Define Me (21 page)

“Yeah sure you were worried about me; you walked out leaving me to fight the battle. Luckily it wasn’t so bad; my mom did most of the talking, my dad just sat there.  I told them everything even the things that happened at school, things I never thought I would have to tell them.  It is done and now I can move on. …  Where is Vincent?”

“His in the back, I don’t think you should be going in there right now.”

“Why not?”

“He is talking to Brent and asked us to give them some time, even you.”

“Bullshit, if they are talking about me (I know they are) I want to know what is going on.”

Cole got up from where he was sitting and started walking towards me.  I turned around to go the kitchen, but Cole managed get hold of my arm before I could go any further.

“Caitlin please, I have never seen Vincent like this, let him talk to your friend alone, come sit down, I will get you some coffee.”

I had been waiting for what seemed like 30 minutes and they were still talking.  Cole watched me so that I didn’t go to the office at the back of the kitchen. 

“Please Cole; I need to see him.”

“What’s that, who do you need to see?”

I turned around and Vincent was standing right behind me, I did not even hear.  I jumped up and run into Vincent’s arms that were my safe haven. 

“You took your time in there; I have been waiting for you.  Where is Brent?”

“He left through the back door, we all need to have a meeting again this afternoon and I think it is best if your dad is part of it, is it ok if we meet at your place, say 2?  Brent has a friend that runs a private security company and they will also be at the meeting.”

“Don’t you think this is over kill, the police can handle this?”

“No Caitlin, I am not taking that chance.  From what you told me last night and the things Brent told me this morning, I’m not leaving this up to the police to handle.  I have just found you and sure as hell not going to let any asshole like Hunter take you way from me.”

What could I say to all that, behind my braveness last night and this morning I was shitting myself.  I was scared of Hunter I had seen what he could do but I didn’t want everyone to know that.  I didn’t want my
Dark side
to take over again.  I needed to be strong; I need to prove not just to everyone around me but to myself that I could do this.

“Ok, well that is fine; I will let my Dad know. By the way, could you spend this weekend with my parents?  They want to see if you are good enough for their little girl, but no sleeping over and that goes for Cole, do you hear me Heather!”

At 3 my house was full of big scary men, Heather and my mom were helping me in the kitchen preparing snacks and something for everyone to drink. 

Brent took control of the meeting giving everyone an overview of the last night’s events, thank goodness he did not go into details about the past but he did say that Hunter had a history of abuse.  I could see it was hard on my dad but he handled it very well.  Earlier in the day my dad upgraded the alarm system in the house and also had the locks changed.  The last thing was to change my phone number, I was not happy about it but my dad insisted.  I walked out of the meeting; I could not take another minute of it all.  I needed to be alone.

“Here you are, I was looking for you, why are you sitting up here on the balcony?”

“I needed some time to myself, up here I can look and listen to the sea.  It’s the only way I can calm my mind.  Vincent is this all necessary?” 

“Caitlin from what I saw last night, that guy is a psycho and will stop and nothing.”

We were interrupted by my phone ringing, I wonder
ed who it could be, it showed private caller.  I looked at Vincent and then back at the phone. 

“What is wrong?”

“It is from a private number.”

“You want me to answer it?”

“No, I’ll do it.”

I didn’t have time to say hello.

“Why did you take so long to answer the phone beautiful? Too busy licking your wounds.”

My eyes shot up to Vincent, I clicked over to speaker phone.

“HUNTER!  The police are looking for you.”

“Listen and listen well, you think what happened last night was bad?   Wait and see what will happen if you don’t tell the police it was just a misunderstanding.  I will destroy you and that boyfriend of yours.”

Before I could answer, Vincent t
ook the phone from me. 

“Now you listen to me Hunter, we will find you and you will be sorry for what you did, you will never lay your hands on Caitlin again.  You are a piece of shit and I will make sure you sit behind bars for the rest of your life, do you understand me?”

“Do you think I am scared of you pussy, who do you think set the fire at your house, oh yes, wait you don’t know about that yet do you?  I guess you better hurry home.” 

Vincent handed me the phone.   

“I need to get home, go downstairs and tell Brent about the phone call.”

“You can’t go alone, let me go with you.”

“No you stay right here, I will take Cole with me.”

We both rushed downstairs, Vincent called Cole aside and told him what had happened.  They both left.  I was not happy about it, I realised then that Hunter was more dangerous that what I thought.

“Caitlin, what’s wrong, why did Vincent leave so quickly.”

“Brent, Hunter just called me and said that I need to drop the charges against him and that Vincent’s house is on fire.”

“What, give me your phone, let me see if we can get that number trac
ed.”

“He called from a private number.” 

“Oh, well let’s see anyway.  I am going to leave one of these guys here with you; I need to get to your boyfriend’s house. What is the address?”

I looked up into Brent’s eyes; all those memories from back at school came flooding back.  It was all just too much I couldn’t take it; Brent put his arms around me.

