"Tristan, I care for you too, more than I think you might even know, but you're pulling me in seven different directions and I don't know which way is up anymore. I'm sorry about London. I'm sorry that you feel threatened by him and his feelings for me, but I just wish you would take into consideration my feelings, before you act the way that you do. I know what I'm doing. I'm not some stupid naive little girl who needs you to protect her. Please, just let this go."
I turned to respond but Riley was already on her way back to the table. She was right, I needed to let the whole grudge with London go. I needed to let her be free to live her life as she saw fit, not as I saw fit for her. I took in a deep breath and headed for the exit, when I caught sight of London and Nancy at the table that Riley was headed to. I pushed the bar against the metal door, letting the cool air from outside come whooshing in around me. I tried to leave, I really did, but something in my gut told me that something big was about to happen and I needed to make sure Riley was okay.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Riley
"London, when are you going to tell her? She needs to know. If you won't tell her, then I will."
"Nancy, you can't. As much as I tried not to, I have feelings for her."
"She'll never know the real you, London. She could never understand."
"I'll make her understand."
"Will you make Tristan understand too? Because from where I'm seated, it looks to me like she would rather be with him."
London grabbed Nancy's arm and I heard her squeal in pain. "Don't try to be smarter than me Nancy. You tried it once and I'm pretty sure you still remember how that ended. Now be a good little girl and get back to her house and find whatever you can about my father."
"Why would she have any information about him? I've looked through that house a million times, London. There's nothing there."
"There has to be. Now get out of my fucking face before I do something I may or may not later regret." He let go of her wrist and even in the darkness of the room, I could see the red marks start to show.
I turned, pretending to have a conversation with the man next to me, as Nancy went storming past me. I quickly scanned the room for Tristan and his mother. I needed to get back to the house so Nancy didn't go riffling through my house while I wasn't there. I was still confused as to who London's father was, and how I would even know him, but that would have to wait a minute. Nancy went flying through the exit doors and I ran frantically towards Tristan.
"I need you to follow her."
"Who? Slow down, Riley."
"I need you to go follow Nancy. I just overheard a conversation between her and London and he started to get physical just as he told her to go find anything I had on his dad at my house. I don't even know what he was talking about. I don't even know who his dad is. Tristan, please you have to go now."
"Okay, okay, I'm going. Promise me you'll stay here until I get back."
"I promise. Just go." I pushed him towards the exit doors just as London was approaching. I turned just in time to catch London before he walked right past me.
"I've been looking everywhere for you. Where have you been?"
"I've been at the table the entire time. You knew that. So, how'd your conversation with Tristan go?" He kept looking over my shoulder at the exit doors.
"It went pretty good. We talked a little bit about how he's been acting and he's agreed to back off."
London finally looked down at me when I said that. "Really? I find that hard to believe."
"No, he really did. He said he would stay out of the way."
"Well good. It's about damn time he realized where your heart lies."
Well, not with you. That's for damn sure. "Yeah, I guess so." I took London's hand in mine and started leading him back towards the dance floor. "Dance with me?"
"Of course I will."
We danced up until it was time for all of the speakers to give their speeches. I wasn't comfortable dancing with him any longer, so I was extremely grateful for the interruption. We went back to our table and I reached for my glass of champagne that I had left unattended since earlier. I needed a little bit of liquid courage before I could get up in front of all these people and spill my guts. As I reached for my glass, the thought of how long it had been sitting in front of London and Nancy made me second guess drinking it, so I pushed it to the center of the table.
"Do you need a new glass?"
"Yes, please."
London waved over one of the waiters and he appeared seconds later, fresh champagne in hand. "Here you go, beautiful."
I cringed a little at the terms of endearment he was using recently, but played it off. "Thanks, hun."
I took a long gulp and placed the glass back down as close to me as I could get it. My hands were beginning to tremble a bit, and London noticed almost immediately. His warm hand encapsulated mine and my nerves eased up just a bit.
"You nervous?"
"Yeah, extremely."
"You're going to do great, Riley. Just be yourself up there. People are going to think what you are doing is very brave. Who knows, you may even help someone."
"That's the goal. It's just, I don't open up to many people, and now I'm opening up to an entire room full of strangers. Its just nerve racking, ya know?"
"I do. You'll be great. Just remember, I'm here." He kissed the back of my hand and instead of setting my mind at ease, my mind was now running a million different scenarios through it, all including bad things that could happen with London around.
"Next we would like to bring someone very special up on stage. This young woman is brave enough to share her heart-breaking story, and I want you all to give her a warm hand as she comes up on stage. Please welcome Ms. Riley Turner to the stage."
My heart leapt into my throat as I stood to make my way up to the stage. Just don't trip. Just don't trip, was all I could keep saying to myself. I felt London give my hand a squeeze as I left the table. The walk up to the front of the stage where the steps sat felt as though it was a mile long. I glanced around at all of the welcoming faces, sympathy and sadness written all over each and every one of their faces. I never wanted people to pity me, and I didn't want it to start now. When I got to the microphone, Tristan's mother gave me a kiss on my cheek and then disappeared off of the stage.
