by Lucy Rinaldi
“Trust me, he's more at ease than he ever has been before.”
I nod at Lora. If she says so.
I look over at Kory. Maybe she's right. He's sitting in a booth with Bryton, Tommy, Sonny, Chase, Jesse, and Enzo. They're all deep in comfortable conversation, some laughing at whatever they're talking about. Kory is laughing along with them.
It brings tears to my eyes to see how hard my husband is trying to make everything perfect for me. He's changed his whole life for me and our baby. Do I really deserve him?
“Babe,” Lora takes my arm, drawing my eyes to her. “What's wrong? Why are you crying?”
Damn.
I shake my head with a laugh, trying to make it seem like nothing is wrong. And nothing really is, I'm just doubting myself for some silly reason.
But Lora is having none of it.
“Excuse us for a moment girls.” She doesn't give me the chance to protest. She just drags me by the hand into the restroom and locks the door behind her.
“Tell me what's wrong, Aimee.”
I smile at my best friend as she folds her arms around her slim body clad in black silk. She's so beautiful. All the Harper sisters are. They all look alike. Every one of them. Each one is stunningly beautiful. I don't fit with them.
“I don't know, Lor. I'm just a little overwhelmed, I think. I've waited six years for this, but I suddenly don't feel like I deserve him.”
“Are you serious?” I nod my head at her. “Aimee, of course, you do. He doesn't deserve you. Especially after what he put you through. You're my best friend, my sister-in-law, and I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
She takes my arms in her hands. I smile slightly.
“What's making you doubt your marriage?”
“I don't doubt my marriage, Lora. I don't know what it is, I just feel like I'm walking on eggshells. Like I'm going to wake up any day now and realize all of this is a dream. I know it's stupid when I know he's not going to hurt me again. But it just feels too good to be true.”
“He's not going to let you down, Aimee. I know he has many times in the past, but I can see him in there as well as everyone else. He hasn't taken his eyes off you all night. He loves you so much. I never knew he had such love in him. And the fact it's my best friend that holds his heart, well, that is something really special.”
She hugs me, and I cling to her for a few moments.
“You have nothing to worry about, beautiful. You're going to be so happy, just you wait and see. And if it's your mother and her lack of communication that's getting you down,” She knows me too well. “Stop worrying so much, she'll come around sooner than you know.”
I nod against her. She kisses my cheek and I pull away.
I know she's right. And I know everything will okay very soon. I just need to give my mother a little time. I know she'll come around, she's going to be there for me and this baby. I just know she will.
Fourteen
Kory
I'm not used to all of this, drinking with my sister's friends. But I'm not an ignorant man, I laugh at their jokes, I drink as much as them, even listen to their stories about their children, their wives, their damn boring jobs. My eyes flitting to my own wife every now and again.
Something is bothering her. I could tell in the car on the way here. She was too quiet. I know this thing with her mother is getting to her, and I'm worried it's going to affect the baby. God only knows what it would do to Aimee if anything happened to our baby. She's wanted this for far too long, I won't have anything upsetting her to the point she loses it.
I guess it's down to me to make Jenny listen. She can't keep punishing her daughter for what happened. It's been and gone and nothing anyone does now will ever turn back the clock.
I don't know, maybe I could organize a vow renewal. It might give Jenny and my mother something to look forward to. Someway they can feel involved in the whole thing. I know Jenny is hurt that she didn't get to see her only daughter get married, but this should help to ease the sting a little.
“It's no wonder she turned me down every time I asked her out.” Bryton laughs behind his glass. This is news to me, him asking Aimee out. I shouldn't be pissed off about it, but I am.
“When was this exactly?”
“Months before Roya came home, don't worry.” He chuckles. I do not. “I guess I liked the challenge.”
“More like you were a glutton for punishment,” Chase says, making everyone at our table laugh.
