Lost in Distraction

Chapter Seven



Watching Elle let herself go and give herself to me was remarkable and nothing short of amazing. I didn’t care that I didn’t finish. Watching her final wall crumble down was worth a world of pleasure to me. I didn’t want to rush her or do anything that she wasn’t ready for, but this morning she gave me a chance to show her how I feel and it was incredible. I wasn’t going to let the opportunity pass.

We doze in bed for another hour then go our separate ways into the bathroom and kitchen. I love the idea of getting ready for the day together, like it’s an everyday occurrence. I could get used to this.

I check my phone while waiting for the coffee to finish brewing and see a text from Shay.

Shay: Dude we have a problem.

Brax: What’s up?

Shay: The boss man wants an update about Elise and wants it given in person by you in ATL.

Brax: Why does he need me to go home to give him an update. It ain’t gonna happen. How would I work that, man?

Shay: Dunno. I’ll try my best to go in your place. What are we gonna tell him about you two?

Brax: I’m leaving Elle’s place now. Meet me at mine in twenty mins and we’ll talk.

Elle walks into the living room just as I finish texting Shay.

Without realizing it, I find myself pacing backwards and forwards in front of the front window, phone in hand.

“Babe, is everything okay?” she asks as she walks towards me.

I plaster a smile on my face, trying to hide my concern from her. “Yes, sweetheart. Everything is fine. You look incredible, by the way, you know that?” I wrap my arms around her waist and lean down to brush my lips against hers.

“I don’t know about that, but you can keep telling me as much as you like,” she replies.

I raise my eyebrow at her, moving to whisper in her ear, “And I’ll never stop trying to make you feel just as amazing as you felt this morning, either.”

She trembles at the closeness of my mouth to her neck, the heat of my words affecting her whole body.

“I’d like that,” she murmurs as I pull away, giving her the biggest grin. I swear if I don’t leave this apartment now, I’ll make true on that promise again and again.

“I’ve gotta go meet up with Shay before class, but I’ll text ya later.”

With a quick kiss, I leave.

The day has already been an eventful one and it’s not even 9 a.m. I’m in such a great mood, but Shay’s text had been a bit of a wet blanket. He is already waiting outside my place when I get there, looking mildly peeved off. I unlock my front door, and we head upstairs.

Once we’re armed with coffee and comfortable, Shay looks over at me and shakes his head.

“So, this problem?”

“Has something happened?” I look at him, waiting for an explanation.

“Evans has been asking questions. He wants to know where you are and what you’re up to,” he replies. “Gibbons isn’t too worried, though. He knows that they’re not going to find out anything and we’ve been careful to cover all bases.”

Despite his assurances, I can’t help feeling uneasy about this development. “Why is he suddenly so interested in me?”

There must be more to this than Harry just seeing me at Elle’s place last night. He may be a creep and I definitely don’t trust him, but I still can’t get my head around whether he would actually hurt Elle, just for a stake in the company. He was her father’s best friend and his business partner, her guardian for the past three years. You’d think that he would relish playing the protective guardian role. Whatever is going on, I do know that Evans and Brimstone working together would be a formidable pairing that we may have underestimated.

“We have to sit tight, B. Gibbons says the boss wants you see you in person to make sure that you’re prepared to stay here for the long haul and get your assurances that everything is going okay. He knows you’re background with Evans and he’s just concerned that your focus might be elsewhere, now that we know he is involved. They’re not going to throw you under the bus, he’s just covering all the bases,” Shay explains. I know he’s trying to placate me. He knows me too well and can clearly see that this development has shaken me up.

In typical Shay fashion, he’s trying to make sure I don’t do anything rash.

“How about I go down there and smooth everything out for the moment?” he offers. It’s in moments like these that I’m so glad to have my best friend as my partner.

“I’ll really owe you for this, man, you know that. I wouldn’t take such a risk if she wasn’t important to me. She is amazing and, goddammit, the sexiest woman I have ever met. You’ve seen her.”

He looks at me and smiles his cheeky ass grin. “I know, dude. You’re so whipped you don’t know which way is up.” He cracks up laughing at me. “Never thought it would happen.”

“If you had a woman like Elle you’d be whipped too, buddy,” I retort.

“I know, trust me, I know. Just sucks that you met her first,” he says with a laugh, earning a shove from me.

