His Bahamas Affair (The Albury Affairs) (6 page)

Chapter Three

Loraine dropped her
bags at the door, feeling every minute of the long and uncomfortable seven hour
flight in her body. And of course the guilt of taking off and leaving Reno
sound asleep in her bed.

She pressed the heel of
her palms against her closed eyes. Damn, she really thought she could do it
this time. She’d felt it—the lust, the desire. She’d even felt safe in his
arms… it was Reno, Riana’s big brother. He would never hurt her.

And
I know that!
Her thoughts screamed.

But the moment all
their clothes were gone and his large body crawled over hers… her muscles
stiffened and her joints locked in place. Suddenly she couldn’t breathe. She
felt suffocated and held down, completely trapped by his huge body. The panic
rose, tears flooded her eyes and she began to cry. Reno launched off her so
fast he tripped but stayed on his feet after clumsily backing away from her.

She sat up, pulled her
knees to her chest and hid her shame filled face in them as she cried. It had
taken seeing the shocked look on his face for her to come awake and realized
what she’d done. She hadn’t reacted like that in years, and her reaction was so
epically bad with Reno and not with Jake was a bigger mystery. It had been over
eight years, since that night. And after a year of therapy, she’d spent the
rest being her normal self. Her reaction to Reno was the latest sign that she
was losing her mind again.

She felt even worse
after how Reno had reacted to her craziness. He’d slid his briefs back on
picked up the shirt she had quickly discarded from his body only minutes
before, and draped it over her naked shoulders. He’d approached her like a
skittish mare, speaking soothingly to her as he pushed her hands through the
sleeves and buttoned it down until her nakedness was completely covered. Then
he sat at the foot of the bed while she sat at the head and just looked at her.

She thought she’d see
pity or disgust in his eyes, but there was only softness and the rest of his
face was expressionless.

Then softly he’d asked,
“What do you need from me?”

No insults, no
questions, no demands for explanations and no excuses to make a quick getaway,
just what she needed from him to feel safe again.

It was such a simple
question, one that she had no answer to. So instead, she crawled to where he
sat, climbed onto his lap and cuddled against his chest and he wrapped his arms
around her. She barreled into his embrace, wishing she could hide in it until
she found her strength again.

She’d cried herself to
sleep and woke up after a dreamless night in the protection of his embrace.
He’d wrapped himself around her, his front to her back, his thighs cradling
hers and his chin above her head as she used his arm as a pillow. She’d felt so
small and soft in the cocoon of his hard and large body. And most importantly,
she’d felt safe.

He’d unknowingly
protected her from her nightmares and she’d felt the strongest temptation to
stay there forever, but the shame of her behavior had her leaving his embrace,
the room, the hotel and the country while he slept on oblivious to her flight.

She battled with the
decision to call him, to explain why she left the way she did but…what was the
point?

“Why is this happening
to me again? There is no reason for this nightmare!” she screamed at her empty
apartment.

She sank to the floor,
feeling completely exhausted battling tears. She wasn’t going to cry again,
she’d cried enough and that hell was over eight years ago!

Her butt slipped on the
carpeted floor and she rose just enough to pull what was under her. Mail, most
of them probably junk. Wanting some semblance of a normal life, she sorted
through them just like anyone else after getting back from a trip—even though
she had been away for just two days.

There were only two
worth checking out, both with no stamps or return addresses. Puzzled, she
opened the first red envelope and a dried rose fell from it onto her lap. She
picked it up and examined it.

Why
would someone send me a dried rose?
Anthrax mail made more
sense!

She placed it down on
the floor and pulled out the paper inside, also red. She flipped it open and
the first words crushed her chest into itself and she let out a pained cry.

Mon Coeur
…

She threw the paper
away and quickly crawled away from it like it did have anthrax on it.

How
is it possible? How did he find me?
Her mind screamed.

“No, no, no,” she cried
shaking her head. It couldn’t be possible.

“No!” she screamed,
kicking at her coffee table and everything else in reach of her legs. When she
was done, she stood up and attacked her home, throwing things around until she
felt her anger diminish.

She pulled at her hair
with both her hands as she stared at her hellish past sitting on the ground,
jeering at her.

She couldn’t stay there
anymore. He’d found her. She had to leave,
now!
It wasn’t safe there anymore.

Loraine rushed to the
door, moving around the envelopes like landmines as she opened it and made a
mad dash out without even caring about locking the door behind her. The devil
himself had probably being inside and there was no other intruder who could be
worse.

She tore out of the
building basement parking and drove like a maniac across the city to her
parents’ home. It was a Sunday and she knew they would be home. When she got
there, she didn’t even bother to turn off the car. She just jumped out, ran
into the mansion and straight into her father’s den.

He was seated on the
couch with someone else and she didn’t pause to find out who it was or be
introduced. She just did what she did that day they came for her in Paris,
something she’d never done since she was a little girl scared of the dark. She
launched herself at him, folding her body onto his lap and wrapped her arms
around his neck.

“What the hell are you
doing, Loraine?” he yelled.

“Daddy, he’s here. He
was at my apartment,” she whispered afraid if she spoke any louder, she’d bawl
her eyes out.

Her father was silent
for a moment and she felt his pulse leap before he cursed under his breath. He
then wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight against him.

“I’m sorry, George, but
we are going to have to continue this another time. My daughter needs me right
now.”

And the flood gates
opened, as Loraine cried on her father’s shoulder.

