Protective Love (Hidden Secrets)

by P. J. Belden

  A few hours later, it was late and I was tired, so I decided to call it a night. The music was still going downstairs, so I knew the only way I was going to get any sleep was if I switched to my wireless headphones and wore them to bed. After changing for bed and brushing my teeth, I crawled in bed and fell asleep in no time.

  Unsure of how long I was sleeping when my bedroom light came on. I sat up and tried to get my eyes to adjust to the light. Through the blur, I thought I saw my brother in the doorway.

  “Jeez, Nick! I was sleeping, you know?”

  I rubbed my eyes, and when I looked back the door was being locked. It was not my brother after all. Instead, it was a man about the height of my brother, with a buzzed head and average frame, though it was apparent that he worked out. He wore a tank top with a vest over it, revealing several tattoos lining his arms and neck. His jeans were baggy and sagged from his waist. He had three piercings - two silver hoops in his ears that caught the light from my room when he walked, and the other in his lip. He moved closer to me, and I noticed that his eyes were dark - almost black. He walked with the confidence that he owned the world and had a smile on his face that sent chills down my spine.

  “Um, you need to leave my room,” I said, trying to keep the fear from my voice.

  “My name is Alex. I am a friend of your brother, Carson. I take it he is not coming home tonight?” His voice was low and had a menacing tone as he spoke.

  It puts me on edge. The look in his eyes wasn’t making me any less nervous. I wasn’t sure what the look was or why he was in my room, but my gut was telling me to stay alert.

  “No, he made it farther than he thought and will be gone for an extra couple of days, but I will tell him you stopped by. Please shut my light off on your way out, Alex.”

  Carson was a kick boxer, and a good one. He was fighting in some tournament in New York.

  I forced a smile, but Alex moved closer to me. He was staring at me with cold eyes that held no hint of light or warmth.

  “I like the way my name sounds coming from your lips.”

  I tensed up immediately. He was much bigger than I was. As he reached my bed, I scooted as far away from him as I could get.

  I should have listened to my gut. If I would have listened, I might be in a better position than I am in right now. My mind was frantically trying to figure out how to get away. I tried to move toward the end of my bed.

  He grabbed me immediately and held me down with his body.

  “Your brother cost me money, so to pay him back, I am going to have some fun with his pretty little sister.”

  I screamed. I screamed as loud as I could.

  “No one can hear you, princess. Just relax. You will enjoy it, I promise.”

  I started crying as he started pulling up my nightgown.

  “Please don’t! Please leave me alone.”

  But, he didn’t care, he began to—

  Shaking my head, I tried to rid the thoughts... the memories of that day, but they seemed to always come back when I came home. It was why I didn't come home often. It was still, even after all of these years, too painful to come back around. I no longer viewed that house as my family home anymore. I saw a place that was tainted and haunted with bad—

  KNOCK... KNOCK... KNOCK...

  A knock on the car door jolted me from one of the scariest moments in my life and brought me back to the present. I screamed. I couldn’t help it; it was the memory. It took longer than it should have for me to recover. Trying to calm myself, I knew that the fear I felt must still be on my face, but I slowly turned to see who knocked.

  It was Carson. I let out a slow, deep breath of relief.

  Carson was a handsome man, with dusty brown crew cut hair. He would always joke, saying keeping it short helped with his game. He was fairly muscular, with bright green eyes. Many people would not believe by looking at my brother that he was a champion kick boxer, but he was amazing to watch. The skill and precision that he showed in his fighting… I wished I could fight like him.

  The intensity in my brother’s stare made me worry that he could see my thoughts. There was nothing I hoped for more than for no one to ever find out about my secrets. I planned to take it to my grave. Carson opened the door, unbuckled my seatbelt, and pulled me into his arms. Because of everything that has happened, I didn’t like being this close to anyone; even my brothers. I fought against his hold until he finally let me go.

  “What’s wrong, Kay?”

