Twisted Love

by R. C. Stephens

  “I’m so sorry Anna, please say something. Where did they take you? What did they do to you?” I begged, probably overwhelming her.

  She pulled her head back and stared into my eyes. “I don’t know Lex, I got home after school and men in masks were waiting for me, they took me…..” she began to sob some more and I could only imagine how frightening this was for her. “They put me into a black SUV and brought me to a hotel, but I didn’t know which one…..” she gasped in between her tears. My heart broke, my horrible mistakes had not only put my life in danger but also the life of my loved ones.

  “Did they hurt you Anna? Please tell me, I need to know,” I asked placing a hand on her shoulder. The way Luc spoke about his family, I was worried what they would be capable of.

  She shook her head. “They just kept me held up in the room with some creepy guy that was my babysitter. They had food delivered three times each day, but I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t handle being held against my will…I didn’t even shower because that man that watched me Lex…he was so scary…and he had a gun…I thought he would shoot me if I fell asleep…or if I said the wrong thing,” she mumbled. Her entire body was trembling.

  “I’m so sorry Anna, Luc’s family wanted to ensure I would testify on his behalf…I guess this is how the mob ensures their requests are met. I had no idea they would come after you…they warned me not to involve the authorities they said I should testify and you would be released….”

  “I know Lex, I know it was a bad situation for you Bandita, I don’t blame you, I really don’t.”

  “Well you should blame me, I blame me. I don’t know how to get out of this mess, I don’t know what will make them leave us alone.” My new phone dinged in my pocket. Anna gave me a confused look because she knew I didn’t have a cell phone.

  “Dylan just got it for me,” I answered her silent question and she nodded. Luc’s name appeared.

  Has she been returned?

  Lexi: Yes.

  Luc: Is she okay?

  Lexi: She’s shaken up.

  Luc: I’m sorry.

  Lexi: I know

  “Why is Luc texting you?” Anna bit out. She had every right to be mad.

  “Anna, I will explain everything, don’t be mad.” She nodded her head accepting my response. I didn’t want to burden her with the drama of the last few days.

  “Can I fill a bath for you?” I asked placing my hand on her shoulder. She looked resigned but she nodded. “How about something to eat?” I asked and her nodding quickened.

  “Anna, what do we tell Nathan? I’m scared, I don’t want Luc’s family getting investigated because of us, it will make them angry and it will come back to haunt us, I just know it,” I pleaded, knowing that I was asking her to hide something from someone she was trying to get close to, that was not the way to start a relationship.

  “I understand what you’re saying Bandita, but Nate and I have become close rather quick, we aren’t sleeping together as you know..” she paused to give an infamous Anna eye roll and I was glad to see that she was slowly coming back to herself after this ordeal. “But he’s a good guy and I think I can ask him to separate this incident as a personal matter and not get his work involved, if that makes sense.”

  “Okay, I trust you Anna, whatever you feel,” I said leaning in to give her a hug.

  “Honestly, Bandita I’m really shaken up by this.”

  “I know Anna and I’m so, so sorry.”

  “I know, you don’t need to beat yourself up over this, as it is, you are too hard on yourself.” My eyes began to tear up again at Anna’s comment. Even under such a strenuous situation, she managed to think of my own feelings and not her self-preservation. “Besides, getting taken away gave me lots of time to think, and Nate well, he’s special to me, and I’m traumatized right now, I’m not going to hide it, I need him Bandita, I want to lean on him.” I pulled my head back but still kept my arms around her, I squinted my eyes at her confession. It’s hard to admit you need another person, especially after you’ve grown up the way Anna and I have. Alone. You get used to depending on yourself, only life wasn’t built for solitude and eventually you need someone to lean on. Anna and I found each other, but it was different to want to lean on a man and for that man to lean on you in return. Hearing that Anna was willing to take that leap of fate was huge.

  “I’ll go fill the bath and make you something to eat,” I said quietly stepping out of the room. When I opened the door, Nathan’s concerned eyes landed on me. “Is she okay?”

  “Why don’t you go ahead and check for yourself, I think she needs you now,” I explained solemnly as Nathan made his way past me into the room. He closed the door behind him and I walked over to the kitchen where Dylan stood with open arms waiting to catch me if I fell. I couldn’t get into those arms fast enough and when I did, he grabbed me fiercely. The feeling of having his strength and love elated me. After a long hard life, and having to fight at every turn, it was finally a relief to know I had someone to love me, someone to share my life with.

  “Is she okay Lex?” he asked.

  “She will be,” I smiled sadly tilting my head up to look into his crystal clear blue eyes. “Don’t be hard on yourself about this, this was one of life’s circumstances that you couldn’t control,” he said looking at me with a thoughtful look. It was exactly what I needed to hear because there was a heavy dose of self-blame going on.

  “Yeah,” I answered not fully convinced. “I’m scared Dyl, there was a threat in that letter that was left directed at me too.”

  “I know and we will do the best we can to keep you safe,” he said holding me tight and placing his head on mine.

  My cell phone beeped again. “Honestly I’m scared to look at the phone,” I said quietly. As I looked at the screen Luc’s name popped up again.

