Sapphire (Steele Investigations) (17 page)

I manage to keep my tears contained until I get inside my
flat, then the dam breaks.  I go over and over our earlier phone conversation
and the image I saw tonight; torturing myself over and over.  I can’t help it. 
It hurts so badly.  I’ve never felt more betrayed in my life. 

I cry and cry and torture myself, replaying our earlier
conversation in my head.  I do this until I get angry.  Really, really angry.

“I’m really sorry honey but I’m going to have to take a
rain check on dinner tonight, something has come up at work and I’m not sure
how long it’s going to take.  I’ll meet up with you sometime tomorrow, if you’re
not busy and we’ll grab lunch or whatever you want”.
 

 “I’m sorry babe.  I wish I could get out of it, but I
can’t.  I need to do this assignment myself”

Something has come up at work? Not sure how long it’s going
to take? Wish I could get out of it? Need to do this assignment by myself? 
ARGHH.  I scream as I throw a cushion against the wall.  I am so pissed off. 
He is so full of shit and such a lying asshole.  He wasn’t even firm about
making plans for tomorrow. 
Maybe because he didn’t know what time that
bitch would be leaving his bed in the morning,
I think to myself
scornfully.

I decide to console myself with DVD’s where people blow up
shit..And each other..I settle on Die Hard.  Plus, Bruce Willis is one hot
badass!  I also decide to drown my sorrow with the best Chinese in Denver so I
tuck into my Egg Rolls, Chow Mein and Beef and Broccoli.

I look at the clock and it’s half past one in the morning. 
I’m not in the least bit tired so I grab some ice cream and put Die Hard 3 in
the DVD player. 

I hear my phone ringing.  I wake up disorientated because
I’m on the sofa, and not in my bed.  There’s also a tub of melted ice cream on
the floor beside me. Bugger.  That ice cream was yum – Raspberry and White
Chocolate. I reach over for my phone, careful not to spill the ice cream.  My
heart beats faster when I see ‘Elliott Calling’, then it plunges when I
remember what I seen last night at Wing Lin.  I hit the ignore button, pick up
the tub of ice cream so I can dump it in the trash and make my way to my comfy
bed.  My phone rings again and this time I look at the time on the display. 
Above ‘Elliott Calling’ it says 10am.  I’m surprised he’s actually calling me
this early.  Maybe he just shagged
Andi
, gave her breakfast and sent her
on her way.  Maybe they did it at her place and he’s calling me from the car as
he drives back to his. 
Oh for Christ’s sake. STOP TORTURING YOURSELF
I
yell this out at the top of my lungs like an idiot then I pull the covers and
the pillows over my head and try to ignore my phone.  I also try to sleep.  I
must succeed because the next thing I know, I’m being woken up by banging on my
front door.  My phone is also still ringing.  I pick it up when it stops and
the time reads 11.23am.  It also informs me I have twelve missed calls from
Elliott, two from an unknown number, one from Kami, seven voice messages and
four texts.  I toss my phone back on my bedside table and cover myself with the
pillows and covers again.  This time not only to block out my cell phone which
has started to ring again, but also the pounding on my door.  He will give up
sooner or later.  He doesn’t even know I’m here so it won’t take long before he
leaves..To keep looking for me..Or maybe to go back to…
CRASH
My train
of depressing thought is interrupted when I hear an enormous crash coming from
my front door. 
Holy shit!  He’s kicked my door in. 
No sooner do I have
the thought then he is bursting through my closed but not locked thankfully,
bedroom door, or I have a feeling it would have been hanging off its hinges as
well, then he rips the covers off the bed and stands at the foot of my bed,
hands on hips looking pissed.  He’s breathing heavy and his sapphire eyes are
almost black and they’re glittery.  He’s not pissed; he’s murderous.  Then I
get cranky and knife up out of bed.

 “What the Hell, Elliott,” I yell.  I put my hands on my
hips and glare at him.

He narrows his eyes at me and hisses through his clenched
jaw “
What. The. Hell?  You’re asking me what the Hell?”

“Yeah Elliott, I am.  What the Hell is with you thinking
it’s okay to kick in my door and come barging into MY house and into MY room?”
I start out talking, albeit loudly, but by the end I am seriously yelling.  I
am so far beyond mad, I am seething. 
Fucking furious.

