My Guardian Angel (14 page)

“Hi
,” he said sleepily.

“Hi back.” I smiled.

“Let’s wash up and go to bed
,” he said softly.

Jason took me to bed after he cleaned me up. He pulled me close to him as he held me in his arms. I fell asleep knowing I was starting to go down a path I didn’t know if I was ready for. But his arms melted away all the ‘what ifs’ I had whirling around in my mind.

A Rainy Day Off

“So, how about a lazy day today? No gym. No nothing. Just you and me?” Jason whispered in my ear as I woke up in his arms.

“You
mean no Darios and no writing?” I smiled, my eyes still closed.

“No. I mean just you and me in bed all day
,” he purred.

“Deal
,” I said happily as I turned around and held him in my arms.

He lowered his body and put his head on my chest, his arms still tightly wrapped around me.
His body was warm and it felt so good as I let my body melt into our embrace. A low rumble began in my belly. Fuck, I was hungry.

“I'm guessing that my girl is hungry?” Jason laughed.

“I don’t know, you’re the cop. You tell me?” I mocked.

“I'm a SWAT officer
, Kass,” he said, shaking his as he moved from the bed and reached for his jeans.

“What are you doing?” I asked
, upset that he left me.

“Breakfast. What
, you don’t want to eat?” He smirked. The moment he said the word my stomach cried out.

“I guess I should eat.”
I rolled out of bed and put on my sweat pants.

“Come on
, woman, you and I need sustenance.” He slapped my butt as I walked by him.

“Hey!” I yelped.

“Shut up, you love it.” He smiled.

I made him breakfast since the man made me a fantastic
dinner, which I loved, plus the awesome sex that we had last night. Being with Jason was unlike anything I had ever dealt with. I had my fears, but I wanted them to stay away from what was going on with us now. I was afraid it would somehow taint it, taint us. I shook my head not wanting to think about it.

“Everything,
okay?” he asked, the fork mid-way to his mouth.

“Yeah, just thinking about a story I’m writing about.” I smiled.

He narrowed his eyes and watched me for a mere moment then went back to eating.
I walked over to the door wanting to see what mail I got, but when I opened my door, my heart stopped.

On my door
mat was a stupid, brown package. I closed the door not wanting Jason to see it. When he went for a shower, I’d get rid of it.

“Kass?” I heard Jason from behind me.

“Yeah?” I turned around and saw him watching me from the kitchen counter.

“You
okay?” he asked again.

“I told you, I’m in my head. I’ll write out the notes I need for the story and then I'm all yours
,” I said, walking away from the stupid package which was outside, calling out my name as I walked away from it.

I didn’t want Jason involved in this and I seriously didn’t want this to be happening now.
Just like Jason, I wanted a day that he and I could be together without anything ruining it. My brother didn’t help yesterday and I seriously didn’t think getting this stupid package was going to make it any better.

“Why don’t you go up and take a shower while I clean up?” I smiled as I walked back into the kitchen sorting out whatever mail I had, not that I was paying any attention to the letters in my hand.

“Why don’t you join me?” He reached out his hand, waiting to take mine.

“Let me clean up and write down my notes then I’ll join you
,” I offered.

“Fine. I’ll be waiting for you upstairs.” He left me and headed upstairs.

I waited for a few minutes until I thought the coast was clear. I headed back to the door and slowly opened it. The stupid brown package was still there. I picked it up and closed the door behind me, looking down at it. Only this time my name wasn’t written on it; this time it was addressed to Jason.

“So
, are you going to give me the package or are you going to lie to me again?” Jason accused me.

I nearly jumped out of my skin.
I was so engrossed that I hadn’t noticed he was right behind me. I guess the stupid coast wasn’t clear.

“I’m assuming by the look on your face that you’re pissed I caught you.
You would seriously suck as a cop,” he growled, yanking the package from my hand.

“Jason, give me that right now!” I yelled, but it only fell on deaf ears.

“Jason!” I shouted
, but nothing. He made his way to the kitchen counter and proceeded to opened it.

“It’s addressed to me, not you
,” he said calmly.

Inside was an mp3 player. He walked over to my stereo and plugged it in.

I want to kill you like they do in the movies
But don't worry there's another one just like you in line
I want to kill you like they do in the movies
But don't worry there's another one just like you in line

It was Marilyn Manson’s song
“I Want to Kill You Like They Do In The Movies.” The lyrics were on a loop, playing over and over again, echoing throughout my home. I ran to the stereo and yanked out the mp3 player. The thought of someone hurting him made my mind go blank.

