Chapter 16
L isa moved down the steps quietly, pulling her heaviest sweater on over her tank top, as she headed to the side door adding her coat over the sweater. She turned the knob, keeping it held open as she shut the door behind her and slowly released it until the latch caught. She didn’t want anyone waking up and asking her what she was doing. She was positive this was insane to do but she couldn’t sit back and wait for something to happen, she had to stop it from happening and this was the only way to do that.
The SUV started soundlessly, and she backed it out of the spot, keeping the lights off as she moved down the driveway, waiting until she turned onto the main road to flip them on. The drive was etched in her memory as she fought against the need to turn around and go back to the house, back to Abby and Corey and forget about all of this, but she’d come this far, she could do this for them.
She parked the SUV and got out, heading to the back of the alley and waited, her key between her fingers as a weapon if necessary. She hoped it wouldn’t be, but she would fight unlike anything this time. A crunching sound had her turning around and she felt disgust course through her as she saw him.
“If it isn’t my little Lisa, have you decided it’s time to pay your debt?” Benton questioned and she tightened her hands into balls to stop from falling into the trap.
“I have no debt when it comes to you. I’m here for one reason, and one reason only,” she answered, and he chuckled.
“Don’t tell me, you and lover boy are getting married, and you don’t want me to ruin the wedding?”
“Shut the hell up Benton,” she stated taking a step closer to him as she lowered her voice. “I am done hiding. I am done being scared of you and your threats. So, I’m here to make a deal. You stay the hell away from me, from my family, and never threaten me or any of them again, or I go to the police with everything I have on you.”
“Honey, it’s too late. None of it matters to them any longer.”
“No? That’s where you’re wrong. Did you know there was a law that eradicated the statute of limitations if there’s DNA evidence of the crime?”
“What crime? You got what you wanted…”
“Don’t make me puke Benton.”
“You have nothing Lisa; I on the other hand have a lot of dirt that if it came out would ruin you and your little life. I’m sure the boyfriend and all of his colleagues would just love for the pictures I have to come out…yes that would hurt your career, wouldn’t it?”
“You’re forgetting something Benton—I was fifteen when you took those photos.”
“I didn’t forget. I know exactly how old you were—I waited until you were perfect, and you certainly were that. The scratches and your screams…they still live on in my memory.”
“God you are a disgusting, perverted old man…pathetic old man. But you’re certainly not smart; those photos are considered child pornography. That will get you jail time, no statute of limitations on it. Also, there is none on the rape kit that has your DNA on file…and that along with this,” she said taking out a tape recorder and hitting play, letting him listen to the conversation from that night fourteen years ago. She saw the anger and rage appear in his eyes and strengthened her stance. “You thought you’d gotten rid of it, didn’t you? Whoever you sent after me might have found the copy, but I’ve had the original with me the entire time, it’s never been out of my grasp. Come near me, come after anyone in my family, and all of this comes out. Your teaching career will be over. You will be in jail, and they don’t take kindly to derelicts that have child porn and who raped a fifteen-year-old.”
“You think you’ve won, don’t you Lisa?” Benton questioned not losing his smile completely although it had dimmed slightly. “No one will believe you. They’ll claim that the tape was faked, that you pieced it together over the years, just to get back at the one teacher who tried to give you what you deserved. And I did give you what you deserved, didn’t I? The night I took your virginity, and you cried, screaming, scratching at me, begging me to stop—but you didn’t really want me to. You wanted it and more. I made you into a perfect little slut. I made you.”
“You tried to destroy me. You raped me over and over until I made you stop.”
“Yes, I did and if you hadn’t put me in this chair I would have continued to do so. Threaten all you like, I’m not going anywhere and you’re not going to stay with that man, are you? Not unless you want your face and naked body all over the internet.”
“Try it and this recording goes directly to the local sheriff and DA,” she stated taking out the digital recorder she’d put in her pocket. “It’s really difficult to fake one tape, let alone two. Stay away from my family, stay away from me. Do not threaten me again because I will bury you.”
“Well played—but what guarantee do I have that you won’t tell the boyfriend or anyone else?”
“None, but I don’t have any either, do I? It’s been fourteen years—let me go,” she said staring him down. “Stay away from my family and let me move on.”
“I see one cop coming near me and I will end you and everyone you love,” Benton replied.
“If one person I love gets hurt—you’ll have more than one cop coming after you and there’s one more thing you should remember,” she stated waiting until she had his full attention.
“What is that, Lisa?”
