Tag: suspense

Natasha froze.

That was her brother’s voice.

Brandon was here.

Here.

In Tony’s apartment.

A place that was supposed to be safe.

Fear her her muscles locking up, her body refusing to cooperate, her lungs wanting to stop working right here and now so she didn’t have to face the bogey man of her nightmares.

“You’re not getting to her, Brandon,” Tony’s calm, sure, confident voice spoke.

“I have plans for you later,” Brandon snapped. “Nobody double crosses me and lives. But first I need to teach my sister a few lessons. Then I’m going to find the worst man I can and sell her to him. That will teach her.”

Violent shudders rocked her body.

No.

She couldn’t survive that.

Wouldn’t.

“I won’t let you hurt her again, Brandon,” Tony said like it was a foregone conclusion.

Brandon just laughed. “How exactly do you think you’re going to stop me?”

Tony’s weapon laid on the kitchen table, alongside the dishes she’d set out in preparation of sharing a meal with Garret. Could she …

“I’ll do whatever it takes to stop you,” Tony said.

There was no way she could allow him to sacrifice himself for her. So she did what she had to do.

Natasha walked out holding Tony’s gun, finding Garret bleeding on the floor, Tony on his knees, his hands behind his head, and Brandon standing in the middle of the room his weapon aimed at Tony’s head.

“What do you think you’re going to do with that?” Brandon asked, laughing at her. “Present.”

The word urged her body to do as it was told. If she didn’t she’d be hurt.

“Present, Natasha. Now,” Brandon snapped.

Her body trembled with the need to obey, but if she did then she forfeited all of their lives.

Four weeks.

That’s how long it had been since he’d rescued Natasha and she’d moved into his apartment. Things between them had settled into a comfortable pattern. They’d gotten to know one another and there was definitely something growing between them.

But the more things improved between them the harder it got.

Tony was still feeling guilty for leaving Natasha the way he did. Everything that had happened to her was on his shoulders. He should have taken his time, set up a proper trap, made sure that there were protections in place for her.

How did she not hate him?

If there was one thing he was absolutely sure of it was that she was too good for him.

Way too good.

Which is why he would spend the rest of his life trying to make it up to her.

If she let him.

“Hey, honey,” he said as he walked into the kitchen. One thing they’d both learned over the last month was that Natasha didn’t like anyone sneaking up on her. Even if it was accidental. A lot of therapy was helping but she still had a lot of triggers and he did his best to accomodate them all so he didn’t set off panic attacks.

“Hey,” she returned, giving him a small smile. While her smiles might be mostly small they were bright, like little bursts of sunshine, and he was so honoured that she was allowing him to be there for her during this difficult time.

“Garret is on his way up,” he told her. His partner had also become a friend and support for Natasha.

“Dinner is almost ready,” she told him. Even though he had assured her that she didn’t have to cook for them she’d insisted. Told him she enjoyed cooking, it was relaxing and therapeutic, so he’d helped in any way she wanted while also giving her space if she needed it.

When there was a knock on his door he headed out of the kitchen towards the living room. It was a tightrope trying dealing with Natasha, not wanting to upset her and give her the space she sometimes needed while also ensuring she knew he was there for her one hundred percent. But hard as it was he was happy to do it, enjoyed her company, and grew more enamoured with her every day.

The smile fell from his lips as he opened the door and Garret stepped inside.

His partner wasn’t alone.

After four weeks of no sightings of Brandon the man was now standing in the hall outside his building.

Garret had betrayed them?

Fury ignited inside him until he saw his partner’s pale face.

“I’m sorry,” Garret mumbled before collapsing to the floor half in and half out of the door and Tony saw all the blood.

“Time for a family reunion,” Brandon beamed, pointing a weapon at him.

It all felt surreal.

After weeks of being her brother’s prisoner, being beaten down and then built back up again in the image he wanted for her, Natasha could hardly get her head around the idea that she was free.

She was wearing Tony’s t-shirt and a pair of hospital scrub pants. She’d been allowed to take a shower at the hospital once the doctors had finished examining her and tending to her minor wounds. She’d been given something to eat and as much water to drink as she wanted.

