Obsession: The Hollow Universe Read online

  Jordan struggled with his laughter and it felt amazing considering why we were sitting where we were. I imagined the teasing I’d get later when the others heard about this.

  We relaxed and chatted, making the best of being in a panic room. Half an hour later, we received the all-clear and my bodyguards escorted us to the main house.

  Bianca’s first sentence to me was, “I brought Katie and Robyn. No worries, little mama.”

  I released the breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding.

  Robyn brought me Katie and Cameron settled beside me after his parents assured themselves he was okay.

  “She’s going to be a stunner. Totally my future wife.”

  At our parents’ shocked faces, he promptly informed them of our deal and had all our folks smiling.

  “Katie, you’ll find me annoying in your teens but one day, when you’re about twenty, you’re going to take one look at me and swoon dramatically in love with yours truly.”

  Katie laughed at her future fiancé loudly and Cameron grinned. “Already you have the tools to wound me. Diabolical.”

  Jonas came in a short while later and searched until his eyes landed on me. He visibly relaxed and gave me a smile.

  “There was evidence of a car sitting for a long time on the other side of the boundary wall. Someone had a ladder against the side, sat with a pair of binoculars. A couple of gum wrappers but no used gum.”

  Fiaaz entered and ground out, “We traced the tracks to the paved road a mile over. The car could have gone any of three directions from there. I have cars fanning out.”

  Jonas told Jordan, “We need Tom at the house tonight.”

  His brother nodded. “I’ll see if he’s out of the bunker yet.” The young man was learning underground tactics.

  Turning to my dad, Jonas added, “I’ve increased the patrols to every fifteen minutes and the ground force will use horses to cover more ground silently than we can on foot.”

  With a nod to my parents, he moved to stand behind the couch. He told Cameron quietly, “Thank you for keeping a clear head. You helped us protect you and Ellie.”

  “Thanks for doing the protecting.” The boy held out his hand and Jonas shook it with a sincere smile.

  My security team wanted me back within a perimeter they checked and re-checked a dozen times a day.

  Saying my goodbyes, I allowed myself to be lead to the armored SUV out front and driven to my home. I held Katie wrapped in a Kevlar hooded blanket.

  The net around me would be tighter for a few days until the threat was either neutralized or dismissed.

  Padme exhaled roughly when we entered the garage and the door lowered. “I love the estate but that house is a monstrosity to truly seal. There are so many rooms and external entrances. I love your snug little house, Ellie.”

  “Me, too.”

  “Tom should be here for dinner. His training group was on radio silence in the bunker. I’m sure he’ll need sleep and food before he heads over.”

  Two hours later, we gathered around the table and Si entered the dining room with Tom behind him. He looked worn out.

  “Tom. Sit and eat. How was the training?”

  He smiled tiredly. “The worst part was being stuck in a twenty-foot square for three days without showers and having to do our business in a bucket.” Releasing a slightly hysterical laugh, he added, “It was hot down there and we stank. I can still smell us. I’m glad that’s over.”

  Lowering into a seat beside Padme, he said, “I ran the specs you sent over.”

  Her eyes widened. “You were supposed to be resting. I didn’t mean for you to do it today!”

  “This is important.” He took a long drink of water and looked at me. “Ellie, I’ve been triangulating the separate locations where the guys I refer to as shithead squad rallied. There were about a dozen I found through the cameras.”

  I nodded. “This is probably a reporter though.”

  “No,” Jordan and Jonas said firmly.

  Padme added quietly, “It wasn’t a reporter, Ellie.”

  I tilted my head with a frown. “How do you know?”

  Every member of my team stared at the table and it was obvious they didn’t want to give me the details.

  Tom’s eyes met mine. “Tell me what you know, Tom.”

  “I believe it’s the eighth man. I’m sorry, Ellie.”

  Inhaling carefully several times, I whispered, “You’ve been tracking him.”