His eyes leave me for a second and go to my bedside table. 
He punches some numbers into his phone and mine starts ringing.  He looks back
to me and shuts off his phone.

“Your phone works,” he sneers.  “Tell me why you didn’t
answer it,” he demands

A thought occurs to me, “How’d you know I was in here?”

“Answer me dammit,”

“No Elliott, you answer me.  How.Did.You.Know.I.Was.Here?” I
spit out at him

“Tracking device. Got it put in after Shifta and Bobby took
you. Safety precaution. Car has one as well.” He offers by way of explanation.

Oh. Well. 
I’ll process that later.

“Answer me Lorraine.” Wow he really is pissed, calling me
Lorraine.

“Because last night after you cancelled our date I went to
Wing Lin Chinese to pick up my takeout and you can imagine my horror when I
find you and that bitch
Andi
having a romantic dinner, she’s laughing
and flirting with you and holding your
damn hand
across the table.  Was
she your work assignment that you just had to
do?
Was your assignment to
sleep with her?  Is that why we had to sleep apart last night, because you
“weren’t sure how long it was going to take?” I am screeching and using air
quotations to emphasize my pissed-off-ness then finally I plant my hands back
on my hips and glare at him, waiting for him to try and bullshit his way out
it.

“Are you fucking shitting me?” he asks deathly quiet.  I
don’t answer. I just glare.  I’m surprised he hasn’t gone up in a puff of smoke;
such is the power of my glare.

“ARE YOU FUCKING SHITTING ME?” He roars. 
Oh crap,
perhaps I should have answered him the first time.

Then he explodes..

“Fuck Lorraine!  Are we really back here? Back to you
questioning my loyalty to you?  What do I have to do to make you realize?
Fuck!
You drive me insane.”

“Questioning you loyalty? Really, Elliott?  I think I have
reason to ‘question your loyalty’ seeing as though you cancelled a date with
me.  Which may I remind you would have been our FIRST DATE to go out with a
bitch who happens to be your EX.  And, just saying from where I was standing,
it looked pretty damn
cozy
between you two.  So why don’t you tell me
why we’re still playing this game?  I’m not going to be played or made to look
like a idiot, so just piss off now back to your little bitch.  I’m sure her and
maybe a few or her friends will join in your celebrations.” My lip curls in
disgust as I tell him the last part.  Truth be told, thinking of him being with
anyone else guts me.  But I push those thoughts aside; I don’t need to be weak
right now.  I have to be strong.  Cheating is an absolute deal breaker for me.

His lip twitches.
Seriously? 
“Are you seriously
going to smile?  Because not one thing about this is funny to me Elliott,”  I
wave my hands between us as I speak, “This shit between us might never have
meant anything to you, but it meant something to me.  And I’m hurting, so you
should just go.  Please.”

He takes a step toward me.  I take two steps back.  His lip
twitches again.  I scowl at him.  He takes another step forward.  I take one
and a half steps back before I hit the wall near my bedroom window.  Shit!

He grins a cocky arrogant-ass shit-eating grin, and takes
one more step to me.  I press myself up against the wall and say in my most
controlling voice, “Leave”.  I think I sound pretty convincing, if I don’t say
so myself.

He brings his hand up and cups my face, and then he whispers,
“Baby.”

“Leave,” I reply softly, this time I sound a little less
controlled and a little less convincing because he’s right in my space.  As in
right
in my space; face about three inches from mine, he’s all I can see.

“You don’t get it? Don’t you feel this between us?” He drops
his head an inch closer.  My breathing gets shallow and heart thumps so loudly
I’m sure he can feel it.

“Do you feel it, baby,” he coaxes

“Yes, I feel it,” I say on a whisper

He closes his eyes for a second, as if in relief and then
says softly, “Tell me what I have to do to make you realize?”

“Realize what?” I asked, confused

“You’re it for me. You own me. Body and soul.  You’re
everything I’ve ever wanted. Ever needed.  I want to marry you. I want to make
a family with you.  I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life waking up to your
sweet face.  When are you going to realize that I love you.  I love you Rainy.”

Holy shit.
He loves me. Oh my god. He loves me. 
I
love you Rainy.
I would never get sick of hearing those words fall from his
luscious lips.  My heart thumps deep in my chest and if he couldn’t hear it
before, I’ve no doubt he can now.  My breath is caught in my throat and tears
are rolling down my cheeks, unashamedly.   He swipes them away as more fall.
“Can’t keep up baby,” he whispers as he leans in to kiss some away while he
swipes at the others.  I just stand there, frozen solid, shocked. 

