Undone (The Revealed Series)

by Alice Raine

  One minute. Thank God.

  ‘Sean, help me. We need to put pressure on the wound,’ Cait begged.

  Tearing my T-shirt off I wadded it into a ball and took over from Cait, pressing firmly onto Allie’s side and leaning down low.

  ‘Allie? Baby? I’m here, my gorgeous girl. The ambulance is on its way. We’re gonna get you all fixed up.’ She might not have heard the words, but I needed to say them for my own sanity. She had to be OK. She had to be.

  Forty-five

  Cait

  As I’d lain compliantly below Greg, waiting in dread, I had never in a million years thought I’d escape from him for a second time. Before he’d even had time to take his boxers off, there was a squealing noise outside and just moments later a thunderous bellow of rage before something huge hit the door.

  It was so loud that it sounded like a battering ram trying to force its way in, then the entire room shook as a second blow landed and I heard a voice that had my heart squeezing. Jack.

  Jack was here. And doing his best impression of a bulldozer against our door.

  Just knowing he was the other side of the door filled me with hope, and I began to fight like a hellcat, shoving Greg and slapping at his face as he jumped to his feet and tugged his trousers up with a curse. Another slam came to the door, this time with another male voice screaming alongside, and with one hatred-filled glance Greg spat at me and ran out towards the back.

  The door began to give way, so I quickly crawled over to Allie.

  Fuck, fuck, fuck. I hardly knew where to start. I focused my attention on her side and pressed my hands to where I could see the blood bubbling through a rip in her shirt.

  Allie mumbled as the door behind us crashed open, but I barely even flinched as wood splintered and chaos erupted around me.

  Within seconds, Jack, Sean, and Flynn were inside. ‘He went out the back door!’ I watched as Flynn dashed in that direction with a gun in his hand, and couldn’t help but hope he caught up with him. After what he’d done to Allie, I wanted Greg to hurt.

  ‘Get an ambulance, now!’ I begged.

  I felt a warm hand land on my shoulder and immediately drew some strength from Jack’s closeness. ‘We’d already called one, but I just checked their ETA, they’re one minute away,’ Jack murmured before kneeling down beside me and untying Allie’s hands.

  Sean looked completely stricken, but I couldn’t do this alone, so I urged him to assist me, hoping that giving him a task might stop him falling into one of the panic attacks that I knew he was prone to. ‘Sean, help me, we need to put pressure on the wound.’

  He immediately peeled his T-shirt over his head and used it as a pad to help stem the flow of blood, which would be far more effective than my hands had been. As soon as he was in control of her bleeding I collapsed backwards onto my arse as my entire body began to shake.

  I wanted to be strong, but as I stared at my blood-coated hands I started to cry uncontrollably, my body jerking with the huge sobs.

  Big, fat tears rolled down my nose and cheeks and began to drip onto my breasts. It was only when I felt the warm drops run across my chest that it occurred to me that I was completely naked in front of not only Jack, but Sean too. As I looked at Allie’s bloodied body and heard Sean whispering to her, I realised I didn’t even care.

  Jack, however, did, because I felt some material being draped across my shoulders and buttoned up at the front of my neck. He’d covered me in his shirt and proceeded to drag me into his lap as I clung to him like he was a life jacket. Which he was. He’d saved me from the unthinkable.

  Jack leant down close to my ear. ‘Are you OK, sweetheart?’

  Instinctively, I nodded, because really, when compared to Allie, I was OK. Physically, at least. Mentally, I felt a million types of fucked up.

  ‘How did you know?’ I asked, immeasurably thankful but surprised nonetheless.

  ‘You pocket called me. I could hear Greg in the background.’ Jack grated.

  ‘Oh ... I was going to call you. I guess I must have pressed dial by mistake.’

  ‘Thank God you did,’ Jack breathed, clutching me a little tighter. Thank God indeed.

  Jack placed a kiss on my temple, and it was as his lips quivered against my skin that I realised he was shaking all over.

  ‘Did he...’ Jack paused, unable to continue until he rested his forehead into my hair. ‘Did he...hurt you, Caitlin?’ I could understand his hesitation–‘rape’ wasn’t a word that flowed easily from my tongue either.