My eyes find my wife, she's dancing with the girls like she doesn't have a care in the world. I know she never did anything with Bryton, my brother-in-law, but I can't help the anger boiling inside of me. The thoughts that maybe she flirted with him, lead him on.
And the truth, I want to rip his fucking head from his shoulders!
“Calm down, Kory.” I shoot my eyes to Freddy, another of my brother-in-laws. Why the fuck am I drinking with all four of my brother-in-laws and their friends? They ain't my friends.
Okay, I went to school with Enzo, Freddy, and Tommy, don't mean I want to be sitting here drinking with them. I'm only doing this for Aimee. But I'm beginning to think I look like a damn fool. Who else has she been flirting with while I've been away?
Who else wanted to get her into bed?
Fuck it all!
I hate to admit that I'm one jealous motherfucker where Aimee is concerned. I shouldn't be jealous, I know she's all mine. And it's not like men won't find her attractive and try it on, she's fucking beautiful. And I know in my heart that every man who tries it on gets turned down.
Yeah, she might have been on a few dates, but it was always with men she had no intentions of sleeping with. Can I really blame her for trying to move on after what I did to her? She had every right to try and have some kind of life, even without me.
So, does that really give me the right to be angry over it all? No, I don't think it does. So why then can't I stop myself?
“No one did anything wrong, Kory. No one knew you were secretly married. She wasn't interested in Bryton as anything but a friend. And that's what they've been ever since.” I say nothing in response, but Enzo has his eyebrow raised. “I haven't known that girl to have a relationship with anyone since she was eighteen.”
“Since Davey Dwyer attacked her.” Fucking Tommy! That wasn't his story to tell.
“Someone attacked her?”
“Yes, Jesse.” Freddy answers. “Prom night. The guy who was her date... Well, he wanted more, she didn't.”
“Shut your mouth, Freddy!” I snap. What the fuck has this got to do with anybody right now?
“Kory here saved her from a serious sexual assault and battery, he saved her life.” Enzo continues.
There's a collective, “Wow.” from those around the table who didn't know the story.
“She'd never been with anyone else after that day. Should have seen how hooked she was on Kory.” Tommy chuckles before taking a drink of his beer.
“Can't believe she actually kept it a secret for so long. Can't believe both of you did.”
“Didn't have much choice, Enzo,” I mumble around my glass of scotch.
“Big case?”
I nod.
“Wouldn't it have been better to get the case out of the way and then marry her? If she was still single or whatever.”
My eyes bore into Jesse. I know all of this. Fuck it all, do I know. I've beaten my damn brains out going over it again and again, year after year. I should have been more of a man and let her go. I know this, but I didn't, I couldn't. I would have lost her to some other prick. There was no way I could let that happen. Call me selfish all you like, I'm selfish, so what?
“Regardless of whether it was better or not, I didn't wait. I didn't want to. I was selfish, I married her to keep her mine, and then I made her lie about it for six years. She stayed faithful to me, I stayed faithful to her. She visited me, I visited her. She's mine, I'm hers. End of story. Anything else you wanna know?”
I'm tired of going through this shit with people. Jesus Christ, is my life that interesting?
They finally move on from talk of Aimee and me, and I'm glad because it's time people did. What happened, happened, ain't nothing going to change that now. All we can do now is move forward with our lives. I'm going to make Aimee happy, there's nothing in the world I wouldn't do for her. She is everything to me, my girl. She's my wife, pregnant with my baby. I never thought I could be so lucky.
Okay, I've moved back to the little town I swore I wouldn't come back to. But I'd be a liar if I said I didn't want this. I don't have to be in Seattle or even Portland to make my dreams come true. I can drive to Seattle for those big cases I'm hired to do. Hell, I can drive almost anywhere if I have to. And it's not like I can't fly either if I have to, I own my own private jet for God's sake.
I have a lot of money. Trust me, I have more money than people realize. My own family don't know what I'm worth. Happens when you take on cases most wouldn't. Underground criminals will pay you a small fortune to get charges against them dropped.
