Mind (Trinity Trilogy Book 2)

by Audrey Carlan

  “Gigi, you love white flowers. All kinds. Yes, you love daises but they’re not in season, so why not have just a mixture of local white flowers that don’t have a lot of scent?”

  Dana looks at me for confirmation. “That would be really nice. I love white flowers.”

  “Excellent. I’ll pick an array and make it lovely. Good, now the wedding dress you have. I’ll have it shipped and ready.”

  We spend the next hour going over the final wedding details. By the end of it, I’m three Poorman Stouts in and finishing up half a cheddar burger.

  “Okay ladies, and last but not least, the bachelorette party. Due to the circumstances,” she looks at me with sadness. “Chase is not okay with you ladies going off and being alone even with bodyguards. He wants a combined bachelorette and bachelor party.”

  Bree, Kat, and Maria immediately start grumbling and griping. A lot of “Uncool” and “Not fair” are peppered with a few slurs of “Controlling” and “Party pooper.” Get three women who love a good party, then tell them they can’t have what they want, and you’ll have three pissed off chicks.

  Finally, I can’t handle the bitching any longer. “Ladies, cut it out!” They all stop mid-gripe. “We’ve experienced the danger. I’m not going to risk any of you or put myself in a bad spot right before my wedding. I’m sure we can come up with something fun that’s a little more low key.” I start to ask if they have any ideas when Dana cuts me off.

  “Oh, I wasn’t planning on low key, just private,” she grins. “I have a plan, and Chase has loads of money to make it possible,” she grins.

  The girls all lean forward as if Dana is about to tell us a secret. “Lay it on us, girlfriend,” Ria exclaims.

  She looks around adding to the secret vibe. “Private yacht. A couple days before the wedding. Will have all of you and your guys. Ohh, and maybe I can invite my new boyfriend to come along!” she says excitedly then her eyes widen and she covers her mouth with her hand obviously trying to take back that bit of information.

  “Dana! You have a boyfriend?” I ask, happier than I should be. Even though I know Chase is mine, knowing his very attractive, longtime friend and colleague has her own guy, makes me deliriously happy.

  “Girl, spill it!” Maria slams her empty glass down.

  Dana blushes crimson. “We’ve been dating for the past several weeks actually. He’s,” she inhales looking off into the distance. “He’s wonderful. Good looking, built,” she holds her hands out showing how wide her beau is. “And he’s really good in the bedroom,” her words tumble out like an avalanche barreling down a mountain.

  “Woo hoo!” Bree high-fives her. “Thank goodness someone is getting some. Damn, I need to get some,” she pouts again and we all laugh.

  “You ladies are crazy,” I nudge Maria. “Gotta pee, let me up.” Austin makes his way to me from his booth across from us.

  “Ma’am, you look like you’re having too much fun. Think Mr. Davis will approve?” He asks with a sly grin knowing as well as I do that he would in fact, not approve.

  I shrug and smile. “Does it look like I care?” I respond defiantly. He laughs. Once we get to the restroom, he turns and waits for me to enter.

  “You cannot wait by the door, Austin. It’s creepy. Go stand over there,” I point to the hostess desk. “Go hit on the pretty hostess; get yourself a date.” He looks at me as if I’m speaking Greek. “Seriously, you need to lighten up. When was the last time you dated?”

  “Well, I’d suspect it was sometime before I started working for Mr. Davis.” He answers.

  My mouth opens but the words are stuck. “N-noo way! You haven’t gotten laid in like half a year!” I’m crushed for my big Southern charmer.

  Austin grins wickedly. “Well now, ma’am I never said I didn’t have relations since then. Just not an official sit down, have a meal, go to the movies type thing in a long while.” He waggles his eyebrows.

  I smack his thick bicep. “You sly dog, you!” I laugh and then grip his bicep. Solid cantaloupe sized guns is what he’s packing. “Go show that pretty brunette these guns then slip her your digits!” I suggest.

  “Ma’am, you’re tipsy on your way to drunk. How about you go to the ladies room, and I’ll worry about my dating record, okay?”

