All is Lost (All Series, Book 2) (15 page)

Carefully, I tilt her chin up with a finger
under it so she is looking at me. Breesan peeks at me from under
her dark eyelashes, but quickly shifts her gaze, scanning over my
face. I tenderly slide a hand up, cupping her cheek, and she
nestles her face against it.

With my other hand I smooth away the hair from
her face then lightly stroke the pad of my thumb over her cheek
bone. Pulling my hand away from her cheek, she drags it to her
lips, placing a kiss in my palm. I run my other hand through her
hair, tangling my fingers into the silky strands. She leaves my
hand resting against her mouth with her eyes downcast as she takes
several deep breaths. After more several long minutes she is
better, calmer now, but nowhere near alright. Opening her eyes
again, she looks up at me.

“
I'll do whatever you need me to
do,” Releasing a heavy breath, she adds, “but we have to find them
soon. I'm scared. The bastard that tried taking me is the same guy
you fought at the gym to protect me.”

“
Unbelievable.” Fury rips through
me and I have definitely reached my boiling point after hearing her
say it was that big mother fucker that put his hands on her.
Reaching up and clasping my arms, she pulls them away as she steps
back. I growl low and deep. “This is fucking unbelievable.”
Aggravated, I run a hand across my forehead repeatedly as I stomp
out of the bathroom. I yell into the hallway for Sam. Turning back
around, I see tension marring her delicate features. “Breesan, tell
me exactly what happened. And please don't leave out any
details.”

Within seconds Sam rushes through the bedroom
door, panting she glances from me to Breesan. “What the hell
happened?”

Breesan tells us everything that happened from
the time she stepped off the hospital parking elevator, and ending
with Sam putting her on the back of the motorcycle. My jaw tightens
and twitches as she paces the room, recounting every damn detail.
Barely containing my rage thinking about her going through that
trauma alone, I have to remind myself several times that I
instructed her to tell me everything. However, when she tries
taking the blame for Anna and Waverly’s abduction a loud roar
begins deep in my chest then erupts like a fucking grizzly bear’s
battle cry.

“
No!” I shake my head. “I won't
have you blaming yourself. Those bastards did this shit and no
matter what the reasons are YOU ARE NOT TO BLAME!”

“
Oh my god, Marcus, I'm just saying
that I think with everything that has happened to me…” Digging her
hands through her hair, she fearlessly walks over to me. Hands on
her hips and her chin raised high, she continues. “Don’t’ you think
it's all too coincidental? Clearly there is something going on that
directly involves me. Forgive me, but I happen to be pissed off at
the moment too. Pissed, that it has taken this damn long for me to
put it all together.” Staring deep into my eyes, Breesan begs for
understanding and I nod.

She turns away, pacing the room again while
sorting through the events that led us here. Sam and I lock gazes
at each other from across the room. Silently we acknowledge where
her train of thought is leading. She's narrowing in on the
conclusions our team has already reached. She continues to explain
and clarity shines in her eyes, but neither of us interrupts her
discovery process. As she continues I consider convincing her that
she's not at the center of the recent attacks, but at this point
she won't accept it. Even so, I won't let her take all the blame
when I am certain that it belongs to her stepmother and Dr.
A.

“
Everything,” Breesan says,
“starting with the night of Morgan's party, I got this strange
sensation that someone was watching me. I thought it was just my
stupid anxiety that was causing it.” She winces at that unexpected
bit of information, like she didn’t want me to know. “But after
scanning the room I spotted Waverly with some older guy and they
were staring back at me. I didn't recognize him and didn’t know why
he would be watching me with such an odd glare. It was like he was
upset with seeing me.” She stops pacing, glances at me and softly
adds, “I understand Waverly's reasons now. She was jealous about
Morgan.” She smiles innocently. “Then there was the black sedan
following me on more than one occasion. I never saw the driver.”
She freezes momentarily, thinking and then she shouts, “The day of
the big storm I passed it leaving my house. Julia was home but she
never mentioned someone coming to visit, not that I would really
expect her to share anything with me. Then the second time was the
night you were in the hospital, Marcus.” She frowns. “It was parked
along the curb of the street near the exit ramp and pulled out
behind me when I drove off.”

