Trust Me (28 page)

“Alaina if you want to go home that's fine with me,
I'll come over and pick you up now.”

“That's really not necessary, I’ll call a cab.”

“Yes it is necessary. I don't want you alone in that
house.  You're too much of a target and it's far too dangerous.  Let
me warn you, if you refuse to stay at my place I'm going to come and stay with
you at your house.”

“You can't just move in with me if I don't want you
there.”

“I thought we’d settled the issue of you wanting me last
night,” his meaning couldn't have been clearer.  Alaina felt
herself
blushing and was grateful they were having this
conversation over the phone. 

“Fine do what you want, Donovan. Just try and remember
the whole arrangement is temporary.”

“That tirade is getting tired.  You’re just
trying to convince yourself.” Once again he was coming too close to the truth
Alaina wasn't ready to admit.  Alaina remained silent, refusing to comment
on his last remark.

 Realizing he wasn't going to get an answer from her,
at least today, Donovan said, “I'll be over right away to take you to your
house, I should be there in about twenty minutes, okay?”

“Why ask me?  You're going to do what you want
anyway,” she grumbled.  He was making it impossible for her to maintain any
kind of distance between them, something she was aware was completely
intentional on his part.

Alaina threw herself out of bed and searched for her
clothes from the night before.  She found them carefully placed on a chair
in the corner of Donovan's bedroom.  With a grimace, she began putting
them back on.  She absolutely hated putting on dirty clothes,
unfortunately she had no alternative.  She picked up her pumps, but she
refused to put them on until it was time to leave, so she carried them with
her, as she left the bedroom in search of a bite to eat.  When she reached
the living room she tossed her shoes down, and made her way toward Donovan's
immaculate kitchen.  She rummaged through his refrigerator, happy to
discover that unlike her own home, his kitchen was well stocked with all types
of food.  Honestly, she hadn't seen such selection since she lived at home
with her parents.  She settled on cornflakes with fresh berries on top and
coffee.  She was truly amazed that the man actually had fresh fruit in his
house.  As she ate her cereal she wondered with all this food, maybe they
would be better off to stay here.  Alternatively she could just make him
do the shopping, and he might as well do all the cooking too, she
thought.  Smiling to herself she could not stop from thinking that with
this attitude it was only a matter of time before she drove him away.

Which was exactly how Donovan
found her when he arrived home, sitting at the table, eating cereal with a
smile on her face.
  He couldn't help but smile
back at her.  “Your disposition has certainly altered since the last time
I talked to you.”

She laughed.  “That's because you've got a lot of
food, you should see my cupboards. They're always empty.”

“So all I have to do to keep you happy is offer a full
fridge?” he asked, pleased to see her change of mood.  He took a seat
across from her at the table content to watch her eat.

She contemplated his question before answering. “Well,
now since you've brought it up, you could cook for me too.”

“If that's all it takes to keep you happy it would be
my pleasure.”  He leaned over and gently wiped away a splash of milk on
her chin.  Her breath caught, immediately excited by his touch. 
Donovan must have felt her reaction, he instantly became very still. “Imagine,”
he said thoughtfully, “how you would react to me if you didn't hate me.  I
don't think we'd ever get out of bed.”

“Actually I notice we seldom make it to a bed. Is that
usual for you?”  What she really wanted to know was if he was this
passionate with everyone or just her, but she'd die before actually coming out
and asking him.

As if reading her thoughts he answered her directly,
“Only with you do I lose my control, which is why I end up throwing you down
wherever we happen to be at the time.”

Alaina found herself becoming aroused at his
words.  “Just curious,” she said quickly hoping he didn't sense her
excitement. The last thing she needed was another one of their hot sex
sessions, wasn't it?

“Well now you know,” he said abruptly standing when he
noticed she had finished her cereal. “We should get going. We've a great deal
to do today.”  He would really like to take her up on her unspoken offer,
but if he didn't get this case solved, he and Alaina would never get things
resolved.

“Yes, you're right of course.” She stood as well,
taking her dishes to the sink, rinsed them and placed them in the dishwasher.
“I'm ready. I just have to put on my shoes.  I think I threw them
somewhere in the living room.” 

Leaving his immaculate kitchen to search for her forgotten
shoes in the equally immaculate living room, Alaina wondered if she was making
a mistake by insisting she return to her house.  She definitely wasn't
attaining her independence by moving back to her own place since Donovan had
made it clear he was going to stay with her wherever she chose to go. 

Her thoughts were interrupted by Donovan's voice
behind her. “Are
these what
you're looking for?” 

She turned around to see him holding her wayward pumps
in his hands.

“Thanks, I must have dropped them in here on the way
to eat.” She walked over to and took the shoes from him.  She leaned over
to put them on.  “I guess we can go now. Donovan, I think I might have
been a bit hasty about returning to my house,” she hesitated, looking into
those piercing eyes that seemed to see too much. “I mean, to tell you the
truth, I'm a bit nervous about going there.”

Donovan stepped forward, placed a gentle hand on her
cheek, and lightly pushed her dark brown hair from her face. “I told you before
that you can stay here with me as long as you want. Why don't we go to your
house, you can pick up some of your things, you can take a quick inventory of
the contents to ensure nothing is missing, and then you can come back
here.  How does that sound?”

“That sounds great, actually.” Alaina knew once again
she was relying on him too much, tilting her chin to look up into his eyes she
only saw sincerity.

“It sounds great to me too,” he said leaning over and
kissing her softly, with the greatest care and tenderness.

She pulled away, desperately trying to maintain an
emotional distance. “Donovan, just because I'm staying here with you, doesn't
mean I've changed our mind about us.  This living arrangement is only
temporary until the case is solved.  I'm only staying as a safety
precaution.”

