Betrayal: Kyle's Revenge (The Betrayal Series) (17 page)

“She told me the reason she ran away from home is because a pastor at her church tried to turn her straight by raping her multiple times over the course of several weeks. She said the pastor did it with your father’s blessing.”

Kyle’s face hardened as he remembered the letter full of despicable lies Brianna wrote to their parents seven years earlier. Kyle despised his sister for writing such vitriol about two honorable men who Kyle admired and respected. He took a deep breath. He reminded himself that letter was nothing but lies, and Brianna was going to pay dearly for spreading those lies.

“What else did she tell you?” Kyle asked.

“She told me a lot of other things. What are you trying to get at Kyle?”

“Did she tell you she was arrested just months before she ran away from home? Did she tell you she was accused of statutory rape for perverting an innocent 15-year-old girl?”

Kyle grinned, savoring the shocked expression on Abby’s face. “That’s right, Abby. Not only is your precious Brianna a liar and a freak, she is also a sexual predator. If it hadn’t been for my father, she would have spent a couple of years in prison and would have spent the rest of her life as a registered sex offender.”

Abby just stared at Kyle with her mouth hanging open. She crinkled her brow and shook her head at him. “You’re lying. Brianna would never do anything like that.”

Kyle smirked. “I guess she didn’t tell you that story when she was spreading lies about my father. My dad had to make a lot of sacrifices to keep her out of prison. He had to take out a huge loan to pay off the girl’s money-grubbing parents so they’d leave town and not testify against Brianna. He also had to grease a lot of hands in the Glen Fall Justice System to get the case against Brianna dismissed and her arrest record expunged. He got into so much debt, he had to declare bankruptcy and ended up losing his roofing and siding business. We almost lost the house. He did all of that for her, and how did she repay him? By spreading vile lies about him.”

Abby kept shaking her head. “There must have been a mistake. Brianna wouldn’t force herself on an innocent girl.”

Kyle cocked his head to the side. “You don’t believe me? My father kept her arrest record after it was expunged. He kept it in a safe in the house. I found it when I was cleaning up his office after he died. That arrest record is still in that safe. All I have to do is call my mother and it would be in my hands within minutes. Can you imagine what would happen if that arrest record, along with a detailed account of what happened from a reliable source like me, were to land on the desk of someone at TMZ or The National Inquirer?”

“You wouldn’t dare...?”

Kyle chuckled. “Imagine what that juicy piece of scandal could do to the reputation and job prospects of an up-and-coming actor in Hollywood. And let’s not forget the girl’s greedy parents who I bet would be more than happy to talk to all those sleazy publications, for the right price, of course. Imagine her face on the cover of all the tabloids. Imagine the endless coverage on the internet, the blogs, social media, and the twenty-four-hour news channels. A scandal like this could derail Brianna’s short career. She’d be blacklisted, and no one would hire her except to do porn. She would never be able to recover from it.”

A chill ran down Abby’s spine as she stared at the monster standing in front of her, a monster she had helped create. “You wouldn’t dare do that to her. She’s your sister…”

Kyle took a step towards Abby and uncrossed his arms. “You don’t think I’d do it? Walk out that door and find out.” He pointed to the door with his chin. “Go on. Leave.”

Abby did not move. She could see it in his eyes that Kyle was not bluffing. After all the things he had done to her over the last month, Abby knew Kyle was capable of anything.

Crossing his arms over his chest once more, Kyle stared Abby down, waiting for her to make her next move. When she wouldn’t move, Kyle’s lips curled into a triumphant grin. “That’s what I thought,” he sneered at her before snatching the clothes off her hands, shoving her out of the way, and tossing the clothes back in the drawer. He then turned his attention back to Abby. Abby flinched with fear in her eyes as Kyle hovered over her.  

“This is how this is going to play out Abigail: You’re going to stay here with me because I’m not done punishing you for your betrayal yet. Once I’m done making you pay for being a filthy whore, I will let you go. You can go back home to your family in Michigan, you can stay here in New York, you can move to Mars. I don’t really give a shit. But whatever you do, you better stay away from Brianna. If I find out that you shared as much as a glance with her, I’m going to set things in motion, and within days, the entire world will know what a devious, immoral, perverted piece of trash your lover is.”

