“Umm…. well, you see, we were on the way to the lake for a long weekend when my man started puking last night when we got back to our hotel after dinner. Like, it was all night long, and now he’s got a really bad headache. I mean, there’s something seriously wrong, right?” I smile sincerely, bringing my eyes up clashing with eyes that I prayed every day that I would never have to see again.
Vomit makes its way up my esophagus, burning my throat from the inside out. I swallow my saliva several times, blinking and praying that I’m back in my nightmares and only dreaming about this scenario. My alarm is going to go off any minute now, and this isn’t going to be real. Holding my breath I wait and pray, yet nothing seems to be happening. No. No, no, this cannot be happening. Black dots start to dance in my vision letting me know that I need to breathe my way through this because an alarm isn’t coming to save me from this disaster.
Because, in this very second, my nightmare looks away from the woman, no more like girl because I can guarantee that she’s barely fucking eighteen, locking his cold, dead eyes on me. I want to wake up, or maybe stab him in the face, all at the same damn time. This can't be right. I was there the night that the devil came calling, asking for reimbursement, and the man I’m currently ignoring couldn’t pay his debts. That lack of his ability to reimburse the devil, is the only reason I was able to get free.
“Well, well, well. Look what the cat drug in. A mouse all for the taking.” He antagonizes me with a slimy grin. His smirk is so cold that my blood turns arctic, cutting me up from the inside.
I swallow the bile, that once again, is trying to be the star of this train wreck. Finding strength that I didn’t know I had in me, I do something that I never thought I would be able to do, and in the meanwhile, I prove to myself that I’m more capable of finding my inner-strength and asserting it. The devil saved me once but I can't count on him to save me again.
I demonstrate to myself that I am capable, and stronger than I ever was, or thought I could be.
“You say he has been vomiting, and now, on top of that, has a severe headache?” I question, ignoring the comment from the dead-to-me man lounging on the bed.
“Yes, babe, you tell her,” the girl insists.
My nightmare in a suit turns to her and smiles. His lips turning upward in the most cunning smile. “Babe, why don’t you go find yourself some coffee or something while I tell the nurse what’s going on.”
“Are you sure?” she asks, and I know the look he just gave her. It’s the,if you don’t do as I just told you, I’ll make sure that you won’t ever question me again, look.
“You're right, that sounds like a great idea!” she chipperly says, her eyes shining brightly with unshed tears, barely able to hide the fear before bouncing out of the room.
I want to grab her and beg her to stay. Not to leave me with this man. But I don’t. I hold my composure and get this shit done so they can move the fuck on. I stand looking over my tablet, realizing he’s not using his real name.
“Get your shit together and get the fuck out of here,” the snarky bitch inside of me says, glaring at her childhood abuser.
“Can you please tell me more about what brought you in today?” I inquire, watching him out of the corner of my eye, but not giving him the satisfaction of looking into his.
That was always one of his favorite things about me. He would demand that my eyes were on him when he spoke, if I didn’t do it, I’d get the ever-loving shit beat out of me.
“Awe, Mouse. Let me see those eyes of yours.” My monster croons seductively, causing my skin to itch all over.
The severe shaking of my hands makes it so that I can’t read the tablet I’m holding. Everything is blurry. I try to speak but nothing comes out. Memories crash over me like an angry ocean trying to pull me into its depth. I’m lost, submerged under the waves that are crashing over me. I don’t move or say a word as his shadow looms over me. I didn't even sense his movement. He runs the tips of his fingers up my arm, and over my shoulder, making their way toward the nape of my neck. He would always use his hold there to keep me in check, caged, controlled, and under his mercy. I break out in a cold sweat, suppressing the shiver that wants to rattle me to my core.
Out of nowhere, I hear Clelia’s voice in my head saying, “No man can control that which doesn’t belong to him. Never allow someone to have control. It all ends with you broken, and him finding someone else.”
I step away from the asshole's touch just as he was about to wrap his fingers around the backside of my neck. “I need you to return back to bed. As with vomiting, and a headache, you are at risk of becoming dizzy, and possibly passing out due to acute dehydration. I have everything here that I need the doctor will need for your examination. He should be in to see you in a few moments.”
I turn, leaving the room on legs that are shaking so bad that I don’t know how I make it out of the room still standing on both feet. As soon as the door behind me is closed, I sprint to the closest trashcan and throw up everything there’s nothing left to expunge but bile. Tears stream down my face, the darkness closing in, I can’t stay in this town or within a hundred miles of this area now that he knows where I am. I cry for the friends I’ll soon lose, the future I was building here, but my safety and that of the ones I love, are far more important than the life I was constructing.
Soft hands run down my back, and my best friend's words break through my panic. “Hey, what’s going on, are you okay?”
I make the choice not to lie, so I confess, “No. I’m not okay, can you let the lead nurse know that I’m sick and going home. I can’t seem to hold anything down right now.”
“I’ll let her know. Are you sure it’s not something else?” I can tell by the sound of her voice that she doesn’t believe the excuse I used for a second.
My stomach finally settles, and I stand to my full height, turning around and telling her, “Just ate something bad. Thank you again for making my excuses. You really are the best friend that I could’ve ever asked for.”
I pull her into a tight hug before turning to gather my stuff, and head home, being sure that she can’t see the tears flow down my face unchecked with my back turned toward her. My heart shatters with every step away I take from her, the only bright spot in my life since the day my mother died, my only entrusted and closest friend.
I don’t know what I’m going to do at this point. I just need some space so that I can get my head straight.
CHAPTERFOUR
HENDRICK
The whispers comingfrom the men that serve me as I walk out of the warehouse, tells me that I made the right choice in dragging out the torture of those three men. I know that a good majority of the men that were here tonight are still not loyal to me, but they are loyal to the family. I’ll have to earn the trust of the long-timers. I mean, I did single-handedly take out their boss. Making tonight not only a show of what I can and will do in order to protect and take care of what is mine, but most of all, it's a reminder that no matter who you are to me, or what you’ve done and taken care of for me in the past, it will not save you from being buried six-feet under.
I make my way towards the door of the warehouse, looking no different than when I walked through that door four hours ago, yet feeling centered and clear headed, ready to find me a nice, warm body to take care of my hard cock and get a half decent night's sleep. Just as I step out of the door and into the musty night air that clings to this part of Atlanta, my phone vibrates in the pocket of my jacket.