  ‘No. You got here just in time,’ I whispered, thoughts of Allie at the forefront of my mind.

  ‘Really?’ he breathed. ‘You can tell me, Caitlin.’

  ‘Honestly, Jack. You got here in time. I swear. Thank you. Thank you, so much. You saved me.’

  Jack’s arms squeezed me closer, and then, in a voice so soft I barely heard it, he whispered into my hair, ‘I love you, Caitlin.’

  He loved me. I could barely comprehend it. I loved him too but I was too overwhelmed to reply, and simply proceeded to cry against his warmth with massive, jerky sobs.

  After crying until Jack’s chest had been slick below my cheek I pulled myself together and existed in a blur of flashing lights, uniforms, and endless questions as the time passed at a surreal, warped pace. It seemed to drag, but fly by at the same time.

  It felt so unreal.

  In amongst the chaos, one thing stuck in my mind–Greg had got away. Flynn had informed us that after a tussle with Greg, Tanya had been knocked unconscious on the back porch and Greg was gone. The compound security guy had given chase but lost him once they hit the parkland behind the complex. Flynn had then disappeared after murmuring to Jack that he was going to ‘put out some more feelers amongst his contacts’, whatever the hell that meant.

  The paramedics then arrived, rushingAllie and Sean to hospital while Jack and I sat with the police for what seemed like an eternity. The forensic officers took swabs from my skin and under my nails, and even managed to get a spittle sample from my hair from where Greg had spat at me as he’d left.

  After I refused a check-up at the hospital they finally left, thanking me for being so strong, telling me they’d arrange an escort to ensure my safety, and assuring me that they’d be in touch.

  Apparently the police escort would be more visible than Tanya, sticking with me whenever I wasn’t with Jack.

  Apart from my initial tears I hadn’t allowed myself time to fall apart. Once the police had left I’d refused the shower Jack offered me, and dragged on my clothes so we could get to the hospital as quickly as possible to see Allie. In my rush, I had dressed before washing my hands, which had led to smears of my best friend’s blood staining my clothes, but ignoring them with a grimace, I’d dashed from the house.

  So here we were–two film stars and me, my best friend’s blood engrained under my fingernails. Jack looked ridiculous in one of my hoodies because his shirt was covered in blood. Sean was holding on tightly to Allie’s hand – and miraculously, Allie was awake and smiling. Albeit weakly.

  To my shock, the doctor had informed us that both of Allie’s injuries had been relatively harmless. They’d bled a hell of a lot, which could have caused serious complications if she hadn’t been treated so quickly, but as it was, there was no damage to any vital organs.

  It was either miraculous or Greg had been scarily precise with that blade of his. I wasn’t sure I really wanted to think too long about how he’d got those skills or where he’d practiced them.

  ‘But you were unconscious, surely that hints at quite extreme blood loss?’ I pressed her, wondering if Allie was just making out she was alright for my benefit.

  Allie gave a small chuckle. ‘Actually, that was from the sight of the blood. I’ve always hated it, you must remember? There seemed so much of it and it made me light-headed. Then I must have passed out.’

  It had been a hellish day, but somehow, it seemed both Allie and I had got off lightly when compared to what might
have been.

  I’d wanted to stay longer with Allie, but after we’d sat with her for an hour she’d insisted Jack and I leave so she could get some rest and spend some time with Sean.

  As we walked out to the car, Jack insisted that I stay with him until Greg was caught. I couldn’t think of anywhere I’d rather be.

  Forty-six

  Allie

  Once Cait and Jack had said their goodbyes, I gingerly set about shifting myself across the bed. It wasn’t ladylike and it wasn’t graceful, and my struggling immediately caused Sean to leap to his feet. ‘Woah! Take it easy! Are you uncomfortable?’

  ‘Yes,’ I murmured, still gingerly moving myself to the left inch by inch.

  ‘Careful, you’ll hurt yourself. What can I do to help?’ he enquired, hovering around me and faffing with my blankets. Bless him. I’m not sure I’d ever seen him so flustered.

  ‘You can get in here and hold me,’ I informed him, patting the space I’d now made. I was feeling decidedly needy.

