All is Lost (All Series, Book 2) (48 page)

“
Why?” I ask, seeing
something similar to regret or disappointment replace the miniscule
smile he had moments ago.

“
It’s your birthday gift,”
he says cautiously, studying me. I glance back at the box and again
I nod, accepting his answer. “I got it the day after the party,
when I was on my way to meet you at the hospital.” He releases a
heavy breath before adding, “I debated on giving it to you. In
fact, until last night, I had resigned on returning it.”

More confused now, I repeat my
previous question, “Why?”

His shoulders slump slightly and he
averts his eyes from mine momentarily. When he looks at me again
they are glistening.

“
If I hadn’t stopped for
this gift I would have been there when those guys attacked
you.”

“
No.” My heart breaks at
his remorse. “Those men were dangerous. They could have hurt you. I
don’t think I could have dealt with losing you too.”

Tangling his fingers into my hair, he
draws me to his lips and kisses me hard. I kiss him back
desperately trying to assure him through this kiss that I need
him.

After sliding his nose over the tip of
mine, he whispers, “I love you so much Breesan.”

He pulls away slowly and opens the
tiny box, revealing a dainty necklace. It is a lovely bronze
umbrella charm on a bronze chain with a tiny blue raindrop shaped
crystal hanging below the umbrella.

Tears burn in my eyes as I whisper,
“It is absolutely the most beautiful gift I have ever
received.”

“
It reminds me of the night
I fell for you.” He smiles at me with true happiness and says,
“Thank you for accepting it.” Staring affectionately into my eyes,
he adds, “And me.”

Unable to respond verbally, I draw him
to me this time and return the passion level to near nuclear with
this kiss. My tongue sweeps into his mouth and he grabs my hips
pulling me roughly onto him, pressing my flesh against his flesh.
My fingers glide along his shoulders into his hair and I grip the
silky damp locks, provoking a shudder from him. One of his hands
leaves my waist, to reach up and cup the side of my face. Panting
hard, he breaks away from our embrace and the sweetest sigh escapes
his lips. Looking deeply into my eyes, he smiles then takes the
necklace out of the box. I move my hair over one shoulder and he
slips it over, clasping it and then fingers the raindrop, lying
just below the hollow of my neck.

“
Thank you Marcus,” I say
playing with the tiny bead and feeling more joy in this moment than
I have in a very long time.

“
I’m glad you like it.” He
kisses me once more. “Are you okay with staying here,
now?”

Thinking about how much closer I feel
to my dad again, just by returning home, I nod yes.

“
Good,” he mumbles slipping
off the bed, retrieving clothes from his bag.

“
Are you leaving?” I ask,
uncertain if I’m ready for him to leave me with the demons that
possess my home.

“
I’m only leaving you for a
short time.” After jerking up his jeans, he crawls onto the bed and
hovers over me. “Once I check the alarm system and make sure every
door and window is secure, I have to meet Tac and Sam. There were
new developments overnight and I’m going over to Rhys’ to get all
of the details. I thought you might want to relax a little while
I’m gone. You could soak in the tub and read one of those hot books
right there.” Smirking wickedly, his eyes flick over to my
nightstand. My face and neck reddens instantly seeing one of
Danielle Taylor’s steamy romance novels lying face down.

Burying my scalding hot face in my
hands, I softly moan, “Ohgod.”

“
You have an affinity for
Mac’s, do ya?” He jokes, referring to the books lead male character
and the nickname Tristan calls him occasionally.
He read it
, I mentally
shriek.

“
Please stop,” I beg, dying
from utter and total embarrassment.

He moves my hands away from my face
and strokes his thumb over my blush from my cheek down my throat,
stopping at the hollow of my neck. The heat of his touch blazes
dancing flames straight to my core.

