by Claire Adams
Brian trailed off as he choked up. He bent his head again and took a few deep breaths before looking up and saying, “Claudia had taken two of her friends back to the bedroom to show them Daddy’s “big gum,” that’s what she’d called it because we’d all laugh when she said it. Anyway, she’d let her friend Caroline handle the gun and Caroline had accidentally pulled the trigger. For some reason, Will hadn’t locked up the gun or made sure the chamber was clear before he’d shoved it in the bedside drawer, and the bullet had gone straight through Claudia’s chest, tearing her aorta in half. She died almost instantly.”
“After that, my mother started drinking pretty heavily, and Will got really strict with me. By the time I hit high school, he was waking me up at dawn to do morning workouts with him and came in to check that I’d made my bed according to regulation before I went to school. I’ve always joked that the military was a cakewalk for me compared to what I lived with at home.” He stopped and gave me a weak smile, and I squeezed his hand as I smiled back at him.
“Anyway, I haven’t been home in a couple of years, I can’t go home. My mom is a raging alcoholic and Will is…well, he’s Will. He ignores her drinking until she needs medical attention and then he waits for her to dry out enough to be allowed to come home. Every time she does, the cycle starts again and she winds up calling me to come get her because she thinks Will is trying to kill her. I can’t go there without wanting to take a drink myself, so I stay away.”
“You must feel really alone,” I observed.
“You have no idea—” he stopped and looked at me. “Oh wait, yes, you do.”
“It’s okay, Brian,” I said. “I’m so sorry about your sister.”
“It happens,” he shrugged.
“Yeah, but I’m still sorry that it happened to you,” I said quietly as I reached up and stroked his cheek with my fingers. He closed his eyes and leaned into my touch. “It’s going to be okay,” I whispered.
Brian nodded, then opened his eyes and leaned down and kissed me deeply. I held his face between my palms as I returned his kiss, and felt the two of us sharing all of our pain and loneliness in a way that made it a little more bearable.
“We’re going to get through this and we’ll be okay,” I whispered into his lips.
*****
We lay in bed together for half the morning before Brian said he was hungry and that we needed to get something to eat. I agreed, and got up to go shower and get ready. We decided to go down to the restaurant for a change, so I took my time getting ready. I smiled at myself in the mirror as I stroked a coat of mascara on my lashes and then dusted peach blush on the apples of my cheeks to give me a little color. We’d been inside so long that I felt like I hadn’t seen the sun in ages.
I pulled on a jean mini skirt and a loose-fitting T-shirt before I slipped my feet into a pair of thin black thongs. I looked at the rumpled bed and smiled to myself when I remembered the way Brian had held me against his chest and moved inside me. There was no denying that we had something special, and there was no way I was going to give it up after this was all said and done. I wanted him in my life, and I was going to find a way to make that happen, no matter what I had to do. I could switch schools if I had to, I didn’t want to, but I had decided I would if it meant that Brian and I could be together.
I grabbed my purse and skipped out into the living room to find Brian standing in the middle of the room, holding my open laptop in one hand and running his other hand over his crew cut with an anguished look on his face. I gave him a confused look before I realized what he was looking at — the letter! He’d found the email I’d written to Dominic.
“Ava, really?” he said with so much pain in his voice it broke my heart. “You wrote this yesterday? And sent it?”
“Brian, no wait, let me explain,” I cried as I moved to take the computer from him. He held it up over his head, far out of my reach, as a sad look of betrayal spread across his face.
“I think this is pretty self-explanatory, don’t you?” he said quietly. “You’ve spelled it all out pretty clearly.”
“That’s not what I meant!” I cried. “I was trying to trap him, not get back together with him! He’s a psycho, and I wanted to catch him so that I could get back to my life — our life!”
“I’m not quite sure I see that here, Ava,” he said. “What I see is a woman who is still in love with her ex-boyfriend and who resents the guy her father hired to protect her.”
