by R B Hilliard
It took a minute for his words to register and my world to tilt on its axis. The only way that Dooley would know what Gage and I did and said in the bedroom was if Gage had told him. But why?
“Money is a powerful thing, my dear. Everyone has a price,” he whispered. Then he lifted his arms and released me from my cage. Numbly, I watched him stand. “Why don’t I give you a minute to take this all in? I’ll have Lester bring you up some breakfast and will return for a visit around lunch time.” Leaning down, he took my hands in his and smiled. “We will be so good together, you’ll see.” Like hell we will.
I watched him leave and sat for a while thinking about all he had said. Some things definitely bothered me. For instance, what he said about Selina and Gage being together. So Gage went home with her that first night? So what? We weren’t together then. But why would Gage lie about it? And then there was the night I told him that Dooley made a pass at me and he responded by telling me that he thought that Dooley and Selina were together. Was he lying to me? Selina clearly wanted Gage. Every time Gage and I were in her presence she acted almost like a jealous girlfriend. A thought hit and my heart stopped for a second. Am I the other woman? I shook my head. Gage would never do that to me. Dooley’s words crept in. Money is a powerful thing. Then there was the fact that Dooley knew things… personal things. The Gage I knew was not a talker. Everyone has a price. I rolled over onto my stomach, buried my head in the pillows and screamed in frustration. A knock on the door halted my internal freak out.
Quickly, I sat back up, straightened my hair and tried to appear composed. “Come in.”
Lester walked in with a tray of food. He shot me a hateful look, sat the tray on the foot of the bed and stormed back out. Once he locked the door back, I relaxed and surveyed the scrambled eggs, toast, bacon and fresh strawberries on the tray. I devoured it all. In order to escape from this hellhole, I would need all the energy I could muster. As for Gage, I was not letting go. At least, not yet.
By lunchtime I was going stir crazy. I needed to find a way out of this place. My entire body throbbed with a dull aching pain. Stretching helped, but I could only do a little at a time before I felt like I was going to vomit or pass out. I wasn’t willing to admit how badly I was hurting, not even to myself. I was actually almost relieved when I heard the lock snick and Dooley walk in. The surprise at seeing me emotionally stable instead of destroyed registered on his face and I almost smiled. You are going to have to do a lot more than that to take me down, oh evil one.
“You ready for lunch?” he asked.
“Sure,” I shrugged and winced at the pain in my shoulder.
“May I give you a peace offering?”
I eyed him warily. “Depends on what it is.”
“A pain pill with your lunch?” There was no way I was going to ingest anything this man gave me unless the label was stamped across it.
“Three Advil would be great.”
He gave me a greasy smile. “Three Advil it is.” He held out his arm and I limped right on by him and out the door. Chuckling behind me, he muttered something about spunk and I wanted to head-butt him and kick him in jollys all over again.
Lunch was uneventful. I happily ingested three Advil with it and after fifteen minutes felt the pain dim to a manageable level. Instead of taking me back to my room after lunch, Dooley led me into his office. The carpet made me so dizzy that I had to squeeze my eyes shut and open back up slowly to properly adjust.
After I regained my bearings, Dooley whipped out his keys, squatted down and opened the far left cabinet. Elation swept through me. He’s letting me go! My stomach dropped in disappointment when he pulled something out. I could tell it wasn’t my purse. Rising from the floor, he sat in his chair and swiveled it around to face me. “Have a seat.” He pointed to the chair I was standing next to. Trying not to jostle anything, I gingerly sat. He placed my phone on the desk in front of us and scooted it across to me. My eyes flew to his.
“Call Gage,” he said.
“Why?” I skeptically asked.
“Because until you find out the truth for yourself, you aren’t going to believe a word I say.”
“How do I know this isn’t a set up?” I asked.
“Here, use my phone or, better yet, use Lester’s. It doesn’t matter whose phone you call from, Piper. The truth is still the truth.”
I stared down at my phone and asked, “What truth is it that you want me to know?”
“Ask if Selina is with him now? Ask any question you want. I want you to have answers so we can move on.”