“
Hmm,” he moans. “Now
that’s how I like putting this color on you.” Bending down he
kisses me hard, his tongue seeking mine and for the first time I
allow it before brushing and he gets greedy. His hand works up the
side of my body under my tee-shirt. Kneading my flesh as he goes,
he reaches my breast and a growl so deep and hollow erupts from his
chest that it sounds like he is in a tunnel. Nibbling on my lip, he
sucks it in his mouth and bites it tenderly.

“
Fuck Baby.” Placing his
forehead gently against mine, his gaze bores into me, “I want to
stay with you and finish this, but dammit I can’t.”

He pulls away and sits with his back
against the headboard. Lacing our fingers together he pulls me onto
his chest and sighs heavily.

“
What’s wrong Babe?” I ask,
feeling nervous butterflies twitching ready to take flight in my
belly from his sorrowful exhale.

“
Tac has a plane waiting to
take him to a small island off the coast of Haiti. There was a ship
attacked by pirates presumably, I’m not sure if I completely buy
that story. Lately, everything is suspicious. According to the
investigator, the large commercial ship was transporting American
made vehicles to the Philippines. That’s not the only cargo found.
Anna and Waverly were not on it.”

I blow out a noisy breath of air and
glance away after I see anguish darken the green in his striking
eyes. “Damn, are we ever going to get a break?”

“
Maybe we did,” he says. I
look back and stare, confused by what he could mean
exactly.

“
Along with a small crew it
had more than twenty young women who were en route to a brothel
somewhere in the western Pacific Ocean and only one
survivor.”

“
So when you say that Anna
and Waverly weren’t on it, do you mean that they could have been?”
I ask nervously.

“
It’s a huge probability.”
Reaching a hand up, he loops a strand of my hair around his finger
and zones out for a moment. “I say that based on the survivors
identity.” After pausing long enough to jump start my twitchy
butterflies, he slides his hand under my chin and lifts my face so
that he can look into my eyes. “He was one of the
abductors.”

“
If the girls weren’t on it
then they could still be alive somewhere,” I demand, scooting off
the bed and pulling him along with me. “If he knows where they are
then we could have them back soon. What are you waiting for? You
have to go with Tac!”

“
Alright, alright, I’ll go,
but before I leave I’m calling Raithe. If he can’t come, he’ll send
another unmarked unit to sit out front until I return.”

Pulling a tee-shirt over his head, he
winks at me and then finishes dressing quickly. He sends a text off
and then shoves his dirty clothes into the bag with his clean ones.
Suddenly seeing him do this, I feel like he might not come back to
me. I reach out and halt his packing.

“
Wait, I-” My breath fists
tightly in my throat, preventing me from getting out what I need to
tell him.

Noticing my panic is constricting my
airway Marcus draws me against him and murmurs, “Hey Baby, I’ll be
back soon. I promise. I love you and nothing will keep me away from
you ever again.”

The slow strokes of his hand dragging
down my hair aids in calming my anxiety and I manage to get control
again. With my face pressed against his chest and hands gripping
the back of his shirt, I nod slowly and pull away to look at
him.

“
I believe you and I love
you too.”

He pulls my hand up and kisses it before
lacing our fingers together and marching us downstairs. He jogs
through the house toward the back and returns after a minute.
Opening the door, he shakes his head spotting an old Honda Odyssey
van occupied with two large gentlemen parked down the
road.

“
The back door and garage access
are locked. Promise that you’ll go upstairs and relax after arming
the alarm. And
do not
open the door for anyone other than
me, or someone from our team. Hell, I’m not sure if I even want
Morgan here after he sneaked you off to Granddad’s.”

“
I’ll be good and stay right here
until you get back,” I promise, kissing him one last time before he
opens the door and leaves.

Chapter
Thirty-Two

Morgan

“
Morgan, I said no and I’m not
repeating myself again,” Marcus growls, piercing me with a look
that threatens to stomp my ass if I push the issue again, but I
don’t give a fuck.