“I only said that so he wouldn’t try and hurt you, Brian!” I frantically tried to convince him of my plan, but since I’d never breathed a word of it, he’d been caught unaware. I didn’t blame him for being angry, but I didn’t want him to believe that anything I’d written in that letter could possibly be true. “I love you, Brian! That’s the honest truth! I love you, not that jerk who abused me and made me feel worthless!”
“Could have fooled me,” Brian said sadly. “I don’t believe you. I think you’re playing both sides and waiting to see who wins.”
“Oh my God! You are so pigheaded!” I yelled. “Why can’t you trust me? Why don’t you believe me?” I stopped yelling and began crying in frustration. He was choosing not to believe me, and there was no way I could convince him that I’d had a plan to try and trap Dominic.
“Ava, I wish I could believe you, I really do,” he said. “But I can’t.”
PROTECTOR #6
“Brian!” I cried as he looked at the computer screen and then turned away. I was shocked that I’d blurted out how I really felt about him, but I was more concerned that he didn’t believe me. I wasn’t sure how I was going to be able to prove my plan, and I cursed myself for keeping it a secret from him to begin with.
“This is just…” he trailed off as he set the computer down on the desk, grabbed his jacket off the back of the chair, and headed toward the door.
“Just what?” I yelled. “It’s nothing! I didn’t mean it! How can I prove to you that I was trying to help you? I wanted to lure Dominic in so you could trap him and call the police. You’ve got to believe me!”
“It’s hard for me to know what to believe, Ava,” he said as he turned and looked at me. My heart ached at seeing the look on his face, but I knew why he felt betrayed. I hadn’t been honest with him.
“Brian, I wasn’t trying to lie to you,” I said softly. “I was honestly trying to help.”
“Ava, can we just let this go for the moment?” he asked. “I need to go out and get some air and clear my head. We’ve been cooped up here for so long, I can’t think clearly anymore.”
I nodded and looked at the floor. I was ashamed of what I’d done, but I also knew that I had the best of intentions and that I’d never wanted to hurt him. I felt confident that if he really thought about it, he’d realize that as well, and that we’d be able to work things out.
“Okay, I get it,” I said.
“I’ll be back in a half hour,” he said as he walked to the door. “Please don’t leave this room, and don’t answer the door. No matter who it is, okay?”
“Fine, fine,” I agreed. “I’ll just stay holed up here like a fugitive while you go out and paint the town.”
“Ava…” he replied in a tone that let me know he wasn’t finding any of this funny at all.
“I’m kidding,” I said as I held up my hands. “I’ll stay here and do my homework, and I won’t answer the door. I promise.”
“Please, just do that,” he said. “For me?”
“I will,” I said solemnly. “I promise.”
He nodded as he grabbed his jacket and phone, then turned and headed toward the door. Just before he opened it, he turned and looked at me once more, and I saw it; the look. He gave me a look that let me know just how much was at stake in me following directions this time. I nodded slowly and bowed my head.
*****
With one hand on the door knob, Brian opened his mouth to say something just as someone knocked on the door and called, “Room service!”
&
nbsp; Brian looked out the peephole and confirmed that it was the guy who usually brought up our meals, and opened the door. As he turned the handle and the door flew open, the room server came flying into the room. He collided with Brian and knocked him against the wall hard enough to knock the wind out of him and send him to his knees. Brian quickly sprung back up as two masked men rushed into the room. One was short and square, and the other was tall and lanky. Brian swung at the short man, landing a punch in his stomach before the second man attacked.
“What are you doing!?” I screamed as the two masked men attacked Brian. “Leave him alone!”
The tall one rushed Brian, but quickly found himself on the ground as Brian swept his feet out from under him. The fat one regained his footing and tried to punch Brian in the face, but Brian ducked and the man missed, throwing him off balance and giving Brian a chance to land a brutal punch to the man’s kidney area and making him cry out in pain. The tall man pulled himself off the floor and landed a punch to Brian’s crotch, causing him to crumple to the floor, and giving the tall one a chance to reach under Brian’s hoodie and grab his gun. Before Brian could fight back, the tall one held the gun to his partner and said, “Put him out of his misery.”
