Tragic Desires (28 page)

She starts to weep
and says, “I’m so afraid something terrible will happen to you.”

My arms wind around her and I pull her into me. “Don’t cry
, babe. We’ll watch over each other, but it’s way too dangerous to be out there alone. Then you put me in more danger, because you know I’m going to come after you… that I won’t leave you out there. Stay close to me. Let me protect you. If you don’t love me, that’s one thing. But if you do, let me do my job for the one I love the most.”

“Oh, Drex.
You know I love you … so damn much. And that’s what freaks me out.”

My hands run through her hair. “I’ll handle it. Just stay with me. Okay?”

“Do I have to stay here?”

“Not unless you want to.”

“I want to be with you.”

“Then let’s go home.”

“I can’t go back to the way things were. You have to give me some room. Room to be involved. No secrets from each other. You can’t control me. I know you want to protect me but I need to know that I have independence too. And you have to promise me.”

“But it’s dangerous. You know
Aali Imaam will try to take you again.”

“Then use your men to protect me. But I can’t be caged anymore. I’m willing to take that chance.”

“I guess you leave me with no choice, don’t you?”

“Not if you want me with you.”

On the way
home, I tease her about how she looked coming out of the woods. “You’re the only woman I know who looks sexy as fuck in hospital attire or when you’re muddy and sweaty as hell too. Tell me about your ride.”

“It was so much fun. I’d forgotten how much I love biking. Did you really mean what you said?”

“About what?”

“Getting someone to ride with me?”

“Of course I did.”

“I would love that.”

“Then consider it done. Do you like your new wheels?”

“For an
off-the-floor model, it’s great, though I would prefer custom made. I really screwed up by using my credit cards, didn’t I?”

“
Well, I paid for all of your things at the bike shop, so the only charge was the rental car. Fact is, it might just throw them off a bit. They might think we’re up to something.”

“Really?” Her face lights up.

“Yeah. So, when I did my research on you a while back, I learned that you’re quite the pro with that bike.”

Her skin flushes and she drops her head. “I’m fair.”

“Fair? Gem, the articles referred to you as ‘unbeatable,’ and ‘
the
one to beat.’ Why so shy about this?”

“Because it’s not a big deal. I just happen to love to ride. I raced for the fun.”

“I want to go out there with you sometime.” I want to watch her. I want to see her handle her bike, watch her maneuver through the obstacles of the forest and hear her laughter.

“You ride?”

“Yeah, but I’m a novice. You’d have to slow down.”

“I would definitely slow down for you. Oh, let’s go. I want to go right now!”

It’s hard not to catch her enthusiasm. “I’d love to babe, but we can’t today. It’s late and we have work to do. We need to get another chip implanted in you ASAP. I can’t believe you dug that thing out of yourself.” I glance at her and catch her squirming.

“I didn’t want you to find me.”

“Gem, I can find you if you leave on your own. That chip is to protect you if Aali Imaam takes you. Please, this is Drex here—you know, that guy that loves the hell out of you—asking you not to remove the next one.”

“I won’t, I promise.” She reaches for my hand and grasps it.

“I’ll get Dr. Davis in as soon as we get back to implant another. But tomorrow evening, I want to take you out to dinner. A special evening for just the two of us.”

“
Bodyguards?”

“Oh,
there will be a full detail of them. We’ll be surrounded.”

I see a blur
of dark hair fly at me and then I’m being kissed all over. “Thank you, Drex. That sounds amazing.”

“Hey, take it easy on me. I’m trying to drive here!”
If I’d known a dinner date would’ve elicited this kind of response, I would’ve done it sooner. As soon as we get back, Dr. Davis is there, waiting on us and this time, Gemini greets him with a smile.

***

The next day I get Ellie to pick up some clothes for Gemini and me. Heather, the personal shopper, has some items ready for her to bring back. We were both in need of the clothing as our wardrobes were thinned in the bombing.

When
Ellie gets back, a contingency of men carry garment and shopping bags inside. Gemini tries to make a big fuss over all the things that were purchased, but I put a stop to it.

“
Now, want to know what we figured out about your mom’s clues?”