Abby took a step back as her breath caught in her throat. The darkness in Kyle’s eyes told her his words were not empty threats.

“You and Brianna will never be together as long as I live,” Kyle continued. “Have I made myself clear?”

Abby nodded, too scared to speak.

“Good. Now put that pathetic, little suitcase away and get the fuck out of the room. I can’t stand to look at you anymore.”

Abby stepped around Kyle, going back and forth between the bed and the dresser, until she had placed the last piece of clothing back in its place. She kept her gaze down and held her breath, afraid her mere breathing would set Kyle off.

Kyle followed her with his eyes as she put the clothes and the suitcase back in their place. He grinned, amused by how much fear he was still capable of instilling in her with just a glance.

When Abby was done, she headed for the door. Before stepping out of the room, she shot a glance at Kyle who had jumped on the bed and had his computer on his lap. As she stared at him over her shoulder, Abby wondered what happened to the wonderful man she had fallen in love with three years earlier. Had he always been evil while pretending to be a nice guy or was her betrayal so painful, so devastating that it turned him into the monster he had become?

That night, Kyle made Abby sleep on the couch-not that she minded. She no longer wanted to share a bed with him. She wouldn’t have been able to sleep peacefully while lying next to so much venom. But she couldn’t fall asleep on the couch either. She kept tossing and turning all night, thinking about the things Kyle had said about Brianna and her arrest. She wondered how much of it was true and whether there was more to the story. To Abby, the idea that Brianna was a sexual predator just didn’t compute.

Abby came to the conclusion that the part about the arrest must have been true. There was no way Kyle could make up something like that and use it as leverage if it weren’t true. The part about Brianna being a sexual predator, however, Abby refused to believe.

One thing Abby knew for sure: She didn’t want Kyle to destroy Brianna’s reputation and career even if it meant she had to stay with him a bit longer and endure more psychological torture and humiliation. Over the course of that month, Abby came to the realization that what she and Brianna had was more than just a fling. She did love Brianna and wanted her to be happy even if they couldn’t be together.

Chapter XI

The next morning, both Abby and Kyle went to their respective jobs: Kyle to his internship at the New York City Transportation Authority and Abby to her job at the bookstore. That morning had been uneventful. They crossed paths several times as they got ready for work but did not say a single word to each other.

Abby had always liked her job at the bookstore, but ever since hers and Kyle’s sham reconciliation, she had looked forward to going to work even more. The bookstore had become a safe haven for her. The hectic pace of the place and the joy of sharing her passion for books with strangers helped get her mind off Kyle and the nightmare she was living at home.

Later that same day, Abby fled to the backroom of her bookstore to take a much needed afternoon break. She sipped coffee and devoured a blueberry muffin from the bakery across the street while checking her Facebook newsfeed on her phone. She hadn’t checked it in a long time since it was usually filled with nothing but boring statuses and pictures of people’s food.

She scrolled through endless, innate posts from friends and families without reading any of them. Among all the silly posts, there was one that caught her eye and made her heart skip a beat. It was a post from Broadway World advertising the opening night of
Chicago
, the musical in which Brianna was playing Roxy Hart.
Broadway World
had used a gorgeous picture of Brianna in her show custom for the ad.  

Abby sighed as she gazed at the picture. She was happy for Brianna’s success but also sad for what might have been. Abby hadn’t seen or spoken to Brianna since she and Kyle got back together. Every day since, Abby had wondered how Brianna was doing and if she was seeing someone knew. Abby wanted to reach out to her, but she feared that Kyle, who was tracking her phone and reading her emails, would find out if she did and carry out his threat of destroying Brianna’s reputation and career.

The Facebook ad Abby was looking at said the musical had opened the night before and had been getting great reviews.  Abby was glad that Brianna was finally receiving the critical acclaim she craved and wished she could go see her and congratulate her in person, but had to settle for following her career through the press and social media. Besides, Abby was convinced Brianna hated her guts and didn’t want to see her.