“I won the national science academia competition two years in a row—you’re not the only one who can make something seem like an accident,” she answered before moving back out of the alley and to the car, checking it over before going to her parents’ house. She managed to park the car back in the same spot and get into the house before anyone discovered she was missing. She was debating about going back upstairs to bed when she heard footsteps on the stairs. She put her coat away and took off her shoes, heading into the living room to grab a blanket and curl up in the chair beside the Christmas tree.
“Lisa…what are you doing down here?” Corey asked as he finished settling his shirt down around his waist.
“Hi, I’m sorry I couldn’t sleep. I thought I’d come down here and watch the lights.”
“You should have woken me up,” he said reaching for her hands. “God baby you’re like ice. Come on, it’s freezing down here.”
“The fire’s out,” she said nodding towards it. “I didn’t feel like going outside to get more wood.”
“You don’t have to explain I just don’t want you getting sick sitting down here in the cold.”
“I’m fine—I have you, don’t I?”
“You do,” he agreed giving her a lingering kiss before he pulled her up from the chair and slid his arm around her waist, walking her back up to the bedroom. He pushed her sweater over her head, followed by the tank top, and pulled her up against him after he shed his shirt, warming her with his body heat, skin-on-skin.
“Mmm, Corey…”
“I love hearing that little catch in your voice,” he whispered as he tumbled her down onto the bed. “I absolutely love it and you.”
“Show me,” she replied letting her last guard down sure things would work out better than they had been, before falling asleep curled up against him again.
***
Corey heard a light knock on the door and moved away from the bed where he sat watching Lisa sleep. She was beautiful and still hurting more than she should, but he would make sure she didn’t hurt any longer. He loved her far too much to let her hurt and they were about to begin a real life together, a life with her daughter and their child. He wouldn’t let anything disrupt that.
He opened the door and smiled seeing Abby behind it. “Good morning.”
“Morning…is Mom…”
“She’s sleeping still, she had a hard time with it last night,” he told her letting her come into the room to see for herself that her mom was fine. It honestly wasn’t that strange to think of Lisa as a mother. She’d shown everyone just how much she loved and did to protect Abby last night and he wouldn’t begin to hurt either of them. He wouldn’t let anyone hurt Abby because it would hurt Lisa and that would kill him.
“I’m kind of surprised you’re still here despite what I told Mom,” Abby admitted moving over to the window seat to look out at the covered ground.
“Why?” he asked, wanting her to trust him as much as he wanted and needed Lisa to believe in his words and actions.
“What happened to her—us, it’s not exactly the life you probably want.”
“Abby, all I want is your mom. All I’ve ever wanted was your mom and you’re part of that, you’re part of her which means I want you too. I was shocked and angry about what she’d been through, but I never even began to contemplate leaving her, or you,” he said sitting down next to her lifting her chin so she could see he was telling the truth. “I saw you stand up for your mom last night and I knew I’d do the same for you. When Lisa got mad at the others for yelling at you, I got mad at them with her. You’ve done nothing wrong, neither has your mom. I will love her for the rest of our lives, and I’ll love you for all of that time too.”
“Why? I mean…” Abby said not understanding how he could want her.
“I don’t know you very well, you don’t deserve to have someone love you, you’re afraid to let someone in because of everything you’ve learned?” Corey guessed and she shrugged so much like Lisa that it made his heart ache. “Don’t do that, don’t hide what you’re feeling Abby. It’s alright to express it. It’s alright to feel it no matter how much it’s not true it’s still alright to feel it. Your mom and I, we’re not going to leave you behind. I would never ask your mom to do that, and I will protect both of you from everyone and everything that I can.”
“You’re really going to stay? You’re really going to love my mom forever?” Abby asked biting her bottom lip.
“Yes, I really am, and yes, you’re really part of that too. I’m going to be your father, and if anyone ever thinks of hurting you, if anyone ever tried to hurt you the way they hurt your mom I would tear them limb from limb,” Corey promised pulling her towards him for a hug. Abby resisted for a moment before wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face into his shoulder, letting out tears he knew she’d been holding in for herself and her mom. He lifted her onto his lap, cradling her like a baby, his baby girl because she already was his, just as Lisa was his. “Shh, it’s okay Abby. I promise you and your mom will always be safe. I will always love you both.”
Abby finally calmed down and he continued to hold her as new feelings he’d never known possible to have surrounded him and pulled at his heart.
“You really mean it…you really want us both?” Abby asked him and he pressed a kiss onto the top of her head.
“Yes, Abby, I really want you both. I told your mom the same thing last night before asking her to marry me. She said yes after I promised I wanted to love you both, that you’re a package deal that I never want to give up,” Corey assured her smiling when she relaxed against him completely. “Your mom has been my world since we met and you being part of that simply expanded it. You’re both my girls and I will always be here for you.”