She abruptly stops talking I can see it in her
eyes that her mind is somewhere other than this room. After just a
moment she visibly shudders at her thoughts. Lifting her eyes, she
pierces me with a painful stare.

“
What is it?” I ask with growing
concern.

She shakes her head very slowly, still not
ready to reveal everything yet. Then her eyes drift around the
room, hauntingly. Not staring at anything in particular, she turns
a slow circle facing away from me then spots something on the
bookshelf.

“
Your fight,” she whispers running
her hand up the side of the bookcase, “my drug overdose, or rather
attempted murder, last night’s shooting and now…Anna.” She reaches
for and lifts a baseball from its holder. Focusing her eyes on it
she grips it tight in her hand and continues with a calmer
tone

“
Marcus someone is trying to kill
me
.” She says. I swallow down my stress unable to
acknowledge the truth.

Sam walks over and stands directly in front of
Breesan, placing a hand on her shoulder. “What else, Breesan? I can
see there's more that you want to tell us.” Breesan nods her head,
worriedly biting down on her bottom lip. Her eyebrows are arched up
in a painful looking expression. She turns her back toward me, and
I make a move, wanting to comfort her, but Sam holds up a hand and
mouth's the words, “Not yet.”

Breesan sighs, “I got three random text
messages from an unknown caller. At first they didn't make sense,
but now I'm thinking I was very wrong.”

“
The first text came the night of
Morgan's party. It was really odd and I actually dismissed it as
some score. It was something like ‘Mariners 65 Vikings 74’,
followed by a couple of names that I can't recall. Then they said
they would have more, later. I deleted it from my phone because it
was complete gibberish.” Breesan crosses her arms over her chest,
like she is struggling with revealing the rest.

“
The second message came the night
of Marcus’ fight, after the black sedan followed me. For safety
reasons, I pulled into a convenience store hoping that it would
continue on past me. And it did. About a minute later I got a
really fucked up text that read ‘Fear and terror at Google.’ Alone,
the first didn’t make any sense and combined with the second, I
still didn't understand it. But then the last message...” Pausing,
Breesan takes a deep breath, turns slowly and looks at me
compellingly.

“
The third text message came last
night, just before I passed out.” A tear slips down her cheek. “I’m
sorry Marcus. It was all too much. When I read it my mind shut
down.” Embarrassed, her cheeks turn red and she lowers her eyes to
look at the floor. “Four words in all caps: 'He's not dead yet.' I
know that they meant Tristan.” Her voice breaks, “I'm sorry that I
didn't tell you sooner. I really wasn't sure about what the hell
any of it could mean. Tell me who would have tied all of this shit
together, for god sakes?” She shakes her head slowly. “My life
isn't what it was a month ago. Before all of this it was shitty,
yeah, but nobody was hurt or kidnapped. But now...” She sighs
heavily as her words trail off.

I want to take her in my arms and ease her
pain but she needs to do this for herself. As much as I will always
want to protect her, I know she's strong enough to handle all of
this bullshit. As if hearing my thoughts her demeanor shifts
quickly. Lifting her head she straightens her back and pierces me
with a renewed determination.

“
I'm sick of all of it. We have to
find Anna and Waverly. I can't have another person that I love
getting hurt by whoever is behind it. Tell me what you are going to
do to get them back, and how I can help.”

There's my girl
. I smile proudly at her
determined spirit. Feeling rejuvenated by her excitement too my
mind jumps into work mode.

“
Sam,” I say. “Those boxes that I
told you about earlier are in my Jeep. I'll get them and we can
begin sorting through every last page in Julia’s journals. First,
call Rhys and pass on everything Breesan told us. Find out what he
wants us doing while he's gone. The police department investigators
will want to interview her, but I don’t think now is the best time.
When we’re done with that we’ll research the text messages.”
Glancing at Breesan, I ask, “Where's your cell baby?”

