by K. Webster
“Lou, I’m so sorry about all of this. I don’t know how Dad got involved with this, but I’m thinking it had something to do with the fact that he was using the wrong head when it came to judgment. I’m pretty sure Nadia seduced my father so that she could further her own agenda. She’s left a path of destruction in her wake, and we need to take the bitch down. I’ll get your money back to you, Lou, because my brother and I are men of integrity. It might kill the company in the process, but it must be done,” I declared to him.
“Let us know what else we need to do and my client will cooperate. He too is a man of honesty and integrity. Keep us advised on the progress. Jordan, do you think you could speak with me after on an unrelated matter?” Calvin asked.
The other men left the conference room to me and Calvin.
“How’s my daughter?” Calvin questioned, getting right to the point.
I hadn’t spoken to her much today. She had been busy with the fallout on the museum disaster, and I’d been in over my head dealing with the fraud with AJ all day.
“I shot her a text around lunch. She was flustered about everything, but she’s tough. We spoke to the police, and they were going to be contacting you. Have you spoken to your PI?” I asked him.
“Yeah, that’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about. He found that Cole’s been charged with two counts of aggravated assault from prior altercations with two different women. The problem is that he can’t be found. He has his parents’ address listed on any formal documentation, but they say he hasn’t lived with them in years. It would appear that he is flying under the radar, which is making it a bitch to find him. I’m certain with the findings of the PI, the evidence they uncover from the fire, and Elizabeth’s testimony, we have enough for a case against him. The problem will be finding the bastard and keeping my daughter safe in the meantime.” His voice was laced with worry.
“Calvin, I would die before I let anything happen to her. She’s so damn stubborn though. If it were up to me, I’d have her by my side every hour of every day. You know how she is though. She’s independent and strong-willed. I’m thinking of buying us each a handgun and taking her to the range to learn how to use it. If she won’t let me protect her, I at least want her to be able to protect herself.”
“Jordan, that’s a great idea. Sandra and I would like to have you both over for dinner again tonight. I can assure you it will be better than the last time.”
“Sir, let me check with Elizabeth, but I think she’d really like that. Six sound okay?” I asked. It was amazing that, in just a couple of days, we went from hating each other to behaving rather civilly.
“Six it is. I’ll let Sandra know. See you soon, Jordan,” Calvin said, slapping my shoulder as he walked out.
I sent Elizabeth a quick text telling her about dinner plans and then called Jackson.
“Hey, Jordie, what’s up?” he asked when he answered the phone.
“Hey, Jackie. So I have some news. Looks like things will get worse before they get better. Now that the SEC is involved and we’re closing those accounts, everything is about to come to a head. I just met with Lou. They are going to be patient with us in allowing more time to pay them back. By the time we pay all of those investors their original money, we’ll have eaten through most of our capital.”
“Well, shit.”
“Tell me about it.”
“At least I have some good news, Jordie. Nadia finally signed the papers for our divorce. Joel ran it up to the courthouse today. He’s going to get it pushed through. At least our divorce will be finalized even in the midst of all of this chaos. She can’t stall it anymore.”
“That’s awesome news. Congrats, man. Oh, by the way, I can’t hit the gym tonight because I’m going to dinner with Elizabeth at her parents’ house.”
“It still throws me off when you call her that. I’m surprised her dad would even want to see you again.”
“Jackie, Elizabeth is her name. I think we can all encourage her to go by it. Pepper is the name that fucker gave her. I want to kill him, man. That’s something Calvin and I share, so it makes us buds now.”
“Okay, dude. Mom called earlier and needs me to help her install her new washing machine. Guess you dodged a bullet there. Again. No worries. Bring her more chocolate and you’ll be golden,” he teased.
“Ha! Have fun with that,” I chuckled and hung up.
“Jordie! So glad to see you again,” Sandra gushed as we hugged. “Where’s my girl?” she asked, looking behind me.
“She swung by her apartment on the way here to return your jewelry she borrowed for the gala. She’s probably twenty minutes behind me. Dinner smells delicious,” I praised, walking into the foyer.
“Oh, hon, you’re in for a treat. I’ve got a crockpot going with my special roast. Calvin usually eats half the pot by himself. I made sure to double my recipe today,” she said, smiling.
I followed her into the kitchen and peeked under the lid. “We should eat it now. Just to make sure it’s seasoned properly,” I advised, pulling out a hot carrot and popping it into my mouth.
“Jordan Compton! Get your hands out of there this instant,” she chided, swatting at me. I laughed and took a seat at the bar.
We chatted for a couple of minutes about her church group until Calvin came in through the garage. He walked over and kissed her cheek. Since her back was turned to him, he sneaked over and pulled out a carrot, dropping it into his mouth.
“Dammit, Calvin! You two are impossible. Wait until Elizabeth gets here and keep your fingers out of the food,” she admonished, shaking her finger at us. We roared in laughter and she simply shook her head at us.
After a glass of wine and discussing more of the future of my company with Calvin, I glanced over at the clock. Following my gaze, Calvin frowned.
“When was she supposed to get here?” he questioned.
