Page 33 of Dare
Thethin, raised skin does nothing to detract from her beauty, and I hate that shecan’t see how attractive she really is. I’ve only been away from her for a fewhours and I already can’t wait to get my hands on her again.
I’mnot going to try to resist her anymore. I know there’s a lot she doesn’t knowabout me, and after she trusted me enough to tell me what happened to her, Ihave to come clean about my past. Even if she doesn’t hold that against me,there’s the fact I still break the law. Will it matter to her that it’s for agood reason, or will she run when she finds out?
Landonand the guys would never stop breaking my balls if they knew how twisted upthis little scrap of a woman has me.
I’mmet by Devon, one of Mason’s security men as soon as I pull into the drive. Hefills me in on the family I’ll be protecting. “Sharon and the kids are inside,”he tells me. “There isn’t much for you to do. Just keep an eye on things anddon’t let anyone inside the house. The local authorities know what’s going on,so if you do have any problems, don’t hesitate to call them. Sharon knows thecode for the house alarm.”
“Howdangerous is this guy?”
Devonshakes his head. “He’s a minimal threat, if any. Just about pissed himself whenParker and I came to move them out of their apartment. But she’s scared, and wewant to make sure she doesn’t give in and go back to him, so the farther awaywe could get her, the better.”
Heaccompanies me inside and introduces me to Sharon and her six year old twinsbefore leaving. Sharon gives me a slight smile, then returns to playing withLegos with her boys. It’s clear she’d rather I not bother her, so I head backto the guest bedroom to drop off my bag, then take a seat on the front porchand pull out my laptop. I want to call Ayda, but it’s only been a few hours.This woman is turning me into a little bitch.
Ispend the next few hours searching for Ayda’s attacker. Whoever this guy is,his father has done a good job of burying the story, but not good enough. Ihelp myself to some sealed court papers and within minutes, I have his name infront of me. Talbot Coulter, age twenty-seven. This guy is a Grade-A assholewith a record going back to his eighteenth birthday. There’s a sealed juvenilerecord as well, but I don’t even bother with it. I’ve seen all I need to see.
Hisfather, Senator Montgomery Coulter, has been bailing him out of trouble foryears, and by the looks of it he has more than one a judge in his pocket. Addanother name to my revenge list. Ayda isn’t the only woman he’s hurt over theyears. The same judge dismissed a case against him brought by a young woman athis college for sexual assault just a year after Ayda’s attack.
Asearch using Talbot’s name and Ayda’s steers me to an article that names thedancer who put him up to it. It isn’t hard to find information on her once Ihave her name, since she doesn’t even have her Facebook profile set to private.It gets easier and easier to find people since the world is now steeped innarcissism. Now, everyone posts everything about their lives as if no one iswatching.
I’mnot sure what I want to do about her yet. I won’t use violence against a woman,even one as deserving as her, but there are lots of other ways to screw withsomeone’s life. They scarred Ayda for life, and not just physically. Theyaregoing to pay.
Sharonis getting the kids to bed when I go back inside, and she watches me check thelocks on the doors and windows before arming the alarm. Approaching mehesitantly she asks, “Do you think we could take the boys down the street tothe park tomorrow? Devon went with us before. They’re getting a little restlessbeing cooped up.”
IfDevon took them, it must be okay. From what he and Mason have told me, he’skeeping a guard here just as a precaution, and to make Sharon feel secure.“Sure, just let me know when you’d like to go.”
“Thankyou.” She gives me a quick smile and retires to her bedroom.
Thelast couple of nights with little sleep are starting to catch up with me, so Idecide to head to bed. Something tells me those boys will be up early and I’mnot wrong.
Thesound of giggling wakes me and it takes me a second to remember where I am.Dragging myself out of bed, I do a quick check of the house and yard.Everything is fine, so I take a quick shower and grab a cup of coffee beforeaccompanying Sharon and her boys to the park. It’s only two blocks away, but Icheck with Mason because I’m not sure what his protocol would be for leavingthe house. When he texts to let me know they have Sharon’s ex undersurveillance and he’s not even in the state, I relax and take a seat on thepark bench.
Ithasn’t even been twenty-four hours since I left Ayda’s, but I really want tohear her voice. I call her phone, but get her voice mail. She’s probably stillasleep.
Theday drags by. Sharon and her kids don’t need anything from me but to bepresent, so I spend most of my time researching the Coulters, the judge, andthe dancer who’s responsible for Ayda’s pain.
Wheneveryone is in bed for the night, I check my phone one last time and see Aydastill hasn’t called. When I call her phone, it only rings twice, then goes tovoicemail, which means she rejected the call andsentme to voicemail.What the hell?
Thenext two days seem to last a week. Ayda continues to ignore my calls and textsand all I want to do is get home and see what the hell went wrong since I lefther apartment Friday morning. I’m in my car and on the highway minutes afterAlex shows to relieve me.
Ayda’scar isn’t in the parking lot when I return, and like a whipped bitch, I spendmost of the day peeking out the window, watching for her to get back. I’m in apissed off mood by that night when Landon shows up.
“Hey,asshole. I thought you were coming to work today. Did the job for Mason lastlonger than you expected?” he asks, helping himself to a beer from my fridge.
“GuessI forgot,” I grumble, flipping through a hundred channels of shit on the T.V.
“Uh-huh.”He stares at me, trying not to grin. “And would this new winning attitude haveanything to do with the chick you brought to Thanksgiving dinner?”
“Nope,just a reaction to the sight of your ugly face. Where’s your fiancée? She getsick of you already?”
“Iwore her out, put her out of commission for the night.” Landon sits back andprops his foot on his knee. “So, you fuck her yet?”
“Areyou trying to get your ass kicked? Because there are easier ways.”
Landonlaughs. “This woman has really got to you, hasn’t she?”
Fuck.“We fucked and now she won’t talk to me.”
“Whatdid you do?”
