Protector #4 (A Navy SEAL Military Romance) (4 page)

If
you refuse to welcome me back into your life, then you will have no life at
all, and neither will the loser who thinks you love him.

Loving
you always,

D.

As
I read the note, I felt sick. Dominic was obviously delusional, and reading his
rambling thoughts on how our “relationship” needed to be rekindled made me
simultaneously outraged and disgusted.

“Ava, are you okay?”
Brian asked as he watched me read the note for a third time.

“Fine,” I said absently.
“I’m fine.”

“You don’t look fine,” he
pointed out. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

I looked up at Brian and
threw my hands up in the air. “How do I even counter his inability to live in reality?”
I asked helplessly.

“Ava, we need to go to
the police,” he said quietly.

“No! I told you, we can’t
do that!” I cried.

“But I’m starting to
wonder if he’s lost it,” Brian said. “And if he has, then I might not be able
to protect you from his psychotic break. This is about your safety, Ava, not
your father’s ego.”

“Stop it! I know that!” I
yelled. I was panicked because I knew that this note was not a good sign, but I
also knew that notifying the police would set off a reaction from my father
than might end with Brian being fired and me never seeing him again. I couldn’t
stand the thought of not being with him or feeling him touch me ever again. I
looked up into his eyes and willed him to understand what it was that I
couldn’t say.

“Ava, we have to do
something,” he said as he reached out and cupped my face. “We can’t sit around
and wait for him to make his move. It’s not safe.”

I nodded as I folded the
note and put it back in the envelope. I had no idea what to do next. How could
we protect me from Dominic’s imagination? What would he do to me? What would he
do to Brian? The thought of Dominic harming Brian made me ill, but I had no
plan for how to protect him.
 

“I don’t know what to
do,” I admitted. “And I’m scared…”

“I know,” Brian said as
he wrapped his arms around me and rested his chin on my head. “We’ll figure
something out. Together.”

*****

“
Ava
, we’re going to have to move out of
here for a while,” Brian said. “You know that you’re not safe here, don’t you?”

I nodded and fought back
the rising panic that threatened to swallow me. The thoughts raced through my
mind:
Why do I have to move? Why can’t
Dominic just leave me alone? Why is my life such a mess?
Brian held me
tight as I fought to get my bearings, and once I’d calmed down, he began making
plans to try and shore up my security.

I began packing a bag as
he sat on the couch and tapped out text after text, arranging for us to move
out of the dorm until Dominic could be located, questioned, and, hopefully, locked
up. The sound of Brian’s phone ringing broke the silence and he stepped out
into the hall to answer it.

I continued sorting out
my clothes and trying to decide what would be necessary and what would simply
be an unnecessary burden to carry with me. Then I went into the bathroom and
began gathering my things. I wanted to leave the room looking like I was still
living here so that when the dorm housekeeper came in to collect trash and
dust, she wouldn’t notify the RA who was supposed to be keeping watch over us
all. The last thing I needed was to have the university involved in this mess
since my father sat on the executive advisory board and would most likely turn
the place upside down if he found out they’d been harboring a criminal who was
after his daughter. I was tired of being the outsider everywhere I went; tired
of being seen as either the poor little rich girl or the stuck up snob. I was
neither of those things, and I wanted a chance to solve this problem on my own.
 

Besides, the problem with
Dominic was entirely my fault. I knew that for certain, but I couldn’t tell
anyone—not even Brian.

“Alright, we’ve got a
place to stay and we’ve got a team in place to help us move without being
seen,” Brian announced as he reentered the room with a smile on his face.

“Uh huh,” I nodded as I
tossed a small cosmetics bag into my duffle bag that was already stuffed to the
gills.

“Ava, we’re just going
across town, not to another country,” he joked.

“I know, but I want stuff
that’s familiar,” I said in a choked voice. I was trying so hard to keep it
together that I feared one wrong word and I’d lose it.

“I’m teasing you,” he
said gently as he crossed he room and put a hand on my shoulder. “It’s all
going to be okay, Ava. I promise. I’ve got friends who are going to help me
flush out Dominic and get him to where the police can track him on their own.”

“I just…just…just…” I
stammered as I turned and looked up at him, my eyes brimming with tears that
threatened to spill down my cheeks.

“I know, and it’s okay,”
he said softly. “It’s all going to be okay.”

I nodded as I turned back
to the bed and zipped my bag. I didn’t fully believe that everything was going
to be okay, but I was choosing to believe Brian—for now.

*****

Once
I’d packed up, Brian told me to wait in the room while he carried my bag down
to the SUV and checked to make sure the path downstairs was safe. When he
returned, he told me to do one more check to make sure I had everything I
needed before we headed out. I surveyed the room and felt a little sad to be
deserting it and a little nostalgic since Brian and I had had our hottest sex
in there.

The little bubbled of
laughter that escaped from my lips as I thought about this made Brian tip his
head and look at me like a confused puppy. That made me laugh harder and soon
he joined me, and the dark mood that had clouded the day began to lift.

“C’mon, let’s get out of
here,” Brian said as he motioned for me to follow him down to the vehicle.

As we drove away from the
dorm, Brian turned on the radio and as the sound filled my ears, I started to
relax. The past week had been the single most stressful time in my life aside
from the week I actually decided to leave Dominic. I thought about that week
and shuddered as I remembered how frightened I’d been and how unsure I was of
what I was going to do next.

“Are you okay?” Brian
asked as he turned down the volume.

“Yeah, just thinking,” I
replied as I watched the scenery flashing past.

“What are you thinking
about?” he probed.

“Just thinking about all
that’s happened,” I said. “How messed up it all is.”