Donovan's expression held amusement mixed with
disbelief.  Arching a brow he said, “I'm a safety precaution?  I hope
you plan on using me for sex too?”  He shook his head.

“Well if it makes you happy I can definitely use you
for sex,” she replied.  Yeah, she was doing really well keeping him at a
distance.

“Thank God we have the sex part worked out.  The
rest should fall into place later.”

“Can we stop talking about this? I need to get fresh
clothes and get to work.  I just don’t have the energy to deal with you
right now.” 

He paused knowing that she just needed time to let go
of her anger.  Sighing with frustration he said, “Okay we can drop it for
now, but we’re not finished.”

“Let's go, shall we?”  Alaina picked up her purse
from a chair she didn't even remember leaving it there the night before. 
She walked over to the front door, turned, and looked at him with a question on
her face. “Well are you coming?”

“I'm the one taking you, remember.” Women, he
grimaced, nothing is ever simple with them!

When they arrived at Alaina's home, she was horrified
to see the damage. It looked worse in the daytime than when she had seen it at
night.  She had been so caught up in the events of the previous evening
that she hadn't even contemplated the need to restore her home to its original
order.  She wanted to cry as she surveyed the damage. Plants had been
tossed over, dirt scattered around them, contents of bookshelves had been
emptied onto the floor,
her
cushions on her furniture
had been torn apart and flung to the ground amongst the other rubble.  Her
bedroom had suffered the same fate as the living room, if anything it looked
worse.  She sat on her beloved wrought iron bed, and gave into the
overwhelming compulsion to cry.  Donovan had followed her to her room, and
sitting next to her on the bed, he held her close, and literally gave his
shoulder to cry on. 

“Shh,” he whispered soothingly in her ear, “It's all
right, we'll get everything cleaned up,
then
it will
look as good as new.”

She sniffled trying to put a stop to her unwanted
tears, hating herself for losing control of her emotions. “I know this is going
to sound stupid, but I feel like I've been attacked personally, it's like I've
been violated.  You know, I feel more upset by them trashing my house than
I did about them trying to shoot me; isn't that strange?”

Donovan continued to hold her and began stroking her
hair in a comforting motion. “It’s not as strange as you think. You're probably
just reacting to the accumulation of events.  Up until now you've kept
yourself fairly calm, it was bound to get to you sooner or later.”

She pulled away from his arms, feeling better after
giving into her much needed outburst.  Running her hand through her hair
she looked up at him and said, “I guess there’s no way I'm going to make it
into work today.  I've got to get this place cleaned up.  You don't
have to help me, I'm sure you have to get back to work.”

“I’m working. Right now protecting you is my job.
Besides by helping you clean up, maybe we can determine together what the
ransackers were hoping to find.” 

“I'm so glad my parents went on a cruise.  If my
Mother had any idea of what was going on, she'd be sick with worry.”

“When do you expect them back?”

“Not for another couple of weeks. I hope this case is
over with by then, I'm not sure how much more of this I can stand.”

“The Bureau is going to do everything possible to
capture the people who are threatening you.  I give you my word.”

Doubt filled her eyes. “And what's that worth,
Donovan?”

“Someday, honey, you'll realize it's worth
everything.” The disappointment was evident in his voice.  “Where do you
want to start cleaning first?”

“I guess we can start in the living room, I'm going to
take a quick shower and change.  I'll be with you in about fifteen
minutes.”

Donovan thought he wouldn't mind joining her in the
shower, although he knew now was not the time.  Leaving her to her privacy
he went into the living room, and began the tedious task of restoring Alaina's
home to its original order.

Alaina showered quickly, and after throwing on a pair
of shorts and a black tank top she was ready to straighten up the mess. 
She called the office, to let them know she wouldn't be in, but would be back
the next day.  She found Donovan already diligently working in the living
room. He had taken off his jacket and tie, his shirtsleeves were rolled up, as
usual he looked unbelievably hot to Alaina.  She wanted to forgive
Donovan, but she had been burned so badly when she had trusted her father. 
She didn’t want to make the mistake of trusting the wrong person again.

The rest of the day they spent cleaning together, they
talked about inconsequential things as they straightened up, both of them
avoiding any mention of the OAS investigation.  By the early evening they
had finished, an accomplishment that served to have a relaxing effect on
Alaina.  She felt so much better to seeing her home back to normal. 

They sat on the couch, eating a pizza they had
ordered, hungry after their long day of work. Alaina luxuriated in the feel of
her comfortable couch, resting against its soft pillows, grateful for the
opportunity to relax.  She had placed her iPod in her docking station and
classical music played in the background.  Donovan, she noticed appeared
equally at ease in her home as if he lived there as well

Alaina knew they were going to have to discuss the
case again, it couldn't be avoided forever.  “I still didn't notice
anything missing,” she told him. “Do you think whoever ransacked my place was
looking for the embezzled money?”

“Probably, or they were looking for some clue as to
where the money could be.  We're starting to investigate the rest of the
OAS membership. It's a fairly safe bet to assume it's one of the members. 
Some guys from the lab took fingerprints from your house.  Hopefully
they’ll find a match in our database with one of the OAS members.  If
we’re able to make a match, we might be able to close this investigation rather
quickly.”

“I hope so, I'm tired of looking over my shoulder all
of the time, waiting for the next bullet.  Speaking of bullets, did
ballistics match the gun you confiscated from the OAS executive with the shots
fired at me.”

“No the gun didn't match the bullets.  Although,
I don't think you have to worry about being shot at anymore.  Whoever
ransacked your place thinks you have the missing money, so they’ll want you
alive until they find it.”