Desire_A Romance Collection

by Mia Ford

  See? He’s home. There was no reason to worry after all.

  I stayed in the car for a few seconds, resting against the headrest and scanning the parking lot. I turned around, looking at the entrance into Silo Circle, waiting to see if any other cars would be driving in behind me. When I was sure I was alone, I turned the engine off and climbed out of my car. I gave the parking lot another quick scan, and then hurried towards Andy’s complex.

  I climbed up the stairs, moving quickly and forcing myself not to look back, as if doing that would somehow make Dennis materialize out of thin air and come after me. I reached the third floor, hurried down the hall, and rang Andy’s doorbell. The graffiti ‘asshole’ had been painted over, the fresh coat still glistening in the fluorescent light. I waited for a few more seconds before ringing the bell again.

  A woman opened the door, and I took a surprised step back. She was naked except for a pair of lace panties, and my eyes dropped to her breasts before I quickly looked away and up. She was leaning against the door, obviously very comfortable in her nudity.

  “I’m sorry,” I stammered. “I must have gotten the wrong apartment.”

  “Who are you looking for?” the woman asked.

  I forced an uncomfortable smile. “No one, I’m sorry,” I said quickly, glancing up and down the hall, trying to understand how I had missed Andy’s apartment. “Definitely the wrong address.”

  Only, I wasn’t convinced. None of the other apartment doors looked recognizable.

  “You’re Andrea, right?” the woman asked.

  I froze, looking at her in confusion. How the hell does she know me? I nodded.

  “Are you looking for Andy?” she asked with a smile. My heart immediately skipped a beat.

  “Andy Stetson, yeah,” I said, my voice barely audible.

  “Oh, then you’ve got the right place,” she said, opening the door to let me in. “He’s inside. Sorry, you caught us at a bad time.”

  I felt my heart drop, and my stomach twisted and turned, bile rushing up into my throat. I felt like gagging, my eyes wide and my jaw dropping. “I –”

  “Don’t worry, I think I can wake him up,” the woman said. “Come in, please. Don’t stand outside in the cold.”

  I took a step back, slowly shaking my head.

  The woman frowned, but her smile never left her face. And there was something in her eyes. Something insane and unpredictable. “What’s wrong?”

  I shook my head with more vigor, fighting back the tears that were stinging my eyes.

  “Oh, sweetheart,” the woman cooed, but I could tell there was nothing warm about the gesture. “Did you think he was alone? I’m so sorry.” She didn’t sound sorry. Quite the opposite, actually. “But Andy’s rarely alone, you know? And most of the time, he’s with me.”

  A tear raced down my cheek, and I could tell that she noticed, because her smile widened. “You still want to come in?” she asked, her tone a little more challenging.

  I bit my lip. I couldn’t stop shaking my head, my mind spinning in disbelief. How could he? How the fuck could he?

  I raced down the hall as fast as I could, away from the apartment and the naked woman, away from the bastard I had snuck out of the house to check up on because I actually cared. That son of a bitch! Bobby was right about him!

  “Bye!” the woman called after me. “I’ll let him know you passed by.”

  There was this undertone to her words, as if she were letting me know that she had the upper hand; that she had gotten the grand prize and I had come in close second. It made me want to scream out in anger, but I bit my tongue and rushed down the stairs, crying freely now, longing for the comfort of my car. I suddenly wished I had stayed home, locked behind my bedroom door where I was safe, and the world was a little less cruel.

  I should have listened to Bobby. I should have listened to Bobby.

  I kept repeating the thought like a mantra, as if somehow it could give me some sort of comfort against the stabbing pain I was feeling in my chest. I clawed at my shirt, trying to reach in through my chest cavity and grab the pain, pull it out and throw it aside. It hurt so much.

  I was almost at my car when I heard footsteps behind me. I turned around, and just when I thought the night couldn’t get any worse, I gazed into the smiling face of my husband. Dennis was standing a few feet away, arms crossed over his chest, his eyes flashing with rage. There was a nasty cut above his right eye, and his lower lip was swollen. Andy’s handiwork, obviously.

