Page 63 of Mind

“We’ve got a problem,” he whispers and I pull the coverlet from my face and hold it against my bare chest. Clearing my throat both men look over at me. Chase is wearing a loose fitting pair of pajama bottoms I packed for him and nothing else. Drop dead gorgeous. I should be the one using that particular endearment he sprinkles in every so often. The long layers of his hair are a wild mop on top of his head making him look younger and less conservative. Tommy twists his head lifting his chin to the open hallway then the two walk through and close the door. Fine, leave me out of the loop.

Falling back to the bed, I wait and try to imagine every possible reason that Tommy could be knocking down our door at, I lean up and look at the clock, at seven in the morning. I’m certain we didn’t get to sleep until well after two a.m. once we finished having the most intense and kinky sex of my entire life. Thinking back to it, the way Chase eased me into this new territory was so seamless. Made me wonder if that’s how our marriage would be. Even though he’s only five years my senior, it’s as if he’s so much more knowledgeable, wise in the ways of the world that I haven’t scratched the surface of in my twenty-four years. Definitely in business, and between the sheets. With those two areas he’s got a full leg up against what limited experience I bring to the table.

I fall back into a fitful light sleep until the bed shifts and Chase’s woodsy smell enters my senses. Like a leech, I reach out, find his warmth and then pull him down to me. He oomph’s and chuckles. Once I’m covered in a personal Chase blanket, I open my eyes. His, however, are not the sparkling ocean blue they usually are in the morning. No, they’re calculating and a bit hard.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” I worry my lip and slide my fingers through the hair just above his ears, letting my nails scratch along his scalp the way he likes. He closes his eyes then opens them.

He kisses me. “You know I’m going to protect you, right?” he offers. Words like that are usually followed by bad news or information that’s going to devastate.

I follow his gaze as his eyes seem to float over my features. “What is it?” I ask.

“Justin is dead. Hung himself.” He says the words devoid of emotion.

Images of the four years I stayed with Justin flash across my mind like a strobe light, pictures of our life together in a twisted home video. Some of it was happy, beautiful even, but it doesn’t outweigh the beatings, the degradation, or the loss of the child I carried. But for someone like Justin to hang himself? It doesn’t add up. I shake my head. “Doesn’t make sense, he was far too self-absorbed to end his own life. Are they sure it was self-inflicted?”

Chase shrugs. “We never know what goes on in a man’s head when he’s facing real jail time.”

I knew Justin better than anyone. There is absolutely no way he’d commit suicide. “Did they find the connection to the stalker and Justin?”

Now I know something’s not right. Chase tips his chin down and sighs. “That’s what Jack is worried about. Thomas and the investigators have not been able to find a single link to any of the notes, phone calls, or the explosion and the murder of that innocent girl. He had to be the one. He attacked you, tried to rape you in that bathroom...” He ends on a snarl.

“Yeah, but as much as you hate hearing this, Justin would have done that to me anyway. He’s always seen me as a plaything to do whatever he wanted. Smacking me around, fucking me in public, those were things that used to get his rocks off.” I can tell Chase is having a hard time hearing this bit of information. He stands, fury a palpable wave rolling off his skin.

“All I know is the fucker is dead and I’m not sorry he is!” He tugs at his hair with both hands then forces the curtains aside to present the most startling view of the ocean. He opens the window and lets the salt air fill the room.

Not caring about my nudity, I stand and put my hands around his tense form from behind. The lines of anger and rage are physically showing through his skin as seen by the bulging veins and clenched muscles. Using his abs as an anchor, I nuzzle into his shoulder blades. “I’m sorry for his family and those who cared about him, but I’m not sorry he won’t be hurting another woman ever again. He was a serial offender. If it wasn’t me, it would be another unsuspecting woman. I’m sure the cops will find the connection they need.”

His shoulders rise and fall as he takes a deep calming breath. I can feel the tension slowly slip from his arms and chest. Chase takes both of my hands, pulls them to his lips and kisses each finger like he’s done a million times before.

“I have a present for you. I was going to wait until the day of our wedding but I want you to have it now. Wear it now. Then you’ll understand how deeply gone I am for you,” he says as if he’s speaking to the open expanse of ocean not bothering to turn around.

I smile against his back and giggle. “I like presents,” I say then nip the hard muscle of shoulder. He laughs lightly and spins around capturing me. His eyes take in my naked body from the tip of my red polished toes all the way up to the fiery strands of my hair.

“There is no woman in this world more beautiful than you. I’m never going to forsake you or take advantage of the gift you bring to my life. You, Gillian, you make me a better man. Happier, stronger, and excited about life. I want to be that for you.”

Leaning forward, I snuggle into his warm neck. “But you are, Chase. You’re all that and more.” I kiss the pulse point on his neck and appreciate the feeling of his heartbeat against my lips.

“Hold that thought,” he lets me go then finds his suit coat that I wore last night. He pulls out a long, thin box. I take the cream satin robe that is lying over the end of our bed and pull it on. The fabric feels like butter smoothing across my naked skin. It’s sensual and perfect for the moment. Chase brings me over to the large reading chairs facing the ocean view. The sea breeze blows his hair enticingly. “Open it,” he murmurs as I settle into his lap feet up and tucked into the space between the chair cushion and arm.

Slipping the white bow off the teal Tiffany’s box I look over at him. “Over spender,” I chastise.

“Who me? Never,” he mocks being offended.

I roll my eyes and open the box. Inside is a thin chain. At the very end is platinum infinity symbol pendant. The word “love” intertwined with the symbol in a cursive text. It’s breathtaking and so magically Chase, there aren’t words to describe how much this gift means to me.

“Do you like it?” he asks, tracing an infinity symbol over the fabric covering my knee. I think he does it subconsciously which makes this gift even more special.

“More than like it. Iadoreit and what it means…” I choke back the emotion. “Chase its perfect.”

The smile he gives me is boyish, uncertain, depicting a young man who wasn’t sure he was going to please his girl. It’s one of the first times I’ve ever seen him unsure of himself and completely unguarded.

He kisses me softly. “So you’ll wear it on our wedding day?” he asks almost shyly. Shy Chase. An entirely new, yet lovely side I’m seeing for the very first time.

“I’ll wear it every day if it means you’re mine,” I whisper against his lips. He grins so wide I can feel his teeth.

“We’re going to be so happy,” he says while he places the chain around my neck. The pendant lands perfectly just above my breasts. Chase turns me, opens the robe, and looks his fill of my bare breasts with his symbol twinkling in the sunlight. With ease, he leans forward and places a warm kiss directly over the symbol.

“Through infinity, my love,” I say back to him before sealing it with my own kiss, only this time I’ve let the robe fall to my sides and properly thank my soon to be husband for his wedding gift.

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