by Lori Maguire
We stepped in front of the big, black stone that was in the shape of a scroll. The name Hart was engraved in big, bold letters. I could feel Xavier trembling. His hand was shaking with such force it shook my whole arm.
Below the scroll-shaped stone were two black, flat stones just a foot apart. Beloved Father was engraved on top with his name, date of birth, and date of death. The other stone was engraved with Beloved Mother with her name, date of birth, and date of death also engraved.
We stood, shaking and trembling, in the pouring rain. My clothes were soaked through to my skin as if I had stood in the shower fully dressed. The heavy weight of them hanging off my shoulders, but I didn’t care.
Movement to the right of us caught my eye. It was Stewart coming to a stop in the street kindly keeping his distance. Marissa pulled up in the SUV seconds later.
Without warning, Xavier released my hand, and dropped to his knees on his parent’s graves. Water splashed out from underneath him when his knees made heavy contact with the soaked ground. His sudden collapse had me thinking he was physically hurt, but then he hung his head and started rocking back and forth. Gut-wrenching sobs escaped him.
“I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.” He just kept saying over and over, rocking back and forth.
My heart shattered in my chest at the sight of him so hurt, so broken. Tears streamed down my face mixing in with the rain.
Stewart started walking over to us. There was a concerned look on his face. I raised my hand and shook my head at him. Marissa jumped out of the car, grabbing Stewart’s arm to also stop him.
Dropping down next to him, I wrapped my arms tightly around him and rocked with him. “It’s okay. Let it go, baby, let it go. It’s all right.” I kept murmuring over and over.
After several minutes, Xavier lifted me up encouraging me to straddle his thighs. We wrapped our arms around each other tightly. He buried his head in my neck. I could feel his heart hammering in his chest. His breathing was rough and uneven.
“Don’t leave me, Ella. I can’t … I can’t lose you,” he said, his voice breaking.
“Shh. It’s all right. I’m not going anywhere,” I said soothingly.
We stayed like that until his breathing slowed and evened out. Thankfully, the rain also tapered off to a light drizzle. Not that it really mattered. We were both soaked to the skin, but it was nice not having the rain beating down on you, stinging your bare skin.
Pulling back to look at me, his eyes were red-rimmed and bloodshot, he started shaking his head as if he were disgusted with himself. “I’m sorry you had to see that,” he mumbled.
“I’m not.” He raised his brows at me. “I’m your wife, and you needed me. I’m always going to be here for you.”
He crushed me to him. “Thank you. I never would’ve come here if it weren’t for you. This needed to happen. I realized that I’ve lost two important people that I loved very much, but I’m gaining three in you and our babies.” He loosened his hold on me without letting go. “And here I thought I was bringing you here so you could get closure with Stephen, but you ended up giving me closure concerning my parents. I don’t know how to thank you for that.”
“There’s no need to thank me. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you,” I said firmly, pushing his wet hair off his forehead.
His eyes focused on me as if he were seeing me for the first time today. “You’re soaked,” he said in horror, lifting me up to my feet. “Let’s get out of here. I need to get you dry. I can’t have you getting sick.” He grabbed my hand and dragged me to the SUV.
I felt horrible getting into his BMW dripping wet since both our knees, shins, and shoes were muddy. His vehicle was going to be in need of a good detailing after this. Stewart thankfully cranked the heat as he started heading back to the condo.
It was a quiet ride back. Xavier held onto my hand, his thumb rhythmically rubbed over my knuckles. Every time I would look up at him, he was smiling down at me. His mood had dramatically changed from what it had been driving here.
When we pulled into the condo parking lot, I invited Stewart and Marissa to join us for dinner. I had given Bev the day off and had plans on making lasagna. There would be plenty for all of us. They happily agreed.
When the elevator got to their floor, we all decided to meet at our place in two hours at four p.m. Obviously we all needed to get into clean, dry clothes.
As soon as the elevator doors slid shut, Xavier was on me. His cold hands dove for my wet hair so he could hold my head in place as his soft lips crashed against mine. He kissed me with such passion that goose bumps bloomed across my skin. Heat flooded my core making me desperately ready for him.