“Stop it! Stop it!” I screamed hysterically as I ran toward them and began hitting the tall man who’d taken Brian’s gun. He turned and shoved me hard against the wall before spinning around and whipping Brian in the head with the pistol.
I watched as Brian slumped to the ground and the fat masked man kicked him in the ribs.
“Don’t hurt him!” I yelled.
Then the tall one looked down at the frightened room server on the floor and threatened, “Stay down there and be quiet or you’re next. Got it?” The boy nodded and lay still.
When I realized that they hadn’t come after me yet, I turned and ran toward the bedroom, but before I could reach the door, the second man quickly covered the distance between me, wrapped an arm around my waist, and grabbed a fistful of my hair before he slapped his hand over my mouth to keep me from screaming.
“Shut the hell up,” he growled in my ear as he pulled my hair so hard I thought he was trying to yank it out of my scalp. “I don’t want to hear your useless whining, got it?”
Wide-eyed, I nodded as best as I could without causing myself any more pain. Who are these guys and what do they want? I thought as I watched the first one quickly flip Brian over onto his stomach, pull his arms behind him, then wrap what looked like a length of rope around his wrists to secure them. There was something familiar about the way he moved, but I couldn’t place it.
“Blindfold the kid,” the one tugging on my hair said to the other one as he dragged me over to the dining table and shoved me onto a chair before letting go of my hair, roughly yanking my arms behind me and securing my wrists with a length of rope. “Stupid bitch, you think you can get away from me?”
I inhaled sharply as I recognized Dominic’s voice, then exhaled slowly, hoping that he didn’t know that I’d recognized him.
“You know it’s me,” he laughed as he pulled off the mask and stepped in front of me. “Don’t try to hide it, Ava. I know you better than you think.”
I let out a terrified scream and began to cry.
*****
Dominic watched me through narrowed eyes, as if trying to decide what to do with me next.
“Shut up,” he ordered as he grabbed a handful of my hair and yanked down hard. I sat stock still as he pulled back on my hair, forcing me to look up at him. He threw the mask aside and then leaned down so that his lips were inches from my ear and whispered, “Did you miss me, baby?”
I swallowed the bile that rose in the back of my throat and tried to nod without speaking.
“No, tell me you missed me,” he demanded quietly. My stomach rolled as he spoke. “Tell me, beautiful Ava. Tell me how much you love me and how much you’ve missed me.”
“I…I…love you, Dominic,” I sputtered. The words felt like poison in my mouth, and for a moment I was glad that Brian was unconscious so he wouldn’t have to hear me lie. “I’ve missed you so much.”
“I don’t believe you,” he snapped as he let go of my hair and slapped me across the face. I bit my lip to keep from crying out, and when I didn’t look back up at him quickly enough, he reached under my chin and forced my head up to look at him. His eyes were cold and angry as he ordered, “Tell me you love me, and mean it.”
“I love you! I love you! I love you, Dominic,” I tearfully chanted. “I’ve missed you so much. I made a mistake and I want to come back. Please?”
“That’s better,” he smiled cruelly as he slowly scanned my body from top to bottom. I swallowed and fought to hide my true feelings so that I wouldn’t vomit. But when he ran his fingers down my cheek, I shrank from his touch. He ignored my response and murmured, “See? Isn’t it better when you admit the truth and tell me how you feel?”
“Mmm hmm,” I nodded as I felt the nausea rising again. I fought to keep myself from looking away as I held his gaze. In my peripheral vision I could see Dominic’s accomplice removing his mask, and my stomach sank when I realized that it was Cheese. The two of them together were my worst nightmare.
“You know my friend Christopher, don’t you, darling?” Dominic said as he watched me. “I believe the two of you became acquainted during an unfortunate incident at the Fiji house, didn’t you?”
I closed my eyes and tried to simply breathe, but Dominic was having none of it, and he yanked my hair so hard that I cried out.
“Do not fucking ignore me, Ava!” he yelled. “I will not have you ignoring me when I ask you a question!”
“Yes, we met,” I replied. My scalp burned and I wondered if he’d actually pulled out my hair.