“Jason!” I started.

“There’s nothing to say,” he finished. “Let’s continue our day the way we wanted,” he said in a serious tone; one I didn’t like.

“Jason?” I said meekly, my nerves getting the better of me as we both stood silent.

A loud, angry, thunderous sound came from outside. Great! It was going to rain today. I hated the fuckin rain. I knew I shouldn’t have bothered with anything but my bed today.

The thunder became louder while the flashes of light were barely seen in the light of day.
The heavy rain came down hard, hitting the windows and making a rattling sound. I lifted my gaze up to meet Jason who was staring at me.

“Let’s go upstairs
, Kass; in bed like we wanted.” He left the counter and marched towards me, taking my hand and leading me upstairs.

The deafening crack of the thunder made my skin crawl.
Bed was exactly where I wanted to be. But what of Jason? I couldn’t let anything happen to him because of me. It would completely destroy me. He forced me into bed and held me as he nuzzled his face slowly into the back of my neck. I held in my worry, both of us lost in what had happened.

“I hate the rain
,” he murmured. I reached up and cupped the hands holding onto me.

“Me too
,” I whispered.

I slowly fell back to sleep
; it’s always been my way when it rained.

“NO! STOP! DON’T COME NEAR ME!” I screamed at the top of my lungs trying desperately to run, but I couldn’t. “NO! DON’T TOUCH ME!” I pleaded, my hot tears falling uncontrollably down my face. I saw a young man; he looked sickly, his face sunken in.

“Come
here!” he yelled after me, but I ran away trying to get him away from the cupboard underneath the stairs. I ran around until I reached the kitchen. I stopped dead in my tracks; the blood was everywhere. I followed the blood where it originated from. There, on the floor, were two people. A man and a woman, both were shot. I tried to scream, but it was stifled by a hand.

“I’ve got you now, bitch!” He threw me down onto the ground and straddled me.

“GET OFF ME!” I cried.

But all he did was smile.

“NO!” I screamed so loudly that I jolted out of bed, trying to catch my breath.

“Kass
! Kass, baby, are you okay?” Jason grabbed my face and searched my eyes. “Kass?” My heart was beating so loudly I could scarcely hear him. I began to hyperventilate. “Kassia, you had a nightmare. You’re okay now,” he tried reassuring me. “Slowly breathe, baby,” he instructed me.

I pushed his hands off me and stood up from my bed.
I began pacing, trying to wrap my mind around what I just dreamt of. My dreams were never so vivid about that night. What the fuck happened to me? What was I blocking out?

“Kass baby, talk to me
,” Jason pleaded, but I continued to pace.

Jason jumped out of bed and grabbed my arms. “Look at me.” I looked to see his grey eyes were full of worry.

“I'm fine
,” I tried to reassure him, even though I wasn’t. It was late in the afternoon and the rain was letting up.

“Did you dream about…?” Jason’s words trailed off.

“I need water.” I pushed his hands off me and walked downstairs to my kitchen.

I reached for a bottle of water and guzzled it down.
I could still feel that man’s touch on me. I shook involuntarily. Please dear God, let it not be true. What if I was raped? What if I was really hurt back then?

“GET OFF ME!” I screamed.
I turned around and it was Jason; he had tried to hug me from behind. “I'm sorry,” I said, on the verge of tears.

“It’s
okay, Kassia. It’s only me.” Jason held out his hands. I bit my lower lip, scared and worried. I nodded, tears were now falling. I fell into his arms and he held me tight. “You don’t ever have to worry. I will never let anything happen to you,” he said softly.

“Hmm.” I sobbed quietly as he held me.

Those Damn Grey Eyes

“I want you to leave!” I said forcefully to Jason.
I had pushed whatever had happened yesterday out of my mind. I didn’t have the time to deal with all of that when there was a crazed lunatic threatening the man I cared for.

“Kass, I'm going to go to work and you’re going to put on the alarm and then I'm coming back
,” he replied calmly.

“No! You’re going to stay the hell away from me until we catch this guy
,” I fired back.

“Look Kass, you can either make it hard on yourself or you can make it easy.
I'm telling you, I'm not going anywhere. You need me more than you ever did before. So get over it,” he growled. He picked up his duffle bag and swung it over his shoulder.

