Fatal Obsession (Black Widow Book 2) (10 page)

“Sure.” They entered the elevator together and Ellie pressed the button to the parking lot, but Dale held the door open.

“Where are you going, Damien?”

He forced a smile before he responded, “Home to eat, shower and sleep on a human size bed.”

“Whatever. Who was calling?”

Damien chuckled, “Still on the hunt? I use the same phone when I go undercover. It’s an old contact and I can’t call him back until I confirm who he is and what identity I used.”

Dale’s eyes narrowed with suspicion, “Why do you still keep those contacts if the jobs are done?”

“I work with gangs, cartels and mobs, Dale. The jobs are never done.”

Finally accepting that, Dale let go and the doors slid shut. Ellie turned to Damien but with a firm shake of his head he silenced her. He wouldn’t put it past Dale to have a bug placed in his things. He didn’t have the time to go through it all so he would have to leave everything he’d just gotten back at home and carry cash. He didn’t want to be tracked using his credit card. Good thing his phone had a program to fry bugs twenty minutes after it had been planted. He would be out of the building before they realized something was wrong.

They made small talk all the way home just in case he was wrong. When they got home another best friend, this one named Kris was waiting by the door for them. He didn’t bother to join them, instead he went to his room, changed, took a quick minute to remove the bug’s remains from his phone, grabbed his duffle and marched right out the door without a word to either one of them. He bet they didn’t even notice him walk by with how heated their argument had gotten. Damien walked a mile before he flagged down a cab and set off to the address DJ had texted. He ended up at a gas station and in the middle of the night, not one he wanted his family to stay at more than what was necessary.

He walked to the black SUV and knocked on the driver’s window. “Open the back.”

The trunk door swung open and he tossed his duffel inside and shut it. He jogged to the passenger’s door, but the driver’s swung open instead. Curious, but it was better that way since he knew where they were going. He jumped into the car and shut the door. He turned to VS with a smile, only to curse.

“Shh,” she whispered through her swollen lips and winced. “I just got him to stop crying and go to sleep. Don’t wake him. I hurt enough already, I can’t handle his pain too.”

He nodded, his jaw clenched tight as he watched a tear escape her swollen shut eye. She was red and raw, clutching her right side and wincing with every slight move as she tried to get comfortable. How the hell did she manage to drive?

She stayed perfectly still when he leaned over her and slowly, carefully lowered the backrest of her seat. “Better?”

She nodded, “Thank you.”

He jerked his head once in a hard nod, “Don’t mention it.”

“Damien?”

“Yeah,” he responded, keeping his eyes away from her. If he looked at her one more time he was going to give into the temptation of driving to her home and killing Turner with his bare hands.

“DJ said we’ll be safe with you. Don’t make a liar out of our son,” her voice broke and she gasped as if talking had caused her pain.

His hands tightened around the steering wheel. “Only when I’m dead will this ever happen to you again.”

After a long pause, she said, “Thanks. Try not to hit any bumps.”

He tried to smile at her silly humor, but he was too mad to do so. Where was Mike or Elaine when that animal put his hands on her?

Never again. He was never going to leave the responsibility of looking after his family to anyone else ever again.

****

Damien pulled up in front of the cottage with a slight sigh. It had taken longer than he had expected to get to Maryland and even longer to get to the cabin on the uneven ground of the woods. He didn’t want to hurt VS by rocking the car more than it should, so they’d gone at a snail's pace. He turned off the car and turned to the passenger side, his gut fisting tight as he laid his eyes on her face. He couldn’t be sure if she was dozing or just staying perfectly still with one eye swollen shut and the other halfway there. If she was sleeping he needed to wake her but where the hell would he touch her without hurting her?

“VS,” he whispered close to her ear. “VS, wake up.”

“Tasha.”

“What?”

She tried to sit up in the recliner chair but went back down with a pained groan. “My name is Tasha. Not VS or Victoria Secret.” She lightly ran the tip of her tongue over her puffy lips. “Why do you keep calling me that anyway?”

