by Love, Sandra
“You taste so good.” I climbed on top of her, and she wrapped her legs around my waist as I slowly entered her. “You’re so tight. I love being inside of you.”
“Please make love to me, Jeb.”
“You’re wish is my command, darling.”
Once we had both been spent from our orgasms, we headed to the hospital. The scan only took about twenty minutes, but we had to wait about an hour for the results. We decided to sit there and talk. She was starting to remember her high school days. She was a cheerleader. I was surprised, because I hadn’t pegged her for the cheer squad type. She also wanted to be a teacher, but she was really considering becoming a chef after cooking for me the night before. I told her I would support her with whatever she did.
“Toria, you and Jeb can come in here now,” Doctor Johnson interrupted gently.
We got up and walked into her office. “So the good news is your head is healing quite well. There were no more injuries from when you fell.”
“Oh, thank god. I was so worried.”
“Now, how are the memories coming?”
She sighed and looked at me. “Good. I just wish I could remember Jeb and the time we had together before everything happened.”
“You will, dear, just be patient. I want to see you again in a month to get you set up on the pill. Oh, and your blood work is all normal.”
We said our goodbyes to the doctor and headed out the door. I grabbed her hand, and we walked out of the hospital. When we got in the car, my phone rang. “Hi, Dad. What did you find out?”
“Paul wants to know if you could meet him at our house.”
I looked at Toria, who was looking out the window. “Yep, we are on the way.”
After I hung up the phone, she looked over to me. “Where are we going?”
“Paul, the P.I., wants to see us. Maybe he has some news.”
We drove to my parents’ in silence. Once we got there, we went in and my brother was there. “Hey, Jake. How have you been?” I asked as we hugged.
“Good, just working hard. So, who is this lovely lady?”
“Jake, this is Toria. Toria, this is my brother, Jake.”
She was hesitant to shake his hand. After she did, I just looked at her with a confused look on my face. Did she know my brother? If so, how?
Chapter Thirty-Three
Toria
There was something off about Jake, though I had no idea what it was. But I knew I had seen him before. Damn it! Why couldn’t I remember where I’d seen him? I watched as Jeb and Jake caught up. They seemed really close, but every time he would look at me with that smile, it made my skin crawl.
Jeb’s mother walked over to me, drawing my attention away from the men. “How are you, dear?”
“I am doing much better. Thank you.”
She squeezed my arm and walked away, saying nothing else. Then I looked up to Jeb, and Jake was whispering something in his ear and I started to panic. Was he talking about me? My heart started to race and I started to sweat. Then Jeb’s father and another man, likely the private investigator, walked into the room. Paul walked over to me and gave me a warm smile.
“Hello, you must be Toria.” He reached his hand out and I shook it.
“Yes sir; you must be Paul.”
He laughed.
“That I am. Now, why don’t we all go have a seat in the sitting room and I will discuss what I found?”
We all walked into the sitting room. I looked back and saw Jake leaving out the front door. What was his problem? Better yet, what was he hiding? Something was off.
We all sat down and Paul began to speak. “Well, we found fingerprints on the pipe, and I got in touch with the police. They are going to run the prints through the data system. That will take a couple of days.”
“Thank you for helping us Paul.”
“Oh, hey, not a problem, little missy. When Mr. Turner asks for help, I am there.”
We all stayed for a delicious supper. Once we were done, Jeb and I headed back to his place, and when we got there, we discovered someone had broken into his condo.
“Oh my god, Jeb.”
Before I knew it, he was on the phone. I walked around broken dishes and other broken items. When I walked into his room, I gasped.
On the bed in bright red paint were the two words that made me crumble to the ground. Whoria Toria. This was because of me. Why were these people doing this to me? Before I knew it, Jeb had me in his arms and I was crying.
“This is my fault. All of this is because of me.”
He stroked my hair and held me tighter. “Shh, babe, it will okay.”
“Do you think Sean or Barb did this?”
“I am not sure, but we will find out.”
He took me to the living room and put a blanket around me. I sat there while the police and Paul did their work. They dusted the place for fingerprints, and they took the bed spread for evidence. The one thing that kept creeping in my mind was that I wanted to get high. I wanted a pill to get me through this. I instantly shook that thought out of my mind.
I didn’t want to destroy my life anymore. I would fight the urge. I didn’t need that to live. I sat there listening to the police, Paul, and Jeb. They tried to keep quiet, but I heard every word. I just wished I knew who was doing this. After about two hours, the police and Paul left. Jeb decided that we would get a room at his hotel for the night. He helped get some things together, and we headed out. Once we got to the hotel, I curled up on the bed and fell asleep.
***
The next day, I woke up to a note on the mirror in the bathroom. Jeb let me know that he was in his office, and when I got up, I could come visit him. I jumped in the shower and got on a pair of jeans and a purple tank top. Then I threw my hair up in a high pony tail and walked out of the room. It took me a few minutes to find his office, and I felt dumb. I knew I had been there before, but I couldn’t remember the way. Once I got there, Vanessa was in there alone.