Gage would be furious to know that I was with Dooley or Lester while he was out of town. I planned on telling him everything, but wanted to do so on my terms. As is, he was going to take one look at my face and flip his lid. If I called from either of their phones, I would have to explain why I was doing so. Right now I just needed to hear his voice. The rest could wait. I picked my phone up off the desk, scrolled to his name and hit send.
“Hello?” A sexy, husky female voice said and my words caught in my throat. “Hello?” she repeated. “Anyone there?” My mind completely blanked.
“Hey Sel? Who’s on the phone?” I heard Gage ask and time completely stopped.
“I don’t know, they won’t say,” she told him. His deep laugh rolled through me and I had to fight the tears that were threatening to spill. Selina giggled, let out a very sexual sounding moan and said, “Oh, such a wicked tongue you have. More, Gage. I want more.” Before she could say or do anything else I slammed my finger on the end button. Over and over I pushed it, until Dooley finally pried it from my hands and tossed it back in the drawer. Slumping forward, I placed my face in my hands and wept. Gage had lied to me.
Quietly Dooley asked if I’d like to go back up to my room. All I could manage was a nod. He led me back up, said something about dinner and was gone. I crawled up on the bed, curled in a ball and cried. The door opened sometime later, but I couldn’t muster up enough energy to look or care. Nothing mattered anymore…nothing.
Three days later…
“Time to get up!” I heard someone say. As usual, I ignored them. The physical pain from the tackle and beating was overwhelming. I had no energy and no will left. For all I cared they could leave me there to waste away. A sharp pain to my cheek brought me out of my fog.
“Go away!” I snarled.
“No can do,” Dooley said. I looked up and Lester and Dooley were standing over me. Dooley looked concerned. As. If.
“You stink,” Lester announced.
“Now Lester, that’s not very nice. Piper has had quite a shock.”
Ignoring them both, I started to roll back onto my stomach.
“Ah, ah, ah,” Dooley said as he grabbed my arm to stop me. “There will be no more of that. I have let you wallow for three days. No more. The time has come for you to get up, shower off and start living again. I can’t have us starting our relationship with you in this…condition. So, I’ll give you a choice. Either you get up on your own and take a shower or I drag you there and shower with you. Personally, I prefer the second. Now, I have a quick phone call to return and then I’ll be back. I advise you to use this time wisely.”
The second the door shut behind them, I dropped back onto the bed and winced at the pain in my ribs. Three days. I was surprised that Dooley had left me alone this long. I thought back to the phone call to Gage and my chest constricted. Even though it bothered me, I was willing to look past Dooley’s intimate knowledge of our relationship. That is, until I could ask Gage about it. I had made myself very clear from square one. I do not cheat and I do not share. These two things were deal breakers for me and Gage knew this. He knew this. When Dooley said that Selina was with Gage, I didn’t want to believe it. Her voice moaning at my guy ran through my head like a recording and I wanted to hurt them both. Especially Gage. The lying, cheating piece of shit. Pushing myself up off the bed, I slowly trudged to the shower.
When I got out, I did not want to put
back on my clothes. They were beyond nasty. Wrapping a towel around my body and another around my hair, I made my way back out to the bedroom.
Dooley was sitting on the foot of the bed with a stack of clean clothes in his arms. “I brought these for you. Put them on and then we need to talk.” I held my towel up with one hand and took the clothes with the other. Then I started back for the bathroom. “I didn’t say put them on in the bathroom.” Dooley’s words and the quiet tone of his voice stopped me in my tracks and I knew what a cornered animal must feel like…trapped.
“Please don’t do this,” I hoarsely said.
“Do what? Inspect the goods? Allowing you to mourn another man for three days was more than generous. Don’t you think? This is the least you can do.”
The hatred I felt for this man was staggering, but I was weak and heartbroken. There was no way that I would be able to fight him off in my condition and I knew it. Squeezing my eyes shut, I dropped the towel and refused to allow him to see my humiliation.