“Watch it, bro. Keep your eyes to yourself,” I warn him jokingly.

Having finished talking, Shay breaks my train of thought. “Thanks for the coffee, but I’m going to head off now. I need to ring Gibbons and arrange a flight. I should be back within a day or two. You going to be okay by yourself, or do you need backup?”

“It’s all good, man. We’ll stay low key for a few days just in case, but we’ll be fine. I’ll look after Elle. You know that’s all I want to do now.”

He sighs and shakes his head. “Yeah, I know. That’s what I’m worried about.”

I frown at him. He’s never been one to get overly concerned, but the situation I’m finding myself in is obviously troubling him.

I walk up to him and grab his shoulder. “We’ll be okay, Shay. We always are.”



The next few days fly by. Elle has a paper due so she has been busy working on it. We’ve been spending so much time together lately that we’ve both been neglecting our studies. Because I’m only taking a light course load I don’t have as much work to do as she does, but in order to keep up appearances I have to do the work as if I’m your typical mature student. Just another one of the downsides that comes with working undercover.

Shay got back from Atlanta after two days away and as promised he has sorted out the situation with the big boss before anybody decided to make a personal visit up here. He did lay into me about getting too close to Elle and the predicament that we’re now both in. I know he hates lying to the boss for me, but he knows I’m head over heels for Elle and I can’t imagine leaving her now.

With Evans now looking into my whereabouts, I’m going to have to try and stay out of trouble, which includes playing nice with Brimstone. I am glad that Gibbons has agreed to Brimstone being tailed, though. If he slips up, we’ll know about it.



Brax and I have been studying at our respective houses today because I need to concentrate on a paper that’s due, and we struggle to get anything done when we’re together. After finishing for the day, I send him a text to see if he wants to come over tonight.

Elle: Wanna come over tonight, I’m all finished now

Brax: Of course, darlin. I’ll grab some food and head over in about half an hour.

Smiling at the immediate reply he sends, I decide it’s time to tease.

Elle: I’m sure you can think of ways to build up an appetite when you get here…

Brax: Dammit, woman. How am I supposed to concentrate now?!

Elle: As long as you’re focused when you get here, I’m not worried ;)

Now, I know I’m being brazen, but after the morning wake-up call Brax gave me a couple of days ago, I can’t wait to be with him again. I sent the text over an hour ago and now I’m getting nervous. I’ve been on edge all day anyway because I decided that tonight is the night I’m going to tell him about my past. All of it, warts and all. I don’t want to hide my darkness from him any longer and although I don’t have nightmares when I’m with Brax, there are still a lot of those times when I feel the dark clouds forming around me again.

I need him to see my dark side, so I can be sure he is the one to show me the light.

Another hour passes with no sign of him. I text him to check that he’s still coming over. No reply, again. I see that it has now been over three hours since he said he’d be here. Now I’m starting to really worry.

I’m about to give up and head to bed when I hear a knock at the door followed by a loud thump against the wall outside. Looking through the peep hole, I can’t see anyone out there, but I decide to open the door. I’m in a secure building, it can’t be too bad.

My high-pitched scream echoes through the night at what I find.



So maybe we do have more to worry about now.

After texting Elle and telling her I was on my way, I leave my building and walk towards our favorite Mexican restaurant to grab our take-out order. On the way back to her apartment, I sense that I’m being followed. I quickly sent a text to Shay to let him know that I have a tail, but ask him to stay on Elle, just in case she is being targeted. I decide to change direction and head away from where I am supposed to be going. I keep my phone in my pocket in the event I need to grab it in a hurry. With Shay tracking my GPS, all bases are covered, we’ve taken every precaution.

What I don’t count on is two guys that have been called ahead to intercept me as I cut through a quiet alleyway near campus. Before I know what is happening, I am sucker-punched by one of them. I manage to get a good right hook to connect with one of their jaw’s before the other guy grabs my arms, twists them behind my back and dislocates my shoulder in the process. This leaves me open to continual jabs to my face and ribs. I kept trying to lift my legs up and knock one of them over, but they always manage to stay just out of reach. After a few more whacks to my head, they finally let me go. I crumble to the ground, clinging to my arm that is dangling lifelessly on the side of my body. This is no random mugging, it is an orchestrated attack. We are being sent a message.

