Amelia
I am not sure I have ever received a letter that was as cryptic and yet hurtful as the one we found from Chris. He was gone but still had left us a note that did not make any sense. Nothing made sense to me right now, being taken by my past, Lucius being behind it, Chris being gone and the fact we were parents. It was all too much but I was ready to go home, despite it being down one other person.
We drove home in silence; it was not uncomfortable by any means, but it was obvious things were on our minds. Jax had broken the silence shortly before we made it home. "While we were still looking for you I found his Will and Testament. He had changed it recently to leave us everything. He also left instructions of no funeral and that he would be cremated."
I laced my fingers in between his while a tear fell down his cheek. It was so heart breaking to see this strong man break in front of me. "It's okay Jax, we will get through this."
He glanced at me quickly, smiling, before he looked back at the road. While watching he brought my hand up and placed a kiss to my knuckles. "For some unbelievable reason, I have you as my amazing wife and mother to my children. I don't deserve you my love."
I only chuckled and responded "It will take a lot for me to leave you. I am sorry Jaxon Adams; you are stuck with me for life."
A grin was plastered along his face. "I think even in the afterlife you won't leave me."
"You are not wrong good sir. I would come back and haunt you." I wagged my finger at him and got a hearty chuckle out of him.
Our banter continued like that until we reached our home. While we creeped up our driveway a heaviness filled my chest. Chris would not be behind those doors, watching some weird crime show or playing a video game with Jax. There would not even be our crew in this home, Ghost had not mentioned when they could move. I understand making sure we were safe before adding more people into the mix but now is the time I really need Emmett and Jesús. The only thing we had been told was to rest up, enjoy our down time before I started some training that they wanted me to have and simply settle in like a family would after a new baby.
Jax pulled the car into our garage and put it into park. He let out a defeated sigh before turning to face me. He was looking for words to say but his lips could not bring them out. I simply was given a chaste kiss on my forehead and he stepped out of the car. When I jumped out of the SUV Jax already had the car seats in his hand and the doors closed.
"I got them love, let's head into the house and rest." I turned towards the trunk of the vehicle to get our bags when I was stopped. "No Amelia, the doctor said you can't lift anything over a gallon milk. I will get them later when everyone is settled in."
I could not argue with him, simply because he would not let me since it was the doctor's orders. This could get old real soon if he constantly hovered over me. For some reason though I could not argue with him. I understood that he was in a mental state where his goal was to protect us, losing his best friend was probably taking more of a toll than he would let on.
When we entered into our kitchen from the garage I could smell a strong south west scent that I had not smelled in months. It was a mix of many different spices, but I could smell the steak that was cooking with it. With the scent it was followed with familiar laughter and banter.
"Destiney I swear to all that is holy that if you don't quit eating the guacamole there won't be enough for all of us!" The deep voice boomed in our kitchen followed by a female mumble of something that was close to 'sorry'. As we walked into the room more I could see the tall dark man I called my brother cooking like he had done before. His mocha skin fiancé was next to him gently caressing his arm and drinking wine.
Tears were pooling at the corners of my eyes when I saw all of them standing in our kitchen talking and drinking like we had done countless times in California. This was not there though; we were in Iowa living in a giant mansion. It took seeing Emmett's eyes before I ran into his arms. Fully crying once his arms wrapped around me.
Emmett's voice cracked when he spoke "It's so good to see you again babe."
"I thought we would never see you again." This time my voice was cracking.
"Oh chica, you know Em would have stalked whoever until they sent him in the right direction." Jesús was now stirring the food on the stove while Emmett hugged me.
Sitting at our breakfast bar drinking wine like it was a typical night was Dani, Destiney, and Annie. They all smiled as we greeted each other. It was probably five minutes of hugs before the soft grunt of one of the twins shifted the attention in the room.
"Let me see those babies!" Dani squealed as she rushed next to Jax as he placed the babies seats on the counters to get them out. "Nana Dani needs to give them so much love."
