I figured since I haven't posted in a while, I should post two chapters! So, enjoy!
Content note: It gets a little steamy near the end, nothing too graphic but you have been warned. ;)
With a deep in hale, then a slow exhale, Halina opened the door to her office building. She was glad to have gone to see Matt, he had settled her down significantly. She was mortified still, about breaking down like she had, sobbing like a five year old, but Matt had taken the whole situation in stride. She told herself that she'd be completely calm when she showed up at his door that night and do the best she could to make him forget her little meltdown. Maybe she could convince him to sleep with her, that'd be a nice distraction. He was amazing in bed, and she wanted more time to explore his body.
She stopped immediately after climbing the stairs and glanced towards Marci's office. Matt was right, she needed to tell her. She knew something was up and besides, she had told Marci she'd check in when she got back. Stopping briefly to drop off her briefcase and jacket in her office, she went to Marci's office, finding the door open although Marci looked very deep in thought as she scoured the documents in front of her, pen in hand. Halina closed the door and sat across from Marci, who studied her carefully as she sat down.
"You're right, something happened back there." Halina said looking at her hands. "But I rather not talk about it here, with everyone around."
"Okay." Marci said softly, "I understand. Where did you go?"
Halina was glad Marci couldn't see her face because she winced. "To get some air, clear my head." This wasn't a lie; she just didn't specify where.
"You looked…checked out during the meeting. Did you hear any of it?" Marci asked gently.
Halina blushed. "Not really."
Someone knocked on Marci's door and they both turned to look who it was, the front receptionist. She smiled at Marci but turned to Halina.
"Mister Armitt called, looking for your cell number." She said, sending bolt of fear straight through Halina's body. "He said your card only had the company's number on it and wanted to discuss something with you. I told him we don't give out cell numbers without permission. He then asked me to direct him to you, but I told him you weren't in."
Marci seemed to read her body language as Halina suddenly turned away, trying to keep the horror she felt, from her face. "Mister Armitt called, and you didn't tell me? I'm the lead on this case."
"Yes, sorry. I didn't think. He just kept asking about Halina."
"If he calls again, direct him to me. I don't care if he wants to talk with Lina."
"Yes, ma'am." She said then left, closing the door.
Halina heard Marci moving around but didn't look up until Marci was standing in front of her, purse in hand. "Let's go get coffee."
"I…I have work…I've been gone too long." Halina started, trying to gather her thoughts.
"Another hour won't matter. Besides, I'm pretty sure we both deserve a break." Marci said, pulling Halina to her feet.
Marci followed as Halina gathered her jacket from her office once more, and the two of them headed for the exit. Marci then guided Halina to the bar across the street and sat them down in a booth in the corner and ordered them some drinks. Once they had arrived, Marci tilted Halina head up, as she'd been staring at the table.
"It's about that man, isn't it." Marci said firmly. "You know him."
Halina's eyes started to water but the tears didn't fall. "Yes, from college."
"Who is he?" Marci asked more softly this time.
"My ex…we dated for a long time." Halina said then looked at the ceiling, trying to prevent the tears from falling and trying to gather her courage. "He was…abusive, very abusive. Put me in the hospital once."
Marci's expression darkened. "I'll talk with Hogarth; you shouldn't be near that prick."
"No." Halina whispered. "I…I can't let him frighten me away. I've finally started to feel normal again, I can't let him ruin that. And I can't let him see me running away, he'd take enjoyment from that."
"Lina, don't torment yourself like that." Marci said, her voice full of concern. "And if this guy is dangerous, you shouldn't be putting yourself in harms way."
"I should be fine, so long as there are people around." Halina said, more so to herself. "He was always so concerned about his image. He wouldn't do anything that could taint that."
Marci sighed. "Fine, but you will never go see him without me present, okay? And never take calls from him, ever. Just tell the secretaries that you're too busy to take his call."
Halina nodded her head. "Okay."
"For now, you have an excuse to ignore him, Zackman's will likely take you another couple of weeks." Marci touched the hand that Halina was fiddling with the stem of her wine glass. "Are you okay?"
"No." Halina admitted. "I'm utterly terrified, but I can't let him know that. And I can't let him control my life."
Marci grabbed her hand. "If anything strange starts happening, let me know. If there's someone banging on your door, let me know and Foggy will show up with a baseball bat so fast, the man won't know what hit him. Foggy looks soft but he's incredibly brave. He once hit a baseball at a man attacking Karen in the street. Hit him square in the side of the head."
Halina smiled at Marci weakly. "Thanks but I rather you not tell Foggy about this. Anyone, for that matter."
