by Ivy Smoak
He glanced over his shoulder and pulled out his phone. "It's done." He hung up the phone and looked back at me.
"I didn't have a choice, Penny." His eyes had never stopped looking teary. His face looked distorted as everything started spinning. He let go of my mouth. I tried to tell him not to leave, but nothing came out of my mouth. I tried to scream, but again there was only silence. My body slumped to the ground. The ground twisted in front of me and my eyelids grew heavy. The last thing I saw was Isabella walking toward me.
Chapter 35
Friday
"He's so handsome, isn't he?"
I slowly opened my eyes as James' hospital room came into focus. I had a terrible headache. I tried to lift my arms but I couldn't. I looked down at my hands. My wrists were bound to the chair handles with duct tape. My eyes flashed toward the voice.
Isabella was smiling at me. Her hand was on the side of James' face. "Wouldn't you agree that he's handsome?"
"James!"
"No use yelling."
"What did you do to him?" Why was James sleeping? He looked like he had when he was in his coma again. What had she done to him?
"The nurse didn't just give James vaccines earlier. She injected him with a slow release sedative. He's knocked out cold." She ran her fingers through the scruff on his chin.
"Get your hands off him." I tried to move, only to find that my ankles were taped to the chair too.
"You don't like when I touch him?" Her hand slid to the side of his neck. "It must haunt you that I've touched every inch of his skin. And that he's touched every inch of mine."
I swallowed hard.
She ran her index finger across his lips. "And not just with his hands. He's kissed every inch of my skin too. I always liked how fierce he was in bed. How passionate he was. Is he like that with you too?"
"Go to hell, Isabella!"
"I'm only going to ask you once to keep your voice down. And I won't be dying today, Penny. It's actually going to be you that will be entering the gates of hell in about," she looked at the clock next to James' bed, "ten minutes. First I get to have some fun." She pulled down the front of James' hospital gown. "And his muscles. They're enough to drive a girl crazy." She ran her fingers down his six pack.
I wiggled my wrists, trying to weaken the duct tape. I was going to kill her. I was going to fucking kill her.
"What's it like to see another woman with your husband? Stings, doesn't it?"
"He had filed for divorce before I even met him."
"And if he divorced you, wouldn't you still be jealous?" Her fingers wandered down his happy trail. "Possessive even?"
"Stop touching him."
She smiled. "I'll take that as a yes." She sat down on the edge of his bed. "It must drive you crazy knowing that he used to scream my name. That he used to crave my lips. That I used to satisfy him in every way imaginable."
I shook my head. "I can't change the past."
"No. You can't. But you can change the future. Or rather, I can." She smiled her cruel smile. "This is really for the best. You weren't good for him. You just fed his sickness. All this ever was between you was addiction."
"He's not addicted to me!"
"No, I guess not. He's just addicted to sex. You're just something he's going to use and cast aside. Just like he did with me. Now, I did tell you that I'd only ask you once to keep your voice down. There will be consequences for that. Slow, painful consequences. Which I'll enjoy, so thank you."
I tried to ignore her threats. "He's not addicted to sex either. He's been clean for years."
"No? Maybe we should ask him." She picked a needle up off the nightstand that I hadn't seen before.
"What are you doing?"
"Giving him adrenaline to counteract the effect of his sedative slowly. Very slowly. So that he'll be able to watch me kill you and won't be able to do anything about it. He'll almost be paralyzed, if you will. He might even just think he's dreaming." She put the needle into his arm. "It'll just be a few minutes now. Let's play a game while we wait, shall we?"
I continued to struggle against the duct tape. It was ripping at my skin. I bit my lip, trying not to focus on the pain.
"Here's the game. If you could have one phone call right this second, who would you call?"
"The cops."
"Hmm. Wrong answer. How do you think I got here in the first place?"
"By forgetting to take your meds?"
She laughed. "I didn't realize you were funny. But no. Take a guess at why the cops would be the wrong phone call. I'll give you a hint. I'm supposed to be in custody, yet here I am."
"Because you're working with them?"
"Bingo. Officer Daugherty is a very dirty cop." She winked at me.
Fucking asshole. I knew he hadn't been helping us. This whole thing had just been a joke to him. I cringed as the tape bit at my skin.
"You'd be surprised at what someone would do for a few million dollars. And the best part is, all the money I've had to spend wasn't even mine. You gave it to me. So in a way, you really are responsible for everything that has happened to James in the past few weeks. It's been so much fun watching you fall apart. And suspecting your friends. It was priceless. And I'm a huge believer in everything having a price. I guess in this case it was actually 20 million dollars."
I needed to buy time. Someone would come in here to check on us soon. But I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. If the nurse was in on it, she wouldn't be coming. And Briggs certainly wouldn't be coming. He had betrayed us. He had drugged me. But I needed to believe that someone would come. Because I was stuck in this fucking chair. "Why did you try to frame Tyler and Melissa?"
She smiled. "Because I wanted you to feel completely and utterly alone. I wanted you to be paranoid. I wanted you to push everyone away. Because I know girls like you. You're weak. You need people around you, telling you how wonderful you are. Because you're a conceited narcissist. And you only care about yourself."
