Page 8

8

JEREMIAH

‘Miah’

I grab my vibrating phone to see Beatrice’s text about something hitting Lourdes’s window. My housekeeper then explained how she walked Lourdes through how to enter the safe room. Well, damn, one thing off my brain. Thanks, Beatrice I think to myself. Maybe she deserves a raise for always thinking outside of the box.

What in the actual fuck is going on, and how does it involve both Lourdes and me? Yeah, we had a weekend of drinking and sex, but we didn’t really talk about anything, didn’t have any time. When we were exhausted, we slept then started up again. It was a wicked weekend in bed, which I thoroughly enjoyed, as did Lourdes by the number of times she orgasmed , I think to myself. It hits me that I’ve not heard from Dino. What the fuck is up with him lately? My eyes move to the phone in my hands and I open our active text.

“What the fuck, Dino? Haven’t you found anything yet tying the two of us together? Quit fucking around because whoever it is, they are moving up their game fast. Need some guidance here and that’s what I got you here for. Reach back, will ya?”

I push my phone into my pocket then give a loud “Yo,” which has all eyes turning to me.

“Something is going on upstairs. Beatrice texted me to tell me something is hitting the windows in the room Lourdes is staying in. Can we split up and do teams? One to search the front of the house and down the driveway, another to search both sides of the house, and I need about five or six of you to come with me.”

Of course, the ones who come with me are Lourdes’s firehouse family, though I get it. One of their own is in trouble, so that means all-hands-on-deck. Taking the stairs two at a time, I quickly make my way to the second master suite on this floor. Not seeing anyone, I give up a hand signal to slow down the maniac fire crew behind me. Grabbing the door, I tentatively start to turn the knob so I can open it. After an immediate glance, I don’t see a thing. Then from the corner of my eyes…what the ever-lovin’ fuck? Beatrice is standing off to the side of the closed bathroom door, holding an AR-15 close to her chest.

Before I can even call out to her the assault rifle is now in her hands and she’s pointing it toward us. And by the looks of it, she somehow seems to know how to use it.

“Beatrice, for Christ’s sake, put that down before you hurt yourself or someone else.”

She glances around, then slowly bends over, placing the weapon on the floor beside her feet. I move toward her, pulling her close as she starts to shake.

“I’m so sorry, Jeremiah. Someone was trying desperately to get up the balcony so I had Lourdes go into the safe room. Being that you put me in charge, I went into the weapons room and grabbed the first one I could. And before you ask, yes, I know how to shoot it. Moose showed all of the house staff how to use a few different kinds of weapons. He actually has a small gun safe in the butler pantry off the kitchen, and one hidden in the floor under the long runner in the great room. Think there’s one gun safe downstairs in the game room too.”

Listening to Beatrice my mind is blown. I’ll need to have a word with Moose but, fuck, I’m glad he took the initiative to work with the staff so we aren’t totally unprepared if something happens. Well, like today. I give Beatrice another hug, then carefully hand her off to Danny. Opening the bathroom door slowly, I move quickly to the hidden door to the safe room. Knowing there isn’t a way to warn Lourdes that I am coming in, all I can do is pray she’s not carrying, or else I might need one of these first responders for me.

The door slides open effortlessly. It’s dark wherever my eyes can look, though there is a small bit of light coming from off to the left. Clearing my throat, I call out, “LOURDES! Hey, it’s Jeremiah. You’re safe, come on out. Seriously, Violet, it’s okay, swear to Christ.”

Nothing for about five minutes, then it sounds like a herd of horses off to the far corner by the storage area. I hear boxes and shit falling over when Lil Man comes up behind me.

“Think she was hiding back there. Give her a minute, she’s probably still sore from the incident at the fire.”

Over his head, I see Lourdes slowly making her way to the main room. Her head is down and I can physically see her trembling. I hear someone from her firehouse telling everyone to get out and give Styx a minute to compose herself. Thank God for whoever that was because the closer she gets to me, the more it shows how much this has turned her world upside down yet again. Just for that, I want to kill the idiot who’s terrorizing her. She walks directly into my arms, hanging on tightly.

