by Mae Harden
"Yeah," I tell him. "Maybe we could try this," I say. "I could make you dinner at my house. Wouldn't that be nice?"
"Really?" A maniacal grin is crawling up his face.
This has to work.
I have to get away.
"Yeah..." I say. I step closer to him and reach a hand out. The smell of his greasy hair is making me nauseous. Soft look, I tell myself. Adoring eyes. Don't gag.
Terry is frozen. I don't think he accounted for me initiating contact. Keep it together. Keep it together. Keep it together. The phrase is my lifeline and I chant it in my head over and over as I put my arms around his neck. I'm so close I can feel his breath on my face. Just when I thought he couldn't get any more repulsive, I realize that he smells like fish sticks.
"L-Lilah," he stammers.
I don't hear the rest of what he would have said because I pull my leg back and slam it up into his balls, channeling that one free trial kickboxing class I took.
Terry falls to the ground, cupping his junk with both hands. I don't stay to watch my handiwork. Kneework? Whatever. I jump around him and sprint for the side door of the bakery.
"You fucking bitch!" I hear him scream behind me. My heart is pumping so hard I feel like it might explode. I chance a look back, but he's still on the ground, curled in the fetal position like the pathetic man-child he is. Good. I hope I did permanent damage. Just as I turn back towards the bakery, the side door opens and Luis steps out looking panicked. He sees me and his eyes grow wide.
"Lilah, what is going on out here? Are you ok?" He catches me as I run into him, flour puffs off his apron into the surrounding air. My body is trembling with adrenaline and fear, but I've never been more grateful to see him in my life. Luis holds my upper arms, supporting me and holding me in place.
"He cornered me," I gulp a breath as I point back to the dumpsters. "He's crazy... been stalking me."
Luis' jaw sets in a hard line. "Go inside, Lilah. Lock the door, call the police."
I try to pull him in with me, but he gently pushes me towards the door. "Call the police. I'm just going to make sure he stays put."
Chapter 33: Ben
I might have demanded Mr. Miller give me his car keys. It's not so much a carjacking as it is a... less-than-willing auto lending. I call the bakery as I drive. It rings twice before a chipper voice answers. "Olive Branch Bakery, can you hold please?"
"No!" I yell into the phone, but they've already switched lines and I'm left swearing into the void. "Come on," I chant. I'm only a few minutes from the bakery but I wait on hold just in case they pick up again before I get there. Soft music is still playing when I pull into the front of the bakery, wincing as the car bottoms out on the parking lot entrance. I might need to apologize to Mr. Miller. I end the call as I run up the front steps.
Searching the dining room, I think I see Lilah at a table in the corner. A glance up in my direction sends my heart plummeting. It's not Lilah. It's her sister, Olive. The look on my face must be enough to alarm her because her eyebrows scrunch up and she tilts her head. She looks so much like Lilah. The panic is rising up in me and I hate that I don't know where Lilah is.
Olive excuses herself, leaving a couple at the table to go through a notebook.
"Have you seen Lilah?" I ask.
Her confused look turns darker. "Not today, why?"
"Have you seen Terry, Lilah's boss from the bar hanging around?"
"Ew, no. Why?"
Ignoring her question, I head back towards the kitchen. Maybe she's back there? I'm grasping at straws, but I don't care. Olive follows me and smacks me on the arm hard enough to hurt but not derail me.
"Excuse you! I asked you a question. What is going on?"
It's not exactly my story to tell, but fuck it, it's not like Lilah would keep it a secret from her sister, anyway. "He's been stalking her," I say as I walk into the kitchen, checking the supply closet on the way.
"What are you talking about?!" Olive's voice sounds panicked, but I don't have time to explain it because Lilah comes flying in the side door. Relief washes over me, but it's short lived when I take in the tear tracks on her cheeks, the pallor of her skin, and the fear in her eyes.
"Ben!" Lilah shrieks as she runs and jumps into my arms. I catch her, sweeping her up in my arms. Nothing in this world can compare to the feeling of holding her. I bury my hand in her hair, cupping the back of her head and hold her against my chest.
