I don’t move an inch away from her. I pull her tighter against my body and cover us with the blankets. Sadie’s breath slows until I know she’s asleep again, and I want to stay awake and enjoy it, but I’m pulled down into sleep too.
The sun streaming in the window is what wakes me, and Sadie is still in my arms. Holy fuck, I can’t get enough of this woman. Waking up with her, just feeling her body against mine, already has me smiling ear to ear. It feels impossible to be so affected by this. It’s too soon, too much. But I can’t ignore the feeling in my chest. Sadie already feels important to me.
This is heaven, lying with her next to me, and I don’t want to move. But I can hear scrabbling at my door. The pups want breakfast, and they’re expecting their morning run. Nerves spike in my gut at the thought of leaving her here alone. But I’ll set the alarm and double check that every door and window is locked. She’ll be safe. I’ll be back in less than an hour.
The thought of getting back to her makes me fly through the distance of my run faster than I normally would. The dogs love the pace, and they’re smiling and slobbering the entire way. Frank’s probably going to kick my ass later for pushing too hard, but I don’t care. I don’t have a fight for at least another two months, and even though I am on a strict practice routine, I can diverge from the schedule today. Getting back to Sadie is the most important thing for me this morning, and making sure she’s safe is a higher priority than any workout.
A low-riding car drives toward me on the road, and I move to the side to get the dogs out of its way. We don’t get too much traffic out here normally, but occasionally I’ll run into someone.
I’m almost past the car when the voice calls out. “Lawson.”
I go still too quickly, nearly stumbling as I turn and see Jack Singleton in the window of the car. Fuck. Fucking fuck.
He nods his head toward the car and I walk back to him, despite the dogs’ eagerness to get home for their breakfasts. I stand back few feet, not wanting to put myself any closer to him than I have to. “What do you want.”
Shifting intentionally so that his jacket falls open and shows me the gun tucked into his waistband, he smiles. “I know that you have her in there. Or at least you did.”
“Fuck off, Jack.”
All he does is smile as he drives away. The creepiest fucking smile in the world. And then his words sink in. He’s driving away from me in the direction of my house. Oh fuck. I run the remaining distance at top speed. Images of tearing Jack limb from limb fill my mind. I’m fueled by rage. This motherfucker has caused so much harm. I’ll be damned if he lays a finger on Sadie.
As I sprint through the gate to my property, and quickly unclip the dogs’ leashes, I start yelling her name. Throwing open the front door I scream up the stairs, “Sadie? Sadie, where are you?”
“I’m upstairs, where you left me,” she calls, and the relief that I feel nearly puts me on the fucking floor. I bend over and lean on my knees, heaving in breath after breath to try to get my heart rate down. The dogs are all inside, laying against the cool marble floor, panting too.
“Holy shit. Are you okay?” I look up and see her standing at the top of the staircase. She’s running a towel through her hair, so casually, and she is such a contrast to the things I was imagining just minutes before. She’s dressed for work in a perfect suit, she looks fine. Healthy. Jack just said that shit to mess with my head. I want to pull her into my arms and never let her go. But I’m covered in sweat, and I don’t want to ruin her suit.
“Jack,” I say, panting still. “He drove by me on the end of my run. Flashed his gun and made me think he was coming this way.”
Sadie pales. “Oh my God. He knows I’m here?” How?
“He must have seen me pick you up last night. This guy, Sadie, he just has eyes everywhere. But this house is secure. You’re safe here.”
“Fuck.” She walks down the stairs to me, throwing her wet towel over the bannister and plopping herself on the couch. “I can’t stay locked up in here, though. I have to go to work, Jon. And I refuse to let this man terrify me and back me into a corner. That’s just what he wants. To intimidate me. It’s not going to happen.”
I hate that she’s right, because I want her to be safe. But Jack thinking that he’s terrified her will just egg him on. He’ll fucking love it. So she has to go to work, live her life. “You’re right, but please, let me arrange for some security. Jack is out there right now with a gun. I don’t know where he is, and I don’t know his intentions, but he’s dangerous and unpredictable. I don’t take death threats from him lightly.”
She nods. “Yeah. That’s fine. I’m stubborn, but I’m not stupid.”
A knock at the door makes her jump. “It’s Ben,” I tell her. “He shows up every morning around this time.” But I make sure to look through the peephole first.
When I open the door, his eyes go immediately to Sadie and then back to mine. “Hi,” he says, but it sounds more like a question
“We have a situation,” I say. “Sadie needs security. I want a full team to travel with her, and then when she’s here, they’re to stick around. She needs to get to work soon, so get started. Don’t spare any expense. I want this done right. And fast.”
Ben’s eyes widen. “Okay, I can do that. Give me a few minutes.”
I nod, and he steps into the kitchen, already typing on his phone. He knows me well enough to know that I don’t ask for frivolous things, so for me to tell him to do it at no expense is serious.
“Why are you doing this for me?” Sadie asks quietly from the couch.
I find that I can’t look at her. I don’t want her to see any fear on my face, because if she does, I’ll be vulnerable. She’ll know just how badly I need her to be safe and she’ll wonder why. So I shrug. “The money isn’t an issue to me, if that’s what you mean. I have everything I need, and you need this. What good is the money if you can’t spend it on the people you love?”
Sadie sucks in a breath, and too late I realize what I said. Oh, fuck.
“I’m sorry,” I say. “I didn’t mean—”
But she’s smiling at me and is off the couch and moving toward me in a second. I’m still sweaty from my run, but she doesn’t seem to care. She folds herself into my arms and gets up on her tippy-toes to kiss me.
I realize as she kisses me that I’ve already given my entire heart to her, so what does it matter if I let the L word slip? On some level, she has to know how I feel. And all I can hope is that she may feel the same way too.
9
Sadie
Alan looks a little disgruntled as he steps into my office. He didn’t appreciate the grilling from the security guard standing at my door. Unfortunately I was on the phone for a few minutes and I hadn’t realized he was trying to get in before I was able to wave away the security guard so Alan could come through. Luckily it’s all but forgotten as he sits across from me and starts updating me on my first, and very successful story.