  I roll my eyes. “Fine, but my advice…solid gold. Women can’t turn down the hotness of hunky arms. It’s like girl kryptonite. Swear,” I cross my finger over my heart. He grabs my biceps turns me around and presses in between my shoulder blades giving me a little push.

  “Go!” He reminds me. By now, I really do have to go.

  Quickly I use the bathroom, wash my hands and check my makeup and hair in the mirror. Once everything is situated and in place, I open the bathroom door. The men’s room is directly opposite and opens at the same time revealing the last man in the world I ever wanted to see again.

  “Oh, my God. Justin.”

  “Princess, what good luck, I have. I was hoping I’d run into you,” he says.

  I glance over to the hostess desk, as expected, Austin is there, but he’s not looking this way. Justin follows my gaze. Lightning fast, he grips my wrist and yanks me into the men’s bathroom. Before I can scream, he has a hand over my mouth and the lock on the door in place.

  “I’ve been looking for you, woman. Ever since a friend of ours sent me the posting in the newspaper on the society pages of your pending nuptials to that rich guy. I knew I had to find you. Throw my hat back in the ring.” Justin leans close to me and inhales. “Christ, you smell fucking good. Just like you used to. Like coming fucking home,” he lets his nose caress my neck. I whimper. “Now don’t you say a fucking word or we’re going to have a problem. You get me?” He says and I nod.

  Slowly he lets go of my face. I shove him as hard as I can, whirl around and try to get the lock undone. I start to scream when his hand comes around my face again. I bite down on the flesh until his other arm comes up and his fist clocks the side of my head so hard I see stars. Before I can get my bearings, he has a hold of my hair. “So it’s back to this, eh. Back to fighting. Oh, you remember how much I liked it when you fought back. There was always such passion between us wasn’t there Gil?” He pushes me over to the tile wall, grabs a wad of paper towels, and shoves them into my mouth. The scratchy paper goes deep, gagging me. Nausea starts to rise and I tamp it down.

  “Look, Gil, I just wanted to talk, and look at what you made me do. Now, I want you back.” He presses his body into mine. “Christ you’ve always had a body that wouldn’t quit but now, even more grown up, fucking amazing.” He puts his hands on my hips and rubs his erection into my belly. I turn my head and try to scream through the paper but nothing comes out.

  Someone knocks on the door and tries the handle. Just as I try to scream, Justin pulls my head back and slams it into the tile. “Be right out,” he yells out to whoever is on the other side. When I look back there’s two of him standing there. The force of the blow makes me see double. Then I feel Justin’s hands at my waist going under my shirt. He pushes it up. “Oh yeah, I think I need to be reacquainted with these fuck-me tits.” Justin cups them roughly as tears leak from each eye. “You have grown,” he pushes down the cups, my breasts spilling out, nipples tightening instantly against the cold.

  Justin pinches each nipple hard, and I start to gag again having trouble holding back the vomit. I breathe through the desire to throw up. The last thing I want to do is choke on my own vomit. “Oh, don’t fight it. You know you like it, baby.” He uses the one nick name that Chase always calls me and it makes my heart pound. I know I’m going to be sick. “Remember all the fun we had, how hard I fucked you. I’m going to take your right now, for old times sake. Then we can go back to my pad and take it slower. This time, I’ll fuck every inch of you and I won’t be so nice. You should have never run away,” he scolds while kissing my neck.

  A heavy banging starts against the door and I look at it longingly. “Don’t you dare, it will be much worse if
you make any noise.” He cups my sex over pants, pressing his finger hard into the seam. “Oh yeah, you like that huh.” The banging gets louder and I hope its Austin. If it is, he’ll help me. “Cool your jets I’m busy with my girl in here!” he yells then starts sucking on my neck. I can feel the skin puckering and tightening under the power of his mouth. He always loved marking me, and as often as possible. Any way he could he would. Whether it was with his fists, his dick, or his mouth, he’d always left visible remnants of his power over me. “I’d kiss your mouth, but I can’t have you screaming.”

  “Open the fucking door,” I hear Austin’s voice. A brief moment of gratitude covers my heart.

