SCARRED - Part 2 (The SCARRED Series - Book 2) (11 page)

Dinner was poached salmon with a lemon mint sauce and cucumber salad and rice. The conversation between Derek and the attorney was lively and Chloe kept his wife engaged as well. The woman also asked her what she did and Chloe embellished on her story and told her that she would graduate soon and she already had a job lined up.

When dinner was over the dessert carts came around and Chloe indulged in a New York cheesecake that was almost better than sex. After dinner the host got up and talked about their cause and the reason behind their choice to support it. He told them about his son, a boy named Isaac that had passed away from a rare blood disorder at the age of seven. Since then, he and his wife had spent countless time and money to put together these fundraisers for both the hospital that had cared for Isaac and the research needed to someday cure the disease. Chloe was touched by the story and the picture of the dark haired boy that looked so much like his mother that they flashed up on the screen. When Peter Ross finished his speech, he invited them all to dance and drink and enjoy themselves, but to not forget to stop by the silent auction tables.

Derek turned to Chloe as the lights dimmed and the music started back up and said, “Would you like to dance?”

She turned to make sure the other couple wasn’t listening and she said, “I haven’t danced like that in a very long time.”

“It’s like riding a bike,” he said, “Besides, I’ve seen you move. You’ll probably just float across that floor.” Chloe felt her face go hot at the mention of him seeing her on the pole. She knew it was ridiculous, but she couldn’t help it. Even Derek knowing that she worked at that sleazy place embarrassed her.

“Okay, but if I step on your feet, you can’t blame me.”

“I’d be honored for you to trample my expensive shoes,” he said with a grin.

He led her to the dance floor and she tried not to notice the strange looks that everyone seemed to be giving them. It might be her imagination, but she didn’t think so. She took the impression that they were all wondering where Derek found this woman that was the spitting image of his late wife. She wondered what they would think if they knew...No, she knew what they would think, and none of it would be good. Everyone she had met so far had been in some kind of admirable profession. She was even skimming the limits slightly with her teacher story.

On the dance floor, he took her in his arms and they began to dance. She found it easy to forget about everyone else in the big room as long as she was in his arms. There were several other couples on the floor and Derek introduced her to an elderly couple as they passed by. The man was a retired judge and his wife was also but she was a Supreme Court justice.

“What a beautiful girl you are,” the woman told her.

“Thank you,” Chloe told her. She looked at the woman’s husband who was giving her a lecherous look. She wondered if he frequented clubs like Roxi’s.

“You’re the prettiest woman here,” Derek whispered against her ear as they danced. “That’s why they’re all looking at you.”

“Thank you,” she told him, “But Derek...”

“Shh, please don’t worry what people are thinking. Please just enjoy this. I love having you in my arms. Besides, I doubt as many of them are thinking it as you are worried they are...but the fact is if they’re thinking anything, it’s about me and not you. I’m the one who is with a woman who looks like my late wife. You can’t help it that you look like her.”

“It’s just a little strange,” she said, “Don’t you think?”

“It is, yes.” He was so honest and she loved that about him. She’d almost wished he’d lied and told her it was perfectly natural to date your wife’s twin after she died.

“What if I turn out to be her sister?” Chloe tried not to let herself think that far ahead. All that ever did for her was cause stress. Sometimes, like tonight when she was imagining what it would be like to really be with him, she couldn’t help it.

“It won’t change how I feel about you,” he said.

Chloe thought about asking him how it was that he felt, but she bit that back. She wasn’t sure that she wanted to know. If he thought he felt too much, that would be too much pressure. She would leave that one alone for now.

When the dance ended, Derek took her by the hand and they headed over to the table where the silent auction items were laid out. A nice looking older man with the same blue eyes as Derek was coming towards him.

Derek stopped and said, “This is my father,” before he reached them. If Derek hadn’t told her, it would have been easy to guess. The man was looking at Chloe curiously with those pretty blue eyes, the same way the others at the party looked at her.

