Flawed (Imperfectly Perfect Book 1)

by Lym Cruz

  I was losing hope.

  The police were close and yet Brittany was getting away.

  I linked my fingers and made a prayer. “God, I know I’ve not been much of a good girl. And I’m not sure that you are listening to me right now but if you are, please help me get out of this.”

  We didn’t get very far before the sound of sirens came from behind us. I exhaled.

  Thank you, God.

  “No,” Brittany cried, hitting the steering wheel. “What am I going to do?”

  “Stop, Brittany. Just stop.”

  She didn’t listen to me and stepped on the gas. The car hiccupped and I slid forward, hitting my head on the front seat. She took a sharp right and the car came to a screeching halt. Brittany was confused and didn’t know what to do to get out of this mess.

  “Turn off your engine and throw the keys out of the car.” The sound came from speakers.

  God did hear me.

  I sat up and smiled. We were blocked. There were at least four police cars with lights flashing in front of us and more behind. Brittany switched off the engine and followed the instructions, casting the keys out the window.

  “Now, slowly get out of the vehicle and drop to your knees.” I saw her get out of the car and then she disappeared.

  Next thing I knew, I was taken out of the car and placed inside one of the police cars. We drove back to the front of the factory, where there were more police cars, ambulances, and people. I was escorted to one of the ambulances and a warm blanket was draped over my shoulders. Then I heard my father call my name. He ducked beneath the barricade tape and ran towards me.

  He had tears in his eyes when he embraced me. I had no strength to hug him back.

  “Sir, please. Let us take care of her,” the paramedic said, pushing him back. I was in shock and couldn’t believe that it was all over. “I love you.” He kissed my hair over and over and finally let me go.

  “Where’s Andrew?” I managed.

  I took another look at my father’s face. He was tired and seemed like he hadn’t slept in days. His clothes were rumpled and his hair untidy. He seemed to have aged at least ten years since I last saw him.

  “He’s around here somewhere.”

  I looked over my father’s shoulder and the most satisfying feeling of warmth swelled my heart. It felt even better than when I was rescued. For the first time, in I didn’t know how long I breathed. A breath of fresh air invaded my lungs.

  It was Andrew, he was walking towards me but he hadn’t yet seen me. Then Andrew looked in my direction. Our eyes met and I smiled. The first smile that touched my lips since all of this started. I thought I’d never see those caramel eyes ever again. He smiled back and increased his pace to a walk-jog.

  A spasm of energy seized me and I got on my feet.

  “Miss, please,” the paramedic said, but I ignored her and ran to Andrew, dodging the people in front of me. As soon as we were face to face Andrew lifted me off my feet and held on to me tightly. I wrapped my arms around his neck never wanting to let go. I was at peace. I was home. I was safe.

  I vowed to never let him go. No matter what might come our way, I’d never give up on him or give up on us.

  Andrew put me down and held my face, stroking gently almost as though he couldn’t believe it was really me. “Mel,”

  “I’m here. I’m fine.” As I said the words my knees gave out and I started to collapse. Andrew grabbed me by the waist securing me against his body. My head spun and my eyes shut.

  ∞∞∞

  When I woke up it was dark, but a thin line between the curtains of a room I did not recognize exposed the sunlight. I sat up and screamed. My heart began racing and my body trembled. I closed my eyes and screamed again. Where was I? Hadn’t the nightmare ended? Was I still in captivity?

  “Hey, beautiful, calm down. You’re safe.” The second I heard Andrew’s voice a heavy sigh escaped my mouth. My shoulders slumped and I began to relax. Andrew caressed my arm. I relaxed further taking in deep breaths, slowing my raging heart.

  I shifted on the bed to look at his face. His hair was damp and he smelled good. He was fresh, recently showered. “Where are we?”

  Andrew tucked my hair behind my ear. “At my parents. There’s a lot of people out there waiting for you to wake up.”

  “How long have I been asleep?”

  “It doesn’t matter. I missed you so much Mel, don’t ever disappear on me again.”

  “I’ll try not to,” I chuckled.

  “How are you feeling?”

  “Much better.” But my head still throbbed.

  “C’mon, let’s get you cleaned up, fed, and medicated.”

  Andrew gave me a bath, helped me into clean clothes, and prepared me for the crowd that was waiting outside. In truth, all I wanted was to stay with Andrew, locked in this room. But I had to see them. Andrew said his parents offered and insisted we all stayed here for a while. That surprised me. I did tell Jennifer she was going to be my number one fan, but I didn’t expect her to take it literally.

  With Andrew’s hand around my shoulder, I snuggled to his side as we walked down the circular stairs, through the corridor, and towards the patio.

  Christina, Erica, Dave, Robert, my parents, Andrew’s parents, Alice, Sabrina, and Ricky all came at me at once.

  “Wow! Slow down,” Andrew said, stopping them. “One at the time.”

  “I know you love her but she is my child,” my mother said, pushing Andrew out of the way.

