Stalkers, Secrets and Lies by Kirsty Moseley
Copyright © 2011 Kirsty Moseley
As freelance body guard, Ethan goes where he's sent, protects who he's told to and does his job perfectly. His latest assignment is to protect an 'Indie Rock Star' called Johnny Brent, who seems to have picked up a particularly nasty stalker. Johnny lives in the old town where Ethan grew up. He had moved away six years ago when his parents were killed and his uncle sent him to Military School, Ethan left behind the love of his life, Aaliyah who he hasn't had contact with since the day he moved. Now he's back in town, things might start to get a little bit more difficult for him, this may turn out to be his hardest assignment yet as Aaliyah has a secret, a big one that she doesn't want anyone to know.
Prologue
I ran faster chasing her, I needed to catch her, I could feel the excitement building as I closed the distance. She was laughing uncontrollably, I smiled as she looked over her shoulder grinning wildly at me. She was so beautiful and I loved her more than anything in the world, her chocolate brown hair was blowing out behind her as she ran. I pushed my legs faster, jeez that girl can run!
"Lia, I'm gonna catch you, we both know it" I teased laughing.
"No way slow coach not today" she called sounding breathless. She is so confident, bless her she thinks she's doing well she doesn't even realise I'm not running as fast as I can!
She was almost to the bottom of the garden now, I grinned and pushed myself faster, closing the distance in about four long strides as I grabbed her waist and pulled her against me. "No!" she cried as she tried to look hurt, I laughed and wrapped my arms around her tighter. She slapped my chest playfully, "No fair, your legs are longer than mine! You cheated!" she whined.
I smiled "Whatever Lia, pay up" I said proudly bending my knees so our faces were the same level.
She groaned and turned her nose up, "Really? Why do you want that anyway?" she asked looking disgusted. Because I'm in love with you and I have been since the first time I saw you, because you are the most beautiful thing in the world, because want to marry you when we're old enough and have kids together.
I swallowed my moan and rolled my eyes, "Because that was the deal, now pay up" I said trying to sound like I wasn't desperate.
She sighed and leaned in pressing her lips to mine, my whole body tingled with the familiar sensation that happened every time her skin touched mine. Oh God I'm kissing her! My first kiss and it was to the girl of my dreams! Happiness exploded inside of me, it was overwhelming, I'd wanted to do this forever! Her lips were on mine for a couple of seconds before she pulled away and wiping her mouth on the back of her hand. "Ew Ethan gross! I'm not doing that again!" she said turning her nose up making me laugh.
"Lia, it was a kiss, chill out, and besides you still owe me two more, that was the deal, if I caught you before you got to the fence I win three kisses" I said proudly.
"Ew, can't I give you something else instead?" she pleaded, god why is kissing me so bad?
I looked into her beautiful blue eyes and felt myself being drawn in, I had known this girl since the day she was born seven years ago but she still didn't see me as anything other than a friend, a brother even. I sighed "Lia, is kissing me really that bad?" I asked sadly, she hugged me tightly making everything seem better.
"I just don't like kissing, I never will, it's yucky" she said turning her nose up.
I smiled "Ok fine, I'll trade my two kisses for a hug, all night, I'm staying at yours tonight, I'll sneak in your room and sleep in your bed with you" I suggested, god I would love to hug her all night.
She grimaced, "But you snore" she whined, I couldn't help but laugh.
"So kiss me then" I said shrugging.
She grimaced again, "Fine sleep in my room, but no snoring!" she said annoyed as she pushed me away and stormed off up the garden.
I watched her walk off, she was going through a growth spurt at the moment so none of her trousers fitted her in the leg anymore, she had probably grown about two inches in the last two months.
Aaliyah was seven years old, and she was just perfect in every way. She had silky brown hair that was right down to her bum and big light blue eyes that sparkled, she was missing a couple of teeth at the moment that made her whistle slightly when she talked and it was just adorable. I had been in love with her since the very first moment I saw her when her parents brought her home from the hospital and let me hold her when I was almost three years old. She was my earliest memory.
