50. Something Is Off
Megan
I ’m in a relationship with a complicated man. I’ve known that for quite a while now, yet he still manages to surprise me with some of his decisions. This time, he came home, took a shower, poured himself a scotch, and then proceeded to tell me that we would be moving out of our luxurious penthouse apartment to an undisclosed location in a week.
I mean…what in the actual fuck?
I’m pregnant, and I like this place. I don’t want to move.
“This is not what I signed up for, Hunter,” I tell him, attitude etched in the forehead lines of my face.
“I realize that this isn’t ideal timing, but this is what’s best.”
“What’s best?” I say, rubbing my growing belly. “Best for whom?”
“For all of us.”
“When did you make this decision? I didn’t even realize that moving was even a consideration.”
“I promise you it’s going to be a nice place, nicer than this one.”
“Do you really think I care about that?” I scoff. “What I care about is that you’ve made a decision about my life without even consulting me. Is this what I have to look forward to for the rest of my life if I marry you?” I ask, staring down at my engagement ring. “Does me wearing this ring mean that I’m supposed to say yes to whatever you say?”
“If you marry me?” His face hardens.
“Yeah, if!” I am sure to punctuate the word and then I begin to feel slightly queasy.
“Calm down, Megan.” He notices.
“You want to tell me how to feel as well?”
“Megan, this is not a big deal. We were never going to raise a family in this building anyway.”
“Uh, we weren’t?”
“Don’t you want a backyard for our kid, maybe a view of the water or a house nestled in the Hollywood Hills?”
“I am perfectly happy with what we have now and this is the first I’m hearing that you aren’t.”
“My happiness is not the issue. Your safety is.”
“Is that how you’re going to try to win every argument we have? By throwing the word safety in the mix and hoping that shuts down anything further from me?”
“This is not me trying to win arguments.”
“Please,” I suck my teeth. “All you ever do is try to win arguments with everyone in your life including me.”
Hunter takes another swallow of his drink and clanks the glass on the kitchen island.
“We’re moving and that’s final. I’ve already settled on the house and Parker and Lars are at your disposal for the week. They’ll help us with whatever we need including managing the team the moving company sends over.”
“I need a drink,” I huff, completely exasperated with the direction this conversation is going–which is nowhere. He really doesn’t get it.
“You’re pregnant.”
“I know that! I didn’t say I was going to have a drink, I just said that I want one.”
“When do you want to go by the place so you can see it?”
“Funny, you asked me if I wanted a house in the hills or by the beach but it appears as if you’ve already made the decision and bought it. So what the hell do you need me for?”
His eyes lower for a split second as if he’s finally ashamed of what he’s done.
“You’re right but I wanted to move quickly on this particular property. It’s in the Pacific Palisades area and a gorgeous piece of real estate. We have ocean views and a gorgeous neighborhood. It’s far enough away from the club and perfect for children.”
“Sounds utterly boring.”
“You haven’t even seen it.”
“I need to be closer to downtown, closer to the art galleries, or did you forget that I’m trying to build a career?”
“We’re only thirty minutes away from downtown LA. Lars can probably have you anywhere you want to go in twenty. He’ll be your personal driver and security from now on.”
“Oh, is that right? Another decision was made for me without consulting me. Wonderful,” I say acerbically.
“Megan–”
Hunter moves toward me as if he’s coming in for an embrace.
“I need a minute,” I cut him off by throwing my hand up in front of his chest. “Your assumption that I’m going to just fall in line with anything you say is frustrating, Hunter. You’ve always been the one with all of the power in this relationship, but it feels like you’re throwing it around like a big bag of dicks.”
I grab my brown leather purse that’s sitting on a nearby chair and walk into the elevator.
“Megan,” he calls for me, sounding somewhat nervous.
“I’ll be back,” I promise. “I just need some air.”
“Parker brought me home and is still downstairs in the lobby. Let him take you wherever you want to go.”
“I’m just going for a walk. I don’t need him to take me anywhere.”
As soon as the elevator doors close, the tears roll down my face. I’m not sure if they are tears of sadness or frustration, probably a little of both.
When I finally reach the lobby of our building, I don’t see Parker and figure he’s probably sitting in the car waiting to be told he can end for the day from Hunter.
After the attempt on Hunter’s life, he hired his security to work the lobby entrance of our building, but I noticed that the guy who’s usually down here isn’t at the desk either. A foreboding feeling crawls along my spine.
Something is off.
I stand at the locked glass doors of the building and look outside for a moment to see if I can spot either Parker or the security dude.
I can’t find either of them, but what I do see is a large black Audi with tinted windows and the silhouette of two people in the backseat arguing.
I’d know that nose anywhere.
It’s Naomi.
Immediately, I exit the building and knock on the window, fearing that she’s in trouble. As I wait for a window to roll down, the driver gets out of the car.
He’s a formidable-looking man with a thick black beard and cold dark eyes.
“Can I help you?” He says with a distinct southern dialect that reeks of danger.
