“Honestly, Lexi if fate brought us back together after everything we have been through I can’t believe she would be so cruel as to break us apart again.”
“You’re right, I know you are, just after everything I’ve been through sometimes it’s hard to look on the bright side or allow myself to believe that everything will be okay.”
“I know what you mean, you lying here in my bed still seems surreal.” He looked down at me with a goofy grin, then lifted his head and kissed me softly. “I love you so much.”
“I love you too, Dyl.”
“Can you say it again?” he asked grinning.
“I love you too, Dyl.”
“Okay you need to sleep, we don’t want you messing up tomorrow,” he laughed causing my eyes to go wide.
“That’s not funny,” I smacked him in the chest. “And talking about no pressure…” I rolled my eyes.
“Stop it. You in a court room, piece of cake, you’re brilliant. Now sleep,” he demanded sexily.
“Goodnight,” I breathed out.
“Goodnight babe."
I tried to sleep but my old friend fear had taken up refuge in my chest. It felt hard to breath. I watched Dylan fall into a deep sleep as his own breathes slowed. I tried to calm myself and close my eyes, but every time they closed I felt like I was suffocating. Pictures of where Anna might be flicked in and out of my mind. I was stuck in another form of hell. A hell that I couldn’t escape from.
Chapter 27
Reassurance
Lexi
As I heard the alarm clock go off beside Dylan’s bed, I was enveloped in warmth. I must have finally fallen asleep from exhaustion. Although I was tired so I probably hadn’t slept long. I wished we could spend the day in bed. But reality beckoned as I worried what Anna must be going through while I slept comfortably in this bed.
“We need to get up,” I looked at Dylan with his eyes closed and the most blissful look on his face.
“I wish I could keep you in this bed forever,” he leaned over wrapping me in his strong arms.
“I was just thinking the same thing but we need to get to court, I need to do this. They have to release Anna,” I said insistently, feeling like my panic had returned. Dylan was successful in distracting me last night but this morning would be different. I would have to testify and pray that the Blanchard family approved what I had to say and not come off as a shaking mess.
“Okay let’s do this!” I said getting up and flipping the blanket off of us, leaving us cold and naked while exposing Dylan’s very aroused morning boner. Heat instantly smacked me between the legs. This was not the time to let my libido loose. I tamed her down and entered his bathroom to relieve my screaming bladder. Then I walked over to the sink to wash my hands and glared into the mirror. I was a little taken aback by the person staring back at me, she felt a lot more whole. My sense of self-worth had become more evident, and I didn’t feel disgusted with myself anymore. In fact now that I had Dylan back in my life a sense of pride swelled in my chest. Despite the good I was a ball of nerves.
Rushing for time I quickly brushed my teeth and washed my face. I heard the doorbell chime and then Dylan hollered that he would get it. Who could be at his door this early in the morning? I walked quickly to my overnight bag shoving my hand inside in search for the one blouse and skirt that I thankfully threw in while Dylan stood over me nervously hiding the fact that Anna had been abducted. I shook out the blouse a few times since it got scuffled up in the bag and then I shimmy on the slender navy blue skirt.
“Shit you look sexy,” he said leaning on the door frame with a box wrapped in white wrapping paper in his hand.
I smiled at him but my nerves were so on edge I couldn’t focus for long.
“This is for you,” he said passing the box my way.
“Dylan, you don’t have to get me gifts,” I said putting on my stilettos. He tilted his head to the side and checked out my legs in my high heeled shoes then his eyes heated up and he shook his head back and forth letting me know that he liked what he saw. I took the box from him, it was a little larger than the palm of my hand and it was solid.
“Open it,” he gestured.
I opened the white wrapping to a white box with an apple sign on it. “You got me a phone?” I asked surprised.
“Yes, you need a phone, I can’t get ahold of you when you’re not in the apartment. I need to know where you are. Besides there’s also a tracking app so I can see where you are at all times,” he admitted guiltily shrugging his shoulders.
