Chapter 30
CHAPTER THIRTY
LYLA
“ T hat’s the last of them,” I say, loading up the back of the catering van. Clara peeks her head out from behind the racks and smiles at me.
“Thanks, dear. You nailed the desserts tonight. I had a lot of people asking me who made them.”
“I’ve been working on some new combination of flavors.” I feel my face heat up as memories surface. Jake has been helping me taste-test new recipes. More often than not, he ends up eating them off of me, inspiring me to come up with new ideas.
“Well, whatever you are doing, it’s working,” she grins. “There’s nothing like a good man in your life to get those creative juices flowing.” She wags her eyebrows at me, and I laugh.
He’s definitely got my juices flowing as images of him kneeling in front of me with the taste of cherry pie still on his lips enter my mind.
I shake myself out of the memory before I reveal too much on my face. Clara’s laugh tells me it’s too late.
“We’re all done here, so go home and live for the both of us,” she winks at me. “I’ll see you in a couple of days for the St. James wedding. Tell Jake I said hi,” she grins.
“I will,” I say, waving goodbye. I practically run to Miles’s van that I drove here, excited to get home. I want to get out of my work clothes and take a nice relaxing bath before Jake gets home.
Glancing at my watch, I see it’s already seven. I should have an hour before he gets there. He’s working late tonight on a client that flew in from out of town to finish a piece.
I park in the garage and fumble with my keys as they drop to the floor. Bending down, I finally find them and sit back up. The hair on my neck stands up, and my skin crawls with an uneasy feeling. I look out the rearview window and see nothing as I search my surroundings.
Shaking the nerves away, I quickly grab my things before lowering the garage door and walking inside. I set my purse on the counter and gather my hair as I walk. I secure it with a scrunchie and start the bath, adding the lavender bubbles before returning to the kitchen to pour a glass of wine.
I stop when I see the door to the garage open. Frowning, I walk over and peer in the garage, seeing nothing out of place. I shut the door, making sure I shut it all the way this time, before pouring a glass of white wine and heading to the bathroom. I turn off the bath water and start to unbutton my shirt. The hair stands up on my neck again seconds before I hear a voice that chills me to the bone.
“Hello, precious girl. Did you miss me?”
I turn at the sound of his voice and stumble back against the counter. He’s dressed in all black with a black baseball cap on. His lips curl up into a sneer as he stares at me. It’s his eyes, though, that have me clutching the sink for support. They’ve got a crazed look to them, bordering on insane.
“Wh…what are you doing here?” I hate that my voice shakes as I struggle to come to terms with the fact that he’s standing in front of me.
“You were very hard to find,” he tsks, shaking his head. “Luckily, I made a nurse friend at your mother’s facility, and she let me know you were there. I was surprised to learn you were all the way down in Florida.”
“You followed me home?”
“Home?” His eyebrows arch, and his blue eyes become ice. “Just because you are fucking a guy doesn’t mean this is your home. Your home is with your husband. Or did you forget the little fact that you are still married… to me .”
He steps closer, and I press myself further into the countertop. “Do you have any idea what it’s like to see your wife acting like a little slut while she rides some stranger's cock in his truck?”
My eyes widen in shock.
He watched us that night in the garage .
“Yes. I watched,” he sneers, reading my mind. “I’ve been watching you for the past week as you play house, just waiting for the right moment.”
“The right moment for what,” I swallow hard as fear grips me.
“To take back what’s mine.”
“I’m not yours. I sent you papers…”
“Ah, yes. The divorce papers,” he laughs harshly. “After everything I’ve done for you, and you want a fucking divorce.” His soulless eyes bore into mine. “I took you away from that miserable life you were living and gave you everything you could possibly want. I even paid for your mom’s care and made sure she wasn’t a burden to you anymore.”
My eyes narrow at him, and I stand up straighter. “What do you mean you made sure she wasn’t a burden? ”
“You hated taking care of her. All I did was make sure you never would have to again.”
“What are you saying?” My gut twists as nausea starts to rise.
“It’s amazing what a little flirting and money can buy you. Your mother’s nurse was all too eager for extra cash each month. All she had to do was change her chart a little bit, slip your mom a few extra pills a day so she won’t even remember her name, let alone that she has a daughter’s life to keep ruining.”
I slide to the ground as my legs give out from underneath me as his words sink in.
“I guess the facility she’s at now didn’t even bother to reassess her condition or change her meds. I guess you get what you pay for,” he laughs coldly. “Security didn’t even catch me the second time I came to see your mom. She was high as a kite, just like the last time I saw her, and unfortunately, no use to me when it came to finding you.”