I could not help but feel love at her statement, this women had become like a mother figure to us all over the years. I would gladly call her my mother and let the twins call her grandmother. So, to see her pick up Mal with such pride and joy made me feel so much love in my heart. It did not take long for Emmett to pick up Zoe, his smile reached so far up his face. I do not think I had ever seen him smile that big since we had moved in with each other.
Jax stepped behind me and wrapped his arms around and pulled me close to him. He placed his chin onto my shoulder and just simply held me while our makeshift family loved up on our kids. I could feel his smile as he nuzzled into my neck and continued to watch the interaction unfolding in our kitchen. It was warming my heart from the dread it was already feeling. After a few minutes Em and Dani switched and fussed all over again with the child they were holding.
Destiney chimed in while I was lost in thought. "Why don't you two head upstairs and shower. I think between the five of us we can handle the twins."
"Listen to the woman Mia." Em stated while swaying with Mal. "By the time you are done dinner will be ready."
Jax nuzzled closer to me and gently spoke into my ear "I think they are trying to say we need to relax for a bit." Emmet only grinned at his response. "Or either that we smell." I could not help but giggle, dam these hormones made me feel all sorts of warm and sad.
I rolled my eyes and huffed. "Fine, but I think you only are agreeing because you want to see me naked." I looked at Jax who had a grin plastered on his face.
"I mean it is a plus, since you are on a six week ban of sex it's the closest I will get to anything. Unless you wouldn't mind being on your knees- "
I spun around and smacked his chest playfully to stop him. "I don't think our friends want to hear what you want me doing." I smirked back to him, grabbed his hand, and led him to the upstairs.
By the time we reached our bathroom we could not keep our hands off each other, they were simple strokes and touches of our bodies. Despite my body being in pain I still wanted Jax like I did the first day that I saw him. The only time we stopped was to remove clothing or to breath. Next thing I knew we were both under the waterfall shower, the water was warm and relaxing. Come to think about it, this was my first real shower since being taken. I moaned in response to feeling it on my body.
I could feel Jax smile while he placed a kiss on to my neck. "I hope that moan was in response to me kissing you."
"Maybe?"
We both broke out in a fit of laughter. Our shower was long enough to get us both cleaned up, I am sure that if I did not keep Jax centered on getting down he would not have been able to last the six weeks. Who knew that simply washing someone is back could be a turn on? Leave it to Jax though to struggle with something so simple. A fluffy gray towel had found it is way around my torso, I looked over my shoulder to see Jax gently wrapping me up. He gently placed a kiss onto my shoulder.
"We should get dressed and head back down to our family."
I let out a sigh and nodded in response. He was right, I was pretty sure that there would be a lot of questions from our makeshift family. It put me at some ease knowing they would be here for comfort, but it still did not make it any better. It was time to tell our family the hell we had endured and had lost in the last couple of months.
8 weeks later
Sweat was dripping off my head and running down into places I had no idea it could go. My mind wanted to go to the wonderful thought of the amazing shower I was going to take once I was done, however the fist coming at me stopped me from that thought. My right arm went up to block the blow while my left fist came up to hit the jaw that was attached to the fists. When my fist missed the jaw, I quickly ducked to avoid the oncoming hand. Once I ducked, my right foot swept behind the foot next to me and pulled it out from under them.
I watched the broad man fall on his back and let out an 'umph'. Before I knew it my foot was placed on his muscled chest that was now breathing quickly. I could not help but grin that I was able to do this. His sandy blonde hair was wet and mated to his head. I tried so hard to not laugh at the annoyed look that was across his face.
"Wow Layne, you got your ass handed to you pretty quickly today." Robin was in the doorway of our training room with her arms crossed while leaning on the frame. For once she was wearing workout gear, I swore the woman owned only business suits and skirts.
I could feel Layne grumble under my foot, I removed my foot and offered him my hand to help him up. "I know she has been advancing on her trainings fairly quickly, but you failed to mention that she could put me on my ass."