  “At the dead center of the abduction hideaways, there’s a run-down housing development. There was a suspicious house fire a decade ago that left a disabled woman dead. Her son withdrew their money the day before and disappeared. He was about sixteen at the time.”

  “You think it’s the same guy?”

  “He tangled the trail. There are some connections that might not be him. He changed his name and appearance several times. I could be wrong, Ellie…”

  His voice trailed off and the skin on the back of my neck stood up. “Tell me. It’s alright, Tom.”

  “I think Adam Schafer is the eighth man.”

  My heart stumbled. Theresa’s medical assistant.

  A man who spent months inside my house, who had access to me and my baby, who touched me several times.

  “How? He was vetted by three teams.”

  “He’s a psychopath and he’s smart. He changed names several times in the last few years but he immediately takes his exams to get medical jobs. He has a residence in Ohio but I doubt he’s ever lived there.”

  “Legitimate references, Ellie,” Padme added. “Verifiable employment. No criminal record and he aces psych exams. He got past everyone.”

  Through gritted teeth, I asked, “What does he want?”

  Jonas’s hand was a fist on the table. “They found the corner of a condom wrapper and spermicide on the wall about where a man’s hips would be if he stood on a ladder.”

  I stared blankly at him. “What? I-I don’t get it.”

  Bianca explained quietly, “The pervert climbed the ladder, leaned over the top with binoculars, wrapped his tiny pecker in a condom to keep from leaving DNA, then wanked off while watching you, Ellie.”

  With a low hiss Padme added, “Taking all the evidence of said wanking with him. The creepy son of a bitch.”

  “Wait…wait.” I took several breaths to calm down. “Someone watched me and masturbated?”

  Bianca nodded once angrily.

  Everything inside me recoiled in revulsion.

  “Then his goal isn’t money or a story. It isn’t anything but to get me. That’s what we’re fucking dealing with…some asshole’s obsession. He wants to-to…”

  I stood from my chair so fast, I knocked it over. I couldn’t breathe. It was the same motive as the men from last year.

  We were dealing with a man who wanted to use my body; someone who wouldn’t care about taking money to go away.

  The Hydes stood beside me and suddenly my memory was there. Not clear, not solid. I’d been dealt a major blow to the head. Nothing more than flashes, still pictures, small pieces.

  But, oh my god, it was far more than I needed or wanted.

  While I was semi-conscious they used my body brutally, in every way possible, laughing at Jonas as he tore open his flesh trying to get loose.

  Bound with ropes and chains that held him in a position to watch what they did while unable to protect me.

  Tears streamed down his face above the dirty rag they shoved in his mouth and tied in place. His body beaten bloody but no less desperate to get to me.

  In my quiet dining room, surrounded by my team, and safe together, I met his eyes and witnessed the pure rage he carried from that awful event.

  Numb, confused, I whispered brokenly, “Oh, Hyde…”

  My body crumpled.

  * * *

  A light glowed softly on a table across the room. The rest of my bedroom was dim and the house was silent.

  I blinked several times to clear my thou
ghts.

  Jonas’s voice came from the side of the bed and I turned my head to look at him. He knelt on the floor, head down, his hands clasped on the bed beside me as if he prayed.

  “I didn’t want you to remember. I hoped you never would. I’m sorry I didn’t protect you. Sorry I didn’t st-stop them. Forgive me, Ellie. Forgive me.” His forehead dropped to the bed and wracking sobs shook his frame.

  I turned to my side and cupped his hands in mine.

  Jordan sat on the edge of a chair in the far corner of the room. His elbows rested on his knees. His head bowed.

  “There’s nothing to forgive, Jonas.” I stroked my hand through soft golden hair and whispered, “Did you kill them for me?”

  He lifted his damp face and met my eyes with a brutality that should have scared me but didn’t.

  Stroking his hair again, I smiled tightly. “Did you make them suffer for me, Jonas?”

  “I made them scream until their voices broke. Tortured them and bled them slowly.” His voice was a growl. “When I was covered in their blood, Jordan put a bullet in their groins and one between their eyes.”

