Contingent

by Livia Jamerlan

  “You hurt me,” I moaned between kisses. “You hurt us.” I pulled away. “I can’t. We can’t.”

  “Lynn . . .”

  My mind was made up. There could never be anything between us. Not when there were lies that ran deep through our love. “The cops are here. I need to give my statement.” Wiping my tear stained cheeks, I yanked the door open.

  Peyton

  I had lost her. I had lost all of her.

  Her heart . . .

  Her adoration . . .

  It was all gone.

  Braelynn had taken a job with the district attorney’s office. Why hadn’t she told me about her interview? My hand pressed on the cold metal glass door to my office where Henry McGee waited. The moment I looked at him, I knew my day had gone from crap to shit.

  “Can I help you?” I passed his chair and took a seat behind my desk.

  “Pretty little thing isn’t she?” His head cocked to the glass wall pointing to Braelynn’s office.

  “Excuse me?” My eyebrows furrowed, a hint of a headache forming behind my eyes as I held his gaze.

  “Braelynn Wolf.” A smug grin appeared on his face. “I never thought I’d see her again. The last time I saw her she was about eight years old. She and her sister Loren lived with me and the Mrs. after their parents died in a car accident.”

  Oh fuck!

  “You’re the piece of shit uncle who raped Loren.” My voice began to rise with rage.

  “It wasn’t rape, Mr. Haas. She was simply paying her dues.”

  “She was a child!”

  From the corner of my eye, I watched Braelynn leave for the day. I knew Thomas was outside waiting for her so she wouldn’t be in harm’s way.

  I exhaled. “What do you want? How much money do you want to disappear?” Everyone had a price tag. Henry had come here for one reason and I doubted it was to be Braelynn’s uncle.

  He chuckled as he tossed a manila envelope at me. “This is what we need from you.”

  “We?” I questioned digging inside the envelope.

  “Yes, your brother and I.”

  My body stopped moving.

  “What does Drew have to do with this?” I asked, my eyes locked on Henry’s faded blue eyes.

  “You must be a good lawyer because you, boy, ask all the right questions. You see, I lost my wife a few years back. Tara had a bit of a drinking problem. I never tried to help her with it since it was my only opportunity to partake in my extra curricular activities. After she’d died, I went to work for the state penitentiary. To my surprise, Drew knew exactly who I was and made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.” Henry tossed his hands back behind his head.

  “What offer?”

  “Revenge. Seventeen years ago, that little bitch and her older sister told my wife everything and threatened to go to the cops. My wife hated me after that.”

  “Why are you here now?”

  “In that envelope you’ll find a computer disk. That disk contains multiple recordings of Drew drugging and raping sweet little Braelynn during the week he held her captive. The piece of paper is for you. It entails everything that will be leaked to the media along with the tape if you don’t comply with our demands.”

  “Which is?”

  “Drew has made it his mission to crush her. He wants to destroy what she loves most. What she cares about most. And that’s you. You have to leave her. End it and never go back.”

  “And if I don’t comply?”

  “The newspapers and magazines will have a field day. You were Drew’s lawyer when you and Braelynn began seeing each other. You defended him in court. His case was dropped because of you. Your client—your brother—kidnapped and raped your girlfriend. And the sick fuck has it all on video. Imagine what it would do to your career if this was leaked? What it would do to Braelynn if she knew Drew was your brother? What it would do to your family’s name and the empire you’ve built?”

  “You sick son of bitch. How much money do you want?”

  “Oh no. I don’t want money. I want revenge.”

  “What if I go to the authorities?”

  “You won’t. You know Drew has nothing left to lose. Making you two suffer is the only thing he cares about. Once that video is leaked, nothing will stop it.”

  “If I do this, if I end things with Braelynn, that’s it? None of this gets leaked? Nothing more will happen?”

  “You have my word.”

