Chapter Twelve

Atlas

I knew I'd been right about her having an abusive ex.

There were just too many signs for it to be anything else. Her timidity. Her fear about displeasing me over even the smallest of things. The way she felt like she wasn't allowed to have an opinion.

I hadn't anticipated the stalker angle, though.

But I guess that made sense.

Guys who were that controlling didn't want to let their victims go.

I imagine it went double-so for AJ's situation, since she'd been groomed by a much older man.

He'd likely seen a young, insecure, impressionable, girl and thought he could pluck her, unripe, off the vine, then mold her into the shape he wanted.

The problem was, men like that were never actually satisfied. Nothing she ever did would be good enough.

And then he decided to beat her over his own sky-high, impossible expectations.

It was no wonder she jumped on the opportunity to take this house. It didn't sound like Kingston had filed any sort of official paperwork. And all the bills were included. I even kept the cable and streaming services running because I could use the logins abroad too.

There was no paperwork that would point back to where she was here.

The phone thing, though, that was niggling at me.

How had he found the number?

And, no, I didn't think it was possible for him to trace a burner. That was the whole point of them. But there was something somewhere with that number on it, and I was worried that it might point in the direction of Navesink Bank.

In which case, changing the phone wouldn't make a difference.

"Can I make a suggestion and have you give it some actual thought?" I asked.

"Sure," she said, brows furrowing.

"I'd like to have King come in and set up a security system on the house. Just as a precaution."

"That's not necessary," she insisted. "I mean, that's a big expen—"

"I'm not worried about the money," I cut her off. "Is that the only objection?"

"I just… I don't know if I want them all to—"

"Sweetheart, that's not my story to tell anyone," I said. "King doesn't need to know that to set up the house. I can just say that I want the place more secure in case I'm not in town."

That seemed to be the wrong thing to say, though.

Her hand pulled from mine, resting in her lap instead.

"I'm obviously not going anywhere," I added, trying to play it off. "Not for months. Even then, who knows. But once I have a boot on, I will be more mobile. And the house might be sitting empty."

"But why would he think that you'd want a system now when you've been thinking the house was empty for months and months without one?"

"Fair point. But now that I've been here for a while, I give more of a shit about the place than I used to. He'd get that."

"It's your house," she said, getting up and gathering the dishes to take to the sink.

This was one of the times I cursed my body for not healing faster.

Because I wanted to get up. I wanted to reach for her.

I had to settle for staying put and watching her tense back as I spoke. "It's not just my house," I reminded her. "Which is why I'm asking you to think it through, not telling you I'm doing it."

"What would it be? Door alarms?" she asked, turning to look at me.

"And window," I said. "Flood lights with cameras facing the driveway and backyard. Then a doorbell with a video feed as well."

"That's a lot."

"It sounds like it. But, trust me, King does way more complicated shit all the time."

It used to amaze me how far personal security had come. Shit you put inside your vents in your house. Balcony sensors. Reinforced walls and bullet-resistant windows.

"There was one client. Guy had pockets deep as Midas," I told AJ, just to make it clear how crazy personal security could get. "He was building a doomsday bunker. But he wanted a moat. Not just any moat, mind you. One that could be ignited and have flames that burned high enough to create a literal fire wall."

"Oh my God," she said, mouth falling open a little. "That's crazy."

"He was a complete dick. I imagined if I worked for his ass, even an actual fire wall wouldn't stop me from heading to his house on Purge day."

"Is that the kind of work Kingston usually does?" she asked.

"It's a big mix. There's the clients like that here and there, sure. But it's a lot of personal home security for average Joes. And a lot of businesses, for obvious reasons."

"What made him want to go into security?"

"Oh, sweetheart, you're gonna want to sit down for this," I said, waving toward her chair.

She watched me with scrunched brows as she crossed the room, and sat down.

"I'm assuming you haven't heard anything about what my siblings and I used to do before we all started on our various careers?"

"No. I mean, I never really talked about personal things with Kingston when he came around."