“She should have been here about fifteen minutes ago. I’m going to call her and make sure everything’s okay,” I told him, pulling out my phone. He nodded, still frowning.
When she didn’t pick up, I cursed. Calvin reached down and grabbed his phone, dialing her. The phone went to voicemail again. After dialing her unsuccessfully one more time, I finally dialed Andi. Her phone didn’t pick up either. My heart started beating wildly in my chest. When I looked over at Calvin, we both jumped up from the bar and stalked out of the kitchen.
Calvin called over his shoulder, “Sandra, stay here in case she shows up. We’re going after her.”
After an exhausting day dealing with the aftermath leftover from the gala, I was more than thrilled to be having dinner with Jordan and my parents. Throughout the entire ordeal, Daddy and Jordan seemed to have found some common ground. I knew that if they’d give it a chance they would like each other.
Mom had texted me earlier, informing that we were having her special roast, and my stomach grumbled just thinking about it. Stan had been riding everyone’s asses so nobody had gotten lunch today.
I had my keys ready when I reached the door to the apartment and easily unlocked it, going inside. When I went to close the door, a foot stopped it. Before I even had time to process that, Cole came pushing through the door, pointing a gun at me. My heart started pounding loudly in my chest as I attempted to figure out what to do.
“Well hello, Peppermint Pussy,” he said, smiling at me. His teeth had started to yellow and he reeked of smoke. The hair on his face hadn’t been shaved in what appeared to be days. His once muscular physique was now flabby.
“What do you want from me?” I demanded, trying to keep the quiver from my voice. He scowled at me, taking a step forward. Instinctively, I backed up until I was against the wall.
“I want to finish what I started. You and your father ruined my life. I’d love nothing more than to ruin yours. Time was good to you, Peppermint Pussy. I want to fuck you now more than I did that day. There hasn’t been a day gone by that I didn’t imagine taking you like I should have long ago.�
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I glanced down the hallway and saw that my bedroom door was open.
Without a moment’s hesitation, I took off in a full sprint towards my room. Seconds later, his heavy footsteps pounded after me. Flying into my room, I slammed the bedroom door shut behind me and turned the lock moments before he flung himself against it.
Fumbling in my coat pocket, I tried to quickly retrieve my phone. My violently shaking fingers desperately searched for Jordan’s number. I felt sick when I heard a female’s voice on the other side of the door, causing me to pause my search.
“Pepper?” Olive’s voice squeaked out from the other side. Shit, he had Olive.
“Don’t fucking open the door!” Andi shouted at me. I then heard a scuffle and some crying followed by a thud. My heart tightened in my chest.
“Open the door, Peppermint Pussy, or your girlfriends are going to each take a bullet in the head,” he seethed from the other side.
I could hear Olive crying. Quickly, I shot Jordan a text, turned the phone on silent, and tucked it under my pillow. Rushing over to the door, I swung it open.
Cole pointed for Olive to go into the room with me. With his gun still trained on us, he pulled an unconscious Andi by her hair. Olive started crying loudly, and I stepped in front of her to shield her from seeing Andi. Once he got her inside, he shut the door.
“Cole, just let them go. You can have me. Please, just leave them alone,” I calmly told him. My attempt to stay calm was shattered when he stalked over to me and put his hand around my throat.
“You don’t fucking make the rules!” he roared, tightening his grip.
I gasped for air and frantically tried to claw at his hand to release me, but he was too strong.
“Let her go!” Olive screeched, her tiny frame trying to pull him off of me.
“Bitch, you better back off right now or I’ll shoot her!” he spat at her.
Defeated, she stumbled away, sobbing loudly. Releasing my neck, he spun me around and pushed me onto the bed. I frantically sucked in air, momentarily stunned from being choked. When I felt him fumbling for my pants, I weakly attempted to fight him off.
The coolness of the barrel against the back of my neck made me pause in my struggles. My breaths were ragged from lack of air and exertion. Olive continued to wail from her crouched position beside Andi. Cole yanked off my coat.
“You fucking ruined my life, Peppermint Pussy. I had a football career ahead of me and your fucking dad killed it. I’m a fucking loser now because of you and him. When I fuck you, I hope it hurts. And before you can recover, I’m going to do it again. When I’ve had my fill, I’m going to shoot you in the fucking head.”
Anger rushed over me. This asshole just wouldn’t go away, and it pissed me off more than it scared me.
“Cole, do you think getting your dick wet is going to change anything here? You’ll still be a fucking loser. You are a fucking dog that needs to be put down,” I spat angrily. He was going to kill me anyways. Might as well say my piece.
“Bitch!” he screamed and began yanking down my jeans. I squirmed and struggled, landing a kick to his crotch. He stumbled away briefly before he charged back at me, grabbing a handful of my hair.
“You can kill me but you won’t get to rape me alive,” I panted, still struggling.
Even though he was a lot larger than me, he wasn’t as strong as he once had been as a teenager. He flipped me back over onto my back and struck me with the side of the gun, making me immediately see stars.
