Chapter Twelve

As promised my uncle had a car delivered, a cute little cherry red sports car. Echo dangles the keys from his finger while he leans against it in a baggy pair of chinos and a white singlet top, his tattoos and bling on full display. His megawatt smile enough to draw in any girl is contagious. I bounce down the steps and smile back.

“Let's take this baby for a spin.” He says throwing the keys my way. I catch them and jog over to the drivers side jumping in and turning her on, the stereo assaults my ears as Eminem blasts through the speakers. I turn the volume down as we peel out of the driveway and out to the main road. Echo raps along to the music as I take him closer to his side of town to drop him off. I know what I have to do and I’m prepared to get it done and over with.

A party is in full swing as I pull up to the curb and Echo jumps out. “Wanna come party?”

“Nah, I have to uphold my end of the deal if I want to get rid of Sebastian.”

“I could accidentally kill him, then you could come party with me.”

“With the amount of money his family has, you would be dead and buried before you got out of prison.”

He shrugs. “Pretty sure that's what my life has mapped out for me and I would do it for you.”

“Thanks, but I have it under control. If you want to do anything, have Carter followed, so I know his movements.”

“Sure thing B.” He says with a wink, patting the car roof before I pull away. I have a few hours drive to get to Levi’s and I need to get there before he finishes basketball, I have to talk to Lissa alone.

***

Pulling into their driveway Lissa’s car is there and I sigh a breath of relief that Levi isn’t home. I open the glovebox and take out the large yellow envelope wondering what’s inside. Deciding it’s none of my business I make my way to the door and press the doorbell. Lissa answers the door in her work out gear, she must’ve just gotten back from a run.

“J...Bristol.”

“You can call me JD, it’s okay.” She steps aside to let me in.

“You shouldn’t be here.” She says leading us into the kitchen and flicking on the lights. We both take a seat at the dining room table and I slide the envelope across the table.

“I had no choice, my uncle wanted you to have this.”

“JD…” she warns. “You shouldn’t be getting involved in this.”

“What choice do I have, they are my family whether I like it or not. What I don’t like is being set to wed some douche who likes to put his hands on me. So my ticket away from him was to deliver that envelope to you. My uncle seems to think it will help you understand.”

“So you met with your uncle?” I nod. I don’t tell her Levi also did, she would lose her mind.

“He's a hard man to find.”

“That's because you are going about it the wrong way, you don’t find him, he finds you.”

“This case...I’ve been working on it for years. I can’t walk away now and whatever’s in here won’t change my mind.” She says, tapping on the envelope in front of her.

“He knows that. Please just open it, I want my freedom.”

“Fine,” she sighs and opens the envelope and pictures fall out. She goes white and I see a car and a man, my uncle, helping a small boy from the car. The progression of photos showing him trying to help and then another shows the car blowing up.

“He saved Levi's life.” She whispers as tears gather in the corner of her eyes.

The last photo is of the boy - Levi - again with words written in red. I don’t do anything for nothing.

“He won’t hurt him.”

“You can’t promise that, he’s a monster. I know he is related to you but he isn’t someone I want Levi to be associated with.”

“What are you saying?” I ask, even though it comes out in a whisper.

“I need you to stay away from him and the others.”

Anger, fury and rage starts coursing through my bones. How dare she ask that of me. I didn’t ask for this.

“How dare you!” I shout, standing and shaking my head. “Don’t you put this on me! You’re the one that’s the police officer, you’re the one trying to take my uncle down, whether he deserves it or not. This is not on me. Maybe, just maybe me being in his life will save it."

“You don’t know that.” she yells back tears falling down her face, her mascara was already sweating off and now its running down her face.

"Maybe not, but you’ve known who I was the entire time and somehow I don't think Levi would understand why you kept that from him."

"You need to stay away from him." She warns not denying that she knew the entire time.

"I won’t stay away.”

“The restraining orders will make you.”

“That will all disappear very soon.”

We stand in a stare off. I thought Lissa was on my side, she seemed like she had wanted to help me. After a few seconds I turn and leave, making my way outside and back to my new car. Levi pulls up and parks on the grass next to Lissa’s car and looks surprised when he sees me.

“Hey, what’s going on?” He asks, as he jogs over to me. I take in the glorious sight that is Levi Parker, and have to swallow the hard lump that has formed in my throat. His basketball shorts hang low on his hip and his jersey is tucked into his pants. He notices me checking him out and smiles.

I jump into his arms and he catches me even though I gave him no warning. My lips connect with his, he walks us backwards until my back is pressed against my new car. Levi pulls away from the kiss first.

