Chapter 3

"So Mr. Calaway, we can expect you tomorrow around ten o'clock in the morning?" Sandra asked, already jotting down a few notes in her schedule book.

"Yes darlin', it might be a little later, but not much after that." Mark replied, rubbing his temples, knowing he had to go oversee what was going on at the hospital in Dallas. "I'll be there."

"Very good, we'll see you then."

Mark sighed and hung up the phone, leaning back against the couch with a long neck beer in hand. He was exhausted from work and just wanted to relax, taking another long swig. Who knew opening up a security company would be such a damn hassle?

Mark's company specialized in training new cops of the Houston area on weapon training. Other companies, like Medical City Dallas Hospital, contacted him as well to install security and Mark hired people to do that for him. However, he was a perfectionist when it came to his company and decided to make the near four hour drive from Houston to Dallas to make sure the guy he hired did the job right.

Today was rough; Mark couldn't focus on doing all of the paperwork and still had the stack of folders lying strewn on the coffee table. They were all clients who needed security installed throughout Houston, San Antonio, Dallas and Austin. The police department also contacted him, needing training done as soon as possible for the new officers they hired, who just graduated from the academy.

No matter how hard Mark tried, he couldn't stop thinking about the past…about her. Draining the long neck, Mark tossed it in the recycle bin and grabbed another one, standing in the kitchen staring out the window. He didn't understand what happened, even after three years, and wondered what he'd done to push her away. She'd told him they were going in separate directions and she had to get away to find herself, which in Mark's mind, was a bunch of lies.

Nalani Olivia Kensington-Martin was everything Mark could've wanted in a woman and more. She had a gorgeous smile and personality, honey locks and blue eyes always taking his breath away. He honestly saw himself marrying her one day, but she hadn't given them a full chance at a future. Mark knew that was partially his fault because of what happened before he even met Nalani…before he finally got his act together and grew up.

Mark had a rough past that involved violence, robbery, and anything else that broke the law. Name it and he'd done it with his group of friends, a small crew known as the Hell Raisers. Of course, they did simple things that ticked the police department of Houston off, painting the town red, and robbing liquor stores. Mark could hotwire a car in two point five seconds or break into any building, though he stopped before completely ruining his life.

It all came to a head when Scott came up to him with a master plan to rob a mansion on the outskirts of Houston. Scott Mitchell was a little over six feet tall and had short auburn red hair with blue eyes, almost one hundred percent Irish. He always wore blue jean overalls with no shirt, a true southern hillbilly. Mark made fun of him several times to put on a shirt, but Scott declined, always complaining about how hot he was.

Mark didn't mind robbing small liquor stores because most of them couldn't afford proper security, but he knew innocent people lived in that mansion. He refused to be a part of it and declined Scott's offer, stating he was getting out of the crew. Mark had enough and wanted to get his life together, the guilt for everything he'd done finally catching up with him. His conscience was kicking his ass and Mark finally couldn't ignore it anymore, which ticked Scott off.

"Why do you gotta be like that, man? Come on, this is a HUGE bust and we can get a LOT of dough!" Scott had tried convincing Mark, scowling when the man simply threw his hands up.

"I'm not doin' it. I'm done with this shit, Scott. It's not worth it anymore." He glanced at Kevin, Steve, Brad, Nick, Jack and John, folding his arms over his chest. "I'm out, you can do what you want, but I don't want any part of it."

"Get the fuck outta here then, chicken shit!" Scott growled, shoving Mark and ended up eating Mark's fist when he punched Scott in the face. He went flying through the air and landed on his back with a hard thud, causing the rest of the guys to shake their heads.

Everyone knew not to piss Mark off.

That was the best decision Mark could've made with his life, having heard about two murders taking place during the robbery. Mark vowed to make amends, to atone for his past with the crew, and came up with the idea to open up his own security business. Steve and Kevin had gotten out of the crew as well, having decided against going with Scott and the others that night. All they knew was that two murders took place and they ended up escaping with not being caught by the police, no dough in hand.

"Serves'em right." Mark muttered, draining his second beer and set the bottle down on the counter, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Mark honestly wished Scott and the others had been caught, but they were slick. There were no fingerprints or DNA that matched anything that linked them to the crime. Mark had heard a seventeen year old girl had been brutally raped and murdered, stabbed over fifty times.

It made him physically sick because he knew one of the crew had done that and stripped her clean of all clothing, no semen found. That meant whoever raped her used a condom. Mark knew they weren't stupid by any means and silently hoped whoever raped that poor girl burned in the depths of hell.

When Scott tried contacting him again several months later, Mark told him he never wanted to talk to him again because he was out of the crew. He was in the process of starting his own security company, which was now known as Calaway's Safety Inc. It was also well known as C.S.I., which is how the receptionist at the company's headquarters answered phone calls.

He hadn't heard from Scott in nearly six years.

His mind instantly went back to Nalani.

He wondered if she was happy and why she left him without a proper explanation. She threw some bullshit lies at him and walked out of his life, which nearly destroyed Mark. He loved that woman more than anything and she shattered his heart. He wished he could forget about her and move on, but Mark couldn't and didn't understand why. Maybe they had unfinished business; maybe he needed some kind of closure because her leaving left a bitter taste in his mouth.

Mark thought they were happy and had enough spontaneity in their love life to keep the spark alive. Hell, Mark could feel the spark between them the day Nalani walked away from him in a fit of tears. She didn't want to leave him and Mark could feel it deep in his heart, fighting as much as he could to stop her. Nalani simply told him to forget she ever existed and she couldn't be with him anymore, getting in her car peeling out of his driveway.