"Ben, it's Terry. It was all him," she tells me.
"I know, Princess. I figured it out after--"
"No, you don't understand. He's here. He's outside. He cornered me behind the dumpsters- tried to - I kicked him..." She's shaking like a leaf. "I need to call the police."
Olive acts before the rest of us, snatching a phone off the wall and dialing 9-1-1. Her eye is twitching as she looks at me over Lilah's head, murder in her eyes. I suspect she'd be game to help me bury a body if it meant protecting her sister.
Lilah looks up at me. "Can you check on Luis? He's outside. He wanted to make sure Terry didn't get away."
The last thing in the world I want to do right now is leave her side, but the expression on her face is heart wrenching. I hold her face in my hands and bend down to kiss her. Our lips brush and I feel her sigh, relaxing into me. It's over in a second. I let her go with a painful twist in my chest. It feels wrong to leave her, but she needs to know Luis is safe and I'll do anything to make her feel better. Olive reaches out and pulls Lilah to her, shooing me out the door as she answers questions for the dispatcher.
I jog out the door to the parking lot, where I find Luis leaning casually against a dumpster. A familiar, ferrety looking man is weeping openly at his feet. He's holding his balls, a nasty black eye blossoming under a split eyebrow. Lilah said she kicked the guy, but a quick glance at Luis' right hand, the knuckles bloodied, explains the black eye.
"Can you believe this chuckle fuck attacked me?" Luis says in an outraged voice.
"He really should have known better," I reply darkly, shaking my head. Terrance sneers at me as I approach the two of them. I squat next to him, my body shaking with rage. I can hear sirens getting closer, but I want to make sure he hears this before they take him away. He threatened my Lilah, the first and only woman I'll fall in love with. He terrified the woman I'm going to spend the rest of my life with.
I grab his hair and yank his head back. "You are so fucking lucky the police are coming, you pathetic little snake. If I had my way, they'd never find your body. You are going to confess to all of it. You will plead guilty, without dragging this through a trial. If you don't, know that I can make your life a living hell no matter where they put you. I can ruin you and your entire family without blinking an eye. You damn well better remember that. If I hear even a whisper of your bullshit, I'll make good on my threat to rip your balls off and feed them to you. Cool?" I say, clapping a hand on his shoulder. He flinches and cries harder, but nods.
I stand as the first police car pulls into the lot. Luis and I stand aside as an officer cuffs Terrance, reading him his rights as he pats him down. Lilah and Olive step outside as Terrance is dragged to his feet and frogmarched to a cruiser.
It takes forever to file the police report, but Lilah leans against my side, letting me hold her close as we tell them the (slightly abridged) version of the phone calls and discovering the vandalism to my car. Lilah points the officers to the tracker that she left behind the dumpsters. She carefully leaves out my less-than-legal work, but I offer up the footage of Terrance entering her house. Anything to extend his prison sentence.
Lilah is incredible. She keeps her shit together, making sure she gives them every detail she can remember. She tells them how he cornered her and how she sweet-talked him to get close enough to knee him in the cajones. Just listening to her retell it makes my blood boil, but the female officer cracks a tiny grin and winces as she whispers, "Nice."
Lilah refuses medical attention every time I bring it up. After the tenth time
, she smacks me on the chest. "It's not like his squishy little balls hurt my knee," she says. "Really, I'm fine. I just want to go lie down and take a nap. I'll be good as new, I promise."
"Not in your house," I say, disgustedly thinking of the video footage from last night.
"Ew," she says with a shudder. "I never want to set foot in that house again. Except... I need to get Frankie."
"Stay with me," I tell her quietly. I'm all too aware that we didn't leave things in a great place this morning. I also don't want to pressure her after everything she's been through today, but the thought of letting her go anywhere without me is unbearable.
Lilah's eyes are large in her face as she searches mine and then nods. I feel a little swell of hope, and for the first time since she left this morning, I take a real breath.