“Jeremiah, I was thinking if I was here and you didn’t have this hideaway room, they would have probably killed me and I still don’t know why.”

I wrap her up in my arms and we stay like that until her tremors slowly stop. She lifts her head to look up at me, and I can’t help myself as my head tilts down and my lips ever so softly touch hers. This isn’t a kiss of passion or desire; it’s a kiss between a woman and a man who need to feel comforted and secure. When Lourdes relaxes against me, after a few seconds, that’s what tells me how truly upset she is. This woman is a true badass with a heart of gold. For something to shake her center, that tells me more than enough. Fighting with myself, I pull away and bend down to pick her up. Turning, I walk out of the safe room through the closet to a room packed with intimidating men, all either fire, rescue, or cops. I look to Lil Man, who immediately walks to me, bending to give Lourdes a kiss on the forehead, which unexpectedly has me growling. His head jerks up, those piercing eyes locked on mine. When he leans down and whispers in Lourdes’s ear, she giggles a bit while tilting her head to look up at me. So that’s the game, huh?

I bend and crush my mouth to hers. Swear you can hear a pin drop. I don’t give two shits; this woman owns me, even though she doesn’t have a clue. Not wanting to take it too far with the crowd in her bedroom, I pull back and up but keep my eyes on her. She’s breathtaking, I think to myself as I hear a ruckus making its way up the stairs. When I hear his voice, it makes my skin crawl and I don’t know why. Well, except he’s been MIA since the fire, when I asked him to do his job and get the information back to me as soon as he could. Not sure what crawled up Dino’s ass, but I’m about to find out as he is bellowing as he pounds up the stairs. I look down to see Lourdes’s eyebrows crunching together. Yeah, this is not going to be a normal occurrence with him, otherwise he can find other employment.

“Okay, can you move already? Where the fuck is Jeremiah and who the hell are all of you? Jesus Christ, I’m not around for a quick minute and suddenly my friend has all these new buddies. Not on my watch, assholes. I said move.”

First, I hear an “oof” then I’m almost positive the next sound is Dino’s with a muffled, “Oh fuck.” Well, good for him. He’s beyond being a total dick and big fucking mouth. When he makes it through the crowd into the room, I watch his eyebrows almost lift to the middle of his forehead when he sees Lourdes in my arms. But what really bothers me is the look of something in his eyes I’ve never seen before. When his eyes turn toward me that look is gone. Not sure why, but Dino does not like Lourdes, though they’ve never met. He makes his way to us. His eyes are neutral at the moment, no emotion in them at all. I don’t give him a second to even find the words.

“Dino, where the fuck have you been? It’s been well over twenty-four hours and not a word, text, or even carrier pigeon with a note came my way. Someone or ones tried to breach the house just now, aiming toward Lourdes’s room.”

Coughing loudly, I watch as Dino processes what I just revealed. Usually, this home only has me in it, along with the staff. If, and I mean if, because it’s been a while, I’m spending time with a woman, it’s generally at their home or a hotel kind of place. They must sign a nondisclosure agreement also. Yeah, kind of takes away the romance and connection side of it, even if it’s just a hookup. That’s why, lately, I’ve been just coming home and hanging out with Beatrice and the staff.

“So, Jeremiah, this woman is now staying here? Has she told you anything about herself? Well, if she hasn’t, I can because I looked into her background and past. What do you want to know?”

When Dino mentions a background check, Lourdes goes totally still in my arms. Well, she actually tensed up though she didn’t say a word.

I look around the room and all I can see is pissed-off firefighters and cops. Yeah, Dino has an effect on everyone around him. Generally though, it doesn’t turn into a shitshow immediately. He’s gonna get a piece of my mind, just not in front of this company of people. Lourdes starts to squirm in my arms, so I gently place her on her feet. Before I think she’s stable, she’s in Dino’s face, her finger is pointed directly in it.

“Not sure who the fuck you are, dude, but stay out of my business, you hear me, asshole?”