"I won't." Marci promised. "But you're not a lone, okay? You've got me in your corner."
"Thank, Marci." Matt was right, telling Marci helped.
111
After finishing their drinks, they returned to their offices. Marci had emailed her a brief of the meeting so that she at least knew what happened when she was in the middle of having a mental break down. Try as she might, Halina found it hard to focus but still, she managed to get most of what she needed to get done before the end of the day. She figured that Matt would understand if she had to work for a few hours at his place, she didn't particularly feel like being alone in her office once everyone left.
It was almost 8 PM when she left, late but there was at least one other person still in the office. Halina grabbed her jacket and said goodbye to the one remaining person as she headed for the stairs. Once she reached the ground floor, she texted Matt that she was leaving work. It wasn't until she hit send, that she wondered if how he'd read something he couldn't see. She then felt stupid as even she used the 'read out loud' option on her phone when she was too busy working.
Halina had never felt uncomfortable before, walking the streets late at night, but now, just waiting for a cab to appear, made her nervous. Maybe she should have taken Matt up on his offer? Finally, an unoccupied taxi rolled down the street and she quickly flagged it down. Relieved to no longer be on the street, she gave the driver her address then watched the streets as the scenery rolled by. No longer were they covered in beautiful white snow as they had in the early hours of the morning, but rather most of that snow had melted away and what remained was a muddy brown slurry. It seemed a perfect juxtaposition to how she had felt early this morning, walking with Matt and falling in love to now, feeling dark and cold.
When the taxi stopped, she paid the fare and exited the cab, rushing to her building door. She hated feeling so jittery. What were the chances that Caleb even knew where she lived, anyway? She doubted that he would ever come to Hell's Kitchen…except maybe to come see her. Halina shook her head, trying to rid herself of the thoughts that were lodged there. Climbing the steps to her floor, Halina sighed. As she turned to walk down her hall, she suddenly stopped when she saw someone standing there, but quickly realized it was Matt, waiting for her. He turned his head towards her as she started walking again, relieved that he was here. She wasn't sure she could walk the distance to his apartment alone and it felt like a waste of money to take a cab.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." He said, although she didn't know how he could know.
"No, I'm glad you're here." She said earnestly as she walked past him to her door. She opened the door and the two of them entered. "I'll just be a moment." She said, handing him her briefcase. "I hope you don't mind if I work for a while once we get to your apartment, I still have stuff I need to do."
"Of course not, I bring work home with me all the time. I get it." Matt said as she disappeared into the bathroom and started grabbing her makeup bag and other toiletries. "How was your day, otherwise?" Matt asked from the door.
"Okay, I guess." She said, exiting the bathroom and dropping everything onto her couch before heading for her room. "I told Marci, like you suggested." She said, pausing in the doorway.
"Good." Matt said nodding.
"She told me if I ever feel threatened to tell her and she'd send Foggy. Said he'd show up with a baseball bat so fast the person wouldn't know what hit them." She smiled slightly, mostly because of the smile that spread across Matt's face.
"That's no exaggeration. He used to keep a bat in his office. Foggy's brave and protective. Loyal as hell." Matt said still smiling. "And while I love Foggy, your chances are better with me."
"I don't find that hard to believe." Halina smiled deepened. "Not to mention you live much closer."
Matt chuckled as she disappeared into her bedroom and grabbed a day bag and started shoving a fresh pair of pajamas, underwear, and a different pair of heels as she kicked off the ones she had on and stepped into a pair of flats. She opened her closet and looked at her options for tomorrow, and decided on a tight fitting one piece red business dress, the hemline that was cut just above her knees and put it into a suit bag to prevent it from wrinkling. When she re-emerged from her bedroom, she found Matt poking around in her fridge. When he turned, he looked disappointed.
"And what were you hoping to find in there?" She asked, starting to relax as she started jamming her toiletries into her day bag.
"That stew you'd made." Matt rubbing his head sheepishly.
"You liked that did you? I did notice that you'd had a second helping."
"I don't get a lot of home cooking. Like almost never." Matt said smiling. "Mostly a lot of take out or my own sub-par cooking."
"That omelette was pretty decent." Halina said, zipping up her day bag.
"Because it's an omelette, anyone can make an omelette." Matt replied as she lifted her bag. "Ready?"
"Yes." She said as she slung the bag over her shoulder and suit bag over her arm.
Matt opened the door for her, still holding her briefcase, and walked out behind her. Once the door was locked. Matt reached out his with his hand and she took it and smiled as she intentionally bumped into his side.