For a brief moment, I think she’s going to tell me to go to hell
. “Okay. You really want me to know this, don’t you?”

My hand reaches for hers. “One of the things I’d hate to see you have to deal with is
regret. I want you to know as much about your mom as you can. My heart is telling me that there’s a good reason for everything she did, and while you may believe the worst, I don’t happen to think that. I think she went to great lengths to protect you.”

Her hand grips mine in turn
. “Then tell me. What do you know?”

“It’s not the Grand Canyon. It’s Las Vegas.
The intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard or Highway 91 and Interstate 15. Clever, isn’t she?”

Gemini snorts. “Er, yeah, date and year, this time. What’s there? Another storage unit?”

“Yep.”

“When in the hell did she go there?”

“That I can’t answer.”

“So now what?”

I realize my girl is trembling. It claws at my heart and my tough exterior crumbles as I bring her into my embrace. She grabs my shirt and buries her face against my neck and I feel her breath, fast and furious, as it fans across me.

“Tell me
, sweetheart, what is it?” Without waiting for her to speak, I pick her up and carry her to the sofa and settle her on my lap. I cup my hand against her head and hold her close in the cage of my arms.

“When she died, I was away at school. They called me to let me know she’d been killed. I’ve never felt so alone. It was right before I met Nick. I
never talk about this because it’s not a time I care to remember. In fact, I don’t remember a whole lot about it. I think I block it out. I didn’t even have a funeral for her because it was just the two of us. That’s it. No family or friends. No one to pat me on the back and offer condolences. Then I went back to college and acted like nothing happened. My roommates never knew my mom had been killed in a car wreck. I never told them. How fucked up is that? They all just thought I was that weird girl from Texas who cried all the time.”

“Jesus, Gem.” I didn’t know how terribly my heart could break for someone until this moment. I want to help her
… to take the giant ache away, but I don’t know how. I don’t have the right words, but I have my arms to protect her, my hands to touch and hopefully soothe her. And my lips to whisper words, sweet words in her ear. Words that let her know I’m here for her and that I love her.

“Gem, you
’re not alone anymore. I’ll help you get through this. You have me now and I’ll do anything for you.”

“You’ve already done more than I could ever have hoped for.”

When I think
about the life my mom led, it saddens me. “She sacrificed everything she had. And she did it all for me,” I say to Drex.

“Maybe so. But
like I said before, you would do the same. You wouldn’t want a terrorist to go free and you wouldn’t want hundreds to die because of one. ”

“Oh, but Drex, I don’t know if I would have the strength or courage to turn you in.” When I think about it, I truly don’t know how my mom did it, loving my father the way she did.

“Yeah, I see your point. I know I sure as hell couldn’t do it to you. I’d run away and hide you somewhere. I love you too much to live without you.” He kisses me on the top of my head. “Go shower. All this thinking will drive you crazy. I want you to take your time getting ready because we’re going out for a nice dinner tonight. Remember?”

Smiling, I lean in and kiss hi
s lips. “Thanks. What about you?”

“I have a couple things to do in the office and I’ll shower there. Can you be ready in an hour and a half?”

“Yep.”

The way he
licks his lower lip and stares at me ravenously when I walk into the living room tells me everything I need to know.

“Well, fuck. Yeah, just fuck. You look like sex on wheels. My perfect Gem.”
Drex ogles my deep V neckline of the black lacy dress I wear. It’s form fitting and shows my curves. The way he stares at me already has me filled with need for him.

“Er, thanks
, I think.”

“What?
Not good enough?”

“How about, ‘Gemini, you look
pretty in that dress’?”

“I can say that but it doesn’t do you justice. Sex on wheels is
way better. Come, my sex princess.”

“Drex, really.”

“Hmm. I can’t think of a more appropriate name, so I’m keeping it.”

We walk out of the apartment
where our team of bodyguards awaits. Drex gives them instructions and we head out. We’re in one car with three other men. There’s a car ahead of us and one behind.

“Um, isn’t this a little overkill?
We’ll be surrounded at the restaurant. I feel like the President.” I say.

