He's Captured My Trust (Captured Series Book 2) (24 page)

“You stupid boy! When will you ever learn?” Sarah says angrily to Alex. “That woman has to be out of your life for good now, before she destroys it completely.”

“She is, Mom.”

“Libby, sweetie, are you alright?” she asks, coming to sit beside me. I notice the flowers from earlier have been arranged in a vase and are on the table.

“Yes, I’m fine now.” I beam at Alex.

“So did you just come around to give me a piece of your mind, Mother?” Alex asks. Then he asks Sophie to go and get everyone some drinks, but before she can, Joan appears and is taking care of it. Sophie goes and helps her.

“No, son, we didn’t come here just for that,” Richard says sternly. “It seems James is going to press charges. He was with the officers when we left, so I expect they’ll come here next. I don’t know how you’re going to get out of this one. There were loads of witnesses.”

“If I had only left with Michael, this wouldn’t have happened,” I say, taking my phone from the bag.

“Libby, Alex has only himself to blame for tonight. Don’t you dare think this is your fault.” Sarah’s words don’t reassure me.

“Libby, Mom is right. Who phoned?” Alex says.

“It’s my dad,” I answer, puzzled. There are about a dozen missed calls from him, all in the past hour. No text or voice mails left. Something is wrong. Surely word hasn’t reached him about the fight Alex was in already.

“Go phone him,” Alex says.

Murphy shows two officers into the room. I walk over to the windows to make my call. I don’t need to hear what they’re saying. I leave them all to get on with it. I am more concerned with the reason for my dad’s calls. He answers almost instantly.

“Libby, thank God.” My dad’s voice sounds worried. “I’ve seen the news and didn’t think you would get back to me.”

“Oh! Sorry, Dad.”

“Are you okay, honey?”

“Yes. Is that why you were calling, because of Alex?” I should have known he would know already.
Bloody media.

“No.” An unusual silence hangs between us, which is not like my dad at all.

I wasn’t expecting that answer, and now I’m worried. “Dad, please tell me.”

He’s silent for another minute. “Is there anyone with you now?”

“Yes, there’s a room full of people. Dad, please just tell me!” All manner of thoughts run through my head. “What’s happened?”

“It’s Lucy. She was rushed to the hospital earlier with breathing difficulties and a high temperature. We thought she was a bit grumpy yesterday—”

“No! Dad. Please, no.”

“Libby. She’s alive, but she is poorly. Speak to me.”

No. Surely not. His words hit me like a lead weight. This can’t be happening. My heart stops beating as I think of Ethan. I sink to my knees, clutching my stomach, and the lights in the sky go dull and hazy. One minute the room is noisy with everyone speaking at the same time, and, in the next, it’s so quiet.

“Libby!” Alex shouts.

Both Alex and Michael are at my side in a split second. Alex comforting me, sweeping me into his arms, cradling me, giving me his support even though he doesn’t yet know why. Michael takes the phone from my hand and carries on speaking with my father.

“Phil, it’s Michael . . . Yeah, she’s okay . . . Tell me . . . Don’t worry. I’ll make the arrangements for a flight home . . . Yeah, first available . . . I’ll send you the details as soon as I make them . . . No, Alex won’t be travelling. He has something to attend to here . . . No, don’t you think about him. Take care of your family . . . Speak to you soon . . . Don’t worry about Alex. I’ll deal with anything that comes up . . . Keep me posted . . . I’m sure she’ll be fine.”

“Mr. Mathews, we need to get going.” The voice of one of the officers carries across the room, but that’s not the only sound. Sarah and Sophie are both sobbing.

“For fuck’s sake, give me a minute. You can see I’m not going anywhere. Libby, baby, what’s wrong?”

I can’t answer. I am numb, totally numb with fear. I’m fearful for my family. Ethan’s not strong enough to cope with any more. What has my brother done in his life to deserve everything that is being thrown at him?

“It’s Lucy,” Michael tells him. “She was rushed to the hospital. I’ll get a flight for Libby.”

“Shit. Fucking timing. Right now I hate Katherine! I can’t even go to support Libby. She needs me. Libby, can you hear me?”

“You need to deal with this crap with Katherine and fast, before it gets out of hand,” Michael says.

