by Bellus,HJ
I sense him before I even see him. The evil vibe fills the hallway. Everything seems to collapse down on me and I feel wobbly. I focus on coping techniques my counselor helped me develop. Focus on the good. Feel the positives. Know you’re strong, Chloe. Go to a good place and know you’re worth it. I repeat the words over and over in my mind until I’m back to a stable state.
I feel like a fucking bouncy ball being tossed around a cemented wall by a toddler. Bouncing back and forth with no solid path. I knew this wouldn’t be easy, but good hell, I could use a break right about now.
I glance up when the lawyer nudges my arm and come face to face with my parents flanking Zack’s side as they enter the courtroom first. My father glances at me with disgust covering his features. The little girl in me cracks and a lone tear runs down my face.
I wipe it away and take my seat next to the lawyer at our table. The proceeding flows by with all sorts of fancy talk. It’s all numbing to me until I glance back and see my mother patting her eyes, drying up fake fucking tears. She and Zack’s mom are arm in arm really putting on a show for the crowd.
I lean in and whisper to the lawyer, “Do you know everything?”
He nods to me, not impressed I’ve chosen this moment to ask.
“Lay it on them, fuckers,” I hiss.
His eyebrows shoot up into his hairline with my words, but when it’s his turn to speak, he does just what I ask. It’s not easy seeing my body appear before the court on an oversized screen. It’s bruised and battered. Picture after picture of the abuse flows on the screen.
I turn to look at my parents and they’re looking back at me. I bore holes into the assholes and then turn around. By the end of the longest day of my life Zack signed the papers, didn’t fight a thing I asked for, but insisted this case be sealed.
Of course, the weasel dick wanted it sealed so his esteemed career wouldn’t be tarnished. I mean, in the end it’s still all about the façade these assholes have to keep up with. The chains of my own personal prison break link by link and I finally feel free. The scandal is over and I’m no longer trapped.
I stand to my feet and thank my lawyer. I catch someone escaping the courtroom that must have been sitting on my side, but the figure is gone so quickly I have no idea who it was. I hope like hell it was some media leach looking for a story. That would be the cherry on top of this perfect fucking sundae.
I hear someone call my name. I used to call her mother, but she no longer has a place in my life, so I don’t even stutter in my long strides out of the courtroom. The fresh air hits me. I want to sprint to the fucking airport like a lunatic fleeing from the law.
I concentrate on taking the stairs one at a time and not somersaulting down the unforgiving bastards. Once on the sidewalk, I look up to the sun and soak in it’s warmth before my eyes are focusing back in and finding my rental car.
There’s a man leaning up against it with his arms folded across his chest. I’d recognize that dazzling smile anywhere. It’s Kip. I sprint to him, not caring who is watching or how crazy I look. I’m only steps away when he throws his arms open to me and I bound into them.
Sobs wrack my entire body. Happy, freeing, and satisfied tears flow down my face into my man.
“You were in there, eh?” I finally manage to get out.
“I couldn’t stay away, baby.” He pulls back a bit to kiss the tip of my nose. “Please, don’t be mad. I had to see you bury that fuckface.”
“I could never be mad at you, Kip. Never.”
Our lips meet and I kiss him like I’ve never kissed in my entire life. I kiss like a free woman who has a whole new future ahead of her and endless possibilities dancing in her eyes.
He pulls back enough to ask me a question. “I was wondering about something.”
“What’s that?” I lick his face being goofy.
“Want to go steady?”
I laugh like a lunatic. Giggle until it hurts and look up to the sun again, thanking God for this amazing man.
We finally both climb into my rental car after I officially mauled Kip and he told me he Ubered here from my freaking hotel. He starts the engine and I’d give anything to be in his lap while he drives, but that’s not happening. He inches the car out of the parking spot and he brakes for the pedestrians crossing.
I don’t look away and stare Zack right down along with my parents. Kip chooses to flip them off and eloquently burn rubber out of the parking lot.
Kip continues to drive like he’s freaking Jeff Gordon back to the hotel room. His hand never leaves the top of my thigh as I remain leaned over kissing him. I start on his cheek and then linger down to his neck.
“I’m liking this going steady shit,” he growls.
“Me too, but I’ll like it more when your hands aren’t occupied.”
He leaps from the car and races to my side. Kip doesn’t let me get out on my own, and instead he scoops me in his arms and races to my room. I fumble like a fool to find the key and slip it into the door. He has me pressed up against a wall with my legs straddling around his waist.
We attack each other like young and very horny teens unleashed. There’s no taking time or absorbing the moment. We are consuming each other, tearing clothes and biting at skin.
Kip settles me on the bed on my hands and knees and settles behind me. “I’ve been fucking imagining taking you like this, baby.”
I moan in approval.
“Hold on because I’m going to fuck you hard.”
He holds up his end of the promise, slamming into me without warning. There’s no slow and steady pace in his movements. It’s grueling and delightful as he slams himself into me. With each movement he throws me into an orgasm that doesn’t stop. I scream his name and reach back to cup his balls as he pumps into me.
