Fiendish: A Twisted Fairytale (80 page)

“Calida, tell me what
’s going on.”

I looked up to see Seth leaning in the doorway
, watching me intently as I talked to her.

“Can we meet for lunch tomorrow?
My treat.”

“Is he there?” she asked in a lowered tone.

“Yes.”

“Has he hurt you
, Lee?”

I swallowed hard before answering,
“No.”

“Okay. Tomorrow you
’ll tell me what’s going on?”

“Yes.
So tomorrow at one? On The Border in Buckhead sound good?”

“Yes. Love you, Lee.”

“Love you too. Bye.”

I glanced up at Seth after I hung up the phone. He stood watching me, making me squirm under his scrutiny.

“I’m sorry,” I said, needing to fill the silence. “I guess I was supposed to ask you first, but I’m not used to fighting with her, and I just want to fix things.”

Seth made no comment; instead
, he turned and left. I sat in my room, trying to get my nerves under control, until he said dinner was ready. During the meal, I silently picked over my food, forcing myself to take bites, but with each passing minute, my anxiety level grew.

“What are you going to do to me?” I finally asked, unable to stand the silence any longer.

Seth put his fork down and wiped his mouth with his napkin, drawing out the seconds, before answering.

“What do you think I
’m going to do to you?”

“Seth
, I don’t know,” I said with a heavy sigh.

I got up from the table
, dumped the rest of my dinner in the trash, and then dropped my plate into the sink.

“Shit!” I exclaimed when the dish broke on impact.

I felt like the walls were closing in on me. My pulse started racing; I could feel the blood pumping in my head. How was I going to survive this? Survive him? I couldn’t breathe; I needed air.

I opened the doors to the patio and took a deep breath.
The cold, November air hit me, shocking me out of my panic.
What was he going to do to me?
I had no clue. Images of that place flashed in my mind.
Was he going to take me to that place again? Was he going to hurt me like he’d hurt others?
I shut my eyes tight, trying to block out the memories of that night. I was going to have to live there. Every day I would have to stay in a place where people lost their lives; the thought of that nauseated me.

I walked out and took a seat on the lounger
, pulling my knees to my chest. The cold air caused me to shiver, but I wasn’t ready to go back inside. This was the last night I would get to enjoy my house; it would be the last night I could pretend this was all a bad dream I would wake up from. This was the last night I could pretend my life would ever be normal again.
Why didn’t I just go inside?
All I had to do was tell the police about his basement.
The fear of the unknown was why. What if they didn’t believe me? Or even if they did, they couldn’t just go inspecting his house without reason. Seth was rich; I’m sure he had overly expensive lawyers on standby.  A million other excuses ran through my head. I let my fear of the ‘what ifs’ rule me again. I said nothing. I had no one to blame but myself for the position I was in now. I let my fear of his threats control my choice, which is exactly what he expected me to do. I couldn’t let Macy or some other woman be hurt. I just had to figure out another way. Somehow I had to make him see this wasn’t good for me and that he needed help. Help I couldn’t give to him.

***

“The first time you told me you loved me was out here.”

Calida
jumped at the sound of my voice but said nothing. I walked over, taking a seat on the lounger beside her. The temperature had dropped. I could see her shivering, so I pulled her into my arms. She tensed but didn’t resist.

“How long are you planning on sitting out here in the cold?”

“I just needed some air.”

“You
’re shivering a lot. Have you gotten enough air?”

“Don
’t want the neighbors to hear my screams?” she asked dryly.

“Well, that would depend on why you are screaming,” I replied, pulling her closer since her shivering was getting more intense.

She glanced back at me briefly but made no reply. We sat out in the cold, not talking for a few more minutes, before I finally got up and led her into the house. I walked us over to the couch, gently pulling her down beside me as I sat.

“I suppose
what you did was a natural reaction, but I trust you’ve gotten it out of your system and we won’t have this issue again. Correct?”

She
nodded her head in agreement.

I pulled her closer
, quickly claiming her lips. “That’s good,” I said pulling away. “Because it would be a bad thing if I didn’t think I could trust you.”

Calida looked up at me, her eyes acknowledging the understanding of my statement. I knew we wouldn
’t have this problem again.

Chapter 53

Calida sat on her bed, gently running her fingers across the framed photos from our date in Miami. She was quiet most of the morning, only talking when I asked her a question. She couldn’t take everything right now, but she was able to pack the bulk of her personal belongings, which I realized wasn’t a lot.

“Are you taking that?” I asked, nodding in the direction of the dried rose that sat alone on her nightstand.

She turned her head to look at it. Putting down the frame, she walked over to pick up the single bud. It fell apart when she lifted it, the petals dropping off and floating down to the floor. Calida stood looking at the decayed petals now surrounding her feet. She seemed at a loss. I walked over to clean up the mess while she remained in place. Frozen. After I gathered up the petals, I stood to face her.

“Are you ready?”

Her eyes were focused on the petals in my hand.

Closing my fist around them, I lifted her face with my other hand. “I
’ll get you more.”

Calida nodded slightly. She picked up the picture then gave one last look around her room before she walked out the door. I dumped the petals in the kitchen trash,
and made sure the house was locked up, before joining her in the truck.

The closer we got to my house the more agitated she seemed to get. Calida jumped when I took hold of her hand.