Breesan's face drops as she lets out a deep
sigh. “I lost it at the hospital.”

“
Not a problem.” I say smiling when
she glances at me curiously. “I'll just ask Raithe to look for it
while they are processing the scene.”

“
Okay.” Breesan nods.

“
Try not to worry too much. Why
don't you take a shower and relax until we hear back from the guys?
I'll be downstairs sorting through everything with Sam.”

Walking out of the room, Sam says, “I'll bring
you more clothes.” I smile at how sweet my sister is being toward
Breesan and follow her out of the room.

“
Wait,” Breesan calls out, halting
me on the other side of the door. I poke my head through the
doorway and she rushes over. “I'll only be a little while in the
shower.” Smiling, her blush blooms along her neck. “Will you come
back when I'm done?”

Her request pleases me beyond belief. Standing
only a foot apart, I reach out and lift her chin up, staring deeply
into her eyes. Breesan is absolutely the most mesmerizing creature
I have ever encountered. I don't know where she's been all of my
life, but there is one thing I do know, I'll do whatever it takes
to make sure she will be by my side for the rest of it.

I tip my head down, my mouth only a breath
away from hers. “Try stopping me.” I say, gliding my lips to hers.
It's a soft kiss, but a tingle runs through my entire body from our
contact. She sighs against my mouth as I pull away, and it takes
every bit of my strength to hold back the beastly desire to ravage
her. Unable to stop myself, I slide my lips across again then press
my forehead against hers.

“
I better go so you can shower. If
we kiss like that another minute I will insist on joining you.” I
wink and her body buckles, swaying against me.

“
No,” shaking her head, she looks
at me shyly. “I believe it was you who said when you make love to
me it will be about us and none of this other bullshit.” Her
porcelain skin warms the most exciting shade of pink as she
realizes too late that she said the words “make love” in place of
having sex. I force my steps backwards into the hallway before I
follow through with what I really want. Scared of her confession,
Breesan looks down at her twisting hands anxiously.

Smirking, I say, “Oh baby, you are right about
that. I
will
be making love to you.”

Quickly turning to leave, I see the look of
shock move across her face, and smile triumphantly as excitement
from that one little play on words courses through my veins. I
descend the staircase with a bounce heading out to my Jeep for
Julia's boxes. Feeling like I have stepped into a whole new world,
even the dull, cloud filled skies seem brighter. I still can't
believe how taken I am with Breesan Maxwell. It was only a short
time ago that I was admiring her from a distance, daydreaming of
sharing a kiss like the one she just gave me.

What a damn fool I was, thinking that staying
away from her was for the best. It is morbidly fucked up how much
we have already been through together in such a short amount of
time. Undoubtedly, there is still a truckload full of bullshit that
we still have to face, but we will face them together.
Understandably, after everything she has been through she could
crumble under the weight of it all. I’m just glad this time she
isn’t silently suffering alone. Thanks to outside elements,
surrounding a world she didn’t even know existed until last night,
her life is fully fused into mine now and those days of being alone
and unloved are over.
Breesan is mine
.

Chapter
Eleven

Breesan

Soapy, steamy water runs down the shower
drain. I stand eyes closed, head tilted back under the sprayer
attempting to clear my mind. I can’t remember stepping into the
shower and turning on the water, but from the cooling temperatures
I have been in here for a while. I feel like I'm numb, in some
altered state, a bizzaro world–a world where people get shot and
kidnapped. When did I slip over to a plane that has me fighting for
survival?

I close my eyes tight as the water meshes with
my tears. Allowing myself one last cry, I give in and grieve for my
friends who were taken captive. Every muscle, bone and joint in my
body aches. Minor cuts and scrapes cover my arms and knees, but the
bruise on my left cheek hurts the most. That big ass guy struck me
solid. The stinging from his backhand during the fight does not
compare to the current throbbing pain.