Me? That sounded more like her. "You don't know me. I didn't have many friends growing up. I found solace in reading books and escaping into their stories. My best friend used to tell me I was going to grow up to be a cat lady. I've never needed anyone until I met James. He changed me. He made me better." He saved me.
"How sad. I almost pity you. If you weren't such a whore."
James groaned.
"Good. He's waking up." She leaned toward him. "Good morning, baby," she said and placed a kiss against his lips.
Fucking bitch! I pulled as hard as I could, tearing at my skin. But I was still stuck to the chair. Fuck!
James groaned again.
He's drugged. He doesn't know it's not me. He doesn't know what's happening.
"I knew he missed me," she said and smiled at me. "He used to groan like that all the time when we were together."
"Stop."
"You should have seen the way I kissed him when I snuck into his room when you left him all alone. It was probably a foolish move when I could have had someone else mess up his ventilator, but it was so easy that I couldn't resist. Besides, I just needed to see my husband." She smiled at me. "I needed to taste him."
"Stop," I said more forcefully.
"You know what my favorite thing used to be?"
"Please stop." I continued to struggle with the restraints.
"The way his fingertips dug into my skin when he'd fuck me. He knew just how to make my toes curl. I think that was his favorite thing too. Punishing me. Being in complete control of me. God I loved that."
My whole body felt cold. I loved that too. I was letting her get in my head. I was letting her win. Focus. I pulled on the restraints again. I almost cried out at the pain.
She laughed. It was cold and cruel. "Everything he's done with you, he's done with me first. You know, I think I actually want him to be a little more alert for this. I want him to experience the same amount of pain he's caused me." She plunged another needle into his arm and his eyes flew open.
"Honey, take it slow. You've been heavily sedated." She ran her finger across his collarbone.
He closed his eyes again.
"We were just having a discussion, James. Penny doesn't think that you're addicted to her. I think it's time that you told her the truth."
"No." His voice was croaky.
"James, it's only fair that she knows the truth. Tell her."
I could tell he was trying to move. But his body wasn't responding. He opened his eyes again and gave me a pleading look.
Isabella walked toward him and put her hand on his shoulder.
He grimaced at her touch.
"Tell her," Isabella said.
He shook his head. "I'm not addicted to her."
"James." My eyes were filled with tears. This wasn't the time for him to finally realize that. I shook my head. Lie to her. Tell her what she needs to hear.
Isabella frowned. "Baby, you know that's not true. Tell me the truth." She ran her hand down his bare chest.
"I'm addicted to her." He wasn't staring at me. He was staring at her.
I knew it was a lie. But it still stung. And it hurt to see them together like this. With her hands on him. With his eyes on her.
"Don't tell me, James. Tell her."
His eyes darted toward the button to call the nurse.
"Tell her, James." She grabbed his chin and turned his face toward me.
James' eyes slowly met mine. "I'm addicted to you, Penny." He lowered both his eyebrows. Almost like he realized how truly wrong it was. Like he understood that it was more than that. This couldn't be the last thing he ever said to me. I couldn't let this be how we ended.
"And the only way to get rid of your addiction is to get rid of the temptation, to kill the root of the problem. In this case, Penny."
"No. Isabella, no. Let Penny go. Do whatever you want with me. But don't hurt her."
"We'll get her out of our way. We can be happy again."
"We were never happy."
"Of course we were. Before life got in the way. Before your problems became bigger than both of us."
"My problems? You ruined our marriage."
"You ruined me, James! As soon as you said you were in love with her, you ruined my whole reputation."
"You ruined your own damn reputation when you screwed around behind my back."
"But baby, you never complained about how much better the sex got. All the new techniques." She put her hand back on his chest.
"Don't fucking touch me!"
Isabella didn't remove her hand. "Look at me, James. Don't look at her. For once in your life, focus on me!"
James' eyes left mine. Originally Isabella had said I'd be dead in ten minutes. But it seemed like more time than that had passed. Maybe James' sedative would wear off soon. Maybe someone would show up and help us. My world was filled with maybes. But maybes weren't going to save me. I pulled my arms as hard as I could and accidentally let a whimper escape from my lips.
"Penny." The agony in James' voice brought tears to my eyes.
"This isn't about her!" Isabella yelled. "This is about us!" She pulled out a gun from her purse and pointed it toward me.
"Isabella, please just let her go. And we can talk."
"Is this about the baby? If you want a baby, I'll give you a baby. We were always good at practicing."
"What are you talking about?"
Isabella turned toward me with a smile on her face. "He really doesn't know?" She laughed. "This just got so much better."
"Know what?"
Isabella slid off his bed and walked toward me. "She didn't tell you? She's pregnant."
The moment I had planned in my head for telling him about the baby had been ripped from me. This would be his last memory of me. Me not telling him something. It would tear him apart. If Isabella didn't kill him, that would.
James just stared at me. He didn't say a word. The color had drained from his face. And I realized he wasn't really staring at me. He was looking past me. This wasn't how this was supposed to go. I had it all planned out.
