Unspoken: A High School Bully Romance: The Longlake Duet, Book 2

by Hattie Jude

  “Breathe,” he whispers.

  I do and it helps keep me conscious, but it does nothing to calm me on the inside.

  “We will send for anything you might wish to have, but I believe you’ll have everything you need at home,” my father says.

  My mom sobs and reaches out to slap my father, but he catches her wrist in his hand and laughs.

  “Sarah. I warned you. You assured me you could take care of our daughter.” His lips pinch together as he looks down at her condescendingly. “She got kidnapped on your watch.” He points at Stefen and shakes his head. “Some detective you’ve got here. Couldn’t protect either one of you to save his life.”

  “You put me in the hospital. There is no way a court will let you have her!” she yells.

  He lifts his eyebrows and the smile on his face is deadly. “Take another look,” he says. “I think you’ll find everything in order.” He looks at me and opens the door. “Go to the car, Josephine.”

  “I don’t go by Josephine anymore,” I tell him.

  “Now that you’re not trying to start a new life, you can go back to the name you were given.” He crinkles up his nose. “Gabi never fit you.” His eyes are hard as he looks at Raf’s arm around me and Raf’s grip tightens. “Hands off, now.”

  Raf looks down at me and I try to convey all the things I haven’t been able to say to him before now. It’s been a crazy ride between the two of us. To say the least. But the thought of leaving him now—it feels impossible.

  “Dad, please don’t make me go,” I plead. “I can’t go back to Vegas. I have friends here, a life. You promised you’d let us have a fresh start. You said you wouldn’t hurt Mom again—you haven’t kept any of your promises,” I choke out. “Please, keep this one. Let me stay here.”

  He grins at me like I’m amusing him, and I cry harder. He scoffs and steps forward, motioning for his accomplice, the officer who must be on his payroll, to open the door.

  “You want her, you can fight me in court. I’m taking her and there’s nothing you can do about it.” He pulls me away from Raf and my mom steps forward to hug me. I cry in her hair for a second and then I’m hauled out the door and pushed into a waiting car.

  Stefen, Mom, and Raf stand at the door in shock. I sob into my fist and watch them until they’re out of sight.

  We get on a chartered flight, and I sleepwalk through the motions of buckling my seat belt and telling the flight attendant I don’t need anything. She gives me a blanket anyway and I’m grateful, curling up in my seat and leaning my head against the window.

  I can’t believe this is happening. How did my dad pull this off? And why does he even want me? I thought everything he did was a ploy to get to my mother, and it’s possible that’s all this is now, except he has to live with me.

  I intend to make his life as hellish as possible.

  He attempts conversation multiple times throughout the flight and I stare out the window like he’s not there. For all of my mom’s flaws, she has always been the buffer between my father and me. I hate him for separating us now.

  He didn’t let me bring anything with me. I don’t even have my driver’s license. So fucking stupid.

  My phone is in my pocket, but I’m smart enough to keep that to myself. Something tells me my dad planned all of that to go down exactly as it did: come to get me first thing in the morning and rush me out of there before I could stop to think of how to get out of it. He wants me unbalanced. It’s his favorite sport, to shake up my mom and me.

  I close my eyes when he asks me another question and he slams his hand against the seat in front of him.

  I won’t make this easy on him.

  He wants me to suffer.

  I want to make him pay.

  Chapter Nineteen

  The house is nothing like it was when we left. My father has apparently spent a fortune having it remodeled and it looks even gaudier than it did before. He takes me to my room and if he expects me to exclaim about how great it looks, he’s sorely disappointed. I have no reaction whatsoever.

  “You’ll start school tomorrow. Here, at home. I’ve hired a private tutor.” He points toward the closet. “You have a closet full of new clothes, and you’ll have a computer when I know I can trust you.” He points to an oversized yellow contraption that I would’ve liked for a desk when I was six. “Same goes for a phone.” He sighs and puts his hands in his pockets when I still don’t respond. “We’ll make this work, Josephine. Luke kidnapped you, for Christ’s sake. You really expect me to put up with that shit? You’ll live here and graduate, and then we’ll talk again. Until then, you’re here, and it’d be nice if you showed some gratitude.”

