“Just fucking lie down. Relax!” He pushed my knees apart. It was hard to relax when he was barking things at me and handling me the way he was. “Big deep breath in, I want you to slowly release it and when you do, relax your muscles ok?” I nodded. “One… Two… Three.” I breathed out and he carefully removed the tube. “Now you can get up. Get dressed quick!” He threw my clothes at me from my bag. I don’t get it, how is Jamie dangerous? He was just here a minute ago and- and… My parents wouldn’t leave him with me if they thought anything was off about him. That included if they thought he’d cheated on me. My head really fucking hurts. I needed to lie back down. I slowly lowered my head back to the pillow and closed my eyes. “Oh no you don’t, you need to get up. Now.”
“But I’m so tired. I need to rest.” I whined.
“We don’t have time; we need to go, Olivia.”
“Why is Jamie dangerous?” Riley glared at me with a look that screamed ‘You aren’t together, why do you care about him?’
“He was planning something.” he shook his head. “I don’t know what or why and I don’t want to stay to find out.” He rushed out and let out a big sigh. “Do you know he was fucking four other girls? Not just you!” He spat at me.
My mouth fell open and tears came to my eyes that I pushed away. I shouldn’t really be surprised. He’s hot, why would he just want me? A silly, little school-girl; It didn’t make sense for him to want me. It didn’t even make sense that Riley would want me. He was six foot four of pure sex god. I was five foot four of insecurities and self-loathing all wrapped up in a hideous bow of psychological problems.
“I saw him with three of them, kissing each of them. Austin asked me to follow him, I saw him taking them to his house.” When? My head spun and pounded. Wow, I could really use my drip back in. I hurried to get dressed while Riley packed more dressings. “He’s the head of MTI, Liv, you know this makes sense. Do you remember your Uncle telling you about the note? When we were in the car driving away from the office, he told you that you weren’t safe. The note was from him, Liv. It was a ransom, it said Austin needed to hand over money or Jamie was going to take it from you personally. He has photos of you Liv. Private photos. Do you want those getting out?”
I gasped and shook my head. Jamie wouldn’t do that to me. He wouldn’t. Would he? Tears brimmed my eyes and began to make their way down my cheeks.
“Look, I’m sorry Baby Doll, I didn’t want to tell you all of that but we need to go.” He came over and stroked my cheeks, wiping the tears away with his thumbs, his eyes were fixed to the bandage wrapped around my head. “Are you done?” He looked me up and down to see if I was all dressed. “Good. Put this on, it’s getting cold out.” He threw my dad’s old college hoodie at me that I usually reserved for when I had my period or needed something comfy to study in. That was when I realised he wasn’t in his usual suit. He had on his well-worn jeans on that hung off of his hips with a black hoodie and pretty durable looking, black utility boots and looked as though he hadn’t shaved in a day or two. I swallowed hard against the razors in my throat. He looked like a bad boy and sexy as hell.
“Riley, where are we going?” I asked him.
“Somewhere safe” He looked out of the door and I quickly grabbed my phone and stuck it in to my bra as the yoga pants I had on didn’t have pockets. “Come on.” He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me through the hospital corridor.
“I don’t even have any meds! What if I black out again? My head hurts Riley!”
“Will you just stop talking so I can think?”
“But where’s the car?” I asked as we headed to a car park a little further from the main one, I’d expected that if I was being moved, Austin would have at least sent Logan, his driver, to get me.
“We’re taking mine so he can’t follow it. Can you hurry up?” He tugged me harder, looking around our surroundings nervously.
“But my feet hurt.” He bent down and picked me up like he did in the apartment, only now I didn’t feel drawn to him; he was scaring me. We stopped at a big, black Range Rover with all the windows tinted a dark black too. He dumped me in the car and pulled the seat belt around me, then walked around to get in the driver’s side, throwing his bag over the seat in to the back. I realised he hadn’t looked me in the eye or asked how I was even once.
“Riley?”
“What?” He snapped making me flinch.
“Nothing. It doesn’t matter.” He sighed and relaxed his shoulders.
