In His Service

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Packing my few personal items from the living room and kitchen took practically no time at all, and my handful of toiletries from the bathroom took even less. Once we were done, I had four boxes, taped and labelled and nestled in the back seat of Jake's Range Rover. 

I hugged Sadie goodbye and promised to text her with pictures of the new place. I had invited her to come along and see it, but she shook her head with a sly grin and declined, saying she didn't want to be a cock-block. 

I rolled my eyes at her but couldn't hide my grateful grin. I was looking forward to more alone time with Jake. Once we were on the way, I attempted to get Jake to tell me where the new place was, but he was adamantly silent, refusing to give up even the minutest details of my new pad. After a few minutes I gave up, huffing my frustrations at the window. 

Jake's low chuckle from the other side of the car sent a pleasant tingle down my spine, and when he reached over to put a hand on my thigh I relaxed into the fun of the secret location. I even stopped paying attention to road signs and landmarks so that he could enjoy the surprise. 

After a forty minute drive into the heart of the city, Jake turned the car into an underground parking garage. I could tell we were deep in the middle of the city center, but I couldn't tell just where. He rolled the window down and punched in a six-digit code, which prompted a metal grate to open for us to roll through. 

The private garage was filled with shiny, luxurious vehicles lining the walls, looking regal and important in their designated spaces. I was trying to imagine my old Hyundai parked next to these sleek, impressive cars when one caught my attention: a little black sports car that looked suspiciously familiar. 

"Is Derek here?" I asked, attempting, and failing, to keep the breathiness out of my voice. 

If Jake noticed he didn't show it, but nodded an affirmation before delivering some unexpected news. 

"He lives here." 

"Excuse me?" I gasped. 

Jake chuckled again. 

"It's a big building, Ginny. We all have apartments here for when we need to be in the city." He pulled effortlessly into a parking space and put the car in park before adding, "Separate apartments." 

"Oh." was all I could mutter. 

Jake hopped out of the car and I let myself out before reaching for the back door handle to get my boxes. Jake stopped me before I could open the door and grabbed my hand. 

"I'll have Tate and Axel bring up the boxes," he explained, nodding towards a severe looking pair of men in black suits and dark sunglasses, wires barely visible leading from their left ears to their crisp shirt collars. 

I raised an eyebrow but didn't question it. I wasn't surprised to see security detail in a place like this. 

As Jake led the way to the elevator doors at the other end of the garage, I took inventory of all the other vehicles here, noticing several luxury brands I knew, plus a few I had never seen or heard of before. Every one of them was black, impossibly clean, with custom wheels and body work. 

Inside the elevator, Jake produced a slim black key card from his pocket and handed it to me. I

"Just swipe it here--" he indicated a slot in the elevator panel "--and the elevator will take you straight to your floor." 

I did as he instructed, and heard a soft "ding" as the elevator began to move upwards. Nervous butterflies danced along my stomach as the elevator rose higher and higher, until finally coming to a smooth stop with another "ding."