Trust Me (2 page)

She didn’t even attempt to make small talk on the short ride up. He remained across the car from her, holding still so he didn’t panic her any further. When they stopped, he stepped forward then waved her by him. Head down, she moved out.

He inhaled deeply and frowned when there was no subtle scent of her favorite wild honey bath wash. “Last office on the left.”

Still nothing from her as she followed his directions, stopping at the closed door. He reached around her and swung it open. His fingertips burned at the memories of running through the red silken wave she called hair.

He clenched a fist and moved around her, leaving the door open about an inch. “Can I get you something to drink? Water? Coffee?”

“Bottled water?”

“Sure thing.” He frowned as he pulled one from the small fridge he had in his office.
What the fuck is going on? She never drank bottled water, something about all the chemicals that leeched into it from the plastic.

He stood before her and held it out. As before, just the tips of her fingers snuck out and accepted the bottle. “Thank you.”

Even her voice was a bit huskier than he recalled. Moving to the seat near her, instead of going behind his desk, he said, “What’s going on, Shelly Marie?”

“I need to hire you to find someone.” She met his gaze but just barely.

“Okay, is this person in danger? And have you gone to the police?”

“No, this person isn’t in danger. Yes, I’ve gone to the police and…they won’t help.”

“Must be something huge for you to come here to me. If this person isn’t in danger, then what do you need me to find them for?”

She stared at the bottle—the bottle he watched her check for tampering with—and turned it in her hand. “I want to know where they are. I need to know if he’s tracking me down.”

The unease didn’t feel good in his gut. “Meaning?” He had a bad feeling but wanted to hear the words from her lips.

“I’m the one in danger. This person is trying to kill me.”

Shelly Marie kept her gaze on her hands where they rested in her lap as the silence in the room deafened.

While it couldn’t have been more than a few seconds later, it felt more like a few hours when he spoke again.

“Perhaps you should explain this better.”

His words were calm with a lethal edge and she dragged her gaze up to meet his. Intense. Focused. Dangerous. Three things she’d always seen in him, however, now there was even more of a deadly hue to them.

“I’ve made some bad choices.” She tried—and failed—for a smile. “This is one of them.”

“No,” he said, dragging the word out as if it were molasses. “Someone wanting to kill you isn’t just a bad choice. Who is the bastard?”

She wasn’t quite ready for that explanation yet. Dropping her stare, she fidgeted with her ball cap. “Shouldn’t we discuss price and if you’re available to help me first?”

“I’m available.” Those words came without the slightest bit of hesitation. “And I don’t give a damn about the money. I’m helping you. We all will.”

“I didn’t come for charity, Adam. I can pay.”

“Money isn’t an issue. What is going on, Shelly Marie?”

She licked her lips and took a deep breath. The words wouldn’t come so she tugged up the sleeves of her shirt, exposing the faded knife scars. Rotating her hands, she offered up the view of her palms as well.

“What the fuck,” he growled. He gripped her wrist, holding her still. “These are defensive wounds.” He pulled her closer. Unlike most touches she’d gotten in the past few years, his didn’t make her panic. At least not in a bad way.

For the first time since the attack, her gut clenched with a need she’d thought had been stabbed out of her. It didn’t hurt that the man touching her was Adam Wilder. A solider she’d fallen head over heels in love with the moment she’d first laid eyes on him. Theirs had been a whirlwind romance. Hot. Ninety-eight percent of their time together had been physical, tearing up the sheets. She was busy with her budding career and he with being a solider. So the little time together had been intense. Their trip to the altar had been just as swift.

She shook her head.
Then again, so did our trip to the divorce attorney.
A heavy sigh. A failure, her parents called it, to be fair, they’d not been happy about her marrying a lowly solider, as they called him. When Adam had accused her of using their words to leave him, what little she had left in her heart shattered.

Focus on saving your life. If you survive this, there will be time to wonder about all the what ifs later.

Adam had only improved over the nine years since she’d seen him. He’d reached a maturity which culminated into the amazing person she witnessed before her.
And here I’d been sure he’d damn well been perfect before.

“Now isn’t the time to be silent.”