The officer gives us a sympathetic smile, "We'll need to investigate the break-in at your house, but an officer can go with you if you need to collect a pet and some clothes." Lilah nods and the officer talks into her radio asking someone to escort us. I give Olive and Luis my phone number before we leave. Lilah's phone is still in my fridge and even if the police don't want it, I don't want Lilah to carry it until I know for a fact there isn't any spyware on it.
Lilah leaves her Jeep with the police and rides with me. We drive most of the way in silence. I lace my fingers through hers and rest our hands on her thigh while she leans her head back, staring at the ceiling of the car. There's so much to say, but it's a quick trip. I don't think either of us wants to get into it until we're really alone.
It's only when we turn into our neighborhood that she straightens up and looks around. "Wait, whose car is this?" she asks with a laugh.
"Fred Miller’s," I tell her with a grin.
"He let you drive it?" she asks me skeptically.
"I'm not sure I'd describe it that way. I asked nicely, but he wasn't big on the idea until I threatened to send pictures of his dog crapping on everyone's lawns around to the neighborhood group."
Lilah laughs softly. "I love that you'd threaten a salty geriatric for me."
"There is nothing I wouldn't do for you, Princess." My voice cracks a little as I speak, and I have to clear my throat to hold back a wave of emotion.
She gives my hand a gentle squeeze in response, and it's all I can do not to pull over and pull her into my lap. I'm afraid that if I give into my need to hold her, I won't be able to let go and we'll be sleeping in this ancient Buick for days.
When I turn onto our street, we're greeted by half a dozen squad cars, all parked in front of our houses. Police tape stretches around the perimeter of Lilah's house and my car. Photographs are being taken, notebooks jotted in, and it seems the neighbors couldn't pass up the entertainment. There's a buzz of activity on the outside of the tape, Mr. Miller in the center of it all. He stands on the sidewalk, craning his neck to see what's going on while gossiping with some other neighbors.
He sees me coming and marches over with his hand out for his keys. He snatches them out of my hand, clearly torn between telling me off and nosing for details. I thank him, pushing down the impulse to hug him because I know he'd hate it. Coerced or not, if it wasn't for his help, I wouldn't have been there when Lilah needed me. His dog can shit in my yard anytime it wants. I'll never hold a grudge about it again.
Chapter 34: Lilah
The whole scene should make me upset. People traipsing in and out of my house, going through my things, the fact that my house is an active crime scene... and yet I really don't care. Terry is going to prison and I know my Ben will do whatever it takes to keep him away from me for the rest of my life.
A young officer shakes my hand and lifts the crime scene tape for Ben and me to duck under. Admittedly, it was much easier for me to sneak under the yellow tape. Ben's shoulder snags it and rips it, making me laugh. He ties it back together with the officer's help and gives me an apologetic smile.
He puts a possessive hand on my lower back as we walk inside. The weight of it is warm and protective, and despite everything else we've been through in the last few hours, I feel safe.
"Are you ok?" Ben asks, looking around my entry way at the commotion inside.
"Yeah," I tell him honestly. "But I'd like to hurry up and get out of here." Ben nods and we work together quietly to pack up Frankie in her travel cage. Ben grabs the veggies out of my fridge for her while I get the water bowl. I'd be lying if I said I didn't scope a peek at his butt when he bent over to put the lettuce in a bag. He catches me and tosses me a wink. His winks usually send my panties into spontaneous melt down, but this one is a sweeter, more affectionate look than I expected.
Ben sets the bag down next to Frankie and pulls me into his chest. He holds me tight, his cheek resting on top of my head. I don't know how long we stand like that, but an officer clears her throat, as she moves by us with an embarrassed, "Excuse me."
Yeah, I do not want to spend another minute in this house.
I go to grab some clothes out of the closet, but I run a finger over one of the shirts. I don't know what Terry touched. I can't stand the idea of wearing anything until it's been washed. And maybe boiled. In acid.
Ben catches my hesitation, his brows pulling together for a second before he gets it. I don't have to say a word. He takes my hand and pulls me back out of the closet and down the hall. He grabs Frankie's stuff under one arm, holding her cage in one hand and lacing the fingers of his free hand back through mine.