The squeal of tires still echoed in Mark's head after three years.

Mark grabbed his third long neck and walked into the den, sitting down in front of his huge flat screen television, simply staring straight ahead. He'd turned the fireplace on; just needing some kind of sound besides the uncomfortable silence he'd suffered through for three years. He honestly missed Nalani and wished she wouldn't have left him the way she did. Closing his eyes, Mark took a long swig as the pain washed over him, lowering his head.

There was one other thing that could've scared Nalani away, but Mark was sure he hadn't told her the truth. Nalani had finally told him about her family's brutal murder and robbery at the Kensington mansion. Mark never realized her family was the same ones that Scott and the others murdered for their fortune, raping her baby sister in the process.

Mark couldn't believe that was Nalani's family and felt sick to his stomach, having disappeared for three days shortly after. He left to track down the crew, Scott in particular, to find out what exactly happened that night. Only he couldn't find Scott anywhere, it was almost as if the man disappeared off the face of the earth and left Mark feeling like a failure.

Vowing to never tell Nalani the truth, Mark returned back home and immediately noticed a change in her behavior. Mark didn't think anything of it then, chalking it up to her still mourning the death of her family, and comforted the best he could. Nalani slowly distanced herself from him, refusing to make love, and Mark knew she had an insatiable appetite when it came to sex…just like him.

For the next three months, Nalani tried acting like everything was fine between them, finally allowing Mark to touch her after a month. He held her at night, wishing she would tell him what was wrong, and even caught her crying in the bathroom a couple times. Again, he chalked it up to her having demons to deal with and left her alone, which was a huge mistake on his part.

"I shoulda made her tell me somehow." He muttered, draining the fourth long neck and tossed it right in the fireplace, scowling.

Finally, it got to the point where Mark would work late hours just to give Nalani some space, only to come home after three months of no communication. Her bags were packed and her face was tear-streaked, the pain shining in her blue eyes. He would never forget how haunted she looked, the fear burning in her gaze. Trying to stop her wasn't happening and all Mark could do was plead for her to talk to him about whatever was bothering her.

"I love you…"

"I love you too, but I can't stay here anymore."

How could she say she loved him, only to leave him high and dry like that? Mark slammed his fist on the coffee table in frustration and stood up, walking out on the back patio, staring at the beautiful sunset. He remembered coming up behind Nalani after a hard day of work, finding her standing out here and wrapped her in his strong arms, his chin resting on her shoulder.

She would melt against him and ask him how his day was, how she missed him. Mark would nuzzle her neck affectionately and they would eat whatever Nalani made for dinner. That was followed by a ride on his motorcycle or spending the rest of the night making love.

Three years they were together that involved passionate fighting and incredible sex. He could talk to her about anything and Nalani knew how to make him forget whenever he had a horrible day at work. She knew how to relax him, how to read his body language, and knew exactly what to do to turn him on the fastest.

Deciding to call it a night, Mark headed upstairs to take a much needed shower, not even buzzed because of how much thinking he'd done. Nalani was always on the forefront of his mind whenever he was alone. Mark didn't understand it and heaved a sigh, pushing open the bathroom door. He had a huge see through shower along with a black garden tub, a gift to Nalani for their one year anniversary.

Groaning, Mark stripped out of his jeans and boots before stepping under the hot sprays, feeling them envelope him whole. This shower held a lot of memories too, Mark had contemplated moving several times, but he wouldn't. He was comfortable in this house and he wasn't going to let bittersweet memories conflict that.

Washing his black hair, Mark planted both huge hands against the shower wall, and let the sprays pound on top of him. Something told Mark he wouldn't be getting much sleep that night and he desperately needed it, knowing he had to get up at the crack of dawn to take a long ride to Dallas. He was taking one of his motorcycles, not having had time lately to go for a ride and needing one.

Stepping out of the shower an hour later, Mark towel dried himself off and hung it up on the rack, tossing his clothes in the hamper. He brushed his hair and teeth, shaved and padded down the hallway to the spare bedroom. He couldn't sleep in his bedroom anymore ever since she left because he could smell Nalani everywhere, even after he washed all of the sheets and blankets. It was almost as if her scent was permanently caked into his room…their room.

Slipping into the bed, Mark stared up at the ceiling for a long time, contemplating several things. He often thought about tracking her down and forcing her to tell him why she left. Mark felt he deserved a full explanation, but at the same time, he didn't want to bother her. Obviously she left him for a reason and refused to tell him, so why should Mark waste his time and energy finding her?

She was scared, she'd been scared ever since they met and let that fear get the best of her. If he could just see her again, just once, then he could make things right, even if he had to tell her the truth about the murder of her family. He didn't know specifically who killed them, but Mark had a pretty good suspicion. If Nalani found out he was involved with the crew who killed her family, then she'd kept it hidden well.

"You need to just forget 'bout her and move on, man." His friend Steve had said repeatedly and actually tried getting Mark laid several times.

None of the attempts worked, Mark simply told Steve he needed time to get over Nalani and threatened the man bodily harm if he kept the antics up. Steve reluctantly backed off and left Mark to do whatever he had to do, though that didn't stop the men from going out to bars. Steve was a bar hopping gigolo, always on pussy patrol as he liked calling it. Mark warned him he would end up getting a disease if he didn't stop screwing anything with two legs.

He knew Steve was trying to help, but all Mark could think about was Nalani and three years later, absolutely nothing changed. Mark knew she was his soul mate and one day they would cross paths again. One day Mark would finally know the truth about why Nalani really left.

Until that time arrived, he wouldn't be able to move on with his life fully.