Page 137 of The Protection Agreement

In the unit, Bruce follows me to our room. I head straight to the bathroom to wash off all the smell and grime. Bruce removes all his clothes and joins, helping me wash my body and hair of all the dust and smell. For a moment, I wrap my arms around him, letting the water run down our bodies. He just holds me close, not saying anything, just us holding tight to each other. He’s reminding me that I’m safe in his arms. I pull from the hug and step out to dry off and lotion as he finishes washing himself. I put on my leggings and T-shirt and blow my hair a bit as he comes out, wrapping himself in a towel.

“I’m hungry,” I say.

“Smith is picking your food; it will be here soon.” I nod, and we head back to the bedroom. I get on the bed, refusing to let any tears fall. Bruce is next to me; he can sense my struggle. He holds me close.

“How did you find me?” I quietly ask.

“My guys were always behind you. Ice activated the alarm the moment the first dart hit him. The other two guys saw Aspen get in the car with a gun pointed at your waist. They didn’t want to take any chances and decided to follow. We have been following him since the night at the club. Where he took you is huge, but you have a tracking device on you, not easily detected, but I always know where you are,” he says, pointing to my necklace. I look down at the necklace, touching it and not feeling anything different. “It’s a very small device, embedded in the pendant, but it does the job. I know you won’t take it off. I placed it on you before I gave it to you on your birthday.”

“Thank you.”

“Always, Sprinkles.”

“Thank you for taking him out. He told me Claire, Jonah’s mom, has been paying him to take me out.”

“I know, we’ve been looking into it, but now we have everything we need to pick her up. She’s very amateur in her dealings with him. We have everything we need to take her down. At first, we thought it was Nick, but Aspen and Claire were just using Nick to get information on your location. When Jonah stopped telling Nick, Claire started probing. That’s when Jonah knew she might have something to do with it. We were going to pick Aspen up, when my guys lost him. He showed up and released a rabid dog into the street, creating chaos, a perfect distraction to shoot Ice with the dart. He had done the same to one of the workers, that’s how he got in through the back.”

“I can’t believe Claire wants me dead,” I mumble, moving closer to him. He wraps his arms around me. I inhale his familiar sandalwood scent.

“She couldn’t get your mom, and she decided to come after you, but it’s her downfall. I have already sent a notice to Jonah with the evidence. My guys are picking her up as we speak.”

I immediately sit up.

“Jonah may not like that.”

“Jonah approved it, Sprinkles. He told me that one of the ground workers at your dad’s house informed him how his mom used to show up to visit your dad whenever you and Jonah were out, and she would give him medicine or say things that aggravated his heart condition. He believes whatever she gave him made him sicker and sped up his death. Your brother knows his mother is evil, and he loves you.”

“I love him too,” I say before resting my head back on his chest.

Bruce’s watch blinks, the sign that someone is in the unit. He gets up and puts on pants. I get out of bed and reach for my glasses. He puts his hand out to me and I take it. Hand in hand, we head to the living room in time to see Smith turning to leave.

“Thank you, Smith,” I say out loud to him.

He turns. “You are welcome, Lexi.” I smile as Bruce nods to him. He leaves and we sit to eat the pasta dish from my favorite restaurant.

“I’m going to need a new phone,” I say.

“I have your phone. That asshole dropped it on Ice when he was taking you. I guess he thought that was the only way we could track you.”

“Thank you. I don’t want to talk about him anymore. I just want to stay here with you.”

We finish our dinner and return to the sofa, watching a movie quietly till I fall asleep.

Chapter seventy-nine

Bruce

I didn’t want to leave Jola, but I’m needed to face Claire. While I got in bed with Jola last night, the guys notified me they had captured Claire and were transporting her to Chicago. I was alerted when she was placed in the basement. I had Malik inform Jonah of his mom’s location; he was already on his way once Malik had notified him of the situation with Jola. I didn’t want to take his calls. I needed to be with Jola without any interruption. Today, I’m going to face Claire and eliminate the final threat against Jola.

Ice stopped by this morning. I’d asked him to, so Jola can see him in person and not worry. Smith and James are staying with her. She clings tight to me when I try to leave. I whisper softly to her.

“I promise I’ll be back soon,” I say. She nods but I can see fear in her eyes. I cup her face and kiss her forehead and kiss her lips. “I promise, Onitemi.” She smiles and I leave.

Wolfe is waiting in the car, and we make our way to the building. I find Jonah waiting in my office.

“Is that Lexi’s puzzle?” he asks.

“Yeah, she works on it when she comes here.”