  Braelynn was the only woman I had ever loved. She was the one who changed my entire life. My promiscuous ways stopped when I met her. All I ever wanted to do was protect her. That’s what I told myself at night so I could sleep. I had spent months trying to protect her. I’d wanted to keep her away from my past and the secrets that could hurt her—destroy us. But instead, I had stomped all over our relationship, dragging her heart through the mud in the process. Her pain and her heartache were entirely my fault. She could very well never forgive me for what I had done.

  I watched as she sat on the couch, her loose tendrils covering the tears that dripped from her eyes. The cut on her lip had swollen in the past thirty minutes, and her eye was bruising, turning shades of blue and purple with each passing second. A sling the paramedics placed around her body, supported her right arm.

  She glanced in my direction. Her eyes changed when she looked at me, the brilliance in them faded. Her eyes told me everything.

  Her eyes, which shined when she looked at me where now, dull. The fire that burned inside of her was faint if non-existent. The woman I had fallen in love with was no longer there. She had vanished. I had pushed Braelynn too far.

  I had betrayed her in the worst possible way.

  I had lost her. I didn’t know if she could ever forgive me. But I planned to spend the rest of my life making it up to her.

  Stealing the house key from Gus was the only way I could sneak into her house without being noticed by Henry. I needed to keep her close and I also needed to constantly check her schedule so I could ensure Thomas was always ready to drive her.

  She was the only person I knew who still wrote her schedule out by pen. The purple notebook always sat next to her bedside. Ever since Drew had kidnapped her, she wrote everything down. He had taken her trust in humanity. If she ever missed any appointment that was on that agenda, anyone knew to question it.

  Caleb had called when Kennedy rushed to Braelynn’s side.

  He was a friend that I could count on to fill me in when I was out of the loop. Even when Braelynn had pushed me away he called to let me know she needed me.

  My mind rushed to Henry. I had my eyes on Henry the same way he had his eyes on me. I continually had him followed, but we’d lost his trail. Unable to locate him or connect him to Loren’s attack, I had nothing but a gut feeling. I’d dropped everything and drove to Rhode Island looking for Henry. I wanted to know his next move before he even made it. My only goal was to protect her, and ensure that her sister had the best care. I had a feeling he would go after Loren.

  I just hadn’t made it in time.

  The second Braelynn’s name appeared on my screen, I knew the worst had happened. I drove up to Loren’s house not caring if there was a high-speed police chase behind me. I needed to get to her.

  I had done everything wrong. The fear that her career would be destroyed kept me away. The copy of the video that sat in the safe in my office of her being tied up by my brother haunted me at night. I knew she would hate me for the charade I had with Devon, but I kept telling myself it was the only way to keep Henry away from her.

  Braelynn

  “I want to speak with my attorney.”

  I was in the holding cell waiting for the prosecutor who wouldn’t show till the following morning. After the officers had come into Loren’s home, I’d told them what had happened, but they still needed to investigate further. I had killed a man.

  “I just want to talk,” Detective Roger said before he took a sip of his coffee. His hair was graying on the side. His belly was large and it
looked like he was a few years from retiring. I wanted to call Poochie for help, but he would be out of his jurisdiction and calling him at one in the morning would be pointless and an inconvenience.

  “Listen, I’m aware that this is your job and you’re following protocol, but I have a right to an attorney. But just in case that wasn’t clear enough for you, I won’t say anything or speak to you until I have him present.”

  The steel chair scraped across the floor as he stood. The screeching noise hurt my ears. It was as though all my senses were on high alert. Detective Roger left me in the tight gray room. I watched the clock tick with each passing second. The seconds turned to hours and before I knew it, it was almost five in the morning.

  A man practically kicked the steel door opened and walked in with a briefcase in hand. He looked flustered and tired as if he had been asleep, but smiled at me before he reached out his hand.

  “Jack Walker. I’m a friend of Peyton’s. He gave me a call and asked me to come down. I’ll be representing you.”

  Peyton couldn’t be my attorney because he wasn’t licensed in the state of Rhode Island. I sat back, crossing my arms without saying a word as I waited for him to start.

  “Do you want to tell me what happened?”

