Dark Passion (The Dark Brother Series Book One) (11 page)

I take the bag of goodies and smile at him, he returns it weakly. He’s not himself this morning and I wonder what’s going on? I walk into the bedroom and clean myself up, relieved that is over. He dealt with it really well considering. When I’m cleaned up, I come out and he’s on the phone. He talks quickly and harshly.

“Yeah, bring him over.”

He hangs up the phone and turns to me, his face looks a little…hurt.

“Is everything ok?”

He nods, and begins rummaging through the kitchen to find food
for breakfast, or lunch, whichever we’re at. He’s slamming things and cursing. Something’s definitely NOT ok.

“Jagger?”

He doesn’t answer; he just slams a tin down on the bench and swears once more.

“JAGGER!”

He spins around to glare at me. “What?”

“What’s the problem?”

“They’ve got your Father, he’s coming here.”

My heart comes to an abrupt halt and I stare at him. My
Father, I’ve thought a lot about him but now he’s captured and it’s all becoming real. Did he come out for me, or did they find him? Does he care that I’m missing? Does he care about me?

“I…I…”

“He’s fine. We won’t hurt him if he gives us what we want. Angel found his location and they got hold of him last night. They’ll be here in half an hour.”

My heart sinks. He didn’t come out on his own? I look down and Jagger grips my chin, forcing me to look at him.

“Don’t look like that, he doesn’t deserve you.”

“He didn’t come out for me, I knew he wouldn’t but…I thought…”

“He made calls, he was concerned. It was enough to track him.”

I nod, turning away.

“I’m need to be alone…”

“I’m sorry Willow…”

“I’m tired, I’ll see you later.”

“Don’t you want to see him?”

I pause, thinking about that. “I don’t know.”

I walk into my room without another word. My emotions are shot and I don’t know how I feel about the idea of seeing my Father again. I’m so angry at him, so hurt and confused. I thought he was dead, there were times I knew I’d never see him again and I fel
t the pain for that. All of it. I guess this means now I can go…

I don’t even know how I feel about home anymore. I dread the idea that I might look over my shoulder for the rest of my life. I ache at the thought of never seeing Jagger again. It’s all confusing and it’s probably about time I found my freedom. If I don’t go, I’ll never free myself from this depression.

I’m in the middle of pondering how the next two hours of my life will go, when I hear the voices outside. He’s here, my dad, the man I thought was dead, is here. I take a deep breath and step out the door and there he is, cuffed and sitting on the couch surrounded by the five men.

His eyes fall on me and widen. I feel a sob rise in my throat and I make a strangled sound. My Father looks exactly the same, with his dark brown hair and
light blue eyes. We share similar features; the same full lips and skin tone. His eyes meet mine and I’m not sure if I see the right emotion pass through them. He looks…dead – emotionless even.

“Dad?”

The men all turn to stare at me, and my eyes fall on Jagger’s for just a moment. He looks sorry; I guess that’s something right?

“Willow, you’re ok.” My father says simply.

That’s it? You’re ok? After all these years, that’s all I get.

“That’s it?” I whisper. “You have nothing else to say for yourself?”

“I’m sorry you thought I was dead, I couldn’t tell you.”

“And what about dealing with gangs and bad people? You didn’t think that might affect me?”

“Willow, can we do this later?”

My eyes widen and hot tears tumble down my cheeks.

“You know what; I hope you get everything you deserve. You pig.”

“Willow…”

I spin around and rush out. When I get into my room, I begin throwing my clothes into my bag. Jagger rushes in behind me and his eyes fall on my bags.

“What’
re you doing?”

“You have
him; a promise is a promise Jagger.”

He stares at me, his blue eyes intense. “I guess it is.”

“Well then, I’m free to go…right?”

He looks away, his face hardening, “Right.”

“And the other gang; am I safe?”

“I have what they want, they have no reason to go anywhere near you now. They will come after me. I don’t think you’re in danger. Angel said they know we have your Father.”

“
And that’s it?”

He shrugs his face stony hard. “That’s it; it’s all over for you.”

“And…us?”

“
I’m not going to keep you here when you have wanted nothing but to leave for the past month. It’s clear what you want and I made you a promise. I intend to stick by it. If that isn’t what you want…”

“
It is what I want,” I say, I have to do this. I have to leave. “I’ll go.”

“If you have somethin’ to say Willow, say it now
because I don’t play fuckin’ mind games. You just said you wanted to leave, so fuckin’ leave!”

Oh now he’s mad? How can he be mad?

“What do you want Jagger?” I snap, hurt by his outburst.

“Nothin’, I want fuckin’ nothin’!”

“If that’s how you feel, fine, this will be easy.”

“Willow…”

“I want to go now, Jagger.”

“Fine, I won’t argue with you.”

He turns and storms out, and I stand staring at him go. I know I should speak up, but what can I possibly say? I want to stay? No, I don’t want to stay but I don’t want to walk away from him either. For my own sanity, I have to leave and take the time to clear my head. I pick up my few things, and then I walk out and down the stairs, I don’t see my Father again, they’ve taken him into the basement and I push the images from my mind. I get into the front seat of Jagger’s car and a moment later he slides in beside me.

“Can we do this later
? I want to talk and I’ve got shit to do…”

“
There’s nothing to say, if you can’t take me home, let me call someone.”

“Willow…”

“Please, you’re right, I do want to go home so just take me home. Now.”