“Not
overkill at all. I’m taking zero chances.” He’s in work mode right now so I’m not going to distract him. He reaches for my hand and fastens his fingers with mine. He watches everything around us and I watch him. I love the way he looks in a suit. Dark and seductive, but he’s not so fixed that he looks like an uptight businessman. Everything he’s wearing is navy blue, except for his crisp white shirt. His tie is perfectly knotted. His face has a bit of scruff and his hair looks like he just rolled out of bed. Every time I look at him and his hair is like this, I want to sink my hands into it.

The drive to the restaurant doesn’t take long
. Drex chose an inconspicuous one, located on a quiet side street so we wouldn’t draw too much attention. The men let us out at the front door. Escorted by our team, we’re seated at a back corner table, which affords Drex a view of the whole place. Ever watchful, we have a very romantic dinner. Even though I know he constantly scans the place, he never makes me feel like I’m not the most important thing in the room.

“Drex, what happens to us when this is all over?”

“What do you want to happen?”

My heart
pounds. Why did I ask him that? I don’t really know what I want. “I want you to stop answering my questions with questions.”

He laugh
s, a look on his face that screams, “I’m a cool son of a bitch.”

“Is that what I do?”
he says.

My brows shoot up. “
You’re the mastermind behind this huge corporation and you ask me that?”

His look is so
playful, I laugh. “God, I’m such a sucker for you, Drex.”

“No more than I am for you.”

We’re silent for a moment.

“Why does this make you nervous?” he asks in a soft voice.

“Because it’s so important to me.”

He leans toward me and takes my hand.
“Sometimes when I look at you, like now, it takes every ounce of my self-control not to walk around this table and pick you up out of that chair and do all sorts of unspeakable things to you. I want to hear you beg for more, to tell me not to stop and to say how great I make you feel. But most of all, I want to hear you tell me you’ll love me until your heart stops beating and the sun doesn’t rise anymore, because that’s how I feel about you. So if you want to know what I want to do after this, I think you have my answer. I want to be with you, Gemini, in whatever way you choose. You name it and we’ll do it your way.”

My breath seizes in my throat and my lungs will not fill, no matter what my head tells them to do.
I stare at him, trying to soak in every word he’s just said. Finally, I push myself away from the table and go to him. He leans back in his chair and I sit on his lap.

“For such a
controlling badass, you can deliver quite a speech.” My mouth is on his and my hands are in his hair. I don’t hold back as I kiss him and then I move my lips to his ear and say, “I want so much more than just this, and I don’t ever want us to stop because you make me feel so much better than my insignificant words can describe. But know this, Drex—I do love you, and I will always love you until there are no more beats left in my heart, or breaths left in my lungs and until the sun dies and the earth ceases to exist. What we decide to do after all this ends will be a joint decision. And wherever you are is where I want to be.” I kiss him again and am satisfied to hear him groan into my mouth.

“Jesus, babe, you make me want to forget about dinner and just take you back home.”

Desire and want are written all over his face as he licks his lips. “You wouldn’t want me to starve, would you?”

He grabs my ha
nd and bites the tip of my index finger. “I could feed you in other ways.”

“Hmm, I’m sure you could.”

The waitress chooses that moment to approach us. “Can I bring you something to drink?”

Drex orders a bottle of wine
, ice water, and an appetizer. She starts to hand over menus, but he stops her and asks for the lobster tails and baked potatoes. I don’t pay close attention because I’m fascinated with his raw male sensuality.

I
return to my seat just in time for the waitress to deliver our wine. Drex barely notices her because he’s looking at me with his half-closed, sexy-as-hell blue-grays. His hand holds mine and every so often he kisses it.

Dinner is delicious, but I’m so excited about what’s going to happen when we get home, I don’t even care about it after a certain point.
I don’t care that he asks me what my dreams were before all of this. And I don’t care that I tell him how I wanted to be a marketing specialist for a mountain bike manufacturer before the crash. I care about nothing but him and how he makes me feel. When we’re finished, Drex takes my hand and leads me to the door. We walk outside, again surrounded by our team, to where our car is waiting. As we round the corner, we hear odd popping sounds and Drex pushes me to the ground. I’m blindsided and don’t know what’s going on.

Then
I’m dragged away from Drex, something stinging at my neck. My vision blurs and everything fades away.