“Look, I’m sorry… I was just worried about you and needed you out of there. We need to get away from here.” I didn’t respond; I just turned to look out of the window. “Olivia, look at me.” I didn’t, he un-clipped his seat belt and gripping my chin between his index finger and thumb and turned my face towards him, I closed my eyes tightly. Nothing was making sense. “Liv, I’m sorry for snapping. Come on, look at me.” I opened my eyes to see he was mere centimetres from my face and he tried to kiss me. I was so goddamn confused, my head was spinning and I felt sick. No… I was going to be sick. I tried to open the door but it was locked; I jammed my hand over my mouth and pulled on the door. Fuck! I couldn’t open the window either so had to lean forward and just do it on the floor.
“What the fuck, Olivia?” Riley shouted at me as he pressed his shoulder to his door, like what I had was catching.
“I’m sorry!” I gasped. “Open my door! I don’t feel right Riley; we need to go back inside.” I pulled on the door handle again, hearing it creak as it refused to give.
“We can’t.” He snapped.
“Please, Riley! I’m sick, the doctor said if I feel sick I need to tell them.” My voice was taking on the hysterics that I could feel rising inside of me.
“You’ll be fine.” He reached in to the glove compartment and pulled out tissues. “Clean that up now!” He shouted at me and began driving at speed out of the car park, his arms and shoulders rigid once more, his face back to scowling. He drove for about two hours as I drifted in and out of sleep.
“Wake up, Liv.” Riley nudged my arm and I sat up in my seat. I woke up to see a big farm style house hidden in some woods. Oh God… I hate the woods! I looked around frantically, I know these woods! I know this house!
“Riley, why are we here?” Nothing. “Riley? Riley, please” I started crying and pulling at the door again in the hope they had been unlocked and I could try to run away, but they hadn’t. I hate being in the woods, I hate the things I remembered about them, especially the ones we were parked in. “We need to leave! I can’t be here! Please!” I had spent nights here with Robert where he’d made me do things with him and watch him; this was one of his houses that was left empty and left to me.
Why would Uncle Austin send me here? Why wouldn’t he just get rid of Jamie in the hospital if he was dangerous? I don’t understand. Riley got out of the car and went to his bag in the back to get something; he opened up my door and pulled me out by my arm. I screamed at him to let go but he roughly pulled my hands behind my back, tying them together. “Riley what are you doing?” I screamed as tears were pouring down my cheeks; I couldn’t see where we were going as he shoved me forward.
“This will be easier if you just SHUT. UP!” He yelled at me and shoved me forward again, but I lost my footing falling over. With nothing to break my fall I landed on my face; pain shot through my head right underneath the bandage where I could feel heat and wetness pooling. He got a piece of thick tape and pressed it firmly over my mouth so I couldn’t cry or scream any more then pulled me up again as he led me to the barn situated a little away from the house.
“Ah you’re here.” Frank? What the fuck is going on? “So she turned into a screamer did she?”
“She wouldnae shut up asking questions. Then she saw where we were and she started freaking out on me.”
“Well you should have blindfolded her like I told you to. Come on Ollie, let’s get you inside.” He grabbed my right arm, Riley my left as they both dragged me
forward. I tried to scream as pain shot up both of my arms from their grip on my wounds. “I have a lovely surprise for you Ollie.” Frank said as he covered my eyes. NO! I tried to shake him off but he kept a firm grip of me; it hurt like hell.
We got inside and he let his hand fall from my eyes. In the middle of the barn was a big iron bed, a bed I recognised, it was Robert’s bed from his bedroom here, a bed he made me share with him. A bed that I’d been forced to lie in while he knelt over me touching himself. I felt bile rise up in my throat; it burned as I swallowed it back down. Tied to the corners of the bed were pieces of rope. No, no, no, no… I tried to scream and dug my heels in to the ground to stop myself from moving further forward but it didn’t help, they just pulled me harder.
“Will you just shut up and fucking move?” Frank yelled at me.
