Page 16 of Loving Trent
“I know I screwed up again. Everyone has so much going on that I didn’t want to add any unnecessary drama.” That’s who I’ve become since becoming an adult. Someone who will jump to the front of the line to be there for my family, but hide away my own problems, afraid I’ll make a mess for those I love.
“Son—”
I hold up my hand to stop him from saying what I already know. “I know almost dying in a fire isn’t unnecessary drama. Mom S,” Sandra, as Sammy and I call her, “already told me.”
Sonny puts his cigarette out in the bucket the owners have provided and pulls me in for a one-armed hug. “I’m so glad you’re okay. When Sammy called and told me what happened... I’ve only felt that terror once before, and I never want to feel it again. I don’t want to face the possibility of losing one of my kids.I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to any of y’all.” He’s not just talking about me and Sammy.
That’s the thing about the adults who make up the Hill family. It doesn’t matter if biologically we are nieces, nephews, sons, daughters, grandsons, or granddaughters, or even if there is no blood between us in the case of the in-laws. They all see us as their kids and will protect us as such. It’s also not just words spoken out of love. The Hill family has seen its share of danger and drama, where not one single person has backed down when the time came for action. Point in case, what happened hours ago.
Sammy had gotten a call from one of her old friends who now works as a firefighter. Her friend wanted to check on me, but of course, Sammy had no idea what she was talking about. When Sammy couldn’t reach me, she rallied the troops. They agreed not to call Mom until they figured out what was happening. But Mom called Sammy to fill her in after she spotted my car. What Mom didn’t know was that a convoy of Hill family members was already eating up the highway on their way into town.
“So, about this angel, as it seems we are calling him. What do you know about him?” Sonny asks, trying to hide the fact that he is wiping a couple of tears away.
“Honestly…” I take a deep breath before continuing, “I’m not sure he is even real. The last thing I remember is banging on the window, pleading with someone to save me. Then I locked eyes with a man, but then everything went black. All I can see are his brown eyes. I’m planning on calling the fire station and the police. The hospital was of no help last night, but I’m going to try again today. Someone has to know who he is, and if I’m losing my mind. Do you think you can help me?”
“Of course I can. I’ll start making some calls, Son.” Sonny places his hand on my shoulder, giving it a slight squeeze.
“Thank you, Dad.” It’s the first time I’ve called him Dad, but I have been playing around with the idea for some time now. He clears his throat, nods, and leaves me alone with Roger.
“He hates showing any emotion besides anger,” Roger says, patting me on the back. Roger follows Dad into the house, leaving me alone with my thoughts, and that stupid feeling of plush, soft lips pressed against mine while heat tries to consume me.
Ten
TRENT
By the time Shawn walked through the doors of the hospital, the sun was set to rise soon. It had been hours since I had taken care of that weasel, Steven, and even longer since the fire. The beast that had been awoken inside my chest had grown quiet until Shawn emerged. Even though he craved nothing more than to follow Shawn and protect him, I knew we couldn’t. I needed to refocus on finding Tom and Sandy. Before I could move forward with Shawn, I had to put my past to bed for good.
During my long wait, the beast and I came to an agreement that satisfied us both. Shawn Foster is ours, and nothing is going to stand in our way. But first, I have some blood to spill.
FIVE MONTHS LATER
“This shouldn’t be that damn hard.” The wind whips past me as I gun the throttle on a straightaway, but thanks to the expensive helmet and earpiece, I don’t worry about Demon not being able to hear me.
“Believe me, Trent. I’m just as pissed off by these assholes as you.” Demon’s frustration and anger are evident in his voice. “We’ll find them. I swear to it. No one can stay hidden forever.”
“Damn right, we will. I’ve got to go. I’ll call you if this place is anything other than another goddamn dead end.”
Demon doesn’t say anything, as the call disconnects. Not wanting to end up as a pancake on the side of the road thanks to the rain that has started to pour down, I ease off the gas around another switchback curve. The past five months have been nothing but torture for all of us working on this, but I have the added punishment of not being able to see the man I’m obsessed with.