I ran after her and grabbed her hand swinging them gently as we walked, "Not talking to me now?" I asked giving her the puppy dog face.
She sighed "Yeah Ethan I'm talking to you, I'm talking to you right now dufuss!" she said annoyed making me laugh. She had a temper on her, she always like to get the last word and she was sarcastic as hell but it just made her all the more special to me.
My Mom and Dad were best friends with Aaliyah's parents and had been for years. We had grown up together and she had no idea I was in love with her. One day I'd tell her but for now I was just happy being her friend, I mean jeez I was only ten what the hell were we going to do, get married now? "Want to get some ice cream?" she asked grinning and pulling me towards her house.
"Nah, I'm cool enough" I said grinning at her.
"Right, and who told you that? Your Momma?" she asked shoving me away gently.
"You know I'm cool that's why you like to hang around with me" I said confidently, she shook her head laughing.
"I don't like to hang around with you, your Mom and Dad like you to hang out here after school while they're at work" she said sticking her tongue at out me.
I shrugged "Same difference" I said trying not to smile.
"Whatever dufuss" she said running for the kitchen racing again.
Chapter 1
I checked the address again, 162 Park, yep definitely the right place. I looked up at the empty windows, shit this guy knew I was coming, I only spoke to him two hours ago! I banged on the door again making it shake in it's frame, I was really pissed now. I had a brief fleeting moment when I thought something was wrong, my protective instincts kicking in. I reached into the waistband of my jeans at the back wrapping my hand around the handle of my gun.
I was just about to draw it when suddenly one of the top windows opened, "What the fuck do you want? Do you know what fucking time it is?" a seriously pissed looking guy asked leaning out of the window. He looked like he was suffering from a serious hangover, or just coming down on a particularly bad trip. Wow this is gonna be a long tour!
"Are you Johnny? I'm Ethan Scott, we spoke on the phone" I said raising my eyebrows at him holding out my wallet to show him my agents badge. He slapped his forehead hard, ok this guy is definitely high! Fuck it I hate rock stars!
"Right yeah, fuck it sorry I forgot you were coming, I'll be right down" he said slamming the window shut. I heard banging and crashing coming from upstairs, "Fuck it Ali, just go back to sleep!" I heard him shout. Great, groupies I'll have to chuck out when he's done with them!
The footsteps, bangs and curses got louder as he got closer, finally he opened the door in a pair of jeans running his hand through his messy blonde hair, I had obviously just got him out of bed. He had tattoo's over almost every inch of his chest and arms of various things, none of them particularly tasteful.
"Sorry dude, come on in" he said waving a hand for me to come in. I noticed he had black nail varnish on and the remnants of eyeliner that had smudged under one eye.
"Thanks, sorry I woke you, you did say eleven right?" I asked looking at his bloodshot eyes, yep a smack head, great those are fun, not!
"Yeah, eleven, sorry my girl stayed over, I kind of lost track of time if you
know what I mean" he said winking at me.
He pointed to what I assume was supposed to be a kitchen, when I walked in there was empty pizza boxes and Chinese food cartons everywhere. Beer bottles and cans littering the floor around the bin and a suspicious looking white powder peppered the worktop. He noticed me surveying the damage,
"After gig party last night" he said laughing obviously proud of the mess so he must have had a good time.
"Right, well like we discussed on the phone, your safety is my number one priority, I'll do whatever's needed to make and keep you safe but I'm not a skivvy, you want my services you don't ask me even once to get you anything or do anything that's not protection related" I said sternly.
There was no fucking way I was going out to get drink or drugs for him or anything else his warped little drugged up mind could think of!
He frowned "Wow, attitude dude, I won't be spoken to like that" he said angrily as he slammed his fist down on the worktop.
I smiled politely, "Ok fine, I guess we've both had our time wasted" I said as I turned and started walking to the door again.