They cut the ties on my hands and shoved me down on to the bed, Riley held me down by climbing on top of me, pinning my feet with his and held my wrists down. I stared up at him through blurry eyes as the tears kept falling, remembering back a few days to when he caught me and pinned me down in the apartment; this was nothing like that. His face was expressionless, his eyes no longer burning into mine with the desire to kiss me; they were blank, empty windows into nothingness. What is wrong with him? What happened to him to make him do this to me?
There was no playful smile touching the edges of his mouth, it was held in a tight, straight line. I felt like I was staring at a soulless being, a beautiful soulless being. He was so cold and empty looking; not the hot sexy man that chased me, or made love to me. He was scary. He lied to me, I shouldn’t have trusted him so easily but like an idiot I did, thinking with the gap between my legs rather than my actual brain. I bet that was all part of his plan, making me like him to get me away. I trusted him. I trusted him so much.
Frank started pulling on my feet, I didn’t fight him, there was no point, I knew I wouldn’t win against Riley or Frank, I let my body go limp as they pulled me around; it was less painful if I didn’t fight it. Riley furrowed his eyebrows at me for a second before making his expression blank and cold again. I managed to stop myself crying, there was obviously no point to that either; no one was going to help me here.
I looked at Riley trying to find my own blank expression, my own void to drown everything out. Find the river! I searched my mind and found it. I no longer saw Riley, I stared straight ahead and saw the free flow of the water over rocks and tiny stones, pieces of grass that dipped down into the water, the reeds along the bank, the rough waves of winter and the smooth current of the summer, so gentle and easy… calm, everything is so calm, the gentle rustle of the leaves on the trees as they blew in the breeze, the small fish swimming around oblivious to the beautiful blue Kingfishers diving down from their perch in the trees to snap them up.
I kept my mind on those, repeating the visions over and over in my mind: water, trees, fish, birds, water, trees, fish, birds. I never noticed that Riley had gotten off of me, I never noticed that the tape was taken from my mouth and I was being asked questions until a heavy boot landed in my ribs and I screamed as I tried to pull away from the next blow that landed in the same spot.
“Answer me!”
“I never heard you.” I gasped.
“We’re going to be making a couple of changes around here. First of all you are going to call the bank and set up a money transfer.” Frank told me as he walked around the bed.
“You’re too early. I don’t control my money until I’m twenty-one, everyone knows that.” I laughed at him despite the pain in my lungs, which he didn’t like. He slapped me across my cheek.
“I don’t want your shit, do you hear me you spoiled little brat?” Frank yelled. I noticed Riley stood a few meters away with his hand gripping into the back of his hair as he watched me writhe in pain.
“Frank, you got me to do what you wanted now give me Caitlin back, I want to take her home.” Who the fuck is Caitlin? Frank stood up and threw a key at him.
“She’s in the house. Get her and fuck off out of my sight.” I looked at Riley with my eyes wide; he was leaving?
“Riley!” I called after him. Frank slapped me harder.
“Shut up!”
“Connor, please, don’t leave me here!” Frank kicked me again in the ribs; all of the air leaving me in a rush.
“I said shut the fuck up!” He yelled with his toe pressing into my ribs. “You, out of here!” He yelled at Riley.
“Connor” I gasped as he walked out closing the barn door behind him, leaving me with Frank.
The bed dipped beside me making me flinch. I looked over to find Julie sat there; her raven hair cut into a harsh bob with a thick fringe that cast a shadow over her dark, almost black eyes.
“Does it hurt? Knowing that after he’s fucked you he’s so easily traded you in to me for another girl? One he loves. One I knew he’d do anything for. Such a naïve little girl aren’t you, Ollie?” She sneered at me.
“What did I ever do to you?” I asked her. “What did I ever do to any of you?”
“You took the only man I ever loved, away from me and my son.”
“You walked out! That arsehole would still be here if you hadn’t walked out!” I cried.
“He was like a son to me and you lie there bad mouthing him? How insensitive are you?” Frank yelled at me, gripping my face tightly in his hand forcing me to look at him. “You took him away from his wife, his child, his whole family!”
“They weren’t married anymore, that isn’t even his child, any moron with half a brain and a calendar can work that out!”