  “Hey there, baby,” he said, his words muffled because of the swollen lip.

  “Dennis,” I gasped.

  “Did you actually think I’d let you out of my sight?” he asked, taking a few steps towards me, forcing me to take a few back. I bumped into the side of my car with nowhere to go.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “I saw you leave the house,” he explained. “Of course, I had to be careful because of that fucking police cruiser, but I wasn’t worried. I had a feeling you’d come here.” He came closer, closing the gap between us quickly. “You see, after my little fight with your boyfriend upstairs, I followed him. Found out where he lived. And when you left the house, I took my sweet time. I knew you’d come here. Checking up on lover boy?”

  He grabbed my hand, twisting it hard and forcing me to scream out in pain. “You came to check up on him, but me? No! I don’t deserve your sympathy, do I? I came all the way to this asshole of the world just to find you, and you don’t even care about how I’m doing, do you?”

  “Dennis, you’re hurting me!” I screamed.

  “Oh, I’m going to do so much more than that, you cunt,” he hissed. “I’m taking you home, and when we get there, I’m going to fuck you up so bad, Quasimodo wouldn’t come within an inch of you.”

  I lashed out, scratching at his eyes. I could feel skin tear, and he yelled in pain and surprise, jumping back. I didn’t hesitate, jumping at the opportunity to get away, and raced towards my car. He caught up with me, though, grabbing me by the hair and pulling me back. I felt strands tear from my scalp, and I screamed in pain. He latched on hard, and when I turned around and tried to scratch at him again, he grabbed my wrist and twisted it.

  My knees buckled, and before I knew what was happening, he grabbed me and slammed my head into the side of my car.

  I fell to the ground in a heap, the world around me spinning out of control until everything went dark.

  Chapter 16: Andy

  I woke up to the sound of fists slamming against my door.

  I sat up with a start, and instantly regretted it. My head spun, making me instantly nauseous. I leaned over the side of my bed and threw up, the whiskey coming back out the way it had gone down, along with my breakfast. My throat burned, and the stench made me throw up again. I wiped my mouth with my arm and looked around my room. I was naked, although how I had gotten to be like this was completely beyond me.

  “We have visitors, baby.”

  When I saw Hannah walk into the room, it all came rushing back to me like a tidal wave. I jumped out of bed, rushed towards her and grabbed her by the neck, pushing her against the wall. He raged inside me burned like wildfire, and I wanted to slam my fist into her face.

  “You drugged me!” I spat. “You fucking cunt, you drugged me!”

  The slamming continued, breaking my concentration as I realized that I had not been dreaming it. Hannah slapped my hand away and pushed me back, gently massaging her neck. “Go open the door, you asshole.”

  I pointed an angry finger in her face. “Get dressed and get out before I kick you out and you could walk home naked!”

  I grabbed my jeans from off the chair by the door, slipped them on, and left to answer the door. The knocking was now coupled with the bell.

  “I’m coming, I’m coming, calm the fuck down!” I yelled at the idiot outside.

  I swung the door open, and Bobby raced inside. “Is she here?” he demanded, looking frantic. Behind him, just outside the door, sto
od Jeremy and another officer I didn’t recognize.

  “Is who here?” I asked.

  “Andrea!” Bobby yelled. “Is she here?”

  I frowned in confusion, suddenly just as worried. “What? You mean she’s not with you?”

  “If she were with me, would I be looking for her, you jackass!”

  “You were supposed to be watching her!” I yelled.

  “Fuck you, Andy!” Bobby countered.

  Jeremy stepped inside. “Okay, can we all calm down?” He looked at me. “Andrea didn’t stop by here?”

  “Oh, yeah, sure she did,” I said, my tone laced with bitterness. “This is the face of a man who knows exactly where she is!”

  “Actually, she was here earlier.”

  We all turned to Hannah, standing half naked at the door to my bedroom, still massaging her neck. She was looking at me I anger, her eyes shooting daggers.

  “What are you talking about?” I asked.

  “She came here about an hour ago,” Hannah spat. “She was looking for you. I opened the door for her, and when she saw me, she just took off.”

