Page 6

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JEREMIAH

‘Miah’

Goddamn it, thought we’d make a clean getaway before Lourdes’s fire buddies made their way back to the hospital. Not only is there an engine but also the chief’s vehicle, an ambulance, and even a few cars behind that. These fuckers are crazy. We don’t want to draw attention to Lourdes, more like keep her under whoever’s radar we need to. Well, not with this damn circus, for Christ’s sake. After I carefully get her settled in the back of our company vehicle, I walk to the chief’s vehicle, where a bunch of the guys are standing around.

“Hey, Chief, think this is a good idea? We should have probably talked last night but my thought was to try and keep Lourdes’s situation under wraps until we’ve worked through a bit more information on what happened. Now we have her place broken into and trashed, so it may be a good idea to tone it down a bit.”

Chief always looked like a pretty chill dude but, damn, not this morning. I get him pointing his finger up into my face while he growls at me.

“Look here, mister, don’t try getting all in my face and telling me what to do and not do with my crew. That ain’t never gonna happen as long as I have breath in me. This isn’t for you, it’s for her. She needs to know she has people who will take her back, no matter what. Now, instead of fluffing your feathers, why don’t you get this show on the road? And according to the police chief, there will be squads checking in at your residence, so don’t give them any of your shit either.”

I can see Lil Man, Paco, and Crow grinning like fools. Danny, Lightning, Stash, and Rome are just leaning on the chief’s SUV, no expressions on their faces. When I look past Danny, I’m shocked to see Nova leaning against the fire engine with, I think, two of his men. What the hell is going on? I’ve worked with Nova before. Currently, we are in negotiations for a new security program. He is now in partnership with the programmer, who designed the entire system. Some young dude, can’t remember his name at the moment.

Nova glances up and gives me a very subtle chin lift, but his eyes are trying to tell me something I can’t pick up on. I look at my man and nod, then get into the rear of my vehicle so we can finally get the hell out of here. We’ve drawn all kinds of attention, so time to go. As we start to move, for the love of God, the fire truck turns on its sirens, as do the ambulance and the police car with the K-9 dog sitting in the back seat. Great, why not leave a map and breadcrumbs for whoever is trying to hurt Lourdes?

I shift my head to look at her and am shocked to see tears running down her face. Immediately I reach over, pulling her close to me. Her hands burrow into my side, grabbing and holding on tight to my T-shirt. We don’t say a thing, just hang on to each other for dear life, though I have no idea why she’s so upset.

The drive to my property takes less than ten or so minutes. When we get to the gate, my guy reaches out and in one hand has a black jammer box, while the other hand enters the code to open the fence. He goes through though, jammer box still in his hand, while the rest of our parade makes their way in. When the last car is through, my guy pushes a button on the key chain and the gate starts to shut automatically. I finally feel like I can let a breath out.

“Jeremiah, I’m so sorry about all of this. Didn’t mean to barge into your life like this.”

“Lourdes, you can stomp all over it, if you like. We couldn’t find you, so in a way this was a blessing from the Heavens, so no worries. Now, I have a question and you don’t have to answer right away, but why do they call you Styx?”

Watching her, I feel my heart start to beat faster as she chuckles. Just when she’s about to tell me, the side door opens and Bobby offers his hand to Lourdes to help her out. I’m right behind her and once out I put an arm around her, holding on to her tightly. Not gonna happen again on my watch. Until we have more information, Lourdes is not to be left alone. But for now, I keep her close as we both watch the circus parade of fire folks, paramedics, cops, and her chief walk toward us. I can see the shock and inquiring looks going from my home to me. Yeah, I know it’s huge as shit, but why make money if you aren’t going to spend it on something you want? I’ve seen way bigger monstrosities; that’s for damn sure. This place is my home.

Once they reach us, I clear my throat.

“Come on in. Bobby phoned ahead, so I’m sure Beatrice will have some refreshments so we can have a conversation on what’s going to happen next. Follow us please.”

Hearing the mumbling from behind me, I ignore it. The last time Lourdes was here she wasn’t injured or had a psycho on her back. That weekend outshines every single other one in my entire life. Too bad I messed it up on that Sunday before she left to go back home. Should have put my cards on the table, but instead I tried to play cool. I can see how well that worked out for me. This time, I’m not letting her out of my sight while I try to win her over to my way of thinking.

