Love Me (Trust Series #2) (47 page)

I love this feeling.

He’s nuzzling me, kissing me tenderly.

If he doesn’t watch it, he’s going to have to do this all over again in just a few minutes.

“I love you, Alli. Never stop loving me.”

“I love you, too. I’ll never stop. I promise. How much longer until you’re done working?”

He continues to touch me. “I’m done for the day. How about we go and get some breakfast before your appointment?”

My stomach takes this moment to growl. “Sounds good. I have my doctor’s appointment this afternoon.”

His nose traces my jaw. “I still think I should come.”

“No way. You’re not coming for my yearly girl doctor’s visit.”

He chuckles because we’ve talked about this several times. I know he’s seen everything there is of me, but it’s just weird to think of him being there while I’m checked. I have some feminine questions I want to ask my doctor about trying for a baby. I’ve been on birth control for so long, and I just want to prepare myself mentally for it to take a while. I need to process this step we are about to take.

Damien gives me a light kiss. “Are you going to talk to the doctor about going off the pill still? I don’t want to rush you, Alli. This is our decision, not just mine because you know it’s something I want.”

I caress Damien’s cheek. “I want it, too. I’m ready to start trying.”

Damien’s smile is glorious. He’s about to say something when the dog barks, and something crashes outside the door.

Damien immediately gets up. “I’ll be right back. It’s times like this I want to kill Martin and Sam. I love that damn dog, but I’ll be glad when her ass is trained.”

I giggle. “You’re such a good puppy daddy.”

He kisses me hard and laughs. “I’m going to get that bastard back. He forgets he has a girlfriend, and I have a shitload on him.”

I chuckle as Damien gets up to go see what mess Katie has made out in the stable area. I lay there, looking up at the ceiling, feeling the love flow through me. With Damien, I have everything I have ever dreamed of. He’s my everything. We’ve weathered the worst of times and come out stronger for it.

My mom always said,
Alli, all you should ever hope for is to have a life filled with trust and love. Nothing else matters.

Trust.

Love.

I have them both. I’ve never been happier in my life. I have my happily ever after.

Sam

My car was packed with the few things I was taking from the sorority, and all my good-byes had been said to the girls.

It was late afternoon. Today had been the handoff ceremony where I passed the torch to the new president. It felt good to officially close that chapter of my life and move on.

A smile emerged on my face as I thought about my new condo in Atlanta. With my recent bonuses from my newly acquired job with Wales Enterprises, I was able to buy a place and furnish it. It felt good to have a place of my own, and I was going to buy a place in North Carolina also. It also helped my mama and dad adjust to the fact that I was moving away. It allowed them to feel like I was still anchored in my home state, not too far from them. I’d be here three to four months of the year, so it made sense to have a place to call mine.

After getting into my car and pulling out my phone, I dialed my best friend, Allison, to tell her the good news.

“He-hello?” Her voice sounded distant and off.

“Hey, girl, I just finished handing off my responsibilities at the sorority. Do you want to go and get a pedicure when I get back in Atlanta?”

I heard a car door open and close. Her breath was quick. Something wasn’t right.

“Allison, what’s wrong?”

“Um…um…I’m just in shock is all. Can I take a rain check on the pedicures?” Her voice was cracking.

“Allison, tell me what’s going on now, or I’m going to have to call Wales.”

I knew it was a low blow, but Damien was the only leverage I had in a moment like this.

She took a deep breath in, and barely above a whisper, she said, “I’m pregnant.”

Immediately, something tightened in my chest. I forced the feeling down. I needed to be there for her. Swallowing hard, I asked, “Isn’t this a good thing? I thought you guys were going to start trying after you met with the doctor today and went off the pill.”

She took a deep, steadying breath and answered me, her voice soft, “I’m ecstatic, Sam. I just wasn’t mentally prepared. I was supposed to go off the pill today. I was thinking it would take months. I’m still processing. I’ve got to think on how I’m going to tell Damien.”

“Just say, hey, you knocked me up, Wales.”

She let out a small laugh, and I knew I had helped the situation, regardless of how a queasy feeling was starting to consume me.

“Sam, I want to make it special, like he’s made everything special for me. I just can’t come out and say it. I need a plan on how to tell him in a romantic way.”

“Allison, just tell him.” I tried to use my stern voice.

“Hey, that’s Damien on the other line. Please don’t say anything to anyone until I tell him.”

The anxiety in her voice was evident. Damien was going to be elated. He had wanted kids for months. My sweet little friend over processed everything.

“I promise. Call me if you need me.”

“Bye.”

“Bye.”

The moment I hung up the phone, my breaths started coming in and out quickly.
What the hell is wrong with me?
A want started creeping up in my mind, and I had no right thinking about it. I didn’t deserve happiness.
I’m tainted.

Throwing my car into drive, I aimlessly started driving, trying to clear my mind. My body craved a release in order to push down this desire my body suddenly wanted. There was one place I’d be able to get what I needed—Adam’s sex club, Club Envy.

I had stayed away from Adam and the sex club in Atlanta for months after Ben came after Allison. Regardless of what solitude I found at Club Envy, I needed to stay strong. The sex club provided a release to me that I had never been able to find since my incident. It cleared my head from all the excess noise that told me I wasn’t good enough.

