"Babysitting the love birds?" Asked Alejandro Swift as he took a seat at the patio table next to Travis, an amused tone to his voice.
Travis on the other hand was not amused at all as he peered over the top of his martial arts magazine and glared at his boss through his sunglasses.
This was day 3 of Taylor flaunting her new 'relationship' with Raffe in his face and it was wearing pretty damn thin.
"He's a good kid, his father is one of my lawyers, Taylor could do a lot worse for herself than Raffe Seevers"
Travis grunted and pushed himself back in his seat.
He didn't tell Alejandro that he knew the 'relationship' was fake, that Taylor had spent most of the last 3 days looking over her shoulder to make sure Travis was watching and unfortunately for Travis he had been watching, way more than he could explain as 'just doing his job', so in the end he had resorted to sunglasses, hoping they would give him a little more privacy as he sat and watched, his chest burning more and more green as the days went on.
"Have you decided where you will go when you leave here?" The older man asked whilst lighting a thick cigar and then gesturing towards Ana who was tending to the potted plants around the pool "Ana, a coffee please dear"
Travis watched as Ana smiled gently and nodded, leaving her job immediately before heading into the kitchen
Pushing his sunglasses up into his hair, Travis watched as Taylor and Raffe splashed like children in the pool, stopping briefly ever now and then to kiss and each time, Taylor's eyes would rise to seek out Travis'
"I don't have any plans right now" It was half the truth but Travis couldn't tell Alejandro that he was unable to return to Canada because it was too dangerous or that Europe was out of the question because of an outstanding warrant for his arrest with Europol. "I might stay here in the States, do a bit of sight seeing before I commit to another assignment"
Alejandro nodded silently before reaching and taking the coffee from Ana's hand "Gracias mi amor" Travis' Spanish may have been zero but even he could get the gist of what had just been said and he cocked an eyebrow as Ana smiled adoringly at her employer before returning to the potted plants.
"I wanted to talk to you about tomorrow night"
"Why, what's happening tomorrow night?"
"A dinner and dance at my business partners property in the Keys" Travis sat up straight in his seat
"A social gathering with your 'business' acquaintances?"
Alejandro nodded "As the only remaining member of my family Taylor must be there"
Travis began shaking his head viciously "No, no way, there's no way she can be in amongst those types of people. If you wanted her there you should have given me more time so I could scope the place out, take a look at the guest list, we are not just throwing her in to a situation like that knowing the kind of threats that there are against her"
"She will be there and so will you. I will explain that you are her date, you stay by her side all evening"
"Does her life mean nothing to you, seriously, am I the only one that actually gives a shit about her?!"
"Daddy? Is everything okay?"
"Everything is fine Taylor, I was just telling Travis about the event tomorrow evening"
"Oh I can't wait it's going to be so exciting, Ana said she would help me to get ready, it's going to be so much fun, I bet you're over the moon about going, aren't you Detective Kelce?"
Pushing himself up from his seat, Travis dropped his sunglasses back over his eyes and headed inside "I'm going to the bathroom, please don't lose track of her this time or let her drown herself whilst I'm gone"
*********
Stepping out of the bathroom Travis was immediately met by Taylor who was standing with her back to the wall wearing nothing but a baby pink bikini. He couldn't stop his eyes from taking in her shape but then he furiously reprimanded himself as a smirk tugged her lips wide.
"So after all the things you said the other day you still end up taking me on a date. Mommy works in weird ways, right?" She crossed her legs as she stood there making sure to squeeze her thighs together so he knew exactly what it was that she wanted from him.
"I don't have time for this Taylor, I have just over 24 hours to learn everything I can about where we are going and the people that will be there..." He tried to walk past her but her fingers wrapped around his bicep pulling him around until he was face to face with her once more
"You can fight this all you want Travis but one of these days you are going to be just where mom wants you and you and I..."
"Mommy? Mom?! Do you know how crazy you sound right now Taylor?!" His hands were quickly on her shoulders as he pushed her back in to the wall "You had a dream okay?, it wasn't a vision, it wasn't real, your mom didn't send me to you, your father hired me"
"You're wrong" her chin was high in the air as she spoke with utter belief and confidence, refusing to believe her encounter with Austin and her mother was anything but the truth
"If your mother is so great and she loved you so much why the fuck would she send you me?" He lowered his face so there was barely an inch between them "You don't know who I am Taylor, you don't know what I've done. You look at me like I'm food when really I'm poison"
"Not to me"
"Yes to you, especially to you"
"Travis I want you so bad, every time I look at you all I can see is your hands on me, every time I speak to you all I want is your mouth on mine" she lifted her hands and cupped his cheeks as his hands continued to press her shoulders into the wall "I don't care who you are, who you were or what you did I just want you"
"Yeah?" Well get this into your head, you can't have me. You can beg and demand all you want but understand what the fuck I am telling you, it is not happening. This date, is out of necessity nothing else" Pulling his face from her grip he pushed her away from him and then turned and headed down the corridor as fast as he possibly could
"Oh I t's happening Travis!" She called after him " You might be too chicken to admit it but it's happening right now and denying it isn't going to stop it"
As he disappeared around the corner Taylor dropped down on to her knees and gasped loudly, heaving air into her lungs.
These confrontations with Travis lit a fire in every part of her darkened soul that she was now addicted to.
He said no but his eyes burned with yes.
Like it or not she wouldn't give up until she had him right where she wanted him, over her, in her, with her... Forever, just as her mom had told her it would be.
If only she knew that within the week he would be gone
