by Melody Anne
“That doesn’t matter. Grace turned her sadness into anger, and so she flirted a bit with Jimmy—not enough to cross a line, but enough to make herself feel wanted. Then Jimmy didn’t appreciate the fact that she was playing with him.”
When Sage’s eyes filled with tears, Cam wanted to stop her, didn’t want to hear what she was going to say, although he already knew. Grace hadn’t admitted it that night a few months ago, but he knew what had happened.
“He raped her. She wasn’t sure at first, because he had drugged her. And she didn’t tell anyone, feeling ashamed and dirty. It was right after I left for college. He’d been priming her for an entire year, and then he did his filthy deed when she was all alone. We’d all left her, something I feel horrible about. She never told me, never told anyone. Then they moved away, and she figured she’d seen the last of him, but he showed up, and he had horrible images of her—horrible, Cam.” Sage stopped to calm herself.
“What do you mean, ‘horrible images’?” Cam asked.
“Once she was drugged, a friend showed up . . .”
Sage jumped from her seat at the sound of the wall breaking when Cam shoved his fist through it.
“What happened, Sage?” he thundered.
“There were pictures, lots of pictures of her with them, and the way they did it made her look like she was a willing participant,” Sage whispered.
“Why didn’t she go to the police? Why didn’t she charge them with assault?”
“Her mother talked her out of it.”
“What?” Cam stood rigid next to the window, the need to strangle someone so overwhelming that his fingers hurt. “Why? Why would she do that?”
“Because she convinced Grace that if she cried rape, they would turn it around on her, making the Sinclairs look bad. Mommy dearest couldn’t allow that to happen,” Sage said, scorn dripping from her tongue.
“Grace won’t prosecute this bastard even with all of this. It’s bullshit,” Cam raved.
“And I think he’s coming after her for more money, now that he knows she’s back where it all began. I don’t know if he’s trying to get a nice fat sum of money in his account before his fiancée figures out exactly who he is, or if the well has run dry from his job—but I think he’s trying to scare the crap out of her, make her weak, and then exploit her for all she’s worth.”
“Why wouldn’t he just demand more money? This doesn’t make sense,” Cam said, anger still ripping through him, but trying to calm down so he could think.
“I don’t know, Cam. I really don’t know, but there’s too much coming at her right now, and I don’t think she can handle anything else.”
“So the threats have nothing to do with the embezzlement,” Cam stated.
“I don’t know. I don’t know how any of this is happening to Grace. She doesn’t deserve it,” Sage said in a defeated tone.
“I’m going to solve this. I think it’s time Jimmy and I have a little chat.”
Cam couldn’t hear anything further. He needed action. Yes, he was a man of the law, but at this moment the law couldn’t help him. Although he had friends who could—no questions asked.
It was time to call them.
“Hi, Grace.”
Her spine stiffened at the sound of his voice. Disgust and shame all at once filled her. “Why, Jimmy? Why are you back in my life? Why are you calling me?”
“Aren’t you going to even ask how I got your number, darling?”
“I’m not your darling, Jimmy. I never have been, never will be,” she snapped.
“You’re just no fun at all, are you?” he mocked.
“Why don’t you tell your fiancée—I know you stole my number from her—that you’re a rapist and extortionist? I have nothing to say to you.”
“I wouldn’t hang up if I were you, Grace. I know that high-and-mighty tone. You think you’re so much better than me—that you always have been. But you see, I’ve managed to pull myself out of that trailer park I grew up in. I’ve managed to make a name for myself—and find me a real respectable whore to marry, even. A very wealthy whore, at that,” he said with a laugh.
“Then go back to your whore and leave me the hell alone,” she snapped, her fingers itching to hang up, but she knew this wouldn’t end until the filthy man said what he intended to say.
“I can’t do that. You see, she’s begun to grow suspicious that I’m not exactly who I say I am. She doesn’t think I’m quite as wealthy as I’ve implied.”
“So that’s why you finally came out from hiding behind your future bride and let me see your face—you want money.”
She fought to keep her voice even, to make it sound almost bored. What good would showing him emotion do her? None at all. It would give him power, and she was through with giving this man power over her.
“I need more money, darling. You know, not many people will want to hire an event planner who so willingly took slutty pictures when she was barely out of high school.”
Grace was silent as she counted to ten and then twenty silently. She’d promised herself she would never again let this man manipulate her, and she wasn’t going to do it this time.
“I’m not afraid of you anymore, Jimmy. You see, when I ran to my mother and told her I was raped, and she acted like it was my fault and made me go clean myself up before she was able to even look at me, I felt shamed and alone. I felt that way for years, until the day I walked into her bedroom and found her on top of you. Neither of you looked ashamed—you looked pretty damn hot for each other.”
“What does that have to do with your pictures, sweetie?”
“I didn’t pay you off because I was ashamed, Jimmy. I paid you off because my mother was ashamed. If you want to publish those pictures, you go right ahead and do that. But just remember that I know some pretty powerful people, and I figured something else out as the years went by . . .” She stopped, a smile creeping into her tone.
