Captured Secret (The Captured Series)
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, dialogue and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination and are fiction. Any and all resemblance to actual events, locations, or persons living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright ©2014 by April Raynne
All rights reserved.
No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, scanned or distributed in any printed or electronic form without written permission of the copyright holder.
Editing by: Frankie’s Freelance Editing
Sexy Cover By: Darryl Mercer
Interior Design by: Kassi Cooper of Kassi’s Kandids Formatting
“I’LL BE BACK IN A SECOND, Bro,” I say, getting out of Pierce’s truck.
“Nothing like backtracking, Bitch.”
“Whatever,” I mutter as I shove the car door shut.
Taking two stairs at a time, I book it up to the apartment that I share with my girlfriend, Lacey. It’s a townhome. Nothing too special, but it’s ours. Well, at least for the year we’ve rented it. She loves it because our ground floor starts on the second level. You don’t find many built like this in Orlando.
I’m already missing my girl, even though I haven’t been away from her for more than thirty-five minutes. She’s a waitress at a local wing joint and they scheduled her to work today. Maybe, I won’t be right back if she’s awake and getting her hot ass ready for work.
Pierce and I had to run to the store. We got the essentials of ice and beer for a day at the beach. I just need to get away. With school, work, interning, and my grandparents … the beach will do me some good. At the store, I realized I didn’t have my sunglasses, and squinting all day at the beach is just not going to work for me.
Entering the apartment, I hear her muffled voice upstairs. I’m going to grab a grope and a kiss before I have to go all day without seeing her. Pierce and I will catch up with her later to finish out our drinking session; who better to tip than your own girlfriend?
Coming up the interior stairs, I see that our bedroom door is open. I make the turn at the door frame and… I freeze. The blood drains out of my head and my lungs constrict not allowing me to breathe. Confusion and shock will not allow my brain to register what my eyes are seeing. My feet feel like someone poured concrete over them and it’s completely set. I should be freaking the fuck out. Yet, I’m just standing here, in disbelief, feeling paralyzed.
Holy shit, this cannot be happening.
What really is all of ten seconds, feels like ten hours. My girl…my Lacey… straddling some dude, naked, and grinding her body against his.
Register, dammit, so I can react!
My mind flashes back to the first time I saw her, to our first date, our first kiss; the first time I told her I loved her, the first time we had sex. I can see us smiling as we graduated high school, happily registering for college and excited when we finally moved in together. Me, finally feeling wanted for the first time in my life.
Violent tremors bring me back to my current nightmare when Lacey moans out her pleasure and her head falls back. That’s when she sees me. Her face is horrified. Finally, my brain gets with the program and stops rejecting the reality that’s right in front of me. My girl is cheating on me. Anger sets in and my blood starts to boil in my veins.
“Oh my, God! Ty… this isn’t... shit … let me explain,” Lacey pleads breathlessly. I have to believe she says this so breathless, not because she is doing all that fucking on my bed, but because she’s stunned to see me standing here. She begins to move off of the motherfucker that she’s fucking and the concrete finally releases me.
Lacey’s eyes are wild with fear. “I’m sorry, Love, let me explain. It’s not what it looks like…we were just…”
My voice booms throughout our bedroom, “You were just…what? And what fucking exactly is there to explain, Lacey!”
She lunges and grabs my arm with both of her hands. “Ty, just give me a minute, I didn’t mean to do this…”
I pull out of her hold with force. “Don’t touch me! Don’t you dare fucking touch me!”
“Hey man,” My eyes fly up and see Curt, our neighbor, standing behind Lacey. Apparently, he is her new fuck buddy. “Don’t get violent with her, okay?”
I’m literally an inch from his face before I even realize I’ve moved. “You, need to shut the fuck up and get the fuck out, before I get violent with you!”
I feel a breast on my arm and Lacey screaming what I believe is for me not to kill this guy, literally. I stand my ground and lean into him even closer keeping my eyes looking directly into his. The air leaving my lungs feels like fire every time I snort out a ragged breath. My ears are deaf from my blood pulsing in my ears. Wisely, Curt timidly moves away from me and books it down the interior stairs. My head is spinning out of control. I close my eyes to try and slow my heart. I can’t seem to release the fists I have formed to beat in Curt’s face.
“Listen, Ty, it was just this once, Love. Things got a little out of control. I never wanted it to go this far.”
I spin on my heels to face her naked frame. “How could you? I was gone for thirty-five minutes! And, you’re the woman that tells me you love me? I went against my family for you! I gave up all the financial support for you! I work my ass off for you!”
“I do love you, with all of my heart. We can fix this, I can fix this. It was just sex, nothing more.”
My head is cloudy and I feel on the verge of losing control, and I try to keep a grip on rational thoughts. But the bottom line is... I’m crushed…blindsided…devastated. “Just like that, huh?” Fury explodes out of my mouth. “You’ll fix this! It was just sex! You’ve ruined everything, Lacey! What the fuck is wrong with you! I thought we were happy! We were in love! I thought…finally…someone loves me, for just me! How the fuck could you do this to me? To us!”
My fist slams through the drywall and I hear her blood curdling scream! I stagger toward our bedroom door to get away from this stranger I’ve been living with. I see my sunglasses, but I don’t grab them. Instead, I use force and shove our tall dresser over on its side.
“Un-fucking-believable!” I yell as I start down the interior stairs.
She’s right on my heels hysterically sobbing, desperate to get me to stop. Once I hit the last step, she pleads, “Ty, please don’t leave. I beg you to stop and talk this through.” I can’t stop. I can’t talk. This will be a really bad situation if I do. Anger, confusion and hurt drive me to the front door. I have to get away from her. I feel like I’m going to lose all self-control in a matter of seconds. “Please! Ty! Oh, please don’t leave me! I need you! I NEED you!”
I look up when I hit the bottom of the outside stairs. There is the girl I love; the one I thought was forever, standing wrapped in a throw blanket looking down at me. I can’t register what she is saying. I just watch the tears drip off her chin and her sad mouth move. I’m devastated, trashed inside, and crazy with rage. Why? Where did I go wrong? Weren’t we happy? What the fuck happened? Why was I not good enough…again? Why am I not good enough…ever?
In this very moment, I know there is no turning back for us. In this moment, I vow never again to give my heart to another. Never again, will I fall this hard, because in the end, you get burned. This is exactly how love ends.
2½ Years Later
I
T
’
S
FINALLY
MY
TURN
AT
THE
K
EURIG
. I hit the blinking brew button, and watch my afternoon hot black coffee mix with the creamy, sugary goodness that was already in my coffee cup. I wade through my co-workers that are doing the Monday zombie walk, or fighting a weekend hangover to get back to my desk. Considering I got here at 6 am this morning, and have two hours on their asses …I have zero sympathy. I put my coffee down and plop into my chair. Only about an hour and a half left to get through, and I’m outta here. Just as I’m about to take a sip, my phone rings. “Thank you for calling Medipoint. This is Stella Avery, how may I help you?”