Beatrice greets me at the door. She’s been with me for over twenty-something years and is part of the family now. She greets Lourdes once I introduce them, informing her that her suite is ready. When Lourdes shifts toward me, I put my hand on her lower back, trying to steady her.

“Come on, Miss Lourdes, let me show you to your room so you can take a moment to relax. These men can wait, believe you me.”

I watch the two women walk away as I can feel the men of her firehouse making their way to me, starting to crowd me in. Turning, I look each of them in their eyes for just a second, then I move on. I walk down the foyer, through the hallway to the open floor plan in my kitchen. I know how beautiful it is, but it makes me smile to hear the gasps and aahs. I’ve worked hard on this, as it is actually one of my biggest purchases since the beginning of my business. I shift to look over my shoulder.

“Do you want the dining room or the screened porch? I think maybe the porch, as we have the entire wall of folding doors, which we can open and then those on the patio can squeeze in to hear what’s being said. Chief, do you have a preference?”

He looks around then points to the outside. Awesome, because it will give us more room to open that wall and put the heaters on the patio. There’s a bit of a chill in the air as we are getting closer to the winter months. Fall is definitely in the air.

“Holy fuck, look at that patio! Jesus, who needs a pool that large? Are you going to be in the next Olympics with the swim team? Damn, a hot tub and sauna. Living the life, Jeremiah.”

Knowing Lil Man is trying to bust my balls, I again turn, looking for his face. When our eyes meet, I do something I normally would never do. I open myself up because something about this man feels right. Can’t believe I’m thinking this but he’d make a good friend.

“Lil Man, any time you want to come over to use the pool, hot tub, or sauna just send me a text. If I’m not here, I can open the gate remotely. All I ask is don’t trash the joint, if you know what I mean.”

Lil Man pushes his way through the people while extending his hand toward me.

“Thanks, brother, appreciate the offer. Now, we gonna get started? Some of us are on shift today, so got to get through this and get some shit done. Just tell me what shift I have in the ‘keeping an eye on the Lourdes mission.’”

Before I can even say a word, we all hear the growl. Personally, I’m not so sure if it scared or turned me on since it was Lourdes growling. I think turned me on for sure, though I couldn’t show it right at this moment.

“Lil Man, my work partner and brother from another mother and father, what makes you think I need a babysitter? Someone to watch over me, as you said. I’m a big girl, who’s been taking care of herself my entire life. What’s really going on here?”

Son of a bitch, thought we’d get a pass on this until we were alone, and I could explain what I knew so far. Danny, Lil Man, and Paco all walk toward me, standing behind me. Well, what the fuck, her crew is supporting me. Thank Christ for small miracles. I motion for everyone to go out to the screen room, as Bobby starts to push open the wall of sliding doors. That right there gives the house the inside/outside living space I desired. During the summer, those doors are usually always open.

With my mind on other shit, I forget until I hear their growls that the dogs are probably out and about. I see everyone take a step back, except Danny. If I remember correctly, he’s like the Engine 23 dog whisperer. I watch as Killer makes his way to Danny, head down, hair standing up on his neck. He’s a one hundred forty-five pound mastiff. Beside him, I have a Doberman female named Tiny, which she definitely isn’t. Next up is my harlequin Great Dane male. We call him Max. Finally, we have two pit bulls—one female, one male. They are siblings we kind of saved a few years back during a takeover. The assholes were using them in their warehouses as guard dogs, I guess. Must have had like forty or fifty dogs, mostly pits. That’s where I met Danny, as I had no idea what to do with these dogs. Some were in bad shape and that is not something I know a lot about. Danny and Claire stepped up and helped remove the animals and get them temporary housing, either at Danny’s place or at some shelters or pit bull rescues. The two I brought home literally broke my heart. They were on death’s door but still managed to wag their tails. I knew instantly they were mine. Now Phoenix and Nala will always have a home, siblings, and love as long as I live. A promise I’ve made to every dog that comes to my house.