"So Hogarth must be pretty desperate for help if she's handing us cases." Matt said once they reached the street.
"Yeah, the workload is pretty heavy right now." Halina said as she walked closely beside him. "Especially for Marci. She pretty much got all Foggy's work when he decided to run for DA."
"Sorry." Matt said wincing.
"Why are you sorry? That was Foggy's choice."
"Yeah, but one he made because he felt he needed to protect himself from Fisk. If I had been paying closer attention, I might have been able to prevent Fisk from getting out in the first place."
"From what you were saying before, sounds like recovering from nearly dying is a pretty good reason to not be watching Fisk's every move." Halina had started to notice that Matt seemed to blame himself for a lot of things. Probably still dealing with depression.
"Yeah, I suppose." Matt said, not sounding convinced.
"So, out of ten how fully recovered would you say you are? With one being not at all and ten being completely." Halina asked putting her head on his shoulder as they walked.
Matt didn't respond for a moment then glanced down at her. "Depends on how you want to look at it. You've seen me naked, so you know there aren't any visible signs."
"You mean besides the disturbing number of fresh scars on your body?" Halina asked as she looked up at him.
Matt winced slightly. "Yeah…anyways. I'm not as strong or as agile as I used to be, and my reflexes are a little slow. So, maybe an eight? You know, mostly better but not quite."
"I don't know, you reacted pretty fast when I tried to break your nose." Halina said smiling, making Matt laugh.
"Pure survival instinct." Matt replied bumping into her.
"Does Foggy or Karen know that you were injured? From what Marci said, it just sounded like you just up and disappeared."
Matt winced again. "Not exactly and it's not that simple. There's more to the story but…I'm not ready to tell you yet. I will tell you, just not yet."
"Considering our relationship is less than a day old and we've had very limited contact before that, I get that." Halina said, sincerely.
Matt just nodded. "But no, he doesn't…they don't. I think they just think I got really depressed about the whole thing with Elektra and just…left. Or, Foggy anyway, Karen only knows very little about Elektra. Basically just that she exists and she's the reason things went to shit."
"Don't you think they deserve the truth? Or at least Foggy, anyway." Halina said as they turned the corner. "Marci said that Foggy blamed himself for your disappearance. You should have seen his face when I told him I'd met you. Hopeful, like maybe you were still around and then incredibly sad when he realized it was before your accident."
"I don't want to worry him more." Matt said softly. "He worries about me too much already."
"Don't you think that maybe it'd help him understand what happened and maybe even help him worry about you less?"
"Less? I doubt it, but you might be right. He deserves to know why I disappeared."
"Sorry, I'm grilling you." Halina apologized as she realized that she'd turned a light-hearted conversation into a serious one. "What should we have for supper?" She asked, changing subjects.
"There's an excellent dim sum place not far from here, we can pick up." Matt said, relieved for the change in subject.
The rest of the trip was much more lighthearted as they traded stories of their college years. Halina had to do a bit of dodging to avoid the subject of Caleb, but Matt never mentioned anything when she was very unspecific about things or made odd pauses. They picked up supper and less then twenty minutes later, Matt was letting her into his apartment.
She hadn't really looked at it closely, when she'd been there earlier, too wrapped up in working through her anxiety attack but looking at it now, she realized that it was massive for middle class New York apartment. He had hardwood throughout the entire place and had an otherwise industrial look to it with the beams all being expose, along with unpainted brick and raw surfaces. The kitchen was small and not particularly impressive, but it had all the essentials. Matt dropped her briefcase on his couch then went to take her jacket and hung it by the door before taking off his own.
"Bedroom's right there." Matt said pointing to the sliding barn door as he moved towards the table. "You can get to the bathroom from in there."
"I think I'm going to take a shower, if that's okay. Get into something more comfortable." Halina said. "Start without me." She said as he looked up from rummaging through the takeout bag.
"Are you sure?" Matt asked.
"You're obviously hungry, I'll be fine." Halina said as she walked towards the bedroom. "It's not like a candle lit dinner or anything."
Matt smiled sheepishly. "I should take you on a proper date, huh?"
"That would be nice." Halina stopped in the doorway. "I might have time, sort of, on the weekend but my week is pretty nuts."
"Any special requests?" Matt asked walking across the room to stand directly in front of her.
She kissed his lips. "Nothing fancy, I hate fancy places. Something chill. Otherwise, surprise me. I'm sure I'll be happy with whatever you choose. You're a native New Yorker, I'm sure you can think of something."
She kissed him again and turned away to enter the bathroom. A while later, she walked back into the living area, dressed in her pajamas and feeling infinitely better. Matt sat of the sofa, beer in one hand, a computer in his lap and an earbud in his ear with discarded food containers on the coffee table.
