Three Thousand Miles To You,(Three Thousand Miles, Series, Book #1)

by Longford, Deila

  Of course, not I am just a bit shocked please go on.

  Things started to get a little better in the months after that, Alice got a job and started spending a little more time with me. She actually took me to the park and to me that was the best feeling in the world. Until one night, she got so drunk, that she striped herself naked and was lying on the floor. She looked as if she had passed out from drink, I tried to throw an old ripped sheet over her and to take away the alcohol she had. However, she was not asleep and what she did next I will never forget. She lifted a black leather belt that was sitting on the one chair we had in our living room, and began to hit me so hard on the back of my neck with it that I could not even cry with the pain. That was not the first time she had beat me, but it was one of the worst times. I still have the scares today and I will always remember that feeling of pain. Alanna I wish that I had never had to share these awful memories with you.

  No, I am glad you did Adrian, now I can begin to understand the real you. It is all becoming clear now and I cannot thank you enough for sharing this with me. I know it must be so hard to think back on such a terrible event.

  I have had so much pain and misery in my life, you are the one pure and honest thing I have ever had, and I do not feel like I deserve you.

  Do not think like that Adrian.

  You know the reason I always go for blonde haired women.

  I have no idea.

  It is because Alice had dark hair, and I never want to be reminded of her in anyway. I never had anything but pain and misery from her, and there is no way I could ever be with a dark haired girl, fearing they would do the same to me, as she did.

  Then it is a good thing I have blonde hair, you know I would never hurt you?

  I know you would not and even now, with all this dark stuff around me, you still do not even flinch and try to get away from me. Alanna I have never met anyone like you before, you are so pure and kind, I do not deserve you. I am not good enough for you.

  Adrian I told you not to think like that, I would not be here with you, if I thought you were not good enough.

  I know that, but I do not see what you see in me. I am bad Alanna does all this not tell you that?

  I do not think you are bad, you cannot blame yourself for what she did to you, and you were just a child.

  I know, but what I did it does not even bear to think about.

  Adrian what did you do?

  I cannot tell that part Alanna, It would be too much for you to accept.

  Let me be the judge of that.

  No, Alanna.

  All right then.

  Do you have any classes today?

  No, I am studying all day.

  I have to go just now I am late for a meeting; I will email you later on to check if you are okay.

  Okay, then Adrian Black,

  I cannot believe what Adrian has just told me, how awful it must have been for him. What kind of woman would do that to her son? I have no Idea what kind of person she must be, and I cannot begin to deal with how he must have felt. He was alone in the dark for three days, wondering if she would ever come home. The beatings she gave him were just unforgivable. I cannot hold back my tears as sit there and reflect on all this. I cannot help but feel grateful that my own childhood was as happy as it was. Sure, there were a few minor arguments between my mom and dad, but never anything like that. When I was a child, I could have never imagined another child going through that. Adrian was so young at the time, there is no other way describe Adrian’s childhood but as abusive.

  Sixteen

  The next few days consist mostly of studying and going all over town with Michael. The story is that Michael is an exchange student from Oxford and, other than being here to protect me, he is also here on business. Therefore, a lot of time I am trailing around companies and waiting outside offices, for him to finish whatever business he is doing. Unlike when we first met, Michael is not so talkative now. He barely speaks to me and when he does is just,

  “Are you ready?”

  “Let’s go,” and “come this way.”

  I do not know what I did to offend him. For peace sake, I do not even attempt to ask him. Meanwhile Katharine is following him round like a little puppy dog. She said she cannot get over his looks and she would like to go out sometime with him. I feel that would not be such a good idea given his nature. He never says or does anything; he is always on his phone, talking to some client that he cannot get enough. Although it is hard with him, I do feel safe around him. I have a sense of ease that I only ever have in his presence. I do not know what it is, but something about him just screams out safety. It is almost as if he is my own personal bodyguard, and he certainly has the physique for the job. Today he has me going to some meeting with him. So thinking that it might take a while, I pack my iPod and a magazine. He usually is here by now and he says that his meeting is at one. I go out to hallway, to check if he is anywhere in sight. I see him and he is leaning against the lockers talking to Katharine. He has a sneaky smirk on his face and Katharine is smiling from ear to ear. Not wanting to seem like a buzz kill, I walk over slowly and say to Michael.

