Chapter Twenty-Eight
Haven
Igrip my phone and pace the living room.
Watching my mates leave without me to face the man who tortured Lawson was difficult.
I haven’t been without them by my side many times since we met, and I feel empty.
My worry for Lawson is extreme. I know they can handle the situation, and Hunter told me there will be others in the family with them, but still, I’m not there.
I realize I’m human and would only distract them.
I’m alright not being in the room with a pack of messed-up shifters. It’s the waiting that's the worst part.
Rylee is coming over. She’s bringing snacks, and some of the women in the family will show up soon.
I’m grateful for the support, yet I wish it were my mates coming home.
I hope Lawson gets the answers he needs and can find some peace.
He must be in agony seeing those nasty people again. I glance at my phone.
It’s been an hour. I jump when it rings. An unknown number.
“Hello?” I answer.
“Don’t hang up,” Brian says quickly. “I need to talk to you.”
“Nope. No. We said enough to each other, and I don’t have time for you.”
“Haven, just give me a chance—”
“I don’t need this,” I sigh, glancing toward the door.
I hear a car. “I have to go. Don’t call me again.
” I hang up, sliding my phone in my back pocket, and shake my head.
I don’t know why he thought I would give him another chance.
Father probably instructed him to call, hoping to talk some sense into me.
“Fuck both of you,” I mutter as I walk to the door.
“I really thought he would let me go.” I enter the code into the security pad when the knocking starts.
“Hold on, Rylee.” Once the light turns green, I swing open the door.
“You’re not Rylee,” I whisper, staring at the woman in front of me. “Jennifer?”
“It’s Jenica,” she hisses.
“Uh-huh…” The last time I saw her was in Brian’s bed, covered in a sheet. I’m shocked because her hair is exactly like mine now. She had dark hair. And she's pointing a gun at my face. “You’re pointing a gun at me,” I say slowly.
“I thought you were smarter than this,” she snarls.
“We met three times,” I say faintly.
“Technically,” she sings, and grins.
“Jenny—”
“Jenica,” she grits out.
“Honestly, I think the more important question here is,” I look at her hand. “Why are you pointing a gun at my head?” She moves into the house, and I back up, my hands raised. “You’re the one who slept with my boyfriend.” I’ve never even seen a gun in real life.
“You stole my life,” she says.
“How’s that?” I widen my eyes when she shakes the gun. “Can you not do that?”
“I wanted the perfect life. The great dad. The perfect hair.” She looks up and down my body. “The boyfriend who would do anything for you.”
“I’m very confused. I didn’t have any of that.”
“Yeah,” she scoffs, glaring. “I know. You lied to me.”
I smile slightly, hoping to calm her. “Can you please explain?” I think back to any movies I saw. They always try to keep them talking until help arrives.
“In your letters, you bragged about everything,” she says.
“Letters?” I frown, but smooth my expression when she tenses, her finger stroking the trigger.
“I hated you when I got your first letter.” Oh, shit.
Not good. She’s my other pen pal. “The teacher said it would be a good experience. They thought I was unstable since my dad was sent to prison. My mom drank herself to sleep every night just to cope with his abandonment, and they thought writing a fucking letter would ease my pain.”
“Oh, fuck,” I whisper. I did. I lied like crazy.
“All the things you wrote were everything I wanted. Mom didn’t want to be with me anymore. I didn’t know what to write to you,” she says, her voice turning sad. “What could I say? My grades sucked, and you had perfect scores.”
“You’re right,” I say softly. “I didn’t tell you the truth. I should have. I could have helped you.”
“How could you help?” she spits, her face turning red. “No one could. My mom sent me to another school with an aunt I didn’t know. She was worse than my mom, except she was addicted to pills and liked to shove me around.”
“I’m sorry.” Shit, I feel for her, yet the gun is still pointed at me.
“We didn’t have money. School was horrible, and the kids bullied me. My aunt didn’t care.” Tears fill her eyes. “Mom wouldn’t send me the address to send you a letter. I wanted to ask you if I could live with you. I pleaded, but she said she threw it out.”
“How did you find me?” I ask.
“I got sidetracked,” she mumbles, scratching her head.
“I ran away when I was seventeen. Things got worse. I met a guy, and I thought he loved me. We planned for the future and were excited to start a family. I tried to have a baby, really hard.” She drops her hand and looks beyond me.