“And what is that?” The more she taunted him, the angrier he became. Good. She wanted him angry, because she was sure as hell pissed off.
“No one controls me. Try and use those pictures and I’ll have you in jail for slander, extortion, and rape.” She wasn’t bowing down to him ever again.
He was silent as he tried to comprehend what she was saying. She waited.
“You can’t do that,” he finally spluttered.
“Oh, yes, I can, Jimmy, believe me. I don’t know whether you still even have those pictures or whether you were smart enough to think of using them against me twice. But all the same, those pictures are evidence of what you did to me.”
“No, they aren’t, you stupid whore! They are consensual sex as far as the public will see it. I made damn sure of that. Your beautiful little face was posed just right—I placed your fat lips over my cock!”
“It’s not that I have fat lips, Jimmy; it’s that you have an incredibly small penis,” she said.
“That’s it. I’ll show the world what you really are.”
“You go ahead and do that. And then you’ll see exactly what I’ll do to you!”
The other end of the line was silent as Jimmy considered. She didn’t care. Finally, she was able to tell this scum he held no power over her.
“No one will believe you. They never believe the woman,” he spluttered.
“Oh, no, Jimmy, it’s not a lie. It’s the full-blown truth. And if you’re the one breaking into my place, trying to scare me into doing whatever you want, though I don’t know how you could think I could be scared of you, considering how pathetic you are, I suggest you stop. I won’t stop until you’re destroyed.”
“You can’t do a damn thing to me, you trashy rich bitch!” He was losing it more and more by the second.
“Oh, I can, Jimmy, because, unlike you, I have friends—very powerful friends who don’t like to see me get hurt. You’ve broken the law, you’ve tried to scare me, and you are the one who will pay. You’re not coming after me, you pathetic excuse for a man,” she tol
d him grimly. “I’m coming after you!”
“You won’t get away with this! I guarantee you.”
“I already have, Jimmy. If you so much as call me again, I will have you in jail so fast your head will still be spinning a week later. Stay the hell away from me, from my friends, from my town, from my life. Or pay the consequences.”
Grace hung up the phone to the sound of Jimmy spluttering on the other end of the line. And as she sat back on her friend’s couch, she smiled. A feeling of freedom filled her unlike anything she’d felt in a very long time.
Somehow she knew Jimmy would be too scared to retaliate against her. She could finally go home. So much had been happening to her in such a short period of time that she hadn’t even had a chance to analyze how she felt.
Cam was back in her life, or had been until their last fight. Was she ready to give that up again? Was she ready to let go of the hurts of the past? Maybe it was time she did exactly that. First, she had to get a clear head, and she needed to be alone to do that.
But it seemed her troubles were over.
“Open the door, Grace!” There was no response, so he pounded with his fists even harder. “Open the damn door or I swear I’m going to break it down this time.”
When the door came flying open, Cam nearly fell forward. He caught himself at the last minute and then found himself standing with Grace inside her house. They were both wearing scowls.
“I’ve told you all week that I need time to think, Cam—that I don’t want to talk to you right now.”
He hadn’t seen her in nearly two weeks, because a week before she’d moved back to her house—and that had really irked him—she’d been avoiding him over at his brother’s house. He was done with being avoided.
“You look stunning,” he said, taking a step forward.
“Don’t you dare sweet-talk me and expect to get not only into my house but into my pants as well.”
“You’re not wearing pants,” he pointed out, which only made the heat in her eyes go up another ten degrees.
“Get out right now, Cam, or I’m calling the sheriff.”
“Good, call him. I need to talk to him about a case he’s a witness for,” Cam said smugly as he sat down on her couch and made himself at home. “You know the sheriff and my dad go fishing just about every Sunday when the weather permits.”
“Yes, remind me of all the connections you have. I don’t care. You’re still trespassing.”
She sat down across from him, folding her arms and glaring, letting him know in every possible way that he wasn’t welcome in her place.
“That wasn’t what I was doing at all, Grace. I was just reminiscing.”
“I told you I needed time to figure things out, Cam. I’d appreciate it if you would give me that time.” Some of the anger drained and he spotted the fatigue enveloping her.
“I’m sorry, Grace, but this couldn’t wait any longer. I have a lead in your case.”
The last of her anger vanished right before his eyes and she looked so vulnerable at that moment, he couldn’t help but rise and move toward her.
“Don’t, Cam,” she said, but without any heat this time.
“You need to be held, even if it’s just for a few moments,” he told her, and pulled her from the overstuffed chair she’d sunk down into.
She fought him for only the briefest of moments before she allowed him to capture her in his embrace, and she rested her head on his chest.
“It’s okay to not always be the strongest person in the room, Grace. You’re strong, and that’s admirable; but you’re also a real person, and contrary to what you were taught, we all need others in our lives. We don’t have to fight our battles alone, and we don’t have to figure it all out by ourselves. Let me take some of your stress and pain on my shoulders. They’re wide and strong and waiting to hold your burdens.”