Abby wanted to at least see Brianna perform live, but with Kyle monitoring her every move, she wouldn’t dare get anywhere near the theater district where Brianna was performing.

Abby checked the musical’s schedule on the
Broadway World
website and saw there was a matinee show that afternoon. Being a theater geek, Abby knew that after shows performers come out through the stage door of the theater to greet fans and sign autographs. Abby thought about going to the theater for a few minutes to get a glimpse of Brianna from afar.

Abby missed Brianna a lot. She missed her warm smile, her touch, and her kisses. She always felt safe and at peace with her-the exact opposite she was feeling anytime she was around Kyle lately. She needed to see Brianna, but she remembered Kyle’s threats and the fact that he was tracking her every move through her phone.

Then she had an idea. As long as the phone remained in the bookstore and she wasn’t away from it for too long, Kyle would think she was there working.

Abby glanced at the clock on her phone and figured that afternoon’s matinee show of
Chicago
was about to end in less than half an hour. She had no time to waste. She shot to her feet, drank the last of her coffee, and stepped out of the backroom to look for her boss. She was determined to go to the theater that day. She knew she was taking a big risk, but she couldn’t help herself. Besides, she was only going to be gone a few minutes. What could possibly go wrong?

Abby found Jeremy behind the register talking to the other cashier. Abby stepped behind the register and stood next to him. “Hey, Jeremy, I need an hour off work,” she whispered in his ear.

“What for?” Jeremy asked.

“I need to go take care of some personal business. It’s really important and cannot wait. I’ll stay an hour later if you need me to.”

“Sure, Abby. No problem. Is everything okay?”

“Yes, everything is fine. I just need to go see someone, and I can only see them now.”

Abby thanked Jeremy and reached for her purse hidden under the register. She slung it over her shoulder and turned her attention back to her phone. After making sure the iPhone had enough battery and was still connected to the internet, Abby tried to discreetly leave it under the counter and just take her bag, but Jeremy caught her and shot her a curious look.

“Don’t ask me any questions, please. Everything is fine,” Abby said to Jeremy as she stepped from behind the register.

Jeremy nodded and watched her walk away. For weeks, Jeremy had been noticing changes in Abby’s behavior. She was no longer the bubbly, smiling girl he knew. She was often distracted, lost in her own thoughts. There was a sadness in her eyes that told Jeremy something was wrong. He had tried a couple of times to get Abby to confide in him, but Abby kept insisting everything was fine.

 Jeremy had a suspicion that whatever was going on with Abby had something to do with her boyfriend Kyle. Lately, Kyle had been calling Abby nonstop and distracting her from her work. Jeremy had seen tears in Abby’s eyes after some of those phone calls, but Abby refused to talk about it. Jeremy was very protective of Abby and wished there was something he could do to help her with whatever it was that was troubling her.

Outside the bookstore, Abby hopped in a cab, and a few minutes later, the cab pulled up in front of the stage door of the theater where
Chicago
was playing.

Just like Abby had anticipated, the sidewalk was packed with theater fans yelling and waving their posters and sharpies in the air. Several of the actors from the musical had come out to sign autographs, and the fans were calling their names to get their attention. The scene was a bit chaotic, but it looked like security had everything under control.

After paying her cab fare, Abby hopped out of the taxi and stood at the back of the crowd. She craned her neck trying to see the faces of the actors that were out there. She quickly discovered Brianna was not among them. She kept looking at the stage door, hoping that at any second it would swing open and Brianna would walk through it. Fifteen minutes later, Brianna had not come outside.  

Abby was crushed. She thought she had either missed Brianna or Brianna wasn’t going to come out at all. Abby was about to turn on her heel and hail a cab when the stage door swung open. Abby’s heart skipped a beat when she saw Brianna looking happy and casual in a pair of denim shorts and a fashionable off the shoulder t-shirt. Brianna’s reaction when the crowd cheered and started chanting her name was priceless. The smile on her face could’ve lit up the entire Empire State building.