“I promise, dad. I’m just gonna go to the bathroom to freshen up. I will be right back.”
“Take your time, honey. I’m gonna see what I can do to help you organize this chaotic mess you call an office.” He grumbles to himself, making me laugh. He can help all he wants, but I guarantee by next week it's going to go back to a mess. To me, it’s organized chaos.
After finishing up in the bathroom, I can’t help looking in the mirror and seeing a massive smile on my face. My eyes are bright, my cheeks rosy from all the laughing I did with dad and knowing very soon I get to see Alexander again. Despite all the bad that’s going on in my life right now, I am unbelievably happy.
Walking back to my office, I should see if dad has time for a coffee before he has to leave. “Hey dad...” Before I’m able to say anything else, someone grabs me from behind, making me yell out in surprise.
Jesus, this person smells worse than last week's garbage. The arm around me tightens and I will myself not to panic. “Not another word, Selene. I finally got you and I don’t intend to let you go now. Do you know what I had to do to get you? I bided my time for the big fucker following you to leave. You're finally mine. We are going to be so happy together.” The smell coming from his breath has me gaging it’s so bad.
Oh god. I’m in serious trouble here. “John, why are you doing this?” I whisper out, my voice trembling.
“Because I love you, Selene, and we are going to get married. You're going to be the best mommy to our babies. It’s going to happen, my love.” He starts petting my hair, making me cringe from his touch. There is only one man I want touching me and it isn’t him. This guy is off his rocker if he thinks this is real. There's no way I can allow him to take me out of here. I have to stall long enough for someone to hear.
“John, I'm sorry, but that’s not going to happen. I don’t love you like that. Maybe if you let me go, we can talk about this and we can get you some help.” That was clearly the wrong thing to say because his hold on me tightens. What is wrong with me? I was supposed to stall him, not make him mad.
“Doesn’t matter. You're coming with me and if anyone tries to stop me, they will regret it.” He starts to drag me closer to the elevators and my panic really starts to kick in. I didn’t get to tell Alexander how I feel about him. God, I wish he was here right now.
Before we even turn the corner, Alexander is there with Adrian, who has a gun pointed right at John, making me suck in a deep breath. Alexander takes me in, looking everywhere that he can, making sure I’m okay. He has murder in his eyes right now and they are directed at John. “Think again, fucker, you're not going anywhere with Selene. Let her go, John.”
“Selene is mine.” John screams and starts to walk back where we were but stops dead in his tracks because at the other end is my dad holding a gun on John as well. They are slowly moving closer and closer to us with their guns still drawn. Sweet baby Jesus, if I don’t do something quickly, this is going to turn into the wild west. “Stop fucking moving closer or I’m going to hurt her.” His shrill voice sends shivers down my spine.
I hold my hands out as best I can to tell them to stop moving. John is on the deep end ready to jump and I don’t really know how far he’s willing to go and I really don’t want to find out. “Guys, please listen to him. I’m really okay. He hasn't hurt me.” They stop at my words, thankfully. I know if I want to get out of this with no one hurt, then it’s going to be up to me to do it. John is behind me, mumbling to himself and losing it by the minute, so I don’t have much time before things escalate. I take a couple of deep breaths and let it all out. Letting all of my dad's training kick in. The hours he spent teaching me how to get out of certain situations are coming back to me.
Looking at my dad, he must see what I’m about to do as he slightly nods his head, telling me to go for it, giving me an encouraging smile. Turning my head slightly to the left and look at Alexander, who looks so pissed off right now, knowing any slight movement will set John off and I know he’s going to blame himself for this. I can see it in his eyes. I smile as best as I can at him and tears are starting to form. So I do the only thing I can at this moment. I commit his face to memory in case this goes horribly wrong. And mouth to him that I love him.
I watch his eyes widen and I know the moment he knows I’m going to make my move. “Selene, baby.”
Drowning out his plea. I close my eyes, bringing my head forward and slam it back into John's face as hard as I can, seeing stars on impact. Fuck, that hurt. Jesus, remind me never to do that again, but I don’t have time to think about the pain right now. John finally lets me go, grabbing his nose, screaming, looking at me in horror that I would dare to hurt him. I turn fast and bring my knee up and slam it in his groin, getting the satisfaction that I dropped him to the floor. That’s when all hell breaks loose.
People are yelling but I don’t stop to look. I take off as fast as I can and run right to my dad, since he is closer. He picks me up while I cry in his arms. “Selene, are you okay, baby girl? You did so good. I'm so proud of you.” His voice wavers and I know he’s hardly holding it together.
I sniffle and pull back, giving him a wobbly smile. “You failed to tell me how much that was going to hurt.” I wince as I rub the back of my head.
Dad has tears in his eyes as he lets out a laugh. “I love you, kiddo.”
“I love you too, dad.” A hand lands on my back, making me jump a little and turn to find Alexander standing there. I let my dad go and launch myself in his waiting arms.
He picks me up, crushing me to him, placing kisses anywhere he can. “Fuck, baby, I don’t think I’ve ever been more scared in my life. Are you okay? Maybe we need to get you to the hospital. I should spank your ass for scaring me. I may never let you leave my sight. Where the hell did you learn to do that?” His words are coming out so fast it’s hard to keep up. Why is the thought of him spanking me, turning me on? Maybe I hit my head harder than I thought because I’m ready to tell him yes, please.
“I’m sorry for scaring you. I just knew I had to make my move before someone got hurt worse than what he did. Dad taught me when I still lived at home, and I kind of kept it up at the gym and I’m glad I did.” I look over at John being handcuffed by the police, with Adrian standing guard in case they need help. He’s screaming bloody murder, making me shiver. I do hope he gets the help that he desperately needs.
The police drag a fighting John as Adrian walks over with a smile on his face. “Well, if it isn’t the little badass warrior. Didn’t I tell you to stay out of trouble while I was gone? You couldn’t help yourself, could you? Maybe you should give up your day job and come work with me. We could use a badass like you.”
I can’t help but laugh after everything that just went down. It feels good to be able to now. “Thanks, but I think my fighting days are over.”
“Fine, but the offer still stands when you want a change. I will see you all later. I told the police that I will be following them to the police station in case this guy gets a hair up his ass trying to do something. Catch you guys later.” We watch him round the corner and I turn to my dad.
“Okay, Selene, I’m gonna catch up to Adrian. I need to make sure this fucker goes right to jail. I love you, kiddo.” My dad gives me one more hug before catching up with Adrian.
I turn to look at Alexander, and he’s already looking at me. Now is the time to finally tell him what I could only whisper before. “Right before everything went down, I meant what I said. I love you Alexander so much. I wanted you to know in case something happened and I never got the chance to tell you.”
He grabs me and slants his lips over mine, stealing all my breath. Devouring me in his kisses. Fusing us as one. When he pulls back, I sway in his arms, wanting more. “Fuck, Selene, I’ve loved you from the moment I walked into the breakroom and saw you standing there. I love you so damn much. You own me, heart and soul, baby. This right here is day one of our forever. Let's go home.”
Home is not a place, but the person standing before me. My heart and soul my forever. “Let’s go home.”
Chapter 8
Bythetimewemade it out of the office, two hours had passed and I'm exhausted that I’m dragging my feet. My headache has now turned into a full-blown migraine. The girls stopped by making sure I was okay; the police had questions that never seemed to end, and Alexander kept demanding to know how John got into the building without being seen. Honestly, if he was a cartoon character, he would have had steam coming out of his ears.