I vaguely realized the elevator stopped and Xavier was guiding us off and into the hallway of the condo. Pushing me up against the wall, he grabbed my pocketbook, pulled it down my arm, and dumped it on the floor without breaking our kiss. I blindly reached out and unbuttoned his jacket. Peeling the cold, heavy, wet material down his arms, I dropped it to the floor. His jacket made a splattering noise as it hit the ceramic tile. All the while his tongue penetrated my mouth and tangled with mine in a way that made me wild.
The shrill ring of his cell phone shrieked through the silence. He broke the kiss, but I grabbed his face, dragging it back down to mine. “Ignore it,” I said against his lips.
Just as he got back into the kiss, his cell phone signaled an incoming text. He broke the kiss again. I dropped my hands from his face and sighed.
He glanced down at his cell phone and frowned. “It was Carline’s father. She’s disappeared and he’s concerned about her. I have to call him, baby. I’m sorry,” he said apologetically.
“It’s all right. There’s always later.” I winked at him.
“Tell you what. Why don’t you go get in the bath? I’ll come join you as soon as I’m done with my call. It shouldn’t take long.”
“I’m going to hold you to that.” He gave me a quick peck and headed down the hall.
I grabbed my bag and his wet jacket off the floor. Putting my cold, wet shoes back on my feet, I made my way to the bedroom.
Starting the water in the tub, I added my favorite lavender bubble bath. I stripped out of my wet clothes. Putting his jacket and my dress on some hangers, I hung them in the shower to allow them to dry.
In no time, the room was filled with a relaxing lavender scent that I inhaled deeply. The tub was beckoning for me to sink into its warm depth. But it just didn’t feel right without Xavier here to join me.
I glanced at the clock on my bedside table. It’s been nearly twenty minutes since he went to call Carline’s father. Maybe he needed a little something to entice him to hurry up.
Slipping out of my damp underwear, I pulled on my super soft, fluffy robe, and put my damp hair up in a clip.
As I rounded the corner of the kitchen, I saw some light spilling out of his office. Walking down the hall, I realized he wasn’t talking. Was he done with his call already, and if so, why hadn’t he joined me yet.
“If you aren’t on that phone mister, you’d better have a damn good reason as to why you aren’t in that tub with me right now,” I said playfully. I put my hands to the sash of my robe with the intent of flashing him as soon as I stepped into his office, but I froze as soon as I crossed over the threshold.
Immediately I began to shake. My heart kicked into high gear and my breathing became erratic. I stood and stared at the scene before me almost unable to comprehend what I was seeing.
Xavier was sitting in his office chair, gagged with his own tie. His eyes were wide with fear. His wrists were zip tied to the arms of his chair. I was pretty sure his ankles were probably tied together as well.
“Oh, I’m afraid he has a very good reason as to why he hasn’t joined you,” Carline sneered, standing behind Xavier. She was no longer dressed in the clothes she wore to the funeral, but was wearing jeans, a t-shirt, and sneakers. Her make-up was smeared down her face as if she had been crying a great deal or
it was from being out in the torrential downpour earlier or both. Her brown hair was frizzy from the rain and puffed around her face in total disarray. A wild, dangerous look was present in her eyes. She was clearly a woman who had become unhinged, and she was currently pressing a large kitchen knife against the side of Xavier’s neck. The very sharp point was piercing his delicate skin, causing a trickle of blood to run down his neck and soak into the collar of his white button-down shirt. The red stain was blooming across the white material in a horrific way. My very blood ran cold in my veins.
Stewart and Marissa were due to arrive for dinner shortly. Could I keep Xavier and I alive long enough? I wasn’t so sure. Carline looked pretty intent on ending this little standoff quickly. I had to get her talking.
I held my hands up to her. “Carline,” I said softly. “Can you put the knife down? I don’t think you really want to hurt Xavier.”
“You’re so wrong about that. Hurting Xavier is exactly what I came here to do,” she said, looking at me with hate-filled eyes.
