by L M Terry
“How about a shower before bed?” Addy asks.
“Yeah, that would be great. They took the bandage off this morning and I really, really need to wash my hair.”
She helps me shower and then gets me all tucked in my bed. My bed. She tells Anthony and I goodnight as he comes into the room. “How you feelin baby?” Anthony asks as he slides into bed next to me.
“So good.” I tell him grabbing his hand, linking our finger together. “I’m so glad that I get to sleep with you next to me tonight. I’ve missed that.”
“Me too.” He gently rolls me to my side and curls up behind me. I wiggle my ass against him, and he growls. “None of that,” he scolds.
“Please, I need to feel you, Anthony,” I beg.
“You sure you feel okay?” he asks hesitantly. I know he wants this too.
“Yes, I’m good. Please?” My ass wiggling is doing the trick, I feel him grow hard against me and he groans.
He kisses me on the shoulder as his hand roams up under my tank top to squeeze my breast. My moan of delight prompts him to continue. His hand slides down my stomach and dips into my panties. He whispers into my ear, “we have to be quiet or Doctor Addy will scold us for being naughty too soon.”
“Okay,” I giggle quietly, my hips rolling to grind against his palm.
He pulls my panties down, leaving them around my thighs and I feel him push his sweatpants over his hips. When he slides into me we both moan in unison. Oh god, so good. So. Damn. Good. He makes love to me slow and sweet. Holding me close to him he whispers words of love directly into my ear. I’m in heaven. Heaven. This isn’t our usual intense, crazy fucking. No, this is different. This is our first time together as a committed couple. This is just Danielle and Anthony becoming one. Tears brim my eyes, good tears. I come first and he follows close behind. We fall asleep, connected and content. A promise of many more nights together carries us through the night.
Anthony
◆◆◆
Several weeks have passed since bringing Dani home. The doctor cleared her yesterday, she has fully recovered with no signs of any tumors on her scans. She will go in every three to four months for the first year and then drop down to twice a year for follow-ups. Everyone went home yesterday. Everyone except Tank. Today we are telling Dani of the betrayal. Neither of us are looking forward to it but she keeps asking to call Lizzie and well I’m not about to let that happen. I knew I didn’t like Lizzie, I’m not sure how Dani is going to take this.
I’m supposed to text Tank when I am ready, and he will head up from the house he is staying in down the road. As I’m about to shoot him that text Dani comes out of the bedroom with a sick look on her face and she has the rope in her hands. She drops it at my feet. She quickly undresses and kneels on the floor in front of me as I sit frozen on the couch. What the fuck is going on?
I cup her face in my palm gently lifting her chin so that her eyes meet mine. “What’s wrong?”
She drops her head and tears start to drip on her bare legs. “I need your ropes, sir. I need them, please,” she cries. Whatever it is, it is tearing her up. Security, that is what she is requesting. It has nothing to do with sex. She needs me to take control, to wrap her in the sanctuary of my ropes. She knows I will take care of her and see her through whatever this is.
I pull her to her feet and guide her to sit in front of the windows. My fingers work in calm, smooth motions over her bare skin. She takes deep breaths and closes her eyes. God she is so beautiful like this. I work slowly until I see that she is finally calm. After the final knot is in place I run my hand down her hair and pull her face close to mine. “Talk to me, princess,” I whisper.
“I received a message from Ted’s soon to be step-daughter,” she says quietly. “I can’t open it. What if he hurt her? I should have spoken up. I should have turned him in,” she sobs, leaning her body into mine. She is seeking strength she doesn’t feel she has right now.
“Oh, baby, let’s read the message first. Okay?”
“Yes, sir.”
Now that she is tranquil, I slowly and methodically release her. After she is untied I retrieve her clothes and help her to dress. “I’m going to call Tank and ask him to join us.” She gives me a confused look. “Why don’t you go pick us out a nice bottle of wine and I’ll make the call.” She turns to walk away but I grab her wrist pulling her back to me. “Everything is okay, I need you to trust me.”