“What was that for?” he asks and I slide myself down his body, my hands resting on his abs.

“I miss you.”

“I miss you too. But you didn’t drive three hours to tell me you miss me.”

“I had to drop something off to Lissa. I made a deal with my uncle and it’s no secret she has interest in him. He wanted me to deliver a package in exchange for getting me out of my marriage to Sebastian.”

He takes a step back, eyeing me curiously. “Is she okay?” I nod. “You shouldn’t have involved her.”

“Seriously?” I ask, as I take a step back. “He would’ve given it to her somehow and she’s a cop Levi, the guys she arrests are not all small time petty drug dealers.”

“I know, I’m sorry. It's just that, she’s all the family I have left.”

My phone ringing interrupts the moment. I lean in through the window to retrieve my phone from the seat.

“Hello.” I answer without knowing the number.

“Where is she?”

“Where is who?”

“So help me god Bristol, stop playing games. Where is Chloe?”

Levi looks mad, he can hear the conversation but I hold up a finger to him.

“How should I know?”

“That friend of yours has been sniffing around her and now she hasn’t come home.” I smile at the thought of Mac and Chloe still keeping in touch.

“You need to be careful, Chev, you sound jealous.”

“What the fuck would I have to be jealous of?”

“Either tell her how you feel or leave her be. Mac is a good guy. He’s honest with her about what he wants, unlike someone else.”

“If he touches her, I’ll kill him.”

“Tut tut Chev, you would do well to remember who my family is. Do not threaten one of my friends.”

“Fuck you Bristol!” he snaps hanging up on me.

“What was that all about?” Levi asks.

“Chloe's step brother being a pain in the ass as usual.” Levi nods and pulls me back into his arms when his front door opens and Lissa steps outside.

“Levi, say goodnight. We need to talk.” He looks conflicted but I don’t want to cause unnecessary issues between them.

“It’s okay. I need to get home before anyone realises I’m missing.”

Levi opens the car door for me and I get in. He shuts the door behind me and makes me promise to text him when I get home. I need to talk to someone who will just listen. I fire off a snap to Maximus and he replies back straight away. I open the snap and it’s a picture of him laying in bed, his glasses are off and his mass of curls are everywhere, with the caption ‘come over’.

I also send a message to Mac and Chloe asking what they’re up to and that I had a call from Chev. Neither of them reply straight away so I head over to Maximus’ house.

The house is dark when I pull up except for Maximus’ bedroom. A light flickers in the window where he has lit a candle.

The front door opens before I can even manage to get out of the car and Maximus stands there watching me. My heart melts for him, he is mine and I won't give him up for anyone, no matter what my uncle makes me do.

I quickly unbuckle, grab my phone and make my way to him. “Hey.” I say and he smiles, taking my hand and leading me into his house. I look around for his parents but they are either in bed or out.

He closes his door behind us and leads me to his bed, we both sit in the middle staring at each other. He has his phone in his hand and I know this is so he can communicate with me if he needs to.

“Are you parents home?”

He picks up his phone and types out a message.

Maximus: No, it’s my aunt's birthday and I’m not good in a crowd. They’ll be back in the morning.

“Cool. I just needed to be close to you and to talk. Is that okay?” He nods and pulls us to lay down, so we are still facing each other. He intertwines his fingers with mine.

“I miss being here so much, I miss being with you all everyday. It feels like home wherever you are. But the longer I’m Bristol, the more I feel like I’m becoming her again, at least the nicer parts of her and I’m making friends, but I don’t know how that will work. I actually really like Chloe and even Echo.” His body goes rigid at the mention of Echo's name.

“Don’t you start with me Maximus. He’s just a friend and one who apparently has my back and I need people like him in my corner.” I rant about my theories about who’s behind what happened to me. I’m still thinking it has to be Sebastian, the pretentious dick.

After what feels like forever I come up for a breath of air and Maximus is staring at me. I don’t move and let him guide the way.

He releases my hand and runs his fingers lightly along my arm. A wake of goosebumps follows. I see the apprehension in his eyes, he is worried he’ll hurt me. I trust him but he needs to do this at his own pace. He leans in and I close the gap, our lips meeting in the middle and I wait. He moves, giving me the sign that he’s okay to continue. Butterflies swarm my stomach when his hand glides up my shirt, coming to rest on my hip. He pulls away from the kiss and sighs. I use the opportunity to sit up and stand from the bed. Maximus watches me as I remove my clothes. I go slowly so I don’t scare him, I want to go at his pace, we both know the safe word.