Look at me. Please look at me. "James, I was going to tell you on your birthday. I..."
"That's quite enough." Isabella pressed the gun against the side of my forehead.
Oh God. My heart was pounding. It was all I could hear. And all I could think about was how mad I'd been the past few days. And how it was such a waste of time. Such a horrible waste of time to have anger in my heart. I should have been counting my blessings. I should have been with him the whole time. I should have been savoring it.
"Isabella, stop!" James yelled. "Please stop. You win. You win, okay? I'll do whatever you want."
"I want you to be with me. I want us to be what we used to be. I want everyone to be jealous of me again. I want my fucking life back!"
"Okay. Me too. I want it all back. I want you back."
"But what about the baby?"
"I never wanted kids. And I don't want that one. She knew that. She knew that and she got pregnant anyway. I don't want anything to do with her or that child. You know me, Isabella. You're the only one that really knows me. You're all that I want. It's always been you."
James! Look at me! I struggled against the duct tape.
Isabella pressed the gun harder against my temple. "You'll go back to her."
"No. I'll never want her as much as I want you. You know that, baby. I'll file for divorce. We can go wherever you want. Just...please come here."
The gun slowly dropped from my forehead. "I just don't understand. Why were you ever with her then? Why would you hurt me like this?"
"I pitied her. She was weak. I liked that she was young and naive and didn't know better. Because she was everything that you weren't. And it killed me that you didn't want me anymore. That someone so strong willed and sexy had cut me down. I was just trying to forget by dating someone that was so opposite of you. But I could never forget you."
Young. Naive. Weak. It was everything I didn't want to be. It was everything that I was. Look at me James. Show me that you don't mean it.
"I know how unforgettable I am." She ran her fingers through his hair.
And he smiled. That smile was like a knife in my heart. They looked so natural together. I looked away. Maybe he was just telling her what she needed to hear. But maybe...
"Then kiss me," he said. "Let's start over. Let's put all of it behind us. We'll be better than we ever were."
I watched as Isabella leaned down a little closer to him. And I died inside. Isabella was right. The thought of him with her had always haunted me. And now that I was about to see it? It was seared into my brain.
This couldn't be what he really wanted. This couldn't be. So why did he ask her to kiss him? To give me a chance to escape? There was no escape. I pulled my wrists as hard as I could. It just made me cry more. Young. Naive. Weak. I was so weak. I gritted my teeth as I pulled again on my restraints. Nothing. All I could do was watch the man I love tilt his head toward the woman he was professing his love for.
It happened in a flash. James pulled out his IV and wrapped the cord around Isabella's neck right before her lips met his.
She dropped the gun on the floor and it skittered over to the window.
"You tried to kill me, you fucking bitch!"
"James!" I screamed as Isabella struggled in his arms.
"You tried to kill my brother!" He tightened the cord around her neck. Blood trickled down his hand where his IV had been.
"James, stop!" A part of me wanted him to kill her. She had put us through hell. But this wasn't James. He would never do something like this.
"You tried to kill my wife. You threatened my family," he was choking on his words. "I was forced to give up my life to be with you once. I'll never make that mistake again. No one will ever tell me how to live my life again." He replaced the cord with his hands.
Her
face was turning purple.
"James, you're not a murderer! Stop!"
"Shell never leave me alone! She'll never leave us alone." His voice cracked on the word us.
She was starting to sag in his arms.
"This isn't who you are. James!"
He let go of her throat and pushed her off the bed. Her body slumped to the ground. But I could see her chest rise with each breath. She was alive. Just unconscious.
"Did she hurt you?" James said as he ripped off the rest of the wires that were attached to him. "Are you okay?" He stumbled out of the bed and caught himself on the edge of it. "Penny?" He fell to his knees in front of me.
I couldn't respond because I was choking on my sobs. This wasn't the end. I wasn't going to die. We were going to be okay.
He ran his fingers along my skin as if searching for some sign of injury. My arms. My legs. My face. He grabbed something to cut away the duct tape and he pulled me down into his arms.
"I'm okay," I whispered. "I'm okay."
The tears in his eyes just made mine fall even faster.
"Penny." His voice sounded so hoarse. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry, baby."
"You're bleeding."
He smiled through his tears. "I'm fine. We're fine." He pulled my face to his chest. "You're shaking." He wrapped his arms tighter around me. "It's okay now. We're okay."
"For a second I let myself believe that the things you were saying were true," I said into his chest. "I thought, I thought..."
"No. No, Penny. I didn't mean any of it." He leaned back and put his palm on my stomach. "None of it." He was staring at my stomach. "Are you really pregnant?"
"I didn't want you to find out like this. I wanted to surprise you. I was going to give you this little onesie I picked up in the gift shop for your birthday and tell you. And I know you don't want kids. At least, not for a long time. I was stressed out before the wedding and I must have forgotten to take my birth control and..."
"Penny." He grabbed the sides of my face. "I want everything with you. All of it. And if you're pregnant, I want kids now. I want it."
"You're not mad?"
