Stripped: A Dark Bad Boy Romance

by Brook Wilder

  “What do you mean you don’t know?” Kate asked, furious. “I can’t find her anywhere! And I’m pretty sure you know something!” she said, stepping closer to him.

  “I really need you to listen to me,” Prescott said suddenly. He knew he had to tell her the truth, that Della was in danger. He felt a lump rise in his throat as she glared at him, the look on her face almost filling him with intimidation. And Prescott wasn’t easy to intimidate. He just knew Kate would blame him for all what happened. “Al’s after me,” Prescott breathed. “And he sent Simon to take Della away,” he continued. “Simon called me from her phone just minutes ago…The bastard was making threats.”

  Kate could feel her heart sink. This was what she was scared of all along. She knew this was going to happen, a part of her feeling like she should’ve done more to keep Della away from Prescott. She held onto the chair next to her, one hand placed on her chest. She could feel the room spinning, and all that she wanted was to give Prescott a piece of her mind. “And you’re fucking okay with this?” she snapped, her eyes darting from Prescott, to Shaft, and then to Prescott again. “How could you let this happen? You love her, don’t you? Well, of course, you don’t! If you really did love her, you would’ve never let this happen to her!”

  “You know nothing!” Prescott shot up, glaring at her with bloodshot eyes. “You don’t know me, you have no idea who I am. You can’t just barge in here and throw these accusations at me when my pregnant girlfriend just fucking got kidnapped and I have no idea where the fuck they’ve taken her!” At that point, he was shaking. He didn’t think he could tolerate another word from anyone else, let alone put up with someone throwing all the blame at him.

  Kate wasn’t having it. She just gawked at him with her eyes. “What made you talk to Della to begin with, huh? Was it love at first sight, Prescott?” she asked, raising an eyebrow at him. “Wait, don’t answer that. You were just fishing around for information, nothing more. You’re selfish, Prescott, and Della would be stupid to ever trust you again after what you’ve done.”

  “Hey, lady, you need to calm down,” Shaft said, limping to where the two of them had been standing. “The man has enough on his plate. We’re trying to figure out a solution, and right now, all you’re doing is wasting our time.”

  “I’m wasting your time?” Kate asked, her eyebrows furrowed. “Oh, please! If anyone here is wasting time, it’s Prescott... I think you’ve wasted enough of Della’s time.”

  Prescott let out a sigh. “Hey, none of this is going to fix anything. Only God knows what they could be doing to her over there. I’d appreciate it if you stopped arguing with me when you don’t even know me well, and let’s just figure out a way to find her, for Christ’s sake.”

  Kate pursed her lips. She knew Prescott was right. She was just so angry, angry because she tried to warn her and she wouldn’t listen. She tried everything, she even used a real life example of people she knew to get to her, but she still decided to let Prescott drag her into all of this. She thought about how he couldn’t have possibly seen this coming, but Kate did, and it ached her that, even though she tried to warn Della of what was to come, she still didn’t listen. Kate felt her body shudder when she thought about what Della must be going through right now. She was probably going through hell. So she decided to stop taunting Prescott and work with him to find her, instead. If she wanted to see her friend alive, then there really was nothing else she could do. “You’re right,” she said, tears gathering in her eyes. “I’m just so fucking scared right now, you have no idea,” she continued.

  “And how do you think I feel?” Prescott asked. “I want you to understand that Della’s the love of my life…And I didn’t just pop into her life to use her,” he said.

  Kate felt a warmth radiate through her. For the first time, she really began to grasp how much Prescott loved Della. It was true that she kept hearing it from her, and she really did believe her when she said it, but this time, it was different. It was different because she could see the glimmer in his eyes when he talked about her, and the way his face turned ashen and pale at the very mentioning of Simon’s name. Prescott truly loved Della, and that was something that no one could deny is true anymore. “I understand that now,” Kate said, nodding. “I’m just worried sick about her, I don’t know what to do.”

  “Alright, well, what we do know is that Simon kidnapped Della and took her to Al,” Shaft said.

  “We also know that Al is just using Della as bait.. In reality he just wants to confront me, he wants us to go head to head,” Prescott said, pacing the room.

  “Prescott,” Kate said suddenly. “Did Della leave her phone here?” she asked, her head cocked to the side.

  Prescott took off immediately. He flew back up the staircase, barging into the rooms one by one and searching through Della’s things. Kate and Shaft rummaged through the bottom floor. “Nothing,” Shaft whispered to himself as he flipped the cushions and put them back in place. “Prescott, did you find anything?” he called from downstairs.

  “Nothing,” Prescott said, coming down the steps. “This could only mean-”

  “Della has her phone on her,” Kate said, nodding.

  “We can’t call her,” Prescott said suddenly. “If her phone isn’t on vibrate, we might get her into more trouble,” he continued.

  “You’re right,” Kate said. “That’s not what I had in mind.”

  Prescott and Shaft gawked at her as she scratched at her chin. “What are you thinking, then?” Prescott asked, eager.