"What are you doing?" Halina asked as she walked to where the takeaway bag still sat on the table and pulled out her meal.
"Working on one of the cases your firm sent us. Marci certainly knows me well, doesn't she." Matt said as he continued to work.
"She said she had a couple that might suit you. I believe she said you'd utterly destroy the opposition." Halina said as she walked over to the couch and sat beside him.
Matt snickered. "I suppose. I'm not exactly known for pulling my punches. I'll admit, it's been a while since I've had to use my brain this way, and it's not co-operating quite like I would like it."
"You're probably tired, also." Halina said before putting some food into her mouth.
"I guess."
"Be kind to yourself." Halina said smacking his leg. "Like you said, you've been out of the saddle for a while. It'll come back."
Halina ate the rest of her meal in silence as Matt occasionally shifted between, scrolling, clicking, and typing. Once she was done, she cleaned up both their containers and smiled as Matt looked back at her and said 'thank you'. She was thirsty so she helped herself to one of his beers and brought him another before coming back and settling in next to him once more. For two hours they worked in near silence with one occasionally asking questions, but otherwise consumed with what they were doing. Halina let out a happy sigh as she hit save on her computer and dropped her laptop on to Matt's coffee table.
"Done." He said without looking up.
"Yup." She replied then smiled as she reached over and pulled the computer from his hand and kissed him deeply.
Matt didn't resist for a second, dropping the pen in his hand and practically throwing his earbud away before pulling Halina into his lap. It wasn't long before she found herself completely naked in his bed with him equally naked and on top of her. Every shitty thing that had happened that day was forgot as he thrust himself inside her. If possible, their love making was even more vigorous than the night before, with multiple mind-blowing orgasms, with her first double header, one after the other. Matt was magnificent and also ever attentive to her needs, while his own seemed easily sated. They fell asleep, tangled up in each other, Halina feeling like her world great and safe.
111
Halina was awakened the next morning to the sound of her phone ringing from where she had left it the night before. Matt groaned as he tightened his grasp on her making chuckle tiredly.
"Ignore it, its too early." Matt muffled voice came as he had his face shoved into his pillow.
She kissed his restraining arm then lifted it out of the way so she could turn and grab her phone. She squinted at the screen, 4:30, and then groaned at the unknown caller ID. With a sigh, she hit the answer button.
"Halina Jackson." She said laying back and stifling a yawn.
"You little whore, you didn't leave his apartment last night. Who is he?"
"How'd you get this number?" Halina asked, as she sat up quickly trying to control the fear that suddenly reared up. "How do you know where I am?"
Matt must have heard her fear instantly and grabbed the phone. "Look, you worthless sack of shit, you contact Halina again, and I will find you and break your legs. If she so much as feels a little bit like she's in danger, I'll throw you off a building. Stay away from her, Caleb." Matt hung up and looked at her worriedly. "Halina." He said softly.
Halina just put her face to his chest and the two of the laid back again, Matt rubbing her bare back as she stared off into space, trying to grasp on to that feeling of bliss she had just moments earlier. After a while, she moved her body to lie beside him and rested her head on his shoulder, with one arm hugging his scared torso.
"I wish he didn't have this power over me." She whispered.
"Then don't let him." Matt said gently. "You're a strong woman Halina, you can protect yourself."
"He's stronger." Her voiced sounded so small. "I used to fight back, but he's a black belt. I just know a bit of boxing."
"Black belt in what?" Matt asked.
"Jiu Jitsu." Halina said, "It's been a few years, maybe he isn't as good anymore."
"I know its hard, being so afraid. You are strong enough, but you need to have confidence in yourself." Matt said hugging her tightly. "I can make you stronger, if you want, if it'll make you feel safer."
"You'd do that?" Halina lifted her head; she had wanted him to teach her what he knew but she now felt foolish asking with what was going on.
"I'd do anything for you." He said firmly. "I mean it…I…" Matt sighed. "Never mind but yeah, I know a lot about fighting, I will help you learn more. You're smart and you already know how to fight. It wouldn't take long before that cheap little black belt will look like child's play to you."
"Really?"
"Yeah. I need to brush up anyways, recondition myself properly again."
Halina smiled at him weakly. "Okay."
"We can even practice at Fogwell's."
"Oh shit!" Halina said sitting up suddenly. "I was supposed to clean it last night."
"How about I talk to Ted and stop him from making you clean the place? You have enough work as it is." Matt said smiling a little but obviously still concerned about her.
