I catch my breath to speak, “Yes.” I feel his right hand leave my ass cheek, then slap….a hard unforgiving slap to my ass. A loud groan escapes me before I can stop it.
“SHHH! Say it, baby girl.”
I exhale, “My pussy belongs to you, Blade.”
I feel both hands on my ass again and the kneading intensifies. He pulls the cheeks of my ass apart, as far as he can and I feel his dick rubbing up and down my asshole. “Soon, baby girl. Very soon.” Then he slams his dick deep into my pussy, still clutching my ass with his hands. He finds his rhythm, in and out, deeper and deeper. I moan in ecstasy, then his hand leaves my ass and wraps firmly in my hair, yanking my head up from the table.
His lips come to my ear, “Shhhh, baby girl.” He keeps a firm grip on my hair moving in and out of my pussy. My entire body is consumed by lust for him. “Give it to me, baby girl. Give me what I need,” he begs as he pounds me harder. My pussy spasms at his desire for me and I release.
I hear him groan, “Son of a bitch,” as his dick explodes and marks my pussy as his.
On Wednesday, everything moves along slowly and there are no fires to put out. I’m grateful for the lull but the only downside is that it gives my mind time to wonder. I’m back to Blade’s past and the secrets that lie in it. Who is he really? I only know a small piece of him and the rest seems dark and dismal. Being lost in thought has my attention diverted to the point that I don’t see Detective Torres until he’s at my desk, “Good afternoon, Miss Stollings.”
“Detective Torres,” I greet him, as I rise to shake his hand.
“I need to speak to Mr. Hawthorne, if he’s in.” I buzz Blade then escort the detective into his office. They shake hands and the atmosphere is heavy as we all take a seat.
“Blade, I need to apologize,” Detective Torres begins. I’ve never heard him call Blade by his first name. “We have the murder suspects in custody on the Jarrod Davis case. Seems Mr. Davis’ rapist tendencies had been very active since he came to town, not only had he accosted Miss Stollings but he had also raped another woman. She didn’t report it to law enforcement but she told her brothers. The two of them decided to exact their own type of justice.”
“I can’t say I’m sorry they did. That bastard deserved everything he got and more,” Blade’s distain is apparent in his voice.
The detective nods his head as if he’s in agreement, “Well, you know what my official stand on that has to be.” They both smile a friendly smile at one another and it hits me that these two know each other better than I had thought. “I just wanted to touch base with you and make sure you understood that I was only doing my job on this. I didn’t believe you had delved back into to your past life but I had to ask,” Torres continues.
Blade assures him that he understood and they move on to the subject of the home invasion at my apartment. “My guys didn’t find anything of any help and you were right about the video in the parking garage, you couldn’t tell anything about the person. Until we can figure this out, you need to keep a constant eye on this little lady,” Torres shoots a smile my way.
“Absolutely,” Blade responds. They speak about some sports event for a brief time then they say a friendly goodbye.
The rest of the afternoon, I think about their connection and Blades’ past. I decide that tonight, I need the truth. The press has been handled and Blade doesn’t have any worries about Jarrod’s death now so most of the pressure is off. He needs to come clean, to explain all the implications that have come out of the conversations over the last several days. I deserve to know the person I’m with, I deserve for there to be no secrets. I’ve given him everything and now it’s time that I get the same.
At the house, dinner is quiet and a little tense on my side. I’m worried about what Blade’s reaction is going to be when I push him to tell me his secrets. When dessert is over, we retire to the living room and he gives me the opening I need, “Baby girl, what’s wrong?”
I take a deep breath, trying not to lose my nerve, “I’ve given you the time you asked for and I think I deserve some answers.”
He pulls me closer and nuzzles my neck, “Can’t this wait until later.”
I gently push him away and look him dead in the eyes, “No, it can’t wait until later. That’s always your answer….later, and then later never comes.” He shifts in his seat and gets very quiet. I finally decide to break the silence, “Blade, you asked me to give you a few days and I did that. Now, I need you to give me what I need. I need to know who you are, who you used to be. I need the secrets and the lies to stop tonight.”