  Charges have been dropped against Dylan.

  I let out a breath of air and squealed. “Dylan, he dropped the charges against you, you can continue the residency. At least your whole life’s work isn’t shot because of me,” I said wrapping my arms around his neck and feeling slightly optimistic for the first time in days.

  “I have to contact my supervisor….” he paused mid-sentence. “Lex, I know that you stayed with me because of the threat, but I want you to move in with me. Will you please move in with me?” The way he asked I could see the hope strewn all over his perfect face. He looked like a small boy, the boy I fell in love with, the boy who loved me with all his heart.

  “Yes, Dylan, yes I would love to move in with you,” I replied and his mouth gaped open as he took me in his arms and kissed me with every hot fiber of his being. His lips pressed firmly into mine and I instantly felt the familiar heat only he could bring out in me. I suddenly remembered that Anna was very hungry in the next room. “Sorry, Dyl,” I said pulling away from him. “I need to make Anna something to eat, she couldn’t eat the food they gave her.”

  I walked away from him, and as I turned he gave my behind a smack and I yelped. When I looked up to his face, he had the cockiest most sexy grin that if I wasn’t busy preparing food for my very hungry friend, I would have dropped my panties right there. And well, Anna and Nathan could come walking out of my room at any minute. That was another slight detail.

  “I’m going to make arrangements for you to move in. I need to get back to the hospital and figure things out. Will you be okay here for a few hours?” he asked hesitantly. I could tell he was nervous about leaving me.

  “I’m fine, go figure things out at the hospital, Anna and Nathan are here,” I assured him. He leaned forward to give me another kiss. “I can’t get enough of you,” he shook his head. “I will come back to pick you up, you’re sleeping in my bed tonight.”

  “Dyl, don’t you think we are moving things too quickly?”

  “Quickly? Quickly? This has been too slow, I should have been engaged to you by now if everything had gone as planned. Besides we aren’t that young and we both know what we want. Right?�
��

  “We do,” I reassured him again, I could tell that it would take him time to realize that we were in this life together, and would never be apart again. I couldn’t blame him though because I had to remind myself the same thing.

  Chapter 28

  Take Advantage

  Lexi

  I inconspicuously slipped a grilled cheese into my room while Nathan and Anna were having a heart to heart. Then I dragged my tired mind and body over to the couch. After testifying and having Anna returned to me, I was emotionally and physically drained. I fell asleep the moment my head hit the pillow. My cell phone beeped and once again I felt overwhelmed by dread wondering how much more I could take from life before I really broke. I came so close after Luc’s attack. Dylan’s name lit up the screen and I took an easy breath.

  I’ll be there in five.

  Whoa! I had to pack a few things to stay over tonight, especially since I was back in his bed, I wanted something sexy. I could hear Anna and Nathan having a heated discussion from her room, but I couldn’t make out the words, and I should really not be eavesdropping anyway, at least they were done in my room.

  As I packed my bag for the night I heard a light knock on the front door, I peeped through the little hole to make sure it was Dylan, and I was relieved to see him standing outside. I opened the door, “Hey.”

  “Hey, yourself,” he smiled, walking in and pulling me into him by my waist. “Are you ready to come home with me?” he asked placing a hot kiss on my lips, his mouth was slightly opened and he nibbled my bottom lip.

  “Just give me a minute to pack,” I stuttered a bit, feeling flushed from the small encounter. I turned to walk back to my room. Dylan followed behind. “So what did the hospital say? Don’t leave me hanging here,” I paused holding my breath and praying that it was an answer I wanted to hear.

  “They reinstated my residency,” he practically cheered flashing a full wattage smile.

  “YES,” I cheered throwing my hands up in the air like a cheerleader at a football game.

  “They gave me a warning though, it was not cool that I attacked Luc on hospital premises,” he shrugged.

  “Do they know why it happened, did you explain what Luc had done?”

  “No, there was no point. I accepted the warning and said it would never happen again.”

  “You could have said something, I would have been okay with it.”

  “Thank you, but it was too personal for me to get in to, I didn’t want people to know...about the baby,” he said quietly and sadly. It made my chest clench. The baby would always be a part of us that we lost together.

  “I get it, the wound is still fresh, for me too,” I admitted, and Dylan came up from behind me to wrap me in his arms. I suddenly felt something stiff and hard in my backside and I looked to him with my sexiest grin possible and lifted one of my brows.

  “I better get you back to my place, before I take you here.”

  “Mmm, that sounds very good Dr. Priestley,” I said jokingly. That earned me a smack on my behind.

  “Now, to the car…” he ordered with a serious tone, the only thing giving him away was a lopsided grin that made me feel hot in all the right places.

  ***

  Back at Dylan’s apartment, we couldn’t get our clothes off fast enough, ravishing each other the second we walked through the door, from the bed we went into the shower, which was steaming hot and left me feeling thirsty.

  With my mouth feeling dry and my body thoroughly fucked, I sauntered out to the kitchen for a glass of water in one of Dylan’s white t-shirts. I couldn’t help the lazy grin on my face as I made my way to his kitchen. Living here in Dylan’s apartment, making love, feeling wanted. I was so happy that I was bursting at the seams. I began to open some cabinets in search of a glass for water, not a moment later I heard Dylan from behind me clearing his throat.