"King went into security because it was a specialty for all of us for years before we came to Navesink Bank."

"Okay…" she said, nodding, waiting for me to find the right words.

But… were there right words for this? To tell a woman you had feelings for that you used to be an armed robber? That you had reasons? That you didn't regret it? Even if, looking back with more mature eyes, you could see how much your combined grief had fueled your actions?

I guess I just had to lay it all out on the table.

"Alright. Let's take it back," I said. "Our mom was raising us on her own," I explained. "Working a minimum-wage job that kept her just under full-time, so she didn't get to have medical insurance. Then she got sick. And the bills piled up. Until, eventually, she couldn't afford to fight it anymore."

"Atlas," she said, this time reaching for my hand. I let her, lacing my fingers through hers, and holding on.

The grief was still there. It was even still tinged with the anger that had fueled our actions after her death. But it was more distant now, dulled by the years between.

"King was stuck with all of us after," I said. "And we were all so… angry."

"Understandably."

"And we kind of decided one night that we wanted to… make them pay."

"Make who pay? The company?"

"Yeah. It's a giant company. Thousands of stores. They could afford to pay for health insurance. Even for their part-timers. But I guess the billionaire CEOs and millionaire stockholders didn't like that idea.

"Anyway… we came up with a crazy plan to… rob them," I admitted.

"What?" she asked, eyes going round.

"Yeah. Then we… did it," I admitted.

"All of you?"

"Yeah. And we didn't just do it once or at one store. We never hurt anyone, of course. We just wanted the stores to hurt. But that was our… job, for lack of a better word, for a long time.

"Because of that, we got good at things like security systems. About what does and doesn't work."

"What made you guys stop?" she asked, still watching me with confused eyes, but not looking shocked or horrified like I'd been worrying she might.

"Funny story. That is because of our sister. We were on a job at one of the stores. She was working but Mark Mallick grabbed her during it, thinking she was, you know, an innocent bystander, and that he was saving her."

"That's the craziest meet-cute I think I've ever heard," she said, lips spreading into a sweet smile.

"Yeah, it is. And she caught feelings for the guy. And eventually said she wanted out of this. I think, at that point, we were all done. But no one had the balls to say we wanted to move on from our little revenge mission."

"Wow. And… and Mark was okay with that?"

"Well, being a loan shark enforcer kind of made it hard for him to judge," I said, shrugging.

"True. But what about… what about your brothers' wives. They all know?"

"Of course. But King's wife, Savvy, was already friends with Peyton, who was associated with some of the other crews in Navesink Bank, so she was unfazed by it.

"Nixon's girl, Reagan, was stalking and threatening some guy that King's company was being paid to protect."

"And Rush?" she asked.

"Rush was working as a phone sex operator, and—"

"Wait, wait," she said, eyes bright. "You can't just brush over that. He was a phone sex operator? I didn't know men did that!"

"I don't think any of us did at the time. But Fiona, Hunter Mallick's wife, ran a phone sex business. And said there was a demand for men. He was looking for a job he wouldn't hate and… so he started it. Katie, his wife, was working as a receptionist at the company. And had been… calling him anonymously for a long time. Fee ended up hooking them up. She'd already been head-over by the time she learned. So, I guess, it didn't matter to her at that point."

"Your family is interesting," she said, shaking her head.

"Wait till I tell you all about the Mallicks," I said. "Anyway, yeah, that's how King got into this business. He has a knack for putting himself in the mind of someone who is trying to get into some place, for whatever reason, and figuring out ways to deter that."

"He would probably be better at protecting this house if he knew about Joss…"

"I don't think so. King is a husband and father now. I think he would look at you here, living alone, or being home alone when I'm not here," I quickly amended, "and think of how he would want to keep his woman or his kids safe. Then do that."

"Okay," she said, nodding. "I think that's probably a good idea. Even just in general. A month or so back, people were breaking into cars in their driveways just a few streets over. Even in safe areas, crime can happen. If the lights or cameras would prevent that, it's probably worth it."