  With confusion plain on my face, I stared at my brother not understanding why he would think something was wrong. Panic built slowly as I wondered if he knew. I went to respond when he reached up and wiped a tear from my face.

  “Something’s wrong. You never cry.”

  He was right. I made sure that no one saw me cry. I saved all of that for when I laid my head on my pillow. It seemed to be the only way I could fall asleep anymore. The nightmares still got the best of me, and because of that I never slept through the night, but I was able to fall asleep. And that was a big thing.

  “Nothing, I’m fine.”

  I put on my best smile, hoping my brother didn’t see through it. Honestly, it was a miracle I had been able to keep my secret from my family as long as I had. The Williams are a very tight knit and close crew. Well, they were all close except for me. I had turned away from many of them when I was twelve. Elijah and Carson were the main ones I’d been pushing out of my life, but honestly, I’d pushed away my whole family. I didn’t open up or - as hard as it was to say - trust them. How could I? Everything I knew was gone in an instant. I was used to pay a debt for Carson. Even though I did not blame my family for any of it, I just stuck to myself and depended only on what I knew and could do, nothing more.

  I shook my head and smiled at my brother again. With that last smile, I turned and started walking toward the house. I had just made it into the backyard when Carson caused everyone to stare.

  “Kay, you never cry. What the hell is going on?”

  “Carson, drop it! I’m fine,” I said through clenched teeth.

  “I’m not dropping anything until you tell me what’s going on.”

  “Nothing…” I whispered with my back still to him.

  Every eye at the party was on us and I knew it. I didn’t have to look around to see, I could feel them all on me. Much to my dislike my eyes began to fill with tears.

  “Damn it, Kayla!” he screamed.

  Now I knew for certain every eye was on us. Being the center of attention was never a place I wanted to be. I didn’t want to be when I was little and I sure as hell didn’t want to be at that moment. I whirled around, anger taking over and tears in my eyes. I pushed his chest.

  “I told you nothing was wrong! Leave me alone!”

  Tears slipped down my cheeks and I quickly brushed them away.

  “Kay…”

  “Don’t ‘Kay’ me! I told you I was fine. Just accept it and move on.” My resolve slowly breaking, I lowered my voice “Please Carson. Just leave it be.”

  He wrapped his arms around me and I stiffened. The touch, the contact… I couldn’t handle it. With my hands against his chest, I tried to push away from him, but it was like trying to get a wall to move. He held me tighter.

  “Kay, I know something is wrong. When you’re ready to talk I’m here. I’m sorry for upsetting you more,” he whispered in my ear, then kissed my cheek and let me go.

  Smoothing my hair down and fixing my dress, I collected myself and walked over to Mylee and Kylee, my twin sisters who had just graduated college. Mylee - the choreographer - and Kylee - the designer - may have been identical twins, but they were as different as different could be. The one thing that they had in common was their need to be the center of attention. I shook my head as I watched both of them flirting with the same guy.

  “Hey!” I said as I got to the table they were sitting.

  “Hey Kay!” they said in unison and laughed.

  It had been a while since I had see
n any of the family. Aside from weekend phone calls to my parents just so they knew I was still alive, I rarely talked to any of them. I missed them all so damn much, but there was too much I had to deal with to hang around with the constant reminder of what only I knew happened.

  Amazed, I looked around the table as all the men’s mouths dropped open when my sisters jumped up to hug me. The amazing part was my sisters didn’t even seem to notice. I hugged each of them.

  “So proud of you both.”

  They both gave me a huge smile then Mylee turned to the group of men and I could feel my fear kick in a bit as she introduced me to the group.

  “This is Mitch, Donny, Kenny, and John. Guys, this is our sister Kayla.”

  All of them said “Hi.” Three of them turned their attention back to my sisters, but one kept his eyes on me. The look in his eyes was giving me the creeps. I tried to hurry away, but the guy stepped in front of me.

  “I’m Mitch,” he said, holding his hand out for me to shake.

  I smiled and tentatively shook his hand.

  “Kayla. See you around.”