“Shut up!” Julie shrieked as she stood from the bed, towering over me.
“That’s why you won’t do the DNA test. You’re a liar!”
“No, you’re the liar! Making up those disgusting things, you should be ashamed of yourself!” His hand came down hard against my cheek again.
“You knew what he was doing to me and you ignored it!” I shrieked at him.
“I knew nothing, there was nothing to know! You made it all up!” Frank stood up and gripped his hands into his hair tightly.
“You came into his office and you saw him, you saw what he was doing, you saw me get up and zip up my trousers. What do you think he was doing?”
“Stop talking!” Julie yelled. “Stop her talking, Frank!”
“You saw where his hand was and you never said anything!” I tried to make him realise he was as much at fault as I was.
“I said stop talking!” Julie yelled again.
“You could have stopped him but you didn’t.” I screamed. “He was going to rape me and you did nothing!” My voice fell to a whisper, as I began crying again. “You did nothing. You did nothing.”
“Shut up! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!” The bed shook as Julie dived on top of it, scrambling over to me.
The last thing I remember was her on top of me, her hands making their way to my throat.
TWENTY-ONE
I woke up to a familiar beeping in my ears. Hospital? How the hell did I get here? Something was annoying my face and I tried to push it away.
“Oh no you don’t, lady.”
“Dad?” Fuck, it hurt to breathe.
“Hey” Dad kissed my cheek. “You scared me, Princess. I’m so glad you are back again.”
“Frank” Was all I could say. I wanted to tell him what happened.
“I know, sweetheart, I know” He leaned over me to gently hold me. “I know. You’re ok now.”
“Julie!”
“Shh…”
“Riley. The girl?”
“They’ll all be dealt with, honey. I’ll make sure of it.” Dad said sternly. “Look, you’ll be taken upstairs in a minute so I’m just going to go tell your mum and Jamie that you are ok.”
“Jamie here?” I didn’t want to see him. How could I tell him to go? I was so confused with everything and I couldn’t live with feeling conflicted. I had no idea what was the truth. Where were the lies? Was anything ever real? The
more I thought of everything, the more it hurt my already throbbing head.
“Jamie was the one that found you, sweetheart.” I looked up at my dad shocked.
I woke up again in my room surrounded by my Mum, Dad, Austin and Jamie. I kept my eyes firmly on my Uncle Austin. The corner of his lip pulled up in a small smile of relief. A single tear rolled away from my eye as I wanted so badly to go to him, to have him wrap me up and tell me everything was ok, just like he always had when I was upset.
Uncle Austin looked between my Mum, Dad and Jamie, then nodded to me, understanding my silent plea.
“Guys can you give us a minute?” Everyone looked nervously between each other but never said anything as they stood to leave the room. Mum came over to me placing a small kiss on my cheek and wiped a small tear away from under her eye. I knew I was hurting her by wanting to talk to Austin instead; it always hurt her that I was more connected to him. She thought I hated her because it was her brother that abused me but it wasn’t true. I was just genuinely closer to Austin.
Uncle Austin was in his early twenties when I’d tried to kill myself. He was looking after me, not that I’d needed much taking care of as I hardly ever left my bedroom. I’d sneaked out of my room in the middle of the night to make a sandwich. I’d heard the phrase about people taking the easy way out by slitting their wrists and dying as a way of getting out of something horrible.
Eyeing the knife I got the idea of making everything go away. I wouldn’t have to live with all of the hate I had for myself any more. I sneaked back up the stairs with the knife hiding in the bathroom with it, running my fingers over the sharp edge.
As soon as I’d cut the skin on my wrist I felt the blood pour down over my hand; I closed my eyes as relief washed over me, feeling like I was finally at the end of all the pain in my life, that no one would be able to hurt me ever again. I opened my eyes back up and looked at the wound and then I felt the pain with it too. It was a lie. It wasn’t easy. Dying hurt just as much as living.
I knew in that moment that I shouldn’t have done it but I couldn’t change the fact that I had. I screamed for Uncle Austin to come and help me.
Broken Ever After Page 33
