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Chapter Forty
Mia
The next morning, I woke up and felt instantly warm. There was heat surrounding me and it was heavy. I went to turn and felt like a rock was lying on me. When I moved, the rock shifted. I rolled out from underneath it and saw that the rock was Terry. I smiled at the memory of last night.
The sweet gesture of lying in the bath and eating takeout. The way he laid me down and was so gentle and loving with me. It was perfect and a side of Terry that I hadn’t seen before. Granted, we had been separated for years, but I hadn’t expected the way he was last night. The sweet ways he provided me comfort. He was patient and calm. It showed me how he had truly grown up over the years that we’d been apart.
I wanted to do something special for him. And now that I was free from him, I got out of bed, found one of his shirts lying over a chair, and put it on. I headed for the kitchen. I would make Terry breakfast—a small token to show him I was thankful for all he had done for me.
I was frying up the bacon, and the omelets were about done, when a sleepy Terry made his way into the kitchen.
“It’s only five in the morning. Why are you up already?”
He looked adorable—so much like a small boy in the early morning hours. The sexy swagger with which he usually carried himself was gone.
“Internal clock, I guess. I couldn’t sleep anymore, so I thought I would come out here and make you breakfast.”
“I appreciate it.” Terry came further into the kitchen, stood behind me, and kissed my neck. “You know, we could just go back to the bedroom and exercise before breakfast. Make sure that we really have an appetite for it.”
“Actually, I got my running clothes when we stopped at my apartment. I was hoping you would go on a run with me this morning.” I did my best to turn in his arms. I wanted to catch the expression on his face.
“I don’t know. I don’t think that’s the best idea.” I could see he wanted to flat-out tell me no, but he was trying to appease me. I just hoped he didn’t dig his heels in.
“Come on, you’d be there with me. This isn’t a familiar neighborhood to him, and we took a cab here. I think we can get a quick workout in before work.” I was begging now, and I hoped he didn’t make me change my tactics.
He dropped his arms and scrubbed his hands down his face. “We’ll see.”
I was going to turn that “We’ll see” into a yes. I knew I was.
We ate mostly in silence, me begging him with my eyes to go on this run and him doing everything he could to avoid my eyes.
“Fine,” he relented, and in my mind, I did a victory backflip. “We can go on a run, but you have to stay with me. And when I say we are done, we are done. Got it?”
I saluted and giggled.
“You drive me absolutely crazy, you know that?”
I smirked. “I think I have some idea.”
He shook his head. “Of course you do.”
Once the breakfast dishes were done, we changed and headed down to the street to begin our run. The fresh air hit me like a jolt of electricity. It felt so good to be outside and moving. Running was a release, a stress reliever for me. During the week, a run wasn’t always possible. But with everything happening now, it felt like the best thing that I could do for myself. For my sanity.
Terry did a great job of keeping up with me. I was running pretty hard. The sweat was starting to pour down my back, and the runner’s high was kicking in. This was one of the most glorious things about running—the adrenaline rush and the feeling of freedom I felt from it.
I tilted my head up to the sun just for a moment to feel its warmth on my face, and that’s when it happened.
A hand reached out and yanked me violently off the path. I tried to cry out, but when my mouth opened, I choked. I began coughing, attempting to catch my breath.
I made it easy for whoever had a hold of me—although I thought I knew. The scent of him overwhelmed me. It may have been early, but the smell of scotch and cigars filled my nose.
A harsh chuckle emitted from him as he pulled me away quickly. My eyes struggled to focus on the scenery as it whipped past me. When the world stopped moving, I was met with those familiar gray eyes that looked wild. I wondered, for an instant, if he was on something. I couldn’t be sure because this wasn’t out of character for him, sadly.
“Oh, Mia, you shouldn’t have gone for a run. I mean, you were doing so well. Leaving work in a cab, spending the night with him. I bet you thought I couldn’t get to you, but I could. I’ll always be able to.”
He let out a maniacal laugh, and I attempted to shrug back further against the brick.
“He’ll be catching up soon, so we don’t have much time together,” he warned. “But please know this: I will not stop coming for you. You will be mine again. So, do as I say and get rid of the boy toy, or I will get rid of him for you. Do you understand me?”