  ‘W... what?’ he spluttered, as he gawked at me. It wasn’t a look he could pull off very attractively.

  ‘I’m not in pain,’ I promised, which was true–the super strong pain meds were seeing to that. ‘But I’m uncomfortable because you’re too far away.’

  ‘But I don’t want to hurt you.’

  ‘You won’t. I promise to tell you if I get sore.’

  Sean made a noise in his throat, and it immediately struck me as being almost exactly the same humming he would utter when in the midst of love making. The thought didn’t help to lower my pulse rate one bit.

  ‘OK...but only if you lie still. We can just hold hands. I don’t want you to reopen the stitches.’

  ‘Deal,’ I agreed, giving his hand an impatient tug. Sean began to kick his shoes off before climbing up onto the bed. He was wearing some pale blue hospital scrubs the nurses had gifted him with when they’d seen the blood-covered state of his clothes, so he rustled every time he moved. At least I wouldn’t lose him if the lights went out.

  Sliding carefully beside me, Sean rolled onto his side so he was facing me and pressed himself against me as much as possible. Finally he reconnected our hand hold and let out a long, heavy sigh.

  Ever since I’d become conscious and found Sean with me in the back of an ambulance while silent tears wet his cheeks, there had been an unspoken urgency for contact. In fact, until the moment he’d climbed on my bed I don’t think we’d actually broken our touch once. Even when the doctors had been working on me and patching me up he’d been there, gripping my hand.

  ‘Did...did you and Jack get there in time to stop Greg?’ I asked hesitantly. I’d wanted to ask Cait but been too scared to find out the answer. I had a vague recollection of Sean whispering to me when I was bleeding on the floor, but the last thing I properly remembered was Cait being naked and Greg demanding she lie down. I’d felt so helpless.

  ‘Yeah, she said he hadn’t managed to...you know...’

  Thank God for that.

  ‘I love you, Sean. So bloody much,’ I gushed, unable to hold the words back a second longer. I guess it was the whole ‘life flashing before my eyes’ thing, which had made me so desperate to tell him and had solidified what I had already known, which was that Sean was the single most important thing in my life.

  ‘I’m so, so sorry, Allie,’ Sean blurted, burying his head in my shoulder.

  ‘What on earth for?’ I asked.

  ‘I should have been there for you.’ His words were choked, and I couldn’t see his eyes but I would have placed money on the fact that he was crying. ‘I delayed our lunch...I should have been there.’

  ‘Don’t you dare apologise, Sean!’

  Sean didn’t raise his head so I persevered, desperate to make him see that he hadn’t let me down. ‘Just when I felt so weak that I could give up, I heard you whispering to me. Hearing your voice kept me strong. You saved me, Sean.’

  Finally his head began to rise, and we sat staring at each other for what seemed like an eternity. ‘When I looked through that window and saw you...there was so much blood...’ Sean gruffly cleared his throat. ‘I thought you were ...’ This time he scrunched up his eyes and I watched as a lone tear escaped and ran down his cheek. ‘...I’ve never been so terrified in my life.’

  Nodding, I wiped his tear away and placed a chaste kiss on his lips as several tears slipped from my own eyes. I’d thought I was going to die. Swallowing hard, it was almost impossible to distract myself from the myriad of images in my mind.

  ‘Marry me.’

  Wait...That certainly distracted me. Did he just ask me to marry him? He’d spoken against my lips, but I was pretty sure I’d heard them correctly.

  ‘Did you just ask me to marry you?’

  Sean was now staring at me with complete determination on his face. ‘I did. Not because of what happened, but because you’re the most important thing that has ever happened to me, Allie, and I don’t want to live one more day without you being properly mine.’

  ‘Yes!’ I squealed. He said he wasn’t asking because of today’s events, but I was answering because of them. Yesterday, if he’d asked me, I’d have been hesitant, but after genuinely thinking I was going to die my life had taken on new focus.

  Life was precious, so every moment was to be treasured, I could see that now. Sean was the most amazing man I’d ever met, and I wanted to spend my moments with him. I couldn’t think of one reason why I wouldn’t want to be married to him.

  ‘Yes? Really?’ Sean was sitting up on the bed now, clutching one of my hands and grinning like an idiot.