“It’s going to get
better, Ava,” he reassured me. “We’re going to get Dominic out of the picture
and then you can have your life back, and I won’t have to follow you everywhere.”

“Yeah, right,” I turned
toward him, smiled weakly and then looked back out the window.

“Has he always threatened
you this way?” Brian asked.

“Pretty much,” I said
quietly. “Well, not in the beginning, of course. In the beginning he was all
sweetness and light. I fell so hard for that act.”

“He’s pretty
manipulative,” Brian echoed.

“He’s…so seductive,” I
whispered. “He sucked me in before I knew what had happened and because I’d
never known what it was like to have someone focus on me and me alone, I thought
what he was doing was what love should be like. I had no idea.”

Brian remained silent as
I tried to gather my thoughts and organize them in a way that I could use to
make him understand how dangerous Dominic could be. I was more worried about
what would happen to Brian than I was about what would happen to me. Dominic
had already beaten me within an inch of my life and proven that he had no
desire to actually kill me, but Brian…when it came to Brian, I knew what
Dominic was capable of because I’d seen it before.

“I’m just worried about
you,” I said once I’d regained some clarity.

“Don’t worry about me,
it’s you that we need to focus on,” he said. “You didn’t answer my question,
though. Has he always threatened you like this?”

“Yes,” I answered simply.
“He always threatened me, but he never followed through on his threats. He
might have beaten me to teach me a lesson, but he never came anywhere near
killing me.”

“Something has changed,”
Brian mused.

“It’s you,” I replied.
“He’s never had anyone who challenged him for my affection the way you do.”

“Do I?” he asked as he
looked at the road ahead.

“Do you what?”

“Do I challenge him for
your affection?” Brian asked.

“Well, you know what I
mean!” I protested. I wasn’t ready to get caught up in a romance with my
bodyguard, no matter how much I liked him and how good I felt when I was with
him. “I just mean, in his head he sees you as the competition. He’s
delusional!”

Brian’s mouth formed a
thin line as he nodded and made a left turn into the hotel parking lot. He’d
driven us a good distance away from the campus in an attempt to move me out of
range. Maybe if Dominic couldn’t detect me anywhere on campus, he’d stop this
pursuit and I’d be safe.

As we pulled up to the
front door, I looked at Brian and said, “I’m not kidding, I’m worried about
you.”

Brian reached out and
cupped my cheek in a gesture that was becoming achingly familiar and
comforting, and said, “And I’m worried about you, and only you.”

The blood rushed to my
cheeks as the hotel bellhop opened my door and cheerfully chirped, “Welcome to
the Midway, folks! Can I get your bags?”

*****

We
checked in without incident and the nice bellhop carried our bags to up to the
large suite we’d be occupying for an indefinite period of time. Brian remarked
that neither of us had eaten anything all day, so we called down to room
service and ordered enough food to feed the navy, and laughed that we’d be
eating leftovers for days.

“I’m going to take a
shower before the food gets here,” Brian called as he entered the bathroom and
turned on the water.

“Want some company?” I
teased.

“Nope, this is strictly
business, and I’d appreciate you keeping it that way,” he deadpanned with a
towel wrapped around his waist. I gave him an appreciative once over and
grinned as he said, “And I’d appreciate you keeping your unsavory thoughts to
yourself, young lady. This is neither the time nor the place for such
lascivious displays of unladylike behavior.”

I burst into a fit of
giggles as he grinned and ducked into the bathroom. I liked his easy sense of
humor and his way of disarming me when I felt panicked or overwhelmed, and his
hot body was an unexpected, but welcome, bonus. In no time, Brian emerged from
the steamy room shirtless in a pair of tight fitting jeans as he towel dried
his hair. I feigned swooning and he chuckled and rolled his eyes.

“Your turn!” he said as
he pointed the way to the bathroom. “I cleaned it up so you wouldn’t be
subjected to my dude mess.”

“Your dude mess?” I
questioned.

“Yeah, the wet towels on
the floor, water on the sink and other signs that a dude had occupied the
facilities,” he laughed. “I know how you ladies prefer a sparkling clean
environment in which to get ready.”

“Oh
my
gosh
, you’re crazy!” I laughed.

“Yes. Yes I am,” he
smiled. “I mean it’s not like you women don’t make a mess of the place in the
process of making yourselves pretty.”

“What the heck are you
taking about?” I demanded with a laugh.

“I don’t know, I’ve
always wondered if the beauty of a woman is in direct proportion to the amount
of mess she leaves in the room where she makes the pretty happen,” he
mused.
 
“What do you think?”

“I think you’re nuts!” I
laughed harder as I dug through my bag and located the items I’d need, then
headed into the bathroom and shut the door.
 
The hot water felt heavenly as I shampooed my hair and shaved my legs,
and for the first time in a week, I actually felt safe. I relaxed a little as I
dried off and then pulled on my clothes. “Is the food here yet?” I called
through the closed door.

“Not yet! But they called
and said they’d be up within ten minutes,” Brian yelled back.

Knowing that I had a bit
of time, I dabbed on a little foundation and stroked a couple of layers of
mascara on my lashes before dabbing my lips with a bit of pink lip gloss. I
stepped back from the mirror as I ran a comb through my hair and appraised
myself. Considering that I hadn’t slept much and that I was a bundle of nerves,
I didn’t look half bad. I looked at my reflection and said, “You’re going to be
okay, Ava.”
 
I wasn’t sure if I believe
it, but it felt good to reassure myself. I hung up my towel, wiped down the
sink and then exited the bathroom just as the room server knocked on the door.

Instinctively, I headed
for the door, but Brian bounded ahead of me and pushed me out of the way. He
motioned toward the chair in the corner and indicated that I should go sit
down. I shrugged and went over and sat down.