Forever My Soldier Read online

  Hugs,

  Patty

  I read the note one more time and then hit send. I’ve never met either of them, but they have both become friends of mine and I’m lucky to have them on my team. I begin scrolling through my Facebook newsfeed. When I see nothing of importance, I post a quick teaser to my readers and then jump onto my website to add a little more about the book in the ‘Work In Progress’ section.

  I shut my laptop down, happy with the progress I’ve made. I move to the closet in my room in search of what I’m going to wear tonight. As I glance at my clothes, my mind starts to wander. It’s like I see my clothes, but I’m not really looking at them as my hand glides over the hangers. I’m feeling off today. I have to face Mr. Mancini tonight, and I’m scared. What if he gets mad that I showed up? What if he blames me? I haven’t spoken to him in such a long time. Maybe I should call him and ask if it would be okay that I attend.

  “What’s wrong, baby?”

  I jump, not realizing Carter had been standing there, watching me. “Carter, I didn’t hear you walk in.”

  “Baby, you were so deep in thought, I’m not sure you’d notice a bomb go off right next to you. Talk to me,” he says, concerned.

  “I was trying to decide what to wear tonight when I realized…” I pause, trying to hold back my tears. “That I don’t know how Mr. Mancini will feel about me showing up tonight. Do you think he blames me or will be mad?” A lone tear escapes me.

  “Come here, baby,” he says, opening his arms for me. I walk to him, and he wraps me in a huge hug. His hands slide up and down my back, soothing me. “I think he will appreciate you being there and if anything, he would be mad at your mother, not at you. You did nothing wrong.”

  I swallow the lump in my throat. “I know, but when you’re upset, you tend to see things differently. Maybe we shouldn’t go and I can make a special trip to see him.”

  “Baby, I will support you no matter what you decide, but to be honest I really don’t think he’ll be upset. I also think some of this is hard because you’ll be seeing him for the first time since everything went down.”

  “You’re right.” I sigh, wiping the tears from my face. “I have to do this. I need to face him and be done with it.”

  I look up as he lowers his lips to mine. He gives me a quick, gentle kiss “Let’s start getting ready. We don’t want to be late.”

  I nod. “Thank you for being so supportive, Carter.”

  ***

  I look in the mirror one last time to check out my appearance. I’m wearing loose fitting black slacks with black boots and a plum color top. I look nice even though I’m not overly dressed. My hair is done in loose waves, and I have on the slightest amount of makeup.

  When I make it back into the living room, I find Carter sitting with a book in his hand. He looks really handsome in a pair of black slacks and a gray button-down shirt. As I walk over to him, he rises from the couch. “Baby, you look beautiful.”

  “Thank you. I wanted to look nice, but not be too dressed up.”

  “You look perfect.” He kisses me softly. “Are you ready to go?”

  I give a faint smile and nod as I walk away, pulling my dress coat from the closet. He follows behind me, taking my coat from my hands and helping me slip it on.

  “It’ll be fine. I promise I will be right by your side the entire time.”

  “Let’s go.” That’s all I can manage to say at this point, so we walk down to the lobby in silence.

  Darryl opens the door for us and says, “Have a nice night, but drive carefully. It’s supposed to snow.”

  “Thank you, Darryl,” Carter says as we make our way to his Jeep.

  We pull up to the funeral home a short time later. The place is packed. Carter manages to pull into a space someone has exited. As he puts the car in park, my phone chirps. I take a deep breath. It’s Bella.

  Bella: We’re here.

  Patty: We’re parking the car, be right there.

  Bella: Okay, see you in a minute.

  I silence my phone and stick it back in my purse as Carter comes around to open my door. When we approach the steps leading to the door, my hands go clammy and cold. I’m so nervous, I’m shaking. I really hope I’m doing the right thing.

  I take a deep breath and force myself to walk up the steps. Carter places a hand at the small of my back, and the two gentlemen at the doors open them for us. There’s a short line, but we quickly find my mother, Richard, Bella, and Derek. We get in line with them, and that’s when a sudden wave of nausea hits me. My stomach is turning and I take deep breaths, trying to keep it together.