“I trust you more than anyone, Anthony.”
I text Tank.
A: It’s time.
T: Ugh.
A: Lilith, Ted’s soon to be stepdaughter messaged Dani.
T: Fuck.
A: Yeah, not good.
T: Be there in ten.
I’m getting three glasses out when Dani brings her wine selection out. She doesn’t look at me as she hands me the bottle. “Want to drink down on the beach,” I ask her.
“Sure,” she shrugs.
Tank pulls in as we step outside. I hold up the wine to him in greeting. “We are heading down to the beach.” He follows behind silently. Dani settles between the two of us while I pour us each a glass.
“What did she do?” Dani asks as she watches the waves roll in.
I lean over and tuck a hair blowing in front of her face behind her ear. Tank takes one of her tiny hands in his. I hate this. How many times am I going to have to give this girl soul shattering news? We have to tell her though.
“Lizzie and Ted have been in a relationship.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Danielle
◆◆◆
Idon’t think that my mind is working right. Maybe it’s because I’m so worked up over getting a message from Lilith. If Ted hurt her I will never forgive myself. “I’m sorry, I think I misunderstood you,” I tell Anthony.
“You didn’t misunderstand, Dani,” he says sadly.
Lizzie and Ted have been in a relationship? No. How can that even be? She hates him. At first I panic, did he hurt her too? Oh my god, I left her there, in Iowa. “He used her too?” I ask as my mind runs through all of the times Lizzie and Ted were in the same room together.
“Dani, I need you to listen. Ted is a master manipulator and I’m sure that is how it started; she was just a teenager. But, she is an adult now…”
“Wait, are you telling me she has been seeing Ted all this time? That can’t be true.” I glance down at my chest running my hand over it. What am I looking for? Oh, yeah, the knife. Just another puncture wound to my soul. I jump to my feet and take a few steps towards the water. My hand slips and I watch as the wine in my glass spills out onto the sand.
Tank wraps his arms around me, carefully pulling the glass out of my hand then handing it to Anthony. He hugs me as I cry. Lizzie is my best friend. How could she do this to me? Tank picks me up and sits down on the blanket keeping me on his lap. I peek up at Anthony sitting across from us. He looks at me and I can see that he is unsure of telling me more. “Dani, I have enough information to take him down. Say the word and we will take it all to the police.”
“You have proof of Lizzie and him?” I ask.
He grimaces but nods.
Tank finally speaks up. He had been so quiet I almost forgot I was sitting in his lap. “I didn’t know, Dani. Please don’t hate me.”
I turn in his lap. “I could never hate you, Tank. I didn’t see it either, you’re not to blame.” He squeezes me tight as I stare out over the ocean. “Has he hurt others?”
“Yes,” Anthony answers quietly.
I’m supposed to testify against the two guys who tried to kidnap Sophia next week. I’ve been anxiously awaiting that day, the day I can look them in the eyes and watch as they realize that they fucked with the wrong little girl. Yeah, I want that with Ted. That little prick. He is going to look me in the eye and know he fucked with the wrong little girl too…and now she is all grown up and she has a big bad motherfucking wolf behind her.
“Where do we start?” I ask. A slow smile ap
pears on Anthony’s face. He likes taking down the bad guys, how can I deny him one more?
When we get back up to the house Anthony lays out his proof on the kitchen table. It covers the entire thing. My stomach turns as I open a folder filled with pictures. Photos of myself but that is not what disturbs me the most, there are photos of other girls. Some younger than I was, much younger. I rush to the trash bin and lose my lunch. So evil. So very evil. It’s worse than I thought. Yes, worse than selling your stepdaughter to traffickers if that tells you anything.
“Most are clients. Parents trusted him with their children,” Anthony whispers as he holds my hair for me.
“Does Lizzie know about all of this?” I stand and wave my hand at the table as Tank hands me a washcloth.
