Fight for Love (3 page)

I rolled my eyes.

“Does Sean know?”

“No.”

“I feel another fight coming on.”

“I
’ll cross that bridge when I reach it.”

Monnique came to Cortland then wrapped her arms around him, resting her head on his shoulder. “I’m ready to go home.”

It broke my heart to see her so miserable. She was completely devastated. Thankfully, she had Cortland there. He was such a sweet guy and she was lucky to have him. When I saw them together, I didn’t feel guilty for lying. Even though I needed Cortland to support me, I knew Monnique needed him more. He was so happy with her and I would never jeopardize that for any reason. Cortland would do the same for me.

4

Since Ryan had the s
hop taken care of, we packed our belongings and headed to the airport. Due to security issues, Ryan had to leave the gun at home. There was no way we could get it onto a plane without being arrested right on the spot even though Ryan had a license for it.

We took a cab to the airport then finally boarded the plane. I called Sean a few times but his phone was still off. I was getting so frustrated not being able to talk to him. I had never been so cut off from him. Even when we were fighting, if I called him
, he would answer. When he was at work he always took my calls in a heartbeat. But now he was totally unreachable. I hated it. I really hated it.

When we move
d to our seats, we were sitting in the center row. Ryan purposely sat me in the middle so I would separate him from Janice. He sat down and opened a magazine, acting like everything was normal. Janice looked like she wanted to cry.

“Janice, switch seats with me,” I said.

Ryan grabbed my arm. “Sit.”

“Ryan, you’re being—”

“Now,” he whispered.

I rolled my eyes then took my seat.

Janice still looked miserable.

I turned to Ryan. “I understand why you’re mad but now you’re just being an asshole.”

“Stay out of it, Scar.”

I shook my head. “You’re such a hypocrite.”

He dropped the magazine and looked at me. “What?”

“You’re always saying life is too short not to treasure the important things. Janice and I might have someone tailing us, wanting to take us out, but you continue to be mad at her over something so stupid. Yes
, it was reckless, but we both weren’t thinking. She loves you and wants to protect you as much as you want to protect her. Now knock it off and stop being a dick.”

He said nothing while he stared at me, his gaze locked onto mine. His silence told me I got to him. “You’re right,” he whispered.

“I know I am.”

He smiled. “Don’t get carried away.”

“Too late.”

“You’re the only person who can talk some sense into me.”

“Because I’m not afraid to call you an asshole and a dick.”

“You’re such a sweet sister,” he said with a laugh. “Now switch me seats.”

I immediately jumped and moved out of the way.

When he sat down next to Janice, her eyes started to water. The sight made my heart tug. I knew how much she loved my brother, and I was glad she put up with his bullshit.

“Baby, I forgive you,” he said as he kissed her.

“I’m so sorry,” she said with a voice full of emotion.

“Just don’t do it again.”

“Okay.”

He kissed her again, his gentle touch becoming more passionate.

I loo
ked away and concentrated on the magazine he left in the seat.

Janice finally broke their kiss and rested her forehead against his. They stared at each other for a long time, saying nothing. Just glancing at them made my cheeks redden.
Their emotions were easy to read. Their love was powerful and infectious. Everyone felt it around them.

“I love you,” he said.

“I love you too.”

“We’re okay.”

“Thank you.”

He kissed her on the forehead. “You wanna go to the bathroom?”

“What?”

I threw the magazine down. “Are you seriously making a jab at me right now?”

Ryan smiled as he looked at me. “What? It sounds like fun.”

I rolled my eyes then picked up the magazine again.

He turned back to Janice. “Go in the bathroom. I’ll be there in a second.”

She smiled. “I like this.”

“You’re going to like it a lot more in a second.”

“You guys are so gross,” I said as I licked my fingers then flipped the page.

When Janice stood up, Ryan patted her ass. “Hurry up.”

Ryan stayed beside me w
hile he waited for the right moment. “So, have you heard from Sean?”

“No. His phone is off.”

“Did you call his parents?”

“I’m not calling them.”

“Why?”

“Because then I’ll have to talk to them.”

“Is this still because of the wedding?” he asked in an annoyed voice.

“No. They already don’t like me. Imagine how much they’ll hate me now.”

“They do like you, Scar.”