We have been chasing one dead end after another for the past five months. After leaving Cape, I met with Leon Dawson and his new wife, Jenna. She confirmed that Leon was who he told me he was. Someone I could trust with my shady ass plan. So, we started to work on finding Tom Bennett, with Demon helping us along the way. It was so fucking slow going that all of us grew frustrated. Demon is the master of the dark web, but the information we need wasn’t there. The files of code didn’t lead us anywhere, but an offshore account that had been closed and, you guessed it, a dead end. It took two weeks to get a solid lead on a place rumored to be just like Camp Arrow out in Arizona.
Since this is my revenge, I packed my shit, hopped on my bike, and drove across multiple states.
My time there felt like it dragged on for ages, but it was only seven days. When I first pulled up to the secluded, clearly abandoned cluster of buildings, I was hit with the worst deja vu. It was set up the same as the place I was sent. This time, though, there were no files to go through, and no one in town would talk to me about what happened there, but we had another name to go on. Holden Belleville. Unlike Tom Bennett, when Demon started to look into Holden, he found a living person.
When Demon contacted Holden, he said that his identity had been stolen a year after Tom had disappeared from Missouri. According to the real Holden, he tried for four years to figure out who was ruining his life, but never got anywhere. Then, four years ago, the activity stopped. However, it left him in a big hole that he was still trying to crawl out of—a hole that included a bank in Arizona coming after him for the payments on a loan taken out in his name for the land the camp had been built on.
The genuine Holden lived in California, and we all agreed that it would be best if I met with him. So that’s where I went next. He gave me all he had, and I left without much hope that it would lead us anywhere. Leon took over using his old FBI contacts to see what he could find. After spending a month chasing my own demons, I found myself steering my bike to the one place that used to never hold any interest for me. Cape Girardeau.
For weeks, I had to battle that fucking beast inside for control over my own thoughts. But more times than not, he won out late at night when I tried to sleep in whatever run-down motel I was staying in. My thoughts always returned to Shawn Foster. I needed to know everything about the man he was. Demon made sure that he gave me a few lessons on using the dark web before we started our partnership. So, it’s been easy to find out everything I want to know about Shawn.
What I learned was all surface-level shit, but it fed the fire inside me, and I wanted to know more. I wanted to know what made him smile, how he sounded when he laughed, and, yeah, the way he looked when he was in the throes of passion. So, when I pulled into the darkened city that used to be my hometown, I didn’t stop until I was parked across the street from the apartment he was renting.
It felt like I was in Heaven and Hell for three whole days as I watched Shawn from afar go about his normal day-to-daylife. Heaven, because just the sight of him calmed my frayed nerves, settled the unease in my stomach, and healed the ache in my chest. Hell, because my hands twitched to hold him, my lips tingled to taste his skin, and my dick throbbed to feel him wrapped around it in any form.
After twenty-four hours, the beast demanded more. The pathetic security system to the apartment took only sixty seconds to break, allowing me access to Shawn's temporary home. Which pissed me off because if someone with my skills can tamper with it and gain access, it’s doing fuck all to protect my man. At first, I just sat right in the middle of the bed Shawn slept in, face smashed into his pillow, drowning in the spicy, warm, clean smell. Then my confidence grew, and I found myself sneaking through the front door in the middle of the night just to watch Shawn sleep. Just his relaxed, handsome face helped keep me from the edge of insanity. Until deep lines formed on Shawn’s forehead, his body twitched, and a whimper fell from his parted lips. Something or someone was terrorizing him while he slept.
Rage bubbled up, temporarily blocking out any sane thought. Which is what I’m sticking to if anyone asks why I crawled into bed with Shawn, pulled him close, and held him all night. The boost my ego and craziness got when Shawn quieted instantly as he melted into my arms wasn’t a good thing. It’s what pushed me fully over the edge.
