Thank you for your continued support and for coming along on this little journey with me.

You guys have been fantastic.

I've appreciated every single review, every kind concern and every word of encouragement.

THANK YOU for your patronage, regarding my lock down madness.

Look out for a new story in a couple days and an update for The Greatest Gift of All.

Standard disclaimer.

After Sam had called my mom, she and David rushed outside.

Sam explained what had transpired and my mom sat down hard on the curb and put her head in her hands.

David advised me to file a restraining order and a police report immediately.

I didn't dispute him.

Then, he was on his cell phone, calling in a favor from the judge. He also called his contact at the police station.

While he was on hold, he turned the phone away from his mouth and said,

"Sam, you were smart not to say anything, in front of Tom about the break-in."

Sam nodded.

He had used good judgment, even in a state of rage.

"If he had known you'd recognized him, he might have fled. But I'm confident, he'll be picked up fairly quickly and charged. His case has already been flagged by the mayor," David said, looking at me.

I felt gratitude to Brian, for helping me in that small way, when he didn't even have to.

"As long as you're willing to identify him in a lineup?" David said, more than asked.

"Of course," Sam replied.

"How do we know he won't run now?" my mom asked, her eyes laced with fear.

"I guess there's still that possibility," I said finally. "But I made it seem, like we didn't want any more trouble. I just hope he bought it."

Mom knelt in front of me and grabbed my hands.

"I'm so sorry, baby. About everything."

I had finally gotten my apology, on a street corner, in the middle of all this chaos.

The relief I felt, overwhelmed my senses, and I couldn't control the tears leaking from my eyes.

Or stop my hands from shaking, as my mother grasped them in hers.

"I know you are, mom."

David accompanied us to file the reports and used his contacts to expedite the order.

The detective on the case said, they had Tom's home and work addresses and that he was bound to show up, in one place or the other today.

Mom also provided the names, of some local bars he frequented, which was helpful, but made me roll my eyes.

After all was said and done, Sam drove us home.

Blood was still caked into his hair and shirt. But other than the bruise forming above his cheekbone, he only admitted to feeling sore.

He wouldn't even let me drive.

I was so thankful he wasn't more hurt. And I prayed the whole way home, that Tom would be picked up soon.

David assured us, that our local police department, was on alert and would increase security on our street.

I was pretty sure, I'd only feel safe, if I moved out of my building, but in the meantime, I needed to take one day at a time...one hour at a time.

It felt like, I'd never rid Tom from my life.

And now Sam was undeniably involved.

What a huge-ass mess

Sam parked in the back lot and we headed inside.

"Let's get your stuff. You're staying with me tonight, and every night, until I know it's safe," he said.

I didn't argue the point.

I knew he was right.

He'd also called our landlord on the way home and alerted him of the situation. I hadn't even thought of that.

While I was in my room, gathering clean clothes, I avoided looking at the same window, that Tom had attempted to break through.

I figured my life would look starkly different now, had Sam not come home, when he did that night.

I shut off my bedroom light and was headed towards the living room, when I got a call from David.

I put him on speakerphone.

"They've got him," he said, out of breath. I sank down on the edge of the couch. "Snatched him at his job. His boss said he had gotten there late, because, of some fractured ribs."

Sam kissed my forehead, and I couldn't help allowing a small smile.

"Oh my God..." I laid my head back against the cushions, relief coursing through me. "...Thank you for all of your help, David."

"Wait, Mercedes, there's more." Sam stopped pacing and looked at me, concern in his eyes.

"O...kay." I braced my fist to my knee.

"There was a warrant out for his arrest in another county...for attempted rape."

Sam was immediately next to me, rubbing my shoulders, while I inhaled a sharp, lungful of air.

"You...you're kidding."

I guess, I had always known in the back of my mind, that I couldn't have been the only one.

Someone else out there had told.

They were braver than I was.

And in that moment, I said a silent thank you, to whoever that girl was.

I hoped against hope, that she'd had the support and trust and love, that I had never had.

Until now.

"There's still a chance he could get out on bail," David said, as reality slammed back into me. "But if these charges stick, he'll be going away for a long time."

I couldn't stop the fat trails of tears, coursing down my face.

"Thank you again for everything, David."

"You're very welcome. If we got another bastard off the street, then I've done my job."

I sat up and took a deep breath.

"Is my mom there with you?"

"Um...yeah," he said, awkwardly. I pictured him at our kitchen table, mom already whipping up dinner, like she'd done for him, a couple years ago. "Yeah, she is."

"Can you put her on the phone for a minute?"

"Of course."

"Oh, and David? One more thing." I stood up and stared out the window, at the street lamps flashing on. "Treat my momma right."

I looked back at Sam.

He was shocked by my own declaration.

But he got it.

He understood why I'd said it.

