Three Thousand Miles - Forever, (book #3 of Three Thousand Miles, Series) (34 page)

“That will teach you not to look away from me.” Michael says in a dark, vulgar
voice. I regain the feeling in my jaws when he finally loosens his grip. I swallow
hard as my throat is as dry as a cork, I would love a sip of water, but I daren’t
ask as I know that the answer would be –no. Michael stands up and then he
slides over another old, hard chair and he places it front of me. He sits down –
smugly and then he begins to tell me about why he is doing this to me.

“I do still care about you and I can’t stand the thought of you hating me, so I
am going to explain my reasons for doing this.” I don’t respond with words,
instead I stare at him –blankly.

“When I first saw you I was intrigued by your beauty. Your deep brown eyes
spoke to me and I knew that I had to have you. But as I tried to approach you,
Adrian stopped me. He said that you were out of my league and that an
American girl like you would never settle for a British bloke like me. So I
listened to his advice and I stayed away from you. But as the night drew to a
close, I realised that he wanted you for himself. He expressed interest in you,
but he knew that I saw you first. Adrian stabbed mein the back by making a
move on you and he didn’t give me a chance.” My lips are frozen at Michael’s
confession and as I look at him I am beginning to see flashes of the old
Michael, seeping through. I clear my dry throat and I slightly cough as I pull
myself together and reply to his words.

“I am sorry; I didn’t know that you felt that way.”
“You’re lying! You knew exactly how I felt about you, yet you continued to lead
me on. I tried my hardest to move on from you, but you and Adrian wouldn’t
let me. He made me fly three thousand miles to protect you and all I got in
return was jealousy. He forced me into spending time with you, even though
he knew how I felt about you. He watched as I suffered and he didn’t care.”

“I can’t apologise enough for my behaviour. I know that I was selfish by loving
Adrian and wanting you at the same time and will never forgive myself for
what I have put you through. But Michael I don’t deserve what you are doing
to me and Adrian is your brother. I know that deep down, you care about him,
please let me go and we can forget that this ever happened. Adrian doesn’t
need to know, I won’t breathe a word to him, I promise.” Michael considers my
words and then he bursts out laughing. I stare at him as I don’t know if he is
happy or sad. His eyes are bolting and his hands are trembling as he nervously
taps his foot against the floor. I maintain my stare as I watch his crazy
behaviour –I really feel that Michael needs help.

“Your dramatic speech isn’t going work on me. I can’t be sweet talked into
letting you go. Do you know how long I have been planning this for? How many
nights I lay awake thinking of you with him. His sordid hands all over your
precious body, his lips kissing you and his eyes staring into yours as you lay side
by side.” I blush at his words and I don’t have time to respond as he begins to
talk –again.

“I gave you warning after warning and yet you always ignored my pleas. Why
was that, Alanna, why did you ignore me?” My heart begins to race and I can’t
breathe when I realise that Michael is the one who has been sending me those
threatening messages. He had me scared for my life and he was the reason
that I lost my job at the orphanage. My head is spinning and I can’t take this in.
Michael is the one who has been harassing me for months.

“It was you; you are the one who has been stalking me.” Michael laughs.

“Ah the dumb American finally understands.” My heart is breaking as I watch
Michael clap his hands in a sarcastic manner. “It was so easy for me to make
Adrian believe that it was the Marshalls who were harassing you and you were
too stupid to question your beloved Adrian’s opinions.”
“What about the shooting? You took a bullet for me, surly you didn’t plan
that?” Michael sighs and then he lightly graces his lower lip with his finger as
he explains.

“No I didn’t plan to take a bullet for you, but I knew that it would help me gain
your trust. I will however admit that I sent them a tip off and I did ask that they
shoot me in a less fatal body part. But as far as the Marshalls were concerned
you were dead and they had their revenge. I knew that they had finished with
you, but I saw an opportunity and I took it.” I feel sick and dizzy at his
confession. I can’t believe that I cared about him so much, yet he was the one
who was tormenting me.

