Learning to Let Go (15 page)

Dillon was driving us back to Orlando in the limo as Thompson followed in the SUV, and Garrett was doing an amazing job of keeping me distracted with his sexual prowess in the backseat. Unfortunately, my subconscious kicked in and my pulse quickened the closer we got to the center of Orlando, finally arriving at Waters Towers. I found it harder to breathe and started panicking knowing that Chase was lurking somewhere within the city.

Garrett’s warm hand surrounded my shoulders and pulled me into the warmth of his chest, cradling my head just under his chin. His hands rubbed soothing circles up and down my arms. “Shh…it’s okay,” he soothed, “you’re reacting to what happened the last time you were here. I’ve had the security system upgraded to the highest technology, one that Peterson Securities doesn’t even know how to produce yet. They’ve been installed at all of my facilities. Plus, you’ll be staying with me and will have a guard on you at all times when you’re outside of the penthouse.”

His words comforted me and I began to match his breaths, feeling my heartbeat slow and my anxiety start to slip away. “What am I going to do about work? Won’t it look suspicious having a guard on me while at Bio-Medical Solutions?”

His muscles stiffened underneath me and he went straight to the point. “You’re not going back there.”

I leaned back so I could show him the puzzled face I knew I wore. “Why not? I still have a job, don’t I?”
What was he getting at?

“You still work for them,” he assured me, “but I’ve reassigned you for the time being. Your projects have all been moved to an office right next to mine at WMI.”

I couldn’t believe him. He was going to force me to work at the same office as his? And right next door? This was going to be embarrassing. As much as I liked being whatever with Garrett, I hated getting preferential treatment. “How are you going to justify me being there? Won’t that raise suspicions about us? I don’t want to be accused of sleeping my way to the top.” I was sure to be part of the new rumor mill at work.

He kissed my hair softly, pulling me closer to him. “I told you I wasn’t going to let you out of my sight and I’m not. I don’t care what people think. Besides, I need your knowledge on a project that has caught my interest. We’ll be meeting with the company in a month, so I need all of that time to pick your brain and prepare. Your supervisors have been told you’ll be temporarily assigned to that office until further notice or until the project is complete.”

I had to laugh. He had an answer to everything.

“What’s so funny?” he asked with his quirky half smile and eyes piqued with interest.

“You are!”

“Why?” He tried to put a puzzled look on his face, but it was all he could do to stifle his laughter.

“Let’s just say that I guess it’s good to be the boss sometimes. You seem to be able to pull off anything.”

“Only for you, baby, only for you.” His lips sealed over mine in a kiss filled with passion and reassurance. His teeth nipped at my upper lip, while his tongue swept into my mouth, probing, searching; devouring my mouth and soul, making me forget that we were sitting outside the Waters Towers in the limo.

I jumped when a knock came at the rear window.

“Okay, enough of that, you two!” Grace called out, though I knew she couldn’t see what we were doing inside, thank goodness.

Dillon, who had escorted us home in the limo, had barely opened the door when Grace threw her arms around me, hugging me tight and pulling me out of the car.

“I’m so glad that you’re finally home!” she cried. “Are you feeling better? How are you doing? Have you agreed to stay with Garrett?”

I just shook my head and laughed. It was good to see Grace again. I didn’t like how we had left things and wanted so badly to right things with her. “Enough with the questions, cuz. It’s good to see you, too.” I pulled her close and whispered, “I’m going to be okay, and yes, I’ll stay with Garrett for now, unless you need me.”

Grace pulled back and just shook her head. “When are you going to stop worrying about me and take care of yourself for once?” She looked past me toward Garrett. “Have you told her about the surprise yet?”

I looked between the two of them.
Lord.
“What surprise? You both know I hate surprises.”

“Hi, Laurel. I hope you’re feeling better.”

I looked over to the sound of my name. Coming out of the doorway was Jonathan, along with his parents, Harris and Olivia, and their daughter, Sarah. They all had big, welcoming smiles on their faces and I couldn’t help smiling back.

Harris was the first to speak, stepping forward to give me a hug. “Welcome home, Laurel. It’s good to see you looking more like yourself. You gave us quite a scare.”

Before I knew what was happening, everyone closed in around me, forming one big group hug. My family had always been somewhat close, just busy with their own lives at times, but the love these people emitted was overwhelming my heart.

“Hey, can you make room for us?”

No way!
That voice was too familiar. It couldn’t be! I looked up at Grace and Garrett. “My surprise?”

They both nodded and beamed as everyone parted like the Red Sea to reveal Donny and Freddie standing there with huge smiles on their faces, Donny’s arms outstretched. I don’t know who closed the gap, but Donny’s arms came down around me, quickly lifting and twirling me in the air.

“It’s good to see you, sis. I’ve been worried about you. No one will tell me what’s going on, but I expect us to have a heart to heart talk soon. Right now, I’m just glad we’re both here.”

My eyes filled with tears that were threatening to overflow if all this mushiness kept up. “I’ve missed you, too. And we’ll talk, soon, I promise.”

As soon as Donny’s arms released me, Freddie was pulling me in for a hug. “We’ve missed you, Water Bug. Please tell me you’re okay. You’ve had Donny and me on edge the last few weeks.”

I stepped back, a little uncomfortable with how close Freddie was holding me, and felt the hard chest of the man I knew so well against my back. Garrett wrapped one arm around the front of me possessively, before whispering in my ear, “I thought it would be nice for you to have some of your family around. I tried convincing your parents to fly down, but their schedules wouldn’t permit it just yet.”

Was there nothing this man wouldn’t do for me?

