by Danielle Fox
“I love you, Julian.”
His strong arms pulled my body flush against his and hand twisted into the hair at my nape as he tilted my head back to grant himself full access to my mouth.
“We’re out of champagne, I’ll go and grab another bottle, Natalie will be dying to know if you said yes,” he enthused as he released my hair and readjusted himself in his trousers.
“She knew?”
“Sorry,” he winced, “I had to get someone’s opinion on the ring. I’ll be back in two minutes, don’t move.” He pressed his lips to my forehead and disappeared from the room.
As I studied my glistening finger I couldn’t lessen my wide smile. It was beautiful, he was beautiful, and he was soon to be my husband. Wow! I shook my head as I tried to regain some sort of composure.
I heard the door close heavily and turned to greet Julian with that smile. My stomach twisted in dread and my breathing stopped altogether as I stared, horrified, into a pair of familiar evil, squinted eyes.
“Hello, Emily.”
A wracking shudder ran down the entire length of my spine at the sound of his hissing voice. I took a deep, steadying breath.
“Jay.”
Chapter Twenty Four
“What’s the matter, gorgeous? We’re you expecting someone else?”
I felt every hair on my body stand on its end as his voice filled my ears, chilling me to my core. The very same voice that had filled my nightmares night after night. I swallowed hard as I felt the familiar liquid burning at the base of my throat.
“What do you want, Jay?” I asked sternly, desperately trying to mask the quiver in my voice. I wouldn’t let him see my fear of him, I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.
“Well, isn’t that obvious?”
“Not to me it isn’t.”
“I want you to pay for what you’ve done, Emily. And I want my daughter.”
Pay for what I’ve done? What the hell had I done other than suffer at the hands of this sadistic, fucked-up control freak? I had done exactly nothing! I had given him whatever he’d wanted, time and time again and never even dared to complain to him each time I felt bruised and over used. Each time I had burned with agony and been unable to even sit comfortably when he had taken his pleasure from me.
“You will never get near her, Jay.” My voice was barely a whisper as every muscle in my body trembled in sheer terror.
“We’ll see about that, won’t we?” he hissed through his strained jaw. His eyes glowered as his hands balled into fists at his sides.
“Leave me alone, Jay. Stay away from us. Haven’t you done enough damage already?”
I noticed his deep intake of breath as his face twisted with anger.
“Oh, not nearly enough, darling,” he snarled, his tone icy cold. “You put me behind bars for four years and kept my daughter from me, my own flesh and fucking blood, and you think I’m just going to let you get away with that?”
“You don’t have much choice, Jay. Julian will be back any second, if I were you I’d leave while you still can,” I threatened.
Although I was silently praying that Julian wouldn’t return anytime soon even though I knew he would. I couldn’t let Jay anywhere near him, I couldn’t let Julian suffer for my mistakes, and I wouldn’t!
A sickening, sadistic smile spread slowly across his disgusting face. Had he just accepted my threat as a challenge?
“That would be the same Julian that’s downstairs dealing with a certain unruly customer right now?”
My eyes scanned his as I tried to make sense of what he was saying.
“Yes, that’s right, Emily. Julian should be busy for some time, you see, a friend of mine just grabbed his barmaid’s tits. Quite protective of her, isn’t he?” He paused briefly as he inhaled deeply. “Quite the hero, isn’t he? My guess is that he’ll soon be taking this punter out the back to give him a good hiding, like a real knight in shining armour. Except, this time, it won’t be Julian who’s giving the hiding, if you know what I mean?” A triumphant, knowing smile played across his lips as he spoke and another heavy shudder wracked down the length of my spine.
“It’s a shame he couldn’t have predicted my plan. A real shame that someone else has to get hurt in this mess, don’t you think? Well, someone else besides that friend of his, I mean. And, yes, in case you were wondering, that was supposed to be for Julian.” He smiled a menacing smile at me and my mouth dropped open as my breath seemed to stick in my dry throat causing a choking cough.