“I called a few of my cop friends.
They’ll be patrolling the area. You will put on the alarm and lock the fuckin’ door. The phone will be next to you so if anything happens, you call me,” he ordered. “This would have been so much easier had you just stayed at my place. But no, not you Kass, you have to do things the hard way.” He shook his head.

“Jason, I'm not some
fuckin’ little girl who you can speak to anyway you want. I’m telling you that I don’t want you here anymore.” Of course I was lying, but I couldn’t get him involved with my stalker. I couldn’t believe I had a stalker now. “I called Tiff and my editor. I'm going to call my brother, too. I don’t want you involved in this anymore,” I spat out, trying my hardest to be venomous without hurting him. He threw his bag on the floor and took two giant steps towards me.

“You are mine. I will talk to you the way I see fit if it means making sure you’re
all right. Fine! You’re older than me, but that doesn’t change the fact that I'm your fuckin’ boyfriend and I will be fuckin’ damned if anything happens to my girl,” He seethed. “Now lock the fuckin’ door and call me every fuckin’ hour!”

He marched away from me
, picked up his bag and walked out, slamming the front door in the process. I hung my head and sighed heavily as I made my way to my door, arming the alarm and locking the door with the deadbolt.

I had called the cops who were in charge of my case.
My agent and editor put a lot of pressure on them and they decided to start investigating it. They understood what was going on and its severity. But unless something happened, they’d have a hard time trying to come up with any evidence and an even harder time trying to figure out who it could be.

I did what I was told, but I didn’t call Jason, rather I texted him every hour.
The ass made me angry. I was trying to keep him safe, but he didn’t understand. He had a twelve-hour shift so I texted him twelve
I’m safe
messages. My phone chimed, I thought it was him so I didn’t bother looking until it chimed again.

Genna:
  Whats up bitch?

Genna:
  Hello? Haven’t seen u in ages!!

It was Genna.
It was true, I hadn’t seen her in a while and I really missed her.

Me:
  Nothing much bitch just writing. U?

Genna:
  Finished a major promo for a club, super rich and super sexy

The owner’s Yum!!! I seriously want a lick of his dick!

I laughed reading her text.

Genna:
  The clubs opening up this weekend. U and Tara are a must. U know the rules. Both of u have to come.

I remembered when we were young. We made a
pact that whenever one of us had something major all three had to attend, no questions asked. We were there for each other, when no one else was. It wasn’t necessary for us to call each other every day. It was enough just to know you had friends who gave a shit about you.

Me:
  U know ill be there. Time & place

Genna texted me the specifics and I was left to wonder how the hell was I going to go without Jason.
I didn’t want to bring him for a few reasons. First off, he was my boyfriend and I didn’t want him exposed to Genna or Tara. I knew they would tell him all the crazy shit we did when we were younger. Plus, the onslaught of teasing from both of them wasn’t something I was looking forward too. Genna would tell me I was a cougar and that I loved young dick and Tara would want details about everything. The thing was, they didn’t know how serious I was about Jason, and if I did tell them, would they understand me? I knew deep down they would, but I was still hung up on the age thing. He was seven years younger for fuck’s sake.

There was a knock on the front door. I froze as I sat on the couch waiting
.

“It’s me, Kass.” Jason had finally come back
, not that I was happy about it. I ran to the door and opened it, letting him in.

“Didn’t I tell you I didn’t want you here anymore?” I bit out.

“I'm going to take a shower,” he said, ignoring me.

I watched as he made his merry little way up my spiral staircase. Once he was on the top spiral of the stairs I yelled out. “Genna texted me, she’s promoting a club on Saturday and I'm going.”

I watched as he stopped and turned his head down to see me.

“No! You’re not
,” he said in a serious tone.

“Jason, you might be my boyfriend
,” I said in air quotes. “But I'm thirty-three-years-old. So yes, I'm going!” I said curtly.

I walked away, not waiting for his reaction.
We barely spoke about yesterday and when I tried the man shot me down cold. He ran down the stairs, every step he took was louder than the next.

“Kass, for fuck
’s sake, there is a stalker who is pissed at you. You’re not going anywhere,” he barked.

“Well
, the stalker isn’t going to stop me from going on with my life,” I huffed.