“There you are,” Derek’s father said to his son. I hadn’t seen you and I was wondering if you were coming.” He looked at Chloe then and with a smile that rivaled his son’s he said, “Hello.”

“Hi,” Chloe said, more shyly than she had greeted the other guests. This was Derek’s father.

“I wouldn’t miss it,” Derek told him. “Peter and Leticia are two of my favorite people.” He and his father shook hands and then Derek turned to Chloe. She wondered if his stomach was fluttering the way that hers was or if he felt slightly nauseated at the realization that his father recognized that she was his late wife’s twin. He didn’t show it if he did. He was as cool and smooth as ever as he turned towards Chloe and said, “Dad, this is my date, Chloe Green. Chloe this is my father, Kevin Stark.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Chloe said.

“Yes, a pleasure,” Derek’s father said. He had lost the curious look, or he was hiding it well. He was an attorney. Chloe knew from experience that they were fabulous actors.

“I was on my way over to speak with Judge Taylor about an important matter, but I’ll be back. Chloe, I can’t wait to get to know more about you.”

“Thank you, sir,” she said. When he was gone she turned to Derek and said, “Um, blindsided a little bit, thank you.”

“I’m sorry. I really intended to tell you my father would be here. Work was so hectic this week and we really didn’t get much of a chance to talk. It just slipped my mind.”

“He saw it too. Did you see the way he looked at me?”

Derek gave her an indulgent look and said, “Maybe, or maybe you’re just a little bit self-conscious. It doesn’t matter. My father wants me to be happy. You make me happy.”

She almost told him that he made her happy too. She could feel it, but she couldn’t say it. Either it was too soon, or she was too out of practice. She let it go and instead said, “Let’s go look at the auction items.”

Derek took her hand again but before he led her over to the table he said, “I really am sorry that I forgot to tell you he would be here.”

“It’s okay,” she said. Her insides were quivering. She wasn’t angry with him, but she wasn’t sure how much more of this she could take. She hadn’t realized just how overwhelming it was going to be.

When Chloe saw the things on the table that they were bidding on, she was shocked. This was no theme basket auction like she helped arrange for the rec center or the parks renovation projects. There were sailboats and classic cars and even a vacation home at Martha’s Vineyard. Derek put down a bid for the car and the boat and then he turned to Chloe and said, “See anything you like?”

She couldn’t let that pass. She ran her eyes slowly down his body and then back up again. When she reached his face she said, “I think I do.”

He leaned down and brushed his lips against hers softly. Her body wanted to respond, badly but she held back. She reminded herself where they were. It was bad enough that she was already attracting so much attention. She kissed him softly and stepped back so she wouldn’t be tempted to let it go further. As she did, a man stepped up behind her and she stepped on his foot and bumped into him.

“Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry!” she said, turning to see who she had run into. When she saw his face, she froze. Her head was screaming at her to run, but her body wouldn’t cooperate. It was like being paralyzed. She literally could not move. The moment that she’d feared and dreaded for so long was here, she was staring her past in the face.

“It’s perfectly fine,” he said with a smile. He didn’t seem to recognize her. Was it possible? Could she be that lucky? No, if she were that lucky, she would have never met his son in the first place.

She heard Derek laugh and say, “Of all of the people to step on Chloe you have to pick Mr. Donovan. The illustrious District Attorney of New York.”

Derek was kidding, or so he thought. Chloe was thinking he was right. Of all the people...Derek was shaking hands with Vince and smiling. Vince Donovan was still staring at her face and although his own face hadn’t changed at all, she could see it in his eyes. They suddenly widened and she knew that he knew who she was. Jesse’s father recognized her. He would tell Jesse who would be out of jail in a matter of days.

“Chloe...is it? So nice to meet you,” he said, holding out his hand. Chloe looked at it like it was a snake. She couldn’t touch it. He repulsed her.

The thoughts were racing inside of her head. She wanted them to slow down so she could breathe. Her mind was accelerating so quickly that it couldn’t focus on the small things like normal bodily functions like breathing. Her breaths were coming in gasps and she started to feel like she was going to black out. Her heart was hammering against her chest and the room had begun to spin. Jesse’s father was still looking at her and Derek was now too.