“I don’t know. When I found the messages between her and Ted I called to confront her. She hung up on me. When I got back here, well you know what happened from there.”
“She left me when I needed her. She left me to go back and warn him.”
“He already knew I had been looking into him. I wanted him to know. I wanted him to squirm.”
“I want to see.” I plop down in a chair and Anthony hands them to me. My eyes scan quickly over their messages, they start shorty after Ted moved in with my mom and me. From what I gather she didn’t know what he was doing to me until I told her the day I ran away. Ted asked her to give me money and to convince me not to go to the police. While I see his manipulation plain as day I can’t help but be angry at her. I don’t know what hurts worse, that my mom chose a monster over me or that my best friend did. All these years I thought she was my friend because she loved me, but she kept our friendship going to keep tabs on me. To make sure I didn’t rat him out.
He even convinced her to talk Anthony into getting me back to Iowa. Seems he was interested in getting me back to sign my parent’s estate over to him. Blood boils in my veins. I pause to look at Anthony. His instincts told him something wasn’t right with Lizzie. He struggled to be nice to her, I felt it…and he was right. The fact he figured all this out solidifies his hero status in my eyes.
The most recent messages between the two of them are mostly about her anger at his engagement to the lady from Hillside. Lizzie thought once my mom passed they would be together and why wouldn’t she it’s what Ted lead her to believe.
The message from Lilith! I rush down the hall to grab my phone off the bed where I left it. Tank and Anthony follow me. My hands shake as I click her message. My eyes scan quickly over the words as my heart sinks. “We have to go. We have to go today,” I say through clenched teeth.
“I’ll go pack,” Tank says as he turns and leaves.
“It’s started. He is blackmailing her, just like he did me. He caught Lilith with her boyfriend smoking pot. Her boyfriend is the starting quarterback at their high school. Ted threatened to tell his parents and the school unless Lilith agreed to letting him take a few photos of her. We have to go today. I have to stop this before it gets worse…it will get so much worse,” I whisper the last few words. Why? Why does Ted do this? Lilith and his clients suffered because I didn’t turn him in. I should have stopped him.
Anthony sits down behind me on the bed and whispers in my ear. “We will get him, Dani. I promise you. He won’t hurt anyone else. But, you don’t get to blame yourself for his sins, got it?”
“Yes. Just tell me what to do, Anthony. I’ll do whatever you tell me. I trust you.”
“First thing we do is pay a visit to Lilith’s mom and then we go to the local police,” he says as he stands, pulling me with him.
The next morning, we are sitting in Ted’s new home with his soon to be wife sitting in front of us crying. “I didn’t know!” she cries as I hand her a box of tissues.
“I’m sorry to be the one to tell you this but, I couldn’t let him hurt your daughter like he did me.”
“No, I’m glad you told me.” She looks at Anthony and Tank. “I hate to ask you for your help, but can you help me move his stuff to the lawn? He will be home at five today and I don’t want him in my house ever again.”
Tank steps forward. “I’ve got this, you two go ahead to the police station. I’ll call a few of my friends and we will get the assholes shit out real quick.”
It’s funny how I spent years in silence. Hiding from the truth all because of my shame and fear. Talking to the police was hard, it was. But, finally taking Ted’s power away, hmm, it is the best feeling in the world. They assured us Ted would be in custody by this evening. Anthony had more than enough evidence for them to get an arrest warrant.
As we are leaving the station an urge to see him washes over me. “I want to see him. Can we go to his office?”
“Absolutely not,” Anthony says as he opens the car door for me.
When he gets in on the other side, I bombard him again. “Please, I’ve always sat there and took whatever he had to say. Just once I want to tell him what I think of him.”
He is thinking about it. He has a murderous look in his eye, but he has a hard time denying me anything. “Fine, but not alone. Where you go, I go.”
