Love Song Series Box Set (22 page)

Julie

I quietly walk upstairs, the voices getting louder with each step I take. When I finally reach his room, what I see has my heart feeling like it’s coming out of my chest. Jase has Becca in his arms, while she leans into his chest.

“
Are you fucking kidding me?” I scream, the pain of his betrayal ripping me in two.

They jump away from each other and look at me.
“Baby, this is not what it looks like,” Jase says pleadingly.

“
Oh, just save it. I should have known you wouldn’t change. Once a cheater, always a cheater. Isn’t that what they say?” I shout.

I can
’t stop the sneer from escaping as I look between the two of them. I can’t fucking believe it. How could he do this to me again? Better question, how could I have been so stupid?

“
It’s really not what you think, Julie,” Becca says quietly.

“
Screw you, Becca. You ruined my life once. What? Figured you’d have another go at it? Maybe mess it up even more this time?”

I start to walk out
of the room, but I’m pulled back by Jase’s hand. “Julie, stay. We all need to talk,” he pleads.

His hand makes me flinch.
“Get your hand off me,” I scream as I yank my arm out of his hand.

“
Just listen, baby!” he begs.

“
No. It’s over. We’re over. No more chances. This was it. I’ll let you know when the baby is born, and we can work through lawyers about custody. I never want to see you or talk to you again.” I jerk his mother’s ring from my finger and toss it across the room.

He
watches it fly past him, and I turn away. As I run down the stairs, I can only think one thing; I need to get out of here. I need to get away. My heart is shattering with every step I take. I need to hold it together until I’m away from them.

I
’m nearly to the door when I see his keys sitting on the kitchen table. Knowing he’ll chase me, I grab them and rush to the door. I step outside just as he reaches the living room. Running outside, I get in the car right before he steps into the driveway. I lock the door before starting the car. A second later, he starts to pound on the window. “Don’t do this. You have to listen to me.”

Pretending to ignore him,
I back out of the complex and drive to a hotel just outside of town. I need some time alone, to try and figure out where I go from here. Should I leave? I know I can’t until after the baby is born. Can I take Jenny and the new baby away from Jase, away from all of our family?

I finally feel able to talk
, to breathe. It’s almost midnight. I call Matty and Bethany and let them know what happened and where I’m staying for the night. Matty is mad as hell. I figure he’ll be having a word with Jase soon. Bethany’s just hurt. It sounds like Jase broke her heart as much as he has mine.

I
’m exhausted. I lie down and know that I’m broken, just like before. I should have known this would happen. Everything was perfect. Too perfect. I can’t help the tears I feel rolling down my face.

Chapter
28

Julie

I wake up, gasping for breath. Suffocating, I instinctively reach for what’s covering my mouth. It’s a hand. Instantly, I know what’s going on. It’s Dean. He’s here to finish what he started the day he married me. He’s here to kill me.

I start to scream, but nothing will come out.
His hand has my mouth completely covered. “Don’t make a sound.”

I slowly
nod, knowing the only thing I can do is agree. Anything else would make him mad, and that is the last thing I want right now.

“
Do you know why I’m here?”

I do my best to shake my head,
but his hand is holding me too firmly, so I mouth the word no against his palm.

“
I’ve come to take back what is mine.”

I slowly close my eyes, trying to block him out.
I need a minute, just a single minute, to get my head straight. I have to figure out what to do. How can I make it through this night alive? More importantly, how can I make sure my baby stays safe?

He runs a hand over my stomach and sneers.
“I should have known you were a slut. We haven’t even been apart a year, and you’re pregnant with another one of his bastards.”

My hands go to my belly, hoping to place a barrier between Dean and my unborn child.

“Now, you listen to me very carefully. We are going to get up and go to your house. I’ll get my little bitch of a sister and Jenny, and then we will go home. If we see someone, I don’t want you saying a word. If you do, I’ll cut that baby out of you. Do you understand?” His grip tightens on my mouth, and he raises the hand that was just touching my stomach to show me the knife he is holding.

I nod my head and try to keep from crying
, fear for my child making me agree. I don’t want to cry now. I can’t. Dean has always loved it when I cried. It excited him, and it led to things I don’t even want to think about right now.

S
lowly, he removes his hand, watching me to see if I will comply with his order. He stands up and pulls me alongside him. “Get dressed.”

I squat down to grab my pants, and Dean
backhands me. I land on my ass hard.

I look up, wondering what I had done.
As soon as I see his face, I realize that I hadn’t done a thing. Just like always, Dean wanted to hit me, so he did. He didn’t need a reason.