I opened the door and was just about to step through when he spoke, "Right sorry, yeah your not a skivvy" he said nodding. I nodded and closed the door, one fucking chance rock star and I'm gone, I don't need to be babysitting spoilt little shit's like you.
"Great then we understand each other" I said putting on a fake smile. Johnny Brent was one of the biggest musicians around at the moment, he was lead singer of 'The White Chiefs' a hugely popular indie rock band. He was probably the most popular and sought after guy at the moment, everyone wanted a piece of him, including a particularly nasty stalker that had tried to shoot him at his last night gig.
I'd been called to protect him while the police tried to figure out who the person was, I was a private freelance bodyguard of sorts. I was actually trained as a navy seal but I had been released after an 'incident' on my graduation night, that had caused me to be released immediately without even being able to redeem myself. I'd been training since I was fifteen, I was top of my graduating year in targeting, combat, tactical and protection and because of one thing, I was reduced to protecting ungrateful shit's that probably didn't deserve to be protected anyway.
I sighed and suppressed a groan, fuck it I hated this guy already! "Right well I'll need to do a check of your house and order any further protection or security measures I need" I said hoping he would have another freak out so I'd be able to walk out. Rock stars weren't my specialty, I wasn't patient enough to cope with them, and high rock stars were even worse. I would rather pull my fucking nails off with pliers than be here!
Just then movement caught my eye and I saw a young girl coming down the stairs in just a mans t-shirt. Her legs were smoking hot, long and perfect as she walked down the stairs, the t-shirt she had on came up to her mid thigh. I couldn't see her face as it was obscured by her messy brown bed hair that hung around her face, she was looking at the floor, I could see she had on a big pair of dark shades. Great another smack head!
He turned to look at her as well, "Get the fuck upstairs and put on some clothes Ali, shit!" he said as he strode over to her and grabbed her arm roughly. My body jerked towards her, if he laid one finger on her I was putting him down, "So fucking stupid Ali, there's a guy here, get upstairs and put your clothes on" he growled at her angrily. Wow ok possessive and jealous maybe she's not a groupie.
"My clothes are down here baby" she whispered flinching slightly from his anger, he was completely red in the face.
He shoved her towards a door at the end of the hallway, "Get dressed now" he said angrily, she nodded and went through the door quickly without once looking up from the floor.
My gut clenched up tight, fucking hell he was an asshole and I didn't want this job. He turned back to me and his face softened slightly, he was looking at me warningly, obviously daring me to say something about the girl. "My girlfriend, she stays over a lot" he said grinning proudly.
I nodded and pulled out a small notepad and pen from my pocket. "Shall I get started then?" I suggested pointing to the back door.
He nodded and grabbed a bottle of beer from the fridge, "Want one?" he asked holding one out to me.
I smiled "No thanks" I said struggling not to add 'Prick' at the end.
I walked over to the door and started checking the lock and deadbolt, noting that it needed a chain and peephole before heading over to the window. "Now that's better" I heard Johnny say.
"Yeah sorry" the girl muttered, I turned to introduce myself and my breath caught in my throat.
Fucking hell it was Lia! My heart sped up at the sight of her, she had always been beautiful but I hadn't seen her since she was thirteen and holy shit she'd done some growing up since then!
What the hell do I do? This girl was my first and only love, I hadn't seen her for six years when I moved away, I cut her out of my life and broke her heart because I couldn't stand to keep her close to me only to lose her in the end anyway. Johnny had his arms around her and was kissing her neck and I wanted to rip his head off. I was so jealous my hands were shaking, she was supposed to be mine, we promised to love each other forever and then I moved away and ignored her weekly letters for two years cutting her out of my life completely. It was the hardest thing I had ever done.
She was still wearing the big shades, I wanted to take them off and look into the gorgeous blue eyes that I still dreamed about every night. She had her hair a lot shorter than she used to, it was just above her shoulders now. She was stunningly beautiful, her jeans and vest top clung to her curves that were only just starting to develop when I left, I couldn't stop looking at her and I could feel all the love I felt for her bubbling up inside me bursting to come out. I wanted to grab her and wrap her in my arms and never let go.