  “Wait your turn!” Justin roars, then turns around. I lift my knee with all my night and as hard as I can slam it into his balls. He howls, pulls back his fist and socks me in the face, blood pours from my nose and things turn black and hazy. “Oh no you don’t, you’re going to make if feel all better, bitch!” he holds up my body. I’m not able to move. Between the alcohol and the blows to the head, I’m losing consciousness. Just as I feel a warm, wet sensation surrounding my right breast, a loud noise that sounds roughly like splitting wood and metal coming off hinges explodes in my ears right before a fierce pain around my entire breast hits me. It’s like a hundred needles pinching me all at once. As soon as it came it left, the hands holding my arms above my head are gone. My body falls in a lifeless heap to the floor. I can’t move.

  Fading in and out, I hear the sounds of male grunts and pain. Lots and lots of moaning and screaming then I’m weightless. Something is thrown over my chest and I’m being carried. The last thing I hear are my girlfriends crying, men crowding around then the sense of being lifted into a car.

  “It’s okay, Gigi. I’m taking you to the hospital.”

  I shake my head. Finally, I realize the gag is no longer in place. “Take me home. To Chase,” I beg.

  “You need a doctor.” Austin pets my hair and holds me close.

  Jack’s voice comes from somewhere close. “Austin, there’s a doctor meeting us at the Davis Mansion. Chase is waiting and be warned. He‘s furious.”

  All I can think about is that I’m in pain and I need my safe place. Chase is the only place I feel safe anymore.

  Gillian

  When I wake, I’m in bed. My face feels battered but nothing like I’ve experience before. The pain is tolerable. I look around and find Chase is sitting with his head hanging down, elbows on his knees in his standard worried pose. A woman I’ve met before enters the room. I think she’s the doctor Chase hired to keep an eye on Phillip.

  “Oh you’re awake, I thought the medication would keep you out quite a bit longer,” she says sweetly. Chase’s head lifts up and his gaze meets mine. He looks as horrible as I feel. It’s as if he’s aged ten years in one night. “Gillian, how do you feel?”

  Slowly I catalog my aches and pains. Instead of going through it, especially with Chase here, looking at me like I’m a rare and precious gem, I respond, “I’ll live.”

  Chase stands and starts pacing the room. His hands go right into his hair sporadically running through it and pulling at the ends.

  “You’ve had a pretty serious traumatic experience today. It’s okay for you to admit you’re in pain.”

  I watch Chase as he paces. Every so often, he looks over at me longingly then anger slips across his face. I’m not exactly sure which Chase we’re dealing with. I’ve categorized all that have made an appearance, but this one, it’s beyond Angry Chase. It’s possibly a few steps higher to downright Enraged Chase.

  “Um, well, my head feels fuzzy and I don’t remember what happened after I was punched the third or fourth time,” Chase stops looking deadly furious. His hands are fisted at his sides. His lips are curved into a snarl and his eyes wild. “I’m okay, baby, I swear.” I try to soothe his anger but it doesn’t work. He shakes his head and continues his pacing.

  A knock at the door startles me and I cringe as the pain in my head lances down my spine. A woman wearing a badge standing alongside Tommy is at the threshold of our bedroom door. “We need to speak with the victim, the woman announces.” Tommy puts his hand on her shoulder. Chase inhales and clenches his teeth.

  “She means Gillian. We need to find out what happened, Chase. Your guy, Austin, he’s in cuffs downstairs,” I open my mouth in shock, wanting to say something but nothing comes out. “He almost killed that man tonight. He beat him up so bad he had internal bleeding and they’re trying to put his face back together,” I gasp and tears form. Poor Austin. He risked himself for me.

  “I wish he’d killed him,” Chase says his face devoid of any emotion other than cold, hard, rage. Tommy pushes the door open and walks in. I turn away from him, not wanting him to see me right now. It’s embarrassing enough that I wasn’t able to get away, but to have Tommy see what Justin did to me, somehow it hurts more when its someone you know and care about.

  The woman sits in the chair Chase vacated a few minutes before. “Hi, Gillian. I’m Athena, a detective with Special Victims. I’m going to need you to tell me what happened.” I look over at Chase who’s standing off to the side next to the doctor and Tommy. “Would it be more comfortable if we spoke privately?”

