by Christina OW
“You have my full attention, Mrs. Albury.”
She loved hearing her new title. Placing her hands on his chest, she answered, “I’m glad. Are you ready for the ride of your life?”
His hands went up to her breasts and he pinched her nipples hard. “I’m more than ready.”
Chapter Thirteen
Loraine was startled awake by the loud crash. It sounded like broken glass, really large glass. She turned her head to look at Reno and see if he’d heard it but he was sound asleep with a smile on his face. Smiling she traced the hard edges of his face with the tips of her fingers. He looked so much like Tyler in his sleep state—gentle, innocent and harmless. She loved this man so much sometimes it felt like her heart would burst.
Another crush sounded from downstairs followed by a child’s cry. Loraine’s entire body went rigid from terror. That was Tyler. She knew every sound he made and that was one of fear. Anxious to get to her son, she pushed Reno’s muscular weight off her but before she could get out of bed, she was pulled back, a heavy hand pressed against her mouth.
“Hush, don’t move,” Reno whispered harshly. “Stay here Lori. I think someone is in the house. I’m going to check things out downstairs. Keep the phone close by, if I’m not back in three minutes, I want you to lock yourself in the bathroom and call Ruiz and tell him there is an intruder. Do you hear me?”
Lori shook her head. This couldn’t be happening! No! She was finally happy and now this? No!
“Reno, please don’t! I’ll just call Jeb and—”
Reno shook his head, his jaw tightly clenched. “No. Having bodyguards at your beck and call is no longer part of your life. You and Tyler are my family and I’m going to protect you from now on, understand?”
She shook her head as the tears in her eyes blurred Reno’s face. “I can’t lose you Reno…I just can’t. I won’t survive it. I’m not as strong as Riana…”
Reno hushed pressing a gentle kiss on her lips. “You won’t lose me and I won’t lose you, I promise.” He pulled away from her and yanked on his pants as he stood up. He reached for the house phone on his side of the bed and pressed it into her hands. “Don’t forget what I told you. Three minutes, Lori, and you call my brother.”
She hugged the phone to her chest, “I love you, please don’t let this be the last time I say that.”
He kissed her again long and hard, and that only increased her desperation. She pressed her fist against her mouth to keep from crying out for him to stop when he quietly slipped out the door, pulling it closed behind him with an even more silent click.
She quickly got off the bed and got dressed in his wedding shirt and boxers. She knew she should go into the bathroom like he told her but she just couldn’t. She needed to be with him, to make sure he was okay and if not to help him. She opened the door and stepped into the hallway. She stood there battling indecision until she heard Reno’s shout then the heavy thud of a fall.
She whimpered her hands shaking as she tried to dial Ruiz’s number. After numerous tries she finally dialed. She held the phone to her ear but there was nothing. No dial tone or ringing, nothing. The phone was dead; it could only mean the lines had been cut!
“Oh God no! No, no, no!” she cried.
“Mommy!”
Tyler’s scream made her jump, the phone slipping out of her hands, breaking apart as it hit the phone.
“Tyler!”
Without a second thought Loraine ran down the stairs and into the open space of the living room. She stopped dead when she saw Tyler openly crying as he struggled to get out of a large man’s hold. She looked up at the assailant, her hands fisted tightly to stop the shaking. He had a large grin on his face as he stared at her, his eyes traveling her body before it settled on her face again.
“What do you want?” she demanded her eyes shifting between his creepy smile and Tyler’s tear stained face.
“You, of course.” he said it as if he was shocked she didn’t know already.
“Fine you can have me. Just let my son go and my…” she swallowed the lump in her throat. “My husband, where is he?”
His face creased with rage, his lips twisting in a sneer. “Your husband? You are my woman mon coeur not that…voleur—thief’s!”
Did he just say…and that voice, the accent… No it couldn’t be! “Thief? Why…why did you call him that?”