  “Does Della have the Find my iPhone app installed on her phone?” Kate asked, raising an eyebrow at Prescott.

  “I don’t know,” he said. “But we could find out through her laptop,” he continued.

  “Actually, I think she does have it on there. A couple of months ago she had told me she kept misplacing it…I suggested she use Find my iPhone, just in case she were to lose it,” Kate said, rushing to Della’s laptop, which was left on sleep mode on the coffee table. “I’m just not sure if she’s activated it from her phone.”

  “Wow, you really are a great friend to her,” Prescott said, following her to the table. Maybe Kate isn’t that bad, after all, Prescott thought. He knew she wasn’t a bad person. She was the complete opposite of that, actually. She was only looking out for her friend, and Prescott now knew how protective she was over Della. A part of him started to feel like hell again, the guilt creeping up on him and starting to eat him alive. But he knew this wasn’t the time to think about this, for now, he just had to get his head in the game. Kate logged onto Della’s account, accessing the app and typing in her passcode. She waited for the information to load.

  “And I know her passwords, too!” Kate smirked. But she wasn’t in the mood for joking. She squinted as the app buffered, zooming in and out of the map and then finally prompting them that the app hadn’t been activated on Della’s phone. “Ugh, fuck, what do we do now?” Kate asked, raising an eyebrow at Prescott.

  Shaft peered over Kate’s shoulder. “I think we just need to wait until she remembers to activate the app on her phone,” he said, letting out a sigh.

  Prescott nodded at the screen. He zoomed in on the map and started to pan around it aimlessly. “Yeah,” he said, his voice low. “I’m so glad she kept her phone with her, she’s pretty smart,” he said, his eyebrows furrowed. Prescott was starting to feel more confident. At least now he knew she had some kind of tool on her that could help them find her. But he knew they had to move fast. They had to be faster than Simon; the sooner they left the house, the better.

  “But wait,” Shaft said. “I think it’d be better if we all split up.”

  “Should I call the police?” Kate asked, her eyes fixated on Prescott.

  “I think you should,” Prescott said, nodding. “You go with the police, and Shaft and I will try to beat Simon there on my bike.”

  “Okay, okay,” Kate said, suddenly nervous. The truth was, she was pretty scared of what was to
happen. She had never been involved in something like this, a part of her felt like her life had turned into some kind of movie the minute she and Della witnessed what had happened to Charles. Nothing had been the same again. And deep down, Kate wished she never met Prescott. She wished she had never gotten dragged into all of this. She thought about how much she had to lose; she knew she wasn’t the type of person who could go through all of this. But she had to go through it for Della. It had occurred to her that maybe Della was to blame for what happened to her, and that it was her own damn fault for being so stubborn and not listening to her. Kate couldn’t help but feel resentful towards her best friend, thinking that she had the power to stop all of this before it even happened. Now she was being dragged into this whirlwind. But Kate couldn’t think of that now…She couldn’t just leave her best friend to be eaten alive by those wolves. She had to do something about this, even if it meant risking her own life.

  CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

  Della looked out of the window, her eyes following the road. She let out a sigh, clasping both hands behind her neck.

  “How much longer?” she breathed.

  “That’s not for you to know,” Simon said, his eyes on the road.

  There was a silence. Della jumped suddenly when she felt something vibrate in her pocket, and it was only then when she realized she still had her phone on her.

  Holy shit, she thought to herself. She had completely forgotten about her phone, but, then again, she always carried it around with her. “Fuck,” she whispered under her breath as she felt it vibrate over and over again. But she knew she couldn’t simply take it out of her pocket when Simon was clearly watching her every move. Every once in a while, he would peer at Della in the rearview mirror, his lips coming to a menacing smile, a smile so ominous that it sent shivers down her spine.

  His eyes are on me, what do I do?

  “Hey, Simon,” Della said, softly.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

  “I really need to...” she said, her voice trailing off.

  “Need to what?!” he asked, suddenly jittery.

  “I need to pee,” Della said.

  Simon let out a sigh, more like a grunt. “And what do you want me to do?” he asked, agitated.

  Della mustered up the courage to speak again. She opened her mouth, but no words came out.

  Come on, Della, this is your only chance. Do it before he hands you over to Al.

  “I need you to pull over,” she said, surprisingly confident.

  Simon chuckled. “I can’t do that,” he said, almost mockingly. “You seriously want me to pull over so you can pee? What do you think I am, an idiot?”

  “Simon, we’ve been in the car for hours now, I’m pregnant, what d’you expect?” Della asked, her eyebrows furrowed. Simon didn’t say anything, but she could hear him muttering things under his breath, clearly annoyed at her. “Simon,” she said again. She realized what she was doing was really risky. Conversing with him alone was risky, let alone asking him to pull over.

  “What?” he asked, turning to her. The car wandered off the side of the road again, Simon nudging the wheel slightly as he glared at Della. “What do you want?” he asked again, turning around and stomping on the brakes.