A small giggle came out of my mouth, I tightened my lips when Layne looked at me. "What, I thought Robin told you everything?" I walked over to the table that held our waters and towels. Drawing from my water bottle, I turned to face Layne again. "I guess if you came to our sessions more often you would have known."
This got a loud laughter out of Robin, she bent over smacking her knee. "I can see why the guys keep this one. She's got some spunk to her."
Over the last eight weeks I spent time training in many different ways. Since I am not working and with the help of our little family I was able to focus immensely on what I needed to know and become proficient in other things that may be beneficial to Ghost or good to have while married to Jax. Ghost could not guarantee that someone would be pissed off from whatever mission he would be on. He spent the first six weeks training with me and Robin on hand-to-hand combat. Some days he would help me with working on weapons. Mostly guns, he did not feel comfortable with me getting that close to a threat and needing to use a knife. Robin and I negotiated that I should be trained in most weapons in case. It moved my training up to cross bows instead of the usual handguns and rifles.
However, when he was working in War Room Robin would train me in other skills. One week we focused on picking locks and disarming alarms. If I had the right equipment I was confident with decoder or a basic lock. Hardly anyone used just regular locks anymore, most of the time there was some form of alarm attached to the lock. That lead into teaching my how to steal a car efficiently, just like a lock I learned quickly on how to hotwire a car. It took me some time with using the tablet and Ghost software to break into a newer car. Having to bypass the key fob not being in the car was my biggest issue, each car was different but that is to make sure someone does not get into the wrong car with another fob.
We had gotten into a very comfortable routine, during the day Jax would work somewhere in the city or in the War room while I gradually trained and took care of the twins. Once I got use the routine, I would head upstairs to spend time with Mal and Zoe before Jax got home. The evenings would be us four spending time in the living room with our family or camping out in our room while the twins slept. It killed Jax to not be able to do anything intimately. He actually placed it on his phone calendar as to when I was going in for my checkup.
Sadly, he had to go out on a mission the day before my appointment. The night before he left, he held me close and would hardly let me take care of the twins. I reminded him that he was the one who needed to get up early to leave for a mission. His excuse was that he could sleep on the plane and would be able to sleep more then what I would being home. It made him feel guilty about the whole mission. We knew the day would come but it did not hit us fully until Robin and Layne handed him the folder. No matter how much Jax assured me that it was just reconnaissance mission, it still made me nervous.
Jax would call me every night to check up on us and to assure I was handling things okay. He was worried about post-partum depression since I had a history of depression. I reassured him that we had a great support system, and I would be staying busy. That was not a lie at all because I rarely had time to think about anything. If I was not training, I was tending to the twins or I was stuck in a card game with my little family. Not once did I feel dread or despair and it gave me hope that things were looking up, despite still feeling the loss of Chris.
The shrill of Layne's phone brought me out of my thoughts, when he walked away Robin replaced his spot. She was grinning like a Cheshire cat with her hands behind her back.
"The look on your face Robin concerns me." I stated while drawing another drink from my water bottle.
Robin scoffed "Maybe it is because I think you are ready to train with these now?" From behind her back, she pulled out a standard hunting knife that had a black leather handle.
I was now copying her grin because she was all too right. I had argued that knowing how to handle a knife was just important as a gun. Especially if I were home, I could easily conceal a knife instead of a gun. Robin handed me the knife; my fingers gripped the handle while I slowly inspected the knife. It surprised me that it was serrated but it was still smooth and sleek. It was light and felt like an extension of my hand.
Robin watched me closely as I slowly twirled the knife in my hand, it felt so right holding it and so easy. Robin looked almost concerned at how I was reacting to it, while holding the blade now flushed to my arm and the handle still beneath my finger I explained to her some of my past. "I used to live on a farm and part of a family that would hunt and trap. So, there was always hunting gear around, sometimes I would simply just play around with a knife because there was nothing else to do. At some point it became second nature holding them. Emmett will tell you it's scary watching me in the kitchen with a knife."
