Mr. D: Black Mountain Academy

by Alta Hensley

  “I can assure you that my eyes are wide open to the situation,” I said.

  Cora huffed and shook her head. “Maybe you should book yourself a room right next to hers.”

  “Ms. Parker, I know you are a busy woman. And I’m more than happy to help Corrine—”

  “Help Corrine? There’s no helping her,” she interrupted.

  She looked back at Corrine. “I don’t have time for this. I have another movie shoot coming up. A big one that will have me overseas for quite some time. I can’t be worrying about my loony daughter causing issues here in the States. So, get your stuff, and let’s get out of here.”

  “Mom, please. This isn’t like L.A. D and I have something more. I’m happy. It may not be normal, but it’s not like before.”

  “Ms. Parker…”

  “Mr. Dawson, I’m going to look past the fact that I’m picking my daughter up at your place. I’m going to pretend this entire situation with you and my daughter never occurred. I’m also going to leave you be here in Black Mountain, but I expect you to do the same. Leave Corrine alone, or you’ll not like what my next move will be.”

  “I’m not leaving!” Corrine shouted. “I’m not going back there, and you can’t make me. I’m a legal adult, and we aren’t doing anything wrong.”

  Cora’s eyes narrowed and her lips pursed together. “You are leaving. You may think just because you’re nineteen that I have no control. First of all, I control the purse strings, or have you forgotten? Secondly, unless you want to destroy this man’s career, you will do what I say. You may not have burned down his house, but if you refuse to go with me, I’ll burn down his entire life. I know for a fact the Black Mountain Academy board will not appreciate knowing their principal had sex—multiple times I’m sure—with a mentally unstable student who had just spent time in a psychiatric unit. If that doesn’t sound like taking advantage of a situation, I don’t know what does.” She looked at me and placed her hands on her hips. “Don’t push me. I’m not an enemy you want, Mr. Dawson.”

  In defeat, Corrine grabbed her stuff and exited my house with tears streaming down her face. I didn’t say a word. She didn’t say a word. Her mother had spoken, and I had yet to figure out how to respond.

  23

  Corrine

  “I didn’t think we’d be seeing you back here, Corrine,” Dr. Redmond said as he sat across from me with pen in hand and notebook on his lap.

  “I didn’t exactly have a choice in the matter,” I said, hating that I was once again in this very familiar room about to have my brain dissected again.

  “You chose to engage in the same behavior that brought you here in the first place. Correct? That was a choice you made,” he said.

  “I suppose.” I didn’t want to say much. All he would do is write it down and use it against me later.

  “Tell me about this…” he looked down at this notebook, “Drew Dawson. Your mother tells me that he was the principal at the school you were attending. She also told me that you snuck to that school without her knowing with the intention of stalking him.”

  “That’s not true,” I snapped. “She knew I was going to Black Mountain Academy. She just doesn’t pay attention to the things I do. And no, I didn’t go there with the intentions of stalking him. It just happened… but it’s not like you think.”

  Dr. Redmond continued, “She also said that she has spoken with Mr. Dawson, and he has agreed to not make issue of this situation.”

  “Make issue?” I asked, not sure what he was saying. And had my mother been in conversation with D after I left?

  “What you did is a crime. With your history, Mr. Dawson could have really made problems for you, but your mother got him to agree to forget this unfortunate situation. You should be grateful for that.”

  Unfortunate situation?

  “I may have started to revert to the old me at first,” I began. “And I didn’t start my relationship with Mr. D with honesty, but something changed as he started to care about me.”

  “Did you feel that Mr. Harrison cared about you as well?”

  “No. I wanted him to. I thought I could convince him to. And when he didn’t, I got mad… obviously.”

  “But Mr. D—is that what you call him? You feel that he genuinely cares about you, in a romantic way?”

  I didn’t want to tell Dr. Redmond exactly how intense our feelings were for each other, even in such a short time. For one, I didn’t think he’d believe me. And second, I didn’t want to get D in trouble if Dr. Redmond decided to report him or something.

  “It became something different. Yes,” I said.

  “Then why did he allow you to come here?” the doctor asked. “From what your mother said, he was happy to have you taken from Black Mountain and admitted into St. Mary’s.”

  “That’s not true.” Although the feeling of wanting to check every door in the hospital began to take over.

  Mr. D wouldn’t want this.

  He wouldn’t have allowed me to go with my mother if he had a choice.

  Would he have?

  “Your mother also said that he is aware of your past.”

  “Can we stop talking about what my mother said?” I snapped, feeling the urge to storm out of the office. “Ask me if you want the truth. My mother sees things her way and always has. I’m done talking about my mother.”

  “She comes from a place of concern,” he said.

  “Concern for herself. Concern for her career. Do you know that the media believes I’m in rehab right now… again? My mother would rather the world believes I’m a cocaine addict than a woman in the search for love.” I took a deep, calming breath. “Do I have some issues to work through? Yes. We talked about them the last time I was here. I know I have insecurities, abandonment issues, trust issues, and I struggle with OCD. I know this, and frankly, so does Mr. D. But I also plan to get continued help to cope with those things. But Mr. D said he would be there every step of the way to help me. To be with me.”

  “And you believe he could be of help? Or do you think it could make things worse? What if he does reject you? What then?”

  The doctor’s words were like a tsunami of ice-cold water engulfing me. I hated him. I hated this place. No one would understand. No one would get me… other than D.

  But where was he?

  Why did he let me go?

  Was that the end?

