He watched Paula as she nodded her head then walked over toward the bed. She stared at the envelope and the flower.
“Where are they, honey?”
She pointed to the side dresser drawer. She opened it then gasped, covering her mouth and taking a few steps back.
“What’s wrong?” The sheriff looked over her shoulder. There in the drawer were all the letters, and a single flower lay on top of them along with a pair of pink thong panties.
He placed his hands on her shoulders and turned her away from the drawer.
“There’s nothing on this. I can’t get a print for shit and the dresser drawer has too many smudges on it from Paula, most likely. I think this person used gloves,” Detective Louis Parrone told the sheriff.
“Shit. I was afraid of this,” BJ replied as he and deputies Tommy and Vic Ollsen stood near the doorway. The entire house was covered with police and detectives. BJ wanted to be sure that the women were safe and no one was hiding out somewhere.
“We can open the letter and read it,” Louis told him and he nodded his head.
The four of them stood there and read the letter addressed to Paula.
You belong to me. I saw you first, wanted you first, yet you allowed others to touch you at that club. You will obey me and call me Master.
Practice it.
Practice saying the words.
Do not test my patience.
Do not talk to any other man again. I am coming for you soon.
Your Master…
BJ looked at Louis. “You say she didn’t think anything of the other notes? She didn’t get the feeling that this was a stalker or an ex-boyfriend or anything?”
“No. She wasn’t too concerned. You read the other letters. They basically just complimented her, said nice things, but this is different. This is something entirely different.”
“Yeah, he sounds pissed off and ready to do something,” Deputy Tommy Ollsen stated. They looked at him.
“Let’s go talk to Paula. We’ll see if anyone has been bothering her at the club. We’ll see if anything he states in this letter triggers a memory,” BJ stated.
* * * *
Paula was sitting on the couch in the living room. There were police coming and going, looking around the entire place, trying to ensure that no one was hiding. She closed her eyes and covered her face with her hands as she gently rocked back and forth. She remembered the night after Sal cheated on her and the way he waited inside the closet of her bedroom and attacked her. Tears rolled down her cheeks.
“Oh, honey, please calm down. It’s going to be okay. The sheriff and his men will find out who did this.” Susanna caressed her hair and she looked up at her.
“I can’t go through this. I can handle something like this again.”
“Paula?”
Susanna and Paula looked up to see Matt and Tyler Depolis standing in the doorway. She cringed just thinking that he heard what she’d said.
She turned away and sat back on the couch.
“Hi, Tyler, Matt. Come on in,” Susanna said.
“What the hell is going on?” Tyler asked, and Paula could sense him standing directly in front of her in that commanding tone but she kept her head down. She didn’t want to face him. She felt her belly tighten.
“Someone broke into the house. Well, actually, into Paula’s bedroom, and left her a note.”
“You got letters like this before and didn’t tell anyone?” Tyler questioned her, and she nodded her head as she slowly looked up at him. She could see the anger in his eyes. He had warned her to not speak to any other men and to only pay attention to him and Matt. He was going to punish her for disobeying.
Her insides quivered and suddenly the fear was overcome by desire and arousal. She gave herself a mental shove. This was not a normal reaction. She had been abused and nearly killed by Sal, so why would she be turned on by two men who enjoyed punishing women and demanding complete control of her?
“Excuse me. We need to speak with Paula,” Sheriff Parker announced as he and Detective Louis entered the room.
Susanna began to get up, but Paula gripped her hand.
“Can I stay with her, Sheriff?” Susanna asked, and he nodded his head.
“We’re staying, too,” Tyler announced, and they all looked at him.
“Why is that?”
“Because we want to get to the bottom of this, and we care about her,” Matt offered. Susanna squeezed Paula’s hand. Paula felt her heart soar with their public announcement. Then the fear hit her belly. She didn’t know shit about men, and these men, as attracted to them as she was, represented so much that she feared because of Sal.
“Honey, we need to ask you some questions and you need to be honest with us. If you can’t do that in front of everyone, then Louis and I are going to ask them to leave the room.” The sheriff took a seat next to her. His green eyes held hers. He appeared sincere and very calming to her. She understood why Susanna was in love with him and Monte. They were both good men. Even now, Monte was helping to secure their home.
“Okay.”
“First, we need to know when you first received a letter.”
“A few months ago.”
She heard Matt make a low noise, and looking up toward Tyler, she could see the anger in his eyes. She should have made someone aware sooner, but she didn’t think it was a big deal.
“Honey, has anyone been asking you out or bothering you at the club?”
“Sheriff, I get asked out on a regular basis. It’s part of being one of the owners of Dixie Chix.”
Another noise came from Matt. The sheriff gave him a firm look, and Matt crossed his arms in front of his chest and stared at her.
“Anyone bothering you or being persistent about asking you out?”
“Jimmy Couger grabbed her one night and kissed her,” Susanna stated.
“Yeah, and just the other night him and a few of his buddies, who were drinking, circled her and tried to harass her. Tyler and I intervened,” Matt offered, and Paula looked at both of them. They held her gaze and she recalled their words and the possessive way Tyler acted. She remembered how his hands felt on her skin and the way he promised things that made her aroused and interested.
“Jimmy wouldn’t do something like this. They had too much to drink, that’s all,” Paula whispered as Tyler gave her a look that she knew was him thinking she was stupid. She lowered her eyes and clasped her hands together.
“We’ll have a talk with them. I’ll have you make a list of the men who have been asking you out. We’ll start with that.”