His hands squeeze into the sides of my hips, causing me to finally succumb to my orgasm with screams and cries. Kip growls loudly and releases into me, his warm liquid coating my walls and promising me the world.
Thirty
Kip
Chloe’s flight left last night. I have some extra business to attend to here in the fine state of Tennessee. Zane and his family picked Chloe up at the airport and will be looking after her until I fly home tonight.
The fucker waltzes out of his office adjusting his tie with a smile on his face. My knuckles morph into a pure white color gripping the steering wheel. When he’s a few feet from his car, I step from my rental car and right in front of his car with my arms folded over my chest. My biceps painfully flex with the urge to release energy. I’m going to kill the bastard.
“Really?” He drops his briefcase to his side.
“Really.” I nod.
“I’ve had enough of your trash ruining my life.”
A sardonic laugh rolls of off me. “The thing about me is, I always get the last word.”
“Then get it over with. I have a business dinner to manage damage control.” He checks his watch, irritated.
He has no idea that he just gave me the perfect conversation starter. I swing hard with my right hand, clocking him in the temple. I’ll give the fucker credit since he only stumbles back, dropping his fancy ass briefcase to the asphalt.
“I’d love to have this conversation.” I grab his ear lobe, dragging him to me until he’s close enough to head butt. I lunge so hard with my head crashing into the side of his skull I see stars for a moment. He falls to the ground, groaning in pain. I tried memorizing all the entries in Chloe’s journal about the abuse she endured.
“That’s my second point and here’s my third.” I pull the dirty sock from my back pocket, go down on my knees to straddle him and stuff it in his mouth. The slimy fucker is stronger than I gave him credit for. Everything inside of me is ready to beat the living shit out of him, but I remain patient, giving him exactly what he deserves.
I reach behind me and remove the roll of duct tape from my other back pocket. I bite off a long piece, ensuring it covers his mouth from ear to ear.
He doesn’t give up on the fight, struggling to say something.
“Threatening me, are you?” I slap him across the cheek. “After I leave you in the same state I found Chloe, then feel free to call the cops.”
I pat his chest and flash him a grin. “All of Chloe’s broken bones, untreated fractures are all documented. I’ll go to the media. A sealed case doesn’t mean fuck to me. So, I dare you fucker, to turn me in.”
My self-control snaps. My fist pounds into his face time and time again. Blood flies and bones crack and I don’t let up until I see a tear fall from the corner of his eyes.
“There’s no way I could do everything to you that you did to Chloe. You deserve to rot in hell.”
I check my watch and know I only have few more minutes to pay this fucker back. I take his right arm and twist up and back until the sound of bones slivering fills the air.
“You come near Chloe again or even think about thinking about her, I’ll fucking kill you and trash like me don’t break promises.”
I give his arm one last twist for good measure, spit in his face, and begin to walk away. I remember one last thing Chloe shared with me about the fucker. Her hair.
“Remember when you shoved Chloe’s face into her own blood and raped her?”
His eyes bulge out of his head and I laugh. I kick him in the ribs until the fucker rolls over on his belly. My boot presses down on his cheek, shoving his own flesh into the pool of blood that’s drained from him. I reach over into the rental car and pull out a golf club.
I’m pushing the time limit and know the security guard will be back any minute making his rounds. I’m still fucking shocked this place doesn’t have any security cameras.
I take a few healthy swings at the top of his thigh. I’m fucking Tiger Woods on a high right now. His dress pants rip and the blood pours from the gap. I don’t stop swinging until his flesh is dangling from the end of the club.
I bend over and leave with him my final message. “It’s not just Chloe. If you ever touch another woman, I’ll fucking kill you.”
When I look down at his face, my own mother’s face flashes before my eyes and then the monster that killed her and for a flash second I feel like him, but I ignore it. I fight the urge to finish him off, but there’s no way in hell I’m willing to lose my future with Chloe over this slime. I spit down on him one last time before getting in the car and driving away.
I can’t get to the airport fast enough to get back to my girl.
Thirty-One
Chloe
Charlie has been the best distraction while I wait on Kip to get his ass back home. Darby and Rhett are still in Ohio. Everything is wrapped up with their adoption and they should be home in a couple of days.
Ava’s phone and mine ding at the same exact time. We exchange a curious look before picking it up. It’s Darby holding her brand new boy in her arms. They found out more about him when arriving in Ohio. He’s actually eleven months old and has been abandoned by his birth mother. He was basically raised by his car seat and only fed to maintain a steady life.
He was found when a neighbor reported abuse. I guess it wasn’t the first time either, but rather the fifteenth time. My eyes are being opened to how corrupt our system is, but then with sleaze bags like Zack running Congress, it’s no wonder. I know there are good guys, but seems the handful of bad ones and red tape corrupts everything.
Dane Westburn is one blessed little boy to be in the arms of Darby. Her smile is contagious. I can’t wait to meet him.
“I’m so happy for her.” Ava wipes a stray tear away.
I pat her back and agree.
“Actually.” She looks up to me with tears streaming down her face. “I’m so fucking happy for all of us.”
I smile and refuse to let our pasts cause us anymore tears.
“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.” Charlie waves her hands above her head, letting the sand from her sandbox trickle in her hair.
