she takes a sip.

  “Phone,” she whispers. I look at Paxton
. Her eyes widen. She turns abruptly and leaves the room only to come back a few seconds later with Allie’s phone. She hands it to me, and I show it to my girl. She flinches.

  “Love, is there something I need to hear? Help me,” I plead. She looks at me, her eyes red and swollen from her tears. She lightly takes her phone from my hand and punches in numbers and hands it to me. I put it up to my ear and listen. I start growling when I hear the voicemail. I’m gonna kill the motherfucker, I swear! I shut it down and turn to Rock. “Call Detective Stiles. Now! Tell him I need him over here!” I bark. Rock nods and leaves the room.

  I look at Paxton and tell her to get something to help calm Allie down. Once she has left the room I hold my girl tighter and whisper in her ear that everything is gonna be ok. I’m proud of myself for not hitting something in front of her, making her more scared than she already is. I feel her hand on my face. She tries to smile, not succeeding very well. “That’s my girl. Here drink the rest of this, it will help.” She takes another sip of Jack and coughs a little. “That’ll put hair on your chest,” I say smiling. That gets a little laugh from her.

  Paxton brings her a pill and a glass of water. Shortly, she begins to stop shaking so much. Detective Stiles shows up about 30 minutes later, Rock stays on the porch in a protective stance and Paxton leaves us to talk.

  “Allie, I’ve gotten a copy of the restraining order from the LAPD faxed to me but I need you to get another one here, ok?” She nods and takes a deep breath. “I really need to get a statement from you and I’m sorry, but I need to know what all happened.”

  She snaps her head to me. The fear in her eyes makes me want to find that fucker and kill him, so she doesn’t have to go through all this. I rub her arm and nod. “Love, you need to do this. I know it’ll be hard, the hardest thing you’ve ever done, but you have to do it. I’ll be there with you and every step of the way.” I hold her close and shut my eyes. I hear Stiles clear his throat bringing me back to reality.

  She moves in my arms and turns towards Stiles. “Ok. When do you want me to do this?” She asks timidly. That’s my girl! Fuck, I love her!

  We set it up to go into his office tomorrow so she can make her statement. Once he’s gone, I fix my girl another of her favorite lattes and get her back in my lap. Best place for her to be. I wish I could do more.

  I take my girl up to bed. We get in our favorite position and fall fast asleep. What a fucking nightmare the day turned into. This needs to end soon, damnit!

  The next morning I fasten my love in my truck. Starting the ignition I look over at her and see her wringing her hands in her lap. I put my hand over them and her head turns to me quickly. “I’m sorry you have to go through all this again. I wish there was something I could do to take away your pain, love. I’d do it in a heartbeat.” I try and give her an encouraging smile.

  “I— I know. It’s just—” She tries to smile but I can tell it’s hard for her. “I hate living it over again, ya know?” She looks down at our hands. “I— I want to tell you—”

  I remove my hand from hers and gently place it under her chin, moving her face towards me. “Shhhh. You don’t have to tell me anything, love. I love you, no matter what. You know that, right?”

  That got me a genuine smile. “I know, darling, and I love you too. It’s just— I just want to tell you a few things before we get there, ok?” I smile and nod my approval. “I was in the hospital for a week. I had several broken bones, arm, cheek and leg. Lots of bruises, everywhere.” She looks down at her hands again. “Court was horrible. He had friends there who stared at me the whole time, made faces at me. I got the restraining order against him but—” She looks up at me. “Shane. They let him off. He didn’t even spend any time in jail.”

  My hand forms into a fist. Mother fucker! “How the hell did that happen?” I growl. I take a deep breath. Calm down, man! Shit, I’m gonna scare her. I never want her to be scared of me.

  She starts wringing her hands again. Damnit! I unclench my fist and laid my hand over hers. Her head jerks to me quickly, giving me her sexy smile, then frowns. “Well, not understanding all the technical jargon, he got off because there were no witnesses, no fingerprints, no evidence, pretty much nothing but my word and pictures the hospital took but nothing that couldn’t prove it was him.” She shrugs and lets out a big breath. “They at least gave me the restraining order against him.” She turns in her seat to face me slightly, taking my hand in hers. “Weirdest thing, I haven’t heard from him in over a year, why now? Why all of a sudden is he doing this?” Shaking her head her bottom lip quivers.

  I move her over to the center and put my arms around her. “Shhh, love. I have you. You’re mine and no one messes with what’s mine.” My lips kiss hers and move up her face, kissing her cheeks, nose, eyes and forehead. I bend my head down and look at her. “We’re together now. Together Forever. And nothing—” I flick her nose with my finger. “Nothing will keep us apart. Not now. Not ever.” I lean in and kiss my girl properly until my phone starts ringing. Fuck!