I stood in front of the podium for a few seconds before I began my speech that I had rehearsed over and over again.
"First of all, thank you so much to Mrs. Hayes for having me at this amazing event. I feel so blessed to be able to be here and share my story with all of you. I've never been a brave person, but I suppose it does take some type of bravery to get up in front of a bunch of strangers and tell them about one of the lowest points in my life. I didn't grow up like most children. At a very young age, I was stripped away from both of my parents and immediately put into the foster care system. I wish I could say that I was adopted by an amazing and loving family, but I wouldn't be here today in front of all of you, if that were the case. When I was ten I was placed in a very nice home. The parents were lovely and even their own children were very accepting, at first. Eventually their fifteen-year-old son started to abuse me, physically and emotionally. I was told to keep my mouth shut or I would be forced to leave their house. I know it sounds ridiculous now, but then, I honestly feared having to start over with a new family, so I dealt with the abuse. Night after night, this young man terrorized me. He made me do things that most ten-year-old kids didn't even know existed. I'll spare you all the details; I think you get the gist of it. Eventually I built up enough courage to tell his mother, but it didn't matter. What that young boy had told me would happen, was exactly what did happen. She didn't believe me and wouldn't even take me to a doctor so I could prove it to her. She just kicked me out. So I went back into the system. After that things started to look up, but I still had kids at school that teased me mercifully and picked on me. Some of them knew about what had happened at my last home, some didn't, but it d
idn't make a difference to them. I was the new girl with a seeded past, and that's all they needed as ammo to attack me on a daily basis. Abuse in any form is not okay. I like to think I'm stronger today and have learned a lot from what I have been through, but you never really know until god decides to test you. I was tested not too long ago. I ran into the boy who used to hurt me. He is married now and has two little girls of his own, and I couldn't help but wonder if he was doing the same awful things to them. My guilt overcame me and pushed me to do something that I never would have imagined doing. I survived though. I'm now told that I am a survivor and that I should be proud of that. I am to an extent, but honestly I just wish children never had to feel pain like I felt. So thank you for coming out tonight and donating to an amazing charity. Just know that if I had been given the opportunity that this money is presenting for these young kids, maybe I would've never tried to take my own life. What you all are doing is great, and well appreciated by many, including myself. Thank you."
I stepped to the side of the podium and gave a small bow. The room erupted with applause and almost every seat in the ballroom was empty. Everyone was on their feet; clapping and making me feel like I really was going to be okay. As I made my way down the stairs, I caught sight of Tristan standing against the back wall. I hadn't even seen him come back in, and then it hit me, he had just heard everything I had just said. I held my head high as I made my way over to him. I was no longer ashamed of who I was or even my past. My past made me who I am today and apparently myself now, was enough for him to want me, and that was all that mattered.
"That was amazing, Riley. I'm so proud of you."
I wrapped my arms around Tristan's neck, pulling him as close to me as I could. "Thank you." I whispered.
His arms slipped around my waist and held me tight against him. The safety and security that I always longed for, I had found in his arms. A stray tear fell from the corner of my eye as I looked into Tristan's eyes. He swiped it away with the pad of his thumb.
"There's no reason to cry." He kissed me lightly on the lips and then pulled away from me. I was about to ask why, but then I heard London's voice from behind me.
"You are so amazing, beautiful. That was great."
I turned, trying to wipe the annoyed expression from my face before he saw me, "Thanks, London. I'm getting pretty tired, do you think we could go now?"
"Um, yeah I guess so. You don't want to finish your drink or anything?" He held out my champagne flute to me and downed it without even thinking, just so we could get out of here.
"Okay, all ready to go."
"Are you sure? Don't you want to say good-bye to Julia before we leave?" He was stalling, and I knew exactly why.
"No, I think I'll just send her a thank you card. Come on." I tugged at his arm, but he forcefully removed my hand.
"Ow, London. What the hell was that?"
"Sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you. I just think it'll be rude if we don't say good-bye to her."
"I'll tell her for Riley. I mean, she is my mother after all. I think she'd understand. Call me later and let me know you got home safely." Tristan leaned in to give me a quick hug bye, and whispered in my ear so only I could hear him. "She's been taken care of."
I mouthed a thank you and then looked in London's direction. "I'll go say good-bye real quick."
I quickly moved across the room and sought out Tristan's mom. When I came up to her, she turned and was practically glowing. "Oh, Riley dear, you are such a brave young lady. I'm so sorry for everything you had to go through as a child. We must do lunch some day."
"Yeah, that would be nice. I just wanted to say good-bye and thank you for having me. It was a lovely evening."
"Do keep in touch." She kissed my cheeks and I gave her my fake smile before I turned to leave. If I didn't have to see that woman ever again in my life, I would count myself lucky.
