My Guardian Angel (23 page)

Yeah, she was pissed.
She was beyond angry. I had hurt her and I needed to watch what I said to get her back. There was this look on her face. The way she so defiantly said they were her words. I needed to kiss her, so I did, but she didn’t kiss me back. She pushed me away. Never had she pushed me away before. She growled at me to let her go. The little tigress had grown up and now was stronger. I let her go, for now. I followed her, watching over her. Her every move only made me want to go over to her and force her into my arms.

I finally relented and ran to her.
I needed to be honest, to tell her the truth and why I tried to end things with her. But she fired back, fighting with me. I let go of how angry I was at her and spoke from the heart. I told her everything that I held close. I held nothing back. If I was going to get my girl back, I was going to rip my fuckin’ heart out and show it to her. I was willing to do anything.

Her eyes softened and I knew I had her
. I finally had what I’ve always wanted and dreamt of. I reached for her face, her tender little soft face, and kissed her.  

God, I was such a dumb fuck.
I loved this girl and I would never do anything to keep her from me again.

When we entered her house, I could feel a part of her hesitating.
Only when she showed me the duvet on the couch did I know why. My poor little girl was still afraid. That fucker instilled fear in my girl and it was my job to make her feel safe again.

When I took her to her room, I knew I was going to make love to her.
I needed to be inside her. My cock ached for her. Her pussy was made just for me. It was snug and hot, as her juices always flowed all over my balls. Yeah, she was my girl all right.

I fucked her slowly that night.
I longed for her to feel safe, to feel me deep inside her. I wanted her to know I was devoted to her and no one else. The more I touched her, the greedier I got. I lusted for her. God, I fuckin’ loved her. 

She still had a hard time being in that room, but I did what I could to help her.
Slowly she eased up, but if I wasn’t there Kassia still wouldn’t go into that room to sleep. It hurt to see the fear still was there, but I knew that with time she would get over it.

It hurt like a bitch to talk about my past, but I knew I owed Kassia the whole truth.
I had told her about my parents and about my brother, even about the foster parents who took me in. I didn’t hold anything back. I opened myself up completely to her. I wanted her to know how much she meant to me.

The day Kassia asked me to move in with her was by far the best day of my life. I knew this was a big jump for my girl.
So I made certain she was sure about her decision. I told her once I stepped through those doors I was never going to leave. She shook her head and smiled. Yeah, she was nervous. My little, hazel eyed girl always made me laugh.

“Are you coming or what, Jas?” shouted Gab. I looked up from the text Kassia sent.

Kassia:
  I love u too, crazy copper!!!

“Yeah! Give me a minute.” I yelled back at him.

I searched through my duffle bag and found the little box I had. I opened it and there inside was my birthday gift to Kassia. I looked at the ring I had bought her. Thank God, it was spring now. I was going to take her to Coney Island for her birthday tomorrow. Knowing her, she probably forgot it was her birthday. She always became consumed with her books. I closed the ring box and put it back into my bag and texted her back. 

Me:
  I love you too, my crazy girl

Preview of: The Devil Behind Me

Ten Years Later

“What are we going to do, Addie?” My dad’s beautiful hazel eyes were sunk in now. He was strong and could do anything. But after my mother’s death, my father’s health started to decline. The long hours at work didn’t help either. My heart broke the day we found out that he had Crohn’s disease.

Yale was no longer an option for me.
I gave up on everything and went to work at the restaurant. I needed to take care of my family. Sofia dove into her studies, wanting to forget everything that had happened. I couldn’t blame her. All her work did pay off when she got a partial scholarship to Yale. I was so proud of her.

“How are we going to pay for it
, Addie?” my father said so sadly. “I want to send her. I want the best for my little girl. I don’t want to fail her like I did you.” He shook his head as small tears lined his eyes.

“You didn’t fail me
, Daddy. This was my choice. I chose to not go to Yale. I was the one who said I’d stay and help.” I offered him a reassuring smile. I took his hand and held it. My parents didn’t really have much money growing up and the insurance policy my father had for my mother, well, it didn’t pay out as it should have.

Everything was a mess and I didn’t even have the heart to tell my father. How could I?
The man worked so hard all these years and had my mother not died, we would have been in a better place.

The night my mother passed was the night my family lost the one person who held us together.
She was the one who was good with money and knew how to save. It was harder for me; not that I didn’t know how to save, but I had my hard working father to deal with. In his mind, he was the head of the family, therefore, he had the last say and I wasn’t about to tell him how he should run his business.