Dino grins and I realize he’s been playing Lourdes. This is exactly what he wanted for her to do, lose her mind so he can once again have diarrhea of the mouth. Before he can even start spouting out his nastiness, I cut him off at the knees.

“Dino, now isn’t the time or place. No, don’t argue with me. No one needs to hear your bullshit, just tell me if you found anything on who started the fire or attacked Lourdes and trashed her home.”

He stares at me for a long minute, then very coolly he starts to relay all that he’s found out, which isn’t much. As he speaks, I can see some of the guys are getting restless so I interrupt him, telling everyone if they need to leave, go right ahead. Danny approaches me with a piece of paper in his hands.

“Jeremiah, here’s a schedule from our house of when we can be around for whatever you need. She’s our family, so regardless if you tell us you have her, we will still be here, so just accept and use the help. All of our numbers are on here, though I think most of us already exchanged digits with you. Got to get going. Later.”

Watching them go, it dawns on me that once they are gone—well, besides the few sticking around for what they are calling day watch—I’ll be almost alone with Lourdes. That thought has me feeling elated and panicked. Nothing can happen to her or anyone else. Dino is watching me weirdly. I’ve already had enough of him, though I wait until everyone is gone. The two guys still here I instruct to make themselves at home. They asked if they could take a look around, so I ask Beatrice to give them a tour knowing it will help to calm her down helping someone out, which she agrees to wholeheartedly.

“What the hell is your problem, Dino? Why are you doing background checks without me telling you to? And where the hell have you been? MIA is not part of your job description.”

“Aren’t you curious why this woman is hanging around?”

“That’s where you are wrong. Lourdes and I have history, but she’s not once reached out to me—so again—what’s your goddamn problem?”

Lourdes is watching the two of us like she’s watching a tennis match. She’s tense and every time she glances at Dino, I swear to Christ, she’s either ready to cry or beat his ass. Whatever her past holds, she doesn’t want anyone to know. Leave it to Dino to drop the bomb without any finesse.

“Well, Jeremiah, your girl, Lourdes here, has a pretty heavy past. She grew up in the system moving from family to family. Her record shows all of her foster parents state she was more than a handful. She’s got a juvenile record that was sealed, but all it hides is that she took one of her foster parents to court.”

I turn and look down at Lourdes, who is holding her head in her hands. Leaning down, I rub her back, which she leans into.

“All right, Dino, we’ll go over this later. Email me all the information you’ve gathered up until now. And don’t be surprised when you come back that your usual code won’t work on the main gate. I’m trying to make sure the place is secure for Lourdes. Just let me know and either I, or someone else, will buzz you in. Thanks.”

“So now you have some whore living here and my code won’t work anymore? Nice, Jeremiah, real nice. So much for loyalty. Shit, when you and Angie were living together and then got engaged, my code worked on your house. Kind of fucked up, don’t you think?”

Before he can finish, I rush him, grabbing him by the throat.

“Don’t ever use that word when talking about Lourdes. Do you understand me?”

I feel hands on the backs of my arms and before I can shove them off, I hear Lourdes’s soft voice behind me.

“Let him go, Jeremiah. I’ve been called worse.”

Not wanting to, I lower my hands from Dino’s neck as he gasps for air. Not sure where it comes from, but I swing my arm back and when it comes forward my fist hits his jaw, which knocks him back and on his ass.

“You will apologize then get the fuck out of my house. I’ll call you when I need you.”

Dino’s face pales as his mouth drops open. His eyes go from mine to, I’m guessing, Lourdes’s. He drops his head for a second, then lifts it and very quietly apologizes to Lourdes. Then he looks at me before he gets up and leaves. The feeling in my gut tells me this isn’t the end of whatever is going on with us. Need to seriously think about this for a bit, but going to need to reach out to Nova for help. Dino has access to just about everything, and that’s not going to be all right going forward. Not with the attitude he’s walking around with. More importantly is his apparent anger toward Lourdes that I will not tolerate.