  I level him with a piercing glare that I feel from the pit of my blackest soul. “You expect me to be grateful when what you’re doing is basically the same thing as kidnapping? You’re no better than Luke.”

  “I’m your father,” he roars. His fists are clenched at his sides and he steps forward like he’d love nothing more than to knock me flat on my face.

  “I don’t want to be here,” I yell back. “The minute I get a chance, I’m out of here.”

  “It doesn’t have to be like that, but so be it.” His face is beet red, but he takes a deep breath and seems to calm down, steepling his fingers in front of his face. “The tutor will be here at 8:30. Be ready or deal with my wrath.”

  When I don’t respond, he stalks out of the room and slams the door. A picture I’ve never seen of the two of us falls to the floor, the glass from the frame breaking. I leave it there and crawl into the bed. Even this is different than my bed before. What did he do with all my things? Burn them?

  I get under the covers and pull it over my head, only then taking my phone out of my pocket. I can’t let him know I have this. There are twenty-two missed calls, mostly from my mom, and a few are from Luci and Ashton. I open my texts and there are a ton of them too. The tears start falling.

  I answer Luci and Ashton’s texts first, telling them both in a group text: My dad took me back to Vegas. I can’t believe this is happening, but trust me, the second I can get out of here, I’ll be back.

  Ashton is the first to respond. What the fuck!

  And then from Luci. We have to figure something out. I can’t have my only friend living across the world.

  I want to be hopeful, but I don’t have much left inside.

  I let my mom know I made it safely, and make sure to say that Dad doesn’t know I have my phone, so to please let me be the one to call. I want to send her snapshots of everything he’s changed but can’t risk it.

  Mom: I love you, sweetheart. I’m so sorry I couldn’t stop him, but we will do everything we can to get you back as quickly as possible. Don’t give up hope.

  I save Raf’s texts for last, the pain in my chest deepening as I think about not seeing him for who knows how long. It almost felt like we were getting somewhere. Who knows, we might’ve been back at each other’s throats by today, but for last night alone, I’m grateful. That one night of feeling cared for by him—it’s something that will have to carry me through this.

  He doesn’t say much, and what he does say is cryptic. I reread it over and over again.

  Raf: I wasted so much time. I’m so fucking sorry.

  And then: Be careful. Watch your back every second of every day. Don’t trust anyone, Gabi. NO ONE.

  The trembling starts with my hands and I drop the phone and cry into the pillow.

  I don’t know what to do, but I have to figure out something. I can’t stay here.

  Minutes or hours pass, it’s hard to tell under the covers, but when I pick up the phone again, I text Raf one stupid, inconsequential word.

  Okay.

  I don’t sleep until the early hours of the morning and then it’s fitfully. My stomach is growling and as I dose off, I startle in the middle of a nightmare, completely shaken…only to realize it’s real and I am back in Vegas with my father.

  Around four in the morning, I
go through the drawers around the room in search of a phone charger and think I’m striking out until I find an old one of mine in the bathroom cabinet. I plug it in under the bed where it’s hidden and charge my phone, setting the alarm next to the bed for eight. And then I really do try my hardest to get some sleep. I need to have my senses about me if I’m going to be dealing with my father. He prides himself on always being a dozen steps ahead of everyone. I need to think like him if I’m going to survive.

  When the alarm goes off, I’m finally sleeping and feel like I’ve been hit over the head. The thought of dealing with anything is daunting. My lips tremble as I get out of bed. Get it together, I tell myself. I take a quick shower and open my closet to designer clothes. Nothing looks like a homeschool outfit, so I put on tight jeans, a lowcut blouse, and a blazer…it’s the closest thing to casual I can get. I feel about thirty with this outfit on, but I guess it’s cute.