  Carter must know I’m freaking out inside because he leans in and says, “You’re doing fine. Keep taking those deep breaths.”

  Suddenly it’s our turn. As I walk in, I glance around, seeing all the beautiful flowers people have sent to show their love for Ben and his father. I’m shaking, and I don’t know if it’s because he’s dead and I spent a year of my life trying to love him, or if it’s because I no longer have to fear what he’ll try next. Carter and I kneel in front of the closed coffin and silently ask Ben why he did what he did. I look up to see a nice picture of him staring at me from on top of the coffin. I whisper that I’m sorry things ended the way they did. I truly am. This is not what I wanted. A sob escapes me, and now that I’ve started, I can’t stop. I sit back on my heels, shaking and crying. That’s when I feel a hand on my shoulder. I look up to see Mr. Mancini giving me a sympathetic smile.

  I jump up and wrap him in a huge hug. In that moment, I’m not even able to speak because I can’t stop crying. He rubs my back and says, “It’s okay, Patty. This isn’t your fault. Please tell me you know that.”

  “I’m so sorry it ended this way. I’m not sure why he was behaving the way he was, but I certainly didn’t want this.”

  “I know you didn’t, and it’s me who should be apologizing. I’m sorry for what he put you through. I didn’t even realize how far he had taken his obsession with you until the police came looking for him.”

  I pull away, looking up at him with so many emotions coursing through my body. “You have nothing to be sorry for. You had no part in this.” He nods at me. “How are you holding up?”

  “I’m doing okay. I’m taking it one day at a time and trying to busy myself with work.” I rub his arm. “I want you to do me a favor, though,” he says, looking into my eyes.

  At this point, my family has surrounded us. “You name it. Anything?” I tell him.

  “I want you to move on from this. I don’t want you giving any of this a second thought. He can’t hurt you anymore, and you have this nice man by your side.” He turns to Carter. “Be good to her,” he says as he swallows a lump in his throat. “She is a sweet girl and deserves way better than my son did by her.”

  Carter nods. “Yes, sir. I’m sorry for your loss.” Carter shakes Mr. Mancini’s hand.

  We all hug and give our condolences. In that moment, I’m really glad I came because I feel like a weight has been lifted and now I truly can move on.

  I put my hand on Mr. Mancini’s arm. “Hang in there. You’ll get through this.”

  Carter gently squeezes my hand and nods toward the door, letting me know there is a huge line. We say we’re sorry one more time and walk through the rows of people to the back of the room. A few have whispered their hellos as we quietly slip out the back door.

  “I need to use the ladies’ room,” I tell my family.

  “I’ll come with you,” Bella says, and as soon as we’re through the door, she hugs me. “I’m so proud of you. That took a lot of courage, and I have no doubt you will feel much better now.”

  For the first time today, I smile. “I think you’re right. I already feel better. I haven’t cried since everything went down, and to make matters worse, I was stressing over him being mad that I showed up tonight.”

  “Oh, Patty, he wouldn’t be mad at you. He adores you, and he always has.”

  “You’re rig
ht. I think that’s why I was so worried. I didn’t want to lose that. I’m glad I came. Now let’s go meet up with everyone else so we can get something to eat.”

  I quickly pull a tissue from the box to dab my eyes.

  ***

  Carter

  We pull up to the U-shaped driveway of the club, and I’m happy because Patty seems back to her happy self. There’s color in her face, and the twinkle in her eye is back. It’s amazing how a couple of words between people can fix so much.

  As we walk into the club, Patricia smiles as we glance around at the holiday décor spread throughout the entry. Sandra and Richard are standing there, waiting for us. “Patricia, darling, how are you?”

  “I’m fine, Mother, but I would like to move on now. I’ve spoken to Mr. Mancini and, like he said, it’s time for me to move past this.”