“You’ve always had the best lines, Cam.” She sniffled.
“It might sound that way, but I love you, Grace. I mean what I say to you.”
“You don’t love me, Cam. You don’t even know me anymore,” she said, tears in her voice.
“I know everything I want and need to know about you.”
“No. No, you don’t. We were young and stupid when you left for college. We both made mistakes—mistakes that hurt people and that we can’t take back.”
“I know all about Jimmy, Grace. That wasn’t on your shoulders. That was all him. Don’t punish yourself for a crime against you. Your mother should go to prison for what she did to you.”
Anger still filled him to even think of what Grace had gone through—and, worst of all, he should have been there for her, shouldn’t have assumed she was cheating on him, that she hadn’t waited for him.
“We were both foolish when I left for college. I was selfish and wanted to see the world, thought I had everything in the palm of my hand. And you were just young and you trusted the wrong person. Can’t we let go of the past and move forward? I still love you, just in case you didn’t hear me. I still want to be with you. And though you might have a hard time admitting the truth, I can see it shining in your eyes whenever you let your guard down. I know you love me, too. I know you believe in us.”
She was silent for several moments, so Cam stood there with her in his arms as he tried to show her by his touch how special she was to him. He never wanted to let her go. If he messed this up this time, he might not ever get over it.
“There are some things we can’t take back from those days, some things we can’t forget,” she said, so much sadness weighing on her that it nearly ripped his heart open.
“Tell me, Grace. I’m sure we can figure this out,” he assured her, pulling back so he could see her face.
“I need tea. Do you want tea?”
He could see she was trying desperately to hold herself together and that she was looking for an excuse to be alone for a moment. “Yes, tea would be nice.” He gave her the chance to get away, but only for a few minutes.
When she came back in the room five minutes later carrying a tray with hot water, tea, and fixings, he was seated on the couch.
“You said there was a break in my case.”
Her tone had changed from angry, and then sad, to neutral. She was holding it all in now. Cam wanted to fix that, but he knew she’d been controlled before, so he made himself let her work through it even though that wasn’t easy for him.
“Yes. I have a plan on how to catch the person,” he told her.
Finally, a spark of light entered her eyes. “Who is it, Cam?”
“I’m not going to say that right now. I want to get this person, and the only way to do so is by catching them off guard. I need them to trust me, to think I’m their friend.”
“You don’t trust me?” she asked, her voice deceptively calm.
“No.” He didn’t elaborate and her eyes narrowed once again.
“I’ve been taking care of myself for a very long time, Cam. I can handle this.”
He paused for several long moments and then did something she would have never expected him to do.
“You’re right, Grace. I’m sorry. I just want to protect you. But you need to know.”
She waited and he said nothing further. “So . . .”
“It’s Vince. He was incredibly good, but he’s been siphoning money from his father’s company and collecting money through this nonprofit in your name. He’s watched you. He only takes money from the local bank when you’re in the area, and then it immediately goes into an offshore account. He’s covered his trail well, but we have him. He won’t escape this now.”
“Seriously?” she said after a few moments, completely thrown off by this. “I don’t get it. I don’t understand at all. I really thought it might be my mother. I was terrified it was her.”
“I thought so, too, which is why it took me so long to find Vince. I wasn’t looking in the right places. Axel made a big break in the case finding the company Vince’s father owns in Chicago. A
fter we got that information, it all came together.”
“So does this mean it’s over?” she asked, hopeful for the first time in a while.
“Not yet, but it won’t be long now.” He moved closer to her and put his arm around her. “I’ve missed you, Grace, really missed you.”
“Cam, don’t do this . . .” she begged.
“Just let me take care of you,” he said, which stiffened her back.
“Of course: Cam to the rescue, because poor little Gracie can’t take care of herself,” she said.
“You’re more than capable of taking care of yourself. I’ve seen you do it time and time again. But it’s also okay to be taken care of once in a while.”
“Maybe I am tired of doing it on my own, but it’s not so easy to admit that,” she finally said.
Cam’s eyes softened and it was nearly her undoing.
“Grace, I’m going to pick you up in my arms and carry you to your room. Then I’m going to lay you down and crawl into bed next to you.”
“No, Cam. I don’t want that,” she said, but she didn’t mean it.
“All I’m going to do is hold you, Grace. Because I’ve missed you, and I need to hold you as much as you need to be held.”
At those words, she stopped fighting him. So he lifted her up and carried her to bed, gently laying her down before stripping to his boxers and climbing in next to her, and then pulled her into the safety of his arms.
The two of them still had a winding road ahead of them, but Cam knew that if they didn’t give up on one another, they could weather the storm and make it through anything, just as they’d made it through all the trials that had come before.
“I’ve thought about it, Cam, and you’re right: I’m not going to let my fears keep me hiding in the dark anymore.”
