by Rene Folsom
As the final words left my mouth, I looked up and noticed Aiden was crying. His fingers and thumb pressed tightly against his eye sockets. His eyes were red-rimmed and watery. Small tears trickled down each cheek.
Looking over, to my left, Coda had his forehead pressed against the back of my hand as he clutched my palm for dear life. His hands and shoulders shook fiercely.
“I’m sorry, you guys. I’m so sorry,” I apologized as I began to cry too.
Coda looked up at me with a teary gaze. “No, Julia. We’re the ones that should be sorry. We promised to protect you. You had to go through hell all because we didn’t do as we promised.”
“Angel, you have no idea how painful it is for us to hear you suffered. I’d give anything to take back that morning I let you walk out,” Aiden said. Now I realized why they were beating themselves up so badly. They felt guilty.
“None of this is your fault either, guys. He was bound and determined to find me. It was inevitable. I can’t say I’m glad it happened, but at least now I have something on him. At least now, Detective Gowan can’t tell me I have nothing to go on,” I said as I looked in Gowan’s direction.
“You’re right, Julia. We can definitely get him for several counts with all this testimony and evidence. I doubt he’ll even be granted bail with how much he’s put you through,” Gowan assured.
Then he continued, “Well, I think we have enough to go on. Thank you so much for being so thorough with your encounters, Julia. I will keep you posted about any hearings you may need to be present for.”
“Oh, detective, I have one question,” I said as he began to stand. “Is it okay for me to travel or do I have to stay near by? I was thinking of taking a trip to North Carolina for spring break, and if my doctor clears me, I would still like to go.”
“I don’t see anything happening with this in the next week, Julia. There should be no problem with you traveling. Just keep in touch,” Gowan said as he winked and began walking toward the door. He shook Aiden and Coda’s hands again as he left. Meadows didn’t say anything, just held a tape recorder and a notepad the entire time.
Both Aiden and Coda collapsed in the chairs on either side of my bed, holding my hands tight as if I were going to float away.
“You guys look exhausted. I feel safe here if you want to go home and get some rest.”
“We’re not leaving you,” they both said in unison.
“Well, at least attempt to get some rest here? Although, I don’t know how you’re going to manage in those uncomfortable chairs. Maybe I could share the bed?” I offered.
“No, Angel. You need to recover a heck of a lot more than we need sleep,” Aiden admonished.
As Aiden and Coda laid their heads against my bed, I rubbed my fingers through their hair and managed to get them both to sleep rather quickly.
Pat came in to check on me, and I motioned for her to stay as quiet as possible.
“The doctor is thinking we can release you tomorrow morning, Julia. Everything looks fine and other than your bumps and bruises, you seem to be doing well. He wants to make sure you’re hydrated enough before he releases you, but you seem to be bouncing back nicely. So, he’ll be in to check on you in just a little while.”
“Thanks, Pat. For everything,” I whispered.
“You’re welcome, dear. Take care of your boys and I’ll try to be in touch personally about your test results,” she said as she turned and left the room.
Chapter 28
“The feeling that everyone was conspiring against me started to consume me like an illness.”
Early Monday morning, I was discharged from the hospital. Even though both Aiden and Coda rode with me in the ambulance, they somehow arranged for the car to be there. Thankfully, Sid was able to bring me a few clothes. Otherwise, I would’ve been riding the wheelchair in a hospital gown.
“I need to go to my apartment,” I said as Coda helped me into the car.
“What for?” Aiden asked.
“Well, I guess we could go to the school and get my car. I left my bag of clothes in there.”
“We’ll buy new clothes. Let’s just get you home,” Aiden replied, while starting the car.
I didn’t argue because, honestly, I didn’t want to go to my apartment or back to the place where Rob had snatched me up. Neither would bring happy thoughts.
Once at their house, I walked into the bathroom and gazed at myself in my mirror. A battered woman stared back at me, making me gasp at the sight of my broken form. The entire side of my face was various shades of purple and pink with harsh lacerations littering my skin.
Aiden suddenly appeared behind me, making me jump just a little. A sorrowful look crossed his face as he said, “I’m sorry, Angel.”
“Sorry for what?” I asked, turning around to face him and to avoid the ugliness that reflected back at me.
“For not being there for you. For letting that bastard get to you,” he responded, while picking me up so I could sit on the counter and be at eye level with him.
Coda walked into the bathroom at that moment with the same look of guilt in his eyes. Making sure they both could hear me loud and clear, I grabbed the backs of their necks and brought their faces close to mine.
“Listen, and listen closely. I want nothing more than to put my past behind me. The more we bring it up, the harder it will be for me to come to terms with it all. I don’t want either one of you thinking anything that has happened was your fault,” I said with determination as I looked back and forth between two pairs of steel eyes.
“Julia, you have no idea how hard it is for me to stay calm knowing what that monster did to you,” Coda growled. “I will make sure he goes to jail and rots there for life. Because if he ever manages to be released, I will hunt him down and—”
“Shhh,” I hushed, not unkindly. “I know the whole situation is infuriating. All I’m asking is that you help me cope—help me get past this horrible place I’m in. I can’t do that if you’re reflecting your anger.”
