by C. L. Stacey
Playing my role as the innocent, concerned new girlfriend, I shake my head.
“She lied to me about Stefan.” Caleb holds out a photo for me to see, a single sheet from the small pile on his lap. “There’s a lot you don’t know about me, Natasha. I despise liars.”
Inside I’m smiling, but I hold my concerned expression for him when I nod my head. “I completely understand, Caleb. I despise them, too.”
“Do you?”
I nod my head again. “Of course. Trust is key in a healthy relationship, right?”
“Right,” he agrees with me. “Can you promise to be honest with me?”
“Always,” I answer without hesitation.
“I received this email close to Christmastime over a year ago,” he shares. “The email came from you, didn’t it?”
My pulse spikes. “No.” I shake my head.
“Natasha…” Caleb sighs disappointedly. “You’re lying to me. I can’t trust you either, it seems.” He starts to stand.
“No!” I beg, latching onto his wrist. “No, I’m sorry.”
“Are you going to start telling me the truth?”
“Yes,” I promise him. “Yes, I will.” I breathe a sigh of relief when Caleb reclaims his seat.
The muscles along his strong jaw tick when he clenches down. I’m tempted to reach out and trace the lines, and then he holds out another sheet from his collection. “Who are these men?” My heart spazzes out of control as I stare at the familiar photo.
Tears sting my eyes when I feel backed into the corner. If I lie again, he’ll walk away. If I explain myself, at least I have a sliver of chance.
Maybe I’m overreacting. Maybe he’s just trying to wipe our slate clean before committing to a relationship. What he needs from me is my full cooperation. He hates liars. I have to be honest. He’ll understand that I only did it to earn his love. He has to.
“Why are you crying?” Caleb asks calmly.
With everything I’ve worked for hanging in the balance, how can I not? “If I be honest with you, will you forgive me?”
“Only if you’re honest with me.”
“And then we’ll start over, right?” I burst into a sobbing mess.
Caleb reaches over for a box of tissues and hands it to me. “Right.”
“Okay.” I nod, forcing myself to calm down enough to talk. I gently dab the tissue under my eyes and take a deep, steadying breath in. “Before I begin, Caleb. I need you to understand that I did what I did with your best interest at heart.”
Swallowing, Caleb nods. “Of course you did. Now, tell me, who are these men?”
“My cousins.”
“Did you call them out to Club21 that night?”
I take the tissue to my eyes again and dab. “When I saw Lexi throwing herself at you at the photoshoot earlier that afternoon, I got upset. Then to have to watch you fawning over her like she was a shiny new toy—I was angry.”
“I see.”
“I called my cousins and told them I needed to take my mind off of it with a night of fun, so I invited them out to join me at Club21. When Lexi and Bethany came out onto the dance floor, I pointed them out, and my cousins commented that they were beautiful. I explained to them that Lexi was the one trying to take you away from me, that she was just a horrible person, a disgusting slut.” I stop when Caleb clears his throat.
“Natasha, Lexi is one of my best friends.”
“I know that… now, after she’d moved on to Jackson when you obviously weren’t interested.”
A deep line runs down the space between his brows when they squeeze together. “That’s not at all what happened. But go on with your story. What happened after that?”
“My cousins joked that hooking up with her should be easy, if that were really the case. I agreed with them and suggested they test out that theory.”
He looks displeased, but he remains calm. “By instigating that, you landed your cousins in jail, Natasha.”
“They’re the ones who drugged her drink—”
“Even so, you encouraged two men to take advantage of one woman.” His tone strengthens when his patience slips.
“I did it for you,” I whisper, tears threatening again.
Leaning back in his seat, Caleb inhales deeply, returning to a calmer state, and then he holds up the first photo again. “Why did you send these to me?”
“Stefan said that it would help you see the truth.”
Ever since Caleb humiliated Stefan for yelling at Ariana, he’s had it out for him. I agreed to help Stefan as long as he didn’t harm Caleb directly. Stefan assured me that all he wanted was to ruin Ariana for Caleb. Which I was completely for.
“The truth?”
“The connection he and Ari shared,” I tell him. Especially interested in this part of the story, he shifts slightly in his chair, spurring me on. “He said that he wanted to help me help you realize that she isn’t as good as she says she is.”
Caleb tips his head to the side. “How’s that?”
“He said that good girls didn’t sleep with men to get ahead, like she did with you. That she would just as easily sleep with him if he tried.” I shake my head. “She doesn’t deserve you. She doesn’t love you like I do, Caleb.”
Bringing a hand to his forehead, Caleb stays quiet.
“I sent those photos so you could see how she is while you’re away.”
“And then you went to Aryn when that didn’t work, didn’t you?” He leans the side of his head against his fist.
“I started catching Ariana lying to her brother before running off to meet you, it’s how I figured out that he didn’t know. When she told me she’d be skipping the holiday party, I knew that it was the perfect chance to tell him. And it worked. She stopped bothering you.”