“What the fuck does my past matter? Who I am now is all you should be concerned with,” he rubs his hands through his hair, and then sits up with his head in his hands.
“It does matter because it’s part of who you are, whether you like it or not,” I insist.
“Why the hell is this so important, Sheridan? Why?” he asks as he gets up, walks to the fireplace and leans against the mantle with his face away from me.
“Why! Because I love you and I need to know who you are,” I blast with my anger rising.
He turns toward me quickly with a strange look on his face, “You what?”
“I love you with all my heart and soul,” I answer softly.
“No, no, no, no!” He waves his hands in the air, as if he’s giving a warning. “This is not what I want. I don’t want you to love me. Love isn’t something I have room for in my life,” he shouts. Oh shit, what have I done?
His anger is written all over him but I don’t let that stop me because I’m pretty damned mad myself, “That’s a chicken shit cop out, Blade, and I’m not buying into it.” I rise from the couch and walk toward him, “I’ve shared everything with you, I deserve the same in return.”
He backs away as I’m approaching him so I stop. “You get what I can give you and right now I can’t give you this. I don’t want to give you this. My past is MINE and it has nothing to do with you,” he says through gritted teeth. His words are full of angst and each one is like a stabbing knife. “I can’t deal with this right now, I can’t deal with you,” he storms out the door.
I stand there lost in the hurt and anger of what just happened. How can he treat me this way? I’ve been so wrong about everything….about him….about us. It feels as though the wind has been knocked out of me and I can’t breathe. With all that’s happened, this is the most painful. Get a grip bitch. You knew this could happen and you still pushed so you got what you asked for….my inner witch brings me back to earth. I did know this could happen but I had to have some answers. I couldn’t live with all the secrets and now I don’t know if I can live without him.
CHAPTER 12
Insanity
It’s after midnight and he hasn’t come home. I’ve texted and called but he doesn’t answer. I’ve resigned myself to the fact that this is it, it’s over. He doesn’t want my love which definitely means he doesn’t love me. The pain is suffocating me, I need some fresh air. I meander out into the garden, feeling lost and numb. I find a seat on one of the marble benches and drink in the soothing, soft lights from the fountains. In the darkness, I try to hide from the pain but it finds me and my tears begin to flow. I put in my earbuds, start the music on my phone and A Great Big World’s, “Say Something (I’m Giving up on You)”, adds fuel to my crying.
My text message alert goes off and relief floods my body, it has to be him. I open the message and there it is….a picture of Blade, undressed and lying in bed with Bridgette. She’s wearing a small piece of racy lingerie and he’s leaned into her neck. My heart shatters and I’m instantly sick to my stomach. Then, another picture comes through. In this one, Bridgette is straddling Blade, holding his face in her hands and leaning over kissing him. My hurt turns to anger as I jump to my feet. I can’t fucking believe he would do this. I have to leave, I have to get my shit and get out of here before he gets back. I never want to lay eyes on that son of a bitch again.
I turn to leave
and someone grabs me from behind, putting their hand over my mouth. “Shhh…not one word. If you scream, I’ll shoot you,” a female voice says as I feel the gun poking in my side and I drop my phone. It’s dark and she’s behind me but I’d know that southern drawl anywhere…it’s Caroline. “I’m gonna take my hand off your mouth and, I’m serious, if you make one sound I will blow you away. Do you understand?” I nod my head to let her know I do. She removes her hand and turns me around, always staying behind me, “Stand right there and don’t move.” I’m so terrified that I’m trembling. I can see, out of the corner of my eye, she’s writing something on the bench in red. The red lipstick. It was her in my apartment. As hard as I try, I can’t tell what she wrote.
“Move,” she commands as she pushes me toward the back of the garden. When we squeeze through the hedges at the end of the property, there’s a black sports car waiting, “Get in.” I do as I’m told like a robot being remote controlled by her words. Thoughts of trying to get away start running through my head but I believe she might just shoot me if I push her. She gets in the driver’s seat, starts the car and we speed away.
