Chapter 8 Giselle
GISELLE
I stepped into my bedroom at my parents’ house. It was just as I’d left it when I moved into my condo. Same light blue walls. Same white comforter. Same collage of photos of my high school friends over my desk and framed photos of my family and Gino on my dresser.
I lowered myself down onto my bed. I was home. I was safe. I was alive.
“Do you need anything else?” my mother asked as she came in carrying a blanket.
I watched as she placed it on a nearby chair, feeling as if this was some sort of dream. Like it was all happening to someone else, and I was just there watching it all play out. “Peace of mind?”
“That’s why you’re here. You’re safe under this roof,” she assured me.
“I wish it were that easy.”
She sat down on the bed next to me and rubbed her hand over my forehead like she’d done so many times when I’d been hurt as a kid. “Between the indoor and outdoor cameras and the new alarm system, no one’s getting in here without us knowing.”
“Seems a little excessive,” I said, though I knew I felt a hundred times better with those precautions in place.
“We’d do anything for you, sweetie.”
Tears glazed my eyes. I wasn’t a crier. But I’d been crying since it happened. Crying for the loss of everything I once possessed. Trust. Security. Strength. “Am I a coward for staying here?”
“We love you more than anything in this world. We wouldn’t let you be anywhere but here right now.”
“I don’t think I’ll ever be able to go back to the boutique.”
“We’ll figure it out,” she said, brushing my hair away from my face. “It’s still raw. Let some time pass. Give yourself time to heal.”
Raw or not, I knew I’d never be able to go back in there.
“Get some rest,” she said as she stood up. “I’ll start a lasagna. It’ll be ready when you wake up.”
“Lasagna’s Kason’s favorite,” I reminded her.
“Would you like something else?”
I shook my head. “I’m not hungry.”
“Oh, but you will be once you smell it.”
I tried to smile but couldn’t manage one.
Cold metal pushed against my temple. “I know where you live, Giselle… I’ll have no problem killing your entire family…
then I’ll come for you,” the deep voice said, the words echoing through my brain.
I couldn’t move. I couldn’t speak. Terror ran through me as I fought against the belt at my wrists.
The air punched out of my lungs. I couldn’t breathe. I was drowning.
I sprang up. Sweat soaked my shirt. Tears ran down my cheeks.
I gulped in a couple of deep breaths. I was in bed.
In my childhood bedroom. Darkness filled the room except for a small sliver of light coming from the nightlight in the attached bathroom.
I was alone. I closed my eyes, reminding myself that I was safe.
I crawled out of bed and made my way into the shower, washing off the nightmare. But it wasn’t really a nightmare. It was reality. My new reality.
How would I ever forget his actions? His threats? The feel of his gun pressed against my head? How would I ever be able to be alone again and not wonder if he was lurking in the shadows?
After trying to lose myself in a long shower, I pulled on a soft pink lounge set, then twisted my wet hair up on the top of my head in a messy bun.
The smell of lasagna had wafted its way upstairs. Though I wasn’t hungry, I knew I needed to eat. It had been over twenty-four hours since…I shook my head, as if that could somehow erase the memories. But I wouldn’t allow my mind to go there. I couldn’t.
I opened my bedroom door and familiar voices drifted upstairs, filling me with the smallest sense of relief.
I padded downstairs and into the kitchen, where my parents and brother sat at the island.
They immediately looked to me. None of them even attempted to conceal the sadness in their eyes. I hated their looks of pity.
“I hope you didn’t wait for me to eat,” I said, eyeing the foil-covered casserole dish in the center of the island, pretending I didn’t have a care in the world except for the lasagna.
“No,” my father said.
“Of course not,” my mother added.
“Damn straight we did,” Kason said, pulling the foil off the dish and scooping a piece of lasagna into his plate. “I’m starving.”
My parents shook their heads, never surprised by his antics. And, if I was being honest, my brother being himself was exactly what I needed from him at that moment.
“How was your nap?” my father asked me.
