Chapter 13

Brady awoke with his arm still wrapped boldly around Chloe. Slowly, he eased himself so that the brunt of his weight relied heavily on his shoulder, and he could look down at Chloe. Her eyes were still closed, and her breathing told Brady she was still asleep. He edged his way even closer to her, taking in her delicate features. Lightly, almost apprehensively, he brought his hand to the side of her face, tenderly touching her swollen purple skin.

The large welt that brandished her cheek looked even worse now that he could look at it so closely. It sickened him that it had been made in anger, not from a fall or an accident, but from a capable man that outweighed her by at least eighty pounds, outweighed himself by half of that. He traced the length of it, and she twinged slightly in her sleep. He removed his fingers from her flesh and watched her stir.

Chloe had always presented herself as such a tough person, and maybe now he knew why. She had to be tough. Where she was from, emotions were a sign of weakness. It was obvious that she wasn't as simple as he had once pegged her to be. She had layers that went beyond his understanding, layers he so desperately wanted to unravel but couldn't allow himself to.

Slowly, he eased himself off the bed and replaced the covers protectively over Chloe. With muted steps, he made his way to the kitchen. Opening the cupboards, he picked up a frosted glass and turned on the faucet. Letting the water run cold, he filled the glass and drank expediently, before filling his glass again. He looked around the room, examining all of Chloe's little knick knacks, realizing how little he knew about her past. What did each item mean to her? Chloe had a whole other life before he met him. He just now realized that they were both hiding from their pasts. Not wanting to face facts that inevitably woke them up in the middle of the night.

He went into the living room, where his dishevelled clothes still lay next to the blankets and pillow he had occupied earlier in the night. Replacing his pants and socks, he motioned slowly to put on his shirt. Looking down, he saw that the wound had opened up again and had soaked through the first layer of gauze. Going to the bathroom, he found the first aid kit and changed the bandage and successfully buttoned up his shirt.

Walking back into the darkened room, Brady sat beside Chloe. Gently, he stroked the hair away from her face. Somehow, he just wanted to pick her up and hold her, just stay in her arms, touching and caressing. But he knew that he couldn't do that. He knew he was stirring up feelings that he didn't want to have, knew he had to suppress. But it was getting harder to hide.

It hit him then that he was allowing himself to become too close. It wasn't like him to grow so attached to another person. There was only one solution for him, and that was to gain some distance between the two. Even though he had tried that just the week before, he was sure it would work this time. Instead of avoiding her completely, he might try a new tactic. Maybe he would just be evasive, not let her see what he was feeling. It was time for him to toughen up and protect himself. The last thing he needed was to not be able to control his feelings around her.

But as he stared down at this fiercely strong woman, he realized it would be no easy task to forget about Chloe Lane. He traced the contours of her full lips with his index finger, relishing in the softness. He inhaled deeply, knowing that eventually he would lose the battle, and then there would be no stopping him from taking her in his arms and making mad, passionate love to her. Brady stood and exited her feminine room, leaving behind the one person that would give him a new lease at life. He just wasn't ready yet.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Chloe woke up the next morning, cold and alone. Brady had snuck out early that morning, she guessed. Brady didn't think he could handle the repercussions from the tenderness he had shown the previous night. Untangling herself from her covers, Chloe got out of bed and headed for the shower before she went off to work.

As she stood under the heated mist, she found her thoughts being pulled back to the night before. She remembered how Brady had gallantly stepped in and protected her from Derek. Chills sprouted on her skin as she realized what all this meant. There would be repercussions. Derek wasn't the type of guy to lose a fight and just forget about it. Now Brady was in just as much danger as she was.

Derek had changed. Always he had been the bully, the strongest, biggest kid on the playground. But they weren't kids anymore, and there were bigger issues. Somewhere in the midst of childhood, they had grown up forgetting the part of themselves that believed in silly games and crushes. Derek had become controlling and abusive. The kind look was gone from his eyes, and the rage and anger was all that was left.