He leans back and looks deep into my eyes as if to find
something there that can give him the answers he’s looking for, to questions he
hasn’t shared with me.  He must find what he needs because he leans back in to
touch his lips to mine briefly before leaning back to look into my eyes again. 
His sapphire ones are shining, bright and full of that emotion I could never
identify in them…until now.  It’s
love.
 He loves me. 
But what about
his dinner with Andi?
 My voice of reason reminds me.

Once again, I decide the best way forward is to be honest,
because clearly hiding away doesn’t stop him, does it?

“I’ve told you before but I’ll say it again, Elliott.  I
can’t compete with women like her.  I –“

He cuts me off before I can continue laying it out.  What he
says floors me.

“Don’t you see Rainy; you don’t have to compete against her,
or anyone else.  You’ve already won.” He waits a beat for it to sink in before
he continues, still speaking softly. “Gotta say babe, havin’ dinner with Andi
last night – painful.” He shakes his head as if to try and wipe the memory. I
raise my eyebrows at him and snap, “Maybe you should tell me
why
you
were having dinner with your ex, instead of what it was
like”
.  His lip
twitches again and he takes my hand and starts to lead me to the bed.

Uh-Uh. No.Way. He is NOT going to go there with me!

I halt and try to pull my hand from his grasp, but his just
tightens and he continues to pull me along.

“No way Jose.  You’re not fucking sense or whatever it is
that you want to fuck into me.  Uh-uh. No way -no how. NO!”

He stops, turns and looks at me before throwing his back and
laughing.  I narrow my eyes at him but watch, mesmerized by his gorgeousness.

“Babe,” he manages, when he’s finished laughing, though he
is still grinning ear to ear, “just wanna take a load off.  Just wanna sit and
lay shit out for you”.

Oh. Of course. Right.
Jeez I’m an idiot.
I mentally
slap myself on the forehead and let him lead me to the bed.  We sit side by
side on the edge and he lays shit out for me.

“Dinner with Andi last night was work.  Not play.  Me and
some of my boys have been investigating…. William Spencer.”

My eyes go wide with shock and I whisper, “the same William
Spencer my Mom was married to?”  Stupid question, I know, but maybe it’s a
different William Spencer.  Surely there are thousands of them in the world. 
It’s a pretty common name isn’t it?

He gives me a small smile before answering, “Yeah.”

“What does Andi have to do with it?”

He runs his hands over his face and through his hair.  I
watch him and find myself wishing it was my hands… My mouth waters as I watch
his muscles flex when he rests his hands on his head. Yum.

I finally pull my eyes away from his arms and look into his
eyes to find him watching me, a small smirk playing on his lips and those damn
sapphire eyes are dancing.

“Get on with your story,” I snap haughtily, but the small
smile on my lips tells him I’m not really mad.

“She’s fucking him.” He says simply. 

My mouth drops open and I screech “
WHAT!?”

“That’s disgusting. The man is old enough to be her
Grandfather for God’s sake.”

“Not for us to judge.  I ran some surveillance on him, found
he was getting’ a piece of her, set up a meet with her and got the info I
needed.  Boys are bringing him into the office today.” He says matter-of-factly.

“W..What?  What do you mean the boys are bringing him in?
Bringing him in where?  What are you going to do?” I stutter and then rush out
my words, horrified that Elliott is going to do something illegal over
something that happened to me.  I know he’s a badass but I don’t need him going
to jail for me.

“Boys are bringing him in to our office.  We’ll have a chat
and depending how that chat goes, will decide the outcome.”

“Will you be using your fists in this chat?” I ask, not
really wanting the answer but hoping he says ‘no’ so I can put my mind a little
bit at ease.

“Babe,” he smiles as a reply.

GAH! “Maybe you could just turn him over to the police.  Or
maybe Shifta and Bobby will want to take him now.  They’re probably still
looking for him.  Just hand him over and then it will have nothing to do with
us.” I know how utterly stupid this is, if only because Shifta and Bobby had
already kidnapped me and bashed me to a pulp so I know firsthand that they
wouldn’t just forget about us, but it’s worth a try.