I wasn't a good man. I knew those men had done wrong, but all I could think about was making a name for myself, making money, living the high life. The life that almost cost me mine and the lives of my family, my wife if anybody had known about her.
That's why I'm done with it all, I can't put my family in danger. I can't be that fucking reckless again, especially now. I won't be such a fucking fool that I'd put my wife and child in danger. She deserves to be my everything. Nothing in this world means more to me than she does.
Besides, it's not like I won't be able to work while I'm here. Like I've said before, I'm a damn good lawyer.
The truth is, if I didn't want to work another day in my life I wouldn't have to. I could travel the world with my wife, drinking champagne and eating oysters. Lying on sun loungers by the sea. Sounds amazing right now. But Aimee wouldn't want that, she loves her little boutique, she loves her friends, their kids.
No, this is her home. This is my home. Home is where the heart is, or so my mother always says. My heart is with Aimee, my heart is with her. We'll be happy here, I know we will.
My eyes follow her as she stands beside the bar, glass of what I assume is clear lemonade in her hand, smile on her face as she talks to Paige. She looks beautiful tonight, my wife. So beautiful I'm getting hard just looking at her.
How the hell can I not get hard? I have the hottest girl in this town, and she's all mine. She's always been mine. Mine since the day I saved her from the prick on prom night.
That night still haunts me sometimes. I've always wondered what made that cunt turn on Aimee the way he did. Why would he think attacking her would be okay? How could he think in a town this small that he wouldn't get caught?
Did he really believe Aimee wouldn't tell someone about what he'd done?
I remember the night it all went down like it was last night that it had happened.
Prom Night, Nine Years Ago
It's been a good night. Been a while since I was home spending time with my family and friends. Working as hard as I do to be the lawyer I someday hope to be, means I don't get to come home as much as I'd like. Can't see myself ever living here again, but I can't deny this little town holds a lot of memories. Some good, some bad.
I try not to think of the bad, they almost destroyed me. My baby sister being abducted from the family garden is the main reason I can no longer call this place home. Took me too damn long to get through one day without wondering if she's even alive out there.
I'll never give up searching for Abigail. One day, I will find her and bring her home to us. My parents and siblings deserve to know what happened to Abigail, they deserve to know she's okay out there.
Abigail deserves to know where she came from, that her family loves her to this day, and that we've never given up hope of finding her.
When she comes home, because she will come home, I'm going to protect her from everything. And I mean, everything. No one will ever understand what that baby girl meant to me. I was twelve years of age when she was taken and it almost killed me.
I love all of my siblings, don't get me wrong. But with Abi it was different. She was my mother and father's final child. My mother was told she could never have another after Abi was born. We all doted on her, but the bond she and I had was out of this world. I adored her, and I miss her every day.
And as I walk along the waterfront, breathing in the fresh air, I smile a little as I remember that beautiful little girl with blonde hair and blue eyes just like mine.
“No! Let me go!”
A young girl's cries pull me out of thought and send my blood cold. I turn in the direction of the screaming, the familiar voice drawing me nearer.
I had no idea my feet were even moving until I'm almost upon the dirty little fuck pinning down a very frightened... Aimee!
I race toward her, I need to get to her before he really... Ah, fuck! He smacks her one. It's dark where they are but the light from the boathouse shines right on her frightened face.
“Tease!” I hear him laugh. “I like it when you fight... What the fuck?!” Is all he gets out of his pathetic mouth before I've ripped him away from her and smack him so hard in the fucking mouth, I swear I've broken his jaw.
I can't stop hitting the little cunt. I want him dead for what he's done to Aimee. The beautiful girl I've haven't been able to stop staring at each time I've seen her since I've been back. She's grown into the most beautiful young woman I have ever seen.
She shouldn't have been subjected to this motherfucking piece of shit. She should have gone to prom with someone who would have shown her the respect she deserved.
Davey fucking Dwyer!
