Desmond should still be at the office. No need to call ahead this time, if he has a client I will throw them out the door to free up some time. What’s happened isn’t just my fault, and he has to take responsibility for what he’s done.I pull up in front of the office with Marcus right behind me. I jump out of the SUV and head for the steps.“Seymore, will you wait?” Marcus yells, getting out of his own car.“Where are we at with tracking down Corbin?” I ask, not interested in anything else right now.There will be no talking me out of anything. Until Ava is back in my arms, I will rain down punishment on anyone who’s harmed her. “Doc’s working on it. He says he has an idea, but that we should wait for him to call before blowing our cover,” Marcus huffs.“Ava’s gone, Marcus. As far as I’m concerned, there is no more cover,” I snap at him, opening the door to the office and rushing up the steps.I kick in Desmond’s office door, slightly disappointed at finding him alone. T
*Ava’s POV*I came to, my face pressed into whatever it was that I landed on. Everything hurts. It feels like I was hit by a bus and not thrown down a flight of stairs. I listen for any sounds before I try to move or open my eyes. I want to make sure Corbin isn’t sitting next to me on the steps, waiting for me to show signs of life. Once I’m sure he’s still upstairs, I open my eyes and slowly push myself up. From the feel of it, I’m sitting on an old mattress. At least my landing had some cushion. I can’t imagine what damage could have been done if I landed on concrete. There’s no sunlight coming through any windows in the cellar. If this was an old hunting cabin, I would imagine this floor was used for cold storage. I can hear Corbin walking around overhead. He’s still in the building.A phone ringing upstairs draws my attention. I can hear Corbin’s deep voice until he takes the call outside, signaled by the door slamming behind him. I’d imagine the reception out here isn’t
*Seymore’s POV*Once I can no longer hear all the emergency vehicles, I pull back onto the road and head for the house. This isn’t over yet, but at least we are all together again. Marcus calls Doc and Ellie to let them know we have Ava and are going to my place. There’s no telling what Duncan will do once he finds out his head henchman is out of commission. “Lock yourselves in and don’t open the door for anyone,” Marcus instructs each of them before hanging up.“When we get to the house we need to do a sweep and then barricade the doors,” I explain while turning down my street.Talking makes my neck throb. I’m hoping Corbin didn’t do any permanent damage with the death grip he had on me. Looking in the rearview mirror, I can see redness along Marcus’ neck. As we get closer to the drive, the white car from the other day is parked in the street.“Marcus,” I growl, drawing his attention to the car.“Give me a break,” he huffs from the backseat.I pull up close to them a
***Three Months LaterThe last few months have been a blur as Ava and I move forward with building a life together. I love waking up to her every day, afternoon sex is amazing, and holding her in my arms at night is the only way I can fall asleep. “Are you almost ready?” Ava yells from the kitchen.“Almost,” I answer, finishing up getting dressed.Zeus and Goldie run into the bedroom, excited about the day ahead. They will be getting dropped off at Doc’s place while we help Sophia and Ellie move. We also need to get all of Ava’s things out of her condo and into our house. “Come on, you two. Time to go see Grandpa Doc!” I holler as I walk down the hall. Ava started calling him that because he spoils the dogs like they were his own grandchildren. They have more toys and comfy beds at his place than ours. We pile into the SUV and take off, eager to get the day going. “Did you remember to grab the bottle of wine out of the fridge?” I ask Ava as we drive into the city.
*Seymore's POV*I’ve heard sex addiction described as an excuse someone uses to get away with having risky sex. But those people probably haven’t been addicted to anything in their lives. Sex addiction is like any other addiction, it eats away at you until you get a fix, and then eats away at you some more.As my feet slam against the cold slate floor, the abrupt sensation causes me to awaken fully from the nightmare. Sweat pours down from my brow, and my heart threatens to burst out of my chest. The panic is still present, but I don’t know why. What had the dream been about? My eyes adjust to the dim nightlight glow from the bathroom just off my bedroom.That’s right, I’m home. Back from a long trip to New York where I went to help one very special and important friend Kade. Somehow, I had hoped that the jet lag would help keep this reoccurring nightmare at bay. So much for that. My heart starts to recover as I take a deep breath.“Zeus, come here, boy.”The command isn’t en
After crawling out of bed I head to the bathroom. My feet slap against the slate floor as I walk with my eyes half closed. I don’t know if I got too much sleep, or not enough, but my head is killing me. A hot shower should fix it. I moan as I catch my reflection in the bathroom mirror. My hair is a mess and I have actual bags under my eyes.It appears the older I get, the less tolerant my body becomes to travel. I run my fingers through my hair and turn the shower on full blast. My pajama bottoms drop to the floor and I kick them aside before stepping under the waterfall shower head. The warm water does its job as the stiff muscles in my back begin to loosen. I grab my luffa and a bar of soap before going to work on the cleaning process. As I wash, it becomes obvious I need to tend to some manscaping. I find that most women appreciate a man who is willing to take the time to make himself presentable. Lord knows enough women put the extra effort forward, so why shouldn’t I?My ki
*Ava's POV*I can’t help but sigh a breath of relief as Seymore Lewis walks out of the building. The man’s ego sucked all the air out of the room. I can’t stand people who name-drop expecting some kind of award. Yes, I had asked him his name. No, I wasn’t asking for a personal reason. I offered to help at the office after Dr. Desmond Davies fired Matthew, but now I’m regretting it.I glance up as the doctor’s patient rushes down the steps and out the front door. Dr. Davies’ voice comes over the intercom from his office. “Ava, reschedule Denis White for two weeks out, will you?”It’s the way the man asks and demands at the same time that really gets under my skin. “No problem. Seymore Lewis came in while you were in with Denis. I set him up with an appointment for tomorrow morning at eight. He said it was urgent,” I reply, trying not to sound too sarcastic.“I imagine it is. He missed our appointment last month, and you know how important it is for people like him to adher
*Seymore's POV*I roll around in the bed, my thoughts racing. When Ray told me someone was in my home while I was away, I didn’t know how to reply. Part of me was angry he would let strangers into my place without reaching out to me first, but I also understand how a service call can be forgotten about. He did what he felt was right and stayed in the house while the workers did their thing.But what had they done? The furnace is practically brand new, so they had to have figured out there wasn’t anything to work on when they checked it. Had they possibly gone to the wrong address? Maybe, but they would have left a card either way. I searched the house and the pile of mail on the counter, there wasn’t a single sign that any service was done. I played all the messages on my answering machine, and they hadn’t called to say they were on their way to the service call. How had they known to approach the neighbor because I wasn’t home? I roll over again, trying to wrap my brain aro