by CLIFF, J. C.
“Princess,” he calls out as I round the corner of his office door. “Oh, my God, you’re home. I can’t believe it,” he cries with joy as his arms spread open wide. I bury my face into his shoulder, and a long, suppressed sob escapes my lungs. “Shh…you’re safe now.” There is no way in hell I will ever be able to talk to him about what went on inside the facility, or what I was put through. A shiver skates down my body, and my limbs tremble at the thought of being a sex slave.
“You’re shaking, Princess,” my dad whispers over my head, his voice full of concern as he squeezes me tightly. “Are you okay?”
“I don’t know, Daddy,” I weep. “I just don’t know.” I melt into his embrace. There’s a small gap of silence as he holds me tightly, and I let out a huge sigh of relief, thankful to be in his arms.
Someone clears their throat behind me, and it echoes throughout the room. Maybe it’s one of the bodyguards garnering for my dad’s attention, but my dad doesn’t say anything. Clearing their throat again, the sound is louder this time, and my forehead wrinkles. Maybe it’s Jake, I think with anticipation, and with that thought, I turn around to see.
As I twist around, I feel as if I’ve been hit by a Mack truck. My heart comes to a standstill as I’m confronted with the man who started all my nightmares. He’s casually sitting down in a calm fashion with his arms stretched out along the back of the love seat, and his ankle crossed over his knee. “Nick,” I breathe his name on a whispered breath, taken aback. I shrink back into my father’s chest and visibly shiver. The memory of everything Nick did to me comes rushing back like a tsunami.
“You remember me, Princess?” he purrs, exuding a superior arrogance, which has my heart leaping out of my chest.
“You…” I scowl, pointing at him with a shaky hand. My voice fails me as he gets up from the sofa, approaching me with a haughty grin. If it’s even possible, I sink farther back into the protectiveness of my father’s embrace as my pulse thunders through my veins.
Every instinct I have says to run, get out, but my feet won’t move. I glance at the door, wondering if I could even make it at this point, but I don’t think I can. As he nears, I shake my head, willing him to go away, but no words come out. This can’t be happening. He stops directly in front of me, and I find my voice. “Oh, my God, Dad! He’s…he’s the one who took me!” I croakily whisper.
Nick’s lips twist in a smug smile as he slightly tilts his head, raising a questioning brow. “What are you talking about, Julianna? Your father called me the minute he heard the exciting news that you’d been found and were coming home.”
My father steps back out of the way as Nick steps forward, and immediately, I feel as if I’m a sitting duck. “We’ve been looking day and night for you.” The longing in Nick’s voice as he reaches out to clasp my hand turns my stomach. “Is this how you welcome the one who did everything in his power to get you back safely?”
My father steps to the side of me, and when I turn my head to look at him, he adds, “I believe you two have met, no?” Then he has the audacity to chuckle. He actually fucking chuckles.
My eyes go wide as I shake my head in disbelief. How am I supposed to process this? My fight-or-flight responses can’t decide what to do, because, hello…I’m in the safety of my home now. This isn’t supposed to be happening.
“Dad?” I whisper-cry for help in one word.
Nick grasps both my arms and pulls me into his body. I’m so dumbstruck I’m rendered speechless; even my own limbs betray me. Then Nick leans forward to run his nose along my jawline, breathing softly over my skin as he whispers in my ear, “I’ve missed you so much, sweetheart.” He pulls me in tight until our chests touch like two long-lost lovers, and then he wraps his arms around me.
“I think now would be a good time to tell her the good news, wouldn’t you say, Lance?” Nick’s deep voice floats over my head, and then drizzles down my body, sending chills to my very core.
I turn my head as I nervously peer at my father. “Daddy?” The pitch of my disconcerted voice quavers. “Tell me what news.”
“Nick has informed me you two are getting married next week.” He then narrows his eyes at Nick with an unnerving glare, arching a brow. “That is, unless you think you can’t hold onto her this time.”
Not believing my own ears, an audible gasp escapes me. Nick leans down, guiding my panic stricken gaze to meet his confident one. “Oh, I’m positive.” Shivers wrack my body, and I try to squirm out of his hold, but he’s too strong. “How about we sit down so we can talk, sweetheart?”