When I finally blinked them away, I realized he already had my pants halfway pulled down. He no longer had the gun in his hand, so I seized the opportunity to attack him. Sitting up, I shoved both hands into his hair and yanked as hard as I could. Halting his task with my pants, he grabbed my wrists and jerked them away. As he twisted my wrists behind me, I felt my left one snap, sending agonizing pain searing up my arm. I wailed in agony.
The anger faded as tears of pain took over. I stopped my struggle in hopes that he would release my screaming wrist. He let go, laughing at me.
“Maybe I should break the other one too. See how you fight then?” he asked hatefully.
Tears streamed down my face, but I maintained my own furious glare, refusing to let him see me in a weakened state. I would die fighting him off.
Pushing me back down onto my back, he jerked my shirt up to my neck and bit my nipple through my bra. Yelping in surprise, I went to swat at him but pain seared through my wrist again, stopping me.
He continued to pull my pants the rest of the way off. My eyes flitted over to Olive and Andi. I saw Olive quietly pulling her into the bathroom, and the door softly clicked behind them. When two big hands jerked my knees apart, my eyes flew back to Cole. He’d somehow managed to get his pants down as well.
It was over. He was about to rape and kill me. Anger built up again, quelling the fear. Summoning up all of my strength, I pulled my leg from his grasp, kicking him hard in the throat.
“Fuck!” he gasped, stumbling away from me.
I rolled off the bed and away from him, crying out when I landed on the floor with my hands underneath me. Scrambling to my knees, I started to try to bolt from the room when his arms latched around my waist from behind.
I thrashed wildly in his arms as he forced me back over to the bed, throwing me facedown onto the mattress. He was still stronger than I was, but I would still fight while I could.
“Stay fucking still!” he screamed, completely enraged.
Ignoring him, I kept bucking and twisting. Both of his hands found my throat this time. Instantly, I was gasping for breath but still attempting to pull his hands from me, digging my nails into them as hard as I could. The pain in my wrist was excruciating, but I continued to fight madly.
Darkness began eating at the edges of my vision. My lack of air was quickly weakening me. The clawing soon gave way to soft slaps in an attempt for him to release me. Finally, my hands just rested on his when I finally blacked out.
Calvin and I drove in silence on the way to Elizabeth’s apartment. We both knew something was wrong. About halfway there, we got stuck behind a fender bender.
“Shit!” I yelled, striking the steering wheel with both fists.
“When we get up here, hang a right. We’ll go around,” Calvin advised as we inched forward. My phone chimed, indicating a text, and my heart pounded with hope when I saw her face pop up on the screen. After I opened the text, the color drained from my face.
Elizabeth: He’s here with a gun. The girls are in danger too. Call 911!
“Fuck! He’s got her and the girls!” I shouted, tossing the phone to Calvin.
“Mother fucker!” he roared and quickly used his phone to dial the police. Taking my phone back, I called Jackson.
“Hey, Jordie. Decide you want to come help with this bitch of a washing machine?” he asked with a chuckle when he answered the phone.
“Jackie! Cole’s got Elizabeth and the girls. He’s at their apartment. Calvin and I are on our way, but we got caught in a fucking traffic jam! Get over there now. The police are on their way too,” I rambled quickly.
A slew of curse words spewed from him on the other line. “I’m on my way,” he assured me, hanging up.
“Calvin, we’re not getting anywhere. I have to get to her. Take the car. I’m going to run up the block and catch a cab past the wreck,” I declared, unbuckling my seatbelt.
He leapt out of the car, coming to sit in the driver’s side. I was already bolting in a full-on sprint by the time he’d closed the car door.
Running as fast as I could in dress shoes, I soon passed up the wreck, pushing pedestrians out of my way as I flew by. Seeing a man about to step into a cab, I jerked him out of the way and jumped in.
“Hey!” he yelled after me, but I ignored him, slamming the door.
“Drive! It’s a matter of life and death!” I commanded to the cab driver.
He nodded and peeled out. Nothing was unusual in New York. When I pu
lled out several hundred-dollar bills as I shouted out the address, he picked up his speed and swerved in and out of traffic. Minutes later, we pulled up to her building, and I slapped his shoulder in thanks, bounding from the cab.
A couple was going in the building and I pushed past them, bolting up the stairs once inside. Taking them two at a time, I dashed quickly to Elizabeth’s floor.
Arriving at her door, which was ajar, I slipped in, trying to take stock of the situation. Realizing that there was nobody in the front room, I raced down the hall to her bedroom. Turning the knob, I cursed when I found that it was locked. Taking a few steps back, I ran back forward and kicked hard near the handle. The wood splintered, and one more kick sent it flinging open.
The sight before me almost caused me to vomit. The man that had to be Cole had his pants down and was leaning over my Elizabeth with his hands around her throat. She was lifeless, and my heart sank.
Coming out of my dazed state, I charged him. Hooking my arms around his neck, I yanked him away from her. We rolled to the floor and each struggled to get the advantage. I was trying to choke him, but when he elbowed me hard in the ribs, I loosened my grip enough for him pull away. Recovering, I jumped back to my feet and punched him hard in the jaw, sending him stumbling back several feet.