“His mother doesn’t,” I said bitterly.

“And who cares if they don’t? Sean loves you. That’s all that matters.”

“Then why should I call them?”

“They were probably the first people Sean called since they have money, right? They’re probably already in New York since Connecticut is so close.”

I knew he was right. “I don’t want to talk to them.”

“What are they going to say?”

“That this is entirely my fault. That I’m the reason why Sean might go to jail.”

“Sean made that decision on his own. He could have just turned around and left. They can’t hold you responsible for that.”

“I bet his mom will.”

“Come on, Scar.”

“Just drop it.”

He sighed. “Whatever.”

Ryan waited a minute before he looked around then followed
Janice into the small stall. When they were gone, I thought about Sean. Our plane incident was embarrassing and mortifying, but it was one of my greatest memories with him. I loved the dynamic flexibility of our relationship. Thinking about having sex with him made me more depressed. I missed my fiancé so much. I wished I could tell him how scared I was, how much I needed him. I couldn’t even call him because his phone wasn’t on. I hoped he was okay and he was being treated right. When the tears started to form in my eyes, I blinked them away.

Ryan and Janice returned to their seats a few minutes
later, both smiling like idiots. I didn’t look at them, wanting to hide the emotion on my face. Ryan leaned back and placed his hand on her thigh, drawing circles with his finger. She rubbed her nose against his as she stared at him. I breathed through the emotion, trying to put Sean out my mind. When I sniffed, Ryan looked at me. I knew I was caught.

He gave me a saddened expression like he always did when he knew I was in pain. Abandoning Janice, he wrapped his arm around my shoulder an
d pulled my head to his chest, letting me shield my face inside his jacket. He ran his hand down my back as I tried to control my emotion, the devastation in my heart. Janice leaned over and placed her hand on top of mine, squeezing it gently. They said nothing but they understood just how hurt and scared I was. Their presence was enough to dull the pain in my heart for just a moment in time.

5

Sean

I couldn’t stop thinking about Scarlet. Was she safe? Did something happen to her? I hoped she kept her promise to stay with Ryan at all times.

“Mr. Prescott, did you hear me?”

“Sorry. What?”

The officer stare me down, unable to hide his annoyance. “Where were you the day Carl Rogers were beaten and taken to the hospital for severe internal injuries?”

“I was at work.”

“The incident happened at eight in the morning. Your position didn’t start until nine.”

My lawyer, Bill, held up his hand. “Just because his shift doesn’t begin until nine doesn’t mean he wasn’t in the building. We have a witness that says he was at work when the incident happened.”

“When can I make another phone call?” I asked. I had to talk to Scarlet. I hadn’t spoken to her since I left.

The officer ignored my statement. I had already asked ten times. When I was given the one phone call, I knew I had to use it to phone my parents, who took care of all the legal services. Bill had been our lawyer for years, helping us from minor cases, to law suits, to sexual harassments suits, to discrimination cases, you name it. And he won every case. But we were always innocent so perhaps that was why. In this situation I was totally guilty.

“What’s the name of the witness?”

“Bryan Smith,” Bill answered.

“Just one phone call. That’s it,” I said.

Bill looked at me. “One thing at a time.”

I sighed, annoyed.
“Look, Carl Rogers was charged with sexual harassment and rape to dozens of women within R and R. My fiancé and her best friend were two of those victims, and they were the ones that revealed his crimes. Obviously, he’s trying to get vengeance on my fiancé by making this shit up. He’s doing this so he can get to Scarlet and Janice. Please send protective services to watch them.”

The officer glared at me. “I would be really surprised if Mr. Rogers was able to break out of jail and hunt down
these two girls and dispose them.”

I returned his glare with my own. “He can hire someone.”

“How?”

“Criminals do it all the time.”

“CSI New York is not real life, kid.”

I stood up. “My fiancé is in danger. Please send a cop or two to look after her. Please. I’m not craz
y.”

“Sit down, Sean,” Bill said.

Slowly, I dropped back into my seat, trying to bottle my rage. “This is bullshit. Just let me call her, then.”

The officer continued his question
s while my lawyer answered them. I wasn’t paying attention anyway. I was a horrible liar and I needed legal representation to get me out of this. I kept thinking about my fiancé. I hoped my girl was okay. I loved her and I missed her so much. If something happened to her I would stop breathing. I couldn’t go on.

