“Yeah, well I’m disappointed in you, I thought I taught you better than letting a man treat you like shit? Fuck this, I didn’t come here for a big lecture from everyone.” Maddie says flippantly as she stares into space.
“You, stupid bitch! I told you it’s none of your business. Why did you really come here? What is the real reason? I honestly thought it was to make amends for your selfish behavior. I thought you had finally grown up! But no, you just showed everyone how truly fucking selfish you are. You told a fucking rapist that Winter liked him. What the fuck is wrong with you?” I scream at her, pure hot rage pours through me and she laughs at me!
“Oh my fucking God! You're high as a mother fucking kite!” Sophia says and as much as I don’t want to believe it, things start adding up, the way she’s either really happy or really depressed there’s no in between.
“Wow, you need to chill, have a joint,” I can’t believe Maddie actually said that, what the hell is wrong with her?
“Um, guys. Do you think she is stable? I mean do you think she’s alright up there?” Winter asks and if it were anyone else she’s talking about I may laugh as Luke is but it’s my sister she’s talking about.
“You’re on drugs? What the hell?” I say in a low voice, all I feel is hurt and disappointment.
“So-fucking-what? I’ll do whatever the fuck I want. I’m a grown ass woman!” Maddie starts shouting and I think I hate her. That smirk on her face; I hate it and I want to wipe it from her face for good.
“Calm the fuck down, we’re leaving. We will discuss this when we get home.” I need to get her out of here, before she inflicts pain on anyone else.
“Fuck discussing this! How about considering the fact that your boyfriend beats the ever loving shit out of you? Nice makeup there, Hails, what is it today? A black eye to go with the bruise on your wrists?” Maddie screams at me.
Tears stream down my face, “I’m done! I can’t deal with this shit anymore. I’m leaving and once I get home, your shit will be waiting for you on the lawn.” I scream at her, I am truly done with her. I’ll no longer claim her as my sister. That woman loves causing pain and heartache and I hate her. I run out of the room not wanting to be around her anymore.
I hear shouting as I leave and I know that Maddie’s wrecking more havoc. My parents would be so disappointed in her. Losing both my parents at the age of fourteen was hard, having Maddie around to be my legal guardian made it so much easier. Knowing that we would be together no matter what made everything less painful. Maddie was the one that held me through the night when I would cry myself to sleep, she was the one I would go too if I needed advice. She became my mom and sister all rolled into one.
I remember coming home after prom, tears streaming down my face and Maddie meeting me at the door.
I’mso stupid, why on earth did I go back to that damn hotel room? Chase was such a gentleman at the beginning but as soon as we started to have sex he forgot about me and got lost in the moment. I’m grateful it didn’t last long. I’m sore enough as it is. Not only that, I’ve received message after message about me sleeping with him, so that gentleman act he has going on is a lie, he’s a douche bag and I hate him.
Walking up the steps to my house, I can’t stop the tears. How could I have been so stupid? Mom and Maddie both drilled into me about losing my virginity to a man that I love. It’s what I had planned to do, I had this dream that when Scott and I would finally be together that he would be my first and it would be magical. I was stupid for believing that Scott would even want me.
I’m in a world of my own that I don’t even notice that Maddie’s standing at the door waiting for me. “Hails, you should have been home hours ago. What the hell are you playing at?” The worry in her voice makes me look up at her, “Oh Hails, what happened?” She rushes out of the house in her pajama shorts and tank and ushers me inside. “Hailey what happened?”
“I was so stupid Mads. So, fucking stupid.”
She guides me to the sofa, “Hails, it can’t have been that bad. You’re not stupid.”
“I slept with Chase.” I wail as just saying it brings me to tears yet again.
I don't miss the sharp intake of breath or the disappointed look, “I didn't even know you were dating.”
“We aren't and now the whole school knows that I had sex with him.” I cringe at everyone knowing. He's such an asshole.
“Oh Hails. What happened, if you weren't dating why did you sleep with him?” I don’t know what’s worse, feeling like an idiot or her disappointment?