Once I introduce the dogs to the group, everyone takes a seat. Most go outside specifically so they can pet, roughhouse, and throw balls and Frisbees for the hounds. Everyone seems content, just as Beatrice and two younger women start bringing out tray upon tray of breakfast and lunch foods. They place them on the long counter off the left side of the sunroom. Coffee and juices are next, along with bottles of Pellegrino water. Beatrice quietly walks around, telling everyone to help themselves.

I make my way around until I’m at the table with Danny, Nova, Chief, Lil Man, and Paco. Knowing Lourdes would want to be close to some of her team, I take a seat. Everyone nods, so guess this is okay. Before I can say a word, I feel her presence. Damn, what she does to me. Something that’s never happened before, and I know for sure when we met and spent that weekend together, Lourdes had no idea about my companies, wealth, or anything else about me. It was so refreshing to come together with a beautiful woman, knowing she was into it because of me, not my portfolio and bank accounts.

Once everyone is settled, I give Chief an eye and he gives me a small nod. The police detective in charge of the case is on the other side of Chief, so they begin to talk to each other before they both look at me. I reach over and squeeze Lourdes’s hand then stand. Bobby is immediately at my side and when I give him a look, he shouts out for quiet and, damn, it worked. Could be his deep as fuck voice or his huge-ass body, don’t care which as long as it works. Looking at him, you’d never know he’s finishing up his master’s degree in Digital and Corporate Communications. We’ve had many a conversation and he doesn’t want to be my driver forever. I knew he graduated at the top of his class, so I asked him if he would be interested in the communication aspect of the company and he jumped on it. Probably because he’s now married with two little ones. Doesn’t want to risk his life unnecessarily.

Once everyone quiets down, I take a second to search the crowd of people, trying to see if anyone has that guilty look about them. Most are in their uniforms from either their firehouse, police department, or civilians in casual clothes like Nova and his group of military people.

“All right, before we start, I want to thank everyone here willing to help keep our girl Lourdes safe. We don’t have a clue who’s doing this, but early this morning someone broke into her home and ransacked it. Cut up her sectional pillows and mattress. Broke all of her dishes, glasses, and whatever could be broken. Now, as a new team, we are coming together to try and get a plan in place. We all know this woman to my right, and she’s not gonna sit still for long. If the doctor hadn’t told her to take some time, I’m sure she’d be at the firehouse today. No, don’t argue, woman, you know I’m right. Now, let’s break this down, first, with Chief, then we’ll have the police detective speak. After that, it’s whatever comes up. I’ve said it already, but with this new information, Lourdes will be staying here indefinitely. As each of you can see, the house and grounds are secure. What you don’t see or know is that each of these dogs is professionally trained to take down an intruder. Drones fly above on a rotation and I have guards, which I’ll be adding more once I have a word with Nova. So without any delay, here’s our firehouse chief.”

Once I’m seated, surprising the fuck out of me, Lourdes shifts so she’s closer to me. I put my arm on the back of her chair, my fingers on her good shoulder. She’s already spent her energy just getting out of the hospital. This is way too much but she has to be involved. If I could put her to bed, I would, but she’d probably try to take an eye out or something. So with her leaning into my side, we listen to each person speaking—giving and demanding certain requirements to keep her safe. I can feel when she truly relaxes and I hear a soft kind of snore. So fucking cute. I don’t move much, just pull her closer to me with my arm holding her tight. Looking up, I feel like someone is watching me. That’s when I see Lil Man, Danny, Till, Paco, Stash, and the two newer guys staring at me, confusion in their eyes. From their reaction, I’m guessing Lourdes didn’t share our weekend with anyone. That makes me feel good and shitty at the same time. Good because it was ours, but shitty because maybe she was embarrassed by me or our weekend. That will go in the back of my mind, as we have way more important things to worry about at the moment. That’s my last thought as I hear women’s voices screaming for help. Lourdes’s head pops up and I just lean her back into her chair, jumping up, screaming for Bobby to watch over her. When he reaches behind his body and pulls out a gun, I see Lourdes’s face pale. Unfortunately, don’t have time to explain because one of the screams is Beatrice and that in itself is shocking. That woman, over the years, has seen it all and has never once flinched. Time to find out what the fuck is going on.