When the meeting was over, I was escorted back to my cell. I wasn’t in jail but I was in holding at t
he police station. They could keep me for seventy two hours without evidence before they had to let me go. If they had viable suspicion against me, they could keep me for two weeks without a trial. I sincerely hoped they didn’t dig anything up. My life was in Bill’s hand. I had to get out of here so I could get to Scarlet. I wasn’t allowed to leave the state but I could have Ryan bring her to me.

An officer came back and opened the door. “You have visitors.”

“How about a phone call instead?”

“You wanna see your visitors or not?”

I sighed then stood up. He escorted me into an interrogation room where my parents were waiting. I sat down at the table across from them. The officer left and shut the door behind him. No one spoke until we knew he was really gone.

“How are you holding up, kid?” my dad asked. He was wearing his business suit with a plain black tie, looking as professional as possible. My mom was dressed just as elegantly. She looked like the first lady. I knew they were putting on a brave front for publicity. The public wasn’t aware of my situation but they would figure it out eventually.

“Fine.”

“Are they treating you okay?” my mom asked as she placed her hand over mine.

I pulled it away. “I’m not in prison.”

“It better s
tay that way,” my father said.

We hadn’t had much time to speak since I was flown out here. I was only allowed a short time on the phone, so I told them all the necessities before I hung up.

My mom looked grief-stricken. It looked like someone had died. “What were you thinking, Sean?” Her eyes were wide with disappointment. I could see the obvious humiliation on her face.

“I wasn’t thinking,” I said quietly.

“You do realize how this will affect us, right?” she shrieked. “Our youngest son in jail! How embarrassing.”

“He’s not in jail yet,” my father said calmly.

She shook her head. “What the hell were you were thinking?”

I ran my hands through my hair, bottling my annoyance. “I just snapped. He was threatening and harassing Scarlet. I did what any real man would do. I took care of it.”

My mom slammed her hand on the table. “And you thought you would get away with it? He was in the hospital for an entire week. He could have died!”

“Too bad he didn’t,” I snapped.

“Sean!” my mother yelled. “Why are you doing this to us?”

I clenched my fists tightly. Now my mom was really getting under my skin. All she cared about was herself and how this would affect their livelihood and reputation.

My father placed his hand on my mother’s shoulder. “That’s enough, dear.”

She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at me.

He looked back at me. “Sean, this behavior is unacceptable.”

“I got that already,” I snapped.

“Listen to me.” His voice could command a Roman army. “I understand why you behaved the way you did. You were trying to protect Scarlet. I get that.” He paused as he folded his hands on the table. “But that was not the right way to go about it. Violence solves nothing. I taught you that as soon as you were born. It seems that you have a horrible memory.”

I shook my head. “The guy is a psycho pervert that harassed Scarlet and shoved his dick in her face. I have no remorse for what I did.
Scarlet is my responsibility. I would die for her. I would even go to jail for her. I will always protect her.”

“And how can you protect her n
ow that you are held in custody?” he asked.

I averted my gaze.

“You have unlimited resources, Sean. You could have come to me and we would have figured out the best way to approach the situation.”

“You weren’t there. You didn’t see the disgusting smile on that chubby face, the maniacal gleam through his spectacles, or the obvious bulge in his pants. He hurt Scarlet in more than just a physical way. I won’t tolerate it.”

My father stared at me. “I wasn’t disappointed in you until now. A strong man doesn’t need to throw a fist every time something needs to be resolved. If the same thing happened to your mother, I would have taken him for everything he had. Pain is momentary. It disappears after the wounds heal. You have to take away everything that means anything to him until the real suffering begins.”

I met my father’s gaze and felt the guilt pool in my stomach. I still wasn’t sorry fo
r what I did to Carl. When I said I wanted him to die, I really meant it. But I was embarrassed that I didn’t handle the situation differently. Being emotional, I snapped without thinking. I could have gotten Carl a lot worse if I had just used my head. And if I had, I would be with Scarlet right now. “You’re right,” I whispered.

My father nodded but said nothing.

I ran my fingers through my hair and sighed. “So what now?”