A ghost of a smile touched his lips, and he winked.

After I'd chatted with my mom for five minutes more and asked her to have Adrian call me, Sam and I went up to the fifth floor.

He wanted me with him, and I needed to be there, too.

My apartment just didn't feel right, for tonight.

It was filled with coiled shadows, whispered threats, and murky recollections.

I'd rather work through all of those emotions in the daytime, when I could recall all the brighter and sweeter memories, I'd created in my first-floor apartment.

I placed my overnight bag in Sam's room, while he thirstily guzzled a tall glass of water, in his kitchen.

He looked exhausted and worn, and I had the strong urge to take care of him.

"Let's go," I said. "I'm putting you in the shower."

We both undressed and stood beneath the stream of hot water.

I carefully shampooed the blood out of Sam's hair, checking for any other injuries.

Then I washed his body, delicately stroking the washcloth around the bruise, that had formed on his rib cage.

"I can't believe you did that for me," I said.

I was talking about several things at once.

The potential break-in. The fight with Tom and driving to court with me, in the first place, that morning.

"Nobody's going to harm one hair on your precious head, if I have anything to say about it," he said and then,

"Although you certainly kicked the shit out of Tom. He didn't know what hit him."

I smiled and leaned my head into his chest, feeling the water wash down my back, as he rinsed shampoo from my hair.

"I want you in my life for a very long time," he said, lifting my face with his hands. "Mercedes, I lo..."

I sealed my mouth over his, before he could get the words out.

He hadn't told me he loved me, since that note with the flowers.

Maybe, he'd been waiting for me to say it back. Maybe, he didn't want to overwhelm or rush me.

But, I didn't need to hear the words fall from his lips, right then.

I already knew how he felt.

He had already showed me, plenty today.

Our kiss turned passionate...all lips and tongue and slick bodies.

His hardness bumped against my stomach, sending a shock wave through me.

I reached down, stroked him lightly, and felt him throb between my fingers.

"Let me take care of you." I knelt down and flicked my tongue against his skin.

"God, Mercedes," he groaned.

Just as my lips were sealing around his tip, he reached for my arms and pulled me up. His eyes were dark...so dark...with need.

"I want to feel connected to you," he growled against my lips. "I need to be inside you. Right now."

His gruff voice sent a path of goose flesh between my thighs.

I reached for one of the condoms, that he now stored in his bathroom drawer and helped sheathed his rigid member.

He lifted me up, as if I weighed nothing at all. Like he didn't have any bruised ribs.

And I wrapped my legs around his waist, as he pinned me against the shower wall.

He thrusted into me, whipping all lucid thoughts out of my head.

It was just him and me in our own little perfect bubble.

And it felt so amazingly right, when everything that had happened that day, felt so infuriatingly wrong.

His grip tightened on my thighs, as he nestled himself deeper.

My head fell back against the cool tiles, and I moaned out his name.

"Baby," he whispered, and then gave me a slow, molten kiss, that stole my breath away.

All of my muscles went liquid, and I was thankful that he was holding me up.

When he moved against me, it wasn't with the hungry need I'd anticipated, given his haste to make love.

It was with a maddening fluidity, that made me shudder against him.

A yearning flickered inside my chest and radiated outward.

Nothing in the world mattered, except, the drugging rhythm of his body and the soothing murmur of his voice.

A cry wrenched from my throat and my muscles jerked, as he pushed me higher against the wall and drove himself in more deeply...repeatedly.

My pleasure turned into a raging inferno, as my breath caught and my mouth fell open.

"Oh God...Sam...yes!"

He answered my cry, with his hips, snapping them into a more accelerated action, bringing me closer to the edge.

We both came fast and hard, like we had poured all of the turmoil and chaos of the day, into each other.

Afterwards, we lay on his bed kissing, wrapped in nothing more than his soft, warm sheets.

I didn't know what was going to happen after today.

There was uncertainty and confusion and a good amount of fear.

But at that moment, I was so glad to be enveloped in the arms, of this beautiful man, who I cared for unfathomably.

Who would never make me feel unsafe, or invisible.

Who would protect my heart and my body.

If only I let him.

I broke out of the kiss, to catch my breath and traced my fingers over his swollen cheek.

Then my lips found his ear.

"Ask me what I'm feeling right now."

"In five words or less?" he asked, a smile quirking his lips. I kissed his forehead, then his nose.

"Of course." He cleared his throat.

"Ms. Jones, please tell me what you're feeling this very instant, in five words or less. And no cheating."

I sat up and straddled him, my lips close to his, our eyes locked, in one long, unblinking look.

"Fierce... intense...toe-curling...love."

And then, I poured all of those words into a kiss, leaving him panting and breathless.

Making sure he felt, all of my truths, to the very depths of his heart.

And in all the spaces between.

That's it. Stay safe, always.