That deep raspy voice pulled her off memory road, all the while tantalizing her with memories of their times together.
I’ve come this far, if he’s to help me he needs to know everything.

She fiddled with the unopened cap of her water. Tremors wracked her body and tears burned the backs of her eyes.

Adam brushed his hand along the side of her face. “Talk to me, Pix.”

Her heart clenched. Pix. His shortened form of Pixie. Adam used to tease her. She was so short, even for a pixie, so he cut the name down.

“After you and I…umm…”

“After you left and subsequently divorced me,” he supplied.

Definitely some anger there. Anger she didn’t deny deserving. “Right.” Another gulp of air. “A year after that I got involved with a man named Dillon Sandoval.”

His black eyebrows converged. “Continue.” Danger dangled from that lone word.

So pissed.
Now wasn’t the time to wonder why for surely he had relationships with women when she left. That thought churned her gut. She bit the inside of her cheek to keep on track. Therefore, she ignored the burning need to explain herself that had broadsided her. She dug her fingers into the palms of her hands.

“We were married for three years.” Shelly Marie noticed him tensing. “First year, idyllic. Was the honeymoon period that people talk about. The next two years were wonderful, just little things would pop up. His anger if I was late from work. If dinner wasn’t on time. Never once did he get violent with me. Toward the end of the third year, he became verbally abusive toward me, still nothing physical. Then he’d apologize and say work was extremely stressful.”

She ran one hand through her hair. “To be fair, I was really focused on my work and just brushed it off. Looking back, I see they were glaring warning signs. On the night of our third anniversary, I called him at work to tell him I was running late at work and would be unable to have our dinner ready on time. He told me that was fine, he was about to call me and tell me the same thing. So I didn’t think any more of it.”

The tremors increased and she took several deep breaths to slow them down. Goosebumps popped up along her skin and she wanted nothing more than to climb beneath a big thick comforter and try to warm her soul.

A knock came on the door and she jumped.

Adam never took his eyes off her. “Come.”

“Hey, Army, my wife sent me to ask if you wanted to come for dinner.”

She took her attention from Adam and looked over her shoulder to see his youngest brother there. Kristopher, who went by Wild.

“Sorry,” he said. Then he stepped closer. “Shelly Marie?”

“Hi, Wild,” she greeted him with a small smile, unsure of how he’d receive her given her treatment of Adam.

“Give us some time, Wild.”

She hated she couldn’t read his expression. “Sure thing. Good to see you, Shelly Marie.” Wild backed out the door.

“You, too.” Wow, he was married? She’d never thought he would settle down.

“Anniversary night,” Adam prompted.

That chill which hadn’t left her since that night grew from within. “I got home about three hours later. Around eight-thirty. He was on the phone with a client, I believe, and I went to shower.” That final word wobbled as it slid from her lips.

“I’d been under the water for about five minutes when the door opened.” Adam tensed even more. The metallic taste of blood filled her mouth and she had to unlock her jaw releasing the part she had bit. “I looked at him through the glass door and smiled. That’s when everything changed. His expression grew hateful and furious.” She licked her lips and sought moisture for her suddenly dry throat.

Adam’s expressionless face gave her pause and while she wasn’t sure what to make of it she forged ahead.

“He ripped open the door and grabbed me, tossing me by him out through the glass of the shower. Then he followed, his heavy boots crunching over the glass as he walked to me.” She shrugged. “I remember wondering why he was wearing heavy boots given he usually wore loafers or wingtips.” A small head shake. “Anyway, he grabbed me by my hair and dragged me over the glass out of the bathroom to the bed. Once he threw me on the mattress, he pulled out a knife and began stabbing me. I don’t remember much after that, just passing out when a nice woman stood over me, asking me my name.”

Rage filled Adam’s gaze. “And him?”

“Got away. Amazing how money protects dangerous people.” She ran a fingertip along the scar at the base of her neck. “He stabbed me thirty-six times, once for each month we were married. Then the injuries from getting thrown through a shower stall. I’d lost a lot of blood.”

“How do you know that’s why he stabbed you that many times?”

“He told me.”

“So he’s been in contact with you? This fucker lays a hand on you and is just walking around free where he has access to you?”