I did at least find the time to go to community college and earn a business degree.
It wasn’t my dream, but at least I had something. Sofia excelled in school even though she worked the weekends with us at the restaurant.

The first few years at the restaurant were good. We were busy and made good money
; it kept us from thinking about my mother and the void she had left behind. The breakfast and dinner rushes were fun and at times stressful, but as long as we were making money, both my father and I were happy.

My dad’s cooking was exceptional and the whole neighborhood raved about it.
He loved his customers and how much they took pleasure in eating at the restaurant. He was the talk of the town, the place to go to have authentic Greek food. As the years went on, his disease got the better of him and the restaurant started to suffer. I slowly began to lay off our employees, until only my father and I were left. My father would often be forced to stay at home or, worse, be confined in the bathroom.

You see Crohn’s disease attacks the bowels.
It’s an inflammatory bowels disease which caused my father to lose weight drastically. The severe bloody diarrhea and abdominal pain were at times too much for him, leaving him exhausted and malnourished. Anything he ate could and would affect him, triggering episodes of pain and exhaustion.

Things became tougher e
ach year that passed at the restaurant. Customers started to decline and so did our profits. We were once known as the best Greek diner, but now hardly anyone ever stopped by.

There were many days
when I had to work triple shifts, only because I wouldn’t let him out of the house. It wasn’t easy the last ten years watching my father deteriorate. I cried a lot, but I made sure I cried when no one was around. I couldn’t show them how much I was suffering. My mother’s death hit both of them harder than it did me. I knew it was my fault she had died; had I not been so selfish she would have been here with us today.

The only routine I held onto was my running.
Nothing was going to stop me from running in Central Park. Every chance I had I would be there. Even early in the morning when most would be still asleep. The only silver lining about our restaurant was it closed by nine at night. At least we had our nights together.

“I'm not going!” Sofia yelled.

“Ah
, let me think about it. Yeah, you’re going! You applied for this scholarship!” I yelled back.

“Yeah, thinking I would get a full scholarship, not a partial!
We can’t afford it!” she cried.

“Let me decide what we can afford and cannot afford
. You’re not even eighteen yet!” I barked at her.

“Ahh! You’re so bossy!”
she cried back.

“I don’t care what I am
. You’re going to that school and I don’t want to hear otherwise,” I screamed over my shoulder as she ran up the stairs. I knew my sister. I was the one who raised her. She was feeling guilty. I didn’t care what I had to do, but I was sending her to that fuckin’ school.

“What’s wrong with her?”
my father said with his broken English, as he carefully sat down on the couch holding his belly. I sighed, looking at my father, my heart breaking.

“Sofia is being stubborn.
Don’t worry about it, Dad.” I smiled at him and he smiled back. God, he lost a lot of weight and the steroid pills weren’t helping him. The doctor kept saying that we would have to wait and see. So, I waited.

“Where are you going?”
my father asked the moment I got up.

“It’s eleven thirty.
If I'm going for a run, I’ll need to sleep. Night, Dad.” I kissed him on his head and marched upstairs to my room.

I walked into a darken
ed room. I guessed Sofia had gone to sleep. I walked over to my bed and took my pjs.

“Addie? Can I really go?” she asked while she was lying on her bed, her head turned away from me.

“Yes, you will go. I promise
,” I said confidently. “Night, Sofia,” I said quietly as I left the room to go to the washroom.

I locked the door to the bathroom and steadied myself on the sink.
I looked up and glared at myself in the mirror, angry that I was in this position. Why was life so unfair? I needed to come up with the tuition money, but how? My car wasn’t worth anything. The house still had a mortgage and the store was bleeding money. Before I could cry, I turned on the faucet and splashed cold water on my face. Who was this brown haired girl looking back at me? What had happened to me in the last ten years? There was a gentle knock on the door.

“Addie
, I need to use the washroom,” my father said meekly.

“Sure
, Dad.” I collected my things and opened the door. His condition had worsened once we found out Sofia was only receiving a partial scholarship. It was okay, tomorrow was another day. I’d figure it out tomorrow.

I felt somewhat better after my morning jog.
The only thing was I took a little longer than normal. It was already five in the morning, so I had to gun it if I was going to open up the restaurant. I had already made sure my father wasn’t coming in. I hid his keys. It was my usual tactic which he hated, but it always worked. Try as he might, this episode was bad. I had made him soup, hoping he would be able to regain some strength.