  I tuck my phone in my blazer pocket, looking around the room. I should’ve thought to do it last night, but it’ll have to wait now—I need to search the room for hidden cameras.

  I put my wet hair in a slicked-back bun on top of my head and shut my bedroom door behind me. I make it downstairs just as the doorbell rings and I open it, as my dad comes up behind me. A blonde bombshell stands out there and she smiles widely at us before coming inside.

  “I’m Sage,” she says.

  She’s young, twenty-two or three at the most, and looks like one of my father’s porn stars. I’m certain that’s exactly what she is.

  “This is Josephine,” my dad says.

  “So excited to work with you. Your dad says you’re so smart.” She’s bubbly and I want to groan out loud, but I’m not that rude.

  I force a smile and my dad leads us into the living room. Her eyes widen when she sees the ornate wood frame swing in the living room, and I wonder what disgusting things have happened on said swing.

  “Wow,” she whispers in awe. “Gorgeous.” She bumps my arm with her elbow. “You were so lucky to grow up in a home like this.”

  “That’s right. You tell her, Sage. My daughter seems to think it’s a tragedy that she’s back in Vegas, but this isn’t all bad, right?”

  Sage laughs, but it falls from her face when she sees that I’m not even smiling.

  “Oh.” She nods. “You just moved back?”

  “You could say that.”

  She claps her hands together. “Well, I can’t wait to hear all about where you’ve been and to get to know you!”

  God, she’s so perky. But she genuinely seems nice, so I can’t help but return her smile. Maybe she’ll help me, or at the least, make this experience a little more tolerable.

  I look at my dad. “You can go now. We’ve got work to do.”

  Sage laughs like I’m joking and puts her hand over her mouth when my dad glares at me.

  “Don’t let her out of your sight, Sage,” he says. “I can bring breakfast in here since you didn’t eat yet, Josephine, and lunch will be served at noon. You can work until two and then call it a day.”

  Sage nods and he leaves the room, the door still wide open. I go behind him and shut the door and a few seconds later, it’s opened again.

  “The door is to remain open,” he says.

  I roll my eyes and step back. He has a smug expression when he turns around and walks away.

  I grab a bagel and sit across from Sage at the large desk.

  “So I’m gathering that you’re not happy to be here, and with this being your senior year, I can only imagine that homeschool isn’t something you’re excited about,” she says.

  “You gathered correctly.”

  She smiles sympathetically. “Well, let’s see what you know and we can try to make this as easy as possible.”

  I sigh and nod, taking a small bite of food. “Thank you. That helps.”

  By the afternoon, we have a good handle on what we need to work on for me to graduate. Sage thinks I’m way ahead and it shouldn’t be any problem to finish out the year.

  “But I wanted to go to Columbia and I’m missing all the extracurricular things I need to help me get in.”

  “We’ll just have to find those extracurricular things ourselves then. There are plenty of volunteer things we can do. I’ll set you up, don’t worry.”

  “What’s in this for you? You barely look old enough to be out of college yourself.”

  “Thanks.” She smiles and she really is pretty. “Your father is paying me very well, and I graduated a year ago. I need enough money to continue with my BA, and I’d much rather do this than continue doing porn.” She makes a face and her cheeks flush, but her voice is matter of fact.

  “Well, I appreciate you doing this. It sounds like you’re highly qualified and you seem like a nice person. I need a friend here.” I lean closer. “I want to get out of here and if you can help me do that, I will make sure you get more money than you know what to do with.”

  She laughs and shakes her head like I’m joking. “Your dad said you might say something like that.” She pats my hand like a fond older sister. “Don’t you worry about me, I’m making great money! And yes, I will get you into Columbia. I’ve seen your transcripts. You’ve got what it takes and it’ll be so fun. One day at a time.”