When I caught back up with London, Tristan was nowhere to be found and I was a little relieved to not have to play the same back and forth game with the two of them, that they had been playing all night. As we started making our way back towards the house, I suddenly became extremely sleepy. My eyes felt like ten pound weights hung off of each one, I could barely keep them open any longer. The inside of the car began to spin a bit and I couldn't concentrate on anything. Moments later, I got one last look at London's smug face and then everything faded to black.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Riley
When I woke up, it felt as though someone had hit me with a two by four on the back of my head. I tried to move my hand to rub the back of it, but my hands were bound together. I quickly started to panic as I realized that I had duct tape over my mouth as well. Suppressed memories from that year of hell when I was ten started running through my mind. I quickly tried to untie my hands, but all I heard was a low chuckle from in front of me. My vision was still a bit blurry, but I could make out the face well enough to know that it belonged to London.
"You're going to make yourself bleed if you keep that shit up."
My eyes went up to his, but all semblance of the man I thought I knew, had been replaced with a cold-hearted asshole. "I don't want to have to hurt you, Riley. So when I take the tape off your mouth, I think it best if you don't scream. Got me?"
I nodded my head and leaned forward a bit, so he could remove the tape from my mouth. With one swift motion the tape was gone and I was licking my lips, trying to get some circulation back into them.
"What do you want?" I whispered.
"I want for you to help me find my dear old dad."
"I don't even know your dad, London. I heard what you asked Nancy to do. What is going on with the two of you?"
"You know, I didn't take you for one to ask so many questions. I miss the days when you used to just be quiet and keep to yourself. Not that it's any of your business, but Nancy and I, well we have a history I guess you could say. She was my fuck buddy when I was locked up in the psych ward a couple years ago. Needless to say, she's still a fucking crazy mess."
"Ya think."
London came at me with a kitchen knife, pressing it against the base of my throat. "You don't get to talk about her like that."
"Sorry." I muttered.
"Nancy knows all about my father and what he did. She was actually the only person to believe me when I told her. She's been by my side ever since. Actually, I have a fun little story to tell you. I think you'll just love it. See your mom and my dad, well I guess they had a little thing going on for a while. Nancy says she used to see my dad over her quite a bit while your mother was sick. Who knows, maybe he offed her just like he did my mom." I tried to lunge for London but it was no use, my feet were bound together as well. "Tsk tsk, you might want to stay where you're at. See dear old dad disappeared after he got away with murdering my mom. He started a new job, tried to start a new family, but obviously that didn't work out so well for him. You still looked confused. You still trying to figure out who daddy is? Well, I'm getting there. See, Nancy used to come over all the time, buttering up your mom and my dad, just getting to know them better for me. Unfortunately, her time was cut short when your mom became ill. My father, the loving man he is, decided to leave your mother high and dry while she fought her battle. Nancy was about to do the same, but see then Tristan had to start coming around. Yeah that threw a hitch in the plan at first, but I made it perfectly clear to Nancy who her loyalties should lie with. When I found out that he was looking for her sweet little daughter, I figured it was fate. I had Nancy find out as much as she could from Tristan without being too obvious, and well that's what led me to you at the hospital. Nancy and Tristan led me straight to my father. The best part about the entire thing, is not once did dear old dad even realize that his very own son had been working by his side this entire time."
"Oh my god." I whispered.
"Ah, so you've finally figured it out. Yes dear old daddy is none other than your therapist, Mr. Rollins. Although that's not really his last n
ame, but running from the law will do that to a man. His name is Bryan Richards, and he is going to get what's coming to him. So now you have a choice to make, my sweet Riley. You either tell me where I can find my father, or you will find yourself lying right next to him."
"London, I don't know where he lives, honest. I have only ever been to his office."
"You're lying to me." He came closer to me, waving the knife in front of my face.
"I'm not lying to you, London. I don't know where he lives."
"Well then, you'll just have to call him and find out for me." He brought my cell phone over to me and dialed his number. "Now when he answers, you tell him it's an emergency and you need to see him immediately, at his home. Got it?"
I nodded my head and waiting for Mr. Rollins, or whoever he was to answer. "Hello?"
"Hi Mr. Rollins, it's Riley. I know it's a little bit late, but I really need to talk to you. I'm having a really bad night since the benefit and I could use a session. Can I come to your house?"
"My house? Well Riley, I don't usually let patients come to my house. We could meet at my office."
London pressed the tip of the knife into my knee. I bit my lip until I could taste the blood I had drawn, trying to bite back the pain. "I don't think I can make it all the way to your office. Please, can I just come over for a minute?"
"Riley, just for the record I'm not okay with this, but yes. I'll text you my home address, but you need to make it quick."
"I promise, I'll be quick. Thank you, Mr. Rollins. I'll see you soon."
London snatched the phone from between my shoulder and face and pressed the knife in just a little bit more before he pulled it all the way out. "Such a good little girl. Well, looks like I'm off. Thanks for all of your help, Riley."
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