Placing a small peck on each of their lips, I added, “Please?”
Aiden and Coda nodded in unison, causing me to pull them both into a hug.
As I felt Coda brush my hair off my back, Aiden whispered, “Angel.” I can only imagine they could see the refection of my tattoo in the mirror.
Pulling away to look at me, Aiden said, “I booked us on the next flight out. We leave at two.”
“To where?” I asked.
“To our cabin up in North Carolina. We’re going to have to fly coach though since we booked it last minute. My mom says it’s a tad chilly right now. The high has been around forty degrees. So, we’ll need to get you some warmer clo—”
“Aiden, wait,” I said, cutting off his rambling while still hanging onto both him and Coda. “Do I get a say in this? You’re making plans without asking me, I look horrible, and I can’t go meet your mother with this mess on my face.”
“You want to put all this behind you, right?” Coda asked, obviously using my words against me. I just nodded. “Then, let’s put it all behind us, at least for a week. You look beautiful, as always, and no silly bruises are going to change that.”
“What he said,” Aiden added with a hook of his thumb in Coda’s direction.
Turning my upper body, I looked at my reflection in the mirror once again. On either side of the battered and broken female staring back at me were two strong, sexy men—my own little support group.
“Okay,” I said. Agreeing to go with them to meet their mother made all kinds of new butterflies to take up residence in my stomach. “I spoke to Lib today and she wants me to take the next week off work anyway. You two really need to talk to me about plans in the future. I may love following you around like a puppy dog, but I do have obligations.”
“Good! It’s all set then,” Aiden cheered as he grabbed my waist and helped me down from the counter. Before releasing me, he cupped my chin in his fingers and pressed a passionate kiss to my lips. A low gru
mble emanated from his chest just before we broke away from each other.
“What do I do about clothes?” I asked as Coda led me out into the bedroom. “I feel like a homeless freak with nothing to wear and no place to live, but I’ll be damned if I step foot back in my apartment. Even though they have him locked up right now, I still don’t feel right.”
“New beginnings, new clothes—no worries, Julia. I got this,” Coda replied with a peck to my lips.
“You’ve got what?” I asked, arching my brow in curiosity.
“Well, first of all, I’ve got you. Second of all, I can handle the clothes situation. We’ll just go shopping once we get to Asheville.”
I sighed as I said, “I really can’t afford a whole new wardrobe. Maybe I can have Sid go by the apartment and get some more of my clothes.”
As I sat down in the big chair near Aiden’s desk, Coda knelt on the floor between my legs.
“You do realize we plan on buying them for you, right?” he said. “And you better not argue with me about it either. We can definitely afford it, and we want to. So, enough talk about clothes—let’s just grab a bite to eat and get to the airport.”
Settling into our seats on the plane, I looked over at Aiden and asked, “What ever happened to all the midterm presentations?”
“Shit,” he said with an aggravated sigh. “I tried my damndest to listen to everyone present their projects, but knowing you weren’t there made me freak out. Regardless of what we were going through, I knew you wouldn’t miss it for the world. So, the entire time I stood there, listening to each student babble, a thousand and one scenarios were swimming in my head as to why you weren’t there. Then Maddy approached me and said she was worried about you and asked me if I knew what was up. Suddenly, the odd phone call that came in on your phone hit me over the head like a ton of bricks. I should have known immediately there was something up. I told the rest of the class they all aced it, even though a few still hadn’t presented their work, and left to find you. I haven’t been back since.”
“Are you serious? You just ditched the rest of the presentations?” I gasped, worried the situation would mess with his reputation as a teacher.
“I’m ashamed I didn’t ditch sooner, Julia. You have no idea how much it pains me to realize I stood there that whole time just listening to inane dribble when I could have been helping search for you,” he whispered as he held my hand.
“There’s no way you could have known, Aiden,” I said, squeezing his hand to reassure him it was all okay. Grasping Coda’s fingers with my other hand, I asked, “And where did you go in such a hurry that morning? By the time I got dressed, you were gone.”
“Yeah, ahh… that is actually something we didn’t tell you at the time, but it seemed unimportant after all the events that unfolded,” Coda responded without looking at me.
“And?” I coaxed.
“The reason Tanya came in upset that morning was because Rob approached her the day before,” Coda admitted.
Before I could respond with horror and utter humiliation, Aiden continued. “At first, she didn’t think anything of it because it was during her volunteer shift at the animal shelter. But once they were somewhat alone, he spouted off ridiculous things about her husband trying to steal his girl, and it all was blown way out of proportion after that. He never threatened Tanya—as a matter of fact, she said he was kind and thoughtful the entire time. But she could tell there was danger when she looked into his eyes. The way she described it was like staring at pure evil.”
“Oh, Christ,” I sighed, my voice shaking a little with shame. “Just the thought he came that close to Tanya makes my stomach turn. It’s no wonder she hates me now.”
Both men let out audible chuckles as if I said something that could be mistaken as humorous.
“She doesn’t hate you, Julia,” Aiden said as he continued to laugh. “She was worried about you and even more worried about me. She was worried my obsession with you was clouding my judgment on how serious the situation was.”