  That last bit was said with a small smile, and I quickly understood what Hannah was getting at. I immediately knew what Andrea must have thought seeing Hannah like that.

  “Great, Andy, just fucking great!” Bobby yelled.

  “You little bitch,” I cursed.

  Hannah only shrugged, and I made for her, my hands balled into fists. Jeremy stopped me, quickly pulling me back. “Slow down, cowboy,” he warned.

  “This is her fault,” I hissed. But Jeremy wasn’t looking at me. Neither was the other officer. They were both staring at Hannah’s breasts. I quickly looked to Bobby for support. “She drugged me!”

  “Save it!” Bobby spat. “Her car’s outside. Where the fuck is she if she’s not here?”

  “I have no idea!” I shot back, pulling on a shirt and shoes, getting ready to go out and look for her all over town if I had to. “Do you think she walked back home?”

  “I swear to God, Andy, if anything happens to her, I’m going to fucking kill you!”

  “No one’s killing anyone,” Jeremy said, still staring at Hannah.

  I smacked him across the back of the head. “She’s a crazy bitch. Keep your eyes off her before she drugs you, too.”

  “Can you quit it with drug thing?” Bobby yelled.

  “Call her phone.”

  “She doesn’t have her phone!”

  “How did you fuck this up?” I slammed a fist into the wall, ready to beat Bobby to an inch of his life for being so stupid.

  “If you hadn’t been convincing my sister that you liked her, while the whole time fucking Crazy Hannah, maybe none of this would have happened in the –” Bobby’s cellphone rang, cutting him off. “Chief! Anything?”

  Bobby’s eyes went wide, and he stared at me with a frozen look of shock on his face.

  “What is it?” I asked frantically.

  “My truck! Now!” Bobby ordered, pocketing his phone and racing out of the apartment.

  I stopped Jeremy when he began to give chase. “Her!” I said, pointing at Hannah. “I swear to you, Jeremy, she drugged me. Check the glasses and the whiskey.”

  I didn’t wait for him to reply and quickly raced out after Bobby.

  ***

  Bobby was doing eighty on the Boston Turnpike, weaving through the scant traffic like a madman, on more than one occasion almost driving off the road and killing us in the process. I didn’t tell him to slow down, though. The minute he realized Andrea had left the house, he had called everyone, asking them to call him if anything at all popped up.

  Apparently, there had been a car accident on the 44 heading towards Manchester. The description of the car matched Dennis’s.

  “What the fuck were you doing with Hannah anyway?” Bobby was yelling. “You told me you were through with her!”

  “I am,” I yelled back. “She came to my house, pretended to care about the fight I had with Dennis, and then the bitch drugged me.”

  “You actually believed she was being your friend?” Bobby scoffed. “How fucking naïve can you get?”

  “Can you shut up already?” I shot. “I get it, I fucked up, now keep your eye on the road and try not to get us killed before we reach Andrea.”

  “I swear, when this is over,” Bobby spat, shaking his head in anger. “I’m going to beat the shit out of you.”

  “More driving, less talking!”

  Bobby swerved past a car at an exaggerated angle just to throw me against the door and upped the speed. In the distance, we could see the distinct glow of flames, and my heart instantly dropped.

  No one had said anything about a fire.

  ***

  It really was Dennis’s car.

  We arrived at the sight of the accident before any police or fire fighters had, which would have struck me as odd if I had not been jumping out of the truck before Bobby even stopped, racing towards the overturned vehicle. Flames engulfed the hood, igniting the wheels and making their way through the rest of the car. There was only one other car by the side of the road, a man waving frantically at us as I ran towards the crash site.

  “They’re still in there!” the man was shouting. There was manic laughter coming from the car, sounding a lot like Dennis. “I tried to help, but the flames, man, I was scared!” the man went on. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t!”

  I didn’t reply and pushed past him, racing towards the car and quickly falling onto my stomach, looking inside to assess the extent of the damage. Dennis was fully conscious, laughing like a madman and shaking from side to side like he was listening to some techno beat in his head. Andrea was strapped in her seat, her hands tied together, her hair falling over her face.