  “Don’t you have a meeting today?” He looks over at me, quickly straightening his face.

  “Yes Alanna, I was just about to come get you.” He says in a harsh tone.

  “May I remind you that Wall Street is at least a thirty minute cab ride away and its now 12.45.”

  “They will have to wait then.”

  I shake my head and walk back to my room. I close the door and put my head in my hands, what is his problem? I do not know why I am even wondering that, because I know what the answer is. He does not like me; he does not want to be here, he does not think that I am worth protecting.

  “Alanna,” I hear as the door bursts open, I turn around and I see Michael standing in the doorway glaring at me. “Why did you do that?”

  “Do what?”

  “Come over and cause a scene like that,”

  “Cause a scene, what scene did I cause?”

  “That whole thing about me being late,”

  “You are late; I just thought maybe you lost track of time, so I came out to find you.”

  “And this has nothing to do with the fact that I was standing there talking to Katharine?”

  “No, not at all,”

  “I think its best you know, that I like her and I will be asking her out.”

  “Okay that’s fine with me.” He pauses as he begins to talk, “I didn’t think you would approve of that?”

  “Why wouldn’t I?”

  “Because of the way I have treated you.”

  “Michael I know this is hard on you, you’re far away from home, you don’t like me, and being around me here probably feels like the last thing you want to be doing.”

  “I do like you, what I don’t like is this situation with Adrian.”

  “What do mean by that?”

  “I feel like you would be better off without him in your life.”

  “What?”

  “The way you are in danger all the time, is not good for any relationship and especially not one with Adrian.”

  “What does that mean? Why are you talking about him like this?”

  “I am not slating him in any way; I just want you to make the right choice.”

  “What choice?”

  “There will be a time when you find out about Adrian and, when you do, please make the right choice.”

  “He has told me about his mother Alice,”

  “When, what did he tell you?”

  “A few days ago, he told me how she drank a lot and beat him.”

  “Alanna, that’s not even a shadow of what happened.”

  “So are you saying that he is lying?”

  “No he’s not lying, it’s just that’s not the full story.”

  “Then what is?”

  “Adrian has made it clear that he doesn’t want you to know, why do keep pushing this.”

  “B
ecause don’t you think that I deserve to know?”

  “Yes Alanna you do, but it’s not my secret to tell. I don’t wish to discuss this with you further, please don’t ask me about this anymore.”

  “Fine I won’t”.

  There is absolute silence during the cab ride to Michaels meeting. When we arrive at the shiny dark grey building, I feel as if I have been here before. Even though I am sure, I have not. We walk in the front door and there is a tall skinny dark haired man waiting by the front desk.

  “Good day Mr Jenkins, we have been waiting.” The man says.

  He quickly escorts us along the massive white hall way and into the elevator. “That’s a pretty girl you have with you today, are you his girlfriend Miss?” I look over to the man, wondering why he would think I am with Michael.

  “No I am not his girlfriend,” I say in a tone to icy for someone I just met.

  “Okay Miss; you will have to wait in here.” The man points over to a small room at the end of the hallway. There are glass doors so I can see that there is no one else in the room, which is a good thing. I feel there is nothing worse than sitting in a room with someone you don’t know, hoping that they won’t start small talk. On any other day that would not bother me but today, I really have no time for it.

  “Wait in there, text me if you need anything.” I nod instead of forcing out words.