“You’re sick,” I whisper.
“And you’re a cheating whore,” he hisses, grabbing me by my hair. “I think our time for talk is over.” I cry out as he yanks me roughly to my feet. His grip tightens as I try to fight him off. A crazed laugh fills the air as he presses me against the counter. I can feel him hard against me, and I know I just gave him the fuel to be turned on by fighting him.
“God, I’ve missed this. Your little cunt playing hard to get when we both know how much it wants me.” His breath hits my face, and the smell of vodka fills my nostrils, making me want to gag. I see the glossy look in his eyes and can tell he’s had a lot more than just a couple of drinks.
“Once we get to our new home, you are going to make it up to me for being a little slut.” He yanks my head to the side and licks my neck. I close my eyes tight to fight the tears that are threatening to spill.
“I’m not going anywhere with you,” I say quietly.
“That’s too bad.” He releases me, and I fall back, catching myself on the side of the tub. A glint of metal catches my eyes before he’s scratching his head with the barrel of a gun. “I guess we’ll just have to ask your new friend what he thinks you should do.”
Jake.
My heart pounds painfully in my chest as I glance at my watch. He’ll be here soon.
“Your call,” he shrugs. “Come with me, or I'll have a nice little chat with your friend. I would hate for him to get hurt because of you. He’s probably getting bored of you by now anyway. You always were a boring fuck until I taught you how to please a guy.”
His words mean nothing to me as I let them roll off. He’s lost the power to hurt me with words, but he has no clue he has the ability to destroy me with his actions.
I can’t let Jake near him. There’s no way he will let Tim take me, and from the wild look in Tim’s eyes, he’s not leaving without me. If Jake stands in his way, he won’t hesitate to stop him…permanently.
I eye the gun in his hand as I try to come up with a plan. There’s only one thing I can do to keep Jake safe.
“I’ll go with you,” I say the words that feel like a death sentence as the knot in my stomach gets more prominent.
“You’re smart after all.” He taps the gun to the side of my head, referring to my brain. “Ladies first,” he motions to the doorway. I purposely fall into the table as I pass by it, knocking it to the floor.
“Jesus, you’re a fucking mess,” he spits out, nudging me in the back with his gun. I walk slowly to the kitchen and start to grab my purse.
“Leave it. Do you really think I’m stupid enough to let you have a phone? Let your little fuck friend wonder where you are. He’ll never find you anyway. I’ve got everything set up for our little life together far, far away. It will be just you and me, precious…forever.”
“Where are we going?” I ask, pushing down my sleeves on my work blouse and praying he won’t notice my watch.
“Someplace I’ve set up in the middle of nowhere.” He grabs my arm and yanks me in the other direction. “Back door, down the beach,” he says, pushing me forward.
“Where in the middle of nowhere?” I try to keep him talking so I can think of something to get out of this situation.
“You need to learn to shut the fuck up unless I ask the questions,” he seethes. I notice he’s slightly swaying from the alcohol as we walk down the beach. “All you need to know now is that you’ll love it. No distractions, and you can scream as loud as you want, and no one will ever hear you. We both know how much you love to scream.”
My body goes cold as his words slice through me. If I leave this state, I’ll be just another missing person report. He’ll see to it that I’m never found.
We finally reach a car parked in a nearby parking lot. I look around and see it’s deserted.
“Get in,” he says, opening the door.
“You’ve been drinking. Why don’t I drive and you…”
“Get in the fucking car, or I’ll tie you up and do it myself.” I slide into the passenger seat as a cold sweat breaks out on my body. “And precious girl?” He asks, leaning down close to my face, his eyes hard as steel.
“Yes,” I whisper.
“You try anything stupid, and I’m going straight back to your boyfriend's house and blowing off his fucking dick that was inside my wife.” He slams the door, and I try to breathe through the rising panic. Being in a confined space with him makes me want to run in the other direction as fast as my legs can take me. His threat hangs in the air, though, keeping me chained to the seat.
He starts the car and reaches over, grabbing a bottle off the floorboard. He takes a big swig of vodka before tilting it toward me. “Want some?”
“No,” I say, as my stomach churns at his mad grin.
“Suit yourself.” He puts the lid back on and throws it on the backseat. “Say goodbye to Florida, precious. This is the last time you will ever step foot in it again.” He guns the engine and peels out of the parking lot.
I watch familiar buildings that I’ve grown to love fly by as we go through town. Tears fall silently down my face, and I swipe them away before he can see them.
My heart aches painfully in my chest when I think of Jake coming home and not finding me there. The further we go out of town, the more numb I get, leaving my heart in the rearview mirror and in the hands of someone I may never see again.