“You can wait in the waiting room, but I want to speak to him alone. I want to stand up to him by myself. I need this, Anthony,” I beg, batting my eyelashes at him.
“You’re impossible,” he says as he starts the car.
“I learned from the best,” I tell him as I sink back into the seat thinking of everything I want to say to Ted.
Ted’s receptionist tries to give us the run around since I don’t have an appointment. “Call him, I’m certain he will see me,” I demand.
She picks up the phone and tosses her head towards his office soon after. “Go on in,” she says with a tinge of jealousy in her voice. I bet he is fucking her too. Asshole.
“Ten minutes, max and I’m coming in,” Anthony says. He takes a seat in the waiting room, crossing his arms over his chest, glaring at the receptionist, making her squirm in her seat.
When I step into Ted’s office he is standing by the window looking out. He doesn’t turn to look at me. “Why are you here?” he asks finally turning his attention to me. He lets his eyes wander over my body. The hairs on the back of my neck stand to attention at his leering gaze.
I came here with a million curses to hurl at him. But, as I think about all of the terrible things he has done, I decide he simply isn’t worth my time. “I’m here to do what I should have done eight years ago,” I say as I pull the papers he held over my head for all of those years out of my purse. I set them on his desk. “I’m returning these to you.”
He smirks as he walks over to the desk. He picks them up and smiles. Does this asshole really think he still has me over a barrel?
“I figured you might need some reading material in prison.” I revel in the way the smile melts off his face and then I turn and walk away.
Anthony stands when I exit Ted’s office. “Done already?” he asks, studying my face carefully.
“Yes, I’m done here.” I walk over to him, wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him like it’s the last kiss I will ever get. “Take me home,” I say as I pull away to look up at him.
He smiles down at me. “Absolutely.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
Anthony
◆◆◆
My whole family came for Ted’s trial and now we are all back in sunny California. We stayed at Dani’s parent’s house while in Iowa. I had everything of his cleaned out, it’s like he was never there. Only he was. But, we made new memories for Dani during the weeklong visit. Everyone enjoyed the small-town life while we were there. We spent the evenings in the backyard making smores and listening to the crickets sing their evening song. She told me for the first time since her dad took his life that it felt good to be there. I’m glad.
Ted received twenty years. Only twenty years. I know Dani would have liked to have seen him get more but I don’t think prison will be very kind to him. If he manages to survive and is released at least he wil
l be labeled for what he is, a sex offender.
Lizzie tried to approach us at the trial, but Dani walked away. She told me she has spent too much time wasting it on people who don’t have her best interest at heart. I do think Lizzie truly cared about Dani, but she didn’t choose her over Ted. So, I agree with Dani, she shouldn’t waste her time. It’s sad, but sometimes in life you have to choose to let go of people, even if you love them. I know Dani loves her.
I’m happy that our courtroom time is over. Between the trials, Dani’s therapy and doctor appointments the months have flown by. Dani has made a full recovery and there are no signs of the tumor returning. I’ve tried to push her to set a wedding date, but she has been hesitant. I know she has an underlying fear that our relationship is too good to be true. She is waiting for the other shoe to drop.
You all know me. Just because she hasn’t set a date doesn’t mean there isn’t one. I’ve had a little somethin, somethin up my sleeve for months now. You know I do have a reputation to uphold.
“Good, morning sunshine!” I tell her as lean over placing tiny kisses all over her face. She tries to squirm away from me. So damn cute.
“Anthony, please, this is the first day I’ve had to sleep in all week.”
“No time for that. The girls are going to be here in an hour, remember I told you I planned a day of shopping and pampering for you guys.”
“That’s today?” she says sleepily, tugging the rose out of the vase and pulling it to her nose.
“Yes, it’s today. Chop, chop!” I tell her as I smack her lightly on her thigh. She giggles and my heart warms at the sound.
“I’m going to call and tell them I’ll meet up with them in a few hours. I promised Dorothy I would stop by this morning. I forgot about the whole pampering day.”