“How could you do this to me? I have done nothing, but be your friend and
care for you ever since I met you. I confided in you about how much I was
being tortured and you looked into my eyes and you knew that you were the
one who was causing my torment. If you ever loved me then you would never
have put me through this ordeal.” Michael looks at me and he laughs –again. I
wish that I could lunge forward and wipe his smirk off his face, but my hands
are tied and even if there weren’t, I wouldn’t have the strength anyway. I turn
my head towards Chad who is standing by the door –chewing his nails. He
looks nervous and then he smiles at me as he opens the old, rusty door. I
watch him as he leaves and my heart is racing –where is he going? I start to
panic and thoughts of Adrian are flashing in my mind. What if Chad is going to
hurt him? I stare at Michael as I quiz him on where Chad has gone.

“Where is he going?” Michael quickly looks at the door and then he smiles as
he turns back around to face me. His lips are parted and his eyes are staring
right through me –I know that he is hiding something from me. I impatiently
wait as he considers his next words.

“He has gone to … fetch… someone.” I cripple at his words.

“No, you must call him back. He can’t hurt Adrian.”Michael laughs and then he
leans in towards me. His breath is blowing onto my face and I can’t taste the
bitterness inside. I wrinkle my nose from his closeness and my actions have
seemed to anger him.
“Are you repealed by me?” I clench my teeth together as I can’t stand the sight
of him. I don’t reply to his question and he is angrier than ever. He quickly
lunges towards me and he grabs my face firmly in his hand. He is squeezing my
jaws and I am numb from the pain. I swing my head back and forth as I try to
loosen his hold on me, but his grip is too tight. He squeezes me harder and
then he leaves me with no choice, I sink my teeth into the soft skin of his hand
and he falls back from my force. I stare at him –with tears in my eyes as he
lunges towards me again, but this time, he stretches out his hand and he
forcefully slaps me on my face. I scream out in pain and then Michael laughs as
he sits back down onto the chair. “You deserved that,” he sniggers at me.

My face is hot and throbbing from his violent touch and I can’t see through my
tear-soaked eyes. I begin to cough from the bitter, wet, cold air which
surrounds the room. I can hardly catch my breath and my anguish seems to
spur Michael on. I look at him as he gently smirks at me and I truly believe that
he is getting pleasure out of seeing me –suffer. I never thought that Michael
would do anything like this to me because he was my friend. We shared so
many precious, light hearted moments together and now as I sit, frozen and
tied to a cold, hard chair, I begin to think that our friendship was nothing more
than a lie.

“Was any of it true?” I say through gritted teeth.

 

“How I felt about you was true,” Michael says in a deep voice.

“If that’s true then I don’t understand how you could hurt me in the way that
you have.” Michael exhales and then he leans in towards me –again. He slides
his hand along my leg, sending shivers down my spine with his acid touch.

“It’s Adrian who I want to hurt.” I flinch as he continues to run his warm fingers
along my leg.

 

“Why? Adrian has stood by you in so many ways.”

“He stole my parents from my brother and me and now he has stolen you.
Before Adrian came into our lives, Chad and I were inseparable, we did
everything together, but Adrian has ruined our relationship. I can never forgive
him for that and I will not rest until he has suffered.” Michael’s hand is now on
my stomach and I flinch as he gently pats my abdomen. He slides his fingers
along my belly and I scream out in terror. I am scared for the safety of my baby
and I can’t stand another moment of this torment.

“Please don’t hurt my baby,” Michael looks up into my eyes as he considers my
plea. He shakes his head and then he pulls his hand away from my stomach.
His lips begin to curve as his eyes fill with darkness.

“I never thought that I would be lucky enough to get two for the price of one. I
want to watch Adrian’s life collapse when he realises that I have killed his wife
and his unborn child.” I scream at the top of my lungs as tears pour from my
eyes. I can’t take this any longer and I feel as if I am dying already. Michael has
me trapped and I can feel my baby, urging me to carry on fighting, but I have
no energy left –I might as well give up the fight.

Twenty
(Adrian)

I dial Zara’s number as I need her to come and look after William. I hold the
phone to my ear but there isn’t a dial tone. I hang up from the beeping
disconnected tone and then I search through my contacts as I try to search for
someone who can help me. I scowl the long list of names until I come across
Edward’s number. I hover my finger over the send button as I rethink my
intentions. Edward would be at the bottom of the list of people who I would
ask for help from and I really don’t think that he is suitable to look after a child.
But desperate times call for desperate measures and I really have no one else
to call. I push send and I hold the phone to my ear as I anxiously await my
father’s answer.