  When I tried to pull my hand from his, he wouldn’t let it go. Suddenly I was so nervous that there were butterflies in my stomach and I felt like I was going to be sick. It wasn’t a good nervous either. This guy scared the shit out of me.

  “Don’t leave. We should get to know each other.”

  He brought my hand up to his lips. Finally able to yank my hand free, I left without looking back or saying a word. When guys looked at me like that, I could see their intentions. His were not honorable. One could tell a lot from someone’s eyes. I could hear the guy walking behind me.

  “Kay Key!”

  I almost jumped with glee. I had never been so happy to hear my childhood nickname. I looked around to see who was calling me, and there, with his arms opened wide, was my brother Jake. We used to be close.

  God, I miss my family.

  The closeness we’d once had seemed to have vanished in a single night. Current events kept me from getting close to them again. However, this guy Mitch was giving me the creeps, and for the first time in a long time, I hugged my brother. He seemed to be just as shocked about it as I was, but I wanted to be safe from this guy.

  “You’re shaking Kay. What’s wrong?”

  “Is that guy still watching me? Don’t let him see you look.”

  After a moment, Jake said, “Yes. Why?”

  “Just trust me when I say he’s bad news. He’s giving me the creeps.”

  I had no more than finished telling Jake that when I felt my brother stiffen and his arms tighten around me. The pressure made me start to panic. I pushed against Jake, but he wouldn’t let me go. Soon I found out why.

  “You going to introduce me to your friend, babe?”

  “Babe?” I whispered.

  Jake finally released me and I turned around. To my horror, Mitch actually reached for me. I immediately stiffened. Then flat out fear broke out when I saw who walked into the backyard.

  Alex!

  He seemed to be searching for something or someone. Just then my oldest brother Elijah came into the backyard.

  “Kayla!”

  I watched in terror as Alex found me, smirked and started walking toward me. Elijah got to me first and tried to hug me. I didn’t return it. I loved my brother, but it was his idea for the ‘party’ they had and it was Carson that screwed Alex over. Both of their decisions ruined me and the person I wanted to be.

  “You’re still mad at me? This cold shoulder is getting old. What the hell happened? What…”

  I didn’t hear the rest of Elijah’s speech over the top of my heart pounding its way out of my chest. As he got closer, I started trembling and knew that my eyes had to be as big as my head.

  “Hey everybody! Thanks for the invite.” Without thinking, I stepped back and behind my brother Jake as he said “Hello Kayla. Pretty as ever even after all these years.” The smile on his face and the look in his eyes made me start to shake worse.

  My brother eyed me oddly. Without a doubt I knew I was making an ass out of myself, but they wouldn’t think so if they knew the truth. Unaware of my movements, I grabbed hold of Jake’s hand and was squeezing it hard in my shaking. Jake looked back at me and I barely registered the concern that immediately lit his eyes as he looked between Alex and me.

  Jake moved in front of me and fisted his hands at his sides.

  “I think you need to quit looking at my sister like that or you will be dragging your sorry ass out of this party. I don’t even know why you’re here. I don’t remember you being on the guest list.”

  “Looks like someone’s edgy today. What’s wrong, someone piss in your Cheerios this morning? Didn’t get laid? For your information, I didn’t get an invite. I am Mitch here’s guest. He invited me along. I am not considered part of the family anymore. I wonder why that is…” Alex said, looking at me.

  I shook my head with so much force that I wobbled a little. Elijah looked between Alex and me, then stepped in front of me, blocking me completely from Alex’s sight.

  “I don’t know what is going on, but you need to get the hell out of here before I join my brother in beating you to a bloody pulp. Don’t forget, I’m a lawyer - I can get us out of this mess faster than you can turn tail and run.”

  “You guys are still the big, arrogant assholes you were back in the day.” Alex said, leaning to the side so he could see me. “I’ll see you later. I promise that.”

  “Like hell you will,” Jake said stepping forward.