“I was mad and upset and I wasn’t thinking Mads.” God, tonight has been one of the worst nights of my life.
“What were you so upset about?” I don’t answer her, I’ve been embarrassed enough tonight, I don’t want to relive that particular memory. “Hailey, what happened. You know that you can tell me anything.”
“I don’t know Mads,” she takes my hand and her eyes plead with me. I sigh knowing that she’s not going to give up. “When Scott pulled up outside the hotel I leaned forward to kiss his cheek, you know, to say thank you.” I see her eyes narrowing and I rush through the next part, “Well somehow we ended up kissing and he pulled away and told me that I was a child.”
“Hails…” Pity etched in her voice makes me sit up straighter, she sighs not knowing what to say, “He’s an asshole Hailey but saying that he’s right. Scott’s older than me by a couple of years and I’m five years older than you. So, to him you are too young.”
I jump to my feet, hating that condescending tone, “You think I don’t know that he thinks I’m too young. You think that I don’t know how much of an age gap there is? I’m not stupid Mads, I’ve loved him for so long and having him say that crushed me so I did something stupid. I regret it but there’s not much I can do about it now. I needed you to be here for me not be a bitch.”
“No Hailey, I didn’t mean it like that. I meant that he’s an asshole that was all. Why didn’t I know that you were in love with him? I’m so sorry he broke your heart Hails, he never deserved it in the first place.” She stands and pulls me into her arms, this right here is what I’ve needed.
“Come on, I’ve a pint of Ben and Jerry’s in the freezer, Chubby Hubby.” I grin at her, it’s my favorite and she knows it, she loves Cherry Garcia. She takes the tub out of the freezer and hands me a spoon. “Hails, you’ve been through so much and you’re only 17. Having Scott tell you you’re a kid, it’s nothing. You’ll get over it and when you do you’ll realize that he’s not for you. He’s not because if he were he wouldn’t have broken your heart.”
“How do you know?” I dig into the ice-cream loving the taste, who would have thought that after the night that I’ve had that I’d end it with a smile?
“Because we’re destined for better. We deserve the relationship mom and dad had and I won’t settle for anything less and neither should you.” She’s right, our parent’s relationship was one that was made into movies. We shouldn’t settle for anything less.
Rememberingthat night and what Maddie said, even though she’s a bitch now, back then she was right. I deserve better than being some guy’s punching bag. I deserve better than having to walk on eggshells because he may be in a bad mood. I deserve to be loved by a good man, one that will love me with every fiber of their being. I finally know that Eric isn’t the one for me, he never was.
“Hailey, wait.” Oh shit, it’s Scott. I don’t want to talk to him, I don’t want to talk to anyone. I carry on walking out of the house, wanting to leave as quickly as possible. As I pass the threshold a hand grabs my arm pulling me to a stop. I turn and stare at his hand on my arm, not bothering to look at his face, I just want his hand off me. He finally does remove his hand, “Hailey, can we talk?”
Chapter Four
Scott
Thisweek has been shit, yesterday we lost a teammate, I know that my sister Sophia disliked him but Connor was nothing but the best. Yes, he was a bit of a player but so what, aren’t we all
at some stage? Connor would have done anything for anyone. He was the type of guy that would give you the shirt off his back if he thought you needed it. I’m going to miss him, it’s shit, we’ve lost too many fucking men. We lost Jamie, Andy, Drake, and Liam about two years ago due to a fucking terrorist wanting to kill my sister. He blew up our building killing four of our men. Now we’ve lost Connor too, Nathan is a mess, he’s just lost his best friend.
Yesterday I listened to a woman I think of as a sister tell me that she was raped, I listened as she told her story for the first time. Knowing that some fucking asshole is out there tormenting her makes me want to kill him. What type of animal rapes a woman and then for the next two years proceeds in calling her just to scare her even more? David Masters is a dead man walking. There isn’t anything he can do to hide from us, not only did this asshole rape Winter, he’s also the man that shot and killed Connor.