My mind raced back over his entire speech as I desperately tried to figure out his riddles. And then it clicked – he had it all planned, Julian would take this guy out of the back doors, there was no doubt about that if it was Natalie who he had just groped – and Jay had someone or something waiting for him.
Dry heaves attacked my stomach as this realisation struck me with what felt like a forceful blow. Not Julian, please. I had to get to him; I had to stop him before he got outside. My eyes frantically searched the room for something, anything to strike him with so I could flee and get to Julian.
“Too late, darling. I’m sure he’s already outside by now, possibly no longer breathing by this point.”
“No!” My loud scream exploded from my mouth before I had even registered its approach. “Julian!”
I ran towards the door, the same door that Jay was still blocking, and hurled myself at him. “Get out of my way!”
I thrashed my clenched fists out towards his face but his hands moved much faster than mine and he clutched tightly around the tops of my arms and destroyed my pitiful attempt at an attack.
“You’re a little feisty, aren't you? That’s not you like the Emily that I once knew.” He spoke calmly, his voice empty of any emotion.
“Not Julian, Jay. Please!” I screeched. “It’s me you want, not him! Take me, Jay; just leave him out of this!”
“Too late,” he whispered and his eyes glared wickedly before giving me a single wink.
“You bastard!” I lunged at him once more.
This time I felt my fist make contact with his warm cheek and in the next instant a powerful blow struck the side of my face and I was hurtling backwards across the room. I heard the deafening thud as my head hit the corner of a table as I fell heavily to the ground.
I recognised instantly the peculiar sensation as the warm liquid oozed from my pulsing temple. I pressed a shaking hand against my wound and pulled it away to see the deep red blood that now covered my palm and seeped between the crooks of my fingers. Fuck!
Suddenly I felt an all too familiar weight on top of my chest. Strong hands pressed against my frail wrists as they pinned them hard against the solid floor. His legs wrapped individually around each of mine as he forced them further apart and held them in place. I heard his haunting snigger as his breath breezed across my face.
“No! Jay, no!” I pleaded, thrashing my head from side to side.
“Just like old times, gorgeous. Maybe Maia would like a little brother or sister.”
“Don’t you fucking say her name!”
His mouth pressed against mine, and I thrashed again, trying to escape his wet tongue as it darted out against my lip. The familiar taste of warmed lager lingered against my lips as his panted breaths invaded my air supply. I struggled to take a breath as his mouth smothered mine. I squirmed frantically beneath him but to no avail, I couldn’t move.
“You know this will be over much quicker if you stop struggling and take it like a good girl,” he snarled and my stomach twisted with disgust.
His weight crushed my chest as he shifted and placed a single hand around both of my wrists whilst the other yanked at my skirt, raising it high above my hips.
“Ah, how I’ve missed you, Emily,” he hissed as his rough hands fumbled around the waistband of my underwear.
“Fuck you!”
“I’d much rather fuck you!”
Shit! He’s actually going to do this! My panic began to crush my insides as his fing
ers clutched around the lace strap of my thong as he yanked at it.
I filled my mouth with as much saliva as possible before forcing it through my parted lips and into his face. With my arms and legs restricted it was the only thing I could think of that might distract him.
“You fucking bitch!” He raised his hand before it slapped heavily across my cheek, causing me to scream out in pain.
And then his weight had gone. My legs were free.
I sucked in a deep lungful of air while I still could. Where had he gone? Had my attempt at a distraction worked?
“Emily?” I heard a loud voice calling from the other end of the room. “Emily? Are you okay? Ryan, get her out of here!”
Julian! He was here, he was okay! I sat up quickly and saw Ryan heading towards me. Julian was behind him with his hands gripped tightly around Jay’s neck as he held him firmly against the wall.
“Julian!” I scurried to my feet and stumbled toward Julian. My stomach twisted as I noted the blood that trailed from a large wound on the left side of his forehead. “Julian! You need to get to a doctor!”