“
Why are you on the floor?” he asks with a sadistic smile.

I know better than
to respond. The thought of him seeing me in my panties makes me sick. I slowly pull myself up then put my pants on as quickly as I can. I have to be careful, do everything he wants. I also know not to piss him off any more.

“
Where are your shoes?”

I nod my head toward the door, refusing to speak to him.

He grabs my hand and pulls me to the door. He’s moving too fast, and I stumble to keep up. He kicks my shoes to me and mumbles under his breath as I slide them on. Wrapping his hand tightly around my arm, he leads us out of the room.

Dean looks around the
deserted hallway, and then bends down to my ear. “Don’t forget what I told you. If you make a sound, I will have this knife in your stomach before anyone can get near us.” He emphasizes his point by poking the knife into my ribs. He doesn’t cut deep, just enough to make me realize that he’s serious. As if I would question him? I know exactly what he’s capable of.

I keep my eyes on the ground as we walk to the car. Once we
’re there, he makes me climb through the driver’s side door. As soon as I get in my seat, he climbs in and locks the door. “Just sit back and shut up.”

As we pull out of the hotel parking lot, I look out the window
, trying to think of some way to get away. I have no idea what to do. How am I going to survive this? The last thing I want to do is go home to Jenny and Bethany. I hope like hell they’re not at home. Dawn is barely breaking. It’s still too early, and there’s no school. I know my wish is made in vain. They will be there, and without Jase to protect them.

“
It was pure luck that you stayed at that hotel last night. If not, I may never have had a chance to get you alone. I’ve been watching you for days, and I was beginning to think that man was never going to leave your side,” Dean says with a chuckle.

His words make me
think about Jase. They also make my skin crawl, knowing he has been spying on me. Bethany and I had been shopping, Jenny and I had been to the park, and Jase had taken us all out to eat just two nights ago. Dean had seen it all, and that somehow made all those memories seem tainted.

My mind goes to Jase as we drive down the road.
I think about what I saw last night and remember the way Becca looked, the tears in her eyes. I remember the way Jase sounded, him begging me to listen. Maybe there was some excuse? Maybe it wasn’t what it looked like? God, I wish I had listened to what he had to say earlier. If I had, I may not be in this position now.

Twenty minutes later,
Dean pulls into my driveway and tugs me out of the car. My legs are heavy. I don’t want to go inside, but I know better than to resist. When we get to the door, he pulls out a key and opens my door. What the hell? How in the hell did he get a key to my house? I look up at him, I’m sure with disbelief written all over my face.

“
Not everyone wants you back in this town,” he says with a smile, then pulls me into the house and locks the door.

Jase

For the first time in months, I’m drunk off my ass. As soon as Julie left, I ran Becca’s ass off. Then, I ran to the kitchen to get my keys. After nearly an hour of tearing the room apart, I realized they were gone. Julie took them; she didn’t want me coming after her.

I spent the next hour calling her,
and then calling Bethany. Julie didn’t answer, and Bethany refused to listen to me when she did. I tried calling Pop, Matty, and Shane, but as soon as Becca’s name came out of my mouth, they hung up.

I finally decide to walk the three miles to her house
, but barely make it to the driveway before Matty pulls in. He jumps from the truck before the wheels quit rolling. “What the fuck did you do?”

Not wanting to fight, needing to get to Julie right away, I tell him everything.
By the time I’m done, he’s shaking his head. “Fuck, man.”

“
I know. I’ve got to get to her now. I need to explain.”

He walks toward me, shaking his head.
“She’s not home.”

“
What? Where the hell is she?”

He walks past me and motions for me to follow.
Walking through the door, he walks straight to the kitchen and grabs the bottle of Jack above the fridge. “She said she needed some time alone. I’m not sure where she is, but she said she’d be back in the morning.”

“
Fuck!” I say in a near shout. “I need to talk to her.”

He grabs two glasses and walks to the table.
After pouring the Jack, he hands a glass to me. “Give her some time. Go to her in the morning, but let her have tonight to think.”

“
I don’t think I can wait.”

He shrugs before taking a drink.
“I don’t think you have a choice.”

I finally slump down in one of the chairs and toss back the drink.
“I don’t guess I do.”

We end up spending half the night talking.
I tell him everything Becca told me, including why she said she lied. Before I could get her to leave today, she told me she’s been in contact with a social worker. Apparently, the adoptive parents listed Becca as the person to get custody of the kid if something happened to them. She told me she received a phone call a few weeks ago saying the adoptive parents had passed away, which is the reason why Becca finally decided to come to me and tell me the truth.