I didn't give a fuck about car or property crime.

I cared about her.

And what might happen to her if Joss caught up to her here.

No, a security system wouldn't necessarily keep someone determined out, but it would give AJ a heads-up that he was there. It would automatically send up alarm bells to King's office. And the police.

Someone from King's office would try to contact her, see if it was accidental. If they got no answer, the police would be called.

Someone would be there within a few minutes to help her if she needed it.

Joss wouldn't get the chance to try to take her back again.

There were other extreme measures available, too. Ones I'd seen King use for clients who were facing a real threat like a stalker or exes who wouldn't accept that their wives or kids were off-limits to them.

Trackers attached to cars. Apps on their phones. Other types of trackers that the wife and kids wore in carefully disguised necklaces or bracelets that the police would follow in an emergency to recover them before anything bad happened.

And as much as a part of me wanted to mention the latter to AJ, I didn't want to push it too far. Or make her even more paranoid than she clearly already was.

Besides, I was here now.

She wasn't alone anymore.

I didn't keep weapons in the house, since it seemed unconscionable to do so in a home that would be empty most of the time. But I was starting to wonder if I should head on over to the biker compound and get myself one or two to keep around. Then maybe teach AJ how to use them.

I mean, it was one thing to have an abusive ex.

It was another to have one who was actively stalking you, tracking you down no matter how many times you moved.

It wasn't really a question of if Joss would find her again. It was when. And I wanted us to be prepared for that eventuality.

But I didn't want to overwhelm her all at once. She agreed to the security system. I would get that in the works. After that was done, I could start to mention other things that I personally thought might be good ideas.

Trackers.

Weapons.

Maybe even some basic self-defense classes. Or advanced ones, if she ended up liking them. We had a world-class self-defense gym in town run by two badass women. Going there, spending time with those women, it might help her gain more confidence. If nothing else, it would teach her how to ensure that she would never be at a man's mercy ever again.

Across the table, AJ's free hand rose, covering her mouth as she let out the third yawn in a row.

"You need to get some sleep," I said, giving her hand a squeeze. "You're not going in today, are you?" I asked, looking at the clock. She would normally be heading into work in just a couple of hours.

"I'm going to go in this afternoon for a few hours, so Tucker can go catch a few hours of sleep in his van to do the overnight tonight."

That place was understaffed. There were a couple of part-time employees who were around, but the main staff seemed to just be AJ, the single mom Ella, and the genius/van-life dude Tucker. It wasn't enough to cover the nights when they had boarders.

And some selfish part of me wanted her home at night.

I wanted to tell myself that I wanted her home for safety. But that place locked down at night with her inside of it.

It wasn't about that.

It was pure selfishness. I just wanted her home with me at night.

Especially once the cast was off, and I was able to be more mobile.

And, yeah, my mind went to other things at night. Because there were plenty of positions I could swing that wouldn't hurt my leg too much. Or, at least, I could tolerate the pain.

I was getting ahead of myself.

I now understood how delicate the topic of sex could be to someone who'd been abused. She hadn't exactly shared a lot of details with me about their sex life, but she'd told me enough to know that it never seemed to be an enjoyable thing for her.

And it sounded like Joss was the only man she'd ever been with.

There was so much I had to show her, to share with her.

But it was something I knew we'd probably have to ease into. Maybe have some less-than-comfortable conversations about.

The interest was there, on both our parts. But that didn't mean it wouldn't be something she needed to think about and work toward.

"Alright. Go crash. Do you want me to wake you up at any particular time?" I asked, watching as she turned to the clock, hemming and hawing it.

"One-thirty, if I'm not up yet. That should give me enough time to function. I can crash when I get home later again."

"Got it," I said.

Then both of us stood there for a beat, seeming to each want to say something, do something, but unable to figure out what. Until, eventually, she turned and walked down the hall, closing her bedroom door with a quiet click.