“Look at me,” he commanded, and I shook my head. “Open your eyes and look at me or I will make you.” I opened my eyes and glowered at him. “Gage did not lie when said your body was a wet dream,” he observed and I wanted to puke. “Unfortunately, my personal discovery of this will have to wait until tomorrow evening. Go ahead,” he motioned with his hand, “get dressed and I’ll explain.” Like a beady eyed hawk he watched as I dressed in the t-shirt and sweatpants that he provided for me. When I was done, he pulled me over to the bed. “I have been called away for the night and won’t be back until late tomorrow afternoon. Lester will be here with you. If you are a good girl, I will make sure that a gourmet meal is set up in the dining room for you tonight as a treat.” While he spoke, he had his hand wrapped around my arm. When I tried to pull away, he tightened his grip, jerked me forward and pressed his lips to mine. My cut lip screamed in protest.
Trying not to panic, I turned my head sideways and whispered, “Please don’t.” I could feel his hot breath on my ear and swallowed the scream that was creeping up my throat.
His mouth brushed over my ear and my whole body revolted. “When I get back, I am making you mine,” he whispered and his grip on my arm turned into a caress. I shivered in disgust and he steeled his features. “I don’t want to take you by force, but I will. Do you understand what I’m saying?” I nodded my head and he patted my arm and kissed the side of my face. “Good girl.” Then he pulled back and stood. “Until tomorrow,” he dramatically said and walked out of the room. It wasn’t until I heard the click of the lock that I allowed myself to fall apart. If I don’t find some way out of this hell, Dooley Shane is going to try to force me to become his whore.
Chapter Eleven
I was heartsick. This was nothing new, but knowing that I would be leaving soon seem to intensify the sadness that had become a part of me. I didn’t want to leave Charlotte and my friends. Returning to Texas and Dooley meant that I might have to give up my freedom while I worked things out. Honestly, I wasn’t sure that I could do that. Regardless of everything, my love for Gage was as true as my hatred for Dooley. Too bad for me it was only one sided. Gage wasn’t the only leverage that Dooley had, but he was the most important. Being kidnapped, beaten and humiliated had changed me. Before Dooley, I had always been straightforward and naively confident. Now, I invariably mistrusted myself and felt as if I always had one foot in the dark. Finding out that Gage’s love wasn’t real had such a profound effect on me that I often thought about giving up…giving in…and letting the dark swallow me whole. I avoided hanging out with Ellie and Joss because I didn’t want my taint to rub off on them. I didn’t mean to worry them, but I felt like I was riding on a runaway train and it was only a matter of time before it jumped the rails and I crashed and burned. If I didn’t keep my distance, I would take them down with me.
Susannah begged me to talk to Gage before I took off for Texas. While packing her bag for her kinky trip, she insisted on listening to Fix You by Coldplay over and over again. I knew what she was doing and pretended that it didn’t bother me. You can’t fix something that’s irreparably broken. I wanted to scream and make her understand the depths of my hurt. Instead, I agreed to “consider” speaking with Gage to shut her up. Not. Susannah had no clue as to the part Gage had played in our break up. That’s the way I wanted to keep it. Pulling my mind from my dark thoughts, I finished dressing and headed to work.
Soundgarden’s Rusty Cage poured from the speakers as I walked in to Dragonfly. Chris Cornell’s voice was loud, shouty and just what the doctor ordered. When I said as much to Dillon, he placed his hand on my forehead and asked if I felt okay. Normally I walked through the door and b-lined straight for the IntelliTunes where I changed whatever he was playing to something I wanted to hear. He and Ellie made a game of trading off songs when she worked here. I liked my version better.
Halfway through the shift, Dana strutted in…with Missy. Oh joy.
Dana Harkins was Dillon’s nasty cross to bear. None of us could understand what he saw in her. She was a shrew of a human being with chin length, cropped, black hair, a booty that put J Lo to shame and Dolly Parton-sized boobs. None of this would matter if she was a decent human being, but she wasn’t. She was a viper with a screw loose. Why an awesome man like Dillon wasted his time with a slag like her was beyond me. Tonight she had on a peasant blouse, low rise jeans and heels. Surprisingly, she actually looked somewhat decent. Missy, on the other hand, did not. Her dress was too short and her heels were too high. Her shoulder length brown hair was a mass of wild curls and her makeup, as usual, was caked on and overdone. The image of Gage kissing her at the bonfire popped into my head. Ugh!