Julian’s head turned in my direction just long enough for Jay’s fist to fly up and smash Julian right across his jaw. I watched in horror, mouth agape, as Julian stumbled backwards, his hands releasing their grip on Jay’s throat. Within seconds Jay was beside Julian, delivering harsh kicks to his torso as he desperately tried to scramble to his feet, only to be knocked back down each time Jay’s boot made contact.
I tore my eyes away from the horrific scene before me, desperately searching for Ryan. Why wasn’t he intervening? Why wasn’t he helping Julian? He simply stood there, motionless, his eyes passing between the two men and myself.
“Ryan! Help him!” I shrieked.
When Ryan made no attempt to move I flew towards Jay only to be caught around my waist by Ryan’s powerful grip.
“Leave him, Emily,” Ryan ordered. “You need to come with me.”
“I don’t need to go anywhere! I need to help him! Let go of me!”
“No need,” he replied, his voice calm and quiet.
I twisted back to where Julian lay just in time to see Jay crashing into the wall with considerable force before Julian’s clenched fist flew into his face, over and over again. Jay’s head slammed heavily into the wall with each blow.
“Go, Emily! Get out!” Julian shouted through his strained jaw as he pinned Jay against the wall with his body.
“I’m not leaving you with him, Julian!” I screamed through my tears.
I couldn’t leave, I had to protect him.
“I said go, now! Ryan, get her out of here!” he roared.
His eyes portrayed that same menacing glare and his posture looked almost animalistic, like he was ready to pounce on his prey. I saw Ryan as he once more reached towards me, his expression stern and unwavering.
“Julian, no! I’m not leaving without you!”
“Ryan! Now!” Julian’s voice sounded deep and harsh as he shouted his order at Ryan.
Ryan had me in his arms before I had the chance to react and he was carrying me toward the door.
“No! Let me go!” I screamed as I kicked my legs out and pounded his solid back with my fists. “Ryan, no!”
The door slammed behind me. Ryan stopped at the top of the stairs and held onto me tightly.
“Emily, you can come with me without a fight or I can carry you kicking and screaming, that’s up to you. But you’re not going back in there.”
“Ryan, please! Let me go! We can’t just leave him in there, Jay will kill him!”
“Emily, trust me when I tell you that Julian can take care of himself. Let him handle this, Emily, he knows exactly what he’s doing.”
I thought about his words for a matter of seconds before deciding that my hysterical behaviour wasn’t helping anybody.
“Fine, I’ll walk,” I huffed.
As soon as his grip loosened I struggled free and raced back to the door.
“I don’t think so!” Ryan’s strong arms gripped at my waist again as he hurled me off my feet and into his stone chest. “If that’s how you want to play it!” he muttered.
“Julian!” I screamed as I watched the door disappear from sight as Ryan carried me down the stairs.
“Emily, you’ve got to trust me. I promised Julian I would take you away from any danger so that’s exactly what I’m going to do. Please, just respect his wishes and let him do what he needs to do.”
“Respect his wishes?” I asked, my voice laced with horror. “And what exactly does he need to do, Ryan? Get himself killed?”
“Emily, there’s sides to Julian that you haven’t seen and trust me; you do not want to be in his way when he flips. He knows what he’s doing, let him do it.”
What the hell did that mean? I thought I had seen the worst side of Julian. If attacking a harmless drunk wasn’t his worst possible side then I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what was. Maybe Julian had a plan of his own, just as Jay had?
As we crossed the dance floor I looked up and saw that the club was empty. Completely empty apart from a sobbing Natalie who was slumped on a stool at the bar.
“Ryan, let me go. Please, I just want to speak to Natalie,” I pleaded with him – calmly this time.
Ryan finally placed me on my feet but kept a firm arm around my waist. I looked up at him through desperate eyes and noticed that his left eye was badly swollen and a small amount of blood surrounded a raised area on his bottom lip.
“What the hell happened? Is everyone okay?” I asked, my voice cracking slightly.