“Why are you doing this?” My voice is shaking.
“Shut up!” she shouts and I retreat back into silence.
We pull into an abandoned alley way, “Sit still. If you make one move, you’re a dead bitch. Got it?” I nod in confirmation and she gets out of the car. I can see her in the rear view mirror, she’s doing something below the trunk of the car. Should I try to escape, to get out of the car and run as fast as I can? Hell, I’m so terrified that I don’t know what to do. She gets back in the car with some wadded up paper and tape and throws it into the back. Then she reaches behind my seat and pulls out some rope, “Put out your hands.” I do as I’m told and she begins tying my hands tight. The gun is lying in her lap and I’m thinking I should try to grab it but she’s done before I get my thoughts together.
She pulls back onto the street and continues on this diabolical journey. We’ve taken so many turns, down so many different streets, that I have no idea where we are now. We slow as we pull up in front of a large abandon building where Caroline parks. She gets out of the car, comes around the front, with her eyes trained on me. My door is yanked open then she reaches in and drags me from the car by my hair. It’s painful and I can’t help but cry out. “One more sound and you’re fucking dead,” she says through a clenched jaw.
She still has me by the hair as she’s pushing me through a large metal door leading inside the building. It’s dark but the moon is coming through some small windows, lining the top of the tall walls, and I can see a chair sitting in the middle of the floor. We’re half way to it and she shoves me, knocking me to the ground. “Sit in the chair,” she growls.
My knees are stinging from sliding across the concrete and I’m exhausted from all the chaos of the night, but I gather myself and do as she says. She brings over a bag, takes out some more rope and begins tying each of my legs to the legs of the chair. Then, she unties my hands and ties each of them to an arm of the chair. “Why are you doing this, Caroline? I thought we were friends,” I ask cautiously.
“We’re not friends, you stupid little cunt,” she says through gritted teeth.
The thought of the red lipstick on my bedroom wall crosses my mind again, “Is this about Blade?” Before I know it, she brings up the hand with the gun and swings. I feel the hard metal as it connects at my temple and just below my eye. Its hurts so fucking bad and I can feel the blood running down my face from where the skin has split.
“Don’t say his name!” she shouts, shaking madly. “I never should’ve hired you. You came into my office looking homely as hell and knowing nothing. I thought for sure Blade would never be interested in a sloppy ass idiot. When I told you to dress better, it was so he wouldn’t want to fire you as soon as he saw you. Then you show up on Monday completely different, perfect hair, perfect clothes. Why the hell did you have to do that?” she says just before she raises her hand and slaps me across the other cheek.
“He doesn’t want me, he said so,” I shout.
“Bullshit, it’s written all over him. He’s in love with you but he can’t have you, I’ll see to that.” She takes duct tape out of the bag and tapes my mouth.
“He’s supposed to be mine. We have history and history trumps everything. I just have to figure out what to do with you now. I know you have to die, I just have to decide how. Blade will be grieving because of your death and I will be there to comfort him,” she says calmly as though she is walking through a dream. “Then he’ll realize he loves me, baby girl,” she says mockingly as she runs the gun along my jaw line. My breath catches because I know she’s serious, she is going to kill me.
She returns to the bag and brings out a syringe, “As much as I hate leaving shitty company, I have to get a little sleep before work and I can’t have you making too much noise while I’m gone.” She comes over, sticks the needle in my neck and I feel the fluid flow into me. “Sleep well, baby girl,” she laughs as she heads for the door. History, what history? He doesn’t want m…..and I’m out cold.
Blade
I wish that damn phone would stop ringing, my head’s killing me. Where the hell am I… my thoughts are interrupted by Bridgette’s voice answering my phone. “Hello, yes he is. One moment please.” I glance at the clock on the bedside table, six a.m. Bridgette hands me my cell and I’m trying to wrap my mind around why the hell I’m in her bed.