  “Knowing he’s not here,” the doctor continued, “does that make you want to lash out? Do you want to burn down his home like you did with Mr. Harrison?”

  “No,” I said softly.

  “What if he doesn’t want to be with you? What if he never wanted to be with you?”

  God, his words stung.

  “It would make me… sad,” I admitted.

  “Not angry?”

  I shook my head in defeat. “Not angry. I would have to accept it and eventually move on. But,” I looked into Dr. Raymond’s eyes, “I really feel like there is something there. I don’t think I was completely delusional in believing so. And the feelings inside of me aren’t crazy. It’s love. I feel love and not obsession.”

  Dr. Redmond nodded and smiled.

  A voice came from the door behind me. “Good, because I have the same feelings.”

  I turned in surprise to see D standing in the doorway. He was in a suit, appeared all business, but there was a warm smile on his face and his eyes lit up as they connected with mine.

  Dr. Raymond stood up and said, “I’m going to leave you two alone so you can talk.” He placed his palm on my shoulder. “Keep up the work on yourself, Corrine. You deserve peace, and you most certainly deserve love.” He then nodded at D and exited his office.

  I sat in the chair, stunned and trying to make sense of what was going on. D was in L.A., at St. Mary’s, and standing before me. He had followed me here. Came for me… for me.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked as my voice cracked.

  He walked over to me and sat in the chair next to
mine. “You didn’t think I would just let you be taken out of my house and not do anything about it, did you?”

  “But my mother…”

  “I don’t care about your mother,” he said with his jaw locking. “And frankly, I don’t believe you do as well.”

  “But she made threats.”

  He nodded. “She did. But one thing you may not know about me is that I don’t scare easy. I don’t allow anyone to hold anything over me, blackmail me, or threaten me. If she wants to go to war, then we will. But at the same time, I believe your mother isn’t going to care what you do now that she is busy with a movie.”

  “I agree. As long as I stay out of her hair, she doesn’t care what I do. Out of sight, out of mind,” I said, hating that I spoke the truth, but it was.

  “And we need to get you back to Black Mountain pronto because you have your senior year to finish and a diploma to earn.”

  My eyes darted around the room, now truly realizing Dr. Redmond wasn’t the person calling the shots. “But I’m here. I can’t just leave.”

  “Yes, you can. You signed yourself in, and you can sign yourself out. I also met with Dr. Redmond before you did, and we spoke. He has his concerns, which are valid. But I don’t really care what he or anyone thinks at this point. I only care what you feel. What is it that you want?”

  “I want you,” I said with a smile and a rush of happiness taking over me.

  “And I want you,” he said, reaching out for my hand and pulling me up into his arms.

  After several moments, I broke away from the embrace, fearful that this was all too good to be true. “So, what does this mean? What happens now?”

  “Go get your stuff, sign yourself out as the capable and sane adult that you are, and we head home. We close the door on this chapter and open a new one.”

  “You don’t think I’m crazy?”

  “It keeps you interesting,” he said with a mischievous grin.

  “You don’t think I’m obsessive?”

  “No more than me, and it’s a toss-up as to who is more at this point.”

  It took me a moment to truly grasp what he was saying. To really listen to the words I was hearing.

  He wanted me. He chose me. He fought for me. He didn’t want to be without me, and he didn’t want to leave me alone.

  Leaning down and kissing me softly on the lips, he then said, “It’s my turn now.”

  “Your turn?” I asked, confused.

  “To stalk you.”

  The End

  Want to read more from Black Mountain Academy?

  Drama, angst, love, lust, and everything in-between. Light or dark, twisted or sweet, the BMA series has something for every reader!

  Check out the Black Mountain Academy webpage to see all the books available:

  https://black-mountain-academy.com

  About the Author

  ALTA HENSLEY is a USA TODAY bestselling author of hot, dark and dirty romance. She is also an Amazon Top 100 bestselling author. Being a multi-published author in the romance genre, Alta is known for her dark, gritty alpha heroes, sometimes sweet love stories, hot eroticism, and engaging tales of the constant struggle between dominance and submission.

  Join Alta’s Facebook Group for Readers for access to deleted scenes, to chat with me and other fans and also get access to exclusive giveaways:

  Alta’s Private Facebook Room

  Check out Alta Hensley:

  Website: www.altahensley.com

  Facebook: facebook.com/AltaHensleyAuthor

  Twitter: twitter.com/AltaHensley

  Instagram: instagram.com/altahensley

  BookBub: bookbub.com/authors/alta-hensley

  Sign up for Alta’s Newsletter: readerlinks.com/l/727720/nl

  Also by Alta Hensley

  Top Shelf Series:

  Bastards & Whiskey

  Villains & Vodka

  Scoundrels & Scotch

  Devils & Rye

  Beasts & Bourbon

  Sinners & Gin

  Evil Lies Series:

  The Truth About Cinder

  The Truth About Alice

  Breaking Belles Series:

  Elegant Sins

  Beautiful Lies

  Dark Fantasy Series:

  Snow & the Seven Huntsmen

  Red & the Wolves

  Queen & the Kingsmen

  Kings & Sinners Series:

  Maddox

  Stryder

  Anson

  Mafia Lullaby

  Captive Vow

  Naughty Girl

  Bad Bad Girl

  Delicate Scars

  Bride to Keep

  His Caged Kitty

  Bared

  Caged

  Forbidden

  For all of my books, check out my Amazon Page!

  http://amzn.to/2CTmeen