“He stole you from me, he married you!” His face softened as he stepped forward dragging Tyler with him. “I’ve waited eight years to marry you, to make you my wife. Eight years to have a son of our own, a part of you and a part of me. I even had a name picked out, Jon Louis. If it wasn’t for Jeb we would have been husband and wife with children of our own,” and just as quickly his face twisted in anger. “Instead, you give him a child and let him make you his. You are mine, only mine!”
His crazy yelling stiffened her with fear as Tyler’s whimpering grew to loud cries. She’d spent years forgetting his face being haunted by just his grey eyes but that was over now. He was here, all that she had cursed out of her mind stood before her, threatening not just her life but of those she loved most in the world as well.
“Pierre,” she choked on his name. It tasted like bile on her tongue but she had to keep speaking, to try and talk him into letting Tyler and Reno go. Even if it meant… Oh God the thought of it made her stomach turn. “Pierre, let them go then you and I can speak reasonably about this.”
His brow furrowed as he blinked at her. “Speak reasonably, about what? I believe it’s all quite clear. You are my woman and they…” he yelled, shaking Tyler and making him cry harder. Loraine held herself back from going to him, from crying. This was all her fault, her fault. “…stole you from me!”
“Okay,” she cried desperately. “Then take me. Let Tyler go and take me.”
His eyes widened, his lips spreading in a toothy grin. “You mean it?”
She looked at her son and the fear in his face was all the motivation she needed. She looked up at Pierre and nodded. “I mean it. Let him go and take me. Just like you’ve always wanted. Jeb won’t stop you this time.”
He let out a hoot of elation and released Tyler. She fell to her knees as Tyler ran to her, into her arms and held onto her with all his strength, his little body shaking against hers.
“Mommy!”
Loraine felt her heart break as she held him tighter, willing for him to stop being afraid. But how could she give him that when she was just as scared if not more?
“Ssh honey, everything will be alright.” She tried to pull him away but he held on tighter with a whimper. “Tyler, please.” She whispered pulling on his arms until he finally let go. She wiped his face dry and smiled at him. A difficult task with her lips wobbling. “Go up to mommy and daddy’s room and stay there. Make sure to lock the door and don’t come out no matter what you hear.”
“Are you coming too?” he sniffed, his little body jarring with each hiccup.
Loraine shook her head knowing this may be the last time she saw her beautiful son. She wanted to hold him one last time, to tell him how much she loved him, how much she’ll miss him. To promise she’d fight tooth and nail to get back to him before Pierre could kill her if it was only to hold him one last time but she couldn’t. She couldn’t lie to him like that, doom him to wasting his young life waiting for her to come back and telling him goodbye now would be incredibly cruel.
God she hoped the stories she heard about a person being able to watch over their loved ones after death was true. She didn’t want to miss one minute of his life, even if she was a ghost.
She caressed his cheek and kissed his forehead one last time, battling the anguished cry to stay trapped in her chest. I’ll miss you my sweet beautiful baby boy. Take care of your daddy for me. “No, but I promise I’ll come up as soon as I can.”
Tyler stared at her like he was trying to catch the lie in her words. She hoped he couldn’t see it in her face. She didn’t want Pierre hurting him just to get t
o her.
Unable to take the perusing stare anymore, she stood up and pushed him toward the staircase, “Go and don’t forget to lock the door.” Tyler didn’t move, he just kept staring at her, with tears running down his cheeks. Loraine couldn’t stand watching him in pain much longer. It was going to cripple her. So in the sternest voice she could master she yelled, “Tyler Albury, upstairs, now!”
He jumped a step back, his eyes round with shock. She’d scared him, that’s not what she wanted. He was scared enough already.
“Baby, please!” she begged in a gentle voice.
“I love you mommy,” he whispered giving Pierre a glance before he dashed for the stairs.