  I moved closer and rested my forehead against his.

  “They died hard for what they did, Ellie. I was scared for my sanity because I enjoyed it. I punished them for their part in what happened…punish me for failing to protect you.”

  I fisted my fingers in his hair and made my voice hard. “You didn’t fail me, Jonas. You aren’t omnipotent. You can’t be everywhere at once…not even if there are two of you.”

  Stroking from his brow to his cheek, I murmured, “Evil men see evil done. I survived, you survived, Jordan survived. They didn’t. We won, Jonas.”

  I pressed my lips lightly to his.

  His arms crushed me to him, his hand held the back of my head. “No one will hurt you again, Ellie. You’ll make good memories to replace the bad ones. I want to be part of them.”

  I soaked up his touch for a long time, struggling to ask for what I wanted. I was embarrassed to say the words, to tell them what I needed.

  “Jonas, I’m afraid of the dark. I wasn’t before. When I sleep alone, my mind tortures me. I didn’t have nightmares last night, sleeping between you. I know it’s a lot…that it’s not appropriate.”

  He stroked his hand down my back. “We’d love to help you keep the nightmares away. We’ll change.”

  Touching his lips to my temple, he stood.

  Watching them leave the room, I went to change into sleep shorts and a soft tank top. After I brushed my teeth and hair, I braided it and climbed beneath the covers.

  I was lethargic from the stress and emotional input of the day. Angry that my first day touching and being touched by the Hydes was ruined by some piece of shit.

  I was almost asleep when the twins appeared on either side of my bed in basketball shorts and t-shirts.

  They put their weapons on the nightstands and slipped under the blankets beside me. I sighed deeply and rolled to my back so I could hold their hands.

  I was asleep before the covers fully settled over their bodies.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Moonlight shone on the vibrant landscape painting hanging in my sitting area and for a moment I was confused about the presence of the two bodies in bed with me.

  My upper body was stretched against the chest of one Hyde brother, my legs tangled with the man behind me.

  In the dark, it was impossible to tell which was which.

  I looked at my palm spread flat on a hard male stomach, skin to skin since his t-shirt rode up on one side. Firm muscle that radiated heat. I wanted to explore but I wasn’t brave enough.

  Not in this. In this arena, I knew nothing.

  I started to pull away when a large hand covered mine. A voice gruff with sleep murmured, “You can touch us, Ellie. We won’t touch you without your permission but you can touch us as much as you like.”

  He lifted my hand and kissed my palm before replacing it on his stomach. I swallowed deeply before sliding side to side, marveling at the muscle beneath the skin.

  Resting my head on his shoulder, I slipped my hand higher. I felt the puckered scars from the bullets he took for me. Firm pecs and an almost imperceptible layer of chest hair.

  The flat of my hand skimmed over his nipple and I heard a sharp intake of air. Pausing, I did it again and received a rough exhale. My fingers traced the lines of his collarbone, thicker than my own, and outlined the hollow at the base of his throat.

  Lifting my eyes, I said softly, “Jordan.”

  He smiled and I smiled back shyly, pulling my lower lip between my teeth. After a long moment, I raised myself on my elbow and kissed him lightly.

  A small moan escaped his throat when I raked my hands through his hair and cupped the back of his head. He didn’t try to grab me or attempt to control the kiss.

  I took my time, learning masculine lips, touching stubble beneath my fingertips.

  When I pulled back, his eyes met mine. One Hyde or two, I’d never love another man the way I loved them.

  Disentangling my feet from Jonas, I turned over to meet his eyes. I raked my fingers through his hair. The moonlight gilded the lighter strands shot through the darker length.

  I followed the lines of his face, learning him by feel. I gave him the same kisses, filled with trust, I gave his brother.

  Identical with exception to the wounds they sustained over a lifetime of fighting, it should have been dizzying having two men in my bed.