I flipped the knife with a flick of my wrist to where I was holding the end carefully in my hand. I could hear Layne coming back from the other room, still on the phone with whoever. An unspoken conversation with Robin passed through us, she wanted to see how well I could handle this knife and how well I had perfected my aim in general. I could feel my grin go from ear to ear. This was going to go one of two ways. Either I was going to miss where I was wanting to aim and potentially hit Layne, or I was going to scare the shit out of him.
I took a deep breath and focused on the metal I was feeling in my hands and watched the target that I had. I flipped the knife twice in my hands to where the metal was again in my palm and the edge pointing towards my fingers. As I did this I pivoted my body, flinging the knife towards Layne. He turned to close the door and as it clicked into place the knife lodged directly to the left of his face as he was turning back around. His nose was perfectly level to where the knife know laid lodged into the door.
"Fucking Christ?!" He turned to face a laughing Robin and I over his scared look. "First I get my ass handed to me today when I told it would not be so bad and now this? What's next have me stand with an apple on my head while you shoot a crossbow at my head?!"
"Honestly, Layne I do need to work on my aim with that, as well as a riffle." I chuckled more when his face paled at the statement.
"Fuck sakes these women are going to be the death of me." The person he was on the phone with caught his attention. "No, everything is fine. Just some training that I did not know about." There was a pause as the person responded and Layne began glaring at us both. He began working the knife out of the door. "Great now the War Room door has mark in it. Was supposed to protect from shit like this. No, no everything is fine. Just next time warn me about this one."
My laugh sobered up at his statement, there could only be a couple people he would talk to about me like that and one was currently dead. Well shit, hopefully he did not rat on me for what Robin and I were doing. Layne walked back into the room he came out from and shut the door.
"Well clearly someone is salty about you beating his ass." Robin chuckled shortly after. "Come on "Come on let us do some reviewing." I nodded and followed Robin to our next area.
The next few hours was spent clearly doing that, reviewing what I had learned. We had four days until Jax would be getting home and Robin wanted to make sure I was ready. By the time I got upstairs to the main floor it was close to six at night. Our crew was sitting at the island with some wine and what looked the remains of dinner.
"There is our girl!" shouted Emmett.
"Shut it! Or you'll wake the twins." Dani's word came out like venom.
I sighed "I hope they weren't too much today. I didn't expect to be down there that long today."
"Oh, nonsense hun." Dani stated while handing me a glass of wine. "They were just as you would expect eight-week-old babies to be."
I glared at Dani because honestly it could have meant just about anything. Instead, I was met by a pair of mocha hands and guided to a chair where a plate of lasagna sat, breadsticks and salad waited for me.
"Listen here chica." Jesus whispered, "You have been working hard, being mom, working on God knows what with Ghost and managing this house all while your husband is off protecting some rich prick who couldn't protect himself." He was making a point here. "And learning how to protect yourself too."
Destiney butted in "Don't forget grieving for Chris." Emmett shot a glare to her.
I sipped my wine and glanced at my phone. I had a missed call from Jax and couple messages checking in with me. I shot him quick responses that I had a busy day with Robin and Layne plus that I would call him once I took a shower. I was met with a quick winking emoji from him as well as an eggplant. At least I knew he was in a good mood. The next message sent chills down my spine and an unease washed over me.
Unknown: If you were mine, you would not dress in such skimpy clothes.
I looked down at my getup, it was just a sports bra and leggings. Nothing screamed that it was provocative. The chatter at the island took my mind away from the message briefly, enough to know that everyone was turning in for the evening. I nodded and hugged Emmett goodnight while Dani sat the baby monitor down. Jax insisted on the video one for some reason but at this point I did not care. It filled my heart knowing that Mal and Zoe were sleeping peacefully in the crib. I could feel a smile play across my face and warmth creep into my heart. They were safe despite the feeling of being watched.
My phone pinged again with another message.