“
Whatever. I’m going and you just
need to get the fuck over it. Sam asked me to go in her place.
After showing up at Granddad’s last night and discovering Elise
crawled on top of Tristan, she refuses to leave his side.”
Thank
fuck Sam got there before that leech stole what rightfully belongs
to Anna.
“Besides, Sam said it was Tac’s detail. She was just
tagging along. I’ll be tagging along instead.”

I know my sister suggested I go with them to
help, but she really did it to get me and Marcus to spend some time
together. She is always trying to fix things between us, but this
little trip isn’t going to get it done.

Sighing audibly, I add, “Marcus, whether you
like it or not I am part of this shit. If there is something I can
do to help get…” Catching my almost flub, I say, “the girls safely
returned home then I’m doing it.”

Damn, I nearly said Waverly’s name out
loud.
Saying her name, especially to Marcus isn’t a good idea.
He doesn’t need to know how much she means to me. He just needs to
shut up and accept that I will be flying out with him and Tac to
interview this guy that could have put his filthy, disgusting hands
on my little sweetness.
That bastard better not have harmed one
hair on her head.

“
It’s pointless and you’ll just get
in the way. You can’t just tag along on a fucking abduction
investigation. If shit goes down, you can’t protect yourself.
Besides, I could use your help watching Breesan until I return.” I
see the flicker of deceit in his eyes and know that there is no way
in hell he really means that bullshit.

“
No,” I say, crossing my arms over
my chest and staring him down. “I’m not babysitting your girlfriend
this time.”

“
Let’s go,” Tac says, walking into
the front foyer. “The plane leaves in fifteen minutes. Morgan, I’m
glad to have you with us. I understand you’ve got some sweet intel
for me to review for the trip down.”

“
Yes,” I say, giving my brother a
shit-eating-grin while shrugging a shoulder, relaying that my
tagging along really isn’t his decision to make. “I made a few
calls yesterday to some associates. I just hope what information
they gave me is useful.” Turning toward Marcus again, I add, “I’m
going, and just so you know I can protect myself. I actually
knocked out two fuckers recently.”

Grunting loudly before chuckling, Marcus
shoulders his carry-on bag and asks, “What happened? Did a couple
of pissed guys, already torn down from too much alcohol, fall down
onto your fist?”

“
No,” I answer, mocking his
cheekiness. “Both were sober and neither got up from the single
strike I gave them.”

That’s not exactly a lie, but he doesn’t need
to know that I got lucky on both accounts. Luckily he doesn’t ask
about the meat grinder look I showed up with after Peanut bashed my
face. I would have to lie about that one. I’ve got to save face
somehow if I’m going to convince him that I can handle whatever
happens.

“
Since I can’t carry a gun, do you
think I can get a taser?” I ask Tac, after we board the
plane.

He laughs while sitting down in the leather
seat as the rumbling aircraft begins bouncing down the runway.
After reaching into his black tactical bag he tosses me a can of
pepper spray.

“
What the hell?” I raise my
eyebrows. “Dude, I don’t want to get close enough to spray some
fucker in the eyes.”

“
Yeah, well,
I
don’t want to
catch your misfire because
you
don’t know how the hell to
use a tasergun,” he says coolly, flipping through the reading
material I provided.

Marcus joins him in laughing at me. I flip off
both of the bastards and mock their laughter.
Cock
suckers

Feeling a twinge in my shoulder, I cover my
hand over the thick bandage as a slight smile snakes along my face
from the memory.

I couldn’t sleep last night so I
got on my bike and took a ride out to the docks. I sat staring at
my family yacht, remembering back to the night I drank like a
fucking fish to wash Waverly’s beautiful face and body out of my
memory bank. It didn’t work. Every good memory I have of the past
three years include her. Finally being alone for the first time
since returning from Vegas, I push the past month to the forefront
and watch my history pass like I am looking into the rear view
mirror. Dead inside by my own design, I did so much stupid shit out
of desperation. I never wanted to say goodbye to Waverly, not
really. A smile breaks out on my face when I admit out loud to the
rolling ocean waves that my soul misses my little star.