“I want to speak to Naomi?”
I point to the backseat.
“You have the wrong car.”
I squint my eyes and watch as the two people continue to talk to each other, and I am more sure than ever that I have the right person. I know her profile. I know my friend. But maybe her real name isn’t Naomi? Could that be it?
“The woman in that car is a friend of mine. I recognize her. I just want to talk to her.”
“Can you step away from the car, miss?” He says, asking the question in a very rhetorical fashion.
“I’m standing outside my home where you happened to be parked. You can’t make me leave the area.”
The surly man presses the ear pod in his ear and takes a call. He grunts an “okay” to whoever is on the other end and then suddenly gives me the oddest look.
After that, things happen at breakneck speed. The man lunges toward me while simultaneously grabbing me around the waist with one arm and placing the opposite hand over my mouth.
I kick out my legs and they flail in the air.
I scream against his calloused hand, “Help!” My cries muffled.
I try reaching backward with my fists so I can gouge his eyes out or at least fight my way out of his grasp.
But it’s all to no avail.
It doesn’t take him long to pull me into the passenger seat of the vehicle and lock the doors.
I’m breathing heavily, tears streaming down my face, when I notice that Noemi and another strange man are staring stoically at me.
“Noemi!” I cry. “What’s going on?”
“Quiet,” the piece of garbage next to me says as he lifts a hand so close to my face that I’m positive it’s a warning of something much more sinister if I don’t shut my mouth.
“I’m sorry,” is all she says as she bends her head down in a completely defeated way. The usual light in her eyes dimmed to almost pure darkness.
Now that I look closely, I notice there’s a strong resemblance between Naomi and the man next to her. This must be her father. The man she’s been avoiding all this time. The man Hunter warned me about. He’s watching me with an off-putting sort of curiosity.
“Are you a friend of my daughter’s?” The man asks me, and Naomi’s eyes widen. I think she’s trying to communicate something she may want me to say or not to say but I don’t know what it is— so I just go with the truth.
“Yes,” I answer with an obvious quiver in my voice.
“The roommate, right?”
“Yes, that’s me.”
“Perfect,” he says, giving a nod to the driver. “She’ll need someone to stand up for her at the wedding.”
Wait…what?
The car makes a turn onto a familiar ramp near the apartment that leads to an interstate highway.
“Where are you taking me?” I ask the man, two seconds away from a full-fledged panic attack.
“You say you’re Naomi’s friend, then you should attend her wedding. My daughter was rude not to invite you in the first place. Please accept my apology on her behalf.”
Is this man on drugs?
I look at Naomi for answers but mostly for help, but she doesn’t say one single word.
Not one.
“My fiancé will worry if I just leave town without him knowing,” I say, cursing at myself for leaving the house without taking my cell phone.
“Perhaps then he’ll understand how it feels.”
“Understand how what feels?”
“He harbored my daughter in his apartment without my or her fiancé’s knowledge or consent. Imagine how worried we were about our Josephine.”
“Josephine?” The man laughs mockingly.
“My daughter is quite the weaver of tales. This life she has carved out for herself out west is a complete lie. She is not a hairdresser or makeup artist or whatever those folks call themselves, and Naomi is not her real name. Her roots are in the bayou. Her name is Josephine Fabre, and she is getting married in less than five days to the love of her life. A wedding that you will attend and witness since she decided to bring you and your fiancé into this.”
As we grow closer to the airport, full-on panic settles into my chest, and I feel nauseous. I’ve got to get out of this car.
“Sir, I’m pregnant.”
“Is that right? Well, congratulations.”
“So, as you can see, I shouldn’t really travel.”
“We’ll take good care of you, Miss Taylor, don’t you worry.”
He said my name.
Holy shit.
Naomi's father knows exactly who I am.
“And if all goes well, we’ll return you to Mr. Middleton in better shape than you are right now. My man Eddie here will make sure of it.”
The driver turns his head and gives me a sinister grin, and that’s when I know for sure.
I’ve been kidnapped.
Holy hell! Our girl Megan is in big trouble, I fear. I wonder how our Hunter is going to react. Want to know what happens next?
Hunter and Megan’s story will conclude in Possession , and girl, it’s going to get crazy!
All He’ll Surrender To Is Her…
POSSESSION is the heart-stopping finale of Hunter and Megan’s story—raw, real, and packed with the kind of love that conquers everything.
There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for Megan. She’s the one thing in my life I got right, even when the rest of the world tried to tear us apart. I’ve fought the demons of my past and eliminated some of hers, and now she’s back where she belongs—in my arms, carrying my child, building our forever.
But peace doesn’t come easy for men like me. The ghosts of what we’ve endured still linger, threatening to pull us under. Only this time, I’m not letting go. Megan and I didn’t come this far to lose now.
We’ve earned this love.
We’ve bled for it.
And now, nothing will stop me from giving her the life she deserves.
She’s mine.
Finish The Series And Get Possession!