The Beginning of Us (119 page)

I swallowed hard, remembering the cold look that Parker gave me but then I remembered the warmth in his eyes. My stomach fluttered. I was so damn confused. I had no idea what was going on.

“What happened, Keely? The nurses said that you were bound and gagged, left on the ground at the entrance.”

Tears fell from my eyes at that point; the liquid was cool against my skin as the air hit my cheeks. Other than that, I had no idea that I was crying. Maybe I was losing it. And for good this time. I stared at Troy but didn’t say anything. What could I say? He only knew so much of Devin’s wrath. Although he saved me from that nightmare, was it really saving when I was forced into another one?

I brought my hand up to wipe my cheeks when I saw the plaster cast on my right wrist. I sighed and curled away from Troy, hugging myself into a tight ball. I didn’t want to talk. I didn’t want to see anyone. I wanted to be alone. Forever. I didn’t know if Parker was coming back for me or if he truly had dived into the clutches of Devin’s sadistic ways.

“Keely?”

I looked up as a female police officer came into the hospital room.

She smiled warmly at me and pulled up a chair. “I’m Officer Hall. Can we chat for a couple of minutes?”

I nodded and reached for Troy’s hand. She looked between us two.

“He’s my best friend. I need him here,” I croaked.

Officer Hall nodded and pulled out a notepad. “I was speaking with the doctors. Did you want to tell me what happened?”

Troy squeezed my hand encouragingly. Taking a breath, I jumped when Patrick rose from his spot in the corner of the room, completely forgetting that he was there. He whispered something about giving us some privacy before I continued. I told Officer Hall everything that I could. Not that there was much to say since I really had no idea what was going on.

“Were you hurt in any way?” She pointed to the cast on my wrist. “Besides that, I mean.”

“Are you asking me if I was raped, Officer?” I sat up and scrubbed my good hand down my face.

“Were you?”

I pinched the bridge of my nose as an onslaught of pain erupted behind my eyes. “Devin Tate abused me, yes. I have no idea if he raped me, though, but he…”

“The doctors found traces of semen. By two different males,” she gently added. “And there is evidence of abuse. Keely, what did Devin do?”

At that point the tears flowed down my cheeks. I took deep cleansing breaths while Troy rubbed his hand over my back in soothing circles. “How do you know it was Devin that hurt me?”

“He has a history. Has he raped you before?”

I bit back a scoff. “Yes.”

“Did you ever report it?”

“No. I was a sixteen-year old girl,” I bit out.

Officer Hall nodded, her eyes warming in understanding. She rose to her feet and handed me her card. “If you think of anything else, please don’t hesitate to give me a call.”

“I will,” I whispered.

“Keely?” she said, stopping once she reached the door. “We’ll get this bastard. I promise you.”

A sob escaped my lips and my body shook, cries of anguish and pain wracking through me. They were so hard I could feel my bones rattle, my throat becoming raw as sand paper. I felt another presence and saw Patrick joining us. He held my good hand, a lonely tear rolling down his smooth cheek.

I cried even harder, held and soothed by the only men that had never hurt me. Troy had warned me in the beginning to be careful. To not give into Parker’s powerful seduction but I didn’t listen. I craved him like I was a junkie needing my next fix. My heart hurt as if a fist was gripping it tight, squeezing with everything in it.

“Parker,” I sobbed. How could he do this to me? My cries quieted when I remembered the item he had slipped into my hands. “Was there a note or something?” I asked, my voice raw.

“Yes.” Troy handed me a folded-up piece of paper.

I opened it. I looked between Patrick and Troy before rereading the note.

“What does it say?” Troy asked.

“It’s an address to a bank. Giving me the number for a security box,” I said, frowning.

“And that security box will answer some of your questions but not all,” an older man in a black suit with a brown briefcase said as he came into the room.

“And you are?” Troy asked, his eyes narrowing to sharp slits.

“I’m Daniel Woodridge. Mr. Reed’s attorney. But please, call me Daniel.” He held out his hand towards me.

I slowly slid my fingers into his grip, returning the hand shake.