“Why do you want to hurt him? What has he done to upset you?” I asked, trying to sound calm. She glanced down at Xavier. With her left hand, she jerked his head back by his hair and repositioned the knife to the front of his throat. Xavier winced and closed his eyes.
My eyes widened. “No!” I said in a panic, throwing both of my hands out. “Please, tell me why you want to hurt him.”
She continued to glare down at him. Xavier opened his eyes and stared up at her. I could see his chest rising and falling rapidly. I don’t know what he silently conveyed to her through his eyes, but she released his hair. Keeping the knife pressed to his throat, she turned her hate-filled gaze back to me.
“You dumb bitch,” she spat.
Xavier grunted something that brought her attention back to him. She glared down at him again, pressing the knife into his Adam’s apple. Xavier’s hands flexed against his restraints and squeezed his eyes shut as another trickle of blood ran down the smooth column of his throat onto his chest until it was absorbed into his white shirt. As the material soaked it up, the stand spread across his chest.
“Stop. Please, Carline. You’re right. I’m stupid. Perhaps it should be obvious to me why you want to hurt him, but it’s not. So tell me, please.” I fisted my hands in my robe. I wanted nothing more than to tackle her and turn that knife on her, but there was just no way I could risk the lives of our babies.
“You took them away. You took both of them away from me,” she seethed. “You got yourself knocked up so you could trap Xavier. You fooled him into thinking he loves you.” Xavier began grunting something wildly. Carline slammed him in the side of the head with the butt of the knife. I briefly closed my eyes, saying a silent prayer that Stewart and Marissa arrived early. “Shut up!” she yelled at him, causing my eyes to fly open. “She’s got you so fucked up in the head. You only think you love her,” she said to Xavier. “She’s no different from Heather,” she said softly.
Xavier’s eyes widened as he glared up at her. I gasped. My hand flew up to my mouth as my stomach rolled. Did she have a hand in Heather’s death?
“Don’t look at me like that, Xavier,” she said sadly. “She played off your emotions over the loss of your parents, and you fell for it,” she said angrily. “It was supposed to be me that you came to for comfort, but instead you ran to her,” she spat.
Taking a deep breath, she seemed to be trying to calm herself. But then she moved to press the knife back to his throat. My heart sank as I watched the light from the room glint off the deadly edge. A crimson line ran down his throat for the third time. Thankfully, none of the cuts seemed very deep, but I wanted that knife off his skin before she did some real damage.
She let out a sigh and focused her gaze back on Xavier. “I had Heather followed.” Xavier’s eyes squeezed shut as if he couldn’t bear to hear the words. “How do you think her ex-boyfriend knew where to find her that night? I just prayed you weren’t with her when it happened, though I stressed to him that you weren’t to be touched.”
Holy shit! Carline is way more twisted than we ever gave her credit for. And here after all this time Xavier thought Stephen was the threat. Carline had everyone fooled.
“After she was out of the picture, I waited for you to come to me.” She released the knife from his throat so she could lean down and press her forehead against his. He jerked his head away, continuing to glare at her. “But you never came.”
She turned to me and pointed the knife in my direction. I automatically took a step back. Xavier’s wide eyes met mine. He shook his head ever so slightly as if to silently beg me not to run.
“Tell me, Ella. Have you been getting any strange calls from blocked numbers lately?”
“That was you?” I narrowed my eyes at her.
“My guys. I had them follow you just like Heather. Stephen was pretty angry with you. I thought I could use him against you like I did Heather’s ex, but Stephen just didn’t have it in him. Oh, he tried. I promise you, he tried to hurt you, but it turned out the son of a bitch really did love you. Imagine that.” She stared off wistfully for a moment before her angry eyes snapped back to me. “Stephen used me to get close to you. Told me he loved me. Asked me to marry him, but it was all a fucking lie,” she snarled. She pressed the tip of the knife back to Xavier’s throat but harder this time. Tears sprang to my eyes as I watched another trickle of blood run down his neck.