When Gage and I were together we talked a lot about our likes and dislikes. He disliked women who tried too hard, or so he said. This was Missy to a T. Even back in high school she was clingy and desperate. Like her best friend Jennifer Tilson, she was hateful and vindictive. I was surprised that she wasn’t out with Gage tonight. Hmmm, trouble in paradise already? I could only hope.
After torturing us for an hour or so with their negative vibes and catty remarks, Dana and Missy stood to leave. This was a really good move as I was seriously contemplating poking Missy’s eyes out with the olive fork if she didn’t stop shooting daggers my way. As soon as they hit the door, I made my way to Dillon’s side of the bar and shoved him with my shoulder. “What’s wrong with those two?”
“Nothing. They wanted to stop by before heading to a late movie.”
Dillon was fun to needle, especially when it came to his relationship with Dana. I nudged him again. “Why her?”
He cut his eyes to me and shrugged. “Why him?”
“Funny, I ask myself that every day.”
He gave me a hard smile. “In order to keep one foot in front of the other and get through the day you do what you have to, Pi. Who cares what others think, as long as it makes sense to you.” Something had happened to Dillon. He wouldn’t talk about it, but it was evident in the little nuggets of wisdom he would lay out every now and then.
I blinked up at him. “Sounds like you know a little something about that?” The sadness in his eyes tugged at something deep inside of me.
“I think we both do, sweetheart. Now, let’s finish up and get home.”
I spent the last hour of our shift fighting back tears. Dillon had become such a good friend and Dragonfly felt like a second home. The thought of not coming to work and seeing his beautiful face shredded me. I could tell that he knew something was up because he had been watching me closely all night. That is, when he wasn’t on the phone. The bar phone had rung like crazy tonight, which was unusual but not unheard of. When I asked who was calling, he vaguely said something about maintenance and refrigerators.
When it came time to leave, I talked him into having a beer with me. That’s when I told him. “D, I have to go away for a while.”
I could feel his silver eyes on me and knew that I would completely lose it if I lo
oked up at him. We had become so close over the past months and I hated bailing on him like this. He nudged me with his elbow. “You gonna tell me where you’re going?”
“Trust me, you’re better off not knowing. I will try and keep in touch, though.”
“You going to tell everyone else that you’re leaving?”
“Eventually.” My eyes slid to his and his hurt expression made me want to cry. Reaching out, I took his hand in mine. “I promise I will tell them, just not tonight.”
The walk to our cars was pure hell. I had a golf ball sized lump in my throat and my eyes burned. I unlocked my door and gave him a huge hug and a kiss on the cheek. “Thanks for everything,” I whispered while pretending that I didn’t hear his breath hitch or feel his body tense. Before he could pull back and question me, I slipped inside my car and shut the door. Then I waved goodbye and drove away.
I was a complete mess by the time I made it home. My eyes were swollen and red from crying. If saying goodbye to Dillon was this hard, there was no way I would be able to face Joss and Ellie without coming unglued. I would have to call them from the road. Instead of pulling in front like I normally did, I decided to park behind the house. This way neither Joss nor Kurt would catch me coming in. I could pack the rest of my stuff, get a few hours of sleep and be out the door before anyone knew the difference. As I tiptoed around the pool, I felt like a teenager sneaking back in after a wild night of partying. If only. Slowly, I inserted my key into the lock, opened the door and slipped inside. I blew out a huge breath of air as the door closed behind me.
From the dark kitchen, a deep voice said, “Did you actually think I was going to let you go that easily?”
“Shiiiiiiiiiiit!” I shrieked, as I jumped a foot off the ground and bumped my forehead on the door. “What the hell, Dillon! You just scared the ever living shit out of me!” I flipped on the light and there he was standing in my kitchen with a beer in hand, grinning like a loon.