Pulling myself out of my shocked stupor, I hiss, “Let me go!” I turn toward my dad with pleading eyes. “Help me. You don’t understand.” Why is he just standing there? “Dad?” I repeat, as I twist around, pulling away from Nick, but his grip tightens to the point of pain and I wince.
I shoot my dad a quizzical look, one of pure distress, and watch in horror as he nonchalantly turns his back on me, walking to his desk to pull out a cigar from his humidor. “What the hell is going on?” I yell in anger, suddenly forgetting my fears.
“Ahh, inquisitive as ever I see, aren’t you, Julianna?” my father starts off in a calm voice. He seems more intent and focused on his precious cigar than the matter at hand. “You see, Nick and I are business partners.” He pauses to place the unlit cigar underneath his nose and inhales, closing his eyes. “I’m a silent partner, if you will, a money-backer to Project Blyss,” he states simply.
I feel the second my heart stops beating, and I go numb and tingly on the inside. I get the distinct impression that this isn’t the end of his story. A bigger bomb is about to drop and detonate as I realize my entire life is exploding into smithereens before me.
“You what?” I hiss incredulously. I elbow Nick in his gut to get away. I want to claw his fucking eyeballs out.
“Whoa there, Princess,” Nick quickly interjects, stifling a grunt while he gets a better grip on me, preventing me from cutting loose.
“That’s right, you heard correctly. Just so happens Nick here, came along at the most opportune time with an offer I couldn’t refuse.”
“You sold me! Your own daughter?!” Anger like never before consumes me. I yank hard on my arm to free myself to do just that, and almost succeed, but Nick is prepared this time. He’s too strong and quick. “You are sick. You are twistedly psycho, and you need help!” I spew.
My dad narrows his eyes, regarding me for a silent moment. An eerie stillness settles over him. “You know, I did the right thing. Your behavior patterns mimic your mother’s more and more every day. I knew…I just knew you were inherently born to be on their side,” he sneers.
My voice is a dubious whisper, “What? What are you talking about?”
“It’s the same thing she said. Said I was sick, except I’m not. She was constantly trying to drug me.” He narrows his eyes on mine as he comes to a conclusion. “I can tell it’d only be a matter of time before you’d want to do the same. Slip psychosomatic drugs in me where and when you could. Yet another reason why you need to be under lock and key, and controlled with drugs.”
“What? Where’s this coming from?”
An angered huff of air leaves his lungs, as if I’ve offended his intelligence. “That’s what I’d like to know. I’ve been nothing but good to you, thinking I could trust you all this time, but I can’t. You are one hundred percent your mother.” He pauses to put his cigar down, placing his hands on the desk as he leans in with a hateful glare. “She continually tried to poison me, you know. It got to the point where I saw her sneaking it into my food and drink, and one of those times, she outsmarted me. She damn near left me to die.”
As if I was just sucker-punched, a burst of air leaves my lungs in a whoosh. He’s making no sense. I blink several times and sway, thankful now that Nick is holding me. “What are you saying?”
He waggles his finger at me. “Oh, I think you know. Everyone always acts innocent, but it always turns out to be a front. She forced my
hand; I had to take action against her.”
Everything turns into slow motion. I feel prickly tingles from the roots of my hair to the tips of my toes as he moves to the front of his desk to stand before me. “I don’t understand,” I barely whisper. “You killed my mother?”
“Oh, for Christ’s sakes, Julianna, can’t you read between the lines?” he sneers, highly agitated. “Yes, she was not on my side. She was against me from the beginning.” He then gives me an evil glare, challenging me. “Don’t you deny it either. You might come off all innocent, just like your mother did at first, but I can read right through you.”
The hairs on the back of my neck prickle as an ominous dark cloud hovers over the room. The gloomy atmosphere seeps into my bones, and it should make me want to run, scream, fight…something, other than just stand here thunderstruck with my mouth agape as this possessed demon paces back and forth in front of me.