She was mostly clean, no longer hungry, and dressed. It should feel wonderful, and it did feel good, but knowing that it could all be snatched away again at a moment’s notice tainted what should be a joyous day.

True to his word Tony hadn’t left her side. With Brandon still out there, Tony knew he would do ANYTHING to protect Natasha. That was the only thing stopping her from falling apart.

“Home sweet home,” Tony announced after opening the door to his apartment.

They hadn’t exchanged many words, but Natasha had found they didn’t have to. Things weren’t awkward between them, and once she learned he’d only been pretending to buy her and he’d been searching frantically for her the entire time she was gone there was nothing to be angry with him about.

“What do you need, honey?” Tony asked, his big body warm and strong beside her as he locked his door behind them.

Natasha knew she was supposed to feel safe now. She’d been rescued, Brandon’s men arrested or dead, locked inside an apartment with an armed man who would do anything to protect her, Garret in the lobby ready to eliminate a threat if one appeared, other cops watching the building.

But she didn’t feel safe.

She felt empty.

“I’m here, honey, right here.” Tony’s hands rested lightly on her shoulders, gently massaging the tight muscles there and she sighed and leaned back against him.

The one thing she wanted she wasn’t sure she could have.

She wanted Tony. Here now, but also in the future. Something in him called out to something in her, some unseen force drawing them together. For now she couldn’t think further into the future than the next couple of minutes, so she wasn’t going to try. If there was one thing this ordeal had taught her it was to live in the moment because your next moment wasn’t guaranteed.

Tilting her head back to look up at Tony she asked for what she needed. “Hold me?”

A smile broke out on his handsome face, not even the bruises and cuts marring it could detract from it. “Nothing I’d love more.”

The second his strong arms gathered her up and he carried her over to his couch, sitting down and settling her in his lap, Natasha finally felt safe enough to close her eyes and allow herself to drift off to sleep, safe in the knowledge that Tony wouldn’t let anyone hurt her ever again.

Sure he must have heard his partner wrong, Tony just stared at Garret.

“What did you just say?” he growled, making Natasha shiver in his arms.

“Brandon was gone,” Garret repeated. “We found a tunnel under the house.”

“We knew about the tunnel,” he snapped, fighting to keep his control only because he didn’t want to frighten Natasha even more than she already had been.

“This was another one. One we didn’t know about,” his partner explained apologetically.

“Well find him,” Tony ordered, like it was that simple.

“We’re working on it. I swear we’ll get him,” Garret vowed.

In his arms, Natasha’s shaking increased. “Wh-what about m-me? M-my brother h-hates me.”

No way would he allow Brandon to touch another hair on his sister’s head. Tony might have been working on this case for over a year but now he was no longer motivated solely for justice for his sister. Now it was also about this sweet, brave woman he clutched against his chest.

There was only one way to ensure Natasha was safe. One person he trusted to protect her.

Pulling back, Tony gripped Natasha’s shoulders, met her watery gaze with his fiery one. “I promise you he will not touch you again. Until we find him I am not leaving your side, you will not be out of my line of sight for any reason.”

What happened after that he wasn’t sure, but one thing he did know, he didn’t want to let Natasha go, not ever.

Everything hurt.

Including her heart.

But that was a different kind of pain that came from her brother’s horrific betrayal.

Question was, had Tony also betrayed her?

He was still talking, his lips moving in earnest, but was she even listening?

It was hard to hear anything through the thrumming of her pulse.

But she had to focus.

Had to figure out if she could trust the man on his knees before her.

“Please, Natasha, whatever you need me to do to prove to you that I never betrayed you, I’ll do.”

Tony sounded sincere, and his dark eyes pleaded with her to believe him, and crazy as it was … Natasha thought she did.

Her head jerked in a tiny nod, and the next thing she knew she was in his arms, being held gently and fiercely all at the same time.

“I’m sorry it took me so long to find you,” Tony whispered, his lips held against the top of her head.

“Tony.”

They both turned at the voice of a newcomer. She saw Garret standing there, there was empathy in his eyes as he looked down at her. Fear too.

“What is it?” Tony asked his partner.

“There weren’t the right number of bodies in the building,” Garret told them.

Tony’s hold on her tightened. “What do you mean?”

“Brandon wasn’t in the house when it exploded. He’s still out there somewhere.”