“Thank you,” I replied, giving him a kiss. He gestured for me to continue opening the box, so I opened it to a brand new iPhone 6. “This is too much Dylan, any phone would have been fine. The one I lost was basic.”
“I wanted you to have this one, I wanted you to have a nice phone, besides don’t read too much into it. I clearly got it for selfish reasons,” he said with a cocky grin.
“Thank you,” I said, giving him a hug.
“We can call the phone company and activate it now, you need a phone on you at all times. Here pass it to me. I’m downloading that tracking app ASAP,” he said seriously.
I rolled my eyes grinning at him, my Dylan, just like I remembered him back in high-school. Lovable, domineering and mine.
Dylan called the cell phone company and activated the phone, while I fixed my hair in a bun and took deep calming breathes hoping to slow my racing heart. There was a lot riding on the line today. You can do this Lex, I convinced myself.
“Okay you may want to add some of your old contacts since you lost your phone and there was no backup. This is your new number, go ahead and text the new number to your contacts if you remember their numbers,” he gestured, leaving the phone on the counter in front of me while he walked off to the walk-in closet to get dressed.
Of course I remembered my list of contacts. Firstly, there weren’t too many and secondly I had a photographic memory, it was what made law school easy for me. I remembered all the phone numbers, I didn’t really need the contacts, it was more for the convenience of not having to dial the numbers.
***
My nerves were so bad I wasn’t able to walk to the courthouse so we took Dylan’s car. I began to enter the few numbers I needed into my new phone, including Luc. I had told Dylan that he needed me as a friend and he didn’t seem to protest. I knew he wouldn’t be in my life forever, but for now we needed contact. The Toronto Court wasn’t far, located along University Avenue. Dylan stopped the car out front of the courthouse and I got out. While I was waiting for Dylan I noticed Nathan standing inside speaking with someone. He was dressed in uniform. My stomach dropped and my heart rate sped up again to the point I felt like it may explode or fly out of my chest.
Anna had mentioned that her and Nathan were becoming closer, and I was so wrapped up in everything that I never considered that he might have tried to contact her over the last couple days. I was an awful liar, especially when nervous. I didn’t know what I would do if he questioned me as to why she hadn’t been in touch and he probably had a built in lie detector test in him considering he was national security. As I stood in the entrance, cool air wafted through the door every time someone entered the building but I was stuck in my spot waiting for Dylan. It took him awhile and I couldn’t help pacing. If Nathan figured out that the Blanchard’s abducted Anna, they may hurt her or something worse. I tried to push my negative thoughts aside and focus on getting the job done. I would need to say what a wonderful husband Luc had been. I finally spotted Dylan walking speedily toward me, and my nerves released slightly. He took my hand in his, and I looked down to our hands warily. I didn’t think we should be holding hands while I was there to testify how wonderful my supposed husband was.
“Sorry, Dyl, but I’m guessing that the prosecution thinks Luc and I are still together, I’m also guessing that Luc wants us to provide a united front, so I can testify that he’s a loving and supportive husband and not a future mob boss.” I knew what I
was doing was perjury, but my best friend’s life was on the line. I had no choice. As we made our way down the hallway of the courthouse Nathan’s eyes drifted to mine, as he stopped his chat with the other officer. I flashed him a quick smile, hoping it didn’t come off as nervous or fake, but then again I realized it’s natural to be nervous in this circumstance. The only problem was that Nathan was aware of the fact that Luc hurt me, and I was hoping he wouldn’t say anything about my testimony or become suspicious as to why I was saying graceful things about my attacker. As we approached the door to the court room, Nathan shook the other officer’s hand and turned our way. He looked serious in his dark blue uniform and badges. I inwardly thought how ironic it was that we became friends while he was following my boyfriend as part of a secret investigation and then took a liking to Anna. It reminded me how fickle fate could be and how sometimes the road to love can be so twisted.
“It’s so good to see you,” I said leaning forward to give Nathan a hug. He seemed so formal in the uniform and it threw me off a bit.
His posture was rigid when he replied, “It’s good to see you to Alexis, how have you been?”