We talked about everything she said
, but Matty didn’t buy her story. Yeah, he figured Will did a number on her, but she should have talked to Julie or Kristen about it. They were best friends; they would have helped her through anything. I agree with him, but I also saw the way Becca looked as she told the story. She wasn’t lying; she was in pain.

Will
fucked her world up, and in return, she fucked up mine and Julie’s lives. I don’t get what the hell she thought she would gain from hurting Julie or me. My only guess is she thought she could hurt Will by hurting someone he loved. Since Kristen was away at college, Julie was the next best thing.

As far as I
’m concerned, the whole situation is fucked up, and it’s gonna get a lot worse when the truth comes out. But right now, I don’t care. The only thing I care about is getting Julie back and making her believe me.

Julie

We walk through the door, and Dean starts yelling, “Bethany, you fucking bitch. Get down here and bring Jenny with you.”

I
’m scared for Bethany, but I’m terrified for Jenny. “Dean, please don’t hurt Jenny,” I beg.

Dean looks at me like I have three heads.
“I would never hurt Jenny. I love her. What she is going to do though is sit quietly on the couch and watch what I do with you and Bethany. She needs to see both of you being punished. She needs to know just how undisciplined you two are.” He shakes his head. “I do not want my daughter to grow up acting like either of you two sluts.”

I cringe w
hen he calls Jenny his daughter. Even the thought of her sharing his blood is enough to make me sick. I look toward the stairs and notice a shadow pass across the hallway. I need to find a way to delay him from bringing Jenny down. I know asking questions will only make him angrier, but it’s the only thing I can think of.

“
Who gave you the key, Dean?”

He smiles and moves closer to me.
“A skank named Brittany gave it to me. You know she works for the same real-estate company you bought this house from, don’t you?”

I shake my head. I had no idea, or I would have had the locks changed as soon as I moved in.

“She does. As soon as she found out who was buying it, she made herself a copy of the keys.” He waves them in front of my face.

“
Why?” I ask in a whispered voice.

“
Brittany hates you. I’m not sure what you did to her, but whatever it is, she despises you for it. She tracked me down and filled me in on everything that was going on with you and that bastard’s father,” he says, motioning toward my stomach. “She’s also the person that kept getting me your number. At first, her friend would give it to her, but she quit doing that months ago. That didn’t stop her though. Brittany is quite a determined woman. All Brittany had to do was visit her friend at work and wait for her to go to the bathroom. Then, she would get on her computer and find your new number.”

All I can do is shake my head. I should have known it
was Brittany. At least it wasn’t Becca.

“
She’s actually a brilliant woman. She could have made a wonderful doctor’s wife. Too bad she’s such a skank, but she does give amazing blowjobs. Unlike you, she doesn’t have a problem getting on her knees,” Dean adds with a laugh. “I’ll have to come back for a visit, just to have a taste of that mouth.”

My mouth drops open in shock. Have I entered the twilight zone? Dean never
talks about sex. He rarely even cusses. He would call Bethany and me a bitch when he was hitting us, but that’s it. It’s like he’s turned into a completely different person. Shit. I have no idea what to expect any more.

His appearance has changed too. His normally
close-cut hair is now shaggy. He has on one of his normal button-down shirts, but it’s full of wrinkles and is covered in stains. His pants have a large tear in the knee, and the toes on his wingtips are scuffed. This is definitely not the Dean I know.

I
’m brought back from my thoughts by the sound of footsteps on the stairs. I look up, and Bethany is coming down. Thank God, Jenny is nowhere in sight.

“
Where the fuck is my daughter?” Dean screams as he rushes over to Bethany. Before she has time to respond, he slaps her across the face. The hit sends Bethany to her knees. She looks up at him, hatred in her eyes.

“
Jenny was lonely without her mom, so she called her dad. He came and got her. She stayed over there last night.” I know she’s lying; I have his keys, so he wasn’t going anywhere. I can only hope Jenny is hiding somewhere Dean can’t find her.

Bethany
’s words barely leave her mouth before Dean is on top of her. “I’m her father,” he screams between punches.

I want to help her, but I have to think of the baby.
I have to make a run for it. I have to try. I don’t make it even three steps before Dean grabs me and throws me onto the floor. I land on my stomach, and the pain starts instantly. My baby, he hurt my baby. I try to lie still, hoping it will pass, but it doesn’t. It only grows worse. Within moments, I feel warm liquid seeping between my legs.