  “Okay, let’s go get some dinner,” she says, dropping the subject. We all follow her into the dining area, where the hostess is waiting for us. She walks us to a table for six, and we take our seats.

  After the waitress pours our water, Sandra says, “I want to tell you all I’m very excited for this event. I have already managed to sell quite a few tickets, and I’ve started to round up some silent auction items.”

  “That’s great,” Derek says, excited.

  “I’m telling you, Derek. This is my mom’s thing. She’s all about these events and has always done a great job with them.”

  “Thank you, Patricia. Now I’m working on some ideas for the ball drop with some friends of mine, and I’ll fill you in as soon as we know what we can pull off.”

  “Awesome. We want this event to be a lot of fun. The hope is that we can do it again next year and it’ll become a really nice fundraiser for us,” Derek says as he takes a sip of his water.

  “Well, if you’d like my help for next year, I’m more than happy to be a part of it.” Derek and I both thank her, and then we all start looking over the menu.

  A few minutes later, the waitress comes back over to take our order. As she leaves the table, the focus of conversation becomes Bella’s big fashion show next weekend. She talks excitedly about all the dresses she will change into during the show. She tells us how the director of the show loves her and is so happy to have her. While she talks, I rub Patty’s leg under the table. She places her hand on my thigh, giving me a squeeze. I want to groan because if she squeezes any higher, I won’t be able to leave.

  I look at her with one eyebrow raised, and she giggles because she knows exactly what she’s doing. I lean in and whisper, “I’m so happy to see you smiling again.” I kiss her cheek and then turn back to the conversation, but everything has stopped and they’re all staring at us.

  Patty blushes but tries to play it off. “What? You’ve never seen a man kiss his woman on the cheek?”

  Everyone starts to laugh, and the conversation starts back up again. As our food arrives, the ladies make plans to go shopping for dresses this week. They claim they need something to wear to the fashion show as well as the New Year’s Eve event. It’s as if these women don’t each have at least eight formal dresses, never mind the less elegant ones they have in their closet. I’m sure Sandra blows Bella and Patty’s wardrobes out of the water.

  “Baby, I don’t care if you go dress shopping, but what’s wrong with one of the eight or so you have now?”

  “I’ve worn them all,” she says like they’re only made to be worn once.

  “Okay?”

  Derek jumps in. “Don’t try it, man. Women are crazy about their dresses. I’m dating a model, I know better. I won’t even go there.” He looks at Bella. “I adore you, but you girls are crazy spending hundreds or even thousands on a dress just to wear it once. That said, because I adore you, you do what you have to.”

  Bella kisses him on the cheek. “Thank you.”

  I grin at Derek. “Dude, you’re defending your girl's dress shopping addiction? I may have to take your man card.”

  Bella tries to look angry at me for picking on her man, but she fails miserably. “You leave my man alone.” We all start laughing.

  We finish our meal in a comfortable silence, and once the waitress clears our plates she hands Richard the bill. He happily signs it and hands it back to her. We all thank him for dinner. He puts up his hand. “It’s no problem. It’s my pleasure. I’m happy to see you all getting along again, especially now that Sandra and I have done a lot of talking about the entire situation that has taken place and we’re going to move past it. After the first of the year, we’re taking a trip together to renew our vows and start fresh.”

  “That’s very sweet of you, Richard,” Patty tells him with a huge grin on her face. I can tell she’s genuinely happy for her mother.

  “Thank you, Patty. I adore both you and your mother and would like to continue to be a part of this family. It appears to be growing now that you and Bella have met some nice young men. That said, remember I’m the DA and I know how to get away with things. If either of you hurt these girls, no one will ever know what happened,” he says with a slight smile.

  Derek and I both chuckle and then tell him he has nothing to worry about.

  “Good, because I’d hate to risk losing my job.” He laughs, and we all stand to say goodnight since it’s getting late.

  When we get to the lobby, the three ladies make a promise to meet up on Tuesday for shopping and lunch. Derek and I jokingly make a promise to meet each other at the office for a day of working. Patty and Bella smack us playfully.