It’s Katherine’s name that has caught my attention. I turn to Alex, and the pain is clear on his face, mirroring my own. The pain and fear I feel consumes me, but I also feel hatred toward a woman who is his friend. I try to control my sobbing so I can ask what the police want, but I am struggling, struggling. “Alex, what’s wrong? Has James pressed charges?”

“No, baby.”

“Something is wrong. So where are you going, then?” I look past him and toward his mother and Sophie, who are wrapped in each other’s arms sobbing. Richard is trying the best he can to comfort them both. “Alex, please tell me.”

He shakes his head.

“Alex, you may as well. This is going to be front-page news in the morning,” Michael encourages him.

“It’s Katherine,” he starts.

“Isn’t it always? Right now I hate that bloody woman.”

“No, Libby.” He strokes the side of my face. “I don’t believe you have the ability to hate anyone. I didn’t think she could sink any lower, but she has outdone herself this time.”

“Just fucking tell me.”

“She has accused me of sexual assault.”

I’m glad I’m on the floor, because I wasn’t expecting that. For the second time in the last few minutes, time stands still. How can I leave with this happening? Alex needs me here for support. But Ethan needs me as well. How the hell can I choose between the man I love with all my heart and my dearest brother?

My poor brother. He has had so much sadness and tragedy already to deal with this year. Of course I’ll go to him, but it will break my heart to leave Alex here, not knowing what he’ll be going through.

“Libby, I know that look well. There is no choice to make. Ethan and Lucy need you far more than I do.” He places an all-too-brief kiss on my lips and my tears fall uncontrollably.

“I can’t believe she would do this to you,” I mumble. “But given her words to me last night, it shouldn’t come as a surprise.”

“So you believe I didn’t do it?”

“Of course I believe you didn’t. You’ve always been honest with me. There is no doubt in my mind. It’s just me overreacting to situations that leads us to problems.”

“Mr. Mathews, I won’t say it again, sir. We need to be going. And miss, we might need a statement from you.” One of the officers steps toward us.

Alex stands but keeps my hand, pulling me up with him and straight into his arms. I look into those beautiful sad eyes and suddenly I feel scared of everything going on. In this moment, he doesn’t look like the powerful man I have come to know and love. He looks as scared as I feel. He must sense my feelings, because he holds me more tightly. I reach up and his face meets mine. Our lips entwine with warmth and meaning, but most of all, love—a love that I hope is strong enough to see us through all the obstacles that are thrown in our direction. The depth of my feelings for him, I can’t put into words.
Love
really just doesn’t seem enough.

“Sir.”

“Libby, baby, I have to go,” he whispers, giving me a last kiss. “I love you. I will come to you as soon as I can sort this out. Trust me.”

“I love you too.” I try to smile, but it doesn’t work out.

The officer takes him from me. He continues to hold my hand until he is forced to let it go. Michael quickly steps beside me and wraps his arms around me. I bury my face into the warmth of his chest while the tears continue to fall. I can’t watch as they lead him away. I hear Richard speak to his wife before leaving with Alex and the officers. He tells her not to worry. But of course she will. She’s a mother; it’s instinct. I suppose she’ll take some comfort in the fact Richard will be with Alex as his lawyer.

“Sh, Libby, it will be fine. Sh.” I know Michael is trying to comfort me, but his words don’t ease the pain I feel.

My heart has been ripped open, and there is nothing I can do to save it from the pain. I struggle against his hold. I want to run. “I can’t lose either of them. They’ve both been in my life only a short time,” I babble as Michael tries with all his might to calm me down.

“Miss Stewart?” I look up to see Joan with a glass of brandy. “It will help with the shock,” she says, handing me the glass.

Shock.
That’s one word that seems fitting. The night has been full of them. I bring the glass to my mouth, but the smell catches me, and suddenly I feel sick. I nearly throw the glass into Michael’s hand before fleeing from the room, making it to the bathroom in the nick of time.

“Elizabeth, sweetie, are you all right?” Sarah calls through the bathroom door.

“I’ll be right out.”

I emerge from the bathroom feeling ill. . I feel awful.

“Oh, sweetie.”

“I’m fine.” I try hard to convince myself that I am. But truth be told, I’m anything but fine.

She frowns.

“How are you?” I ask, quickly turning the attention to her.

