Nineteen

I was unsure of what to do with myself. I had allowed for this whole burger adventure to run its own course, almost letting things happen as they happened but now it was getting to a point where I was questioning everything.

We had long finished our meals, long finished paying and now it was time to go. Did we all leave together now? Lucian looked like he wanted to take Lexie someplace else but Lexie, with her own strange reasons was clinging onto me and showing no sign of cooperation. It was clear that she didn't want to go with Lucian.

And then there was Link. And Joy, who had her small hand entwined with Link's tattooed fingers. I was shooting my daughter some looks. I couldn't deny that a part of me was annoyed at how she was acting. She barely knew Link but she was making it seem like he was the only person on earth right now. Did she not pay attention to anything I drilled into her about stranger danger?

"I'll take you girls home," Link said, already walking towards the door with Joy.

I was also unsure at how my heart eased knowing Link had Joy. He could take care of her and not one ounce of worry wafted through me like it usually would. I followed closely behind, Lexie clinging onto my arm as Lucian trailed behind.

"I could do with a bath then straight to bed," Lexie said out loud, making it clear she wanted Lucian to hear her words. She had no intention to go with him.

"You can do that at mine." He said back, so calmly and with his no-bullshit tone. I flipped my head around to see he looked calm as well. He didn't care if I heard him. He was just being so straight-forward.

I turned to look at Lexie and saw a wild flush overcome her face. She looked straight ahead, not saying anything back to him.

It was clear something more happened with Lexie and Lucian because my best friend was never left to this state when it came to men. Ever. Even after her wild one-night stands.

We got outside and I saw Link already leaning against the car, and an animated Joy speaking up at him.

"I'll see you later," Lucian said behind me. For a second I thought he was speaking to Lexie until her warm hands were removed from my arm.

I gasped as I watched Lucian carefully, albeit purposefully pull Lexie towards him. "We have talk about your favour."

Lexie snapped her head up at him. He was a tall man, and Lexie was tall herself but he towered her. "No worries." She said cheerily, sounding all sorts of fake.

I furrowed my brows at her. Just a moment ago she was adamant not to go with him. But then I saw the change overcome her.

And there stood my best friend, reminding herself no man should be able to put her in such a state where she would run away.

I blew her kisses. "See you later," I repeated Lucian's words. "Or not," I added with a wink.

I opened the door for Joy, motioning for her to get in. After she was all strapped in, I moved to close the door. Her tiny hands reached out for my arm.

"Mum, could I please have your phone?" Her perfect voice and perfect manners always threw my off and I melted. For her, anything. I dug inside my bag and unlocked the phone for her. The rest she knew.

I closed the door and got in front. By now, Link has already seated himself behind the wheel, waiting patiently for me to get in.

"You're getting so comfortable," I told him with a roll of my eye.

He smirked back at me, his brown eyes gleaming. "Bet it's pissing you off."

"You're just wasting your time." I put on my seatbelt. "But each to their own."

Link started to drive. "I think it's time to get you back home and back into my thinking."

It took me less than a second to know what he was getting at. I quickly flipped my head back to see if Joy was listening but to my luck, she was deep in the YouTube video, clearly not paying attention to the conversation happening at front. You just never know with kids, they may understand what was going on or even get something off it.

"There is a kid in a car." I hissed at Link once I looked back at the front.

"It's not like she understands it. Did you?"

I wanted to strangle him but he was lucky he was driving. "I sure did."

I saw the corner of his lips curl upwards. The enjoyment he was receiving from this was not fair. Why did I have to always be the one squirming in these kinds of situations?

"What did I mean then?" He asked.

I shouldn't answer that. But damn this Dane who thinks he can have that power over me.

"You want me back in bed with you." I said, albeit my voice the lowest it's ever been. No way would Joy hear me.

"That's right. And making sure you think like me."

Link's hand shot out and dropped down on my leg. I wanted to scream but instead, a boiling heat wafted from where he touched up to my face. His touches still threw me off.

His fingers spread and then tightened before they moved slightly up. I grabbed his hand before they reached a place it had no business reaching.

"There's a kid in the car." I hissed at him again, not a fan of how inappropriate he was being right now. But my oh my, did my body love it.

"And if she wasn't, the car would've been stopped right now and I would have taken you already." He said in his low voice, now him too reaping the extent of his crude words and the need to keep it down. But still, inappropriate didn't begin to cover it.

But damn was the mere thought of Link doing that to me sending me into a whirlwind.