* * * *

Loraine watched her
father as he paced in front of her in the living room cursing up a storm. Her
mother on the other hand, sat next to her, moving between nervously wringing
her hands and smothering Loraine with hugs—which she particularly didn’t mind
at the time, considering the situation.

She liked this kind of
mothering—her mother had her wrapped in a blanket, filling her with cup after
cup of tea that was meant to calm Loraine but didn’t seem to have the desired
effect on herself. The kind of mothering Loraine didn’t like was the nagging
her mother called training to be a proper lady worthy to be married to American
royalty.

Loraine had called her
debutante ball her auctioning ceremony where all the other fathers could
examine her like a horse and see if she was befitting for their sons before one
of them put her on reserve until said son was ready to marry.

Such bullshit! It was
so ridiculous that sometimes she wished she didn’t belong to the cream of the
crop!

“How the hell did he
get into the country?” her father bellowed at no one in particular but Jeb, his
head of security, answered anyway.

“He must have used a false
identity.”

He turned to her,
giving her an apologetic smile before the stony mask came back and he returned
his attention to her father.

Loraine smiled,
thankful he was there. She felt better, safer with Jeb close by. He’d been the
one who found her that night. She’d never seen a man so angry in her life that
his entire face was red as blue veins bulged out of his temple. Jeb had pulled
that man off her, beating him viciously as she huddled against the bed frame.
She watched as each fist landed on his face, as he was thrown against the wall
only to be picked up and thrown against another, with so much satisfaction,
knowing Jeb was making him pay for every filthy touch he’d placed on her body.

Jeb wasn’t even
supposed to be in Paris and she’d found out from him that her parents didn’t
trust their once obedient turned rebellious daughter anymore. For the first
time in her life, she was grateful for her parents meddling.

“You need to fix this
Jeb!” her father went on with his ranting. “You should have killed him when you
had the chance!” He punctuated his exclamation by kicking a flower vase off the
glass coffee table. It landed a few feet away with a loud crash, spilling
flowers and water.

“Robert!” her mother
cried out, shooting off the couch.

Loraine’s eyes popped
open.
Wow! Who was this blood thirsty man
and where was her ever so calm father?

He turned to her
mother, his eyes wide with rage and his lips curled in a sneer. “What? Am I to
care about his life when he threatens the life of my daughter?”

Her mother shook her
head, dropping back down on the couch with her head in her hands. Loraine
wrapped her arms around her when she saw her shoulders shake as she sobbed
quietly.

“Mom, please don’t cry.
Everything will be alright.”

“No it won’t.” She
turned her head to the side to face Loraine. “Why is he so obsessed with you?
It’s been eight years. Can’t he move onto someone else?”

Loraine chuckled sadly,
wiping her mother’s tears away. “Maybe we could give him another target. Give
him a list of prime candidates for him to victimize in his own country.”

Her mother slapped her
hand away. “This isn’t the time for your silly humor!”

Loraine sighed. “I know
mom, but if I don’t joke, I’ll cry and I’ve been doing that for months now.”

Loraine knew her
mistake when her mother’s eyes widened and her father stopped cursing and
pacing.

“What do you mean
for months
? Has he been harassing you
for months and you’re just telling us now!” Her mother’s voice rose to a
shrilly tone.

Loraine backed away to
lean against the couch. “No. I’ve been having nightmares since I came back from
Paris—”

“I told you that trip
was a bad idea, but you never listen!” Her father bellowed returning to his
pacing.

“Dad, I was fine there.
I even had fun.” She kept the part about living in the same hotel and in the
same room to herself. “But when I came back, I started having nightmares. And
then the letters today…” she shook her head and shrugged, “maybe the nightmares
were a premonition, a warning. I don’t know but they’ve kept me alert ever
since they began.”

“Jeb, go to her
apartment and retrieve those letters and her things. She’ll be staying here
until we find that maniac,” then he turned to her with pointed finger, “No
arguments!”

Loraine raised her
hands in surrender. “At this point, I wouldn’t object if you wanted to move me
into your room. I’d sleep in the walk in closet; update mom’s wardrobe while
I’m there.”

Her mother huffed. “The
jokes again!”

And for the next few
weeks, Loraine became a prisoner in her parents’ mansion. Her mother called it
protective custody but Loraine was already getting cabin fever. In fact, she
was beginning to feel less and less like herself. After her last day in therapy
all those years ago, she’d become determined to never cower away from
adversities and now that was exactly what she’d become, a coward.

He’d turned her back to
that cowering little girl he’d tormented in that hotel room eight years ago.
She’d worked so hard to crawl out of that shell and now she was back in it.
Being in her parents’ home didn’t make her feel safe. Even the presence of her
knight in shining armor, Jeb, didn’t help one bit. Hell, her mother slept in
her bed because she was too scared to be alone to the point she couldn’t close
her eyes. And even though she slept with her mother’s arms around her she still
had nightmares and she would wake up drenched with sweat and tears. Some of
those tears belonging to her mother.

She’d turned her mother
into a weepy nervous wreck.

She needed to leave.
Hide some place far away where she could build her confidence again. She
couldn’t be this girl again, she couldn’t let him win!

“Miss
Larson?”

Loraine looked up from
where she sat in the garden at Carla, their housekeeper. “Yup.”

“There is someone here
to see you.”

Loraine’s heart leaped
with fear. She was halfway jumping off her chair when Melody stepped out.