“But why do you want to hurt Xavier? He hasn’t lied to you like Stephen did. I’m sure you were angry with him when you found out, but none of that is Xavier’s fault.” I tried to get her to keep talking. Stewart and Marissa had to be here soon, though I had no idea what time it was.
“Because I was mistaken. I was so focused on getting rid of you so it would clear my path to Xavier that I didn’t realize I was falling in love with Stephen until it was too late. That’s when I arranged your kidnapping, but your stupid pregnancy went and screwed that plan up! But it doesn’t matter now because Stephen never loved me. They both loved you! You stole them away from me. You’ve already lost Stephen. Now I’m going to see to it that you lose Xavier.”
I watched in horror as she ran the tip of the knife down the column of his throat, leaving an angry red line in its wake. She didn’t break the skin, though. I could feel hot tears spill from my eyes and run down my cheeks.
A lone tear running down Xavier’s cheek caught my attention. The sadness in his eyes broke my heart. I mouthed I love you to him not knowing if this would be the last time I would get to say it to him.
Carline continued to drag the knife down his chest until she had the sharp, deadly tip of poised over his heart. She was completely oblivious to our brief little moment or so I thought.
“Oh, isn’t that sweet,” she said sarcastically. “Mouthing I love you to each other, the emotion, the tears. Why it almost makes me think that maybe I’m focusing on the wrong one here.” She glared at me and then her eyes drifted down to my swollen belly. Lifting the knife off Xavier’s neck, she pointed it at me.
I started backing out of the room, shaking my head. Instinctively, my hands covered my belly. Xavier was thrashing wildly in the chair. His screams muffled by the tie she had gagged him with. “No,” I breathed. There was no way I was letting her hurt these babies. No fucking way. That’s when it happened.
Marissa came out of nowhere. Wrapping her arms around me, she pushed me into the living room away from Carline, protecting me with her body the whole time. I saw Stewart jump into the doorway of Xavier’s office with his arms out in front of him. Without hesitation or a word spoken, a single gunshot rang out and echoed off the walls of the condo causing me to jump right out of my skin. Carline screamed out in what I hoped was tremendous pain. Then came the loud clatter of the knife hitting the floor.
Stewart moved quickly into the office. I tried to get past Marissa, but she kept her arms locked around me, holding me firmly in place.
“Marissa, please. I need to g
et in there. I need to know that he’s all right,” I pleaded with her, struggling against her hold.
“Ella, I need to wait until Stewart gives the okay. It’s for your own-”
“Let her go, Marissa,” Xavier said hoarsely.
As soon as her arms released me, I cautiously stepped around her not sure what to expect.
Xavier’s red-rimmed eyes looked so exhausted. The angry red marks on his neck from the knife stood out in contrast to his pale skin. The way the blood soaked into the collar of his shirt made it look like there was more blood then there really was. But he was okay. He was standing before me looking alive and in one piece.
We both walked towards each other. When we came together our arms wrapped around each other tightly. Our legs giving out at the same time, we sank to the living room floor.
For the second time today, I sat straddling his legs, while both of us cried. We cried for fear of what we both could’ve lost, and we cried for happiness that we both came out of this alive.
“Shhh. It’s okay. We’re okay, baby,” he said softly while his face was buried in my neck.
I couldn’t tell if he was trembling along with me or if it was because I was shaking so hard. Remembering that he had been bleeding, I pulled back to look at him. Cupping his face in my hands, I examined the wounds on his neck. Only the one was still oozing.
“I’m okay,” he said, trying to reassure me.
Stewart came out of his office. The sound of Carline crying and whimpering drifted from the room, but I felt no sympathy for her.
“The police and an ambulance are on the way,” he said to Xavier.
I didn’t give him a chance to respond to Stewart. Instead, I chose that moment to press my lips to his, squeezing him to me, never wanting to let him go.
Marissa walked into the living room with an EMT carrying a medical bag tight on her heels. A police officer and another EMT followed Stewart into Xavier’s office.
We had moved up from the floor to the couch, our hands tightly clutched together still seeking comfort from one another.