  I study her to see if there’s any vindictiveness behind what she’s saying or if she really is as clueless as someone as smart her can be…but it seems like my dad has her wrapped around his gold-studded finger.

  Chapter Twenty

  My dad knows to keep his distance from me for the first few days. I breathe easier when I hear him leave and only go to the living room, the kitchen, and my room while he’s out of the house. Right before the time he usually gets home, I take my accumulated snacks and head upstairs, where I remain for the rest of the night. He tries to coax me downstairs for dinner and I refuse.

  By day three of avoiding him, he comes to my room and pounds on the door.

  Great, he’s fed up. Didn’t take long.

  My dad is known throughout the industry for his temper. He’s used it to his advantage. The actors on his sets are professional and get paid well, so they rarely see his worst side, but my mom and I were privy to the underbelly of his darkness. I should know better than to push it, but I’m fed up too. I don’t want to be here. He’s ruined my life just when it felt like it might be improving, and even worse, I don’t trust him.

  I text my mom every night to let her know I’m okay. And Ashton checks on me every day too, telling me what’s happening at school and how much he misses me. I miss him so much.

  Raf has been quiet since that first day. I wish I could say it didn’t hurt to know he’s already set me aside, thrown me out like a dead bouquet…or in his case, a used condom.

  I put my head in my hands and groan. The longer I sit in this over-the-top room, the more morbid I become. I listen to my dad pounding and keep ignoring him, thinking about how Sage has quickly grown on me. She’s annoyingly perky every day, but it’s the only brightness in this morose house.

  “I will tear this door down if you don’t unlock it,” he yells.

  I know he means it, so I go to the door and open it, grinning when he trips forward. He looks like he wants to throttle me and it wouldn’t be the first time, so I wipe the grin off of my face.

  “You will come to dinner every night at six or I will remove the door from the hinges. Keep locking me out and I will simply remove the door.” He shrugs like it’s no big deal, but he’s sweating and breathing hard. Hmm, someone doesn’t seem as fit as they were a year ago.

  “I will come to dinner, but you can’t force me to have a relationship with you,” I say. “You can’t force me to speak to you. You’ve taken me against my will and I will never want to live here with you.”

  “We’ll see. You’ll learn to like it here again,” he says smugly. “Come to dinner, now. You’ll want to hear the news about Luke.”

  Well, that does get me to the table, just as he knew it
would. I’m anxious to hear about anything concerning Luke. I need to know he’s not coming after me ever again.

  I’m surprised to see two men already seated at the table. They’re sipping expensive booze in crystal glasses and stare at me appraisingly as I walk in. I can tell by their smirks that they heard my father yelling at me upstairs and wonder what that says about them.

  They both stand and introduce themselves.

  “James Mathers,” the taller one says.

  “Edward Miller,” the other says.

  I shake their hands and sit down.

  “This is Josephine.” My father glances at me and grins widely. “James and Edward didn’t even realize we’d be celebrating tonight when they decided to join us. Luke’s bail was denied and his court date has been moved up. He’ll be going away for a long time.” He opens a bottle of champagne and pours a glass for the four of us. They lift their glasses and wait until I do the same before draining the glasses. I pick up my water instead. My dad knows I went to rehab and must not care if I have a relapse. My face heats with anger. This is the last place I’d ever feel safe enough to try a taste of alcohol again. I know better than to get tipsy with any friends of my father’s.

  The whole vibe of the night is strange. The three of them talk about trips they’ve taken and they ask me a lot of questions about Long Island and how I like to spend my time. I can’t put my finger on what feels off about them, but as soon as I’m able to do so without setting my father off, I excuse myself from the table.

  There’s a rush of, “Oh, not so soon. Please don’t go.”

  I direct my words to my dad. “I have homework to do. Thanks for dinner.” And I get out of there.

  I message Raf when I’m in bed, as always, hidden under the covers when I use my phone. I haven’t found any cameras, but I still have the oddest sense that I’m being watched.