“You see, your grandparents were on my side after I had to take action against your mother. The way they took over and helped cover up the mishap,” he says, using air quotes. “They helped to make it look like an accident to protect me, but soon, I found out they too had ulterior motives. It didn’t take long before I was onto them too, and they knew it.”
My upper body sways, and Nick holds me tight against his chest. I can’t seem to process his words. “Your grandparents…they could see their demise coming a mile away, and I have to give them credit; they played it smart. They tied you to an insurance policy, one so intertwined—well, it pissed me the fuck off. Once you turned twenty-one, you were to inherit Oakley Global Enterprises, and if anything were to happen to you at any given time, all Oakley holdings would go directly to charity. I couldn’t let that happen, now could I? When you turned twenty-one, you were to inherit all of the wealth.” He stops pacing the floor and locks his gaze with mine, sending a cold chill down my spine. “The bottom line is I couldn’t allow you to get the upper hand on me. I had to find a way to get you to sign all holdings over to me once you turned of age.”
“Holy fuck,” Nick whispers in disbelief beside my ear.
“So, you see, I was in a bit of a quandary, but Nick here came along at the right time and I found the perfect solution. Nick said this drug, Blyss, which I’ve invested in, would be the drug of the century. He went on to explain about his high-end operation, and how not only being a captive, but also a subservient one, would have these women obeying their master’s every command. So I’m sure you could see I found the perfect solution to my dilemma.”
All I can do is shake my head in dazed shock and utter, “No.”
My dad stops his pacing to smile at me. “You’ll soon realize this is a win-win for all of us. I could’ve done something far worse to you,” he says, giving a quick jerk of his chin toward Nick behind me, “but I’d say he’s a pretty fine catch. Wouldn’t you?”
“What the fuck is going on here?” a deep voice bellows from behind. It’s Jake. All of us turn to see Jake, whose nostrils are flaring. He stalks into the room, his biceps stretching the confines of his dress shirt as his hands clench into tight fists, ready to strike at any moment. I tug to break away from Nick, but he’s not letting me go.
“Jake, help me,” I cry out, “please…”
Nick holds me tighter as Jake heatedly flicks his eyes between both my dad and Nick, assessing and digesting the scene. It’s then I notice Jake stalking in with a limp, and my heart squeezes. He took a bullet trying to protect me. My dad holds out his hand in a halting motion, as if that’s going to keep Jake from advancing, limp or not. “Stop right there, Jake. This doesn’t concern you.”
Jake stops within a couple feet of all of us, his upper lip twitching with intense hostility. “The fuck it’s not my business. Julianna has always been my business. You said your delusional shit was under control. What’d you do, Lance, pay off your fucking psychologist, or did you learn to get batshit-crazy within your delusions?!” Jake bellows.
A pained whimper escapes me, and my chest constricts. I can barely breathe the words, “You...you knew?”
Jakes shifts his gaze to mine and shakes his head, remotely softening his eyes. “I didn’t know this, Jules, I promise. I only knew of his paranoid schizophrenia. His parents hired me when you were just a little thing to watch over you, and to keep tabs on Lance.” He turns, eyeing my father up and down with passionate enmity. “He had to go through a series of medical treatments a good while back. It was one of the reasons why I had to send you away to boarding school while he was going through therapy. It was for your own protection.”
“That’s enough!” my dad barks.
“What’s the matter, Lance? You worried your daughter will think less of you for having a severe mental disease?” His voice drips with a loathsome rage. “Afraid you would appear less of a father if she knew? Well, I think you’ve just topped yourself.” He takes a step closer to my dad, pointing a finger in his face. “You fucking promised you’d tell me if you got those feelings again, and it’s been what? Almost six years since your last episode?” He shakes his head in disdain, acute revulsion radiating off his entire body. “All this time, I thought you had your shit under control. Turns out you were only lying dormant as you had this shit planned out for years. No wonder you’ve been acting so normal all this time; you thought you had the ace in the hole.”
“Correction, I hold the ace,” Nick arrogantly chimes in.
Jake whips around to face Nick with bared teeth.
“And you…you sick motherfucker,” he grits out with narrowed eyes filled with rage, “you can let her the fuck loose, right the fuck now. There is no fucking deal.”