“Tell me what’s bothering you,” I said, giving a brief glance in her direction.

She made eye contact with me quickly before turning to look out of the window. “Nothing,” she replied quietly, turning to look out the window.

I applied a gentle pressure to her hand until I saw her silently mouth ‘ow.’  Calida turned to meet my gaze; I squeezed a little more and watched as her entire body tensed before I released her hand. She held her hand close to her chest, rubbing it with the other. Her leg bounced continuously, but she remained silent. When we got to the house, I carried some of her boxes upstairs. When I came back down, I found her still standing in the foyer where I’d left her.

***

Being back in this house was worse than I’d feared. I was never really comfortable here before I learned about his true self, but now knowing what he does here, I wasn’t sure how I was going to survive this. I looked up to see Seth standing in front of me; I forced down the urge I had to run and willed myself to walk towards him.

“I guess I should go unpack before we have to leave for lunch.”

“I’ll unpack for you later. And we? I wasn’t aware I was invited.”

“Oh, well I just assumed…”

Seth leaned forward, pressing his lips softly against my forehead.

“Calida
, I had no plans to intrude upon your lunch today with your friend.” His tone was even, but it did nothing to calm my nerves. “I do, however, want you to tell me what has you so nervous today.”

Seth maintained a calm, relaxed look, but I
’d learned to pick up on the undertones in his voice. I flexed the fingers on my hand, recalling how tightly he had held it in the truck. Swallowing my fears, I decided it was better to tell him the truth and face the consequences head on opposed to trying to pretend all was okay. He already knew that wasn’t the case, and the more I lied to him the more frustrated he would become with me. That was never a good thing.

“Here,” I said softly. “Being here, I don
’t want to be here.”

Seth pulled me into his arms
, kissing me softly. “This is your home now; you need to get used to that,” he replied.

“It seems I have
to get use to a lot of things,” I blurted out before I could stop myself.

A look of annoyance fluttered across his face
, causing me to brace for impact. Seth had been trying to hold back on his temper with me. I knew that, so I was certain my comment had pushed him too far.

Stepping away from me, Seth gave me a tense smile. “Yes
, I suppose you do. Go get ready for your lunch date. You wouldn’t want to keep your friend waiting.”

I sighed heavily and nodded my agreement. Seth headed towards the kitchen as I climbed the steps to my new bedroom.

During the drive, I wondered how I was going to manage to convince Macy everything was okay. She was more suspicious than ever, and I knew she wasn’t going to let up until she got answers. When I arrived at On The Border, I still hadn’t come to any conclusions on how to handle things. Checking my reflection in the mirror, I took a few cleansing breaths and silently prayed I could make it through this interrogation without cracking.

Macy was seated in the front reception area
, waiting for me. “Hey, Lee,” she said, pulling me into a tight hug. She looked me over intently when she pulled away, and I could only offer her a forced smile in return.

The hostess grabbed two menus
, signaling for us to follow her. She briefly explained what today’s lunch specials were and who our waiter would be before exiting the table.

“Okay
, Lee, tell me what’s going on,” Macy said the moment the hostess was gone.

“Nothing.”

“Bullshit! You looked like hell the other day, and I’m still not buying your excuse about your arms.”

We both stopped talking when the waiter come over with water glasses and introduced himself. We looked over the menu briefly then gave our appetizer order. I took a sip of water and silently prayed I could make it through lunch without breaking down. Macy sat looking at me expectantly
, waiting for the explanation I promised her. She crossed her arms in front of her, and that’s when I noticed it.

“Oh my god
, Macy, is that what I think it is?” I exclaimed, reaching over the table to grab her hand.

The other patrons looked at us, but I didn
’t care. I don’t know how I missed it last time. The center diamond was huge, but it was surrounded by a ring of twenty-four smaller diamonds. The bling overkill didn’t end there since there were eight additional diamonds cascading down either side of the band.

A huge grin spread across her face as she held her hand out to me. “Yes
, he proposed while you were gone, and I couldn’t wait till you got home to show you.”

I let out another squeal and switched sides to hug her. “You
’re getting married, Macy. I never thought I’d see the day. This is so exciting. Have you guys set a date? What did your parents say? Spill it!”

The waiter returned to drop off our appetizer
then took our meal order. Macy was still smiling, looking absolutely happy and fulfilled. Seeing her like that, knowing how well this move has been for her, my sacrifice was worth it. It just wasn’t in the cards for me to have what she had. The momentary reprieve I had from the pain was gone.

“I know what you are trying to do, Lee
, and it won’t work. I will happily tell you all about it, but you first. The truth about your arms?”

I dipped one of the tortilla chips in the salsa
, taking a bite to buy some time. The lie I’d told her about it being rough sex was stupid, but I’d panicked. I had no choice but to continue with that excuse.

“I told you
, Macy. Seth…he, um, he…well since that art show he’s wanted to try
different
things.”

Macy
’s frowned at my explanation, and I nervously ate another chip waiting to see if she believed me or not.

“And you let him?”
she asked, her eyebrows raising in shock.

I nodded. “It wasn
’t the first time, he…he just held me too tight this time.”

She frowned again
but leaned forward to take my hands. “I know there’s something more,” she said in a hushed tone. “If he’s bad to you, even if it’s
not
physical, you can’t stay with him. I know you want love and the white picket fence and all that, but you can’t just settle.”