“Princess we will sort this out; I will fix it I promise.  I failed you once before I will not let that happen again.”

I rested my head on Brent’s chest, I could hear his soothing heartbeat, for a second I forgot that it was not Vincent but my inner self snapped me out of it.  I pulled away pushing Brent away from me. 

“Sorry, thanks; I better go see where my mom is.”

I walked away as quickly as I could I need to put distance between Brent and myself.  My mom and I sat at the kitchen table, drinking coffee.  Every 5 minutes I checked my phone. I had texted Vincent trying to find out what was happening but nothing.  I was getting really worried.  Heather tried Cole’s phone but the same thing.  Shit I didn’t have Brent’s number so we sat and waited.  About 2 hours later Vincent, Cole and Brent walked through the front door.  His face was black and he looked terrible.  I jumped up and ran to him. 

“What happened, are you ok?”

“Yeah I am fine but the bastard fucked with my cars, the Corvette is a goner, luckily the fire did not spread to the rest of the house, he got in through the garage.”

“Oh shit I am sorry.”

“Why are you sorry Cat this is not your fault, he is psycho, we will get him, and he will pay for this.  I promise you Caitlin I will not let him hurt you again.”

I put my arm around Vincent and held him tightly.  Firstly because I was scared and I couldn’t believe Hunter would go that far and secondly to get the feel of Brent out of my mind. 

“What are you going to do now?” 

“Well I will have to go back home tonight, I can’t leave the house like that, but I will be back tomorrow.  Your parents are still here and I don’t think your dad will take too kindly to me sleeping in his daughter’s bed.  I just came back to tell you what is happening.  The security company is still at the house and the police are also there.  I love baby, I will be back.”

I didn’t want Vincent to leave, but his house almost just burnt down and I was selfish by wanting him to stay by me.

“Is Cole going to go with you?”

“Cat I don’t need a babysitter, Cole has his own things to sort out. Don’t worry all will be fine, I will be back in the morning to fetch you for ou
r run.”

“Ok, see you later.”

The rest of the night dragged by, my mom was trying her best to get me to eat even making my favourite but I was just not interested.  At 8 my dad kicked everyone out the house; there was nothing more they could do tonight.  One of Brent’s connection were posted outside the house just in case Hunter decided he wanted to come back, I doubted he would. 

At about 9 I told my parents that I needed some sleep but that was a lie.  I’d become so use to falling asleep in Vincent’s arm that I didn’t know if I was going to sleep at all.  I took a blanket and headed outside to my patio.  The nights were getting colder; I curled up on the chair and pulled out my phone.  I missed Vincent so much; I decided to send a message. 

ME:  Hey, you there?

Not even a second later I
received a message back.

Vincent:  Hey baby, you still awake, I thought you would be in dreamland by now.

Me:  I can’t sleep; my pillow is not here tonight. 

Vincent:  Who took your pillow?

Me:  He decided that my old man is too scary so he disappeared.

Vincent:  Your old man scary, NEVER!

Me: LOL I know he scares you, he scares me too especially when he walked into my house this morning.

Vincent:  That is not funny, I shat myself this morning, I agree, your dad is very scary. 

Me: See I knew you were scared. 

Vincent: Can’t you sleep?

Me: No, I’m worried about Hunter, I never in my life thought he would do this. 

Vincent:  We will find him, I promise you.  He will go to jail I’ll make sure of that. 

Me: I hope so. I miss you, I wish you were here, I like falling asleep in your arms. 

Vincent:  Soon, but your dad is here he will never let me sleep over again. 

Me: LOL, yes you’re right, he won’t.  I LOVE YOU

Vincent:  I love you too, go to sleep now; I will see you bright and early. 

Vincent

“Could the day get any worse?  The attack on Caitlin, fuck I thought I was going to lose her.  Standing outside her house hearing her scream like that, what kind of person beats a woman like that, it nearly killed me when I found her on the bathroom floor.  Then to listen to her telling me that this was not the first time, from what Brent told me, Hunter had a bad rap for taking out his anger on other people. If I got my hands on him he would be sorry. 

I didn’t know how I was going to tell Caitlin, I needed to go to New York.  Grams being sick could not have come at a worse time but I needed to go home.  At least Cole would be here, he could keep an eye on the business but fuck I needed to ask Brent to look after Caitlin.  I didn’t trust that guy at all; I saw how he looked at her.  I knew she said there was nothing between them at school, well that might have been the true her. 

Let’s hope Caitlin’s parents stick around a little longer, I know her dad is not a big fan of mine, no Dad would be after walking into his daughters house to find a guy in his underwear.  I made a great impression on him, yeah right, but at least there would be someone in the house all the time. Well I better get off to bed, tomorrow is going to be another long day.  I want to get to Caitlin early; my flight is late afternoon at this point I don’t know how long I’ll be away.”