Cherish Me (The Protected Love Series) (5 page)

“I
know, Babe. It’s nothing really. It has just been a long day that’s all.” She smiled weakly back up at him.

“Ok. I just want you to know you can tell me anything. Good or bad. I will always take care of you.”

“Thank you Jace.” She wrapped her arms around him tightly. “For always being there and having my back.”

“See, I am more than just a good looking lay.” Jace chuckled as she leaned back and swatted at his arm.

*****

“Where the hell is Ashley?” Judy heard Abbi ask from the other side of the curtain.

“I don’t know, dear. She was supposed to be here an hour ago.” Judy said stepping out in the coral colored chiffon dress Abbi had picked from the bridesmaid section. “Ok, what do you think of this one?”

Judy spun a full circle watching the weightless chiffon material flow around her. One hour in to trying on dresses and she finally felt like they had a winner. That was if Abbi wouldn’t change her color scheme all over again.

“I like it. Do you?” Abbi asked.

“I like it to
o. Definitely my favorite so far but I still have the navy blue one to try on.” As Judy turned to go back into the dressing room Ashley came rushing into the room almost knocking over the magazine stand next to the door.

“I am so so
rry! I got caught up in traffic and then there was an accident on the freeway.” She stopped at the end of the couch panting. “Did I miss anything?” She said plopping down next to Abbi on the couch.

“Not really, other than the appointment Abbi made us to try on dresses.” Judy looked at her sternly. Ashley looked disheveled, no make-up, her hair
was a wild mess, and her eyes blood shot. “Ashley, you look like a hot damn mess.”

“I said I was sorry
, Judy. I didn’t mean to be late.” Ashley stood unsteadily with an apologetic look.

“Hey, Judy it’s ok. Traffic sucks around here. I should have picked a boutique closer to us.” Abbi stood apologizing.

“Ashley, come here.” Judy shot off.

“What Judy?”

“Let me smell your breath.” Judy looked her square in the eyes.

“What? You have got to be kidding me!”
Ashley protested as her body swayed in place.

“Scared, Ashley? Worried I will smell liquor?”

“You know what. Screw this. I don’t have to deal with this.” Ashley turned stumbling and catching herself on the end of the couch. “Abbi, I will call you and we can schedule something for just the two of us.” Ashley made her way to the door.

“Ashley. The last time you walked away from us like this I found you lifeless on your bathroom floor.” Judy said causing
Ashley to turn back towards them, tears glistening in her eyes before turning and heading out the door.

“Ashley! Wait!” Abbi called after her.

Judy tried to hold back the tears. It had been weeks that she had been trying to talk to Ashley. Every time she’d answer it was one excuse or another as to why she couldn’t meet up with them. She made her way over to the couch and slumped down catching her head in her hands.

“Judy, I am worried about her
too.” Abbi came over placing a hand on Judy’s back. “Hey. Don’t cry. We will talk to her. You just can’t yell at her. It makes her shut down.”

“
I tried not to Abs. She has been avoiding me left and right; and then to see her come in here like that. I don’t know what to do anymore.” Judy sniffled wiping away the tears before they could fall onto the chiffon.

“We are going to have to do it together.
Listen, why don’t we try planning a girl’s night. Sort of a bachelorette party, without all of the booze since I can’t drink. We can go out to dinner and maybe go do a little dancing and invite Ashley. We will get it all sorted out.” Abbi’s voice was soothing, motherly almost.

“Ok. I will start planning it tonight.” Judy said smiling over at Abbi before heading back into the dressing room.

As she stepped in she could hear the vibrations of her phone from her purse. Reaching in she retrieved her cell and looked at the caller ID, Restricted
flashed across the screen. Her hands froze. Should she answer it? What if it was a wrong number, it might just be nothing. With shaking hands she hit the answer button.

“Hello?” She whispered into the phone.

“I see you bitch and that pretty little thing sitting on the couch in the middle of the store too.” A deep ragged voice came from the receiver.

“Who the fuck is this
?” Judy screamed into the phone.

“Wouldn’t you like to know? No. I think I
enjoy this little game better.” He let out a raspy laugh that sounded almost familiar. “By the way, tell your little boyfriend I have a target on his head, better watch his back.”

“Fuck you! Jace is going to murder you!” Judy’s eyes filled with tears as the curtain to her dressing room came flying open. She let out a blood curdling scream before dropping to the floor.

“Judy what the hell is going on? Who is that on the phone?” Abbi stood at the doorway.

“Call Jace and Ryan right now! Where is Josh?” Judy sobbed.

“I am right here, Ms. Adams. I am placing a call to Mr. Alexander right now. What’s going on?” He questioned.

“We are being watched.”
She choked out looking up at Abbi as the phone fell from her hands.

“I don’t give a flying fuck how many people it takes, I want this asshole found!” Jace’s word resounded off of the apartment walls. “I am done playing games with him. He will not threaten my girlfriend and think he is going to get away with it.” Anger burnt up his skin as he paced the floor of his study.

“Jace, the problem is that we don’t know who the hell we are going after. We have been tryi
ng to find Trent with no luck. We have not found so much as a trace; for all we know the bastard has OD’d in some back alley. We obviously have a bigger threat on our hands than some washed up junkie.” Ryan’s words were confident, but Jace could see the fear in his eyes.

“We need a game plan. We need to call in the guys. Get Gabe here, Aaron, Josh.... Anyone we can spare and we need to start brainstorming. Did you call your dad and see if he could get any information on where the call came from?” Jace took a deep breath as he slumped down into his chair.

“Yeah I called him as soon as we found out. He said he is working on it, but even the CIA can’t do everything.”