The morning rush was
okay, better than before so I couldn’t complain. My father hadn’t been here in over three weeks which was a good thing. Had he seen that they were building a chain restaurant right across from us he would have lost it completely.

“This isn’t good
,” said Silvia.

She was one of our most loyal patrons. She was a bit eccentric. She wore too much rouge and a very cheap perfume.
Her age was completely unknown, but she was old.

“No
, it’s not,” I said quietly, looking out through the store front window. They were close to opening it up.

I stood there, my arms crossed, shaking my head. I was so engrossed that I failed to notice a customer had walked in.

“So
, what’s the deal here? Do you actually work or stare out the window?” It couldn’t be. Ten fuckin’ years had gone by. There would be no way that boy would be here. I turned my head slightly and there in my store’s entryway stood Damon.

When it Rains it Pours

The old saying when it rains it pours was seriously an understatement when it came to me and my life.
It didn’t pour, a fuckin’ typhoon happened the moment he walked in my store and subsequently back into my life. I put my best poker face on as I held my stance with my arms still crossed.

“You can sit wherever you like.” I smiled
, not meaning it. He nodded and proceeded to walk into my restaurant and sat down in one of our booths.

“Well… isn’t he the cat’s meow
,” Silvia said, nearly moaning.

“God, how old are you again?” I asked her, looking at her like she had a few screws loose.

“Old! But my libido is still working.” She grinned.

“Okay, way too much info.” I shook my head at her.

She wasn’t wrong about him.
The man was stunning, with his dark, longish hair in a perfect haircut with a faint beard and his intense blue, like the sky, eyes. His black, perfectly trimmed suit only added to his effect which, by his grin, he knew.

I smiled
as I walked over to him.

“What can I get you?” I asked.

“Coffee and some company would be nice.” He continued to grin.

His voice had gotten deeper over the years. I shook it off.
Fine, I can admit it, he turned out to be sexy, but it didn’t change the fact he tormented me all throughout high school, like I was his personal plaything. I brought him the coffee. I was tempted to throw it on him, but I didn’t.

“Here’s your coffee” I placed it on the table.
“Silvia?” I yelled over my shoulder. “And here’s your company, sir.” I grinned.

Silvia nearly launched herself onto the booth.

“Well
, hello, dear!” She smiled from ear to ear, her dentures nearly falling out. Damon’s face fell. I had to step away not to laugh.

“Um…how about the boss lady?”
he asked, leaning away from Silvia and her dentures.

“The boss lady? Ah
, forget her, sweet sugar. You have this beautiful dame right here in front of you. How’s about you and me go for some giggle waters?” She wagged her eyebrows at him.

“Are you for real? Hey!”
he yelled over to me. “Is this lady for real? What the fuck is giggle water?” he asked me, seemingly uncomfortable.

“Alcohol!”
she said, shocked that he didn’t know.

Well
, the truth was I didn’t know either, but that was Silvia. She was stuck back in a time I had no clue of.

“How about I take a rain check?” Damon said half smiling.

“Ah, raspberries,” Silvia pouted.

“Hey Addie? Addie? Addie?”
he called my name each time in a different tone.

“I'm sorry
, sir, how is it that you know my name?” I grinned. God, if it wasn’t for customer service and the fact I didn’t want him to know I remembered him, I would have thrown his ass out so fast.

“You can’t be serious? Addie, it’s me
,” he said, holding out his hands like ‘hey I’m unforgettable.’ I shook my head.

“You are who
, exactly?” I asked again, shrugging.

“Damon, Damon Evans
,” he sighed.

“Oh, I like the name
,” Silvia moaned again.

“Well
, it’s nice to meet you Damon, Damon Evans.” I smiled and nodded.

“You have to be fucking with me
,” he said none too pleased as he stood up and walked over to me. “I know you remember me,” he said low as he glared at me.

“I'm not going to lie
; it rings a bell.” I shook my head again. “College?” I offered.

“Fine, we’ll play your game, your way.” He threw some money on the table.
He stood up still looking at me as he fixed his coat and began to walk out. “For now!” He pulled the door open and left.

“You’re telling me you don’t remember a fine piece of ass like that?” Silvia pointed at the door.

“No
, I don’t. I remember a boy who made my life miserable,” I growled low into my chest.

“A
w shucks, honey, if he looked like that he could have made my life a living hell and I would have loved it,” she said as she started blowing kisses at him through the window.

I inched closer to the
storefront and watched as Damon walked away. Why did I feel like my future had this ominous cloud over it?