  Alex laughed as he walked backwards, then glared at me before walking away, Mitch follows him. I knew this little outburst by my brothers was going to cause some big trouble for me. As angry as I was at them, I knew they were just reacting to their sister in distress. The fear over what could be coming had me literally shaking even more.

  My brothers turned around just in time to catch me as I started to fall.

  “Kayla?” Elijah asked.

  “Kay? What’s wrong? Are you okay?” Jake asked with concern thick in his voice.

  All I could do was shake my head. My throat was clogged with fear; there was no way I could even make a noise. It felt like I was going to suffocate, which caused me to panic. Staring up at Jake with wide, pleading eyes, I silently begged for help for the first time.

  “I’m taking her to go lay down.” Jake told Elijah.

  He carried me off into the house. I heard my sisters ask about me.

  “What’s wrong Eli?”

  “I don’t know, but I’m going to figure it out.”

  Jake carried me to my old room and set me down on the bed, which wasn’t helping my panic any. It was like going right back to that night. I clawed at Jake’s shirt. Taking deep breaths, but never getting enough oxygen.

  “Calm down, Kay. Please calm down. I’m right here.”

  He began to stroke my hair just as he used to do when I was little to help me fall asleep after a nightmare. In soft whispers he talked, calming me down. It wasn’t long that the panic faded and I was able to breathe again. A tear leaked down to my hairline. Jake immediately picked me up and hugged me to him.

  “Kay, you’re scaring the shit out of me. Please tell me what’s going on.”

  The topic caused my panic to return instantly. I pushed away from my brother and moved across the room. There was no way I was getting into it just then, and especially not there.

  “There’s nothing going on.”

  “Bullshit! You and I used to talk about everything. Now any of us are lucky if we see you at the holidays. Something is going on. Tell me!”

  “Jake…”

  My phone started ringing. I had never been so grateful for an interruption. When I looked at the caller ID and saw who was calling, I almost jumped for joy. It was the perfect way to get away from my brother.

  “Dr. Williams.”

  “Hello, Dr. Williams. I’m sorry to bother you. I know you had that family party today, but we
have an emergency that can’t wait for Dr. Hemmings to get out of surgery.”

  After listening to the case, I told her I would be there right away. I closed my phone and faced my brother who was still glaring at me. It wasn’t going to be easy, but I was going to run like hell out of there.

  “I have to go, there’s an emergency at work. It was nice seeing you again. Take care.”

  Turning I bolted from the room with Jake calling my name behind me. My secrets were mine to carry, not anyone else’s. I would not drag anyone else down with me. My secrets would remain that way for the rest of my life.

  I will never taint another’s life with the secrets I carry within me.

  As soon as I made it back out to the backyard, I hugged my sisters goodbye, told them congratulations one more time and I ran for the door. Out the door and down the steps, all the while trying to get my heels off so I can run faster, I started to fall when I hopped right off the walk and lost my balance.

  CHAPTER TWO

  ~JASON~

  After having to park almost a block away, I wasn’t any happier about having to come here. I didn’t know who these people were and I was just supposed to show up and talk to them like we all knew each other well. I would do anything for my parents, and I guess I was proving it then. My mom was sick and unable to fly in to be there for the party herself, so she asked me to stop by and let Mrs. Williams know. I had hoped to just stop and leave.

  I could be sitting at home right now kicking back in front of my fireplace or sitting out on my deck. Instead, I am about to walk into a noisy party.

  My head was already hurting.

  I was just walking up to the front of the house when I froze in my spot. Staring at the sight before me, I watched as a woman came running from the house. Her long, brown, curly hair was flying like silk in the wind behind her as she ran. It was like watching her in slow motion.

  She was breathtaking. She had perfect opulent curves, not pencil thin like most women these days think they need to be. As she ran, her perfect size breasts were bouncing along. Just looking at her was making my cock stir in my pants. I watched as she made her way down the steps trying to get her shoes off. She was down on the walk, struggling with her other shoe when she started to fall. I ran in to catch her. Her hair fell into her face as I cradled her in my arms.