Picking up the soap, she scrubbed her skin harshly, turning it red and blotchy. She stood there until the water went cold and she shivered, trying to erase the memories of the dark path she had been led on. Derek had been older, much older than her. When he was forced to leave the orphanage at eighteen, he begged Chloe to leave with him. Being only fourteen at the time, she resisted at first. Although the conditions weren't the best, it was still a home. She had shelter and food. She had learned to block out the rest of the kids and had kept to herself. After a while, her convictions were broken and she left with him in the middle of the night, while the rest of the kids slept snuggled in their beds.

The first few months they spent going from place to place, living in and out of shelters, even on the streets for a while. Derek always reassured her that things would get better, but when he couldn't get a job and had no way to support them, he turned to drugs. Chloe believed him, too. She had never known him to lie to her. Though he may have treated her badly at times, he was the only real friend she ever had. She gave herself to him when she was barely fifteen.

She had aged so much, grown to see the world for what it was. A shallow, uncaring hole where people looked out for themselves and didn't dare to look back to see who they hurt in the process. Derek cared for her and protected her from other people that wanted to take advantage of her. However, he didn't stop himself from doing the same. The truth was she grew to fear him and obey his every whim. Chloe wanted to be loved. It was all she ever wanted. But Derek didn't love her, not like you're supposed to love someone. She was a possession to him, someone he could control.

She thought all her problems had been solved when she met Tony. She thought Derek was out of her life for good, and she was finally free. But leaning against the wet linoleum, she realized a new batch of trouble was approaching, and the only one to get her through it was dead. The images ran through her mind. The innocence lost on someone she really didn't know.

People can turn on you when they've spent years being mistreated. They play so many roles and put on so many masks, they forget who they really are. That's just what happened to Derek. He had lost himself. No matter how hard he tried, he could never become the boy he once was. All the goodness was washed out of him from years of abuse and mistreatment. He learned to become the very people he hated so much growing up.

Chloe could still feel the harsh way he used to tote her around town, selling his drugs. Doing his deals. She'd never forget the night it all came to an end. She stood outside of the sleazy hotel while Derek went in to meet with a potential client. This guy was offering them a lot of money, money that would get them out of town. They would be able to find a place of their own, and still have enough to live off of until they found jobs. It was supposed to be simple. Derek would deliver the drugs while Chloe waited outside, looking out for cops. She had no idea that the entire thing was a setup and that their problems were really just beginning.

As time passed, Chloe got suspicious and moved from her hiding place, just long enough to catch a glimpse of the men in suits as they flashed their badges and made their way inside the room. Chloe couldn't control herself. She ran in after them, fearing for Derek. Before she knew what was happening, her hands had been restrained, and she was seated in the back of a patrol car. In booking, they discovered she was only sixteen and had no choice but to let her go. She hadn't really committed a crime anyway. She was just in the wrong place with the wrong people. The cops forced her to go back to the orphanage where the kids were even more brutal.

She wouldn't realize it then, and not until years later, that it had been the very thing that had saved her. Derek wasn't so lucky. She watched more uniformed officers drag him out of the hotel in handcuffs, nose bloody and bullet in his kneecap. Derek was never one to give up without a fight, and he had struggled and paid the price. The next week, he was sentenced to four years in prison. He had various charges against him, old and new, and would pay with his freedom.

Chloe read all about it on the paper and saw it on the news. She watched him limp across the courtroom in one video, a heavy cast on his leg and a frown on his face. The incident only gave the kids more ammo, and now she had no one to protect her. As the weeks wore on and her seventeenth birthday approached, she couldn't take it any longer and once again took to the streets.

The next morning, she found herself in some dive of a coffee shop, thumbing through the want ads. As she scanned the various occupations, she realized she wasn't qualified for anything. She took a sip of her steaming hot coffee and looked out the window. Life just seemed so hopeless, and she had nowhere to turn. Then, she noticed an ad for a nanny and called the number. That phone call would change her life and forever change her relationship with Derek. Things would have gotten so much worse had they not been arrested that night. Who knew what Derek would have made her do next?