“Now.” Daniel snapped open the locks on the case. “I won’t take much of your time as you need to rest. But I have strict orders from Mr. Reed to give this to you right away.”

I took the paper from him, my eyes widening at what I read. When I was finished, I sat up straighter. “Why?”

Daniel rose to his feet. “I’ll be at the cottage in two days. Until then—”

“Where is he? What the hell is going on?” I snapped. “Tell me.”

“Goodbye Miss Price.”

I sat there in total and utter shock as the older man left the room.

“Well, that was fucking odd. What does the paper say?” Troy asked, rubbing his hand up and down my arm soothingly.

I thrust it at him and let out a heavy sigh.

“Parker wants to make you…he’s giving you his company?” Troy’s eyes glanced back and forth along the legal paper.

“I’m sure that’s not the right term but basically,” I mumbled.

“That’s all this says. No explanation. No reason why. No clue as to where he is.” Troy handed the letter to Patrick. I shook my head, letting the tears fall once again. I knew where he was. He was with Devin, doing God knows what to God knows whom.

If only I knew who the real Parker Reed was. I thought I did. But apparently I was wrong.

TWENTY-TWO

I left the hospital two days later and went to the bank with Troy and Patrick. I gave the woman dressed in a dark blue suit the note that Parker had given me. “I need to see this security box.”

She looked down and met my gaze before nodding. “Right this way, Miss Price.”

“You know who I am?” I asked as we followed her.

“Yes. I’ve been expecting you.”

My heart gave a start as we walked down a large corridor to a door at the end. Two guards stood on either side of it, sporting large guns in their hands.

The woman looked from Patrick to Troy. “You two will have to wait out here.”

“Will you be okay?” Troy asked me.

I nodded and followed the woman into a small room. She advised me to sit and left, coming back a minute later with a large box. “Take all the time you need. When you’re done, just leave the box here and I’ll see to it that it gets put away.”

“What if I don’t want to keep what’s in the box?” I asked, fingering the edge of the item.

She smiled. “You will.” And with that she left.

I sat down, took a breath and with shaky fingers, opened the security box. My eyes widened as they scanned the contents that littered the floor of the container. Passports. Driver’s licenses from different states, countries. Was Parker some kind of spy? I had seen this happen in movies but never in real life.

Rooting through the items, I paused when my fingers landed on an envelope. I pulled out a folded-up piece of paper, my breath catching when I saw that it was marked to me.

My Keely.

My beautiful pet. I’m so sorry for what you went through with Devin. You were never supposed to get captured that way. I knew he was a sick bastard. You told me this. But a part of me still wanted to believe that there was some good in him.

I know what he did to you in the limo. He bragged about it. The abuse. The torture. He will pay for what he did.

I will avenge you.

Pet, when I get home, when I come back to you, I will kiss it all better. I will kiss every inch of you, erasing him from your skin and your mind.

I love you my angel. Wait for me. Please be patient. It will all get explained. You will find out who I am. I just pray that you still love me in the end.

Parker

Tears fell onto the paper, sobs wracking through my shoulders. He loved me. Everything that was happening was an act or something. It had to be but I didn’t care anymore. The fact that he did in fact love me sent strength through my body that I never felt before.

Wiping under my eyes, I grabbed the contents and shoved them into a plastic bag before putting them in my purse. A lump formed in my throat when I saw a key and a tiny gold heart pendant and chain glowing up at me. Unclasping it, I slid the small silver key onto the chain before I did it up around my neck. I smiled as memories of the gold clamps that Parker had attached to my body slid into my mind like melted chocolate. “I’ll see you again, my love.” I kissed the heart before letting it fall under my shirt between my breasts.

***

Parker’s limo sat outside the bank when we re-emerged. Jones was taking us to Parker’s cottage. Not that I really wanted to go but I needed to feel close to him. I didn’t know what was going on but I knew that he loved me. That was not a lie or an act or whatever other shit that was happening.

My gaze locked with Jones’ and before I could stop myself, I was beating my fists against his hard chest, demanding that he tell me where Parker was. Screams of fury and rage left my mouth. The words becoming jumbled with bone crushing sobs.

Jones’ eyes saddened but he only cupped my chin and placed a soft kiss on my forehead.