Honestly, he hadn’t wanted to call her Ellsa and he didn’t know the new name she was using. But telling her that would be stupid on his part if he wanted her to trust him.

He smiled wickedly at her, “I started calling you Victoria Secret from the moment I saw you in your barely there swimsuit and sky high heels. That image of you is stuck in my mind.”

She snorted then hissed with pain. He should have taken her to the hospital but being a hunted murderer made that impossible for her.

“It’s going to take a long time before I look human again, let alone your Victoria Secret.” She turned her head to the side and looked out the window. “It looks nice, but I’m going to need your help to see the inside.”

“Right. I’ll take DJ in first, then you and right after I get you settled I’ll come for the rest of our things.” He’d noticed two black duffels when he’d tossed his in. “Just sit tight.”

He got out of the car, careful to close the door without jarring the car and opened the back passenger door. DJ was fast asleep, his head supported by the car seat. His face was streaked with tear stains. The kid should have never been through what he had that night. He got back into the car and gently unclasped the seat belt before lifting him out and onto his lap He stirred with a whimper and Damien shushed him, rocking him gently until he settled.

“Do that often?”

He snorted, “First time. I have a niece and nephew though and I’ve watched my cousin and his wife put them to sleep. Nothing to it.”

She chuckled, then groaned, “Would have said you’re a natural but DJ is not a newborn.”

“Was he fussy as a baby?”

She went quiet for a beat then said, “Wish I knew. I don’t remember anything except the last year.”

Damien cursed, the desolate sound of her voice hit him hard. That was insensitive of him—but it reinforced his resolve to help her. She wasn’t the same woman, she wasn’t Ellsa anymore.

“I’ll be right back.” He got out of the car and walked to the door of the cabin, shifting DJ so that he could put the key in the lock and open the door. It swung wide and Damien flicked on the light by the door frame, bathing the room with bright lights. It was exactly as he’d left it that morning when he’d come to rent it indefinitely, though cleaner thanks to the landlord. The one cream couch before the fireplace had no protective cover over it and neither did the single seats adjacent to it. The counter in the kitchen on the other end of the cabin had a welcome fruit basket on it, including two bottles of red and white wine. He walked to the third door on his right and pushed it open. There were two beds in there, one single and the other double. He had it done for VS and DJ because he was sure she wouldn’t want to part with their son nor want to share a room with Damien. But tonight they would all be sharing a room. He placed DJ on the double close to the wall, taking off his sneakers and jacket that he had thrown over his Spiderman pajamas before tucking him in under the heavy covers. The nights were cold in the woods and he was glad the landlord had added an extra duvet on the foot of each bed.

Once he was sure DJ was okay, he left to carry his mother in. It wasn’t easy trying to get her out of the car without hurting her. He didn’t want to jar her too much in case something was broken—he prayed nothing was broken. By the time he got her onto the single bed, she was panting and sweating and he was close to passing out from holding his breath.

“Shit, that hurt,” she wheezed, lying still on the bed.

“Sorry, but it’s about to get worse. I need to look you over; check for anything broken, then put some hot and cold compresses on you. Try and get out of as much clothing as you can, I’ll get the bags.”

He rushed out, grabbed the three duffels and rushed back to the cabin, locking the door behind him. He made sure all the doors and windows were locked before he made his way into the room. He found her leaning forward in a seated position. One arm cradling her ribs and the other between her legs on the bed keeping her body up. She’d managed to slide her flannel pants to her ankles and take off her jacket, leaving her with a grey thin strapped vest that gave him a perfect view of her cleavage bent over as she was.

“I don’t have a bra on so this is all I’m taking off.”

Her tone of voice brokered for no arguments. It made him smile. He took off his jacket and hung it on the nail behind the door. “I’ll go heat up some water and get some ice. You need help lying back down?”

She shook her head, “I think I’m going to stay right here. Moving makes me dizzy and nauseous.”

They were screwed if she had a concussion. “I’ll be right back.”