Today I’ve listened to Maddie talk shit. I hate that woman; It wasn’t always that way, she changed about eight-ish years ago and since then she’s turned into someone I despise. Both my dad and I have said there’s something wrong with her, she’s not playing with a full deck. She’s very selfish and self-centered, we watched her stunt Hailey’s dreams. I remember Hailey had told us from the age of seven that she wanted to be a Doctor; it’s all she ever wanted. Maddie put the blockers on that and any other dream that Hailey wanted. Including Hailey traveling around the world, she wanted to take a year gap to travel with some of the money their parents had left them but yet again Maddie made her change her mind.
“Whenwill you hear back from the colleges to see if you’ve been accepted?” You can hear the excitement in my dad’s voice, he’s proud of Hailey.
She shifts slightly, “Um, I’m actually thinking of taking a semester off. I want to go traveling. See Europe and Asia, I’d love to go to London and Paris.” Her eyes light up as she talks about traveling, she seems to really want to go.
“You should go to Rome.” I tell her, I know that she loves museums, not so much art but the history behind the actual building. “You’d love the Colosseum.”
There’s her smile, the one that lights up her face and makes her eyes twinkle, “Yes and Florence, it’s supposed to be beautiful.”
“Um, Hails. You never said this before. Who are you going traveling with?” Maddie questions and instantly Hailey’s face falls. Maddie’s tone is condescending, as it always is. I wonder why Sophia is even friends with her? She’s in our house constantly because she thinks being Soph’s friend means she’s part of the family like Winter is; and it doesn’t. Soph’s the only one that actually likes her.
“Crystal.” The tightness in Hailey’s voice is something we all know means she’s close to losing her cool.
“You can’t be serious Hailey.” Maddie’s irritating voice rings throughout the house.
“I’m deadly serious. Mads, by the time I’ll be going travelling I’ll be eighteen.” Hailey’s squaring up for an argument, the anger swirling in her eyes.
“Over my dead body! It’s not happening Hailey, fuck, I’ve already lost mom and dad, I can’t lose you too.” Tears forming in Maddie’s eyes and I’m looking on in disbelief.
“Mads, nothing is going to happen to me.” Her resolve is gone, she’s actually buying this pathetic act.
“You don’t know that,” Maddie continues and I see the disappointment in Hailey’s eyes, “We never know what's going to happen but we can be smart and going traveling with Crystal isn't smart.” I look over to dad and see the anger in his eyes, he can't believe the shit Maddie’s pulling either.
“It’s not for a couple of months so we'll see what's going to happen, okay?” Hailey is placating her and sometimes I wonder who the older sibling truly is.
That was the last time Hailey mentioned going traveling or going to college and both dad and I agree that it's due to Maddie’s selfishness. She dislikes the idea of Hailey amounting to anything, to succeed in life just as she hasn't.
Haileyhas hated me since the night of her prom and I don’t blame her. I was an asshole that night, I was shocked at what I felt kissing her, then the guilt kicked in of her only being seventeen, not to mention I acted like a jackass. I’ve never apologized to her, hell I don’t even know where to begin. She’s kept her distance from me and it fucking kills me. Even at work, she jokes around with the other guys but as soon as she sees me she’s straight back to work. All the guys have noticed and even Nathan called me out on it, he’s told me if I hurt her, he’ll hurt me. I have no doubt in my mind that he would do it too. Everyone loves Hailey because she’s a fucking amazing person.
Listening to Maddie spew her shit at Winter is making my temper rise. I have only ever laid my hands on one woman, not that she can even be called that. Alex Anderson was the lowest of lows, she and I were dating for a couple of months before I walked in on her and my brother Luke going at it on our sofa which has since been burnt. Not only was she a lying, two timing whore, she also had plans to kill Sophia, who is actually Alex’s biological sister.
Luke, Sophia and I are all adopted, we’ve all known since we were small that Lydia and Steven Dallas adopted us and I’m grateful that they did. Even though we’re not blood we love each other as though we are. I don’t know much about my parents other than I think my mother was a drug addict. I thought about finding her and I got close but I couldn’t bring myself to go further. I was given up for a reason and I’m happy with how my life turned out. My adoptive parents are the only parents that I need or want.