She wasn't looking at me, didn't even glance in my direction as he groped her ass and bit her shoulder making her whimper and flinch. My hand clenched into fists at the sound of him hurting her, my mind flashed back to him grabbing her arm and pushing her towards the door. Fuck if he hurts her I'll kill him I swear. I turned away quickly, I couldn't look at him touching her anymore, she was supposed to be with me and I screwed it up. Worst mistake of my life and I wish with every fibre of my being I could take it back but it was too late for that.
I cleared my throat to get their attention, they looked over at me, Johnny looked like he forgot I was here, she drew in a deep breath and her mouth parted slightly just for a second before her jaw clenched tight. Wow she recognised me, "Just help yourself" Johnny said as he waved a hand dismissively to the kitchen door meaning for me to inspect the house.
"Lia" I said quietly.
Her jaw clenched tighter and she shook her head, "No I think your mistaking me for someone else"
she said her voice hard and cold, not like it used to be. She was no longer the carefree and happy girl I knew.
Johnny eyes snapped to her face, "You know this guy?" he asked his voice tight, I could see the anger just below the surface. Go on hit her, it'll be the last thing you ever do asshole.
She shook her head again and smiled at him, it was a fake smile I could tell, "No baby" she said sweetly as she stood on her tiptoes to kiss his mouth again.
He pulled away looking at her sharply, before his face turned to me, "Who's Lia?" he asked curiously. I flicked my eyes to her for a split second, she was tense, her hands in fists.
"Sorry, my bad, you do look like someone I used to know though" I lied smoothly turning to her.
She glanced at me, god I wished she'd take off the sunglasses, but then again I didn't want to see the bloodshot drug induced mess that used to be her beautiful blue eyes.
"Really? Great" she said sarcastically sounding bored, "Want breakfast baby?" she asked as she went to the fridge.
"Sure what's on offer?" he asked as he walked up behind her and rubbed his hands over her ass.
"Bacon still looks ok, you need to get some food in if you want me to sta
y here tonight, I'm not eating Chinese again" she said grimacing making him laugh.
"Hmm I could think of something else for you to eat" he said grinning as he crashed his lips to hers.
I couldn't watch anymore, if I stood here any longer I would beat the guy to death.
I quickly made my way round the house trying to forget that the love of my life was down in the kitchen cooking breakfast for another man. I lingered upstairs, I found a picture in the bedroom of Lia and Johnny at some concert, she was smiling but it just didn't quite reach her eyes. I heard movement behind me and I turned to see her just stepping into the bedroom, she stopped and looked at me shocked.
Neither of us spoke, I didn't know what to say. What the hell could I say? Sorry? I love you? I still dream about you? No, none of those things would work. "Sorry, I just came up for a sweater, please, continue looking at Johnny's personal shit" she said waving her hand dismissively. Wow she still used the sarcasm!
She walked over to the wardrobe and grabbed a huge hoodie that obviously wasn't hers. "Lia?" I said quietly not knowing what else to say.
"My names Ali, I really think your mistaken" she said acidly.
"No your names Aaliyah Marie Jones" I said watching as she flinched slightly.
"And how do you know that?" she asked putting one hand on her hip, ok shit did she recognise me or not? Maybe she's still high, well I guess I hadn't seen her since I was fifteen, six years was a long time especially teenage years, I know I looked different but I swear she recognised me in the kitchen.
"We grew up together" I said frowning, please tell me she recognised me!
"We did?" she asked sounding shocked.
I nodded "Ethan, Ethan Scott, my parents and yours were friends" I said swallowing the lump in my throat.
"Right yeah I remember now, we dated for a while right?" she asked giving me a half smile, I closed my eyes, wow that hurts. I nodded and she laughed, it was a humourless laugh not like she used to laugh with me. "Right, now I remember, you were my first kiss actually" she said shaking her head smiling wickedly.