Loraine stood there, listening to his little feet against the hardwood floors until she heard the loud bang of the door being slammed shut and the click of the lock. And with that click, her legs gave way under her and she fell to the floor, her body wracking with gut wrenching sobs. She’d seen her son for the last time and she couldn’t take it, she just couldn’t handle it. And Reno…she cried harder, knowing that he might already be dead. But her heart wouldn’t accept that. She could still feel him. He might be hurt, gravely, but he wasn’t dead. For Tyler’s sake she had to believe that.
Her entire body went stiff, her sobs affixed in her throat when she felt his hand stroking her hair.
“Don’t cry, mon amour, we’ll have children of our own. They will fill you with so much happiness, you won’t even remember this one.”
She wanted to rip away from his touch, to tell him she’d die before she procreated with him and that any child would be cursed to have him as a father but she didn’t. She couldn’t risk Reno or Tyler’s life like that.
“Where is Reno?” she asked, holding herself perfectly still as his hands began to roam her back and arms.
“Hmm? Oh that man. Do not worry, he’s resting with his first wife,” he chuckled like he’d told some joke only he could understand.
“What do mean? Georgia is here?” What is Georgia doing here?
“Oui, Georgia. She is very pretty but she holds no candle to your beauty, mon amour.” He whispered in her ear, rubbing his cheek against hers, up her temple and into her hair where he breathed her scent in then pressed his lips hard, she could feel the wetness on her scalp. Loraine’s body shivered with disgust. His touch made her stomach want to revolt.
“I’ve been watching you. I saw what you did to yourself and it made me angry. Why did you hide your beauty behind all that fake color?” He moved to sit in front of her. The look on his face made her shudder. If he wasn’t crazy, she would have believed that was a look of love. “But when you transformed yourself to my angel, ma belle ange. I knew you were calling me, telling me to come back into your life. So here I am.”
The last thing Loraine wanted to listen to was his delusions. “Why is Georgia here?”
“Is it necessary for you to know?” When she didn’t answer he sighed dramatically. “Okay, I met her when your new—soon to be old—husband had her thrown out of the hotel. Jeb was with her, talking to her. I heard what he said.” He tapped the tip of her nose with his finger. “Not a very trust worthy man that one. Always lying, asking for favors and reneging on his part of the deal but that was not your query. I made her a better offer, told her I would get the boy for her if she gave me a little money. She said she was broke but she had something better.”
The lustful gleam in his eyes made Loraine’s stomach turn. She was dangerously close to puking all over him. “You slept with her as payment to kidnap Tyler.”
He chuckled. “Mon amour is jealous? That makes my heart happy. But not to worry, she proved to me she is a whore. Only whores would barter their bodies and she was too good at it but be anything less. She pleased me, but I was thinking only of you. The anticipation of making love with you made my blood hot. I needed release.” He caressed her cheek and Loraine turned away. “Please understand; don’t be mad. We are even. I heard you cry out while that man took pleasure from your body,” he hissed, fisting his hand in her hair. “You have no idea how much I wanted to cut his throat for it! But I remembered my own betrayal and I let you fuck him. There is nothing to be angry about!”
Loraine bit her lower lip to keep from crying out when he yanked at her hair. “I’m not angry. Just tell me what happened to Georgia?”
He released her hair and massaged where he’d been pulling at her hair. “She is dead, I did that for you mon amour. I slit her neck when she was done giving me a blow job.” He chuckled. “I got tired of mounting her after so many hours but thinking of you would make me horny all over again so I told her to use her mouth to please me. After I sprayed all over her face, blinding her, I grabbed her hair, pulled her head back and cut my blade over her neck.” He rubbed his cheek against hers and she could hear his breath getting heavy as he breathed on her neck. Loraine held herself from turning away from him when he ran his finger in a slicing motion over her throat. It was too much!
“There was so much blood, spraying all over my naked body. And the sounds that came from her open throat, mon amour. It was so arousing, too arousing not to enjoy.”
“Oh God,” Loraine gagged pulling away from him but he yanked her back, placing her on his lap. She tried to fight out of his hold when she felt him grow under her. She didn’t want him touching her. She didn’t want his hands, his lips not any part of him touching her especially his dick inside her. She didn’t want to end up like Georgia!