Chloe slumped down on the shower floor. Letting the water still pound against her tender flesh, she cried. Tears she didn't want, memories she couldn't forget. She cried for the nights she spent cold, alone and hungry, and for the nights she spent lying next to someone she feared, afraid to make a move. She cried for the nights she had spent wrapped in the arms of the one person she cared for, and she cried for last night. For the first time, she had felt safe since Tony had died. She remembered the way her skin tingled under Brady's weight, and it killed her inside that it meant nothing to him.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The buzz circulated throughout the building. Brady Black was having a party. Apparently not just any regular party, but a twenty-fifth birthday party for Jared. One thing Brady was known for, beside his scores with women, was that he knew how to throw a party.

Chloe sat at her office desk, counting the minutes until her shift was over. When five o'clock rolled around, she marched her way towards Brady's door, knocking first as a precaution. The last thing she wanted was the catch him in the ""act"" again.

"Come in," he said from the other side of the doorframe.

"Why didn't you invite me?" were the first words out of Chloe's mouth.

"Well, hello to you, too," Brady laughed, taking in her appearance. Even with the mark on her face that was poorly concealed with make-up, she was still the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

"I thought we were friends now?"

"We are," Brady said, trying to remain elusive and detached.

"So then, why was I the only one not to be invited to Jared's birthday party?"

"You'll have to take that up with him," Brady said, flipping through some papers.

"What are you talking about?"

"Jared's the one who invited people. I'm throwing him a party, but he gets to decide who gets to come."

"Why wouldn't he invite me?"

"I'm sure it just slipped his mind," he said, meeting her eyes.

"No. Maybe he doesn't want me there."

"I'm sure that's not it. You're reading too much into this. Look, it's at my place. I'm sure he wouldn't mind if you came." He sighed as he caved. It didn't take long for Chloe to break through his mask.

"Are you sure?"

"I see no reason why not," he said, coming to stand beside her with a slight smile tugging on his lips.

Chloe could feel the heat radiating from his body. Various thoughts ran throughout her mind. All she wanted was for him to pick her up and take her right there. Chloe shook her head to try to numb her thoughts and raging hormones. "So Brady, how are you feeling? I didn't get a chance to ask you this morning. You left before I woke up."

"Oh yeah, I'm sorry about that, but I had a lot of work to catch up on at the office." He was sure, almost positive, that she knew how much he was beginning to care for her.

"I understand. Let me take a look at that cut," Chloe said, while pulling his shirt out of his pants and lifting it past the bandage to reveal rippling muscle covered slightly by the white gauze. She removed the tape from his skin, lightly grazing his tan flesh. "It looks good." She barely got out as she became preoccupied with the feel of his skin against hers. "Remember to keep it clean."

"I will," he managed as he fixated on her cherry lips. He raised his hand to her face. "What about you? How does this feel? Does it still hurt?" he asked while he lightly touched her swollen, bruised cheek. Slowly, he marked out the path of the bruise in tender, soothing strides.

She closed her eyes as his skin molded hers. "I'm okay," she breathed, taking his hand away and holding it in her own.

He squirmed to get away, fearing he might pull her closer and show her how he really felt.

"I just want to take a look at your hand." She bent down slightly, keeping her eyes trained on him.

He could feel her warm breath cascade onto the back of his hand. What he wasn't prepared for was the feel of her sultry lips plush against his skin. She watched him, expert in her task of driving him wild. She saw the desire, the longing, and she let go off his hand, dropping hers to the side.

She smiled at him then. "Sometimes all it takes is a kiss. The power of suggestion, you know?"

"I'm not a child." He laughed to hide the all-consuming feelings threatening to spill out.

"No, you're not. But sometimes we all need a little TLC."

He watched her, uncertain of what to say. She just smiled back at him deviously, seeing that Brady Black did have a soft side and it was becoming harder for him to hide.

"All right." Chloe turned to leave Brady's office, but as an after thought, she turned back around. "Hey, Brady?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"Oh, well, yeah, you're welcome."

Chloe smiled at him and made her way out of the office.