Ben ignores the neighbors and the police outside. He doesn't even look at his butchered car as we cross our front yards to his house. He just determinedly marches the three of us to his front door. He unlocks it, pressing his hand to my lower back in that proprietary way of his. God, I love it when he takes charge. He locks the door behind us before setting Frankie down and walking through the living areas, closing all the curtains.
I watch him, frozen in place. I feel disconnected from my body and I wonder if maybe I'm a little shell-shocked. The quiet of the house is oppressive after all the sirens and radios. Ben seems determined to charge ahead, setting Frankie up with some water and putting food in her cage.
"Ben," I say.
"Do you want something to eat?" he asks. I haven't eaten, but I'm not hungry.
"No, but Ben--"
"Do you want something to drink? You can take a shower if you want." Ben doesn't meet my eye, but he rambles as he pops another piece of lettuce into Frankie's cage. "Or I can fill up a bath for you. I don't have bubbles or anything." I place my hand on his and my heart aches when I realize he's shaking.
"Ben," I say firmly. "Ben, look at me." He glances up, his beautiful brown eyes haunted. I step into him, wrapping my arms around his middle. He cradles me against his chest.
"I'm so sorry." My voice is muffled against his chest and I breathe in the familiar, comforting scent of his shirt.
"Lilah..." His voice is gently chiding, and I know he's going to tell me I didn't do anything wrong, but I need to say this.
"I'm so sorry for the way I left this morning," I plow ahead. "I never should have left like that." Ben runs his fingers through my hair, pressing his lips to the top of my head.
"I understand why you did," he whispers, holding me tighter. Of course, he understands. Ben gets me like nobody else, except maybe my sisters. Half the time I wonder if he's psychic with the way he can predict me.
"I--" his voice chokes and he clears his throat. "I was so scared I lost you. I can't imagine this world without you in it." His voice is ragged, his words vibrating through me. I can't imagine living without him either. I don't care that we've only been together a little while. I don't give a single fuck that he kept a secret from me. I need him like I need the air in my lungs. I love him and the rest is just details.
"Lilah, I swear I'll never keep--" I wiggle my way back in his arms, just enough so I can reach up to touch his face and put my fingers over his lips.
"You already apologized this morning and I forgive you." I run my fingers ov
er his 24-hour shadow, loving the feel of the bristly hairs. He is devastatingly handsome, but underneath that, he's the most beautiful person I know. Giving him my heart is the easiest thing I've ever done because I know he'll protect it and treasure it over anything else.
"Here’s what I should have said earlier. I don't know how you snuck into my heart, but I love you. I love you so much it hurts," I say through a hoarse throat.
Ben's eyes are intense, and full of adoration as he presses his forehead to mine. "I love you too," he says before pressing his lips to mine. After everything we've been through today, we pour the pent-up emotions into the kiss. All the frustration, anger, fear and heartbreak melts away as his lips move against mine, replaced by joy and relief.
My fingers wind under his shirt and the feel of his skin under my hands is almost more than I can bear. I can't keep my hands off him, kissing him harder. The soft rush of his breath against my mouth lights a fire in me. I could blame the adrenaline crash or the declarations of love, but Ben always makes me crazy for him. A single look, a little touch, a kiss on the neck, and I am dying for him. Greedy for anything I can get.
He holds me close as we kiss and my nipples rub against his chest, tightening to aching points. His massive thigh presses between mine, and I'm helplessly lost as my hips roll against it. I moan into his kiss as I feel a rush of moisture between my thighs.
Ben's hand in my hair tightens, holding my head back to look at me. His eyes search mine, looking for something. "We can do this later," he says. "I'd understand if you need time after--"
"Fuck no," I say. "I need this. I need you and I do not want to wait." Ben grins at me, his grip on my hair firm. I blink up at him. "But I do feel kind of grimy. Maybe we can multitask in the shower?"
Ben growls and scoops me off my feet before I even finish the thought, carrying me to the bathroom. He reaches in to start the water before grabbing the back of his t-shirt and pulling it over his head. I watch him shamelessly as he unbuttons his jeans, the muscles in his stomach and arms flexing with every movement.