“Oh, Elizabeth, I don’t know what to make of this. It’s been such a shock. I know Alex hasn’t done what she’s accusing him of, but I can’t understand why she would do this to him. I don’t know what she hopes to gain from this stunt.”

“It’s quite simple. She wants him and will do anything to get him. And if she can’t have him, she’s going to try to make sure no one else does.”

“But she must know he doesn’t feel the same way.”

“That’s why she’s done it, Sarah. She’s trying to hurt him because he hurt her tonight.” I want to be sick again. I turn straight into the bathroom and throw up. I slump on the floor in defeat. I can’t even blame the drink, because I didn’t have that much, and I’m sure I have already danced off whatever I had.

Sarah joins me on the floor, rubbing my back. “I’ve not had to do this for any of my kids for a few years.”

“I don’t know why I’m feeling so sick.”

“It’s the shock of all the events of tonight, and your thoughts are with your family. You must be desperate to get home to them. Michael and Murphy are working on getting you a flight home. Michael says he can travel with you.”

“Yeah, I’m wanting to get home to them, but I’m torn, because I’m worried about Alex. And as for Michael, that’s silly. He’s needed here, to take care of things for Alex.” Actually the idea of travelling home alone under the circumstances frightens me to death. I have absolutely no idea how my beautiful niece is going to be.

“Come on. Let’s go see how they’re getting on,” Sarah says, encouraging me to stand.

“I’m going to go upstairs for a quick shower and change, if you don’t mind.”

“Go ahead.”

I head back up the stairs into Alex’s bedroom and straight into his bathroom. I run the shower at the hottest temperature, letting the steam fill the room. I unzip my dress, letting it fall to the floor, and step out of it. Looking directly into the mirror, I hardly recognise the reflection staring back. I’m exhausted. I don’t think I have any more tears left. But I know I need to stay strong. A lot of people need me to be strong for them. I honestly don’t know where I’ll find the strength this time.

There has to be some good in Ethan’s life, and Lucy is that something—not just good, but great. Ethan deserves the chance to be a great father to her, to see all the milestones in her life: her first steps, first word, and first day of school, not to mention the boyfriend scene. I smile, thinking about boyfriends. God, he was bad with my boyfriends when we were growing up, and I’m only his sister. Poor Lucy—she’ll need a woman in her life to help her, and I want that to be me, to help her through all the ups and downs and challenges she’ll face. That gorgeous little girl is going to grow up and break a lot of hearts like her mother did.

That leads me straight to thoughts of Alex. Why, oh why couldn’t we stay in the same country? That would make for a simple life, and right now, I would settle for plain and simple. But if I’m going to have Alex in my life, nothing will ever be simple. God, I only have to think about how tonight has turned out, from him wanting me to stay to Katherine. I still can’t believe she would accuse him of such a thing, given the history they share. And I know he couldn’t commit such a crime. He still carries the guilt, even if he won’t admit it, about what happened to Katherine years ago.

He needs to get help—professional help—to deal with his past, to stop blaming himself for a situation that was out of a young boy’s control. Because at the end of the day, that’s all he was then; just a young boy. What they both went through that day is unimaginable. Alex isn’t the only one in need of help to deal with the past; Katherine could use some as well, and maybe then they would have some sort of friendship worth saving. As it stands, I don’t see a friendship. I see a lot of pain in both of them.

I turn the shower temperature down a little and step in, letting the water cascade over me. I keep my hair pinned up so I don’t get it wet. It would take too long to dry.

A short time later I am back downstairs, where I find Sarah and Sophie in the living room with cups of tea. I can hear Joan in the kitchen pottering about, keeping busy. Murphy and Michael must be in the office. I glance at the time—nearly four in the morning—so it will be what nine at home.

“You look a bit better, Elizabeth. Are you?” Sarah asks as Sophie looks on. They both look tired, but then again that’s only to be expected.

“I suppose so. I’m keen to get going. It will be a long enough flight back, what with one thing and another.”

“Libby,” Michael calls as he enters the room with Murphy. I turn toward them. “You don’t have to wait much longer. I hope you’re packed and ready.”

I nod eagerly.

“We leave for the airport now. I even managed to get a direct flight to Glasgow.”

“Michael, thank you.” I don’t know what else to say. I’ll be home to see my beautiful niece and take care of my brother sooner than expected. I hope and pray Lucy will be fine. She has to be fine, for all our sakes.