“Well, if I were her, I’d hate me—bringing in all this drama. I’m amazed you two put up with me,” I said with a straight face.
Leaning into me, Aiden said, “Stop self-loathing so we can enjoy our week together.” Placing a heated, passionate kiss on my lips was all it took to shut me up.
Coda then leaned in and added, “What he said.” He too caressed my mouth with his tongue, sending wonderful flutters to my core.
I sat there with both their hands in mine and attempted to catch my breath. Looking over, I noticed a man staring at me with a bewildered look on his face. I responded with a smile, proud of the fact I had two wonderful men who cared so much about me.
My hold on their hands tightened as the plane began its ascension into the sky, plastering my back to the seat and making my stomach drop as our speed increased.
After we were in the air, Coda broke out of the death grip I had on his hand and pulled his MacBook out of his bag. Repositioning myself in my chair, I laid my head down on Coda’s shoulder.
“Is it okay if I lay here or do you need some privacy?” I asked, worried he may not want me intruding on him while he worked.
“It’s no problem at all. I just have to respond to a few work emails,” he said with a kiss to my forehead.
After almost a half hour of boring law firm emails, I felt my eyelids getting heavy. Before I fell asleep, Coda grumbled, causing my eyes to pop open and look at his screen.
An email from Detective Gowan caught my attention because I saw a mention of Vic’s name. Sitting up, I pointed to the screen and asked, “What is that all about?”
“Gowan says that Victor creep was hired by Rob to follow you. He just sent me the interview transcripts and it looks like the worm was very quick to rat out Rob,” Coda explained. “He’s trying to play the innocent card and claimed he took the job so he could warn you instead of report back to Rob like he was supposed to.”
“I think that’s a crock of shit,” Aiden said a little too loudly.
“You and me both,” Coda agreed.
“Is Gowan buying it?” I asked, worried Vic would get away with what he did.
“I can’t tell by this email. He’s just sending this to me because I’m your lawyer and he’s required to share suspect interviews with me. I’m going to call him as soon as we land,” he assured me.
“I never did ask what happened with the restraining order hearing,” I said, a little embarrassed I just now thought of it.
“Because of your disappearance, the judge agreed to a continuance pending the outcome of your whereabouts. Now that Rob is in custody with all the charges over his head, that hearing is no longer necessary,” Coda explained.
An audible sigh left my lungs as relief overtook me. I was pleased I didn’t have to face him so soon, and I was even more thankful I had such a great lawyer to keep me protected.
Craning my neck, I pecked Coda on the cheek and said, “Thank you.”
“Anything for you, Jules.”
To give Coda some space while he worked, I settled my head on Aiden’s shoulder and pulled one of his ear buds out so I could listen to his music. Stravinsky flooded my ear, making me close my eyes and enjoy the piano strokes that made the intricate sounds come to life.
I couldn’t help but replay my past encounters with Vic over and over in my head. There was no inclination that would’ve warned me he was involved. The feeling that everyone was conspiring against me started to consume me like an illness.
Chapter 29
“My misery was infectious.”
Aiden and Coda led the way as we got off the plane. Wearing a ratty pair of jeans and one of Aiden’s university sweatshirts, I felt like the tattered beggar again. I couldn’t help but be self-conscious of my appearance. Even though I tried to be fair to everyone, I had to admit that I judged appearances just as much as the rest of human kind. Luckily, I was able to take a shower and do my hair. If it weren’t for that, I would have ser
iously looked like a bum next to those two gods.
“Seriously you two… ladies always go first. Having her trailing behind you two is so barbaric,” I heard a voice say, though I couldn’t place where the voice came from.
Two hands wedged between their shoulders and pushed them apart to reveal a cute brunette with strikingly familiar gray eyes. She definitely didn’t look old enough to be their mother.
“Julia!” she screeched as she held her arms out to me. Feeling a bit out of place, but not wanting to hurt her feelings, I inched in for the hug cautiously.
“Mrs. Stone. It’s so nice to meet you,” I said as she held onto me so tightly. Her grip against my battered body made me wince.
“I know my mom’s not here, so none of this Mrs. Stone business,” she scolded as she pulled away. “Please, call me Ann.”
I nodded and smiled.
Ann touched the bruised and bandaged side of my face lightly and said, “Oh, darling. You must’ve gone through so much. I’m so glad you’re here and distancing yourself from all that mess for a while.”
Startled, I looked at Aiden, and then to Coda—worried sick with what they might have told her.
As if she read my mind, she added, “Don’t worry. They have been rather tight lipped about everything. I won’t pry. I’m just glad you’re all okay.”
“Thanks,” I said sheepishly, still too uncomfortable with meeting her in such a vulnerable state. I couldn’t believe Aiden and Coda talked me into coming here looking the way I did.
“Now boys. I still haven’t gotten my twin-sugar,” she said with a smile as she peered in their direction.
“Well, we thought you were the one leading this crazy train, Mom,” Coda joked. His wit was rewarded with a brisk slap on the chest. Both men smiled wide and leaned over to kiss her on opposite cheeks simultaneously. The whole scene was absolutely adorable and made me envy their solid family relationships.