Moth to a Flame (21 page)

I cringed as I crumpled up the letter, tossing it and the roses into the trash. Needing his comfort, I texted Cale.

Me:
He had a dozen roses sent to work, which means he knows where I work. No surprise there. His note said that he couldn’t wait to see me later. Cale, I’m tired of being scared.

When he didn’t respond for a while, I started to worry about him. But the front door opened and in came my knight, who stalked right over to my desk and pulled me up from the chair.

“Lia, I’m here.”
Safe.

I tried not to cry as he held me, but I was so emotional from this week that the tears fell anyway. In a way, I was almost glad to get today over with. At least I wouldn’t be sitting in anticipation of what might come.

“Are you okay?” he demanded, pulling away from me.

I nodded. “Yes, but he just scares the hell out of me. What do you think he’ll do?”

A murderous look passed over Cale’s face at the thought of exactly what Sam might do, and I shivered.

“He’ll never have the chance, Lia. I promise, the moment he tries anything, I’ll kill the son of a bitch,” he vowed. “You sure you don’t want me to pick you up this afternoon?”

“Yeah, Anj is taking me to her house so we can get ready. Deion will be there, so I’ll be safe till you arrive,” I assured him.

He looked uneasy but agreed that he would see me then.

Leaning down, he kissed me on the lips. “I’ll see you soon, babe.”

I sadly watched him walk away, already missing him.

AFTER LEAVING A very vulnerable Lia at work, I slid the gun out from under the seat in my truck and tucked it into the waist of my pants. The drive to the address Dad had given me took no more than ten minutes from the bank. I arrived at a small home that was kept up in decent shape.

There wasn’t a car in the driveway, so I got out and walked around the back. That door was locked, so I stuffed my fist into the sleeve of my jacket and knocked in one of the panes on the door, allowing me access to reach inside and unlock it. I drew the gun and slowly crept into the house. After doing a quick sweep of each room to make sure nobody was there, I began digging for information.

The house barely looked lived in. There wasn’t anything in the house that was remotely useful in my investigation. I couldn’t find any filing cabinets, pictures, or documents. The house had furniture in it, but there were no clothes in the drawers or the closets. It was almost spooky. I finally gave up on yet another dead end and headed back to the truck.

In a last-ditch effort, I peeked in the mailbox. I withdrew a neglected stack of mail. After sifting through many items addressed to Jose Juarez, I finally found a car payment bill for a Sam Vickerson.
Bingo.
I tossed everything else back in the mailbox before stuffing the bill in my jacket pocket and heading back to my house to continue my investigation.

Once I was sitting in front of my laptop, I Googled Sam Vickerson. There was nothing on this guy. I expected an old Facebook page, a phone listing—something. The guy was a damn ghost. Realizing it was getting late, I decided to email the information to my dad so he could ask his friend to look into it.

I had to park two driveways down from the address Lia had given me for the party since cars were already strewn about everywhere. I’d spent so much time researching Sam that I was running late to the party. But Lia was going to get a kick out of my costume when she saw it.

When I made my way to the front door, I knocked and it burst open. Ike and Tina Turner were standing there looking very much the part. Laughing, I asked where Lia was.

“Looking hot, Cale,” Anj—a.k.a. Tina—told me. “She’s around here somewhere. Last I saw, she was making herself a drink. The girl’s already had several. She was getting lit, worrying if you’d ever show up,” she laughed.

“What’s she dressed as? I’ll never find her unless you tell me.”

“Boyfriend, there is no way in hell you’ll miss her. Believe me!” she sassed at me and pulled Deion back into the throng of dancing people.

Dammit.
It was a fucking zoo in here. I should have gotten here earlier. My eyes began scanning the living room for her when my phone vibrated in my pocket.

Lia:
Hey, Cale. When are you going to get here? I miss you and can’t wait to see you in your costume. The drinks are great tonight!

I rolled my eyes, realizing that she was giggly Lia, which meant drunk Lia. Looking towards the stairs from across the room, I saw her ascending them. The place was bouncing with loud dance music, so she’d never hear me from way over here. Her hair was curled in loose waves down her back. That perfectly round ass of hers was outlined in a tight white gown. She had a crown of leaves on her head and a gold band wrapped around her upper arm. I laughed at the irony. She was a fucking goddess.

Me:
I can see you. I always said you were a goddess and you proved me right. I’ll be with you soon. I just have to make it through this fucking crowd first.

Lia:
Grab a drink in the kitchen and meet me in the upstairs bedroom at the end of the hall. I’ll be waiting, lover boy. ;)

Laughing at her text, I went into the kitchen to grab a drink.

HE WAS HERE and I drove him wild with my costume just like I’d planned. It was kind of fun looking for him in the crowd. When he got in here, I was going to let him quickly fuck me and then we could go back to the party. There was something exciting and extremely erotic about the idea of making love in costume.

When I heard the bedroom door open and close behind me, I smiled. He locked the door and came up behind me, wrapping his arms around me.

“I’ve missed you,” I slurred slightly.

His hands traveled up my stomach and caressed my breasts through the thin fabric of my gown, causing me to moan. One hand slid down to rub over my sex.

“Oh, God. I want you so badly,” I whispered.

One hand was pinching my nipple and the other was rubbing back and forth over my clit. Even though I was fully clothed, it was a crazy turn-on. Finally having had enough and needing skin-to-skin contact, I begged him, “Please fuck me.” I turned around and started to giggle when I realized that he was a damn football player—helmet and all. His face was painted completely black underneath making it difficult to see his normally handsome features. “Are you serious?” I laughed. “You couldn’t come up with anything better?”

I missed him so much and couldn’t wait to get that damn helmet off him. However, my laughter died in my throat when he started to remove it. That was not the face of my sweet lover. No, the man who had been touching me was not Cale—he was Sam. I began to scream, but he covered my mouth with his hand and pushed me onto the bed, falling with me. Frantically, I thrashed against him, but his strength overpowered my inebriated state. I started sobbing uncontrollably as he shoved my gown up over my hips.

“God, I’ve wanted to do this for so long,” he growled into my ear.

Muffled whimpers escaped my covered mouth and I felt tears pouring down my face as he ripped my panties away from my body. I kept squirming under his grip, but he was too strong.

Still holding me down with one hand covering my mouth, he unbuckled his pants and pulled them down. “I fucking love you, Lia,” he murmured into my ear as he forced my legs apart with his knee. Finally finding a position that would allow him access, he poked my entrance, preparing to rape me. Terror consumed me as I tried like hell to not let him inside me.

A loud crash made him pause, and I immediately felt relief when he was ripped away from my body. The fury of the angry god Zeus, my Cale, lashed out on him. Cale’s bare chest tightened as he launched toward Sam the football player, his fist in the air.

Everything was happening in slow motion for me. I felt lightheaded—like I was going to pass out.

Zeus was punching Sam the football player in the face over and over again. I could hear the sickening noise of flesh against flesh. Tina Turner was hovering over me, pulling a blanket to cover my body. Ike Turner was yanking Zeus off Sam the football player. Zeus was covered in blood and looking over at me with tears in his eyes.

I was drunk and in shock. Everything went black.

When I slowly came to, I realized that I was in Cale’s arms. His chest was bare and he was splattered with blood.