That small touch only made me cry harder when Troy and Patrick helped me into the limo. My eyes widened, memories of what Devin did to me pounding inside my skull.

“Shit. Keely.” Troy shook me.

I could only stare as the nightmare played over and over in my mind. My chest constricted, my breathing ragged.

Suddenly, I was pulled from the vehicle.

“We need to take her in something else.”

“I’m on it.”

“Shit. I had no idea. How did you know?”

“PTSD, baby. My father has it.”

I didn’t know who was doing the talking but as I was laid gently on a bench, my head resting in someone’s lap, my eyes fluttered closed.

“Sleep, Keely. I’ll take care of you. I’ll always take care of you.”

I looked up at Troy as he brushed my hair out of my face. “If only you were straight…”

He smiled sadly. “Rest, baby girl.”

***

We showed up at Parker’s cottage a couple of hours later. I sat up and stretched, my muscles and bones feeling like they were falling back into place.

“We’re here.”

Parker’s attorney was prompt in his arrival and pulled up the gravel driveway before exiting his vehicle. “Did you have a good drive?”

Jones and I passed a knowing glance and I nodded. Troy squeezed my shoulders, Patrick following alongside us as we made our way into the large house.

As I stepped over the threshold, a breath left me on a whoosh like I had been punched in the gut. Seeing the house and being there without Parker left an emptiness deep inside of me that only he could fill.

In a trance-like state, I walked to our room. That special room that would start it all. That
had
started it all. If only he would come back to me.

“Keely?” Troy called out.

“Give her a moment,” Daniel said softly.

I pulled off the chain, unlocked the door and slid it back around my neck before entering the large room. Leaning against the door until it closed, I took a breath and turned on the light.

Ripping off my clothes, I threw them in the garbage and fell to my knees. “I’m yours, Sir. Please. Please come back to me. I’m not strong enough without you.” In all my nakedness, I submitted to him even though he wasn’t there. “I need you,” I whispered, tears falling freely down my face.

My gaze landed on the white cast that wrapped around my wrist. Troy and Patrick had both signed it, drawing flowers and rainbows and anything else that resembled happiness on it. All different colors cascaded over the plaster that went up my forearm.

I sighed and looked up, my gaze landing on Parker’s pajama pants that hung over the edge of a chair. I rose to my feet, straightened my back and slid them onto my body. They were huge but the cool satin of the black pants rubbing against my aching body relaxed me.

I pulled on his white V-neck t-shirt, followed by his favorite hoodie. The scent of leather and man invaded my nostrils. “Alright, Mr. Sexy,” I said out into the air. “Let’s find out who you really are.”

***

“There she is.” Troy walked up to me as I made my way out into the living room. “Are you okay?” he asked, cupping my cheeks.

“No. But…I hope to be,” I said, my voice wavering.

He grabbed my hand, leading me to a spot on the couch.

“Alright, Keely.” Daniel smiled at me, placing a cell phone on the table.

“Just please tell me one thing.” I ran my sweaty palms over my thighs. “Is…” I swallowed hard. “Is he alive?”

“I’m very much alive,” came a deep voice from the phone.

Several gasps sounded from Troy and Parker but all I could do was stare. “P-Parker?” I said finally, falling to my knees.

“Yes, my angel.”

I snatched up the phone, gripping it with shaky hands. “Where are you? Please come home. Come back to me,” I begged, swallowing past a sob.

“I can’t. Not yet. But know this, beautiful one, I’m doing this for you.”

“I got your letter,” I blurted.

“And the necklace and everything else?”

I nodded even though he couldn’t see me.  “Yes,” I croaked out. “I got your heart,” I added.

“You do. Take me off of speaker phone.”

Daniel did as instructed, handing me back the phone. He ushered Troy and Patrick into the kitchen, giving me a moment of privacy with Parker.

“Pet.”

“I—”

“I am so fucking sorry. For everything. For what happened to you. God, I’ll never forgive myself for what that bastard did.”

“He hurt me. He made me…” My chest tightened with memories of Devin’s mouth between my legs, ripping at my skin, tearing a part of my body that I only willingly gave to Parker.