Halina looked at him guiltily. "That'd be great."
"Consider it done. Besides, I doubt he'll notice."
Halina looked at her phone which still sat on the bed beside Matt. "You sounded very…scary talking to…him."
Matt winced. "I'm sorry, I hope I didn't…"
"No." Halina said instantly. "Like I said, I've always known that you could be dangerous, if you wanted to be. I've just never heard you talk like that before."
"I have a bit of a temper." Matt said looking at her guiltily. "I'm usually pretty good at keeping it in check, like say, when I'm practicing law but sometimes…well, Fogwell's is convenient and somewhat necessary."
"Yes, it wouldn't look good if you started punching clients." She said smiling as she laid down next to him again.
"I'm glad I didn't scare you; I really don't want to. I…" For the second time, Matt stopped whatever words were wanting to come out. "You…you've become very…important to me, very quickly. I tend to screw relationships up pretty fast and…" Matt sighed in frustration as he rubbed his face.
Halina ran a finger over one of the many scars on his chest. "I'm not so easy to get rid of, you know. You may be stuck with me for a while."
When Matt removed his hands from his face, Halina pulled herself on top of his naked body and began kissing him deeply as she reached between his legs and stroked his manhood. He groaned and Halina smiled as it responded instantly to her touch.
"I" Matt panted, extremely aroused as she continued kissing him. "I don't want to…take…advantage of you…you're…"
Halina ignored him as she grasped his manhood and slid him inside her. Matt shuddered as he grasped her hips then moaned as she began to rock her hips back and forth. His capacity to resist, faded away with her first thrust. She wanted that feeling back, that bliss, and she was going to have it. She was not going to go to work, feeling afraid. Plus, she was pretty sure she was already in love with him, and he was trying to say the same to her, already, but was to frighten to say it. So, she decided to let their bodies do the talking. She didn't go easy on him and rode him with enthusiasm, resulting in a quick orgasm for both of them. Halina was okay with a quickie, he'd effectively made love to her last night, she just needed the rush of pleasure.
Once spent, she collapsed beside him once more and he just simply laid there, spread eagle, staring into space, both of them completely exposed as Halina had furiously thrown the blanket out of her way in her eagerness to ride him. After a while he looked over at her, as she slowly sat up, crawled a little way and reached to grab her phone from where in now lay on the floor by the foot of the bed, and look at the time.
"You're going to be the death of me." He exhaled running his fingers down her spine when she had sat back.
Halina looked back at him over her shoulder. "At least you'll be gratified." She said, grinning wickedly. "I better get ready for work."
She kissed his exposed, shining and still erect cock, making him flinch, then got out of bed. She went into the bathroom and pulled out her toiletries then started the water and stepped into the shower. She had just finished cleaning herself and shaving her legs when Matt pulled the curtain back, still naked with his manhood still at full attention.
"Can I join you?" He asked smiling at her deviously.
Halina stepped back as she bit her lip. "If you must."
She was quickly enveloped by him, and they made quick work of each other. Halina womanhood was starting to feel a little sore by this point but still she wanted him, and he had endless energy. Once she finally got herself to leave him in the shower, she went about getting ready. Matt had appeared momentarily back in the bathroom a while later, in a suit, to grab a toothbrush then kissed her neck before exiting again into the living room.
"Jesus." She said looking at her phone when she'd finally finished with her hair and makeup, it was already six.
"You're not going to be late." Matt said from the living room, computer once again in his lap, essentially dressed and looking like he was waiting for her.
"I know, but I really should get going." Halina said as she started jamming her laptop and paperwork back into her briefcase.
"What's the case?" Matt asked, feigning disinterest but she was pretty sure she knew what he was asking, worried that she was going to be seeing Caleb today.
"Don't worry, its just my Zackman's suit. It's still my main focus for now." Halina said straightening up. Matt stood up as he closed his computer and put it into his own briefcase. "Are you leaving too?"
"Yeah, to go with you." Matt said matter of factly.
"Matt, I don't need you to escort me everywhere." Halina said as she watched him pull on his suit jacket.
"I know, but I'm coming anyways." Matt said then picked up his briefcase and walked over to her.
"That's a long way to go just to come back to Hell's Kitchen." She said as pressing herself against him as she looked up at him, his glasses obscuring his beautiful eyes.
"I know but I'm coming anyways." She began to object but Matt put a gentle finger on her lips to silence her. "I'm incredibly stubborn when I want to be and I'm not going to back down. Besides, there's a great coffee shop near there with the best scones. Foggy would be grateful if I brought a couple." He said smiling down at her.