“They are still trying to build a case against you. I’m not going to sugarcoat this for you. According to Bill, they have witnesses who said they saw you, and they have his medical records detailing his trauma, and they have the motive.”

“Which is?”

“Scarlet.”

“Fuck.”

My mother glared at me. “Ever since you two got together it’s been nothing but drama and problems. You are better off as friends.”

I stood up and leaned toward her, making her sit back. I kept my hands glued to the table, clenching it. “I love Scarlet. I’m marrying her, spending the rest of my life with her, having kids with her. There is nothing more to this story. She will be your daughter in law. I don’t care how much shit we have to go through. She and I are meant for each other. Your opinion has absolutely no meaning to me. I suggest you stop repeating yourself.”

My mother
flinched as I yelled in her face. She scooted her chair back so she could move away from me.

“Sit,” my father commanded.

After I stared her down for a moment, I took a seat.

“Dear, get Sean a glass of water,” my father said.

She left the room without looking back.

“Don’t you ever speak to your mother like that again,” he said calmly. Even though he didn’t raise his voice or chan
ge his tone, I felt the threat in the air.

“Don’t ever speak about Scarlet like that.”

“She’s just under stress right now. It’s nothing personal against Scarlet.”

“I’m tired of hearing about your obvious disapproval of her. This situation isn’t even her fault. I was the one who decided to attack Carl. She and I weren’t even speaking at the time. It isn’t her fault and I refuse to let you pin this entire thing on her. She’s the love of my life. I’ve never felt so angry. I just snapped, okay?” I rested my face in my hands, trying to calm down. I felt like I was getting nowhere with my parents. My mother would never like Scarlet. It didn’t matter if she did because I would still marry Scarlet in a heartbeat, but I wished the situation was different. Scarlet kept taking the blame for things when it wasn’t her fault.

My father grabbed my shoulder. “I love Scarlet.”

“You do?”

“Like my own daughter.”

“Why does mom hate her so much?”

“She doesn’t.”

“It doesn’t seem that way.”

“Your mother just comes off a bit—strong sometimes.”

“Well, you should tell her to change the act. I’m not leaving Scarlet. You may as well tell her to give up.”

“We don’t want you to leave Scarlet.”

I said nothing, staring at the table. “I wish I could talk to her.”

“Why can’t you?”

“They won’t let me call anyone.”

He pulled his phone from his pocket and handed it to me.

I grabbed it quickly then opened the screen. My heart fell. “I—I don’t know her number by heart.”

My father frowned. “Is there someone else you could call?”

I groaned. “No. I need my cell phone.
I have all my contacts in there.”

“I’m surprised Scarlet hasn’t called us.”

I wasn’t surprised at all. I knew how her mind worked. She assumed my parents would blame here for the travesty, and she was dead on about it. My mom clearly held her responsible for the fiasco. I didn’t respond to my father’s comment.

I missed Scarlet so much. It had only been a few days but I hated not being able to talk to her. I was so worried about her. What if something already happened to her? I tried to remind myself that Ryan was just as protective of her as I was. He wouldn’t let anything happen to her. And Cortland would die before
Scarlet even came close to danger. I placed my face in my hands and tried to steady my breathing. I felt like I would break down at any moment. If I lost Scarlet I would take my own life. Not knowing where she was felt agonizing.

My dad rose from his seat then came beside me. I felt his arms wrap around me, holding me to his chest. Like when I was a young boy, I held onto him, resting my head on his shoulder. I held back the tears even though they were bubbling to the surface. “It’s going to be okay, son.”

“I’m worried about Scarlet.”

“We need to focus on you right now.”

I pulled away. “What if Carl sent someone after her?”

My dad sighed. “I really doubt it, Sean. And when you keep saying that to the police it makes you sound insane. It’s not helping your image.”

“I don’t give a shit about my image.”

“Well, the jury will.”

“This isn’t going to go to court, right?”

“I don’t know, Sean.”

I sighed. “Everything is so fucked up right now. I need Scarlet.”

“I’m sure she’s coming out here.”

“I hope she doesn’t. I want her to be safe.”

My dad rubbed my back with his hand. “We’ll figure it out. Just do exactly as Bill tells you. He’s a law genius. You are in the best hands.”

“I hope so.”