Unknown: You should finish your wine little one.
The air was squeezed out of my lungs. I had a new number once we moved here and only my crew had the number. No one else had it! So, who the fuck was messaging me?
Unknown: As well as your meal.
I went to the security system and activated it like any other night, this time though I made sure the blinds closed and all the motion sensors were on outside. Something was very wrong, but I did not want to cause alarm to the house hold. One call and this house could become like Fort Knox but alerting Jax to this danger could be simply that, dangerous.
I ran upstairs with my phone and the monitor, quickly closing the blinds in our room as well as the twins. I leaned over their crib caressing their sweet plump faces with my finger. They were safe right now and sleeping soundly together. I padded back to our room and into the bathroom. I needed a hot shower to relieve this tension before calling Jax. I wanted a straight head when I called him. Lord knows what Layne told him.
My thoughts wandered to my sweet Jax, there was no doubt in my mind that when he came home that I would want him all to myself. My hand began wandering further down my stomach and towards a very needy part of my body. I was missing Jax and so was my body! I needed him but my fingers would have to do. I took my fingers and pushing apart my lips and taking one to my clit. I am not sure why I was trying to masturbate; I could never get myself off. It always infuriated me and made me sexually frustrated even more. My hips bucked the more I rubbed my clit with the thoughts of Jax's tongue lazily going across. I pushed my fingers into my needy pussy in hopes to relieve some tension, needily wishing it were someone else that was doing this.
Few minutes into this and I became pissed off because it was not enough. I rinsed my body one more time before stepping out of the shower, wrapping my body around with our gray fluff towel. I went through my routine of brushing my hair and placing it into a bun, adding lotion to my skin and brushed my teeth. I slipped into some black booty shorts and placed my white tank on. Once I sat down on the bed I looked at the monitor to see the twins still sound asleep.
It did not take long for Jax to answer his phone. It made me smile knowing he was right there waiting. "Evening wife." Jax's deep voice purred on the phone.
"Evening dear husband" I caught myself grinning even more, kind of what you expected from a teenager calling her crush.
"How are things going at home? It is driving me nuts not being there."
"Things could be better here but nothing too bad. I would be better if you were home." I could not believe I said that, so not like me.
"What is wrong love?" I let out a sigh from his question. I did not want to tell him but we both made promises of no more secrets. We needed to be honest with one another to ensure our safety and the twins. "Please Amelia tell me."
So, I went into detail about the past couple weeks with him. The training I was doing with Robin and Layne, which no surprise there he was not too happy, but it did make him feel better knowing that I was protected and could defend myself better then what I could have earlier in the year. The next conversation was not any easier. I explained the weird texts that I got from a number I had no clue who it belonged to and that no one besides our crew had it. I even screen shot the messages and sent them to Jax. He reassured me that they were keeping an eye on Lucius and since the last plan was foiled he went silent. There was no signs of him or his goons, those who were alive were in jail.
"Jax it just seems really weird." I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. "I don't know if it's from the training that I am more aware of my surroundings or just everything in general, but something just doesn't feel right."
"Amelia, I want you listen carefully. I will tell Layne and Robin so they can check things out. I need you to stay on your toes and only leave the house if you absolutely need to." His voice was laced with concern but also stern.
"I promise Jax I won't go anywhere. If I do I will make sure I am armed someway." I am not sure that would comfort him, but it was better then nothing.
"I want you to make sure you always have something with you or near you at all times. Even if you are home. Do you understand? I am going to try and find a replacement so I can come home sooner, however," I wasn't liking his tone now. "I am going to have to go silent for the time being. Once I am on the jet home I will call you okay?"
I could feel the sting behind my eyes with the oncoming threat of tears from his statement. It was only a few days, we went months without talking before so I could handle this right? Then again it was just me, now there was Mal and Zoe. "okay, promise me you will be safe and come home to us? I don't think I could handle if something happened to you again."
"Love, I promise I will come home to you three."