Hearing Maddie say “your boyfriend beats the ever loving shit out of you. Nice makeup there, Hails, what is it today? A black eye to go with the bruise on your wrists?” Has me staring at Hailey, how can this be? No one has said anything, if any of us had suspected anything we’d have said it, we would have made sure that she’s safe. Hailey runs out of the room and it doesn’t take me long to follow her. I ask her to wait up but she keeps on walking.
“Hailey, can we talk?” There’s a bite to my tone that I need to get rid of, if what Maddie has said is true then Hailey’s being abused and I won’t stand for it, I’ll kill the fucker who’s putting his hands on her.
She looks through me as though I don’t exist, I’m closer to her now and I can see that she has bruising around her eye.
“You wanted to talk, so talk.” She’s mad but underneath that madness is hurt, her sister is a motherfucking bitch. I can’t believe the crap she just spewed, I mean the shit she said to Winter was bad enough but to be a complete bitch to your sister, there’s something wrong with that girl.
“Hailey, is what Maddie said true? Do you have a black eye?” What the hell do I say to her?
“How about you mind your own business?” She’s angry at me, I haven’t done anything to her. “Are we done?”
“Hell fucking no.” I step closer to her and take her hands and as I pull them toward me I see the finger marks on her wrist, it's black and blue and I know that she's got a black eye whether or not she wants to admit it. “We're far from fucking done. What's going on Hailey?”
“Nothing is going on. Can we not do this?” She sounds exhausted.
“We are doing this. What the hell Hails? Since when did you become a doormat?” As soon as the words are out of my mouth I regret them.
“Doormat? Fuck you!” Her eyes glisten with tears and I know that I've fucked up. She turns and starts making her way towards Maddie’s car.
“Hailey, will you come back? Fuck!” I move quicker so I can catch up with her. “I didn't mean that! I'm making this worse. All I meant was, I'm here if you need me.” She raises her eyebrows in disbelief. “You don't believe me?”
She lets out a bitter laugh, “Why would I Scott? It's not like we're friends or anything. What is it that you really want? Because it's not to help me.”
“It is to help you, what the hell do you think I want? I want you safe Hails, I want that fucker who’s putting his hands on you behind bars and I want
you happy.” I sound like a sappy fool right now but I need her to understand that this is serious. I know about men like this, I’ve seen the devastation they’ve wrought.
“I'm not a child Scott. I know what I'm doing and I don't need you to help me.” fuck I knew she hadn't forgiven me, the way she said child kills me, she sounds heartbroken. “I want to go home. I've got a bitch of a sister to deal with.”
“What are you going to do about her?” Even though Hailey hates me, this is the longest we’ve spoken in years.
She sighs as she leans against the car. “I don't know, she's gone too far this time. I have to do something, she needs help or she’s not going to change.” She shouldn't be the one doing this but as Maddie’s burnt all her bridges and Hailey has no choice.
“Have you thought about rehab? It could help? She'd get counseling in there along with treatment for her drug use.” I don’t know if it will work and as much as I hate Maddie, I care about Hailey and knowing she’s hurting because her sister’s a selfish bitch kills me.
“I’m thinking about it. But seriously, Scott, what do you want from me?” She looks up at me with those green eyes so full of hurt, I’d love nothing more than to take her pain away. “Well?”
“I told you, I want to make sure you’re okay.”
She scoffs, “Why? Why do you care if I’m okay?”
“Hailey, come on, you know I care.”
She stands up straight and the look on her face speaks volumes, “You care?” She shakes her head, “Tell me something Scott, unless we have to talk for work, when was the last time you spoke to me?”
I try to speak, but I can’t, I don’t remember the last time, “Um…” I sound like a moron.
“Yeah, the last time we spoke other than for work was in my dad’s Mustang.” I feel all the blood drain from my face, “Yeah, it was my prom night, which you ruined. So, don’t tell me you care, whatever this is…” She points between us, “Isn’t for me, if you want to absolve your guilt, done, I forgive you. Now are we done?”
Deadly Mistake (Deadly Series Book 5) Page 4