“Something was wrong with me, and I couldn’t. ”
“That’s not your fault,” I whisper.
“What do you know?” she asks harshly, and I gulp.
“He said he was alright with not having kids, but I knew he was lying. Everyone lies. He started staying late at work. I knew he was cheating. He had to be,” she murmurs.
“I showed him.” She smirks. “He won’t be having babies with anyone.
” My heart drops. “Everyone leaves me, but at least that time, I made him go.”
“You killed him.” I press my palms to my stomach.
“No.” She wrinkles her nose, as if killing a man is a stretch.
“He just wouldn’t admit it. So I cut his dick when I was giving him a blow job.
” She shakes the gun again, and I pray Rylee gets here soon.
“I was living with him, so I had nowhere to go. One night, I was crying outside a restaurant, and a woman stopped. Mave took me in and gave me food.” She smiles softly.
“She was the mother I always wanted. We talked, and she insisted I get therapy. I think it helped,” she mumbles.
“She paid for everything, and I got a job.” I wait, knowing she won’t appreciate my words.
“For years, we were happy, and life was good. I felt normal. I enjoyed the new life she gave me.” She steps toward me, and I drop my arms, backing up toward the living room. “Everything was great.”
“What happened?” I ask, and bite my lip as she focuses on me.
“Mave died.” Oh, no. “She left me two years ago. She got sick and passed away quickly. I didn’t know she was living off credit cards.
She didn’t have any money and didn’t set any aside for her funeral.
She didn’t have anyone but me. It took all of my savings to bury her, and then I was back where I started.
” She cups her arm that’s holding the gun.
“I remembered you. I thought if I could find you, you would know what to do. Your dad had money. Your life was perfect, so I just knew you would be generous with me.”
“How did you find me?” I ask again.
“I went to the house I grew up in, and she was still there, still living in hell, drinking. My appearance didn’t make her happy.” She presses her lips together. “She didn’t miss me at all or care about anything I went through. We fought, and it was bad. I killed her.”
“That is bad,” I breathe. There is no emotion as she states she murdered her mom. If she did that so easily, it would be a breeze to kill me.
“Fortunately, I found your letters. You mentioned your dad’s name.” She smiles, and I vaguely remember doing that. “I knew where the letters came from, so I packed up, changed my last name, and moved. Your dad is popular. He’s always in the media. It wasn’t hard to find him.”
“Did you meet Brian before you saw him at the restaurant?” My brain is spinning.
“I met him after I got a job working for your dad. Before I saw you.” She smiles, and I want to throw up.
“I thought Reginald would be a wonderful man like you described.” I sigh.
“He wasn’t very nice. He hit on me every day.
I slept with Brian to get closer to you.
I thought you would come to see your dad.
When I learned you never see him, I had to find a way to meet you in person.
” I glance at her hair. “This…” She touches the strands.
“I didn’t know what you looked like until I came to the restaurant. Do you like it?”
“Well, yeah.” I point to my head and remember the couple of times I waited on her at work. If I only knew then what would happen today.
“Right,” she laughs manically. “I thought your dad would accept me if I looked more like you.” I raise my eyebrows.
“He did look at me differently. I decided to be super nice to him and do whatever he wants. His attitude changed, and now he takes me everywhere with him. He does important work, so it makes sense that he’s stressed. ”
“Why are you here? How did you find me?” I ask. She would definitely notice if I took out my phone.
“Now that your family is mine, we don’t need you.” She smiles sweetly. “He found out where you are and I saw the address on your dad’s desk. Reginald still loves you, and I can’t have that. I heard Brian talking to him. They were planning to come here to convince you to come home.”
“Listen, you can have them. I don’t want to come back.”
“You might change your mind,” she says.
“No.” I shake my head rapidly. “I promise. I won’t.”
“I can’t allow the chance,” she says, taking a step.
“Jenni…Jenica, I swear, I don’t want anything to do with them.
” I hold my hands up and step backwards.
“You can leave here and be with them.” I circle to the left, and she follows.
If I can get back to the door, maybe I can run.
“I hate my father.” She hisses, and I grit my teeth.
“I’m not the person he wants. I think he wants you.
” I keep my disgust from showing on my face.
“Brian chose you over me. We never even had sex.” She grins, and I move steadily backwards toward the open door. “See, he must love you.”