“Good girl,” he murmured. “When you answer me, I don’t have to resort to hurting you to get a response. Now, you wanted to talk with me about getting back together, did you? Tell me about what you want to do with me.”
“I want…want us to…to get back together,” I stammered as I tried to respond quickly. My head hurt from the tight grip he had on my hair, and I was afraid that if I said the wrong thing, he’d order his henchman to hurt Brian.
“Really?” he said in a skeptical tone that let me know he wasn’t buying what I was desperately trying to sell. “Somehow I don’t believe you, Ava. Why is that?”
“Because I’m…I’m scared?” I whispered.
“It could be,” he said. “But it could also be because you’re lying to me. Are you lying to me, Ava?”
“No! No, Dominic I’m not lying! I love you and I want to get back together with you,” I cried. “I want us to be a family again!”
“Really? Now that’s quite a change of tune, Ava,” he said in a slimy tone that made my skin crawl. “A week ago, you were telling me that you never wanted to see me again. What’s changed in the seven short days between that conversation and now? Hmmm?”
“I realized my mistake,” I said as I lowered my eyes to try and show him my shame. “I was wrong. I’ve spent the week with the bodyguard my father hired, and I realized how wrong I was, Dominic.”
“You hear that, Cheese?” he laughed. “She’s telling me she’s sorry and that she wants to come back. What do you think about that?”
“I think is total bullshit,” Cheese replied dryly. “She’s a cock tease and she has no idea what she wants.”
“I think you might be right, my friend,” Dominic replied as he turned to me with a cold look in his eyes. “But first, I want to hear what the little lady has to say for herself. So, speak, Ava.”
I felt the panic rising as I sat looking up at him. I knew him well enough to know that he was fighting to maintain his impassive expression and casual tone. Underneath it all beat the heart of a true sadist, and questioning me was simply giving him time to coil up inside himself and prepare to strike. If I could figure out how he would strike, I might be able to avert disaster, but that would require me to lie like I’d
never lied before, and I wasn’t sure I could do it.
“What’s wrong, Ava?” Dominic whispered as he bent down in front of me, his face only inches away from mine. “Cat got your tongue? Perhaps I should do something to loosen it up.”
“No, I was just remembering our summer trip to New York,” I said as I smiled softly. “Remember how we found that little park that had the lights embedded in the concrete and danced to the street music after dark?”
A look of confusion flitted across Dominic’s face before he returned to his marble mask. I smiled sweetly up at him as I continued, “You gave me that pretty silver necklace that I love so much. The one with the diamond perched on the edge of the half-moon because you always said you loved me to the moon and back, Dom,” I spoke softly and smiled again.
“I…I…yeah, I remember,” he stammered a bit before regaining control. I was getting to him, and I knew that if I was going to take control of the situation, I was going to have to spin a memory powerful enough to turn me back into his ally. I searched my peripheral vision for Brian, but I couldn’t see what Cheese was doing with him, so I focused my full attention on Dominic and hoped that when Brian regained consciousness, he’d understand what I was doing and look for an opening. Given how upset he’d been with me before this, I wasn’t sure he would, and that scared me more than telling all the lies.
“You loved me so much, Dom,” I whispered. “That trip was a dream trip, and I really thought you were going to propose when we had dinner at Tavern on the Green. I was so disappointed that you didn’t. Why didn’t you?”
“I…well…that’s none of your business, young lady,” he snapped. There was something underneath his anger, and I didn’t know what it was.
“No, it’s all my business, baby,” I cooed. “Just tell me, it’s okay if you were scared and weren’t ready. I totally understand. Look at me? I got cold feet.”
“It was…well…it was just not the right time,” he muttered as he looked over at Cheese. I followed his gaze and saw that Brian was laying facedown on the carpet with a river of red slowly snaking down the side of his face, forming a growing stain on the carpet. I was distressed, but I knew that I couldn’t show any interest in what was happening or Dominic would turn his focus on Brian. What might happen then was anyone’s guess, but I didn’t dare risk it.