  At the thought that Chase might leave the room, instant panic crushes down on my heart making it pound so loudly it’s almost deafening. “Chase…” I whisper. He’s to my opposite side in seconds.

  “Baby, I’m not leaving. Never,” his voice dips low and I clasp his hand.

  “Can you have Tommy leave?” I whisper, and she nods.

  “Thomas, we’ll have the detective update you when we’re finished here. A little privacy, please.” Thomas nods and leaves.

  “Okay, so tell us what happened?” she says softly. Her hair is short, a dirty blond color but her eyes are enchanting. A rainbow of colors. A mix between green, blue, and brown. They’re honest eyes. Genuine. I know I can trust her.

  “I went to the bathroom. Austin was waiting for me less than twenty feet away.”

  “Austin is the bodyguard?”

  I nod. “Then as I opened the door to come back out, the opposite door opened and there was Justin. He grabbed me, dragged me into the men’s room and locked the door. I tried to scream but he covered my mouth. So I bit him.”

  “Good, baby!” Chase approves and I smile slightly. The detective looks at him in warning.

  “Then he started saying these things like he wants me back, he’d heard that I was getting married and wanted to throw his hat in the ring,” I swallow the bile that rises in my esophagus. Chase squeezes my hand for encouragement. Of course, he doesn’t know how bad the story is going to get.

  “When he dragged me over to the opposite side of the bathroom he slammed my head into the wall then gagged me with a bunch of paper towels. I couldn’t breathe or scream through my mouth. That’s when he started touching me. Saying how nice my body was and how much I’d changed over the years,” The tears I had been holding back came rushing down my cheeks. I wipe them away angrily not wanting to give Justin even one more piece of me.

  “Do you need a minute?” the detective asks.

  I shake my head wanting to get this over with. “Then he pulled up my shirt and fondled my breasts,” Chase’s hand tightens on mine so hard I pull it away. “He punched me a few times, held me down, said he was going to fuck me quickly there in the bathroom, and then take me back to his house and do it slowly like old times. Said he liked that I was still fighting back. The last time he hit me things got really hazy. I remember hearing the door breaking down and pain on my chest,” I lift my hand to my breast and pain splinters out like a starburst. I suck in a pained breath trying to breathe through the tenderness and throbbing ache.

  “Did the attacker touch you anywhere else,” she asks writing something in her notepad.

  A flash of Justin rubbing me between my legs comes to the surface. I glance at Chase under my lashes and then turn to the detective not wanting to
see his face. “Yeah, he um held me against the wall while he played with my breasts, then cupped my sex roughly trying to encourage me to get excited and remember how it used to be.”

  The sound of something hitting the wall has all of us turning around. “Motherfucker,” Chase roars. He pulls his hand out of a perfectly fist-shaped hole in the wall. The doctor rushes over to him. I slump in the bed exhausted and heartbroken. This is never going to get any better. We’re never going to escape our pasts. This hell is forever going to be in our minds.

  Chapter 17

  Gillian

  The doctor tends to Chase as I finish up with the detective. Just when I think I’m finished and can finally rest and deal with my man, the one that loves me beyond comprehension, who is literally doing a great job of beating himself up, she delivers the final blow.

  “Gillian, I’m going to need to take pictures of your injuries.” The doctor had asked me if I wanted her to do it while she did her exam but I declined. I shouldn’t have.

  Chase storms over to the detective. “I don’t fucking think so.” His anger is palpable as he stands in front of me breathing hard. He’s a man on a mission, a mission to protect what he holds dear. Unfortunately, nothing can protect me. I’m a magnet for evil men.

  “Look, Mr. Davis. I know your fiancée has undergone a lot tonight, but in order for Mr. Campbell’s case to be adjudicated, we’re going to need proof of the attack on Ms. Callahan’s life and documentation of her injuries and the attempted rape.”

  Just the word rape sends Chase into a full meltdown. “I cannot fucking believe this shit. We have to protect the goddamned attacker’s rights? That man”—he points to the bedroom door even though Austin was being questioned at the station—“saved her life tonight. He’s a hero and should be treated as one!” I place a hand on his shoulder blade. The muscles bunch and tighten under his thin shirt. Heat radiates off him so strong it could power up an entire city with its electric energy.