We said our goodbyes and promises to be safe until he was home. You would think that would be easy but somedays I wonder if we would ever have a normal life. I plugged my phone in on the nightstand, moved the monitor so I could see it, I laid my head down on the pillow and let my mind wander. It is a horrible thing for me to do but at this point I could not help it. Who could be the threat be now? Was this our life now because of who Jax's father was? My eyes felt heavy finally as I watched the twins sleep and slipped into a dreamless sleep.
Zoe's cries woke me up with a start a few days later, when I looked at the clock it read that it was barely four in the morning. She was like clockwork but still kept me on my toes. I padded over to their room and peered over the crib. When her beautiful bright blue eyes caught mine, she settled down and reached towards me. I could not help my smile to see that Dani put her in my favorite sleeper that claimed she was Daddy's princess. There was no lie there, I swear she was spoiled from everyone who lived in this house. Including Robin and Layne when they stayed over for dinner.
We went through our morning routine of me changing her diaper, putting her into a clean pink onesie that had crowns over it and gray pants that matched. We struggled with the socks like usual, but I was starting to become quicker with her. Once dressed we went over to the little gray couch in their room, I opened their mini fridge that had somewhat ready bottles for their formula. I just had to add the powder. Once ready we snuggled into the couch, I gently caressed her cheek with my pinky while I held her bottle. When she finished and was burped, I placed her in her bouncer to start the process over again. Thankfully, I had time to prepare since Mal always needed coaxing to stay on his sister's schedule. Seriously he may be older than her but she was the one in charge.
When I got to Mal he was lazily waking up, he clearly took after me when it came to waking up. He stretched and cooed when I reached for him. His body was almost too big for his sleeper, he was definitely a tank and weighed more then his sister. I took him out of his green dragon sleeper, I rather enjoyed the feet that looked like claws. It made me giggle when I first saw them. I dressed him in his 'sleeping takes maximum effort' onesie and black pants. He did not struggle with me on the socks but greedily went after his bottle before I even got settled in on the couch.
Once our routine was done, I placed Mal down in his bouncer and got myself ready. There was no training for the next couple of days so it was black leggings and white tank top kind of day. Once I was dressed I strapped on my thigh piece and made sure it was loaded and on safety. I padded back to the twins who were sound asleep again and got their carrier ready. I am not sure how Jesus found it but there was one for twins and I took advantage of it every time that I could. It was either that or the sling that held them both snuggly against my chest. The harness helped more when I needed my hands. It was easier to put Mal in first because he would move for Zoe but never the other way.
The three of us headed downstairs to the silence, no one would be awake yet so I would be able to enjoy some peace. I think it was needed after the past couple of days. I still had not heard from Jax but was reassured by Layne he was safe and sound. The cryptic messages were still coming in, clearly they had eyes on the house which made it worse. The aroma of the coffee filled the kitchen, I opened the dishwasher to grab a coffee mug noticing that the dishwasher was also full of the twin's bottles. It was my mental list to make sure there was clean bottles ready. Clearly someone was thinking ahead and I was grateful. Which meant I could take my coffee and sit in the living room where I placed the twins in their swings. Once they were settled I focused on myself and the amazing coffee that awaited me.
The day was uneventful, and I think it made it worse for my nerves. Dani, Destiney, and Annie got me to lounge around the pool while the twins slept. The boys eventually joined us until it was lunch. Jesus always insisted on cooking, he loved it and honestly I never complained. I can cook but I just never enjoyed it, unless it was cooking for Jax and Chris then that would always put a smile on my face. Since it was for once a nice day outside, we ate our lunch and eventually dinner next to the pool. Emmett brought the twin's play pen out for them to relax in while we laid around.
I know Jax had his phone off until he could come home but I could not help but take a picture of me laying in the longue chair in my black bikini. I had curves for days as Annie would tell me so to be a bikini was a huge thing for me, my top barely fit thanks to motherhood. Not like I needed any bigger tits! Although I was feeling slightly sexy for once and set my loving husband a teasing photo and captioned that he was missing me in this.