“Speak,” I command as I sit up on the edge.
“Mr. Hawthorne, we’ve been trying to reach you all night,” Stanley’s voice is full of concern and worry.
“What? Spit it out Stanley,” I bark.
“It’s Miss Stollings, we think she’s been kidnapped.” With his words, there is an unbearable tightness that grips my heart. “At about one am, during our rounds of the property, we spotted a black sports car speeding away from the back of the garden. The license plate was covered so we couldn’t get the number. We immediately started trying to contact Miss Stollings but there was no answer so we entered the house. The other men searched the house while Sheldon and I searched the garden area. We found Miss Stollings cell phone on the ground by one of the marble benches. On the bench, someone had written ‘BACK TO THE BEGINNING’ in, what seems to be, red lipstick,” he continues.
“You didn’t find anything else?” I question him, feeling as though I’m in a daze.
“No sir, not another sign of anything but she’s gone. All her things are still here, her car’s still in the driveway but she’s gone,” he answers.
By this time, I’m already up and jerking on my clothes, “Gather all the men in. I’ll be there in ten minutes.” I hang up the phone and begin the hunt for my shoes, “Bridgette, I don’t know how the fuck I ended up here but I’m damn sure nothing happened.”
She tries flirtation, “You weren’t acting put off by it last night, darling.”
“No fucking games, Bridgette. I don’t have time for your shit. Sheridan’s missing and we think she’s been kidnapped.”
“Kidnapped,” she gasps and fear instantly floods her face.
“Yes. Now, where are my fucking shoes?” I shout.
She scrambles around the bedroom, collecting my shoes and socks. “I…I have to confess something. Maybe Sheridan wasn’t kidnapped. Maybe she just left,” Bridgette says and she is visibly nervous.
“What the hell do you mean, Bridgette? What the fuck have you done?”
“I just…I wanted her to stay away from you so I…” She stops, hanging her head in her hands.
I grab her by the wrist and yank her hands away, “What the fuck did you do? Tell me, now!”
“I made sure you got pretty looped last night by adding a sleeping pill to your drink at the bar. By the time I got you back here, you were basically out of it. Once you were out cold, I undressed you and put on lingerie. I posed us in a couple of positions and took pictures that I texted to Sheridan,” she explains as
tears begin to well in her eyes.
“Damn you! Don’t you dare cry! You don’t have the right to cry,” I scream as I shake her by the wrists. “You’re pathetic! Stay the hell away from me and Sheridan!” I release her and storm out the door.
I’m racing down the road with the most horrible thoughts running through my head. In that moment, it’s like being hit over the head with a brick, I do love her. I think I’ve loved her since the first day she was in my office. I can’t image my life without her and now I may have lost her in every way. Oh God, she has to be okay and I have to find her. Why did I say all those hurtful things last night? Why did I leave her? This is all my fault and now, the woman I love, is paying for my actions.
My tires are squealing as I come around the driveway, park and race into the house. “Stanley, show me everything you have,” I order. Stanley takes me to the marble bench in the garden, it’s the same fucking red lipstick from the apartment wall. ‘BACK TO THE BEGINNING’? The beginning of what? I don’t have a clue what this could mean. “What about her cell phone?” I question and Stanley hands it to me. The only calls are the ones she made trying to reach me. The only texts are her trying to reach me and the incoming ones from Bridgette. Holy shit, they’re bad and I can only imagine how hurt she must have been.
I’m clueless and I’m weak with worry, and the massive hang-over isn’t helping. I go to sit down on another bench, to try and steady my thoughts. The woman I love has vanished and my last words to here are words that I’m now ashamed of. The last thing she saw was probably the pictures that Bridgette sent. The fact that she went through that kind of hurt because of me, my words and my actions, is unbearable and I loathe my fucking self.
“Sir,” Stanley’s voice brings me back, “should I call the police?
Broken In Pieces: Billionaire Stepbrother Romance (Wounded Hearts Book 1) Page 13