  I walk along the hallway and push open the glass doors, there is a huge table in the middle of the small room, that has six small vases, all lined up with oversized bouquets of white lilies. There is a massive window at the back of the room, which looks over the city. I walk over, and I sit on the window ledge, as I look down at the streets below I see the black Lamborghini again, and this time there is no driver. I try to focus my thoughts as I wonder what to do for the best. Michael did say to text if I needed anything, I do not exactly need anything and I am already in his bad book. Do I really want to risk angering him more? I take a deep breath and think that I am in a public place, there is no way I could be in danger here, and how do I know that it is the same car? With no one sitting in the car, it could belong to anybody and I am sure there is more than one black Lamborghini in New York. I decide to take a seat over by the door, and then at least I will be able to see if there is anyone approaching. I take a seat on one of the black leather chairs, and not containing my nerves as my foot starts to tap violently against the plastic of the chair. I hear my phone, so I rummage in my bag until I find the white Blackberry. I see that I have a new email from Adrian. I open up the message, keeping one eye on the hallway.

  Adrian: Alanna my love how is your day?

  I do not want to alarm him about the car so I reply,

  Alanna: Fine so far, how is yours?

  Adrian: I was working all day, are you with Michael?

  Alanna: Yes, he is in a meeting right now and I am just waiting for him.

  Adrian: Please Alanna be careful, do not talk to anyone you do not know.

  Alanna: I will not, I think Michael likes my friend Katharine; I caught them this morning chatting in the hall.

  Adrian: Is that what he is doing when he is supposed to be looking after you?

  Alanna: No, he is looking after me, do not worry so much.

  Adrian: How is that possible for me?

  Alanna: You have to try, I am being careful and Michael is here, it is not good for you to worry.

  Adrian: Alanna you are worrying about me, when it is you in danger.

  I begin to type out a reply to Adrian, when I see the dark grey haired man from the Lamborghini I saw the other day, walking up towards the room I am sitting in. I shift nervously keeping my head down. The door opens and he walks in. He takes a good look at me and says,

  “Miss Hart please can you come with me?”

  I look up at him with a look of despair on my face and my chest beating hard. “I won’t hurt you; I promise I just need to talk to you, okay?”

  “Then talk to me here, I am not going anywhere with you.”

  “Please don’t make this difficult for me, if you have any sense then you will do as I say.”

  “I am with someone and he will be back soon, if I go with you then he will wonder where I have gone.”

  “I can assure you Miss that Michael Jenkins will not care that you have gone.”

  “What, he is here to protect me, I think he will care.”

  “Protect you? The only person you need protecting from is Adrian Black.”

  “How do you know Adrian?”

  “Miss, I will be happy to answer all your questions but please come with me.”

  I know this is wrong, but what if he is telling the truth, what if he is the one to tell me what Adrian’s secret is. Therefore, I lift my bag and head over to the door. The grey haired man takes me along to another hallway and into a dark office.

  “Please have a seat.” I sit on one of the black chairs at the front of the big white desk.

  “Now,” The man says as he opens one of the drawers, and pulls out a large brown envelope. “This must be difficult for you, but I need your cooperation. Anything that you know, you must tell me okay?”

  “Okay,” I say.

  He starts to open the envelope and brings out what looks like some photographs. “Have you ever seen this man before?” He shows me a picture of slightly older man with balding hair.

  “No,”

  “Okay, what about this woman?”

  I am stunned because she does look familiar but where have I seen her before. Then I hits me, the picture is of the old woman from the beach, the one that was so rude to me. Only in this picture, she looks much younger.

  “I don’t know her.” I say, feeling that to tell this man that I saw her near New York would be one of the worst things I could do.

  “Okay then, what about this man do you know him?” He shows me a picture of Adrian; I cannot lie about this, he knows I know Adrian. “Yes I know of him.”

  “Miss, this man has done an unthinkable crime; he must be punished in the way the victim was, do you understand?”

  “I don’t because I don’t know what he did?”

  “He hasn’t told you then?”

  “No,”

  “That’s odd, tell me Miss does he love you?” This man is staring to give me the creeps; there is no way I am letting him know how Adrian feels about me. “No he doesn’t love me.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes I am positive, he doesn’t love me. He only sees me as someone to pass his time with.”

  “Miss, you would not be lying to me now would you?”