****

By the time we got to the house, Joy was clearly feeling drowsy. So much so, Link had to carry her from the car to her bed. And as any mother would do, I didn't dare get her up to brush her teeth and one last wee even though I knew I had to do it. With parenting, grey moments were inevitable. And right now, her getting undistrubed sleep was necessary.

I sat at the edge of the bed, pushing her dark locks away from her face. "Did you have a good day, mum?" Joy asked me, her voice so drowsy I wasn't even sure she would be awake by the time I answered.

I couldn't answer her straight away. Link knowing about Joy. Benji took me from outside her daycare. Held me hostage until it suited him. Discarded on the side of the road. Going back to my old house. Sleeping with Link.

"Goodnight Joy." I whispered, watching her lids fall close.

I couldn't answer her at all.

I placed a kiss on her forehead and slowly walked out her room. As soon as I walked out, Link stood perched against the wall closest to the master bedroom.

I didn't move any further.

He eyed me up.

"I have take a few calls to make downstairs." I nodded at him slowly. Was he going to sleep with me again? Although I knew the answer already I still wondered.

"There's two men outside, Errol and Quan. I'm on the inside. Lucian is in the process of getting the next house over. It's his but there's a few things needed to be done before some men can stay there. That way there will always be help if it's needed."

I nodded again.

He kicked off the wall, stalking towards me. "He won't get to you again. I promise you." He spoke once he was in front of me.

"Thank you."

His finger traced the outline of my jaw. "Thank me in other ways." He said in a low voice before he stepped back. With one last glance, he walked away.

I waited until he was downstairs to start moving into the bedroom. There was one thing I had to do whilst Link was occupied downstairs. Unsure of how long the phone calls would be, I started getting to work fast. Thank God my laptop was on my bed, and it fired up quick.

I had to go through my emails to see all the documents I had sent to myself. I had to know what was between Benji and my Father.

Scanning through the documents for the second time, hoping something new would appear seemed like it would never happen. Except, one file that I kept skimming over whenever I fell across it, seemed off. I halted on that file, and read what was on it carefully. At first it looked like a huge paragraph but then I quickly caught on that it was an email my father had sent. Expect the format was different.

I read the content over and over again. There was nothing unusual about it. But I still couldn't shake the thought that this was something.

I read it again.

And that's when I saw it. There was no capital letters at all in the email expect from four different letters, each one scattered somewhere in the huge chunk of text. ARMS.

I let out a scoff. "This is some joke." I muttered to myself. I knew what arms were. I watched plenty of Netflix shows to know exactly what arms were.

I left that document to the side and carried on looking through the others, even though my mind kept bugging me about the arms. I highly doubted my father had anything to do with such things.

I started going through the pictures, maybe hoping to see a picture that would connect my Father to Benji. There was nothing of the sort, only pictures of us. A lump formed in the back of my throat, catching me by surprise. I quickly swallowed it down, hoping to shake off whatever was about to come.

The pictures were all so full of life. I was smiling in every single one, my Father's hands draped around my shoulders. These were the only times my Father had showed any true affection, and based off my smile, I loved it.

My mother was hardly in any of the pictures, expect one where she was standing behind us, her own smile across her beautifully crafted face. I stared at her, seeing the beauty she possessed all over again.

I was glad she wasn't a part of my life anymore. Any negativity she had always carried would be of no use to me. I stared at the picture a bit longer until I moved to the next.

Hang on. I quickly went back, my eyes falling on the cottage behind us. I recognised the place. We always went there whenever we needed a quick and close family break. It was somehere down the rural parts, down past the country sides and it was a few hours drive. But that all didn't matter. It was the words etched across the cottage door that grabbed my attention.

And in our arms we belong.

"This is all too easy," I said to myself, my mind already putting two and two together.

Did that mean the arms where there? Probably.

Bloody hell.

I closed down my laptop, giving my head the break it so deserved. It was a long day. And whatever I just found seemed too easy to be found. Almost like he wanted someone fo find it.

I had to get some sleep.

Although I skipped Joy's nighttime routine, I zombied through my own. I started running the bath once I got inside the toilet. A good bath would ease my tight muscles and hopefully I would get a good rest. I still couldn't believe Benji had the balls to kidnap me like he did. But that would never happen again. This time, I would be prepared. And I was more than sure that he would somehow return again.

Once the bath was full and I had put my hair up, I stripped myself off my clothes and got in the warm water. Just as I leaned against the tub and closed my eyes, I heard the sound of a belt buckle hitting the floor.

I opened one eye and watched Link, with no care in the world, strip himself naked. I wanted to gap at how he was so confident and ready to be naked in front of me.