With a smile plastered on my face, I put my phone down as Emmett came over with a margarita. "Bitch I haven't seen you smile like that in days. What gives?"
I took a large sip of my cold drink and as I looked at Emmett "Well my husband should be home soon and for once I am feeling a little relaxed. A lot has been on my mind and maybe I needed this more than I thought."
His smile matched mine, his big brown hand gently caressed my head. "My dear sister from another mister, some days I think you do to much for others and not yourself. Like with your training, I am not sure if you did that for you or for Jax."
I frowned at him "I kind of did that for both of us, too many times I was caught in a situation where I didn't know how to protect myself." I looked at his deep brown eyes. "But I agree with you, I haven't really done any self-care since we moved here. So, what are you imposing?"
Maybe three margaritas in I was now being treated to a manicure and pedicure. Destiney was putting the final touches to my toes when Emmett began trimming my hair. Pregnancy had made it grow like crazy and it was time to clean it up. When my hair was wet it went to my ass whereas before it was just to my shoulder. I had convinced Em to take it right at my shoulder blades, he even suggested coloring my hair. It had been years since I colored it last, do not get me wrong I loved the color but now it was time for a change. After some discussions, Emmett and I agreed to bring my hair to black with some red undertones when the light hit it.
Granted he had to run to a salon to get the items he needed since he did not have all of his stuff from California here yet. Not only did he bring back hair dye he managed to bring back some shampoo to help my hair adjust to my changing hormones. Once he had finished my hair felt amazing, it naturally waved down my back and felt light despite how thick my hair was. I walked to the deck feeling almost like the old me before we moved here, it was definitely needed. Once I reached the outside table the crew was setting the table for dinner.
The table was decked out in chicken alfredo, salad, and breadsticks. It smelled amazing and mouthwatering. Destiney was pouring everyone a red wine while Dani fed Mal and Annie tended to Zoe. While we all sat down conversations started up on how I was not freezing yet with just being in my bikini or how I even managed the Iowa weather. I explained to them that today was amazing for weather for the end of July. The humidity was tolerable with the breeze and at eighty degrees it did make perfect pool weather.
I explained to them that during the summers before moving to California I would spend the summers with barely any shoes, tanks, and jeans. Plus, my hair would always be in a ponytail to keep it off my back. It baffled them on how the hottest days were not even here yet or how I was able to tell them that there was a good chance that it would storm tonight without even looking at the weather. We had begun talking about visiting the beach nearby or even taking the boat out once Jax got home when my phone pinged.
Unknown: I do not like it when other men get to see what's meant to be mine.
The uneasy feeling creeped back in, my body tingled and felt like there were eyes on me. My heart rate picked up and I could feel my palms starting to get sweaty. Jax needed to get home soon because I felt like this stalker was going to doing something drastic soon. My phone pinged again.
Unknown: I also do not like the scrap of material that covers your body, it shows too much.
I swallowed and felt my jaw clench at the statement. I ignored the messages and flipped my screen over. I was not going to let this creeper bother me, I was finally getting time to relax and enjoy the company of my family. I pushed the unease down, squared my shoulders, and took a sip of my wine. I would not let this bother me, I would just stay vigilant and on my toes. Once diner was done and the plates cleared more drinks were brought out as well as Jesus guacamole dip and chips. Stories were shared and eventually we migrated to fire pit off from the pool.
Eventually Dani offered to take the twins in and keep an eye on them for the evening so I could continue my selfcare and get some sleep. I am not even sure what time the girls turned in and I was left with Emmett and Jose. Jose gathered the empty glasses and kissed Emmett.
"I am going to go in and take care of the dishes then head to bed." He kissed my cheek and glanced at us both. "Do not stay out here too late."
We both chuckled at him but agreed. Once he was inside Emmett sat next to me and held me close. I could feel his chin rest on top of my head as he let out a deep sigh.