Alone, I pulled myself up to stand, resting a small amount of weight on my cast as I did the dishes, then used the chair to tidy up the rest of the space before making her something to bring to work later. Then finally, getting back on the couch and calling Kingston's office.

"What'd you forget my cell number?" he answered after the secretary put me through.

"I'm calling in an official capacity, so I figured I should do shit the right way."

"Official capacity?" he asked, and I could practically see him sitting up straighter in his chair. "You want a security system?"

"It's something I should have done a long time ago," I said.

Kingston waited a beat, choosing his words carefully. "I'm going to assume you have a reason for this that involves AJ. And that you're not going to tell me for the same reason."

"Something like that," I agreed.

"Alright. I was heading over there after a few morning calls anyway," he said. "I'll bring my tablet, and we can go through the options. Does AJ know about this?"

"Yeah. I asked her first. It's something I should have done when I bought the place. AJ said there's been some break-ins in the area."

"Yeah, there's always something going on. Alright. I'll see you in a few hours."

Then, before I even finished looking up local CPR certification courses, he was at the door, taking me with him around the house, throwing out his ideas on top of the ones I already had.

Like a lock for the backyard gate. One with an alarm. Which, he felt, played double-duty. Preventing anyone from coming in uninvited without someone knowing, and also making sure no one accidentally left it open and allowed Samson to get loose.

And a steel reinforced door inside of the garage since, apparently, garage doors were one of the biggest entry points for intruders. Sure, sometimes it was as simple as people leaving their garage door remotes in their car, granting people access to their homes. But it was also that garage doors were easier than you could realize to open from the outside, even without the code.

The interior doors into the house from the garage were rarely deadlocked, let alone had sensors or reinforcement.

"So, what do you think?" I asked as he stood in the driveway, looking at the house.

"I think it should cover it. You know me, if this was my woman, I'd change all the exterior doors, and insist on the tracker. But I get that you don't want to freak her out, or make her feel trapped."

I didn't correct him.

That AJ wasn't my woman.

Because little by little, day by day, she was starting to feel like mine.

And I didn't exactly think that was one-sided either.

So what was the point of insisting otherwise when, for all I knew, she could actually be mine in a few days or weeks?

"Yeah. I mean… I'm here now. So, this should be fine."

"You're here now, huh?" Kingston asked, and I could feel his gaze on my profile.

Some part of me wanted to brush it off. Say You know what I mean.

But the other part, increasingly the larger part, just had me nodding. "Yeah. For the most part. I mean, I'm not done traveling. But… it's nice being here."

"If I'd known having a woman in your house would get you to stay, I'd have rented out sooner," he said, shooting me a smirk.

"You'd have had to push me down a mountain to slow me down too."

"Not gonna lie, Atlas," he said, eyes bright, smile teasing, "there have been several times I'd have been willing to push you down a mountain."

"Knew that Nice Guy routine was an act," I shot back.

"So, when do you want this done?"

"As soon as you can get someone out to do it," I said.

"Someone?" he scoffed. "I'll do it myself. How about the next time AJ has an overnight? This way, I won't make her feel weird about being around."

"That works," I agreed.

"I'm calling in Nixon and Rush," he said. "We can whip it out faster all together."

"Can't wait to be fucking out of this thing," I grumbled, looking down at my leg.

"Not long now," he said, giving my shoulder a squeeze. "That's… Wednesday, right?" he asked, trying to remember.

"Yep. And I'm gonna need a ride to a car lot right after," I said.

"You buying a car?" he asked.

In the past, I'd always just rented a car at the airport to get me by while I was around. It seemed stupid to make payments or have insurance for something that I wasn't around to use. Not to mention have a car sitting and starting to fall apart from not being run.

"Yeah."

"Wow," he said, shaking his head. "Think I might be telling Helen to set a permanent extra seat—or two—at her table," he said.

"Starting to seem like it," I agreed.

And, for maybe the first time in my life, the idea of staying put didn't fill me with panic.

In fact, some part of me was starting to look at it like an entirely new kind of adventure…