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“Yes sir!” I quipped as I gave him a mock salute, hoping he’d crack a smile. I felt victorious when one corner of his mouth quirked up a little bit.One small step for Dec, one giant leap for Blake.
CHAPTER 19
BLAKE
“Ah, Blake. There you are,” Dad declared as I walked into the kitchen at the twins house, early that morning. “Did you get any sleep sweetheart?” he asked as he moved over to the counter and poured a mug of coffee.
“A little,” I lied as I tiredly dropped down into one of the stools at the counter. “Thank you,” I told him gratefully as he handed me the coffee he had just poured.
Trent, Dad, and I had been staying at the twins house for the last week, after the fire at our place, and for the most part I was pretty settled there. Grey had been staying there too, since none of them were willing to be far from me after what had happened. It was great to have them with me, even if there had been moments where I felt a little stifled.
They had stuck to their pledge to not leave me alone at any point, and ever since I was discharged from the hospital one of them had been at my side at almost every minute of every day, even sleeping in my room with me. I understood their need to do that. I knew if the roles were reversed and someone had almost killed one of them I’d be feeling just as fiercely protective.
If I were honest with myself I needed the comfort of knowing they were there too. The fire had shaken me badly and I couldn’t stop my thoughts from constantly drifting to what would come next. Whoever had trapped me in that room and set it alight had been determined to get rid of me, just as determined as they had been when they ploughed into me with that car. For some reason that we still could not fathom, they wanted me gone and I was terrified of whatever their next attempt would be.
We still had no concrete leads on who was after me. The surveillance cameras which Luca had set up around the house had been disabled for thirty minutes on the night of the fire, leaving a gap just long enough for someone to get onto the property, set the fire and get back out again.
Forest, Luca’s partner, had been able to check the logs on the security system to discover the shutdown of the cameras and the access to the property had been granted by Luca’s own unique log on. There had been some suspicion from my guys instantly at that revelation, but it was quickly shut down when Forest showed Luca on the surveillance footage of the house, performing a perimeter check, outside with no phone or computer in his hand at the exact moment everything shut off.
The theory was that someone – whoever wanted me out of the way – was either capable of hacking the security system, or had hired someone to do it for them. That fact had left us doubtful that Abby was behind the attack, once again, since such an elaborate plan seemed way beyond her capabilities, and I just couldn’t see her going to so much trouble just because she was pissed off with me. Yes she was crazy, but was shethatcrazy? I didn’t think so, but the police were investigating too and we had been informed Abby was being treated as a suspect.
In addition to the new ‘boyfriend’ security team I had following me around, Dad had also had Luca bring in two more guys, and Forest was also with us, monitoring the security system constantly for another breach.
I knew I should feel safe and protected, but I didn’t. I was scared and because of that I had barely left the house all week. On the one occasion I tried to venture out to Dec’s gym for a physio session, I had barely stepped out of the car in the centre of town when my anxiety had gripped me hard. My panic of being so exposed swirled through my mind, mixing with the pain I had endured so many times in my past and it just became too much. Thankfully Luca, and Grey who had been with me, saw what was happening and got me into the car and back to the twins place quickly.
It had been a blow for me – to realise I had gone so far backwards after I had been pushing to be better and stronger. I had fought so hard to overcome my past and I had really started to feel like I was winning. To then realise I was pretty much back to square one – cowering at home, too scared to face the world – it was crushing.
“You have another video session with Lisa today?” Dad asked as he looked me over with so much concern. I hated how much I was worrying all of them, but I just didn’t know how to turn it around. I had lost sight of the rope they had thrown down to me, in my pit of darkness, several months before, when my dad came for me, and I was once again plummeting towards that endless abyss.
“Yep,” I agreed with a nod.
“Good. That’s good,” he uttered as he poured himself more coffee.
“How are things g-going with the house?” I asked, hoping to move the topic away from myself.
“Good. The crew Liam and Tom got in are almost finished. I should be able to get the decorators in soon, and then the cleaners. I’m hoping we’ll be back home by the end of next week,” he explained.
“That would be nice.” I was happy at the twins place, but I missed home. It was the only place I had ever been able to claim as an actual ‘home’ and I wanted that back.
“Have a think about what colours you’d like for the room. Joyce chose the décor you had and I know it may not have been entirely your taste. You can select whatever you want now.”
“I liked it h-how it was, Dad. It was beautiful. C-can I have it just the same please?” I asked, hating the idea of my room not being the same as I had come to know it. I had fallen in love with that beautiful bedroom. The soft pink walls were just the colour I had imagined my dream bedroom when I was a little girl, and the little touches Trent had put in for me – the pictures, and knick-knacks he chose, the furniture he added just to suit me – it all meant more than I could ever explain. “I know it’s silly but it…that room…it meant a lot to me.”
“It’s not silly, sweetheart. Of course we can make it the same. I’ll call the company I hired and let them know. I’m sure Trent can help us replace some of the items that were lost too.”
“What am I doing?” Trent asked as he walked into the kitchen in his gym clothes and dripping with sweat. He’d obviously been working out in the huge gym the twins had in the basement level of the house.
“Helping us replace some of the things lost in the fire. Blake wants her room just as it was,” Dad replied.
“No problem,” Trent easily agreed, then looked to me. “I’ll need to head out to a few furniture places to get the bookshelves and a few other things. Why don’t you come with me? I might need help remembering what you had in there.”
“T-today?” I asked as my stomach started to churn anxiously.
“Yeah. We need to get it done. Some of the items may have to be ordered in.” I looked from Trent to my Dad as I fought not to let my panic overwhelm me.
“I…I’m n-not sure,” I stuttered.
“We’ll take Luca and the others, plus I’m sure one of your boy toys is going to want to tag along. We’ll be safe, tiny,” Trent assured me gently.