He rushed to the kitchen, set the kettle on to boil then began filling several ice bags. Once the water was heated, he poured it into a basin with a number of rags inside. He put the ice bags into the freezer and carried the basin to the room. He found her just as he left her, but she was tipping to the side. He placed the basin on the floor then carefully lifted her legs onto the bed and set her on her back. She was already turning black and blue. DJ was going to freak when he saw her in the morning.

“I know what you’re thinking,” she said, swallowing hard.

“What?” he asked, pulling her arm away from her ribs on her right side and replacing it with his fingers.

“That DJ is going to lose his shit once the bruises set in,” she gasped when he pressed down.

He sighed with relief. They were bruised, not broken. “As long as he knows you’re safe he’ll calm down. Where were Elaine and Mike when this happened to you?” he asked, pressing the swelling around her left wrist. She’d moved that hand around so easily, she probably didn’t realize she’d sprained it. But that pain was probably unnoticeable compared to her bruised ribs.

“Elaine had to travel and Mike has his own life. He’s DJ’s godfather, not my bodyguard.”

Someone was seriously out of the loop
, Damien thought.

“Do you know them well—Elaine and Mike?” she asked.

“More than I wish I did.” He shifted down her legs and noticed the scratch marks and hand prints on her thighs. He clenched his teeth so hard his jaw ached with a dull pain.

“Hey, that’s my sister and our son’s godparents you are talking about. And stop looking at me like that. He didn’t get that far.”

“Oh yeah? Then why do you have marks around you ankles that are similar to restraints bruising?”

“Only an idiot who has no idea what they are doing ties the legs before the hands.”

He smirked, “How exactly did you get away from him?”

“Not sure. My hand just went up and I hit his nose with the heel of my hand. He moved down and my knee went into his crotch. He fell off the bed, knocking his head on the bed post on his way down.”

“How long was he out for?”

“Long enough to get DJ out of bed and into the car.”

He felt out her neck and her head, his fingers gently rubbing her scalp until he got to a goose egg at the back of her head. She winced when he touched it. “How long were you out for?”

“Long enough for him to restrain both my legs.”

He stood and walked to the wardrobe and pulled out a towel and moved back to the bed. He pulled out one hot wet rag and wrung it out in the towel before wrapping it around her sprained wrist.

“The duffels were a bit heavy. He didn’t stop you when you were packing?”

She shook her head, “I wasn’t thinking about clothes or anything else at that point. I just wanted to get DJ as far away from Tom as I could. It’s DJ who told me about the duffel bags. I didn’t care, but he said Elaine said they were things we would need if we had to leave fast. He wouldn’t leave without them or his backpack. He never goes anywhere without his backpack. Makes me wonder what’s in it.” She was silent for a moment, then rolled—or attempted to roll her lips into her mouth in the nervous habit he was familiar with before she winced and stopped. “Why were those duffels packed and ready to go? And why did DJ know about them when I didn’t?”

Damien knew why those duffels were packed, but it confused him why VS knew nothing about them or why they were necessary. Considering she had two bounties on her head, did no one think she had a right to know she was running for her life?

“Let’s not worry about that right now. I’m going to place a hot rag on your face and another over your ribs before I move down to your ankles. Hopefully, this will help with the pain and stiffness. I’ll use the cold compress later for the swelling.”

“Damien?”

“Mmh?” he answered distractedly.

“Why are you taking care of me?”

He looked at her face then, his chest twisting with the bruising that had begun to form. Tom was a dead man if they ever crossed paths. “You and DJ are my family and I was always taught to care for and protect my family. Now hush unless you want to eat a hot rag.”

“Damien?”

“Yup.”

“Thank you,” her voice broke and tears spilled out of her eyes.

“Thank me when I’ve done my job, not right now, not yet.” He placed the rag over her face then, wondering how exactly he would accomplish that—keeping his family whole and safe from Vladimir and the FBI.

Chapter Six

DJ’s giggles carried off in the wind, adding a special something to the serenity of the woods. She watched him laugh, head tossed back and bent backward. The only thing keeping him from falling over was his father’s hand on his back. He was also holding onto the fishing rod in DJ’s hand, the look of pure joy on his face as he stared at his son.