  ‘Yes,’ I replied. ‘I love you, Sean.’

  ‘I love you too,’ he replied, his face moving closer to mine. ‘But can we keep this between you and me until I’ve spoken to your dad?’

  ‘You’re going to ask his permission to have my hand in marriage?’ I asked in surprise.

  He looked embarrassed, his cheeks reddening as he gave a shy shrug. ‘I thought it would be a nice gesture, seeing as I haven’t really met them properly yet.’

  I instantly agreed, even though I knew keeping it from Cait would kill me.

  ‘The future Mrs Phillips,’ Sean murmured, gently stroking his knuckles across my cheek. ‘I really like the sound of that,’ he murmured, and I had to say, I really liked the sound of it too. From the smug grin on his face, I fully expected to hear that title a lot from Sean in the near future, but the look left his face a second later as he sealed our engagement with a scorching kiss.

  Forty-seven

  Jack

  Pulling up outside my house, I hopped from the car and hurried around to open the passenger door for Caitlin. My teeth ground together as my eyes settled briefly on her bloody clothes, before I reached up a hand to help her out of the high seat and to the safety of solid land. As she descended from the cab she stumbled slightly and I pulled her against my chest.

  We stood like that for several seconds, both content to absorb the warmth and protection that the other had to offer.

  I ushered Caitlin inside, closed the door, and sent a text to Flynn to let him know we were home and locked up for the night. I knew he’d be working the perimeter with the extra security guys, but I doubled locked and bolted the door just the same.

  Turning, I found Caitlin stood in the centre of my lounge. Seeing her in my space immediately felt right, and regardless of the shitty circumstances I was relishing the idea of having her here with me for a while.

  ‘I’ll give you a tour later, but do you want to jump straight in the shower first?’ I was very aware of the fact that Caitlin would want to wash away any lingering memories of Greg’s touch, not to mention the blood stains.

  Caitlin wrapped her arms around herself and nodded. ‘That sounds great.’

  Leading Caitlin upstairs, I avoided the guest bedrooms and took her straight towards my room. It had the biggest en suite in the house. I was secretly hoping she’d be happy to sleep in here tonight too, that way I
could keep an eye on her, and get to have her close.

  Grabbing some fresh towels, I showed her how to operate my shower and left her to it. ‘I’ll be out here if you need me.’

  Pulling the bathroom door shut, I immediately set about peeling off my jeans before chucking them aside. When I’d knelt beside Allie, the legs had soaked up a fair amount of blood and I grimaced when I saw my skin was also stained with red.

  What a day. It had been like some horrific movie, except instead of fake blood and special effects, it had all been real. Too real. Blowing out a long breath, I tilted my head back to the ceiling as I struggled to control my emotions.

  ‘Jack?’

  As soon as I heard Caitlin’s tentative call, I rushed back into the bathroom to check on her. Caitlin was now undressed and wrapped in a towel, the straps of her bra visible on her shoulders to indicate she was still wearing underwear.

  It was the expression on her face which caused me to stop in my tracks. She was smiling, and for all appearances seemed to be feeling ...playful. Was I misreading it? Weariness, sadness, or fear I might have expected, but she had a definite twinkle in her eye.

  ‘I ... uhh, I was hoping you’d help me in the shower. I strained my shoulder today and it’s a bit stiff.’

  ‘Your shoulder?’ I queried, had Greg hurt her? Reeling in my anger towards Lambert and levelling my voice, I gently reached out to touch her. ‘Is it sore?’

  ‘It’s OK, but washing my hair might be a bit tricky.’

  My throat suddenly felt tight when I considered the idea of sharing a shower with Caitlin. I needed to get a grip, but this was going to severely challenge my self-control. Swallowing hard, I nodded. ‘Of course.’

  Caitlin nodded her thanks jerkily, stepping to the shower, and then facing away from me she hung her towel up on the hook beside it.

  My eyes couldn’t help doing a quick sweep of her back profile as she stepped inside and turned on the water and my pulse jumped in response.

  Pulling off my jumper, I dumped it in the wash basket and joined her, deciding to follow her lead and keep my boxers on. Not that the thin cotton was going to hide how my cock had begun to thicken, but at least it gave some kind of barrier.