“Kass.” He gritted his teeth. “I need for you to be safe. I need to protect you and I won’t be able to do that in a
fuckin’ nightclub!” he shouted.

“Well you won’t need to.
You’re not invited,” I retorted bitterly.

“What?”
he asked gruffly.

“I said
, you’re not invited,” I repeated myself.

“Are you embarrassed of me?”
he accused. I shook my head, exhausted by him. I didn’t bother answering when I walked away needing a shower.

“Kass?”
he yelled.

“No!” I fired back. “I'm not embarrassed of you, but I am tired of you treating me like a child. I'm
fuckin’ older than you. You don’t even know half of the things I have done and the things I’ve done happened when you were in elementary school,” I yelled. “So, stop ignoring me and what I want to say.” I watched as Jason tried his hardest not to lose his temper. “Enough, I need to work.” I went up the stairs and walked into my office. I guess I was going to pull an all-nighter.

I woke up to my notes stuck on my face.
I must have been drooling when I fell asleep at my desk. A small blanket was over my shoulders. Jason must have put it there during the night. I swiveled my chair around to go to the bathroom to wash my face when I saw Jason on the floor. He was leaning up on the wall and was sleeping. What was I going to do with him? I knelt down and crawled up next to him. I leaned up against the wall and pushed his head down onto my shoulder. I fell back asleep, feeling safe again when I was with him.

I awoke in bed. Jason must have picked me up and brought me
there. I looked around and he wasn’t anywhere to be seen. I could hear soft music playing. I got out of bed as my body protested. Never again was I going to fall asleep at my desk. I headed down the stairs. The sound of the jazz song began to become clearer. That’s when my blood went cold. Memories came flooding back. I leaned against the railing, holding onto my head.

The song kept playing over and over again. It was an
LP, which was stuck. I remember the man who attacked me. I remember being on the ground. I remember fighting with him. He was trying to rip off my shirt. My heart began to beat so quickly that I had to sit down on the step. That’s when I remembered him falling over. He was knocked out cold, blood gushing from his head. I had frantically pushed him off me.

“Kass
, are you up? I'm making breakfast,” Jason called after me.

I held onto my head, the memories playing over and over again.

“Kassia?”
he called out again.

“Yeah
,” I answered meekly.

I steadied myself and made my way down. The music kept playing. The sound of that song triggered the
floodgates to open.

“Kass?”
he asked nervously. I looked up. Those damn grey eyes.

“You were there?” I whispered so low I could scarcely hear myself.

“Kassia?”
he asked quietly.

“It was you! I walked in and… you
were there?” I cried out. My body began to shake.

“Kass, relax baby.” Jason tried to touch me but I backed away.

“Get the hell away from her!” Darios roared.

I turned to see him with his keys in his hands, as he stood at the front door.
I began to hyperventilate.

“Dar
?” I breathed.

“Kass?” Darios ran to me, but Jason was the one who caught me.

“Get your fuckin’ hands off her!” he growled as he took me into his arms and carried me to the couch.

All I remembered was Darios kicking Jason out.
   

“Are you feeling better?” Darios asked me as he held my water bottle.

“Did you know?” I asked softly.

“Yes. That’s why I didn’t want you to be around him
,” Darios said ruefully.

“Darios, I know everyone’s kept it from me, but you need to tell me what happened that night
,” I pleaded. My brother lowered his head and stared at the ground.

“Fuck! If only I hadn’t left you alone
,” he said grimly.

“Dar! Just tell me!” I begged.

“It was the kid’s brother.
He was on a bender; he came looking for money. They must have said no, that’s why he lost it and shot them. That’s when you went inside. You saw him,” Darios stopped.

“Saw who?” I pushed.

“Jason, he was hiding. The cops said once his brother came in yelling, he went and hid under the stairs. You found him and tried to take him and leave. I don’t know what exactly happened, but his brother was found dead.” Darios looked at me somberly, his sad eyes telling me how sorry he was.

“Then what happened?” I asked, now crying.

“All I know was you were in our house holding onto Jason. You were cradling him in your arms. You were the one who called the cops, Kass.” Darios breathed. I hugged myself and began to rock my body.

“Dar?” I sobbed. “Did he…did he hurt me?” I knew he knew what I meant.

“No
,” he whispered.

“No! Baby girl, he didn’t hurt you.” Darios reached
over, took me in his arms, and held me as I cried.