Zane clears his throat and holds back his laughter. They’ve fought over Charlie picking up his foul language, so the fact she drops her F bomb courtesy of Ava hasn’t gone unnoticed. Ava sends him the bird.
My phone beeps again and I swipe open the Google alert I have set on my phone.
“What is it?”
My brow furrows reading the headline. “Congressman Blackwell Attacked Outside His Office: Breaking News.”
I read a few lines of the article and then hand my phone to Ava to read it.
“Holy shit.” She covers her mouth.
“What?” Zane asks.
Ava begins reading the article out loud to Zane. I take a long pull from the beer in front of me. The subtle sound of an engine roaring in the distance makes my stomach flip. As it nears, my hormones roar with need for my man. The familiar cloud of dust rolls down the lane with the sexiest man on Earth settled on his sleek black bike.
He kills the engine, tosses his glasses down on the gas tank, and flips his hat backwards. Kip takes his time lazily waltzing up to the deck. He stands in front of me with his hands on hips. My eyes go to his scabbed over knuckles and I know without a question why he stayed an extra day in Tennessee.
“Thank you,” I whisper.
“For?”
“Loving me.”
He pulls me up to my feet and kisses me. He then steals my seat and settles down in it with me in his lap. The thief also steals my beer, but I figure he’s earned it and I’d share anything with this man.
Zane stares at Kip’s knuckles and shakes his head.
“I’ve always said. Never fuck with the silent one,” Zane finally says.
Thirty-Two
Chloe
“They’re going to kill us.”
Kip just shrugs, undoing one of the buttons on his sexy robin’s egg blue dress shirt. “It’s our day and the way we want it.”
Kip’s dad comes bustling out the front door with Boozer on his leash. “Ready kids?”
His smile couldn’t be any wider and contagious. I’ve never seen the resemblance so strong between Kip and his dad until now. They’re both dressed in the same color dress shirt. Kip’s sleeves are rolled up exposing his sexy ink and now only half the buttons are fastened. His dad, on the other hand, has all but the top button fastened and his sleeves rolled down. They’re in matching khaki pants and black Converse.
Over the last two months since my divorce was finalized, I’ve really bonded with his dad. Even though he’s an educated and well-known surgeon, he’s also one of the most laid back men I’ve ever met. He enjoys his days off on the back patio sipping on wine and entertaining his lady friend, Kathy. He’s the ying to Kip’s yang.
“Ready to join this family?” he asks, wrapping an arm around me.
Bernie, Kip’s dad, is about the only man on this green Earth that can touch me without Kip going ballistic. Kip Parker has turned out to be the most gentle and loving man I could ever imagine and also in the same sense a protective lover. He’s always by my side and has no problem taking down anyone who is disrespectful to me. I only giggle when his signature growl pops up when another man checks me out a bit too long.
“I’m so ready to be Mrs. Chloe Parker for the rest of my days.” I lean into his dad’s shoulder and let him guide me to Kip’s new truck.
The men roll their eyes when I make them play “Going To The Chapel” on the drive to the courthouse, yet they indulge me. Boozer’s wet nose tickles my neck and I lean into Kip, belting out parts of the song. I even sneak in a few kisses on his cheek.
We’d discussed a weekend getaway to Vegas with our friends and his dad. I mean, who wouldn’t want to be united forever with an Elvis impersonator in a chapel filled with velvet heart pillows. The reality is all of our lives are far too busy to even begin to coordinate the venture. And if I’ve discovered one thing its life is far too short with a limited number of hours and days to not cherish what you love.
> Our relationship has never been typical, starting out with lust, dating, and all the other things in between. It’s been our love story and up until now it’s been unorthodox and perfect at best. So when he slipped a diamond ring on my finger while making love to me, I could only smile and nod.
Kip kills the engine of his truck, slides out, and offers me his hand with a smile I’ll never tire of. The man’s smile has the power to entrap me in his never-ending cyclone of love. Every time he smiles it causes the flicker of happiness to shine in his eyes. Those eyes that are now my home.
I smooth out the bottom of my short white dress and then take his hand. We walk as a complete family into the courthouse and wait our turn to become man and wife. It’s nothing special in front of the Justice of the Peace, but it’s our moment. Boozer on my side and Bernie on Kip’s side as we say our vows and finish with the “I dos” and a kiss. It’s sweet and tender.
“Okay, I’m pretty sure Darby is going to stab me,” I say, sliding into the truck.
“I’ll handle her,” Kip says, reaching over, kissing me again before driving back home.
We invited everyone over for a barbecue tonight, but the surprise is on them since it will be our official wedding reception.
“Kathy is there getting everything set out.” Bernie leans forward and places his palm on the top of my leg. “I have something I want to talk to you kids about.”
“What’s up, old man?”
“I’m in the process of phasing out of my practice and selling it to a young whipper snapper.”
“Bernie.” I turn towards him. The words escape me. I want to tell him no because so many deserve his kind and caring hands.
He reaches down in his pocket and pulls out a set of keys. “Here’s your wedding gift. I’m going to move to the beach house with Kathy and have a weekend home in your cottage off the house Kip.”