We were all chattering with one another when Harris spoke up above the din. “Why don’t we take this upstairs where we can sit down, relax, and enjoy spending time with one another?” he suggested. “I’m sure Deidre is up there preparing a spread.”

Everyone was in agreement and we took a very crowded elevator up to Garrett’s penthouse. Over the course of the next hours, I learned that Garrett had given mine and Grace’s apartment over to my brother and Freddie. Donny had transferred from Duke to the University of Central Florida to finish his master’s degree and Garrett had arranged Donny’s desired internship with the Financial Management Company, which my brother had been salivating over for a year. Garrett had even managed to find Freddie a new position at the firm Sarah worked for. Even though she was an architect, the firm was a one stop shop for business. They handled everything from the design to the construction to the landscaping to the wireless implementation, which was right up Freddie’s alley.

Both Grace and Garrett kept dropping hints that I should speak with my brother in one of the other rooms and I kept ignoring them. Grace finally cornered me when I was getting a drink from the kitchen and whispered, “I accept that you’re not ready to talk to your parents, but he knows something’s off and you need to tell him. He’ll be there for you. I know it.”

She and Garrett both gave my hands a squeeze as I finally gave in to the requests to speak with Donny alone and led him nervously down the hall.

We had barely made it into Garrett’s library when Donny confronted me, his face full of worry and his voice determined to get to the truth.

“Thanks for deciding to talk to me, sis,” he started. “I know something’s been going on with you and I respect that you want to retain your privacy, but damn it, Laurel, I’m worried about you. I keep thinking Garrett has done something to hurt you or keep you from talking with me. Grace assures me that isn’t the case, but you have my mind running wild with all kinds of crazy thoughts.” He ran his hands through his hair, looking increasingly agitated. “I just need to know that you’re all right!”

My stomach felt queasy and a knot formed in my throat. I started to speak, but my voice was shaky. “Iiifff Iii tell you, will you promise not to tell Mom and Dad until I’m ready?”

He looked down at his feet and then met my eyes. “You know I don’t like keeping secrets from them, but at this point, just to find out what the hell is going on… Sure, why not? I’ll keep whatever you have going on under wraps until you’re ready.” He stepped forward, encompassing me in a firm hug as I started to shake and cry. “What gives, Laurel?”

I didn’t know how to approach it other than how you would remove a BandAid—just rip the sucker off and get it over with. “In college, Chase raped me and forced me not to tell. He said it was my word against his,” I rushed out before Donny could respond. “I kept my distance from him as soon as I realized what was happening and quit the swim team. He used my blackouts from my recently diagnosed low blood sugar to his advantage, pushing my limits in the water and causing me to pass out while he had his way with me. It wasn’t until later, when I woke up in the middle of it, that I realized what he was doing.”

Donny’s body went rigid and I watched as his face became enflamed with rage and his hands tightened on my arms, barely able to control his anger. I was thankful he didn’t say anything, so I continued.

“I wanted to get as far as I could get from the campus and from up north, where he worked. He sent threatening letters to me for months and then on the day of graduation had a card dropped off in my dorm room that said he was coming for me. Garrett called in his security that day to make sure I was protected and to track his whereabouts. That’s why I took the job here; to get away from him. I didn’t expect to fall for Garrett in the process.”

His grip on me tightened. “Does Garrett know?” he managed to whisper.

I nodded. “He found out the day before graduation. He kept the cell phones and apartment in the company’s name to throw him off so there would be nothing to trace, but somehow the bastard found me anyway. It was during the time I pushed Garrett away for not telling me who he actually was. Within a few days, I started getting cryptic messages in my mail and realized they were from him.” Tears began pouring down my face. “He found me!”

Donny pulled me close and ran his hand up my back, trying to soothe me as I began shaking like a leaf and crying my eyes out. “Shh,” he whispered. “Shh, Laurel. I’ve got you. I can’t believe that asshole did this to you. He seemed like a decent, yet arrogant, guy. Is this why you’ve been out of contact for a while?”

The tears fell down my face as I nodded. “Yes. Garrett and I had talked. He finally showed me this place, but I still turned away from him, feeling I couldn’t trust him. I left and thought he had followed me down to my apartment, but it was some guy delivering flowers. When I opened the door to sign for them, I was shoved into the wall. It was him! Chase!”

Fury emanated from my brother, I could feel his fists clenched at my back. “Did he rape you again?” His voice was laden with an intensity I’d never heard from him before.

“NO—I fought back,” I said proudly. “He pushed me into the counter and held me there, trying to force himself on me again. I let him think he won, but I managed to get the frying pan from the drainer and beaned him good. He went down, but so did I, falling into the glass of the dropped vase. I managed to escape to here, knowing he needed the code to get to the penthouse. Garrett had his dad meet us at the hospital while his security called for the paramedics and police. They went searching for him, but he’d already escaped.”

I pulled back from him to see his expression and noticed Grace had joined us, her face full of compassion for what I was going through, her eyes brimming with unshed tears. She was definitely my pillar of strength. “Is it okay if I come in? I thought you might need some support, Laurel.”

I nodded and she moved beside me, taking my hand in hers.

Donny began pacing in front of me, his face a mask of hatred. If looks could kill, Chase would be dead by now. “How bad were you hurt?” he demanded.

I had never known his voice to be laced with such vehemence; it was unnerving. I hesitated and he asked the question again, grabbing my shoulders.

“How bad, Laurel? I need to know!”

Grace lifted her cell phone. “Is it okay if I show him?”

She took pictures?!
I looked over in horror at the picture on the screen. I didn’t even recognize the person in the hospital bed as me. It looked like some woman who’d tried to wrestle a meat grinder. How I survived all this, I don’t know.
You do too know. The only way you got through this was because of Garrett and Grace.