He hisses a curse and starts the car, and begins driving.
We drive for a solid two hours before I finally see the city. Where the hell did he have me? My stomach twists at the idea of going home. I’ve wanted it for so long, so why does it hurt so much? When we pull up at my apartment complex, it doesn’t surprise me that he knows where I live. He hands me my handbag and I gasp.

“You had this the whole time?”

“Of course I fuckin’ did.”

He pulls out my phone and thrusts it at me. “My number is
in there, if anyone bothers you or anything happens, call me. You’re not completely safe until I get rid of Manchez.”

“Oh.”

“If you hear anything, anything at all, call me. Don’t hide things from me Willow, I’ll find them out eventually.”

“Are you done?” I snap.

I pull the phone from his hand, and his fingers graze mine. I look up and meet his pained gaze. I wait - part of me hoping he will say something and break this awful silence, but he simply turns and stares out the front.

“Good luck.” He mutters.

That’s it? I stole you for over a month, and my acquaintances made your life a living hell, but good luck?

“That’s it?” I whisper.

“What more do you fuckin’ want from me? You refused to talk with me. I’m holding up my end of the deal, now get outta my car.”

I nod, swallowing and step out of the car. He plants his foot down as soon as I’ve shut the door, and angry tears course down my face. It’s over. It’s all over. What will I do now? How can I possibly ever be normal again?
How can I possibly ever forget him?

CHAPTER
11

I’ll never forget Ava’s face when she opens the door to see me standing pitifully on the door step. She screams, and then crumbles with me in her arms to the floor where we sob and cling to each other for over an hour. I know how worried she must have been, I know she probably blames herself. When we get inside, she shuts the door and helps me sit on the couch.

“Oh
God, beautiful Willow, what happened to you?”

She strokes my face and sobs
incoherently, until I soothe her by assuring her I’m ok. How strange, I’m soothing
her
.

“What happened
?”

Lying isn’t in my nat
ure, so I tell her everything; from start to finish. By the time I’m done, she’s sobbing again and I’m holding onto her. I’ve dealt with this in my own head, but I know what it must seem like in hers.

“Oh sweetie, you need to contact the police.”

“No,” I say firmly. “If you call them I will lie. Don’t ring them Ava, promise me.”

“He kidnapped you! You were abused for over a month.”

“He didn’t abuse me! It wasn’t like that!”

“Oh
God,” She whispers. “You care about him, don’t you?”

I look away, feeling my bottom lip tremble.

“Oh Willow, it’s not real honey, you know that right? It’s fake emotions because he was your light in a dark time. Honey, it’s not real.”

“I know what
’s real and what’s not,” I bark. “Jagger is real and what we had was real. He didn’t take me to hurt me, he wasn’t cruel.”

“
No, he just took you to a place and let everyone else hurt you.”

“
You don’t understand, it could have been so much worse for me.”

“How?” she snaps.

“If the other gang had taken me…my life would have been a lot worse.”

“What about now, you could be in danger?”

I cover my face and sigh. “Ava, the gang have no reason to come anywhere near me now. They want what Jagger has; they will go after him to get it, not me.”

“Willow…”

“If anyone is to blame here, it’s my Father.” I spew out, waving my hands.

“Ok, alright, I think you need to get some help though. You can’t go through what you have, and not seek some help to get through.”

“I’m fine.”

She narrows her eyes. “No, you’re not.”

“I will be; I just need time.”

“You’re not going to stay in contact with him, are you?”

I think about Jagger’s number in my phone, and decide not to tell her about it.

“I wouldn’t know how to find him if I tried.”

I just broke my no lying rule.

“We should call
Jenny; she’s been beside herself with worry.”

“I will ring her in the morning, please, I just need tonight.”

She hugs me again and strokes my hair, “Of course, how about a cup of tea?”

I nod weakly
and stand. “I’m going to shower.”

“Take your time, I’ll be right here.”

I turn just as I reach the hall and call out her name. She turns and stares at me.

“It wasn’t your fault Ava, you know that right?”

Her lip trembles and I rush over, taking her into my arms. “It wasn’t your fault. I took the drink from him, you couldn’t have stopped that.”

“I shouldn’t have let you take drinks, I should have watched you,
I shouldn’t have taken you in the first place…”

“Ava, don’t…I made my own choices that night.”

“Maybe I need to get help too,” She laughs weakly and I snort a laugh.

“Maybe.”

When I leave her to her tea making, I head to my room. It’s been so long, it all feels foreign to me and I feel out of place. I stare around the room, and look at the clothes on the floor. They are still there from the night we went out and I threw all my clothes on the floor to try and find the perfect outfit. If I had have stayed home that night…no…I can’t think like that.

My phone makes a beeping sound in my bag, and I pull it out. I notice right away everything has been cleared. Jagger has deleted all missed calls, messages and voice mails from worried friends and family. That or he has changed the sim card. I flick through the contacts.
Only his name appears. He changed the sim card. Smart on his behalf I guess. I find the message that has just come up and my heart quickens when I see Jagger’s name.

J: For what it’s worth, I never wan
ted anything bad to happen 2 u. I hope u find your happiness again, and I hope u never have 2 think about me again. I know u don’t see it now, but you’re better off.

I contemplate my response for long moments, the finally I reply. Knowing it’s probably the last time I’ll ever talk to Jagger again.