  “It was self-defense. I went to my sister’s house to clean it up, he showed up and attacked me. We fought. I’m sure the records show how he died.”

  “Braelynn, the state of Rhode Island has a self-defense law called duty to retreat, but this law only applies if you are a resident, tenant, or owner of the home.”

  “I’m aware.” Duty of retreat requires that a person retreats or runs from their attacker if you can, but it allows the use of deadly force in self-defense only when retreat is not possible or when running may cause danger to the person under attack. I had the chance to flee but couldn’t get to the door. And though it was self-defense, that law applied only if I lived in the home. Hence why I had been taken into custody.

  “I need to speak with the prosecutor tomorrow morning, but I assume that this law won’t apply to you. The problem we have is that your sister is still in a coma. Once she wakes and confirms that he was her attacker, we’ll have a chance of getting these charges dropped.” Jack folded his hands on the table. “I was able to convince the prosecutor that you are not a flight risk and he granted you bail for five million dollars. Your court date has been set for next month, and I’ll need you to meet me in my office next week.” He tapped his fingers over his briefcase.

  “I don’t have that kind of money. “ I looked at him frantically.

  “Haas posted your bail. I’ll be in contact tomorrow with more details once I speak with the prosecutor. You’re free to go.” A pleasant grin appeared on his face before he up and left as fast as he had come in.

  I sat puzzled on the hard chair that had made my ass numb. Okay, Wolf, one step at a time. First, let’s focus on Loren.

  Detective Roger walked me out of the holding cell and towards the waiting area of the police station. I pushed through the swinging doors and was greeted by Haas. He sat with his head low, his hands buried into his hair, but the sound of the door behind me made his head pop up. His eyes connected with mine and he was on his feet.

  He wrapped his arms around me. “Are you okay?” he asked.

  “You didn’t need to post my bail.” I moved my body from his hold.

  “Braelynn—” He reached for my hand.

  “No.” I swatted it away. “You can’t shove your money at me and expect that everything is going to be okay. I appreciate what you did for Loren, but this was unnecessary. I could have waited until my court date.” In reality, I would have gone crazy if I’d had to wait until my court date, but I didn’t want to admit that to him.

  “Your sister is in the hospital. I can’t let you sit in a jail cell.” His voice was tender and soothing.

  “It wasn’t your place to decide. I have my own money in the bank.”

  “All I want to do is help.”

  The lack of sleep, the pain coming from it, and the mess that were my emotions had me wanting him to hating him within seconds. “Help. Now.” He wanted to help now after the damage was done. “I swear I don’t even have the words to describe how much I can’t stand you at this moment. Just leave me alone, Peyton.” I didn’t wait for his response. I pulled my body away from his and walked out of the precinct.

  How could a person go through as much shit I had gone through and not be locked away in a padded room? They say God only throws at you what you can handle. Well, whoever said that was full of shit.

  My legs were heavy as I dragged them towards Loren’s room. My head began to pound. I pushed the door opened and ambled inside. Loren’s eyes were still shut, but the tubes had been removed from her body.

  “Oh my God!” Jennifer darted from the chair. “Braelynn, sweetie.” She threw her arms around me. “Are you okay?” she asked, pulling away. Her hands rested on my shoulders as her eyes scanned my face, welling up with unshed tears.

  “I’m okay Jen.” I nodded.

  Kennedy rushed to my side, hugging me tightly.

  “He called?” I asked.

  “Yeah.” She moved my hair away from my face and looked at the welt on my eye. “He called when they took you in. He said he wouldn’t leave the police station until you got out.” She cocked her one eyebrow high examining my face. By the look on Kennedy’s face it was bad. I hadn’t looked in a mirror but I could feel the closing of my eyelid.

  “How’s Loren?” Yesterday the doctors had said she would wake up soon, but she was still out cold.

  “Her vitals are good. The swelling on her brain has decreased significantly.” Kennedy grabbed my shoulder. “Honestly, Lynnie, she’s doing well. I really think she’ll be up soon.”