Nick’s body stays eerily relaxed behind me, and then he chuckles. I can see through my peripheral vision him giving a quick jerk of his head toward the door as both Jake and I take a look. I swallow against a thick lump in my throat as a sick sense of déjà vu washes over me. Those are the men who took me the last time, and the three of them are heavily armed.
“I don’t think you want a repeat of last time, Jake,” Nick reminds him with an authoritarian voice. “How’s that leg healing?” he taunts.
Jake’s chest heaves with fury. “This isn’t over, not by a long shot.”
“Oh, but it is,” Nick smoothly states. “Everything has been signed, sealed, and delivered. No returns, no exchanges, all sales final. I suggest you think of that, should you try something stupid.”
So this is it? My life has been bargained away because of a deeply disturbed, paranoid, schizophrenic man? Everyone’s words are becoming muffled, and I can’t make out anything past the fact that somehow under the influence, I did indeed sign important papers.
I feel like I’m in a jousting tournament and I just lost. I lost big time. My lungs constrict as I feel the sharp lance piercing my chest, spearing through my heart as it exits out my backside. A very sick feeling falls over me, making my face turn hot and flushed. I feel clammy and dizzy as I grab onto my medallion, clutching it with the palm of my hand, grasping for something familiar to give me comfort.
“That’s another thing I’ll be glad to be rid of,” my dad says as he steps forward to unclasp the necklace from around my neck. Both Jake and I just stand here frozen, unable to do anything as I try to get a grip on my physical and mental being, but nothing is cooperating.
He tosses my medallion in the air and catches it with an evil smirk. “Do you know how sick I was of seeing you wear this every damn day? I’ll be glad to be rid of it once and for all. It was a constant reminder of how traitorous both your grandmother and mother were…and now you.”
His words and actions paralyze me. Beads of sweat have gathered along my upper lip. I feel nauseous, and my vision sort of pixelates from the edges. My inner balance is so screwed up that all I can think about is how I’m going to fall flat on my face. The last thing I remember as my knees give way is not hitting the floor.
I slowly rouse from a deep sleep, still too tired to open my eyes. I realize my
head is lying on a hard, muscled thigh acting as a pillow. Must be Travis’ lap I’m lying across. My mind is hazy from sleep, but I can’t remember the dream. The sound of a highway surrounds me, and I know then I’m in a moving vehicle.
I smell leather, a lot of leather, and I wonder what Travis is up to. I’m sprawled out on a very comfortable, roomy backseat of a car with the warmth of a blanket laid over top of me. My hair is being played with, and on occasion, softly stroked in a loving manner. I start to wriggle awake, and am met with a deep, soft voice that doesn’t belong to Travis.
“You’re awake.” My eyes flutter open, confusion swirling around me. My pulse spikes, and I try to sit up. I’m in a panic-induced haze as memories begin to pound me like a tidal wave. Nick gently nudges my head back down on his lap, encouraging me to stay put. “Easy there, Princess,” he says soothingly. “You’ve been out for a good while. Just relax.”
I roll my head back slightly to peer up at him, and he looks down at me with tender, sympathetic eyes, which display nothing but warmth. His fingers are caringly stroking the side of my cheek, and as I look at him in my disoriented state, I notice how exhausted he looks.
“Where am I?”
“I’m taking you home with me,” he softly replies as he runs his fingers through my hair.
I swallow hard against the sick feeling brewing in my stomach. “Back to the facility?”
His lips form a thin line as he shakes his head. “No, baby. I’m taking you to a place where we both can call home.”
“Home?” I ask even more confused. I have no home. I have no life. I have nothing.
Nick reaches over me for a second, and when he leans back against his seat, he has a bottle of water in his hand. “You need to stay hydrated,” he says, ignoring my question. “Let me help you sit up.” Apparently, his definition of me sitting up is sitting in his lap, because when I begin to move, his free hand slips underneath my armpit as he lifts me onto his lap.
I’m not ready to be face-to-face with Nick, so I rest my cheek against his shoulder and stare at the blanket draped over me. I feel the muscles in his chest move as he unscrews the lid on the water bottle.