AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Oh okay. Do you want me to save you some stir-fry?”
Fuck, I sounded desperate and the look of pity that crossed his eyes made the next thing fall out of my mouth. “That is, if Derek isn’t hungry and eats it all.”
Yes, I said it. I couldn’t help it. It just fell out. It was that or hear Lock turn me down in some pitying voice that would make me feel even more like crap.
So, I tried my hand at aloofness and failed miserably.
Seeing the look on Derek’s face made me feel worse. I hated to put him in the middle of this, but I was caught between a rock and a hard place. The pathetic tone in my voice caused me to react without thinking.
I had to give it to Derek, he was a trooper. He went with it and didn’t leave me hanging.
“Shit, not your stir-fry again,” Derek chimed in and smiled at his boss. I would say the man was at least smart enough to put some distance between him and Lock as he spoke. “That shit is the bomb. Yeah, it’s probably going to be gone by the time you get back.”
I threw Derek a mega-watt smile, thanking him for more than just lying to his boss. He and I both know this was the first time I’ve ever cooked since I’ve been here. But Lock looked to have bought the rouse. His brows creased, forming deep lines in his forehead. His eyes darkened and I could have sworn I could see the vein on the side of his neck pulse from where I stood.
However, when Lock spoke, he sounded cool, calm and in control.
“That’s fine, I’ll grab something when I’m out.” He replied to me then looked at Derek. “Stay on your toes tonight.”
Derek gave him a head nod.
“As always, boss.”
That was it. Lock left me with a smirking Derek.
After that day, Lock made it a point to be gone all day, and mostly every day. I tried to stay up late to see him, but he would always come in just after I fell asleep. How did I know? I went to bed with one of his guys hanging out in the living room. I’d wake to the sound of Lock’s truck peeling out of the driveway and a new guy, either in the living room or in the kitchen, making breakfast. Normally, it was either Lester or Ivey making breakfast. The rest would bring donuts or bagels. They all bought me coffee from Dunkin Donuts, which I appreciated. I loved their coffee.
So do you see why I’m in hell? He’s hiding from me, keeping his distance, and I don’t know why.
Tonight, I was going to find outwhyhe was hiding from me. Was I going to ask him? Hell no. I planned to ask the next best person or persons… Noelle and Ayana.
We had gotten permission from the ‘boss man’ for a ladies night indoors. It wasn’t out of the ordinary to find Ayana and Noelle hanging out at Lock’s place. Ayana had explained that she spent a lot of time at Lock’s even when he wasn’t home. I had asked her why when she had a big ole house of her own. Why did she spend so much time here?
She said simply, “This house is home. There are so many memories here. Some weren’t the greatest, but most were. Plus, it gave me peace being here. Sometimes me and Lock would hang out, watch the First 48 or some other crime show, and he’d tell me if the cops were doing their jobs right or wrong, or we’d watch a basketball game until Brad got home.”
After listening to her explain the memories she had of this house, it made sense why Lock never moved. He wanted to be close to his memories, despite the pain it caused. Maybe that’s also why he’s been keeping his distance from me. It’s probably weird having me in his space. But I didn’t think it was any different from having Ayana here or Noelle, but then again, Lock wasn’t sleeping with them. Hell, he wasn’t sleeping with me either, right now.
Now, do you see why I’m in hell? Yeah, me too!
“Girl,I’m still trying to wrap my head around you knowing someone was inside your room waiting for you,” Ayana replied.
We were on the back patio deck, the lights out, music playing, drinks in our hands. Ayana was sipping on a virgin daiquiri while Noelle and I had strawberry daiquiris made by yours truly. We didn’t trust Ayana to make our drinks if she refused to measure, and that bitch refused.
I had been forbidden to step foot out here for fear the neighbors would see me. But with Ayana here, things were okay. We also had the guys to push the huge umbrella in front of us and angle it so that none of the neighbors could see me and it made it difficult to see Ana and Noelle. They could definitely hear us, but we would be obscured from prying eyes.
“It was just instincts, I guess,” I explained. “There were many times, back at home, when I used to feel eyes on me or someone following me when I was at the grocery store or I don’t know, hanging out with friends or family. Ten times out of ten I had been right, and it would always be Byron. So I learned to hone into that still small voice, you know the one that would always warn you of trouble but you would always ignore it.”
Ayana nodded agreeing with me. Noelle shared, “I know what you mean, I learned the hard way to pay attention to the voice in your head. Pay attention to that feeling that someone is watching you or that someone is waiting in your hotel room for you to return so they can murder you.”
“Damn… Living like that had to be exhausting,” Ayana stated.
“It was,” both me and Noelle replied.
“You guys know my life was completely messed up,” Noelle began “Parents dying at an early age. Being placed into foster care. I had to deal with abuse coming from all sides. Then to be owned by the likes of Santos. I had to keep my head on a swivel. There were times when I couldn’t sleep at night. I had to find a quiet place in the daytime to sleep, which was always a closet or a bathroom where I could lock the door. So, I get it. It’s been a long time since I heard that voice, so maybe I’ve lost my touch, but I get it.”
Ayana snorted and rolled her eyes. She rubbed her little belly bump and admitted, “I wish I had the discernment to smell danger like you two did and do. To know when trouble was coming my way could have saved me a lot of grief. Back then, I didn’t think about danger or what would happen to me. Most of the time, I felt I had nothing to lose.”
“What about Brad? You had him to lose.” I interjected, but she shook her head.