  Everyone wanted to feed me, help me sit, they were all waiting at my feet. It was almost unbearable. If I hadn’t gone through what I had I would chase them all away. But being away from them, not knowing if I’d ever see them again, made me realize that there was nothing better than the company of family. The moments we shared were priceless.

  After eating and taking my medication, I was filled in on what had happened in the past few days. The love triangle between my parents and Dominic started decades ago, long before I was born. Dominic’s love towards my mother wasn’t reciprocated and he grew bitter to a point he sought revenge.

  He was following me. The police found the place where Dominic had held me captive; they found pictures of me and everyone I was in contact with. I pushed away the terrors that came with the memories of being under Dominic’s control.

  “What about the other girls?” I asked. There was a young girl—a child really. She was so frightened. We all were, but she was just a kid. I couldn’t even console her because we were tied. “What happened to them?”

  Andrew took my hand in his. “They’re safe. As soon as their families are contacted, they’ll all go home.”

  “What about Brittany? Dominic? Those people at the party?”

  “They are going to face some serious jail time. The police won’t be able to shut down the organization yet but thanks to Ricky they have much more than they ever had.”

  “I hope they all die, like, rot in prison,” Erica said. “Those people are awful.”

  “The sad thing is,” David smiled weakly, “not all of them will see the inside of a cell. A lot of those men are known and have plenty of money. In this country, the right amount and connections can get the law bent in your favor.”

  “Not just America.” Robert sighed. “It’s a global epidemic.”

  There was a moment of silence. Everyone was pensive, lost in their own thoughts. One thing I knew for certain: all of the problems we thought we had, were nothing compared to those who were exploited daily. We were lucky, I dodged yet another bullet.

  The silence passed. My father and Ronald seemed awfully close and after a strange exchange, they both disappeared. Andrew noticed them too but said nothing.

  Jennifer came and asked Andrew to excuse us for a minute. He didn’t want to but I reassured him that it was fine.

  “Melissa,” Jennifer said. “I know we’ll never see eye to eye, but you should know that I was worried about you. Despite our differences, I never wished any se
rious harm on you or your family. You may not be the wife that I envisioned for my son but I can’t deny that he loves you. I wanted you to know that I’m happy you’re home.”

  I liked to believe that she was sincere and she did seem honest.

  “Thank you, Jennifer.”

  Erica came skipping across the room and sat on a chair next to us. “Is it a bad time to talk about the wedding?”

  “Not at all.” I chuckled. “I need a distraction.”

  Christina joined as we listened to the many ideas Erica had for the wedding. I wasn’t sure if she noticed how extravagant and outrageous her ideas were. Then again it was her wedding.

  Chapter 39

  Andrew

  The door of my father’s study was ajar, allowing their murmured conversation to drift out. I stopped to listen—eavesdropping wasn’t a habit of mine, but I had to know what my father was up to. He’d been wonderful throughout the entire situation, but I knew Ronald Malcolm. He had an agenda.

  “As I said before, I know a lot of people inside the prison and with the right amount, I could make sure he is no longer a threat to your daughter or family. As long as that son of a bitch is alive you won’t be at peace and your family will always be in imminent danger.”

  “Will he be gone for good this time?”

  “There will be no mistakes or resurrections.”

  “I’ll pay whatever it takes.”

  I wasn’t about to interrupt that conversation. Ronald wanted to integrate himself with the Alfords and after that Anthony would owe him big time. Anthony would never see himself rid of Ronald Malcolm. My father got what he wanted.

  He always did.

  As if I’d heard nothing, I jogged back downstairs.

  ∞∞∞

  The weather was perfect. The sun was about to set, it was a shade of orange, red, and a hint of purple. Melissa was a little banged up but she was here and that’s all that mattered. We were all seated at a long table at the garden excluding my father, he hadn’t arrived yet since he left after the talk in his office.

  Just before the incident, there was friction between most of us and now we were all pretending to be one big happy family joined by tragedy. For Melissa’s sake, we’d keep pretending. I sensed that once life bounced back to normal the picture-perfect family frontage would fade.

  Might as well make the most of it while I could.

  David tapped my shoulder. “Can I talk to you for a minute?” We moved away from everyone’s hearing then he said, “It’s Ashlyn. Her story checks out, Andrew and I believe her. She didn’t try to kill Melissa. It was an accident. The skid marks are her biggest defense. They prove that she was driving way over the speed limit, but also that she tried to brake.”

  I’d known Ashlyn nearly my whole life and deep down I believed it was an accident. Rage always looked for someone or something to blame its fury on. I found it easier to blame Ashlyn than to accept that Melissa was careless. But Erica and I gave our truthful statements to the police; Melissa did step into the street without paying attention. It was an accident.

  “What will she be charged with?”

  “Reckless driving. Any good lawyer can get her to do community service for a few months, maybe pay a fine and that’s it.”

  “Is, um, Ashlyn okay?”

  “Pretty shaken up about everything, but she’ll be all right. Does Melissa know who was driving?”

  I shook my head. “Not yet. She hasn’t asked.”

  “That won’t be fun news to deliver. But I’m happy that she’s safe.”

  “I know. You should tell her that.”