  I took a shower in Loren’s bathroom then dressed in sweats that Jen had grabbed for me. My sling held my fractured arm and the throbbing pain I had felt before had subsided a bit. I couldn’t hold a conversation, watching TV didn’t help pass the time; nothing seemed to help pass the time. Distraught, I stood near the window staring at all the parked cars while lost in my thoughts. Needing to focus on anything else but my real life, I counted each person who entered and left the hospital.

  “Baby girl.”

  A whisper startled the silence in the room. My eyes darted towards Kennedy, then Jennifer before looking at Loren. Her head shifted to the side of the white pillow. My feet couldn’t move fast enough. My fingers laced with hers, holding it tightly.

  “Lo?” I brushed my other hand over her face. Her eyes opened slowly. “It’s okay, you’re okay,” I whispered. Unable to hold back my cries, I leaned my head on the linen blanket and let it all out.

  “Braelynn?” Her hand tightened around mine.

  “I’m here,” I sobbed. I felt Kennedy’s hand on my shoulder. Jennifer sat across from me.

  “He . . . Henry.” Her voice seemed frantic.

  “It’s okay, Loren. It’s okay, sweetie. He won’t ever hurt you again.” The tears poured down my face and my sister’s eyes swelled with cries of her own. I climbed on top of the bed like I was a child needing her hug.

  Releasing my hand, she reached up and touched my face. “Oh, Braelynn.” She traced the outline of the bruise around my eye.

  I took her hand and kissed her palm. “Shh, everything is fine. I promise.”

  Kennedy and Jennifer left the room, and I held Loren’s hand, crying until I passed out at her bedside.

  Peyton

  Parking my car in the hospital visitor’s parking lot, I walked toward the main entrance and sat in the lobby’s waiting room. She wouldn’t know I was there, but I would be close to her and that would have to be enough for now. I drew my laptop from its case, logging onto the office server and got to work. I wanted to clear my schedule for the next few weeks because I planned on being her shadow until she talked to me again.

  I was tapping away on the keyboard when I heard my name. I looked away from
the screen to see Jennifer and Kennedy walking my way. Jennifer’s joyful smile told me that Loren had awakened. Unlike most women who associated themselves with my mother and her charities, Jennifer didn’t quite fit in. She was humble, caring, and loved Braelynn and Loren like they were her own.

  I stood when they approached “Peyton.” Jennifer wrapped her arms around my neck. “Thank you.” She looked up at me. “I’m so relieved she called you and is safe now.”

  “How is she?” I looked over at Kennedy. “And Loren? Does she remember what happened?”

  “Braelynn’s still in a daze.” Kennedy dug through her purse looking for her phone that was ringing. “I don’t think it has hit her yet. But Loren is finally awake. We decided to give them a few minutes of privacy.” She looked at the screen on her phone and then held up a finger before she answered it. “One second she mouthed before stepping away.”

  “Keep me posted, will you?” I asked Jennifer.

  “Of course.” She rubbed my arm and turned to follow Kennedy but stopped. A faint smile appeared on her face. “And Peyton . . . just give her time.”

  “I will.” I nodded.

  I sat back down. If time was what she needed, I wasn’t going anywhere. After a quick email to Melissa regarding my schedule for the week, I knew there was another matter at hand that I needed to fix.

  Devon.

  She was a ploy to keep Henry thinking that I was following his request to stay away from Braelynn. She lived in DC, which was close enough that if I needed her for a public event it would fall in my favor, and far enough away that she didn’t nag me. But Henry was dead and soon Drew’s threats would be pointless.

  I no longer needed to be attached to her.

  Me: Where are you?

  Devon: I’m driving into Greenwich for a dress fitting.

  I looked at my watch. I could be there in two hours. This conversation needed to happen in person and right away.

  Me: Meet me at Kilt Kenny’s at 1. We need to talk.

  When I walked into Kilt Kenny’s, Devon was already waiting for me. Her fingers traced around the martini glass, and if her eyes could speak they would be cursing me with hatred. She knew what I was about to deliver wasn’t good news.