  “Lover boy!” Dennis screeched in glee. “Lover boy to the rescue!”

  I ignored him, reaching in through the broken glass, carefully not to cut myself, and checked Andrea for a pulse. I found it, but it was weak. I checked her seatbelt, tried to unbuckle it, but got nowhere. Bobby slid onto the ground beside me.

  “Andrea!” he shouted, reaching in and shaking her.

  “And Bobby!” Dennis screamed. “The knights in shining armor are here, Andrea, you see that? Your gladiators have arrived, oh damsel in distress!” He let out a screech of manic laughter and slammed his fists against the steering wheel.

  The heat of the fire was unbearable, but I pushed past it, trying to force the buckle open. It wouldn’t budge.

  “The shears in the back of my truck,” Bobby said, slapping my shoulder to get my attention.

  “Go!” I said. “I’ll see if I can get Dennis out.”

  “Leave him,” Bobby called back. “Maybe he’ll just burn with the car.”

  “Oh, hallelujah!” Dennis called after him and laughed again.

  I shook my head, forcing myself up and around to the driver’s side. Dennis’s face was scratched in several places, and a piece of glass was stuck in his cheek. His mouth was oozing blood, and I could tell he had broken a few of his teeth.

  “She fucking swerved the car!” Dennis screamed in my face. “I didn’t even notice she woke up and she grabbed the steering wheel and slipped us over! What a fucking bitch, right?”

  I grabbed him by the back of his head and slammed his face into the steering wheel. I heard his nose crack, and he screamed out in pain, making me cringe.

  “You broke my nose!” Dennis cried out. “He broke my nose, Bobby!” Then he began to laugh again.

  “Sorry, man, my bad,” I said, then slammed his face into the wheel again. That shut him up completely, and I was able to unbuckle his belt without having to endure anymore craziness. I pulled him out of the car, then dragged him away, not really caring about being careful. Bobby raced past me with the sheers, and when I was far enough, I dropped Dennis like a bag of potatoes, his head hitting the asphalt hard.

  A part of me hoped he’d get a concussion. If he didn’t already have one.

  Siren
s sounded in the distance, and I quickly ran back to the car, telling the other man to stay with Dennis. I dropped onto my knees beside Bobby as he worked the sheer into the seatbelt, ripping it and freeing Andrea. Her body slumped forward, and I reached in quickly, so she wouldn’t hit her head, my arm receiving a nasty gash from some broken glass. I held her head up, praying her neck wasn’t broken.

  “The glass,” I said, wincing in pain. “We need to get rid of it before we pull her out.”

  Bobby quickly broke the shards sticking out, clearing a path for me to carefully maneuver Andrea around and out of the wreckage. The heat was scorching my skin, and I began to cough violently as Bobby helped me carry Andrea away from the flames.

  We laid her down on the grass just off the side of the road, and I bent down, listening to her breathing. It was weak, but it was there.

  “Andrea?” Bobby knelt down beside me. He shook his sister’s arm frantically.

  I stopped him, shaking my head. “Don’t,” I warned. “We don’t know if anything’s broken.”

  The sirens grew louder, and an ambulance screeched to a halt behind Bobby’s truck. I waved the paramedics over with their gurney. They hesitated when they saw Dennis.

  “Forget him, he’s fine!” I shouted. “This one here’s the real problem.”

  They rushed over, one of them briefly looking back at Dennis’s still body. They pushed us back and bent down around Andrea, fitting her with a neck brace and checking her pulse and breathing before moving her onto the gurney and rushing her back to the ambulance. Two police cruisers pulled up behind the ambulance, and I sighed in relief when I saw Jeremy stepping out of one of them.

  They moved Andrea into the back of the ambulance, and Bobby climbed in. I started to follow when one of the paramedics stopped me. “Just one,” he said.

  “That’s bull –” Bobby started, but I quickly cut him off.

  “It’s fine, go with her, she needs you,” I said. “I doubt she’ll be very happy to see me if she wakes up. Besides, someone’s gotta drive your truck back.”

  Bobby threw me the keys. “Where are we going?” he asked the paramedic.