There has to be a better way.

Be strong, Sam. Don’t go. It isn’t healthy.

The words echoed in my brain as I tried to fortify my walls.

As I put the car into park, I realized I had come to the one place I shouldn’t have. Without thinking, my body had brought me to Club Envy. Every time the desire arose, I pushed it from my head, trying to forget the detached freeness it brought me. Hearing about Allison being pregnant should have made me happy. Instead, it brought a sadness over me, reminding me of everything I was missing in my life.

What a shitty friend I am for thinking that.

In my car, I continued to stare at the old brick building where my utopia for the night resided. I shook my head, trying to clear the thoughts.

Put the car in drive. Leave, Sam. Get the fuck out of here.

My craving for happiness was supposed to be buried so deep in my soul that it wouldn’t ever surface, bringing these emotions with it. When I’d worked up the nerve initially at Tybee Island, I should have told Allison what happened that awful New Year’s night all those years ago. In the end, I lost my nerve from my own insecurities of what she would think. I knew my fear was irrational.

Focusing my thoughts away from the memories, I looked at Club Envy again. The building called to me in a pulsing manner. I could forget all this the moment the metal door shut, encapsulating me in the alternate universe I had created.

Stay strong, Sam. You don’t need this.

I screwed my eyes shut, fighting the pull this place had on me, remembering what it brought—the hidden identities, the ultimate control, the separation from my mind.

This place had been a godsend when I started college as I was barely hanging on by a thread. My mind tried to make my body turn on the car and drive away, but my body just sat there. My fingers were wound tight around the steering wheel, fighting the pull, and they turned ghostly white.

Just one more time.
Only one more time.

The feel of leather, the clinking of metal, the sound of a whip—it was all I needed in the moment.

My phone chirped.

Adam: Come on, kitty cat. I always have what you need. I’ll make you feel better.

My head snapped up, and I saw him standing at the entrance with his hand extended. My body took over, shutting out my thoughts. My hands reached out and grabbed my red wig. I put it on, followed by my cat eye mask.

Just one more time.

All I needed was one more time.

On the following pages
are three scenes from
Love Me
written in Damien’s point of view. Hope you enjoy getting a little piece of Mr. Wales.

Damien

From
Love Me

The Moment Ben Kidnaps Alli

Fucking hell. I’ve been away from Alli exactly thirty-eight minutes. I need those contracts from Ben.
Where the hell is he?
I need to get back to her.

I did not want to leave her, but I know lying to Sam has been hell on her. She needed to see Sam. I pray our love is strong enough to keep Alli from wanting to leave me after all this shit she’s had to deal with.

I love her more than my own life.

My head of security is sitting in one of the chairs in my office, leaving clues on the Wales Enterprises server. We are still acting as if we are looking for Martin as Rebecca’s killer. Whoever the real asshole is has access to our server, and he used it to get Alli’s number.

Fuck, with the amount of people I employ, it will take us forever to scour through everyone.

Bane has been working on finding employees that I’ve known since college.
Ben will just have to courier the damn contracts to my house. I can’t wait to fire his ass.

My phone rings, and it’s Alli.

“Hey, Alli, I was about to leave—”

She’s out of breath as she cuts me off, and my nerves immediately go on edge.

“Damien, I know who it is. You know that guy, David Powell, the one you said was killed in a car accident? He’s not dead. He’s the killer. He changed his name. I know why that picture looked so familiar in the yearbook.”

I’m already standing, and I snap my fingers at Bane to get his attention as I walk toward the door. I need to get to her. Bane snaps shut his computer and immediately stands up to follow me out of my office.

“Alli, slow down. What are you talking about? Where are you?” I signal to my secretary that I’m leaving for the day, and I continue walking, increasing my pace. Something doesn’t feel right as adrenaline begins to pump through my body, preparing itself for a fight.

She responds, “I’m headed your way with security. David Corben Powell is Ben Powers. C.P. was Corben Powell, not those other names. He’s had some work done, and he changed his hair color, but it’s Ben in that yearbook picture, Damien. It’s Ben. I can’t believe I didn’t see the resemblance before.”

Her voice is climbing and frantic. I hear a car door open and close on the other end of the line. Instantly, I close my eyes as I continue toward the front of Wales Enterprises.

Why the hell did I have to have the back corner office?

I go to speak, but then her voice sounds muffled on the other end of the line. “Please take me to Damien’s office immediately.”

Car tires squeal on the other end of the phone. Part of me wants to tell her to stay there and wait for me, but she’s already en route. It’ll get her to me faster at this point. I’m sprinting now to the front door to wait for her. Bane is right behind me. I need her safely back in my arms.
I knew it was a fucking bad idea to let her go this morning. I’m a fucking idiot for letting her out of my sight.

“Baby, I’ll meet you at the front of the office. I’m headed there now. Hurry.”

Bane hands me a piece of paper. I write down that the killer is Ben.

Alli responds, “I’m on my way.”

I need her back here with me.

Bane nods at me as he starts speaking into his earpiece.

“Is all your security with you?”