Tears leaked free. “Pretty much. Wherever I go, whenever I run, he turns up. I’ve been away from him for five years now but I’m in the same prison.” A deep shuddering breath. “Before I came here, I got his usual long-stemmed daffodil wrapped with a purple bow and the card saying ‘peek-a-boo.’ He used to deliver bouquets of them to me at work with that card. Never perceived it as a sign he was keeping an eye on me.”

“You don’t like daffodils. Why would your husband give you those when your favorite flower is the gladiolus?”

She lifted her gaze to his. “You remember that?”

“I remember everything about you, Shelly Marie. Answer me.”

“He preferred the daffodil.”

Adam ground his jaw and stood up. “Come on.”

“Can you, or rather, will you help me?”

“Pix, that man won’t bother you again, I’m not allowing it. He can try but I’ll kill him. Come on, I’m taking you home.”

“Home?”

“If he’s followed you as he has before, you’re staying with me so
I
can keep an eye on you and keep you safe. He won’t be able to break in to my house.” He beckoned with his hand. She hesitated and he added, “Trust me.”

αβ

Fire burned at his gut. Adam forced it to remain contained as he guided Shelly Marie back to the elevator. He wanted to get her in his house and safe. Not that she wasn’t safe here at D.A.R.K. Cover, Inc. headquarters, but he wanted her in his home.

He couldn’t believe it when he’d seen her sitting there in the lobby, she’d occupied his mind numerous times over the years. The scars had pissed him off, her story infuriated him and he wanted to go find that bastard who’d dared scare and harm his woman, and kill him slowly. He flared his nose as the anger surged up.

His Pix was back in his life and he aimed to keep her there. First things first, he had to get her comfortable and safe. He held the elevator door open and couldn’t help but notice how she tensed in the small inescapable space. Adam held his tongue, merely watching her fiddle with the strap on her worn canvas rucksack. It was obvious that possession meant a lot to her.

Probably the one constant she’s had over the years.

He had so many more questions for her, but he knew this woman and she’d reached the end of her limit. She needed a good solid night of sleep, perhaps even longer than that. The doors slid open and he stepped to the side, allowing her to go first. He was confident all was fine there for his brothers all stood near the reception desk and turned to look when they exited.

He gave them all a look he knew they understood. No questions, he would explain it all later. Instead, each one of them gave Shelly Marie a hug and kiss on the cheek.

“Wait here, Pix. I’ll get my vehicle.”

He strode out into the cold Montana night air. New snow fell and he inhaled sharply at the bite. Pressing the fob in his pocket, he started the engine to his X5 M as he walked. “Fuck! I’m so screwed.”

She was his one. The one who no one else could ever compare to. The one who got away. Hearing she’d married another had been a dagger to his heart. However, learning what she’d gone through had kicked him into high protective mode. At his door, he took several deep breaths to get himself back into some semblance of control. Then he got behind the wheel and went to the front door to pick up the love of his life.

Two hours later, he faced his brothers and finished telling them what she’d shared with him.

All of them were furious. “I’m taking the case,” he told them. “I won’t have time to help with anything else until I’m sure she’s safe.”

“Of course you’re taking it,” Rhodi said. “We’re here to help with whatever you need.”

Wild nodded. “I’m going to pull up everything I can find on this asshole fucker. Find out his associates and hell, whether or not he sucked his thumb when he was a boy.”

“He’ll be sucking it when I’m done with him,” Adam bit off. “Or he won’t be breathing.”

“How’s she holding up?” Derek questioned.

“She’s exhausted. She’s been running for five years now. I can’t believe she didn’t come to me sooner.” He slammed a fist on the table he and his brothers sat around.

“Don’t go there, Adam.”

“Don’t go there?” he snapped at Wild. “What the fuck do you know about situations like this?”

If his words hurt his baby brother, it didn’t show. “I know this is the one woman who ever got to you. If you’re going to keep her safe you need to keep your head clear and you sure as fuck can’t do that if you’re berating yourself for not being there for her. You two had parted ways. That’s all there was to it. She’s here now and you can help her. You can stop this bastard from ever hurting her again. But you have to keep a clear head.”