  If there were only one Hyde, I wouldn’t be afraid. Fear at there being two didn’t seem to make sense. I fell in love with twins from the start.

  There was no fear, no hesitation to touch them.

  After a long time, I laid down on my back between them and they rolled to their sides. Their breath was warm on the skin of my neck beneath my ears.

  “Who were you before you convinced the world you were the same man?”

  They crossed their arms over my stomach and I soaked up the warmth of the contact. Like many twins, they shared their story, filled in gaps for each other, and took turns talking.

  It was soothing, like a lullaby, their identical voices flowing from one side then the other, until the inflection of every word mesmerized me.

  “We were born outside Melbourne. Our mother was on vacation. It was her first time away from her wealthy family in England. She ended up pregnant by a rancher who knew an easy mark when he saw one. She hid it from her parents, afraid they wouldn’t allow her to keep us.”

  Calloused fingertips stroked my torso through my shirt and I didn’t think I’d ever been so relaxed.

  “She found refuge with an elderly couple. They saw her through the pregnancy and labor but she didn’t survive our birth. Major Rothendam and his wife kept us.”

  I frowned. “What about her family in England?”

  “Her parents refused to abide bastards in their prestigious line and told the Major he could do whatever he wanted with us.”

  I gasped in outrage.

  “They raised us for several years on the farm where he retired after forty years of being a soldier. When we were ready for school, he enrolled us in military academy.”

  “Were they kind to you?”

  “Always. They never had children of their own and considered us a miracle. We wanted to make them proud so they’d never regret taking us in. They died within a few weeks of one another when we were sixteen. The Major of a heart attack and Missus to a car accident.”

  My fingers gripped their forearms. “That must have been devastating. I’m sorry.”

  “We spent the summer at the farm, seeing to their animals. We thought we’d drop out to care for the land they loved. A few days after Missus’s funeral, a lawyer arrived to tell us we’d inherited everything. We received a letter from them that asked us to rehome their animals and return to school. They paid for it in advance so we had no excuse.”

  “You kept the farm?” The brothers nodded. “One day, we should v
isit. I’d love to walk the land you played on as children.”

  Their hands hugged me closer. “We haven’t been back in two decades. After they died, we stayed at school year-round. We started trading places to see if we could. With twins, if you don’t see them together, people forget there’s another one.”

  I snorted at that. “I know that feeling. I’m half-crazy some days backtracking and reminding myself there are two of you.”

  “Is it getting easier, Ellie?”

  Nodding, I said, “There are times it feels like I’ve always known and others I get confused. It’s better every day.” I stroked their forearms. “Tell me more.”

  “We were excellent soldiers, diligent students. We graduated at the top of our class and received our inheritance when we turned eighteen. Unsure what we wanted to do, we invested most of it and joined the military.”

  “It was already familiar,” I guessed. “Do you have photos of you then?”

  “Very few. After school, we gathered our documents and locked them in a safe. We buried it on the farm.”

  Glancing at Jonas, I murmured, “The military wanted you to be one man from the start.” He nodded. “Did it…hurt to give up your individual identities?”

  “At first. Essentially, we each lived half of a single life. It became familiar as the years passed. The pain dulled.”

  “Until we met you, Ellie. Having only half a life with you was suffocating. It felt like prison and it was one we made.” Jordan sighed. “We started arguing. That was unusual.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “We did it ourselves, Ellie.” Jonas stroked my cheek. “Painted ourselves into a corner and didn’t know how to get out.” Going up on his elbow, he stared down at me. “Then Natalia insisted on introducing you to Trois.”

  I blinked. I replayed our conversation in my mind and my eyes went wide. “She recognized you.”

  “At first, she wasn’t certain but she suspected we were the men she met at a similar club in Amsterdam years before. Even in such places, we had to be careful. The outrageously wealthy usually have men like Leo who know us as one man.”

  “I thought she wanted me to feel comfortable becoming a member but…she was seeing how I’d react if I found out about you.” They nodded. “Fascinating.”