  “Nah!” He shook his head. “We have a love-hate thing going on. Don’t want to ruin it.”

  I laughed. “Your call.”

  We wandered back to the table and I took a seat next to Melissa. She was staring into the distance. Her eyes were slightly narrowed and tiny wrinkles formed around them. She blinked and hugged her upper body in a protective way.

  “Hey.” I touched her knee. She jerked her leg away, tensing. “Are you okay?”

  She nodded with a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. A smile that had no sparkle to it. “Yes, you’re here now.”

  She wasn’t okay. It was clear from the distress drawn on her face.

  “Finally, Ronnie,” my mother crooned. “We were about to start without you,”

  He shrugged off his suit jacket and hung it behind the chair at the head of the table. “Sorry, got held up at the office.” Discreetly he nodded at Anthony and Anthony nodded back.

  It was done.

  “People, can we please eat now?” Rob said.

  Nina and two other women, who were new to me, brought out trout for starters, and the dining began. Soon a comfortable conversation fell around the table.

  “Shh, quiet everyone,” David said and placed his iPad on the table. “It’s the eight o’clock news, listen.”

  “Dominic Banks, who was arrested last night for the abduction of Melissa Alford, daughter of British multimillionaire, Anthony Alford, and girlfriend of self-made millionaire, Andrew Malcolm, has been reported dead. Sources say he was stomped inside the prison facilities after an altercation with Pepito, a known gang member of The Cobras, a few hours ago. Police haven’t made a statement or …”

  “Shut it off,” Yasmin said.

  David gazed at my father then to me. I nodded and confirmed what he was thinking. This wasn’t random or a coincidence but I couldn’t care less. The bastard was gone that’s all that mattered.

  “Okay, that was not nice, but I’m not sorry,” Erica said unapologetically. “Can we go back to celebrating?”

  “Here, here.” Robert raised his glass.

  Melissa was quiet, distracted and playing with the food on her plate. I had no idea what was going on in her head, but she was taken somewhere far. Everything that happened would not be erased from her mind like magic. She carried the scars of losing our child, the torment of being held captive and nearly sold as a sex slave. It would take her time to get over it but I was going to make it my life’s mission to help her see this through. She had always been strong for me now it was my turn to be strong for her.

  “Everyone, can I have your attention for a minute?” I stood. “Before all this mess happened, I already knew that I was in love with Melissa, but during it all, I realized how deep my feelings for her were. I couldn’t picture a life without her. And when Mel woke up from the accident, I asked her to marry me.”

  “Aww,” Erica chimed.

  “It’s not that aww, who proposes in a hospital?” Christina said.

  “Well it seems like I do,” I answered. “Since all of you are here, in peace and getting along.” That earned me a chuckle. “I’d like to do it again.” I dropped to one knee. Melissa pulled back her chair and grinned. “I’m sort of running out of words to express how much I love you and that I want to spend the rest of my days with you so please be mine.”

  Her smile broadened, she radiated. “With one condition,” she giggled.

  “Anything.”

  “You have to have a ring this time.”

  Everyone laughed at me and I checked my pockets. I knew I didn’t have a ring but did it anyway, then I shrugged. “I didn’t have time.”

  “Stop it,” Alice said, waving her hands in the air. “Here, I have the ring.” The ring was passed around the table until it reached me. “That ring is special because it represents love. The love of my life gave it to me.”

  I took Melissa’s hand, waiting for her answer. “Yes, I’ll marry you.” Melissa grinned. “It’s not like you had a choice anyway. You’re stuck with me. No matter what happens I’m not letting you go.”

  “Then we won’t have a problem because I don’t want to be let go.”

  I slid the ring on her finger and it was a little bit loose. Nothing that we couldn’t fix.

  Mel moved closer and rested her forehead on mine and whispered, “Thank you.” Then she kissed me and all I heard was a round
of applause and whistles.

  I had no idea where life was going to take us. Whatever journey was ahead I was more than happy to embark with Melissa by my side. She was imperfectly perfect.

  She’s it for me.

  Thank You

  Writing a book is harder than I thought and more rewarding than I could have ever imagined. None of this would have been possible without my husband, Luis Lima, my sisters (too many to mention all), and my close friends—you know who you are.

  I’m eternally grateful to every single Beta Reader and ARC reader. They, literally, made my dream come true with their valuable input and constant support. You guys are amazing.

  I Also want to thank you for reading my story. Please leave a review and let me know what you thought and what was your experience with the book.

  Lastly, I want to thank God most of all, because without Him I wouldn’t be able to do any of this. He gave me the breath of life.

  About the author

  Lym Cruz is a Contemporary Romance Author who strives to create heartfelt novels and short stories.

  Her stories revolve around strong, but imperfect heroes and heroines, both struggling to find love in the face of adversity, and that’s what makes them relatable.

  Fall madly in Love with your next characters by simply reading one of her stories.

  When Lym is not reading or writing, she spends her time with her family. She considers them, her greatest accomplishment.

  Lym also loves meeting new people and would love to hear from you. Find her at:

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