“Hey girl. Where’s Jeb?”
“Oh, his brother came and they had to do some running around.”
Speaking of his brother, I wanted to ask Vanessa about him. “Hey, can I talk to you about something?”
“Of course.” She came and sat next to me.
“His brother gives me a bad vibe and I don’t know why.”
“You know what? He gives me that vibe also.”
“When I saw him last night, I had a feeling as if I knew him. Like I have seen him before. I hate when I get that feeling.”
She twirled her hair around her finger. “That is strange. Maybe you will remember soon.”
“Remember what?” Jeb walked into the office with Jake right behind him. Jake just stared at me, and his stare made the hair on my neck stand up.
“Oh nothing. How are you today?” I walked up to him and gave him a soft kiss on his cheek.
“I’m good, just have a lot of stuff to do today. Paul is stopping by later to talk to me. He says he doesn’t want us staying at the condo until we catch this perp.”
“Hey Jeb, I am going to take off.”
I looked over to see Jake walking out of the office.
“Sorry I ran your brother off.”
Jeb laughed. “He’s been acting weird since he broke things off with his woman.”
“Oh okay. So when can I come back to work?”
He looked at me, shocked. “You want to come back to work?”
“Actually, I do, but I might need a refresher course.”
He sat Vanessa and me down and told me I could start tomorrow and Vanessa would re-train me. For the rest of the day, I hung out with Jeb, helping him around the office. We kissed every time we were close.
***
A couple weeks later, I started to work and go to school at night. We were allowed back in the condo, because there were no new leads. Nothing else happened, so my panic attacks slowly went away. I also started an anti-depressant, and it was helping me a lot. Jeb wanted to get me a car, but I
told him no, because I had no driver licenses and I had no idea how to drive. He paid me from the one week I worked. He tried sneaking some extra cash into my check, and I told him not to over pay me. I wanted to earn my money. It seemed as if everything was going well.
It was a Wednesday night, and I was headed back to the condo. Jeb was in Boston for the day at his hotel there, training a new general manager. He told me to stay at Vanessa’s until he got back, but I didn’t listen.
I got to the condo and opened up the door, and that was when I was attacked from behind.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Jeb
I hate being in Boston, but I had to take care of my hotel. My father decided that he wanted to come along with me. We had over ten applicants come in to be interviewed. We ended up hiring a younger lady around my age for the position. She was the only one that had the experience I was looking for. “Hey, let me call Toria, and then we can head out to dinner,” I told my father after the interview was over.
“Sounds great.”
I called her and it went straight to voicemail. I left her a quick message and didn’t think twice about it, and then went to get seafood with Dad.
“Has Paul given you an update yet?”
I took a sip of my whiskey. “Nope, not yet. Why is it taking him so long?”
“He said that the prints are hard to find, because the perp isn’t in the system. It wasn’t Sean or Barb’s, so he’s at a standstill.”
“I just hope she is safe while I am here.”
“I have my bodyguard on her. So you have nothing to worry about.”
I took a bite of my chowder. “Yeah, you’re right.”
“So, how is detoxing going?”
“Pretty good. She only had a couple of episodes last week, but I walk her through them.”
“Good.” I watch him motion for the check. “You know, Son, I really like her. I think she is good for you.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
After we paid the check, we got up and headed for the car. I tried to call Toria again as the driver sped down the street, but it went straight to voicemail again. I decided to call Vanessa.
“What’s up, boss?”
“Hey, can you go by my condo? I’ve been trying to call Toria and it’s going straight to voicemail.”
“I’m on it.”
We hung up, and I just looked out the window. I thought about how much I loved that girl and how she had changed me for the good. I knew she would always have her issues, but I would be there right beside her. I started to doze off when my phone rang.
“Jeb, something is wrong.”
I sat up in my seat. “What do you mean?”
“She’s not here, the door is open, and there is blood on the ground.”
“Calm down. Talk slow.”
She took a deep breath. “The door was open, so I walked in, thinking she had it open for some fresh air. But she’s not here.”
I put the phone down to tell my father. He was on the phone with the bodyguard in an instant. “Vanessa, you stay right there. We should be back in about thirty minutes.”
I hung up the phone and listened to what my father was saying. Once he hung up, he turned to me. “You are not going to like this.”
“What? What? Please tell me.”
He scratched his chin. “Fuck. Okay, here goes. I think I know who is tormenting Toria.”
I was growing annoyed. “Father, stop beating around the bush and fucking tell me.”
“It’s Jake. Henry told me that Jake came by and said he would keep an eye on her. Not thinking he was a threat, he left and went home for the night.”
“So he just left her there with Jake?”
“Calm down. We will take care of this when we get home.”
I fucking wished the driver would hurry up. I needed to get home and make sure she was safe. Why would Jake do this to me? To Toria? What was wrong with him? Once we pulled up to my condo, I jumped out and Paul came running to the car.
“Hey. So I dug deeper into this case and I ran more fingerprints. The fingerprints on the pipe are from Jake.”
“Yeah, we know now. He was the last one here, and now Toria is missing.”