“Chloe, are you okay? What’s wrong?”

She had to get out of here. She felt sick. She was going to vomit, right here. She was going to pass out. She could feel the darkness creeping in, coating her insides. She needed air or in seconds she was going to be on the floor in a fetal position, curled up in her own vomit. She turned...and rushed as fast as she could without making too much of a scene.

She could hear Derek behind her, calling out her name. She couldn’t stop, she had to get outside. Her lungs felt like someone was squeezing them now and her chest had begun to hurt. She thought maybe she was having a heart attack, but she didn’t want to do it here. She had to make it outside in the real air. As she rushed through the front doors and out into the night air, her stomach lurched and gurgled. She started running then until she made it out of the driveway and onto the grass and then she stopped and gulped at the air, swallowing it whole, like she couldn’t get enough. She had to lean against a tree to hold herself up.

“Chloe? What the hell is going on?” Derek’s hand was on her shoulder. She shrugged it off. She didn’t want him to touch her. She didn’t want anyone to touch her. This was such a huge mistake. She couldn’t tell him what was going on. She couldn’t if she wanted to. She couldn’t speak; her whole world was spinning out of control.

––––––––

J
esse took one last look at the place that he’d called home for the past two years. He had a little box full of stuff that the property officer had already picked up. He would get it back at the sally port on his way out. The place was now nothing but four walls and a mattress with a stainless steel sink and toilet in one corner and a long thin window on the back wall. He won’t miss any of it...not one thing. He was in jeans and a t-shirt. For the first time in two years he was wearing regular clothes. For two years he’d rotted inside of the protective housing unit in a single cell with only six hours of natural daylight every twenty four on a tiny little yard that was fenced in just for him and his neighbors. He’d been housed there because of his father’s status. It was doubtful that he would have lasted more than a day in general population amongst the murderers, rapists and thieves that his father had put there.

Here, he was neighbors with some of the most notorious criminals in the state while they waited for trial or like Jesse, served the time they’d been given in a plea deal. They were of course all innocent as he had discovered in conversation over the years. Not that he gave a fuck about any of them. There had been only one thing on Jesse’s mind for the two years he’d had to endure this hellhole. Kelly Ward should have been dead that night. During the day the heavy cell doors opened and they could come out and mingle amongst each other in the drab, olive green day room with the stainless steel table and benches in the middle. Jesse rarely came out. He didn’t have anything to say to any of these losers. He stayed in his cell and he worked out and got stronger and he focused his inner rage. He was biding his time, until he got to see her again. Until he got to look into her eyes and see the fear and submission there, right before he got to watch the life drain out of them. That was what kept him going here. He would find her and he would kill her, but he was going to take his time doing it. She was going to suffer and she was going to beg for her life...and then, he was going to kill her.

“Donovan!” He turned and waited in front of the cell door. The correctional officer that stood in front of it opened the little food port and Jesse turned backwards and stuck his hands through. The cold steel handcuffs were slipped over his wrists. That had been a hard thing for him to acclimate to when he first got here. Being in a cage was bad enough, but being dressed in a jumpsuit and shackled and led around like an animal was the most dehumanizing thing of all. Once Jesse’s hands were cuffed, he stepped forward and the officer signaled to the officer in the control booth...the man with the gun. The officers on the floor didn’t carry any weapons other than a club and O.C. pepper spray. The buildings were all “covered” by a man up in a glass tower with a big gun.

The door slid open slowly and Jess waited until it was all the way open before he stepped out. The correctional officer held loosely onto Jesse’s arm as they walked along the tier. Some of his neighbors said good-bye and others gave him the finger. Jesse gave them all the finger in his mind. He knew he was better than this, better than all of them. He never should have been here in the first place. The bitch should have just died. She was going to wish that she had. He was looking forward to seeing her again. He could hardly wait to see the look on her face when she saw him. He wanted to see the realization there that she was a dead woman.