“It’s all in hand, Emily. I assure you, you have nothing to worry about.”
I turned and approached Natalie. Thick black lines smeared down her cheeks and her eyes were swollen from shed tears.
“Natalie, are you okay?” I pushed a stray lock of hair off her dampened cheek with a trembling finger.
“I’m okay, it’s Julian I’m worried about.” She raised her head as she spoke and I saw a thin gash across her cheek.
“What happened to your face?” I gasped in horror at the sight of the raised wound.
“I got in the way, that’s all. I’m fine,” she snorted slightly as she wiped at her nose with her hand.
“I’m so sorry, Natalie.”
I broke down as I glanced up at The Attic. What had I done? I should never have told Julian about Jay, I don’t know what part of me had felt like it was good idea. I should’ve known it would turn out badly! The thought that the very people beside me now had been hurt because of me and my stupid mouth almost broke me. But, the thought that Julian was more than likely being hurt right now because of it absolutely destroyed me!
“Ryan, you need to go to Julian,” I pressed.
“No need, Emily. He won’t appreciate my interfering. He’ll let me know when he needs me.”
“And what if he can’t let you know?” I snapped.
Was he for real? Anything could be going on up there, Julian could be hurt. In fact, Julian was hurt, that much had been obvious before he had even started with Jay. I glanced to Ryan, then back at the stairs and weighed up my chances of escaping without Ryan stopping me.
“I wouldn’t bother, Emily,” Natalie warned. “Ryan’s right. Leave him.”
“How can we just sit here? Anything could have happened!”
“Emily, no offence, but you don’t know Julian like we do. There’s no way that fucker is coming out of that room alive, trust me!” Natalie spoke matter-of-factly, as if she was simply discussing the weather.
I opened my mouth to protest but stopped abruptly as an unfamiliar scent filled my nostrils. It was a heated, almost burnt smell. I looked around me, expecting to see something left on behind the bar or something of the like, when I saw a fine grey smoke slowly creeping down from the top of the spiral staircase.
“Julian!” I jumped to my feet and sprinted towards the stairs.
“Emily, no!” Ryan grabbed my arms and pulled me back, away from t
he thickening smoke.
“Let go of me! You can’t just leave him, Ryan! No!” I was fighting with everything I had but his firm grip wouldn’t loosen as he dragged me out of the main doors and onto the street.
Natalie was already outside, staring vacantly at the wall that she appeared to be picking at with her long fingernail.
“What is wrong with you two?”
I was frantic, desperately trying to focus and figure out a way to get to him. I didn’t understand either one of them. How could his sister just stand there, all calm and cool when the place was on fire with her brother inside?
Ryan pushed me out further onto the street and quickly put his key in the door, twisting it firmly.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I roared.
Why was he locking the door? Why wasn’t he trying to save him? Instead, he was trapping him inside! What the hell was going on?
I pounded against the door screaming Julian’s name over and over again. I felt the warmth of my blood as it began to pour down my face again as I strained.
“Emily!”
I turned in the direction of Julian’s voice and saw him walking quickly towards me.
“Julian!” I ran to him, throwing my arms around his neck as I kissed his face, over and over. “What happened, are you okay? Where’s Jay?” My eyes scanned rapidly over his bloodied face and my chest exploded with a loud cry.
“Emily, I’m fine, it’s just a scrape. Look at you,” he soothed as he angled my head to get a better view of my bleeding wound. “I’m so sorry I left you, baby.” He kissed my forehead and pulled me closer into his chest. “Please tell me I wasn’t too late, did he touch you, Emily?”
I raised my head to look into his eyes and saw nothing but pure agony. His mouth twisted into a grim line.
“No, he didn’t touch me. Thanks to you! Where is he?”
“He’s gone; you don’t need to worry about him anymore, Emily.”
“Is he still inside?” I winced at the thought.
As much as I hated that man with every part of my being, the image of anyone burning to death wasn’t a welcome one.
Julian simply nodded his head before he pressed another firm kiss against my forehead.