  “Sir, I know you have been following me for a while now. Tell me this; have you ever seen Adrian here in New York with me?”

  “No I haven’t,”

  “Doesn’t that tell you, that he doesn’t care about me?”

  “You don’t have to be around someone every day to love them.”

  “That’s true.”

  “Miss, I don’t think you understand the seriousness of this. There are people out there that want to kill you.”

  “Then why are you telling me this?”

  “Because young girls like you, are not really the type I feel like killing. Do you know how long I have been to trying to get them to let me have this talk with you?”

  “Why is so important for you to talk to me, if you want to kill me?”

  “I have a daughter about your age; I can’t bear the thought of anything happening to her. I wanted this time with you, to try to make you see sense that Adrian Black is bad for you.”

  “I don’t care about Adrian, really I don’t” I feel so guilty even thinking it let alone saying it.

  “Miss, don’t say you weren’t warned.”

  “I am leaving now.”

  I get up and walk over to the door; I look back and say to the man that is sitting behind the desk. The same face that I am so terrified to look at the wrong way.

  “Sir what would you do, if it was your daughter that knew A
drian, would you let them kill her?”

  “No, I would die first.”

  With that, I close the door. I begin to walk so quickly up the hallway, that I trip and everything in my bag is all over the floor. I rush to the floor and franticly try to put everything back in. As I do I hear Michael, “Alanna where have you been?”

  “Michael, please get me out of here.”

  He rushes me down the stairs and out the door onto the streets. “What was all that about Alanna, where were you?”

  “The guy from the Lamborghini came, and I went with him to an office at the other side of the hallway.”

  “Why would you do that, are you crazy?”

  “He said I basically had no choice, what could I do?”

  “Not go, you should have come and got me.”

  “I was scared. I didn’t know what to do.”

  “You are making this so hard for me Alanna, what do you think Adrian will say when he finds out?”

  “Are you going to tell him?”

  “Of course, he will go crazy Alanna, you are so stupid.”

  “Hey please don’t shout at me.” My words choking out as I begin to cry.

  “Don’t do that Alanna.” I start to sob and to my surprise, Michael takes me in his arms and holds me tight but gentle at the same time. His arms are strong and wise; I catch the scent of his cologne, as the wind passes by. I feel safe in his arms, safer than I’ve ever felt before.

  Seventeen

  Adrian called me later on that night, to ask me about what had happened today. When I finally told him, he got so angry and began to shout.

  “Alanna, have you been listening to anything I have been saying? Why are you being so stupid? Why would you put your life at risk like that?”

  I said a few harsh words back to him, and I think we have had our first fight. Adrian has not texted or emailed in over four hours, and I cannot sleep wondering what one earth he is thinking, by staying mad at me for so long. I think back over the day’s events, and I my mind, is flashing back to the picture of the woman that I saw at the beach. I cannot seem to fit her in all this, who could she be? Why did she look so familiar to me in the first place? I feel so stressed about everything; I do not feel like myself. I have never been so distant with my family and friends. Everyone is beginning to see the strain that is on me. I am missing important events for my dad, and I have not seen Penelope since before I left for London. I know it’s terrible and I do wish I could spend more time with my family, but since I have to have Michael go everywhere with me, I don’t see how I can act normal around my family, without them suspecting something is wrong. It was hard enough for me to come clean to Sophie about Adrian; I cannot imagine telling her all this as well. The only person I can confide in is Adrian and right now, he is mad at me for what I did. I do not like the feeling of having him not talking to me. He is my world right now, I cannot ever think of not having him around me, even if it means that my life is in danger. I think that I am in love with him, something has changed and I feel that I do not only just care about him. The words in which he told me about his mother are stuck in my head forever. I will not be able to go one day, without thinking of the pain he has suffered. I know what ever his secret is, that it will not be enough for me to leave him. I know I have only laid eyes on him twice. I know that it all seems crazy, that I can fall in love with someone over texts and emails, but it is true I have, I love him, I love Adrian Black.