Vanessa was sitting on the couch, clearly upset. When she saw me, she got up and ran into my arms. “Why is this happening to her?”
I ran my hand down her back. Vanessa had become like a sister to me without me even realizing it. “Shh, we will find her,” I soothed, but I wasn’t sure if I was soothing her fears, or my own.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Toria
A sense of vertigo washed through me, and I felt like I was going to be sick to my stomach. I had no idea where I was, or what happened. The last thing I remembered was getting hit again.
“Now now, don’t throw up on my carpet,” a voice said from the darkness.
My eyes went big and I looked in the direction of the voice. The man emerged from the shadows, and I couldn’t believe it. Why would he do this to me? What had I done to him to warrant this kind of revenge?
“Jake?”
“Yes.”
“Why am I here?”
“Because you ruined everything. You ruined this family.”
Confused, I looked down at my hands. “How?”
“Because of you, my father won’t be getting that money. I needed that fucking money.”
“Hey, that’s not my fault.”
He cut me off. “Yes, it is! My brother was supposed to marry Barb. And once she got the money, she was going to leave him for me.”
I was shocked. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “So you and Barb are an item?”
“Were. We were an item … until you ruined it all. Here, I went to get you something. I know you want it. I went to that abandoned place and got you these.”
He threw a bottle at me. “It was you. You attacked me that day.”
“Yes. I was hoping that it would kill you, but stupid hero Jeb had to find you.”
Then it was coming back to me. I saw him across the street that day I was given the drugs. “Why can’t you just be with Barb now?”
“Because we wanted that money, so we could start out lives together.”
“Still not my fault. Maybe if you let me go.”
I tried to stand up, but I got dizzy.
“No, you’re not going to happen.”
“You know he will find me,” I said, grabbing the back of my head. My hand came away bloody, and I worried that I was losing too much blood lately to survive. But I had to hold on … for Jeb.
“I don’t care. What are they going to do? I am their son. They will just slap me on the back of the hand and let me go. And I will still be here making your life a living hell. So if you want to live, why don’t you just leave my family alone?”
I thought about what he was saying to me. Was he right? Will they just slap him on the hand and let him go after all he has done to me? “You know that is a chance I will have to take. I love Jeb and he loves me. I think you just need help.”
That made him mad, and he leapt across the room and put his hands around my neck and started to squeeze. I tried to kick him off, but he was too strong.
“Die, you whore!”
As I felt the breath leaving my lungs, someone pulled him off me. I started to cough and grabbed at my neck. It felt like my chest was burning, and tears slipped from my eyes. I tried to sit up and Jeb came into my line of sight.
“Toria, breathe, baby. Please, just concentrate on breathing.”
I sat up, and put my arms around him and started to cry.
“Jeb, I am so sorry.”
He pulled back and put his hands on my face. “Babe, you have nothing to be sorry about. He did this, not you.”
I was crying so hard. “But… but he said this was all my fault.”
“Shh, babe, I am here. I am not going anywhere.”
He held me tight as I watched the police arrest Jake. His father was talking to Paul and some ot
her guy. Then they walked over to me, and his father kneelt in front of me.
“Toria, can you tell us what he said?”
I told them everything. Jeb was so pissed, but he never let me go. He held me so tight the entire time that I felt I was going to burst, but I didn’t care.
After I explained what had happened, they told me that I needed to get to the hospital for testing. When I got up, the bottle of pills fell from my lap and I went to pick them up. I was so tempted to keep them, but I didn’t.
“Jeb.”
He turned around to look at me. “What’s up?”
“Here.” I handed him the bottle. “He gave me those.”
He swooped me into a tight hug. “Thank you for not taking any of them.”
We walked out of Jake’s place, and he took me to the hospital. Once I was set up in the room, Doctor Johnson walked in. “We are going to have to stop meeting like this.”
We laughed. “I know. I just wish people would leave my head alone.”
“Okay, we are going to order more blood work and order another CT Scan. I want to keep you over night to observe you.”
After she left the room, I looked to Jeb, and noticed he looked exhausted. “Come here.” I held my arms open to him.
He walked over and climbed into the bed with me. “Toria, I love you. I am so sorry.”
I cut him off. “Shh, this is not your fault. Not all relationships are rainbows and butterflies. We will have our ups and downs. Ours is just your brother trying to kill me.”
He looked up at me and smiled. “Let’s get through one month without you having to come in here.”
I laughed. “Sounds good. Now, give me a kiss before I go insane.”
He grabbed the sides of my face, and he pulled my face in and slowly kissed me. It wasn’t a rushed kiss; it was just perfect. He pulled back and looked at me. “You, Toria, are simply amazing.”
I felt my cheeks heating up. I almost forgot we were in the hospital. The nurse came in and took my blood, and my scan was scheduled for the early morning. Jeb fell asleep next to me and I watched him sleep. Then I got a flash. It was us working together at the hotel. The numerous times we almost kissed. I smiled to myself. I finally remembered the most important thing in my life. Jeb. I would just have to tell him the next day. What a surprise that would be.