God help this little cunt when his upstanding parents find out what he's done here tonight. My father is going to nail this pricks balls to the wall! He'll go down for this. Especially if my mother has anything to do with it. Aimee's mother is her best friend, after all. Like sisters.
“Let me go.” Little fuck sputters out while I hold him on the ground with my hand round his throat and my knee in his chest. He's going nowhere!
“Shut up, you little cunt!” I dig my knee in harder, causing him to scream, as I pull my phone from the inside of my jacket pocket. I'd love to kill this little bastard!
“Dad, get to the old boathouse now. Aimee's been attacked.” I tell my father before he even had chance to say hello.
“Attacked? What the hell happened?”
“Her fucking prom date tried to rape her. Shit, I hope he only tried.” My voice is low. Fuck, I didn't even check on her. What kind of man am I?
I look over to where she's lying, she's not moving. Fuck!
“I'll be there in less than a minute, I'm just across the way. Is the little bastard still there?”
“Yeah. I've got him. Fuck, Dad, hurry, she needs an ambulance.”
I keep hold of the little bastard until I hear the sounds of sirens across the way. All the time, my eyes are on Aimee. I need to get to her, but I can't let this fucking prick go!
A car door slams drawing my attention away from Aimee for a split second. It's my father and his deputy. I climb off fucker, he's not going anywhere. If he does, he won't get far before he's caught or shot. Shot would be good right now.
I race over to Aimee, grabbing her face in my hands before I run them frantically over her body. Her beautiful, tight body.
Not the fucking time, Kory!
“No!” She scream-whimpers in a panic while trying to push me away from her. Good, she's awake. I was so scared for a moment that he'd killed her that I almost had a heart attack.
“Aimee, look at me.” I coax gently. She whimpers again when I take her face in my hands. Either she can't see me, or she's too panicked to realize that it's me here with her. “Aimee, it's Kory, can you look at me?”
Her body is trembling, frightened tears are streaming down her face. Her dress is torn practically from her chest. There are
scrapes all over her arms and legs, god knows where else. That fucking little cunt!
Her eyes roll, “Aimee!” I snap. I coax her to look at me, to breathe deeply, to focus on nothing but my face and my voice. She does, and she does it well. “That's it, sweetheart. Everything's okay.”
“Kory, my head.” She sobs so heart-wrenchingly it pulls at my damn heart strings.
How could he have done this to her?
She's passed out again. I then have to stand back and watch as the paramedics take over. I ride with her to the hospital because I can't bear not to.
I then spend all night by her bedside waiting for her to wake up. She'll be just fine, the doctor said. She has a few cuts and bruises, a concussion, but she'll be fine.
Davey hadn't raped her, thank god. But he'd hurt her in a way no man ever has the right to. She'll find it hard to trust after this. I'll find it hard to let go.
It's wrong of me to love my little sisters best friend, but love her I do. I have to stay away from her, she's too precious for a bastard like me.
But I'd be a liar if I said she won't one day be mine. She will. She'll be mine and I will never let go, you mark my words.
Present Day
I've had enough chit chat with this men to last me a lifetime. I knock back the rest of my drink and make my way over to my wife without saying a word to anyone. Sure they're looking at me, probably cracking jokes about where I'm headed. But you know what? I couldn't care less.
Aimee smiles when I slide my arm around her waist and kiss her cheek. “You okay, beautiful?”
She smiles while holding my arm and leaning her head against my temple. “I'm fine, handsome. You okay?”
“Never better.” I kiss her head.
“You two are so cute!” I refrain from rolling my eyes at Paige, she's such a girl. A beautiful, tattoo-clad, pierced, pinup woman. Enzo is a lucky man. “I'm going to drag my husband up for a dance.” She leans in and kisses Aimee's cheek. “Catch you later.”
And just like that, she's off, leaving me with my wife. My super hot, sexy wife. I grab her waist and turn her in my arms. “You look beautiful tonight, baby.”