“Hello,”
he shouts down the phone and I can hardly hear him as the noise of
his car takes over. I focus my mind back onto the task in hand as I ask him for
help.

“I need you to come to my house.”
“Is everything, okay?”
“No, Alanna is in danger and I need to go and help her, but I have no one to
look after William.”
“I am on my way,”
I nod as I take in his words and then I urge him to hurry.
“I don’t know how much time she has left, please hurry.”
“I will be ten minutes.”

I hang up the phone and then I rush into the hallway and into the coat closet. I
pull out the first jacket that I see and then I run up the stairs to check on
William. I walk into his room and I smile at him as I watch him sleeping. I gently
close his door -a little and then I run back down the stairs and into the living
room. I begin to pace the room as I wait for Edward, my head is pounding. I
have images of Alanna in peril rushing around in my mind and I feel crippled by
that thought. I want to kill Michael for what he has done to her and I don’t
know if I will be able to control my anger when I lock my eyes on his. He has
betrayed my trust and Alanna’s. When I think of how much she cared about
him and how she would have done anything for him, my heart breaks. She was
in agony when he called and told her that he was hurt and I can’t begin to think
of how scared she must be. For the last year, Alanna has lodged herself into my
heart even though she knew that every day that she is with me, her life is in
danger. I am scared of losing her, but I am terrified that she will blame me for
Michael’s actions. I brought him into her life andI exposed her to his obsession
–even though I knew that he liked her. If anythinghappens to Alanna then it
will be entirely my fault.

The front door bursts open and Edward barges into the house. I run to the
hallway to greet him.
“What the hell is going on?” Edward says as he glides over to me. I look at him
as I explain and give him his orders.

“Michael has Alanna and he says that he is going to kill her. I need to go and
find her and I need you to look after William for me.” Edward’s eyes begin to
dart as tries to absorb my claims.

“I knew that there was something off about that bloke.” Edward says as he
gently strokes his chin. I move closer to him as I tell him how to look after
William.

“William is upstairs, he sleeping and I would like it if it stayed that way. Make
sure that you don’t wake him up, but please make sure that you check on him
– every ten minutes.” Edward looks tense as he takes in my words. He reaches
out and he places his hand onto my shoulder.

“Son, William will be fine now go and save your wife.” He smiles at me and
then I briefly return his gesture. I take a deep breath as I stride over to the
door. I lift my keys from the side table and then I turn and look back at Edward.

“I’m trusting you with my son, please don’t let me down.”

I rush out into the cold street and as the wind blows in my face, I have an
image of Alanna in my mind. I lunge into my car as I remember our
honeymoon.

“Adrian, come back here,” Alanna shouts after me. I smile back at her as I
continue to run down the golden beach. Her long, blonde hair is flowing as she
tries to run after me and her floating green dress is mesmerising in the
sunshine. The water is glistening and my yacht is securely anchored as it waits
our return. I run further along the beach –with the warm sea breeze running
through my hair. Until I end up in front of a largepalm tree, I stop as I take in
its beauty and I decide to hide behind it as I hearAlanna edging closer to me. I
position myself to the left side of tree so that I have the chance to grab Alanna
when she runs past me. I can hear her shouting again and I smirk as I catch a
glimpse of her green dress –out the corner of my eye.

“This isn’t funny!” She shouts in her sweet American accent. I hold back my
laughter as I don’t want to blow my cover. I can hear her panting breath and
now she is inches from me, so I leap out from behind the tree and I grab onto
my wife. She jumps from my surprise and then she playfully hits me on my chest
as she pretends that she is upset with me. Her big, brown eyes are narrowed as
she stares up at me and I try to redeem myself by spinning her around and
clutching onto her back. I wrap my arms around her waist and then I gently
blow her curly hair away from her neck. I lean down and I place my lips onto
her skin, she sighs at my touch and her actions alert me that she has forgiven
me for my childish behaviour.