“Fine,” I lied.
“You showered,” my mother observed. “Did it make you feel better?”
“Absolutely.” Not.
I looked to Kason. “You hear there’s lasagna and show up for dinner?”
He shrugged as he chewed a bite. “Can you blame me?”
As much as I knew he liked my mother’s cooking, especially her lasagna, I knew he’d made the trip to be sure I was okay.
“Nice of lover boy to stick around,” he said with a mouthful.
“Kason,” my mother admonished as she plated pieces of lasagna for my dad and me.
“It’s fine. He had stuff to do,” I explained.
“What’s more important than you?” Kason asked with a lifted brow.
“I told him to go. There’s nothing he can do here.” Being a silent partner in my boutique didn’t even allow him to speak to the police or insurance company.
“How about a little moral support?” he grumbled.
Kason wasn’t wrong. But I already felt shitty enough. I didn’t need to be reminded that my boyfriend was usually absent for…well, just about everything.
“It was nice of Thayer to come to the hospital,” I said.
“Yeah. I needed him there, or I was gonna go do something stupid, like look for the guy and kill him.”
My heart wilted. I’d thought Thayer had come to see me.
“I know the timing sucks, but I’m leaving for Park City next weekend. Kincaid is sending me.”
“Wait, Kincaid?” I asked.
“I didn’t tell you?” Kason asked.
I shook my head.
“Slopes let me out of my contract—”
“With some coercing,” my father added, implying there was more to the story.
“Hey, whatever it took to be rid of Cora and her father,” Kason continued.
Thank God. His ex-girlfriend Cora was a real piece of work. “What did she do this time?”
“Oh, she just committed a misdemeanor,” he said. “And Daddy didn’t want that information going public, so…”
“He bought your silence?”
“Yup. Now Kincaid’s sponsoring me,” he explained. “And, they want to shout it from the summits. That’s why they’re sending me away. They want some killer footage to use when they announce me at their sponsorship event.”
“That’s amazing, Kase. You deserve it,” I said, wanting to feel as happy as I should’ve been for him.
His eyes cast down like he didn’t want to show his excitement after what had happened to me.
“How long will you be gone?” I asked, suddenly feeling as though I needed my brother around.
Sensing it in my voice, he exchanged a glance with my parents. “Five days.”
“That long?” I asked, not meaning to sound as distressed as it made me feel.
“Come,” he said.
“What?” my parents and I asked at once.
“Shay, Thayer, and Jesse are coming. The house has like eight bedrooms.”
I glanced to my parents who remained stoic.
“I couldn’t.”
“Why not?” Kason asked.
Again, I glanced to my parents for confirmation that this was a crazy idea. They had to be thinking what I was thinking. How could I leave after what I’d been through? I was scared of my own shadow. Leaving the state would be a monumental mistake.
“You should go,” my father said.
“What?” my mother asked, likely as stunned by his urging as I was.
“It would be good for her to get away from Colorado, don’t you think?” my father continued, his eyes imploring her to agree.
“I guess I hadn’t thought of it,” my mother said.
“We’ll have fun,” Kason assured me. “And Shay would love knowing she’s not the only girl. There’s only so much snowboarding talk she can take.”
“I don’t know. Won’t the police need to talk to me again?” I asked my parents.
“You have a phone. If they have questions, they can call you,” my father said.
“What about security?” my mother asked.
“I’ll call Kincaid and let them know I need personal security,” Kason said.
“I don’t want you to have to do that,” I said.
“Well, that’s too bad. I’m doing it. Besides, after winning the medal, I’m sure I’m gonna be swarmed by adoring fans everywhere I go anyway,” he said, whipping out his phone and texting whoever he needed to contact about security.
I stared at my brother, loving him a little bit more than I already did.
Because, even though he’d won the medal, we all knew there wouldn’t be any swarms of adoring fans anywhere other than the mountain, and even then, he could handle it.
This security was all for me, and I appreciated it more than he’d ever know.