“You proposed? Please tell me she said yes,” Abby said, and he nodded. “I don’t even care if we have to move back to New York. I just want her to be happy and I know she is, especially knowing…”
Abby stopped and Corey knew she’d done it to keep herself from revealing that Lisa was pregnant.
“Especially with her being pregnant?” he stated, smiling at her when her eyes grew a bit bigger. “She told me after I proposed. I knew something had prompted her to take a chance, to stop hiding and running, I just didn’t know what it was. I thought your accident and then us meeting back prompted it but even with that she’d left a lot of time for it to materialize.”
“You’re happy about the baby? You’re not mad that it was the catalyst that put us all here?”
“Not at all, I wanted to marry your mom and have a family with her last year when we’d barely been together. Now I want nothing more than to protect our family, all of you, and I will. No one here will hurt you, Abby. They’ll have to go through me first.”
“Plus Mom and Aunt Diane,” Abby reminded him making him laugh lightly.
“Yes, but the difference is I’ll be in front of you and her. I know your mom has trouble with other people making choices for her, but I could never step aside when I know she’s hurting or in pain. You are both stuck with me because this time I will never step aside. I will never leave or let you all leave me.”
“Mom never wanted to; she was so miserable the entire time without you. I thought Paris would cheer her up but not even being there could bring some light to her eyes. I thought about getting in touch with you but if Mom found out she’d flip.”
“She was worried about you, about someone hurting you if I went off the deep end and came back here to murder that bastard. If he ever comes near you or your mom, threatens either of you I will, no matter what your mom thinks is best. When it comes to him, she’s still a terrified fifteen-year-old girl, no matter how much she grew and toughened herself that’s one thing that will never change.”
“I know, but it means we have to be stronger for her, right?” Abby stated and he nodded. “I’m not scared of him, not the way Mom is. I don’t ever want to see him, but I’m not scared of him the same way. I hate him. I want him to die so Mom never has to be scared or worried again.”
“So do I,” Corey admitted. “It’s your mom’s choice to tell the police though, we can’t do that for her, but we can support her decision no matter what it is.”
“Even if it’s the wrong one for the rest of us, I know. I’m just really glad you’re on our side. Mom’s going to need you whenever the town sees me and starts asking who my father is.”
“I’m your father, from the instant I saw you and your mom together, I became your father.”
“And you’re the only one I’ll ever want. Thank you for loving my mom. She really deserves to be happy. She’s given up so much to protect me, I’m really glad that she didn’t have to give you up again.”
“So am I, Abby. We’ll stand beside your mom and if anyone says anything about you or how old Lisa was when she had you, I will tear them down. No one hurts my girls ever again. And as far as moving back to New York…I like Chicago just as much as New York. I can run my company from anywhere. It doesn’t have to be New York. If you and your mom want to stay there, then I’ll simply move whoever and whatever I need to in order to be with you both.”
“I really do like my school and Jazz is the best friend I’ve ever had. The only thing I wasn’t looking forward to is the upcoming dance in February.”
“A Valentine’s dance I’m guessing?”
“Sort of, the school’s trying to avoid the drama of dating so instead of the typical boy-girl dance they do a Father-Daughter, Mother-Son Hearts Dance.”
“Ah, well I would be honored to take you. I intend to be your father legally by then too. What would you think of a Christmas Eve wedding?”
“You’re serious?” Abby asked in shock. “Mom’s likely to back away from something if you push too hard.”
“I don’t know, I think she’ll surprise everyone. When she wakes up, we’ll see what she wants to do about the rest. After that I want to take you and your mom to town to spoil my girls, we can find you something new to wear and then I’m going to ask your mom to marry me here, if we don’t do Christmas Eve, we can always do sometime next week. I just thought waking up on Christmas morning married, as a real family, would make this year special despite everything we’ve been through.”
“I think it’s perfect. Together we’ll convince her. I doubt she can deny us both a Christmas present like that.”
“Me either,” Corey stated kissing the top of her head as they watched the sky lighten further and people strolling around the snow-covered grounds.
Lisa smiled into the pillow doing her best to keep quiet despite the need to visit the bathroom. She didn’t want them to know she’d woken hearing Abby’s tears. Watching them let her know her choices, the last few days were right and now she simply wanted to have her family together, happy. She’d let them know she was awake in a few more minutes, but for now, she loved seeing Corey holding her daughter—their daughter, the way her father had her when she was really little. It made her heart melt, and she knew she would marry Corey on Christmas Eve. They were right; she couldn’t deny either of them anything.