“Bullshit. Those bastards can tap every one of our phone lines with
the click of a mouse. You’re gonna tell me that they can’t so much as trace a blocked call?”

“Hey man, are you forgetting that they threatened my fiancé
, who is carrying my child, too? My old man is working on it but it’s gonna take a little bit of time.”

“
I know, I’m sorry. This shit just has me freaking the fuck out. I could give a damn if some pussy wants to try and threaten me. You don’t however, threaten my woman. That is cause for blood.” Jace’s eyes glowered as he thought about someone hurting Judy.

The two men sat in silence, trying to think of what the next logical step would be when a light knock tapped on the door and Judy and Abbi came walking in. Jace looked up at her face, fear an
d sadness written in her eyes as she came over to the edge of his desk. Abbi crossed the room taking the seat next to Ryan. Jace reached up taking Judy’s hand and pulled her down into his lap. Her warmth was instant, like a bright ray of sunshine after a thunderstorm.

He tucked her head under his chin breathing in her scent.
For a moment he didn’t speak. He took in the feel of her skin and the light smell of grapefruit and vanilla from her favorite lotion. “I promise you; never in this lifetime will I let anything bad happen to you. You know that right?”

“I know. But who is going to protect you?” He could feel her shaking, trying to hold back the tears.

“You protect me every damn day. The thought of being able to come home to you, laugh with you, that’s what my life consists of now. I would never put myself into harm’s way because I couldn’t stand the thought of ever being away from you.” He held her out at arm’s length as he held her stare. “Judy, I love you more than anything. I promise you, I am not going anywhere. Ever.” He brought his hand up brushing her cheek as he tucked the loose black strands of hair behind her ear.

Her
golden eye’s glistened as the last of her tears fell. He could see that she wanted to believe him. “I love you too Jace.”

“Listen girls. I know that since we have been together it seems as though it’s been one shit storm after another. None of us like talking about this, but after everything happened
at the club Ryan and I have considered that some kind of recourse would be coming our way sooner or later. You always hope for later, but sometimes it doesn’t happen that way.” Jace took a deep breath. “Babe, I wish you had told me when it first started happening. Don’t ever be afraid to tell me something.”

“I know and I’m
sorry. I just thought that it was Alexis being stupid or something. It just seemed too coincidental for it to be something more serious.” Judy looked down at her hands.

“Hey.” Jace lifted her chin. “
It’s ok. You can call Alexis in the morning and make things right. This isn’t your fault.”

“You both need to be aware of the kind of people that we are potentially dealing with. They have access to information, to people, and places
that no normal person can get. Until this gets sorted out you will both, at all times, have someone with you.” Ryan looked over at Abbi. “I know you feel comfortable with Gabe and it’s a hard pill for me to swallow after what happened, but I asked him to accompany Josh on your detail.”

“Thank you, B
abe. I know how you feel about it, but it really wasn’t his fault.” Ryan gently quieted her.

“I
don’t want to talk about that, Love.” He gave her a weak smile before continuing. “You both also need to be aware of your surroundings, even in places you feel comfortable. You need to know who is around you; do they seem out of place? Do not under any circumstance put yourself into a questionable situation. You have them with you for a reason. I really don’t want to fire my top four guys.”

“Babe, Aaron and
Mark will be with you. At all times; I mean that.” Jace looked over at Judy, overwhelmed by what was happening she just nodded. “Everything is going to be ok. I promise you I will find the fucker responsible for all of this and I will make them pay.”

“What about Ashley?” She whispered.

“What about her, Babe? You said she stormed out of the store. Do either of you know how to get in touch with her? Where she might be?” Jace looked at Abbi.

“No. We have both been trying to
get her on the phone. She showed up late today and you could clearly tell she was under the influence of something. I tried to call her a few times after we left the store but she didn’t answer.” Abbi answered.

“It’s kind of hard to help someone who doesn’t want to be helped girls.” Jace said apologetically.

“She is our friend, Jace; I can’t just leave her out there to fend for herself with some maniac on the loose.” Judy sat up in his lap.

“Ok. Ok. I will send Gabe over to her apartment tonight. If she is there I will have him
get her and bring her here; that is if she doesn’t put up a fight. But I will tell you now; I will not tolerate drugs under this roof. Especially after everything you have been through in the past.” Jace looked at her sternly. He meant it. He knew the girls loved Ashley but if she brought that shit around Judy he would have her ass shipped to the farthest rehab center he could find in the US.

“I know. I promise I won’t let her do anything while she’s here.” Judy relaxed back into his arms.

“As soon as your dad calls…” Jace turned towards Ryan as his words were cut short.

“You will be the first to know.
” Ryan said standing. “Come on, Baby. Let’s get you both home.”

“We’
ll walk you to the door.” Jace helped Judy up, grabbing her hand and leading her towards the door.

“
Goodnight you two. Abbi I will call you as soon as I wake up. I don’t know about you, but I don’t really want to be alone here while Jace is at work. Bodyguards or no bodyguards.” Judy wrapped her arms around Abbi lingering longer than normal.

Jace watched as the two girls exchanged their goodbye
s. He knew that this was stress Judy and Abbi would have to endure because of what he and Ryan had done. It wasn’t intentional, but it was now their responsibility to make it right. He slapped Ryan on the back as they both laughed at Judy speaking into Abbi’s stomach.

“Ok squeaks, don’t give your mommy heartburn tonight. Your Auntie Judy loves you.”

“I swear you have a different name for the baby every day.” Abbi laughed before looking up at Jace, her face growing serious. “Look after my sister.”

“With my life Abs.” Jace reached over and took Judy into his arms.

“You, me, a pint of Ben and Jerry’s and wedding magazines tomorrow.” Judy called out as Ryan and Abbi walked out into the hallway.