“It was the first time I took a woman from behind. Loraine, tell me, has any man made love to your ass?”
Unable to stand anymore she pulled away then threw her head back. The curse and the crunch told her she’d made contact with his nose. Good. She jumped out of his lap when he released her and ran into the kitchen. She pulled the draws open, some falling to the ground with a loud crash as all the contents spilled out, frantically looking for something to defend herself with. Her search grew desperate when she heard his heavy footsteps as he cursed and yelled in French, promising to kill her after he’d punished her severely.
She’d just grabbed the butcher knife when he grabbed her from behind, his arm circling her throat and trapping her armed hand against her shoulder while the other began to rip at her clothes. She held onto Reno’s boxers with her free hand tightly as he fought to pull them down.
“You broke my nose, mon amour. That makes me very angry!” He pushed her forward and she slammed onto the counter, her stomach meeting the edge with a blinding pain.
She heard his belt buckle open behind her and dread filled her. She’d die before she let him defile her that way! She pushed back against him, just enough to make him stumble. Then she ripped his imprisoning arm away and turned around to face him, the butcher knife raised high ready to strike. She’d thought about this so much after his first attack, wondering if she would have been able to kill him if the opportunity ever came. But then, she had very little to lose, unlike now. Now, without a shadow of a doubt, she knew she was capable of murder and she was going to do just that to her nightmare.
As she brought the knife down, there was a silent pop she knew well and Pierre’s body jolted. His face creased in shock and confusion as he heavily turned around. With his back to her, Loraine could see where the bullet had gone in as blood flooded his grey t-shirt, gushing down his back like an open tap.
Pierre chuckled shaking his head, “Jeb, mon ami, I should have known. You are always the knight in shining armor swooping in to save the princess from the villain: me.” He coughed as he laughed. “But we are now even, traitor! You’re plan didn’t work, she didn’t go running into your arms like—”
Loraine jumped at the two pops that cut Pierre off and watched as he fell to the ground, his grey eyes bleak as he stared up. For some reason, the hole in his forehead suited him.
The knife fell out of her hand as she stared at her nightmare lay dead at her feet. It was over: it was finally over!
“Loraine, are you okay?” Jeb asked
wrapping her in his big arms.
Loraine nodded, still watching Pierre as he bled out on her kitchen floor. She loved this kitchen, more so now that it was the place where her life was finally hers again. No more looking over her shoulder, no more running, no more hiding, just living happily with her family—but in a new kitchen. She’d change the floor tiles, and the cupboards and draws. Paint it another color— something vibrant and lively. She’d definitely make the windows bigger—allow the ocean breeze to flow in better, but they’d also be shutter proof. She couldn’t risk another easy break in.
“Loraine,” Jeb shook her, pulling her out of her rambling thoughts. She looked around the room and noticed they weren’t in the kitchen anymore, they were in her living room and Jeb held her on his lap as he sat on the couch. On her white couch.
She got off him and pulled him until he stood. “Don’t get blood on my couch. Reno will—” she froze. God how could she forget! “Reno, I need to find Reno.”
Jeb held her in place dwarfing her struggles. “Let me go Jeb! I need to find Reno. I need to make sure he’s okay.”
With a hard gaze he demanded, “In a minute. First, tell me what Pierre told you, what did he say about me?”
“What?” Loraine tagged at her arms until he released her. “Who cares, he’s dead! I can go on with my life.”
His gaze softened. “I glad you said that. I was worried he’d turned you against me.”
“Why would he—” her skin prickled as Pierre’s words began to click together. Please don’t let it be so. “Jeb, what did Pierre mean, why did he call you a traitor. Why did he call you his friend?”
The desperate look on his face made her take a step back. “How do you know each other, Jeb?”
“Loraine, please understand I didn’t mean for you to get hurt. I just wanted you to need me, to want me, to love me!”