Standing naked before him he smiles with his eyes and in barely a whisper he says “Perfection.”

He slides across the bed standing before me and hesitates. I know he’s not comfortable taking his clothes off.

“You don’t have to take them off but just know that I love you and that means all of you.” he takes a deep breath in and removes his shirt. He may not have a defined six pack or muscles like the other guys but he still has an amazing body. I lick my lips when he takes the waistband of his sweats and slides them down his legs. I notice the scars on the top of his back as he bends down. I swallow a lump in my throat. I don’t want him to see my reaction.

He steps closer to me. “Banana, okay?”

I nod, now it’s me lost for words. My heart pounds in my chest, that he trusts me enough to get this far, that he spoke to me just to remind me of the safe word. I place my hand over his heart and it booms against my hand. I take his hand and place it over my heart. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. When he opens them again I can see he’s starting to panic.

“Hold on a minute.” I walk over to the bed, giving him a nice view of my ass as I bend over and pick up his phone, opening Spotify and finding Michael Bublé. He played him for me the day I freaked out in therapy and it calmed me down. Maximus is standing right behind me when I turn around, he pushes me back but hesitates. I smile and he crawls over top of me on his knees, holding himself up. His hands explore my body cautiously. His fingers brushing over my mound and I moan with pleasure, the light touches causing my nipples to go hard. I can see he’s in two minds about something but I have to let him deal with it. He moves himself down, sitting between my legs, I feel exposed as he sits at the end of the bed taking me in.

“I…” he stumbles on the words. “Want to touch you.”

“You can touch me. Don’t be afraid.” He nods, taking my hand and helping me from the bed. He runs a hand across my neck, his thumb wraps around one side and his fingers the other and squeezes, not enough to cut off air as he guides me backwards pushing me against the wall. His mouth finding mine quickly. This is the Maximus I expected.

My clit throbs as I take his free hand and guide it between my legs, his fingers find the wetness quickly and he pushes two fingers inside me. We both moan at the same time.

An orgasm builds and I shudder around his fingers, his forehead resting against mine. He gently pulls his fingers from my pussy and his hands come to rest on the wall on each side of me. I slide myself down the wall, kneeling between his legs, his erection staring back at me. I wet my lips at the sight. When my mouth wraps around his head, a brutal sound radiates through his chest and I pull back looking up at him. Something is going on.

“Banana.” he whispers. I nod and stand, giving him a second. I go to get my clothes to redress.

“No.”

I turn back to look at him. “Can’t.” Understanding dawns on me and I nod. He holds up a condom, I know it might not seem sexy to anyone else but he doesn’t realise how perfect this is.

“You know you don’t have to talk to me.”

He opens his mouth and no sound comes out. He takes a breath and tries again. “I want to.”

I walk back to the bed and lay down on my back and watch as he stands at the end and removes the condom, sliding it over himself. I can see he needs to just do it, move past some of the demons in his head. He throws his glasses onto his desk and brings his body down over mine. I know he can’t see well without his glasses on, so I line myself up with him. He gently thrusts himself inside me a little. I’m not going to lie, it burns a lot.

“Just do it.” I whisper and he nods, thrusting the rest of the way. I cry out in pain and he goes to get up but I hold him down lightly. “I’m okay.” I say holding my breath.

He starts slow, his thrusts gentle but deep and the pain eases, even though the burning stays. His hands ball up in the sheets as his demons start to surface. The sounds of skin slapping skin echo throughout the room as his thrusts speed up and I know he’s getting close. Shudders radiate throughout his body as he comes with a groan. He collapses on me, burying his face in my neck for a second before he pulls out of me quickly and jumps from the bed. He looks down and back to me before finding his glasses. I sit up and inspect what he’s looking at. My eyes widen and snap to his, as he drops to the ground.

He sits on the floor and starts rocking back and forth. Shit. I grab his phone and switch it to Post Malone. I slip in behind him, both of us still naked and I rock along with him. “It’s okay, virgins bleed, I'm not hurt. I promise. I’m glad it was with you.” I say in a soothing tone, hoping to convey that everything is okay.

His rocking stops after a few minutes and I stand, helping him up. We both get back in the bed and stare at each other, both of us quiet, recollecting on what we just did. I tuck his hair from his face and whisper, “Thank you. I know how hard that was for you. Do you need me to call Levi?” He shakes his head no, taking my hand again. We just lay there in each other's company, listening to his Post Malone playlist. My eyes start to get heavy and a yawn escapes my mouth. I curl in closer to his body and we both drift off to sleep.