I frown at him. He’s never been one to get overly concerned, but the situation I’m finding myself in is obviously troubling him.
I walk up to him and grab his shoulder. “We’ll be okay, Shay. We always are.”
The next few days fly by. Elle has a paper due so she has been busy working on it. We’ve been spending so much time together lately that we’ve both been neglecting our studies. Because I’m only taking a light course load I don’t have as much work to do as she does, but in order to keep up appearances I have to do the work as if I’m your typical mature student. Just another one of the downsides that comes with working undercover.
Shay got back from Atlanta after two days away and as promised he has sorted out the situation with the big boss before anybody decided to make a personal visit up here. He did lay into me about getting too close to Elle and the predicament that we’re now both in. I know he hates lying to the boss for me, but he knows I’m head over heels for Elle and I can’t imagine leaving her now.
With Evans now looking into my whereabouts, I’m going to have to try and stay out of trouble, which includes playing nice with Brimstone. I am glad that Gibbons has agreed to Brimstone being tailed, though. If he slips up, we’ll know about it.
Brax and I have been studying at our respective houses today because I need to concentrate on a paper that’s due, and we struggle to get anything done when we’re together. After finishing for the day, I send him a text to see if he wants to come over tonight.
Elle: Wanna come over tonight, I’m all finished now
Brax: Of course, darlin. I’ll grab some food and head over in about half an hour.
Smiling at the immediate reply he sends, I decide it’s time to tease.
Elle: I’m sure you can think of ways to build up an appetite when you get here…
Brax: Dammit, woman. How am I supposed to concentrate now?!
Elle: As long as you’re focused when you get here, I’m not worried ;)
Now, I know I’m being brazen, but after the morning wake-up call Brax gave me a couple of days ago, I can’t wait to be with him again. I sent the text over an hour ago and now I’m getting nervous. I’ve been on edge all day anyway because I decided that tonight is the night I’m going to tell him about my past. All of it, warts and all. I don’t want to hide my darkness from him any longer and although I don’t have nightmares when I’m with Brax, there are still a lot of those times when I feel the dark clouds forming around me again.
I need him to see my dark side, so I can be sure he is the one to show me the light.
Another hour passes with no sign of him. I text him to check that he’s still coming over. No reply, again. I see that it has now been over three hours since he said he’d be here. Now I’m starting to really worry.
I’m about to give up and head to bed when I hear a knock at the door followed by a loud thump against the wall outside. Looking through the peep hole, I can’t see anyone out there, but I decide to open the door. I’m in a secure building, it can’t be too bad.
My high-pitched scream echoes through the night at what I find.
So maybe we do have more to worry about now.
After texting Elle and telling her I was on my way, I leave my building and walk towards our favorite Mexican restaurant to grab our take-out order. On the way back to her apartment, I sense that I’m being followed. I quickly sent a text to Shay to let him know that I have a tail, but ask him to stay on Elle, just in case she is being targeted. I decide to change direction and head away from where I am supposed to be going. I keep my phone in my pocket in the event I need to grab it in a hurry. With Shay tracking my GPS, all bases are covered, we’ve taken every precaution.
What I don’t count on is two guys that have been called ahead to intercept me as I cut through a quiet alleyway near campus. Before I know what is happening, I am sucker-punched by one of them. I manage to get a good right hook to connect with one of their jaw’s before the other guy grabs my arms, twists them behind my back and dislocates my shoulder in the process. This leaves me open to continual jabs to my face and ribs. I kept trying to lift my legs up and knock one of them over, but they always manage to stay just out of reach. After a few more whacks to my head, they finally let me go. I crumble to the ground, clinging to my arm that is dangling lifelessly on the side of my body. This is no random mugging, it is an orchestrated attack. We are being sent a message.
From my position on the ground, I see a black town car pull up at the end of the alley, the car’s headlights shining down on me. I am teetering on the edge of consciousness when I recognize the swagger of Michael Evans walking towards me. I try to reach my phone, but because I am lying on it, I can’t reach it. I’m relieved that Elle is safe because of Shay, despite whatever is about to happen to me. I haven’t moved by the time Evans crouches down beside me.
“Leave it alone, boy. Whatever you think is going on, you have no freaking idea. Keep it that way, trust me.” With the message delivered, he stands up and gives me one last kick before I black out.
I come to a short time later and check my watch. Shit! It’s been over an hour. I try to move, but I hurt everywhere. There is a stabbing pain in the back of my head and what feels like a shard of glass being shoved into my shoulder. Using my good arm, I manage to grab my phone from my pocket and send a text to Shay with our code for ambulance. I hear the sirens in the distance as I black out again, lying in the middle of the alley, all alone, thinking of my Elle waiting for me.
When I wake up again, I’m in a hospital bed in the ER. My shoulder has been put back into place, my arm is now in a sling and I have two broken ribs as well as stitches in my head and on my face.
All I can think about is how I am going to explain this to Elle.
I discharge myself against the doctor’s advice and hop in a taxi that is parked outside, giving the directions to Elle’s apartment. I must have fallen asleep in the back of the cab because before I know it, the taxi driver is telling me to get out as we stopped outside her building. I throw him a twenty and gingerly got out of the cab, quickly scanning the street for Shay.
So here I am, propped up against the wall of Elle’s building, about to head inside. I grab my phone with my good hand and dial Shay.
“Hey man, what the hell happened? Why didn’t you call me sooner?” he yells down the phone when he answers.
“Calm down, I’m okay. They ambushed me in an alley near campus and I couldn’t get to my phone in time. Anyway, you wouldn’t have been able to leave Elle,” I say as I try to catch my breath, pain radiating through my chest. “It was Evans. He was sending us a message.”