  “I just really need to pee,” Della said, tears gathering in her eyes. “Please don’t do this to me, I don’t want to be humiliated,” she sniffed.

  Simon just looked at her. Della eyed him as his face drooped to a scowl, and then to a look of pure compassion. She could see he was finally considering it. The car slowed to a halt, Simon turned off the ignition and slid the car keys into his pocket.

  “Now, what can I do for you?” he asked her. At that point, it was just the two of them and the open road, Simon glared at Della the way a hungry lion gawks at its prey. She was scared shitless to be alone with this man.

  “Can I get out of the car now?” Della asked, searching his face for a reaction.

  “And where do you think you’ll go?” Simon asked, squinting at her. Della wasn’t sure if that was a trick question. What did he expect her to say?

  “I’ll just go over there,” Della said, pointing to the side of the road.

  Simon grunted.

  “You can’t go over there on your own,” he said, gawking at her. Della was desperate. What was she thinking? Of course he wasn’t going to let her go by herself. She looked at him and his eyes were fixated on her. Every now and again, he would bite his lip, the look on his face so lustful, so invasive that she just felt like popping the car door open and making a run for it.

  “Well, what do you want me to do?” Della asked hopelessly. “I can’t sit here for long, I’m going to pee myself,” she said, her eyes darting back and forth frantically.

  Simon didn’t move. By the look on his face, Della could tell he was pretty suspicious. What was he thinking? How would she know? The man was a complete lunatic, there was no telling what scenarios were brewing in his head right now. All she knew was that he was making her uncomfortable, and that she would do anything to get away from him, even if it were just for a few minutes while she pretended to pee. Della thought about Prescott, and what he was doing to rescue her. She knew he had a plan, but for now, she was on her own, so she decided to act accordingly.

  “Please,” she said again, and finally, Simon loosened. He got out of the car, gesturing for Della to follow him to a tiny ditch at the side of the road.

  “Go here,” he said, taking a few steps back. Della could feel his eyes on her, and she cleared her throat, hoping that he’d turn around and give her some space.

  “Well,” she said. “Aren’t you going to give me some privacy?”

  Simon chuckled.

  “What, you think I’m going to let you run away?” he snickered.

  Della turned to him, her lips curving to a smile.

  “Do you seriously think I can run away pregnant?” she asked, raising an eyebrow at him. “Come on, you’re smarter than that,” she continued.

  “Don’t test my patience,” Simon said, glaring at her. “Just do what you have to do, and I’ll be here,” he said, stepping a few feet away from her. Della turned around, and, realizing he could still hear her, quickly took her phone out.

  Quick, Della, she thought to herself. You’ve got no time to waste. She turned to look at him, and when she made sure he wasn’t looking, unlocked her phone, skimmed through the apps until she tapped on Find my iPhone and turned it on. God, please let them think of this, please let it cross their minds, she prayed. She knew Prescott was smart, and that something like this would naturally pop up in his head. And even if it didn’t, Della knew for a fact that Kate would be worried sick about her, and that she was sure to suspect something. Della knew that, either way, someone was going to track her down.

  “What’s taking you so long?” she heard Simon say. She let out a gasp, quickly tucking her phone into her bra. She could feel her heart skip a beat as Simon stepped in closer to her, eyeing her as she stood there, motionless. “What are you doing?” he asked, his hands on his hips.

  “Nothing, the baby just kicked,” Della said. “I’m waiting for the cramp to go away so I can squat without feeling much pain,” she continued, sighing. She could still feel Simon’s eyes on her. She had never felt so disgusted in her life. It was like he was lusting over her, quietly obsessing, waiting for her to strip.

  “Alright,” Simon said, looking her up and down. “But you better hurry, you’re taking too long.”

  Della felt like she had outdone herself with that lie. Simon didn’t suspect a thing. She knew he was still skeptical, but somehow she had managed to convince him, and she wasn’t going to turn back now. She was growing tired of this emotional rollercoaster; one second she was stable, the other she felt like she had no control over the situation, and at other times she felt absolutely terrified. This whole day felt like a nightmare, a nightmare she couldn’t wait to wake up from. Della squatted down immediately
, clenching her eyes as she felt Simon look at her.

  “Please look away,” she said.

  “I am,” Simon said, but he was a liar. The man was the biggest perv she had ever met. “You know,” he started. “Being pregnant actually makes you look kinda sexy.”

  Della didn’t turn around. She just looked straight ahead of her, pretending to pee. Feeling Simon’s eyes on her was one of the worst feelings in the world. “How do you get the nerve to say these things?” she asked, a look of disgust on her face. She felt her phone vibrate again, and at that moment she wished she could take it out and have a look, but at that point, it was too risky. She knew for a fact that Simon wasn’t going to take his eyes off her.

  “Oh, Della, you know I fancy you,” he whispered. Della could feel her skin crawl. She couldn’t believe she had to sit there and listen to this.