"Let me join."

I closed my eyes and threw my head back. I knew he could see my whole naked body under the water but I was so tired I couldn't even care about it. "That doesn't sound so polite."

He didn't bother replying to my snappy tone and instead just got in the bath. One thing about this house was how beautiful the bathrooms were. And how spacious the tubs were. Link and I fit easily with space to move.

I opened both eyes again. I watched him as he lowered himself fully into the water, his gaze taunting mine. Daring me to look away.

When he realised I wasn't going to cave in, he started to smile. "I think the distance is uncalled for."

I scoffed at him. "I think not."

Just as those words came out my mouth, his hands clasped down on my feet and pulled my whole body towards him. How he managed to do that was above me, although some water went everywhere.

"Hey!" I slapped at his chest which I was now pressed against. He flipped me around so I was laying against it. I had no choice but to fix my position so I could be comfortable. There was no use in trying to fight him. And quite frankly, I much preferred leaning against his chest then the hard tub.

"Much better right." He said softly.

"Oh shut up." I closed my eyes and just enjoyed the feel of his naked body against my own. Nothing sexual but just a deeper intimacy we both still had to explore. Both so vulnerable and bare. I could almost call it perfect. But this was Link. Perfect was hard with him.

"How was the phone calls?" I asked.

His hands started to run up and down my arm. I didn't know he was lathering me up with soap until the lavender scent hit my nostrils.

"Business as usual." He replied.

"Do you work all hours of the day?"

I felt him nod. "Pretty much. But the pay makes it worthwhile."

"I think it's more than the pay." I mused out loud.

"Oh really," he chuckled. "What else would it be then?"

I shrugged, moving my feet so they were over his. I also shifted my body so half of it was facing him. I wanted to see his face. "I think the thrill of catching whoever it is keeps you going. The thought of putting an end to something shit probably makes you want to stay."

Link's dark eyes stared down at my own. An unreadable expression crossed his face.

"You don't even know what I do."

"I can put two and two together. You don't do bad shit but there is a lot of gray areas in your work. You probably break a few more laws than anyone else but you do it to keep the people safe."

An upwards curl on his mouth appeared. "I'm glad you see it like that."

I smiled at him.

He was a bounty hunter with a few extra other things on the side.

I nestled into him further. This was getting close to perfect and I didn't know what to do about it. "Now that you know about Joy, how do you feel?" As soon as the question slipped out my mouth I regretted it. A dreadful feeling overcome me. I still wasn't ready to share my Joy.

"I feel like a part of me returned that I didn't know was missing."

It was unexpected for Link to reveal his true thoughts about Joy. Not to this deeper level. And I didn't expect him to feel like that either.

"I see so much of me in her it's actually scary." He continued.

Understanding dawned on me then and there. There were moments where her behaviour threw me off. Her snappy and rude remarks always made me wonder where during the crucial parenting period had I gone wrong. But then it dawned on me, those personally traits where indeed a mimic of her Father's. And her nose, the signature Dane nose.

"She's all you." I said to him softly. "Although she does have my personality at times."

"I can tell. As long as she grows up like you, she'll be beautiful."

I smiled at him. That was probably one of the sweetest things that have ever been said to me. And being said by Link just topped it off. "Thank you."

He placed his lips on the side of my head, giving me one soft kiss. "Anytime."

It was quiet for a long time. Neither of us filling the silence with any words, just both laying in the water. I knew I had to get out and get some sleep but anytime I thought to move, it was like my body rejected the command. It liked where it was just fine.

"Have you thought about us?" Link asked out of nowhere.

I felt my heart speed up.

"It's not-"

Link flipped me around so I was facing him fully. I gave him a small scowl to let him know I didn't appreciate the sudden movement but let him speak. "Hear me out Ori."

I let out a sigh. "Go on then."

He opened his mouth to speak but snapped it shut. "Actually let me take you out on a date. I'll tell you the reasons over dinner."

A laugh escaped out of me. "You joking right? Last time you asked me out on a date you didn't even show!"

He lowered his head down to me face. "I'm sorry for that. But I promise I'll be there this time. I have a mission I have to see through now anyway."

"Oh yeah? And what's that mission." I asked.

Our lips hovered close to each other. "To make you mine."

He kissed me. A kiss to just proof how easily the world can flip upside without giving you a warning.

////

> Lexie and Lucian's story will be our next! Keep your eyes peeled for that
> hope you enjoyed the chapter!! And thank you for reading 💗