From my position on the ground, I see a black town car pull up at the end of the alley, the car’s headlights shining down on me. I am teetering on the edge of consciousness when I recognize the swagger of Michael Evans walking towards me. I try to reach my phone, but because I am lying on it, I can’t reach it. I’m relieved that Elle is safe because of Shay, despite whatever is about to happen to me. I haven’t moved by the time Evans crouches down beside me.

“Leave it alone, boy. Whatever you think is going on, you have no freaking idea. Keep it that way, trust me.” With the message delivered, he stands up and gives me one last kick before I black out.

I come to a short time later and check my watch. Shit! It’s been over an hour. I try to move, but I hurt everywhere. There is a stabbing pain in the back of my head and what feels like a shard of glass being shoved into my shoulder. Using my good arm, I manage to grab my phone from my pocket and send a text to Shay with our code for ambulance. I hear the sirens in the distance as I black out again, lying in the middle of the alley, all alone, thinking of my Elle waiting for me.

When I wake up again, I’m in a hospital bed in the ER. My shoulder has been put back into place, my arm is now in a sling and I have two broken ribs as well as stitches in my head and on my face.

All I can think about is how I am going to explain this to Elle.

I discharge myself against the doctor’s advice and hop in a taxi that is parked outside, giving the directions to Elle’s apartment. I must have fallen asleep in the back of the cab because before I know it, the taxi driver is telling me to get out as we stopped outside her building. I throw him a twenty and gingerly got out of the cab, quickly scanning the street for Shay.

So here I am, propped up against the wall of Elle’s building, about to head inside. I grab my phone with my good hand and dial Shay.

“Hey man, what the hell happened? Why didn’t you call me sooner?” he yells down the phone when he answers.

“Calm down, I’m okay. They ambushed me in an alley near campus and I couldn’t get to my phone in time. Anyway, you wouldn’t have been able to leave Elle,” I say as I try to catch my breath, pain radiating through my chest. “It was Evans. He was sending us a message.”

“And what was that?” he asks, sounding a lot calmer now.

“He said to leave Elle alone and that we have no idea what is really going on. I’m not worried about it, bro, but I’m thinking there is even more to this than even we know. I’ll be pissed if Gibbons and the boss are holding back on us.” I wheeze. Damn, that smarts!

“Well, I’ll do what I can, B, but you need to rest. You think it is a good idea going to see her when you’re like this?” Wow, he actually sounds worried.

“I have to see her, Shay. She’ll be concerned about why I haven’t come over. I can’t have her thinking that she could lose me, too. I’ve gotta go. I’ll text you in the morning. You can bring me my prescription,” I say grumpily before hanging up.

I open the door to Elle’s building with one arm and walk tentatively towards the stairs. I can feel myself starting to get a bit woozy and I wonder if it’s the pills they made me take at the ER. I stumble up the stairs and make it to her apartment door, managing to knock a few times before sliding down the wall with a thump.



My heart stops when I see Brax slumped against the wall outside my apartment. He looks terrible with one arm in a sling and a big bandage on his head as well as stiches on his face. Looks like I had every reason to be worried. He’s obviously been beaten, and from what I can see, he is struggling to move. Before I can stop myself, I burst into tears.

“Brax, Oh my God. What happened?” I whisper at him through my tears.

“It’s okay, baby,” he murmurs, sounding really groggy. “I got mugged on my way over here with our dinner, then I blacked out. When I came to, I was in the ER. I’m just a bit banged, I’ll be alright,” he explains, lifting his good arm to me and pulling me into him, stroking my hair as I cry into his chest.

“I don’t understand. Why would this happen to you?” I mumble. I can’t believe he’s still trying to comfort me when he’s the one hurting.

“They must’ve just wanted money and food, it happens. Now give me some room, I’m gonna try and make it to the couch.” He winces as he struggles to get to his feet. I give him my arm to lean on and help him into the apartment. I lie him down on the couch and get a pillow from my room.

“Is there anything you need?” I ask him, unsure of what to do. I’ve never had to deal with anything like this before.

“I’m okay, sweetheart. Now come closer to me. I was thinking about you the whole time,” he murmurs as I kneel on the ground in front of the couch and carefully snuggle into his side. “I’m so sorry about the dinner,” he says, and I burst out laughing through my tears.

Typical male, always thinking of his stomach.