“Then when I ran into her at Tao, I saw her with Chris. She was really private about it, didn’t mention much other than his name. She’s so shady, Caleb. I knew I needed proof to bring back to you, so I took that picture with them. When I offered my sympathies about your breakup, she rubbed the fact that she was planning to return to LA in my face. She was going to bother you again. So I got on the first flight out the very next day. I wanted to warn you before you bought into her lies.”
“It tore me up to see you so upset about Ari’s betrayal, but I wanted you to know the truth about her. You had too much to drink, so I offered to drive you home. I asked to come inside, and you let me. You wanted me there, Caleb—” I’m ordered to stop when Caleb holds his hand up, palm facing me.
Dragging his hands down his face, Caleb leans forward with the final photo in his hand. How the hell?
In Caleb’s hand is a screenshot of my text with Stefan, exchanged just before he was arrested that same night.
“Caleb, where’d you get that?”
He ignores my question. “Stop lying to me, Natasha. You and I never slept together that night. Did we?”
“Caleb—”
“Did we?” he asks again.
I lied to him. Again. He just caught me, and he looks really mad. If I continue to lie, he’ll take my plans for a future with him completely off the table.
Having no other choice but to offer him the complete truth, I shake my head no. “The whisper of her name was the only thing to leave your lips before you passed out. You looked like you were in so much pain, I couldn’t leave you.”
Expelling a sharp breath, Caleb’s hand closes tighter, crumpling the edge of the paper. “You sat there and watched me hurt the only woman I’ve ever loved—will ever love.”
NO.
He doesn’t mean that.
He’s just angry, he didn’t mean that.
The photo shakes in his hand, tears lining his eyes. “Please—Please tell me that you didn’t conspire to have my girlfriend almost raped by that coward!” He jumps to his feet, causing me to scramble back in my seat with fright. “Answer me!” he bellows.
The door to his office swings open, and Jackson and Aryn rush to Caleb’
s side, restraining him.
“Caleb, calm down,” Jackson keeps his hand pressed against Caleb’s chest, forcing him to keep his distance from me.
“No, I need to know!” Caleb hits Jackson’s hand away, but it comes right back, pushing against him again. “Tell me!” he shouts.
Too focused on the look of pain bleeding from the eyes of my love, I don’t notice the cold steel closing over my wrists, shackling me, biting into my skin. A man is reading me my rights, but I don’t listen. “Please, Caleb, you don’t understand. Ariana doesn’t love you, she’s playing you!” I shout, my voice throbbing when my tears take over. “I only made sure that she got what she deserved!”
A low guttural noise rolls up Caleb’s throat, and he shoves his friends off him, turning his back to me. I jump at the sound of him putting his fist through a spot on the wall behind him.
“I did it for you,” I whisper helplessly.
Jackson and Aryn stop Caleb again when he tries, calmly this time, to approach me.
“I’m fine,” he tells them. They’re hesitant to believe him, sticking closely by his side when he makes his way over to me.
“I forgot to turn off the intercom. I had a meeting set up with Jackson and Aryn about these delusions you’re having. Jackson is my partner, and he helps me make almost all my legal decisions. Aryn is Ariana’s brother, but you know that already. I don’t really need to explain the reasons why I needed to wipe the slate clean with him, do I?”
“They were in the conference room with Bethany when she informed me of their prompt arrival. The man behind you there, Michael Richards, is the chief of police. He’s a close friend of Jackson’s and was there for him after Lexi’s Club21 attack.”
“When I came to Jackson after learning that it was you who was blackmailing Ari, we came across the photo of you and your cousins on your very public Instagram account. You understand why we were forced to call Chief Richards here today, don’t you? I can’t have you endangering the life of the woman I love anymore, Natasha. You need help.”
“If you aren’t arrested for your crimes, I will file a restraining order. If you try coming after us again, I will not be held responsible for what happens to you. I never want to see you around me or Ariana again, do we have an understanding?” He waits for me to answer him.
Nod, Natasha,” he commands when I don’t give him one right away.
“Caleb…” I weep, begging him for mercy. “We can start over…”
“Never,” he rejects me with so much hatred in his eyes. “Not with you. Never with you.”
He’s just mad.
He’ll get over this in time.
Caleb’s gaze travels past me. “Bernie, Peter,” he calls out two names I recognize; his building manager and head of security. “Natasha Silva is to never set foot in the Runway Building again. I want every single employee to know. She is not welcome here any longer.”
“Chief Richards, take her away,” Jackson orders the man behind me, and I’m being led out the door.
I scream for Caleb to help me.
I scream for him to look at me.
Aryn turns to close the door to Caleb’s office, robbing me of my view of him. My love.
Someone is crazily banging against my front door.
It’s late, and if anyone I know wants to visit, they always call first. No one has called me to let me know that they were popping by for a visit.
For all I know, there’s a crackhead outside my door. I’m not answering it.
I stand in the kitchen, making sure not to be seen from whoever it is on the other side of that door, and I listen for any attempts they may make to force their way inside.
The amount of anxiety I’m feeling right now will send me to an early grave. My heart is pumping overtime, I’m nearly hyperventilating, and I have no fucking weapons in this house. I have my cellphone in my hand, but I don’t know how fast the police can get here if I were to call.
“Ari!” a familiar voice comes from the other side. “Ari, open the door.”