"Babe please tell me what's going on. Don't act like there isn't anything because I know you well, bitch I even knew your cycle at one point."
I laughed at that because he wasn't wrong, he knew me just as well as Jax did. However, I was hesitant to tell him. I took a big breath, closed my eyes and on the exhale I agreed to tell him. I told Emmett about the messages and how Jax assured me it was not Lucius but potentially a new threat. I explained the feeling of someone watching me even when I was not getting the messages. After our talk Emmett reassured me things would be okay, I just needed to hold my ground and focus on what matters. After the self-care today I did feel more aware but also relaxed.
When I took the last sip of my drink, off to the horizon I could see lighting flash in the distant. I smirked at seeing it because I was not wrong, it was going to storm I just was not sure on how bad. Emmett laughed next to me.
"It is so weird when you are right. I guess we should clean up out here, close the pool and head inside for the evening."
"I need to record that when admit that I am right. I do not hear it often from you." I grinned from ear to ear when he glared at me. I flipped the switch to the pool cover as Emmett put out the fire.
Once inside I said goodnight to Emmett and headed to kitchen. I sat at the island looking out the window, I placed my face into my hands and tried to hold the tears back. I was feeling overwhelmed for no reason, I just had this urge to walk into our shower and sit under the water to just simply cry. I was missing Jax and Chris if I really wanted to be honest with myself. I had a house full of family and I still felt alone. I wiped my eyes and walked to fridge to grab some water, when I opened the fridge I felt the unease return again.
I grabbed the bottle of water and moved over to where our cooking utensils were. I acted like nothing was wrong or going on just simply taking in my surroundings. I felt naked and exposed, not just because I was in my bikini still but I did not have my gun strapped to me and currently my options were meat tenderizer or a knife. I grabbed one of the knives from the block and grasped the handle. I gently put the blade against my forearm to where it was perfect flushed and kept my arm down.
I slowly crept out of the kitchen, squatting down to keep myself hidden if possible. I was now cursing myself for not adding the night lights that adjust to the day and night. They would help tremendously right now! I entered into the opening near the patio door, I got to the door and saw that it was still locked and that the storm was much closer. I could hear the rumbling from the thunder and see the rain begin to drop on the stone ground making it darker then it's original sand color. I could hear some movement but could not make out how close it was to me or where exactly it came from.
I stayed by the door and used the glare to see if anyone was coming up behind me. Not even a minute later I could see a figure, they were taller then me and had broad shoulders. Their hair seemed short so I would be taking on a male which meant that it would be a bit harder to take them down. I took in a breath, gripped the knife tight in my left and balled my free fist. When I saw they were closer I pivoted and swung my fist. The person dodged quickly and reached for my arm, when I missed I dropped down avoiding their grasp. Adrenalin was now coursing through me and my breathing stayed calm. I was not going to let them come into my home without some form of fight.
The person lunged at me again when I got back up, I spun around them so my back was briefly facing their back. As they spun around I did too so my front was facing their back, I dropped down again swiping my foot to take out theirs. It was a dance that I had been perfecting since the twins were born. I am not sure how we ended up both on the floor together, but I was now straddling their lap and breathing heavily, my hand still grasping the knife. The perp grabbed my hips and flipped us so I was now under him. My heart was racing with the possibility of what was going to happen. All I could think of was my Jax and the twins. I would put up a fight or die trying.
I managed to wrap my legs around his torso and pushed up on his chest still grasping the knife but avoiding to cut them yet. I flipped us again and was met with a grunt from the perp, my hand slapped down on his chest and I slipped the knife out and placed it near their throat. I could see their hands up in a sign of yielding. I was now confused, what kind of fucking attacker would yield to a woman who was smaller then them. They clearly were equal in fighting to me so why.
The voice I heard instantly made me come to tears. It was deep, panty melting and brought me at ease like all other times. "I would like to know where the fuck you kept that the whole time while wearing such little clothing?"