“Do you really think that is necessary? Do you think it’s someone we know?” she asked.
“More than likely it is, Paula. They’ve been watching you and probably frequent the club, because that’s where you spend most of your time,” Detective Louis added.
“What about ex-boyfriends? Any bad breakups? Anyone in particular you think might be culpable?”
Before he could finish his sentence, she was shaking her head.
BJ looked at Susanna and Paula spoke.
“I can’t.” She looked up toward Matt and Tyler.
“You’re going to have to. If someone from your past has bothered you before, then we need to look there first. It’s part of the investigative process, Paula. This is serious,” Louis stated.
“I won’t.” She shook her head, and she heard Tyler and Matt release annoyed sighs. Then Susanna touched her shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze.
“What did this letter say?” she asked in an attempt to end the silence.
BJ exhaled then handed the letter over to her.
She read the words and covered her mouth with her hand. When she came to the line about obeying him and calling him Master, she felt the tears roll down her cheeks.
Matt and Tyler told her to stay away from other men. But they wouldn’t hurt her. They weren’t responsible for this. God, she hated feeling so confused and out of control.
“Let us see the letter,” Tyler stated, and she looked at the sheriff.
“Paula.” Tyler stated her name firmly, and she knew she should listen. She passed the letter to him as the sheriff asked her more questions. He wanted to know about her past.
Matt looked over the letter with his brother and, raising his voice, said, “We have to find out who the hell this is!”
“Paula, will you feel more comfortable if they all leave the room?”
Matt and Tyler stared at her. She couldn’t talk about her past in front of them. She couldn’t let them know what she went through and allowed Sal to do to her. But something inside her told her that the person responsible wasn’t Sal. There was no need for them to know her past. It wasn’t him.
She shook her head, and Tyler and Matt seemed relieved, but then she spoke her mind.
“They don’t have to leave. No one does, because there’s nothing for me to tell. My past is mine and it has nothing to do with this.”
“Honey, you don’t know that, and if by chance this has something to do with your past, then the information you share might help us find this guy quicker,” BJ told her. She shook her head then looked at Susanna. She knew Susanna would understand. “Please, Susanna, I can’t tell them. I can’t talk about it.”
Susanna pulled Paula into her arms and hugged her tight.
The sheriff stood up and walked out of the room with Detective Louis.
* * * *
The house was cleared by the police as well as by Monte and BJ. The women hugged Paula before heading upstairs to bed for some sleep.
“You should head up to bed, Paula. It’s already four o’clock in the morning,” Susanna stated, and Paula shook her head.
“Susanna, can I talk to you?” BJ asked, leaving Paula sitting on the couch with Matt and Tyler standing in front of her.
Paula began to stand up.
“Stay sitting,” Tyler told her, and she stared at him a moment, uncertain why he was so angry with her and shocked that she complied.
He moved closer and uncrossed his arms before he pulled the ottoman closer toward her legs and straddled it.
He placed his hands on her knees and she flinched.
“Look at me,” Tyler said. Matt took a seat next to her. His thigh wedged against her thigh, and she damned the short shorts she was wearing.
She looked at Tyler even though all she wanted to do was run. These two men were so damn sexy and macho it made her shake.
“We would never hurt you.” Tyler inhaled then looked at her chest and her face. Her camisole hadn’t covered her completely, but she hadn’t been thinking about that when she found the note and the flower. She closed her eyes and shivered at the thought again. Tyler caressed her legs and inched closer until her legs were between his thighs.
“I know that you’re scared, Paula. I also know that something bad must have happened in your past to make you so fearful to talk about it. But you need to. That letter and his words scared Matt and me, too.”
She looked at him and swallowed and then she looked at Matt.
They appeared so serious, and she couldn’t handle their questions, their interest in her. They had ignored her for months and only recently acted as if they might want to get to know her. She shook her head and used her hands to push Tyler’s off of her thighs. He, of course, remained holding her legs.
She grabbed onto his wrists. Even those were hard and muscular like the rest of him.
“Let go of me, Tyler.”
“No.”
“You have no right to be here and to force me to talk about my personal life.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, Paula. We have every right,” Matt stated.
She turned to look at him with attitude and shock, but then the anger hit her.
“You do not. You’ve both been ignoring me for months. You’ve never given me the time of day. Now suddenly you decide I might be someone you’d like to play with? I don’t think so, Matt. I’m not interested in being bossed around and told what to do by two men who live for dominance and control. Go look for one of those mindless bimbos I see flaunting themselves at you in the club. They’re more your speed. A roll in the hay.” She tried standing up, but Tyler still had a hold on her. She lost her balance as he stood, too, and he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against his chest.
She gasped and looked up into his eyes right before he kissed her hard on the mouth.
* * * *
Tyler hadn’t expected to kiss her, but she really riled him up. The way she spoke back to him, ignored his direct orders, and then tried to leave without a care for their support was messed up. But now, with her in his arms and the taste of her lips, he didn’t care about anything but their first kiss. She grabbed onto him and returned the feverish kiss until neither one of them could breathe. He released her lips and sucked along her neck and shoulder, loving the smell of her skin and the feel of her breasts pressed up against his chest. Her scent was all consuming. It was fresh and lightly fragranced with jasmine. That was all Paula. He loved that smell and had had to avoid getting this close to her at Dixie Chix or he would have pulled her into some dark corner himself and taken a taste of what he really wanted from her.