Chapter 46 Lincoln
Ilaid Laynie down on the bed and checked her sugar levels one last time. God, she was beautiful. Her trust in me made me feel a sense of pride, and I loved everything about her. I knew what an enormous deal it was for her to let someone touch her in the way I did. Rather than falling back asleep, I returned to my computer to plot my plan for Alek. In my pursuit to find the perfect time to slaughter him, I had been out late tracking his movements. I had no mercy to give, but I wanted to make sure it was the perfect moment. I wanted to take my time with him. He needed to suffer. A quick death was too kind. I would hang him from my warehouse rafters and torture him before ending it all. He didn’t know I was coming because he was on the lookout for Don.
I knew Laynie didn’t want to be a part of this, but something in me wanted her to see his pain and cries when I made him squeal like a pig. She had already been through so much trauma I couldn’t add this to her plate. She deserved to know I had killed him, but seeing it would put her back in a dark place. I could tell that kind of girl she was before she was taken. She was innocent, carefree, and loving. I wanted to reach inside of her soul and pull that girl back out, but that’s not how life worked and I wouldn’t take the brief glimpses I saw for granted. She had come to me when she felt like cutting and we would work through it together. I know this was a huge milestone for her. It was her trust in me to keep her safe, even from herself, that I loved. I would rip the world apart for her, and I hoped she knew that.
* * *
I woke a few hours later with Laynie climbing out of the bed.
“Where are you going?”
She turned and smiled at me with sleepy eyes. “I’m going to work, silly.”
I turned and looked at the clock. It was 4:30 am. “You just went to sleep.”
“I’m fine.” She leaned over and kissed me on my lips and I bear hugged her. She started giggling as I kissed her neck. “Stop, you’re going to make me late.”
“I’ll drive you there so you don’t have to take the train.”
“If you insist,” she said, pushing herself off me.
I threw on some jeans and a white t-shirt and waited for her to come out of the bathroom. I was tired as fuck, but hated her taking the trains so early.
She came out of the bathroom in her barista outfit and I wanted to bend her over the bed. She looked adorable.
We got in my car and I kept my right hand on her thigh during the drive and she wrapped her tiny hands around my forearm. God, I loved this woman. I brought my computer and worked in the cafe during her shift. I just wanted to be around her all the time.
I watched her interact with every customer. She was sweet, understanding, and focused on everything they were saying. When someone spoke, she looked into their eyes in a way that captured your soul. A few men looked a bit too long, but I understood. She was captivating. She interacted little with the other staff members, but I expected this. When the place was quiet and she wasn’t cleaning, she would stare off into the distance in silence. I wondered what she was thinking about. What had captivated her mind for a short time? I hoped it wasn’t the tortured visions that haunted her, but somehow I knew it was. She brought me a few coffees throughout the day but remained relatively distant from me. She told me she didn’t want the staff to know we were dating because she wanted them to treat her normal. The staff probably thought I was there to watch them, but I couldn’t care less what they did as long as my store ran efficiently.
A tap on my shoulder interrupted my thoughts, and I turned to see Julie staring down at me.
“Hey stranger,” she said.
“Hey,” I said, cutting my eyes at Laynie, who wasn’t paying attention…yet.
“I haven’t heard from you.” She sat on the couch next to me, staring at my computer screen. “Where have you been? You don’t answer my calls anymore.” She tilted her head to one side, studying me.
I closed the laptop and turned to face her. She had her blonde hair in a ponytail and was dressed in workout clothes.
I took a deep breath before saying, “I met someone, Julie.” I just wanted to be very blunt with her.
She pressed her lips in a straight line and stared ahead as if contemplating what my words meant. “Understood,” she finally said.
“How have you been?” I asked, trying to keep the tension down.
“Fine. I mean, I have missed you, but I guess that’s stupid to say now. I thought you weren’t looking for a relationship? Isn’t that what you told me?” Her voice was starting to shake, and I could hear the rise in her tone.
“I’m not trying to make you upset, Julie.” I touched her knee, trying to reassure her, but she jerked away from my touch.
“Is that not what you told me? ‘I really like you, Julie, and when I’m ready for a relationship, I’ll tell you.’ So what you were really saying was you didn’t want to be in a relationship with me.” Her voice was echoing through the still shop, and now Laynie’s interest was piqued from behind the mahogany counters.
“I’m sorry you feel that way, but I met someone that I want to be with, and it doesn’t mean you are not worthy. It just means I connected with someone else. You can’t internalize this as if something is wrong with you. You’re a wonderful person, Julie.”
I saw the slap coming and grabbed her by her wrist before she made contact. “Get out.” My patience was over.
“Fuck you!” she stood up and tried to hit me with her other hand and now I had both of her wrists in my grip.
“Hey, what are you doing?” Laynie came from behind the counter, sounding not the least bit intimidating, but like a friendly neighbor checking in.
“Laynie, it’s fine. I’m handling it.”
Julie ripped her wrists from my grasps and studied my face and then turned towards Laynie. She looked her up and down. “Oh, my fucking God, is this her?” She snorted a laugh. “You’re cutting contact with me for a fucking barista making minimum wage?” She turned and moved closer towards Laynie. “This! This Lincoln?” She pointed at Laynie like she was an object, not a human being.
I could see the pain behind Laynie’s eyes at Julie’s remarks.
“Get the fuck out of here,” I snarled.
Julie snatched her coffee from the table in front of us. I thought she was turning to leave, so I turned back to Laynie when the hot coffee left Julie’s cup and splashed all over Laynie’s chest. She gasped and backed up while the hot liquid dripped down her uniform. It was in that moment that I contemplated murdering a woman in broad daylight. Before I made a decision, a barista from behind the counter came out with an entire pot of hot coffee and chased Julie out of the shop before dumping the coffee all over her on the sidewalk.
I stood in shock for a moment, listening to Julie screaming outside the shop and the barista, Kayla, coming back in with a smirk on her face.
“Fuck that bitch, Laynie. Are you okay? We have some uniforms you can change into?”
Laynie didn’t respond, but I handed her a towel from behind the counter and helped her dry herself off.
“I want to leave,” she whispered.
I nodded and thanked Kayla for her services, promising her a raise. She laughed as we left out the back.
“Baby, I’m so sorry.”
“I can’t have anything without someone trying to ruin it for me. I can’t have a boyfriend, a job, a normal life, friends, health. Nothing!” She kicked the tire of my car. “I hate my fucking life!”
“Laynie stop. None of that is true.”
“You have no idea what I am going through. None.”
I pulled her into me, but she fought against me. “We’re in this together. You’re not alone.”
“I am alone,” she whispered. “Take me home.”