  “Lex, stay right there, don’t move because the sight of you right now is breathtaking,” he said with a raspy voice holding his hands up in a square like he was zeroing in on my behind.

  I put my hand up to my chest. “Geez, you just scared the living day lights out of me.” “I’m sorry babe, but you look so hot with your behind peeking through the shirt,” he bit on his lower lip then moved in close to me. I smacked him across the chest.

  “Oh come on, don’t tell me you’re shy with me now, not after what we just did in the bedroom,” he smiled sardonically. He then pointed down to his very erect cock that was bursting through his loose grey pajama pants and said, “See, look at my reaction to you.” I slowly trained my eyes on his groin, the site of his straining cock did ungodly things to my libido and I licked my lips wanting him to pound in to me all over again.

  “Ah, didn’t you need water Lex?” he asked, pulling me from my Dylan induced daze, his lips tugged up in the corners looking smug.

  “What?” I asked not able to focus on anything except for his delicious erection in front of me.

  “Water?” he reminded me.

  “Right, water…” I agreed, suddenly remembering my reason for coming into the kitchen.

  Dylan reached past me for a cup out of the cabinet and I couldn’t help taking in his scent, it drove me wild, he then walked over to the water dispenser attached to the fridge. “Dyl, do you think everything will be okay with Nathan? I mean, he’s probably angry with me that I lied about Anna.”

  “I don’t know the guy, but he can’t be stupid, we did what we could to keep Anna safe and bring her back to us, he had to realize that.”

  “Yeah, I guess, you're right,” I replied my voice trailing off.

  “What else is bothering you?” he asked leaning back on the counter and crossing his arms over his delicious naked chest.

  “Dyl, you explained why you stayed away for so many years, and I get it was a terrible twist of fate that kept us apart. We both had blind spots that prevented us from seeing the whole picture about our situation, and we clearly have similar personalities in that we are hard on ourselves….” my eyes raised to his.

  “Where are you going with this Lex?”

  I knew where I was going with this, there were still questions left unanswered, he may have had a legitimate reason to stay away or so he believed it to be, I would have never held that awful night with that girl overdosing against him. It was understandable that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. What I didn’t understand was how he could be living such a fancy life when I’m sure medical school was costing a fortune, especially for a Canadian attending an American school.

  “I know what it is, there’s only one thing left unanswered you want to know about - my car and this apartment,” he waved his hand around.

  “Yeah, I do. It’s kind of scaring me. Luc also drove a crazy car and had an amazing apartment, but he told me he was in technology, are you doing something illegal?” I asked blushing. I almost felt stupid asking the question because it was Dylan, but the wealth he had didn’t make sense, it didn’t add up and after what I had recently been through I couldn’t be naïve anymore.

  “Lex, whatever I have has been earned by completely legal means, I assure you,” he chuckled, but then his features smoothed. “Well maybe not completely legal but not highly illegal either. Brad and I placed some bets on some basketball games. There was a guy at school that took the bets and if you won the pot, it could be pretty big. At least for a college student. Brad and I had made about twenty grand each and then I backed away. I was never really a gambler it was more of a distraction,” he said as his lip quirked up. I could tell that he even felt ashamed about that and I didn’t even consider it a big deal.

  “After Brad and I messed up that night, we both started focusing on academics a lot more, but Brad had been written off by his family and he was on a mission to prove to himself, or to them I’m not sure, that he could succeed on his own…” As he explained the whole story about how Brad approached him about the Cranston stock it all became clear that although fate had dealt Dylan a diffi
cult hand the night Santana overdosed, he was also dealt an appeasing hand in Brad. He could have easily lost the last part of his savings that was meant to get him through his last year of medical school, he could have been embroiled in financial debt like me and most students out there, but fate had a different plan in mind for Dylan.

  “I’m glad you took that chance on the stock,” I replied.

  “You are?” His eyes widened and his head jolted back. “I always had a vision of you in my mind telling me not to gamble, it just seemed like it would be something you would be against.”

  “Well, it wasn’t an illegal gamble, you played the stock market and did well. I also spent the last few years playing Russian roulette with my life, so I could never chide you for it…” I shrugged my shoulders.

  “What do you mean? Did you get into more trouble than this situation with Luc?”

  “Yeah,” I quickly debriefed him on the night Anna and I went to the after-hours club and how some sleaze ball slipped a roofie into my drink and tried to take me home. I couldn’t leave out the important part Luc played that night either.

  “I guess, I’m happy Blanchard was there to save you, since I wasn’t. I should be grateful to him,” Dylan admitted rubbing his chin, clearly pained by my story.

  “Don’t get down on me Dyl, we’ve been apart for seven years, we clearly have a lot of catching up to do, and it can’t all be done in one night.”

  “You’re right, I know, but I plan on taking the rest of my life to make it up to you… you know I was always kind of worried what you would think of the fact that I was rich, I thought it may be a turn off for you,” he said shyly. I hadn’t realized that Dylan did shy but I knew when it came to me or me to him that our emotions were always jumbled.