“I’ve been doing a lot better,” I answered, looking up to Dylan with a silly grin that I tried unsuccessfully to suppress. After all he was a major part of the reason I had not fainted until this point, considering the severity of the matter. I couldn’t even fathom what I would have done without him in my life.
“Glad to hear,” he said reaching out an arm and squeezing my shoulder. I noticed Dylan’s eyes gape at Nathan’s hand touching my shoulder. All I could think was, caveman.
“Are you also testifying today?” I asked him. I wasn’t expecting to see him here today, and I would have felt a whole lot better knowing I didn’t have to testify in front of him.
“Yeah, but much later on, I think you will be up first,” he smiled kindly. Until now everything had been usual about our conversation. This was all good.
I let out a silent sigh of relief. “Hey, Alexis, I just got back into town last night and I tried to text Anna, she hasn’t responded to my text and I went by her place and she wasn’t there,” he said looking slightly self-conscious as if he was trying to figure out if he had been shot down by Anna. Shit! Shit! Things had been going so good between them and he was good for Anna and I definitely need to keep my shit together now.
I took a long hard gulp. “Uh, I stayed with Dylan last night. She texted me that she was working late at the library and I knew she had classes this morning,” I answered as calmly as I humanly could.
He nodded his head slightly, but I could see that my words were not reassuring. Maybe he feels like he was getting the brush off, or maybe he was onto me and he knew that something was wrong.
“Well, if you see her tell her I was looking for her.”
“Yes, of course,” I replied trying to avoid Dylan’s eyes while threading my fingers together. If I looked into his eyes I could break down and cry and I had to keep it together. For Anna.
“Hi!” Dylan thankfully intervened when he saw me struggling to keep myself together. He extended his hand to shake Nathan’s and Nathan extended his in return.
“Are you guys heading for the courtroom?” he asked pointing to the two large wooden doors at the entrance of the courtroom.
“Yeah,” Dylan and I responded at the same time eyeing each other knowingly. I was more than happy to break away from that conversation. We followed Nathan inside. My stomach began to turn in a bad way as I gazed around the room, wondering if Luc’s father had returned for the trial. As my eyes roamed over the room I realized he wasn’t here and I exhaled a long hard breath.
“You look super hot in these formal clothes, I think you should reconsider your decision about dropping out of law school,” Dylan whispered in my ear. I looked over to him surprised and I saw heat in his eyes.
A light growl escaped his lips and he tapped my behind lightly. “You’ve got this sexy vixen thing going on Lex,” he said nodding his head at me. I can’t help the burst of laughter that escaped my lips.
“Stop Dylan, we’re in court.”
“If you continue looking at me like that I may be inclined to have my way with you in the restroom,” he continued to whisper in my ear. His tone was domineering and filled with promise making my insides clench.
“I may just take you up on that Doc McHotty,” I flicked the collar of his shirt, surprising him in return.
Heat blared in his eyes. “Let’s get this done with so I can take you home.”
“I like the sound of that, home,” I whispered back.
That’s when I realized what he was doing. He was using sexual banter to distract me away from the fact that Luc was sitting in the front of the courtroom in the defendant’s chair. My heart stopped the moment he made eye contact with me, a part of me felt guilty that he just watched the very flirtatious encounter between Dylan and me. Luc looked away and dipped his head toward the floor.
The prosecutor called my name and I inhaled and exhaled trying to control my breathing and racing heart. At one point I felt the sting of tears hit my eyes and I wondered if I could pull this off and say what I came to say. I remained focused despite the fact that I began to sweat profusely. I noticed a man sitting off to the right in a black suit and black overcoat. I convinced myself that he must be a thug from Luc’s family here to ensure I say the right things. At one point he nodded his head when I discussed what a great husband Luc was.
Two long hours later the judge dismissed the courtroom. Luc turned his head around and mouthed thank you and I nodded my head in recognition. Once off the stand I made a beeline for the restroom and began dry heaving over a toilet. I had not been able to eat anything since Anna was taken. When I thought of food or water I only wondered if she had any and it turned me off.
