I take a long drag off my cigarette. “A man?”
“Yeah,” she says. “He started freaking out about me. That I was the kidnapped girl. And I panicked. I took off running. He chased after me. I made it, I don’t know, a block or so and then he stopped chasing me. So I came back here. But it was too late. There were sirens. The cops were coming. And Mama Dae…” Jolie takes a breath. “I was in the basement, Mac. I was in that room…”
I turn my head and look out the window.
Fuck.
Of course Mama would make her go down there.
Why not, right?
It was a form of punishment.
Because Mama would never physically hurt Jolie. At least, not at that moment.
“Mac, what is that room?” Jolie asks.
“Doesn’t matter,” I say. “What happened after you were in that room?”
“I heard a cop’s voice,” she says. “Then Declan showed up. He took control of everything. He came down into the basement and saw me. Then he made up a lie to get him and the other cop out of the house. I’m so sorry, Mac. I didn’t… I mean, of course I knew what could happen. I just couldn’t take it anymore. I’m really starting to feel kidnapped now…”
She sucks in a breath.
I take one more drag of my cigarette and then smash it against the windowsill before flicking it out the window.
I sit down on the bed with my back to her.
She touches my back.
And, damn, there’s nothing like that feeling.
Jolie touching me.
It’s like this reminder that life can be good and life can have a purpose.
It’s all in love bullshit kind of stuff to think about, but that’s where I’m at.
“I get it, sweetie,” I say. “I really do. And we are getting there with everything. I talked to the guys about Mama and we all know something is wrong. I mean, it’s just me, Les, and Taz. We know it. We see it. We can’t do anything about it right now. I’m going to make it all work.”
“I know that, Mac. I wasn’t trying to run away. I was just…”
I turn a little.
I touch her face with my left hand.
“Mac… I thought it was okay. I thought even if someone saw me, so what? Right? As long as it wasn’t my parents…” She shakes her head. “If everyone thinks I’m kidnapped, how does this work?”
“That’s the thing, Jolie… we have it all worked out. You could walk around and not be seen. You’re right.”
“Then how did…”
She stops talking and sits up in the bed.
The blanket falls down her chest and I grit my teeth.
Jolie hurries to cover herself.
“Mac…”
I nod at her. “Yeah…”
“So that man…”
“I have no clue who it is,” I say to her. I stroke her cheek. “But he wasn’t supposed to know who you were.”
“Was he the same man from my apartment?” Jolie asks.
“You can answer that better than me.”
“I don’t know. I didn’t get a good a look at him. I was scared. I just wanted to run. I wanted to get out of there, you know?”
“I’m glad you did, sweetie,” I say.
“I feel sick again, Mac.”
I pull her toward me and hug her.
I hold her in the bed.
She’s sitting up, her face against my chest.
Everything about the way we’re positioned and mostly naked makes me want to kiss her and fuck her again.
But at the same time, I just want to hold her.
I want her to feel safe in my arms. And safe in my life.
“I swear to you, Jolie, I’m going to figure this all out,” I whisper. “I know you staying here is hard. So let’s work something out.”
Jolie moves away from me, clutching the covers to her chest still. “Working something out? How?”
“All we want to do is figure out exactly what’s going on with your father,” I say. “And to make sure you’re safe. Because you’re obviously not. Something is going on. Maybe that guy that recognized you was sent there on purpose. By your father. By the people who work with or for him. That’s why you’re here, sweetie. This place is safe. I know it doesn’t always feel that way.”
“I’m sorry, Mac,” Jolie says. “I lost myself and did something stupid.”
“That’s why we’re going to make something work. I can bring you to the warehouse. I can probably sneak you into my place. But you’d have to crash in my room.”
“Really?”
“Yeah,” I say. “I didn’t think it would take this long for this shit to work out. And what’s going on with Mama is only making it worse. Much worse.”
“I’m so sorry about that too,” she says.
I feel her kiss my back.
I suck in a breath.
She’s nothing but an angel dipped in temptation.
My decisions are all for her but I don’t know if they’re good or not.
I’m going to take some serious hell by letting her leave the house.
But I can’t stand the thought of her in pain.
Her lips keep kissing up my back.
Then she drops the covers and presses her chest to my back.
My hands grab at the edge of the bed.
Her tongue touches the back of my neck.
I look down.
I watch as her hands move around my body and down to the growing bulge in my jeans.
Her lips stop at my ear.
She lets out a sigh.
“I love you, Mac,” she whispers.
She opens my jeans and I let her push my jeans down just enough so my hardness can be free.
Her right hand touches me.
She begins to stroke.
Up. Down.
Slowly.
I turn my head so I can kiss her.
Our tongues touch and I stop for a second.
Her hand moves faster against my body.
“Hey, sweetie, I love you too,” I whisper.
We kiss again.
And her hand moves faster than ever.
Jolie is fast asleep when I leave the bedroom.
Downstairs I find Mama Dae in the kitchen with a glass in her hand.
I keep a small distance from her.
I can feel tension between us.
That doesn’t happen too often, but when it does, it sucks.
We both want to confess something to one another.
But we both know we can’t.
“I’m going to leave,” I say.
“Off to do something stupid, I assume.”
“What makes you say that, Mama?”
Mama looks up. She smiles. “Love.”
“She would’ve been fine,” I say. “Whoever saw her…”
“I know,” Mama Dae says. “It’s getting deeper now, Mac.”
“We’ve been deep before, Mama. Let me handle this.”
“Is there something wrong with the way I do things?” she asks.
Shit.
“No,” I say. “But I know this isn’t what you would normally do. This is me taking advantage of everything. So I want it on my back. My shoulders. My ass is on the line. Okay?”
Mama nods. “Be safe out there, Mac. Make sure you have some sense of backup too.”