After reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a folded piece of paper.What the fuck, I thought. If someone kept getting in through the gate, we needed to change the security even more than we already had since the tire-slashing incident.
She pushed the paper toward me and I took it from her small hand that was shaking. “What if it’s true? What if…”
Gemma didn’t finish again, she stopped moving and glanced around the room. “Oh my God, where are the girls? I just barged in on your time and probably woke them up or something.”
With the letter still in my hand but unopened, I used my other to guide Gemma toward my couch. “You’re never interrupting. Peyton and Piper are asleep, don’t worry. Please sit down.”
When she did as I asked and was parked on one end of the sofa, I followed her down and sat next to her. She watched with wide eyes as I flipped open the paper and read the note. I knew enough about her past to know why she was so upset. Anyone would be.
Why was someone doing this to her now?
I assumed the timing had to do with the money and if whoever was giving the notes to her knew her family, then my gut said they’d been holding a grudge for a long time.
“Where did you find this?”
Turning her body to face me, she said, “It was tucked into a bag I had with me at Summer’s tonight.” She sucked in a gulp of air. “Bodie, someone had to have followed me there and gotten in my car. I probably didn’t even lock it thinking it was fine in front of their house.”
“Wait, so you don’t think they did it here at our place?”
“There is no way.” She frantically shook her head again. “I took the bag with me there tonight and I brought it up with me when we came back, remember?”
I’d carried the bag for her up to her door, but I hadn’t seen her when she left so didn’t know if it had been in the car already.
“When I got into it tonight to grab some things out, the note was laying on top of everything.” She jumped again and started pacing. “They were at my friends’ home while so many people were around and didn’t care. I can’t put anyone in jeopardy.”
Next thing I knew she was heading for the front door.
“Oh shit, I shouldn’t have come. Peyton and Piper are here.”
I would always keep my girls safe and that included Gemma. I couldn’t explain how or why, not to others or even myself, but she was important to me. Rushing to her before she could get through the door, I gently grabbed her arm and slowly spun her around.
And then, she was back in my arms. I pulled her close to me and hugged her tight as I murmured in her ear.
“You did exactly what you should have done by coming here and I’m sorry I didn’t answer the phone when you needed me.” She’d been trying to reach me when she was upset and scared.Me, not one of her friends. It made me feel good and the fact I didn’t pick up made me feel like shit. “The girls are fine and I will always protect them, but I can protect you at the same time.”
“But—”
“No buts I said,” cutting her off.
Hands still resting on my upper arms, she eased back and tilted her head up to look at me. “Do you think there is someone out there that should have received the money from my parent’s life insurance instead of me?”
The note was similar to the last but indicated there was a he in the picture and that whoever had written the letter was not the he who was mentioned. They also were mean and angry, two traits that didn’t go well together. And the fact that it was all directed at Gemma not only scared me but concerned me.
The note was short and read,He came before you and your father should have acknowledged that, not a little bitch like you.
“I can’t say for sure, but the guys will do the research. We have great contacts that can help us poke around and get to the bottom of who is behind this bullshit.” I’d been trying to keep it light, but my anger got the best of me right then and my words came out a little harsher sounding than I meant them to.
In no way was it directed at her and she seemed to sense that. But she must have also sensed I needed something else.
Gemma touched my face gently and I felt myself calm almost instantly. “Thank you,” she whispered.
Her sweet caress along with the breathy tone of her voice ripped through every nerve in my body and my pulse began to race. My eyes went to her mouth where she was nibbling on her lower lip and I knew I needed to move away, but I didn’t.
And that may have been the worst and best decision all rolled into one. I wasn’t what Gemma needed when it came to a man. But she was something I had begun to crave. It was something that had been swirling round and round in my head since day one.
She went up on her toes and brushed her soft, velvety lips to mine. It was fast. Way too fast. Before I could respond she’d dropped back to her heels. “I should go.”
I didn’t want her to leave and now that I’d felt her mouth against mine, I wanted to feel it again. Leaning down, I hooked one arm gently behind her back pulling her into me, and I laid my lips over hers, moving slowly until she caught up with what was happening between us. It was only seconds before she was with me. Her hands grasped the sides of my cotton t-shirt in a death grip and when she opened her mouth, my tongue swept in, gliding over hers intimately.