“You did real good Lex,” Dylan said looking at me with warm eyes as I left the ladies room. I had overcome another hurdle. Now I had to get Anna back. The question was how?
***
“We should head over to your apartment and wait for Anna there,” Dylan suggested.
“You’re right, how will we know when they release her? Will they return her to us? Will they even give her back?” As I sat in Dylan’s car, sick with worry, I felt like I could crawl out of my own skin. I wish she were back already, I couldn’t stop fidgeting.
“Relax,” Dylan said placing his hand over my thigh. I couldn’t help bouncing my leg up and down. I looked at him wanting to calm myself, but I couldn’t. That feeling of crawling out of my skin returned and I just needed to know that everything would be alright. That was the only thing that could help me in this moment.
When we arrived back at the apartment Nathan was waiting out in the parking lot sitting in his car. Shit! My stomach roiled. Dylan parked in the spot next to Nathan’s car and we both got out. Nathan got out of his car too. I began to sweat, my hands turning clammy and my forehead perspiring despite the cool early March temperatures.
“I thought I would come by and check on Anna,” Nathan said matter-of-factly.
“Of course, come in,” I responded not knowing what else to say while saying a silent prayer in my mind that Anna returned soon.
Nathan nodded and followed Dylan and me, into my apartment. A cold chill ran up my body just being back here. I wondered how Luc’s family took Anna. Did they break in here? Was she walking home from school? Poor Anna.
Suddenly my cell phone dinged and a text message popped up on the screen. Dylan’s eyes darted to my phone. It read,
She’s free but this isn’t over.
I looked over to Dylan who had read the text message and was trying to keep the same calm composure as me in front of Nathan with a light friendly smile. He closed and opened his eyes knowingly and I understood we had to continue our charade in front of Nathan. A part of me was relieved, but I had no idea where she was or if I could trust the text. I quickly sent her a text and waited but there was no response.
Suddenly Nathan raised his voice and asked suspiciously. “Alexis, what the hell is going on here?” Nathan pointed his finger at me accusingly. “Where the hell is Anna?” His voice was loud and domineering. His pale features turning an angry red.
“Hey, chill Nathan,” Dylan cut in motioning for him to remove his finger from my face. Nathan dropped the accusatory tone, but he eyed us suspiciously.
“Did something happen to her, because I swear….” he trailed off as the front door opened and Anna slowly walked in wearing the same clothes I saw her in two days ago. Her dark long hair looked disheveled and she had dark rims around her eyes. She looked at the ground as we all eyed her as if she was under a microscope.
“Anna.” I ran to her and wrapped my arms around her maybe squeezing a little too hard. I notice she didn’t hug me back remaining limp in my arms. I pulled my head back and looked in her eyes. I noticed her gaze stopped on Nathan who looked very confused, his earlier anger dissipated. “Anna come with me to my room,” I said guiding her through the apartment. She was still in her winter jacket as I guided her to my room. I didn’t want to make a scene in front of Nathan, it could be like alerting the authorities and I was hoping to get the Blanchard family out of my life. I did what they asked in court today, I said Luc was a wonderful husband. I also told them I knew nothing about his business, which was the truth. A part of me was glad he kept me in the dark. Ironically.
Once in my room I closed the door, and begin to check her, I didn’t know for what. I lifted her hands, and placed my hands on her face searching for any signs of trauma. “Anna talk to me, are you okay?” I asked frantically. I took her winter coat, and she fell back on the bed sitting down. Her tears began to fall, and I took a seat beside her, holding her tight, relieved that she came back to me in one piece and destroyed over the fact that she seemed to be in shambles and it was all my fault. “Anna I’m so, so sorry,” I said with her still wrapped in my arms. She sobbed heavily and as much as I wanted to keep it together to be strong for her, these last couple days had been a nightmare, and I couldn’t hold back anymore as the first tear erupted down my left cheek.
Twisted Love Page 20