My panic rapidly fades, quickly replaced by my irritation. I slide down the wall with a heavy sigh. “Dammit, Caleb,” I growl. He scared me half to death, the idiot.
I get back on my feet, marching straight for the door.
Unbolting the lock, I swing the door open. “What do you want?” I grate.
Standing there with no good explanation handy, Caleb stares at me silently. I wait, but he says nothing.
“You scared the hell out of me, Caleb. What is wrong with you? Get in here before my neighbors call the cops, you psycho.” I step aside to let him in, but he doesn’t move.
I wave my hand in front of his face, but he doesn’t blink.
“Are you just going to stand there?” I engage him, but he says nothing. “Your banging on the door made this visit seem pretty urgent, but I guess that’s just normal.” I wave my hand back and forth in front of his face. “Hello,” I drag out the O in my greeting.
Dropping my arm back to my side, I let out a breath and swing the door shut.
Finally, I get movement. Caleb’s hand juts out to stop the door from shutting on him.
“Did someone die?” I ask, my patience waning.
“I didn’t do it, Ari.
“What?”
“I didn’t sleep with Natasha that night. The night before you came to see me. I didn’t. I didn’t sleep with her,” he swears.
The loose hold I have over the door handle tightens. “What the hell are you doing?”
“What am I doing?”
“Why are you doing this now?”
“Doing what now?”
“Why are you here?”
“What the hell do you mean? I’m here to tell you the truth about what happened that night.”
“The truth?” I repeat. “And I’m supposed to just believe you?”
Caleb shoves out a wrinkly sheet to me, hanging limply between us.
“What do you want me to do with that?”
“Look at it.”
With an exasperated sigh, I snatch the paper from him, turn it over, and I let my eyes roll across the image of a text message.
I look up, eyes already brimming with tears. “What is this?” I whisper.
“Proof.”
“Is—” I pause when I choke up, then I feel anger and hate and malice. “Is she responsible for what happened to me?” I half-growl.
“Partly, yes. She’s out of her mind, Ari. She is obsessed with me. The bitch is a psycho.”
My mouth drops open, a small puff of air the only sound to pass through. I shake my head. “Oh, my God,” I squeak softly, horrified. “What kind of a human—”
“She’s sick and unstable. She was thoroughly convinced that she and I belonged together, or some wild shit like that.”
Eyes flashing angrily up at Caleb, I swing the door closed again with a grunt.
Caleb’s hand stops the door, and he enters my home when I’m walking out the back door.
I need air. I can’t breathe, I need air.
I’m pacing the deck, breathing in through my nose and out through my mouth to keep from sobbing uncontrollably.
I hear him walk out to join me, but I ignore it and just try to focus on not falling apart.
“Ari…”
Hanging my head back, I continue to pace.
“What are you doing?” he asks.
“Go away, Caleb.”
“No.”
“Please!” I choke back a sob.
“No,” he repeats, unwavering. “Where the hell do I have left to go? With you is where I fucking belong.”
Sinking my fingers into my hair, I grip to the point of pain, to take my mind off everything else I’m feeling.
I knew Natasha was jealous of our relationship, but I never thought her capable of such evil.
I never considered us friends, but I’ve clearly underestimated the depths of her hate.
Memories of that night come back to me in violent flashes. I c
lose my eyes and Stefan’s hand is clasped around my throat, his lips are on mine, and his fists beat against my face.
“I won’t let them hurt you again,” his voice reaches me, pulling me from my nightmare. “I’ll keep you safe, Ari, I swear it.”
Caleb also swears that he has no way with words. But his are the only ones that have ever truly held any weight.
“You can’t.”
“Yes, I can.”
“How are you supposed to save me from myself, Caleb? I can barely sleep at night from all the nightmares.”
“So talk to me about them, let me help you. Stop pacing!”
“No, it helps me relax.”
“Talk to me,” he pleads.
I shake my head again. “I can’t, Caleb. No.”
“Why not?”
“You tried to kill Stefan that day at the hospital. I can’t do that to you again.”
“Pushing me away won’t solve anything.”
“I know that!” I snap.
The pacing isn’t helping right now, but I don’t let it stop me. I yank on the ends of my sleeves, wringing the fabric between my fingers as my feet walk their concentrated path from point A to B.
Point A is a problem I visit.
Point B is where I unload.
Point A— Stefan’s attack.
Point B— He can’t hurt me anymore, he’s in jail.
Point A— Natasha’s attack.
Point B— She can’t hurt me anymore, Caleb just promised she wouldn’t.
Point A— All this time, I believed that Caleb betrayed me.
Point B— He just showed up with proof that he didn’t.
Point A— What does he want from me?
Point B— …
For every problem I tackle, Caleb throws another one on with his questions.
“What are you thinking about, Ari? Let me in.”
“I just…” My voice wobbles, the words getting lodged in my throat. “I don’t want to feel weak anymore. You make me feel weak. I trust you too much.”
“Trusting me doesn’t make you weak.”
“I can take care of myself.”
“I know you can.”
“I’m stronger than I look.”
“I fucking know it. Ari, look at me.”