  “Be careful, boys. Derek is right. These women take their shopping very seriously,” Richard says, joking with us.

  “I’ll have to keep that in mind when I build our house,” I say, shocking Patty.

  Derek chimes in. “It’s a good thing I have a lot of closets.”

  Bella tugs his shirt playfully. “Yes, it is, because this girl has a lot of clothes.” She kisses him chastely.

  He looks down at her with a smile. “Wait until we get home.”

  “Okay, okay, that’s enough of me watching my girls flirt and kiss their boyfriends. Everyone have a good night,” Sandra says as Richard takes her hand and they happily walk out the door together.

  Carter looks at Derek and Bella. “Do you guys want to meet up with us on Sunday to swing by the stores to check on the status of the gifting trees? We can get dinner and maybe play some cribbage after.”

  Derek and Bella look at each other and at the same time say, “Sure.”

  “Good. I’m curious to see how much is there. Plus, that will help us to get an idea on how much wrapping paper we need and how long it will take us to wrap.”

  “Sounds good,” Bella says. “I’ll see you Tuesday.”

  She hugs Patty while Derek and I shake hands. We all walk out the door and straight to our cars. It’s gotten really cold, and as Darryl warned, it’s started to snow.

  Chapter 6

  Carter

  I stretch in bed and look at the clock. It’s five in the morning. I have two options. I can go to the gym, shower, and then straight to work, or I can wake the beautiful lady lying beside me and indulge in a little exercise right here. I smile. I choose option two.

  Her back is to me, so I spoon her from behind, taking her earlobe in my mouth and gently biting down on it. I rub my hand slowly over her stomach to one of her breasts, where I find her nipple is already hard like a little pebble. I roll it between my fingers, and a moan escapes her. I lick my way down the vein in her neck to her collarbone. She wakes and rolls onto her back. I take advantage, climbing on top of her. Lifting her shirt, I expose her perky nipples, taking one in my mouth while I massage the other.

  “Good morning, my love,” she says with a moan.

  I pull away from her nipple, making a popping noise from my suckling. “Every morning is a great morning since I get to wake up next to you.”

  I lower my lips once again, sucking her nipple into my mouth and rolling my tongue over it. She grinds her hips into my f
ully erect cock, telling me exactly what she wants. I slide down her body, kissing and biting my way across her stomach as I go, until I get to the top of her sleep shorts. I pause, rolling my tongue in little circles around her bellybutton as I slip them down her gorgeous legs, dropping them beside me. I look up at her and smile as I lower my face to her sweet pussy. My tongue finds its way through her folds to her clit. She tastes so sweet, I want to wake her like this every morning. I suck on her hardening nub, and it causes her hips to jerk.

  While rolling my tongue over her clit, I slip two fingers inside her, fucking her deep with them.

  “Yes!”

  “Is that what you want, baby?”

  “Don’t stop licking me,” she whines.

  I chuckle as I look at her while keeping my fingers perfectly still. She looks at me, shocked. “Don’t make me beg.”

  “I love you,” I tell her, curling my fingers deep inside of her, ensuring I hit that special spot while my tongue strokes her clit. She explodes all over my fingers. I pull my fingers from deep inside her pussy to find them glistening in her juices. I suck on my fingers, ensuring I get every last drop. “You taste amazing.”

  I start to climb up her body when she takes me by surprise. She flips me over on the bed and climbs on top of me. Wrapping her fingers around my cock, she strokes me before licking the entire length of my shaft and taking the head in her mouth. She makes a popping noise when she pulls my cock from my mouth to place herself over me. She slowly lowers herself so I’m buried deep inside of her. I moan at the amazing feeling of being inside her tight little pussy. I completely lose control. Squeezing her hips, I start slamming her down on me.

  “Yes, Carter!” she screams out, and I work my hips even harder.

  “Come on, baby. I can’t hold on much longer.”