  “Barton!” I scream into the phone. “Oh, shit! Sorry! Ok, we’ll be right there.” Laughing, I shut the phone and look at my girl. “Guess we’ve been sitting here longer than I thought. We’re late.”

  We sit in a conference room in Stiles’ office building, which is located two hours away, for four fucking hours. Allie is a mess by the time we leave. He informed us he got the restraining order faxed from L.A. and his assistant took it over to the courts, along with Allie’s phone. Not sure how he did it, but we have a new restraining order already. Had no idea his daddy is the big judge in the courts here. Works for me!

  I take my shaky girl home and pamper her all night. And, no, I don’t mean in the sexual way, although my cock is always up for that. I mean, I drew her a bath with bubbles, poured her a glass of wine, sat next to the tub and bathed her. Her skin was pruned but smelled yummy by the time I took my sleepy girl to bed. We got in our favorite position. I’m cuddled behind her sexy body, my hand over her breast. Ah! This is where I always want to be.

  Chapter Ten

  New Year’s Eve is in a couple of days. And we are all going to the next town over to a night club that’s having a huge party. It’s pretty ritzy so Pax and I went shopping at the mall for some new fancy duds. I bought a silver gown, matching earrings, necklace and pumps. I even bought a silver clip for my hair, which Pax is going to fix up for me. So nice to have my bestie here. I hate that she is heading back to L.A. in a few days.

  She’s gonna have trouble keeping all the guys at bay, especially Tuck, with the sexiest dress I have ever seen. It cost her a small fortune. A light lavender with gold speck’s covering it, a slit to her upper thigh on one side, gold loop earrings with diamond’s around them, the matching necklace that hangs low into her ample cleavage and gold high heels. We both got small cocktail clutch purses to match our attires too.

  We get home and my feet are killing me. Did I say I hated shopping? Paxton went to take her ‘Beauty Rest’ and I went to my laptop. I drum my fingers on the desk as I wait for it to boot up. Finally, the screen comes to life, and I open my emails. Junk, Junk, Junk, wait! My editor? I’m reading the email, and my body starts to shake. Her second run through only had a few minor things to edit, then I’m ready to publish. Oh. My. God! I quickly get Lana on the phone, both of us squealing until our ears start to bleed.

  She tells me to publish, the cover reveal is set for tomorrow and the book tour is next week. I’m giving her the link to my published book as soon as it’s up and running for her to give to everyone. I’m so excited and fucking nervous as hell.

  I get it all edited, set up, my finger on the publish button and…My phone rings. Shit!

  I look at the phone and it’s my darling, sexy man. “Hi, sexy man. Where are you and when will you come home to me?” I’m anxiously waiting for my man’s deep voice.

  “Fuck you, bitch! He won’t be coming home tonight, or ever! See what you did? See what you made me do? Are
you proud of yourself?” My heart is racing. Oh, my God, Shane! What have I done? “I told you I was the only one to have you. NO ONE ELSE!” Click.

  Shit! Shit! Shit! I drop my phone and run upstairs to Paxton’s room. I collide with the bed and start smacking her on the arm. “Pax! Pax! Wake Up! Shane’s in trouble!” She jerks up and grabs the hand that’s beating her.

  “Allie! Allie stop! What’s wrong? What about Shane?” She screams. She stands up and takes my shoulders and shakes me. “Calm down, baby girl. I can’t understand you, just calm down.”

  I take about two breaths and my rushed talking continues. “Phone, that fucker called from Shane’s phone. He’s in trouble! He has him.” I start looking around. “I don’t know what to do. Wait! Stiles!” I lead her in a race to my phone downstairs. I slam into the desk in an effort to stop myself at the desk. Ow! Shit that hurt! I pick up the phone and call Stiles office.

  “Hello? Stiles—” I cut him off.

  “Shane, he has Shane! You have to help! Hurry! I don’t know what he’ll do to him! He has Shane!” I scream.

  “Allie? Allie Richards?” He asks.

  “Yes! He called on Shane’s phone. He has him! Hurry! Help him!” I am crying so hard I can hardly talk or breath. God, what am I going to do? If he hurts him, I will find a way to kill him myself.

  “Ok. Paul has him, right? Ok, let me get my men on this. When did you last see Shane?” I am sniffling and trembling. Shane. Oh, my god, Shane.

  “This morn— morning. He left for— for work. I. I haven’t talked to him all day. Oh, my God!” My crying has reached hysterical proportions now. My legs begin to buckle so I sit, hard, on the floor. I feel my phone slipping from my grasp. Paxton catches it and continues the conversation.

  “Detective Stiles. Paxton here. She is beside herself, as you can imagine. Yes. Ok. Thank you.” She hangs up and sits down next to me. Her arm is around me, rubbing my arm. She punches in another number. “Tuck. Yeah, don’t even think about it. Get over here now! Allie needs you. That fucker has Shane. Yes. Stiles has an APB out on him and men out looking. Ok.”