Beloved Predator (Beloved Series #2)

Eight

Patrick

Ari and I danced around an elegant ballroom.  She looked beautiful in a full-length dark crimson gown that hugged her body.  She stepped closer to me and whispered in my ear how handsome I looked in my tuxedo before my hands went around her waist and we resumed dancing.  She smiled and looked into my eyes as we continued to twirl around the white marble floor.  Suddenly the lights went out, leaving the room pitch black.  She clutched my hands tightly in the dark until I suddenly felt her hands ripped away from mine.  I heard the ghost of a scream and then nothing.  The room was silent; all I could hear was my frantic breathing and racing heart as I frantically turned around in the darkness trying to locate her.

"Patrick?" I heard her soft voice slowly permeate into my brain.  "Patrick."

I suddenly felt her hand patting my chest.  "Baby?  Are you okay?"

The worried tone of her voice jolted me awake.  "What's wrong?" I asked as I tried to gain my bearings.

"You were yelling and you're squishing me."

I looked down saw how tightly I held her body clutched to mine.  My arms immediately released her.  "Shit, I'm sorry, baby."

"It's okay.  I just wanted to make sure you were okay," she replied, looking at me with worry in her eyes.  "Bad dream?"

She sat up as I nodded reluctantly and wrapped her arms around my neck.  I laid my head against her chest and listened to her heart beat.  She ran her fingers through my hair and kissed the top of my head.  I took a deep breath and sighed as I tried to gather my thoughts.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked gently.

"I can't lose you," I whispered, wrapping my arm around her tightly.

"I'm not going anywhere.  I promise."

"When we meet with Georgia tonight, the first thing we're going to discuss is your safety.  He will not harm you again."

She nodded and gave me a quick kiss before heading off for a shower.  I joined her a few minutes later and soon we were dressed and had finished breakfast.  We then decided to go over all the details of the deal I was going to propose to Georgia.

We turned the bedroom next to the kitchen into a shared office.  A whiteboard sat in one corner and a dark red loveseat sat in the corner opposite the desk.  Ari listed what she wanted out of the deal on the board while I organized all my notes about the case.  I gave her my honest opinion on what I thought Georgia would agree or wouldn't agree to, and what I thought a US Attorney might try to argue if the government wanted to be difficult.

"We really need to find Jacob and Mike," she sighed as she laid her head on the arm of the loveseat in the corner.

"Absolutely.  They can both corroborate everything.  Let's hope Sarah gets lucky."

While we ate dinner, I reminded her to let me do most of the talking since I was her attorney.  I also asked her, well begged might have been a better description, to keep her emotions in check.  When Georgia arrived promptly at six, the three of us exchanged pleasantries and discussed the impending arrival of Nat and Petey's baby for a few minutes before we got down to business.

"Georgia, first we'd both like to thank you for coming on such short notice and for sending Sarah to us to help.  She's been a lot of help," I said.

"Have you heard from her at all?  Her handler has been vague on details, which I expect.  But she's still a close friend of mine."

"James Erickson was tracked to St. Petersburg.  Sarah knows the Russian mob boss who has him, so she left about a week ago to meet with the boss and infiltrate the prison to gain James' trust.  From what I gather, she and the boss have a plan and she hopes to have him stateside within two weeks."