Chapter 18
I hated to do it,but Monday morning, I was out of the condo before Lucas woke up. It was tricky. When the man said he was going to hold me, he wasn’t kidding. Even in his sleep, it was like he knew I was trying to escape, and he wasn’t going to let me.
Hearing that voice Saturday night. Turning around to see who it was. I couldn’t believe it. The man who raped me. I’d never had a more paralyzing experience. I short-circuited. I couldn’t move, speak, or think. It was like I was locked inside myself.
I didn’t sleep at all the last two nights. I couldn’t. I kept seeing his face and reliving that moment every time I tried to close my eyes. It was fresh trauma. I’d dealt with the act at the time and as much as I could since then. I was twelve and alone. I couldn’t tell my mom. I couldn’t tell anyone. For a while, I wanted to die. No matter how many baths or showers I took, I couldn’t get clean.
Dirty was just a way of life. Then I found a book about a year and a half later. It wasn’t as good as talking to someone, but it helped me. It helped me realize that it wasn’t my fault. That it didn’t make me dirty. It helped me process what happened as best I could for being so isolated.
Then, slowly, I found my new normal. I wasn’t Claire. I was Claire 2.0.
Before Marco marred the event, the wedding had been so perfect.
As I slid my thumb along the gold band on my finger, I smiled. I never thought I’d like a marriage that I never wanted, but I did. Lucas and I had such a strange relationship. It started off oddly, and it was like I was playing tug of war with my feelings while emotionally dancing with Lucas.
He was kind, then suspicious, tender, then cruel. A weird yo-yo. Half the time, I didn’t even know how I felt about him.
I thought for sure our wedding night would be horrific. That Lucas would decide he’d waited long enough. That we were married, and he would take what he wanted. Only, he didn’t. We talked, we laughed. He held me. He’d been my idea of a husband. Sweet and wonderful and patient.
Since this whole thing started, I had learned a lot. About the world. Myself. What I wanted. Knowing I’d be sneaking away to the lawyer’s office, I’d taken it upon myself to alter my appearance. A ball cap, pulling my hair up into a ponytail, and using socks to give me a of bit a height lift. Not the most comfortable thing in the world, but it was what I could do with what I had.
There was no doubt in my mind that Thea could be watching me. She might like me, but she didn’t trust me either. Honestly, I didn’t think she needed a reason to follow me other than it was fun.
Three Ubers later, I was north of Chicago in Waukegan. Maybe I was crazy, and there was a good chance that Franklin had people here, too, but I figured an agency outside of Chicago was my best bet at finding a lawyer that wasn’t tied to him. I was almost one hundred percent sure I understood exactly what was going on with my trust, but I wanted it verified before I did or said anything.
I finally reached my destination, which was Lofton Bridges” office. Anxiety hit me as I stepped into the office. My hands were shaking so badly.
“Ms. B—Sorry, Mrs. Kalantzis to see Mr. Bridges. I got married yesterday.” I tucked a piece of hair behind my ear.
The woman returned my smile. “Congratulations.” She snickered. “Took me days to stop giving people my maiden name.”
She escorted me into the office, and Mr. Bridges and I shook hands. “Nice to meet you.”
He waved to the chair across from him. “Nice to meet you, Mrs. Kalantzis. What can I help you with?”
I held out my phone to him with the first picture pulled up. “There are more than a dozen photos on there. Could you explain them to me?”
Eyeing me, he slowly took the phone and began to stare at the screen, swiping from time to time. “First, you have a massive trust fund.” He swiped again. “Your grandparents left it to you, and according to these documents, you would take control of it on your twenty-first birthday or once you were married.”
He looked up. “Based on your ring finger, you’re married, so according to this, you have full access. It’s yours. Your husband is also entitled to half of it now, too, and that’s airtight if you’re wondering.”
“So I already have control of it?” My heart beat faster with each word he spoke. “Does it say how I get access to it?” There was only one reason Franklin would lie about me getting access at twenty-one—to make Lucas think he had to wait. To ambush him.
Mr. Bridges began reading again. “Looks like it’s at Nexus Bank and Trust.”
“How do I…I guess take control of it?”
“There’s documentation that needs to be signed. Disbursement schedules that will need to be set up. That sort of thing.” He finished and handed me the phone. “It tedious, but not difficult.”
“Would you help with it?”
He blinked. “Yes, I can help you with it.”
I was going to ruin Franklin’s plans, and then I would go after his entire empire.
It took a couple of hours,but when I left Mr. Bridges” office, I felt accomplished and satisfied that Franklin would never touch my trust. I was so happy that when I stepped outside, I didn’t notice the two men waiting for me or that they were holding a blindfold.
They wereon me before I could even scream and easily overpowered me. I was blindfolded, tied up, and tossed inside a car onto smooth upholstery in seconds. I didn’t even know if anyone saw it happen.
I went from shocked to scared to curious in the span of seconds. I was pretty sure I was in a limo. I don’t know why I thought that, but it felt bigger than a regular car.
Then fear clamped its fingers down around my throat. Oh no. Franklin. It had to be. Of course, he would be watching me. My birthday was a week from today. I was a walking paycheck he didn”t want going too far. I thought I was so smart, changing cars and going outside of Chicago.
I would not cry. Before the sentence was out, tears formed. Maybe the blindfold would hide it. I didn’t want to look weak in front of him. I was so tired of being weak and pathetic.
Why didn’t I leave a note for Lucas? I should have left a note, but that trust factor was lacking between us. For good reason. We came into this with nothing but suspicions. No one with any good sense trusted Franklin and his ilk. Which, from the outside, anyone would think I was just like him. They wouldn’t know what living with him was like.
Now that I was positive what I read was the truth, I felt guilty for not at least telling Lucas something. I’d probably made him worry.
I’d never get to tell him that I’d felt safer in the last week than I had in so long. I could leave my hair unbraided. I didn’t have to walk on eggshells or wonder when the world would be ripped from under my feet.
He didn’t trust me, but he’d proven again and again that he wouldn’t hurt me. I should have talked to him the moment I figured out his family was behind the disruptions in the crime families in Chicago, but I’d spent my life learning that no one could be trusted.
I’d also learned that I’d transitioned to Claire 3.0. The Claire who was damaged and broken but finding a voice. I didn’t know why it took so long. I was never safe, so I couldn’t even say I was playing it safe.
Maybe I needed my world to be shaken, so that I had to reorient myself, see things differently. Now that I did…
I wondered if I’d ever get the chance to discover who I was without fear guiding every decision. If Franklin had me, which I was positive it was him, I would never get the opportunity. Once he found out what I did, he’d kill me. If I was lucky, he’d make it quick.