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Authors: J. D. Freed

Truth Meets Love (17 page)

BOOK: Truth Meets Love
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I am thinking of all the words to tell her this when I see his car parked in front of her house.

Then I see red. I am up the steps of her porch and bursting through her door before I can stop myself. Again.

I am scanning the room when I hear his angry voice lashing out from the floor, just on the other side of the couch.

When the words "I should have killed you then" register, with the sight of him holding her to the floor, pinned beneath him… I know he is going to kill her.

I launch myself at him just as the knife in his hand comes up over his head. We smash into the glass of the coffee table and it shatters. I feel shards scraping against my back and a painful burning in my side. I am trying to get the upper hand but for some reason I can't catch my breath. Then I taste the metallic taste of blood as I hear her scream pierce through my ears.

Chapter SEVENTEEN

I Just Found Him

Hadley-

Tralen is here. He's here to save me? This shouldn't surprise me, really; he may not love me but he would never let me die.

He may be a creeper. He could just be a horny man whore who disrespects and uses women for pleasure, but that could be half of the male population. However, a cold blooded delusional like Ben he is not. I am starting see the difference pretty clearly.

The glass from the broken table is raining all around me. I am scrambling back like I am in the Olympics, going for gold in the crab crawling race.

I would giggle but this is really not the time. I was briefly thinking that if I survived that might be one of my only future career options now.

Tralen is on the bottom and Ben twisted and landed on top when they hit.

Ben is stumbling to his feet with the bloody blade still in his grasp. Blood is pooling on Tralen's shirt and he is having a hard time catching his breath as he tries to get up.

Ben must have stabbed him during the fight. His lung must be punctured. Ben is getting his balance and is sneering down at Tralen.

"This is perfect--better than my plan I was just going to kill her and frame you, the scorned ex-lover. Now I get to kill you and the whore and claim I walked into a lovers' quarrel gone bad and I was too late to save either of you!"

I see him adjust his grip on the knife as he makes to bring it down on Tralen, who has blood pouring from his mouth.

I don't think about it; I just act. I can't lose him. I can't let him die for me after everything I have already put him through. It would ruin everything. My life would be empty without him.

I just found him… I want a chance at love… I want the dream come true.

I launch myself at Tralen to shield him. I am bracing myself above him and he is holding my gaze. He is starting to gasp like he's trying to say something and struggling beneath me to get up.

Ben grabs the back of my hair and hauls me up my back to his chest. He places his arm tight under my breasts, effectively trapping my arms beneath his arm bar around me.

This will keep him away from Tralen. Cody has to be home by now. If someone doesn't come soon, Tralen will be dead.

Ben starts to laugh through his huffing breath. "Why would you risk dying for this piece of trash, Tralen? I had you pegged for a smarter guy than that. What, is her pussy paved in gold or something? I am going to have to confirm that one on my own once you pass out from the blood loss. I don't think you have much time left…"

He is going to rape me. Tralen is fading out and pale as he keeps his eyes locked on mine. There is so much worry, admiration and love there.

Tears start to run down my cheeks and Ben tightens his hold over my arms painfully and leans slightly down toward Tralen, on his side on the floor. "You don't have to die, you know? Destiny can save you. I like games and when I win this one, you will finally see what a whore this bitch really is. Bros before Ho's, man!"

He drags the tip of the knife that was below my jaw down the front of my shirt. The force of the blade scrapes my skin. My breath hitches and there are a series of holes in my shirt and my bra is cut. My breasts pour out over his arm, and he harshly pokes the end of my exposed nipple with the tip of his knife.

Tralen gasps; his eyes are still locked on mine and he is trying to roll to his hands and knees… blood is pooling on the ground underneath him.

Ben leans into my ear while looking down at Tralen, and he hisses, "Fuck me in front of your boyfriend and I will let him live."

Tralen tries to stand and Ben laughs an eerie chuckle.

OH NO! What do I do?

How do I know he is telling the truth? He will kill us; I know he will. If I have a chance to save him, then I will do whatever I have to do. Even that!

I can't let Tralen die for me. What if he dies anyway and that is the last thing he sees?

All I do know is that I am going to lose him if I don't do something. Tralen is staring me down, holding his side tightly. His eyes are wide and he is wheezing out the word "NO" repeatedly.

I was going for shock value to throw Ben off his game and give me a moment for distraction to execute my plan. I have got one chance. Resolutely, I conclude that nothing distracts a man more than a woman saying the word "fuck" in the form of an invitation.

I embrace my resolve and resign to my fate by shooting out a response to his proposition--the only option he is offering to keep Tralen alive. "Call the ambulance now. Then you'll have about eight minutes to get it up and use it. Let's FUCK, Ben."

I am channeling Dez and drawing strength from her presence. I can feel her near me.

Ben loosens his grip just slightly to begin to speak. I know I have surprised him and my statement wasn't what he was expecting. His lower brain just took over; I can feel it pressing up against my ass behind me.

It is now or never. I know I couldn't fuck Ben. I couldn't do that to Tralen or let Ben use me; he already had gotten more than his fair share of my dignity. Seeing me with Ben could have been a memory Tralen would never get rid of and he would blame himself. I still have nightmares about AJ and what he did to my mom. They are like a bad movie--scenes that just come up without warning. Then the visuals invade you and you are right back there. It may be over now but the pain is still real. I couldn't stop him from hurting her any more than Tralen can stop Ben from hurting me.

I don't need saving, DAMN IT! I need to save myself and Tralen.
I need to take the stand she never did for me or herself!

I feel warmth fill my eyes and heat rise from my chest. I plant my feet and thrust my head back hard into Ben's face behind me. A pain shoots through my head, and I see spots of black and feel myself being pulled down toward the floor.

Tralen-

"NO." I have to stop her. She can't do this. I could never let her do this, even if my life literally depended on it.

If I could just get some fucking air. I am fighting to stay conscious. I am trying to keep my eyes locked and focused on hers. I fear if I close them she will be gone to me forever.

Why didn't I protect her from him? She doesn't want Ben. She tried to tell me and I shut her out.

Now I will never get the chance to tell her how much I want to be with her. How much I love her giggle, her grace, even her clumsiness--all of her contradictions. Everything that makes her "Hadley-Made."

I can't help her, and watching him terrorize her is the worst agony I have ever known. She has her guard up and I can tell she is scared but determined. It feels like I did for three years, watching my mom die in fast forward all over again.

Just then her eyes almost appear to go coal black and dark. Then Hadley brings her head and eyes to the floor slightly before planting her feet strong to the ground and then throws her head back into Ben's face, hard.

I take all the air in through my nose as slow and hard as I can and hold it. I roll to take his legs out from under him. I reach up and pull her over me to the ground beside me. Then I roll back against her, pinning her against the front of the couch behind me.

She is still alive… if I can just keep taking shallow breaths, my eyes will stay open.
Please. Stay with her. Don't leave her now. Not alone with him
. I am coaching myself through this.

Hadley-

Tralen has got me. I know we are far from safe, but I can feel his heart pounding against my own. It is in this moment I know I love him. No matter what in this life, I had love. So I tell him so in his ear as he is taking short, very shallow breaths and his arms against my side and leg feel cool.

"I love you, Tralen. Thank you for being my dream come true," I whisper as I hold him close to my front.

Tralen presses hard against me, his fingers finding mine and curling. I think he thinks he is squeezing them but he is so weak he can't.

Ben has grabbed my fucking Korean mink blanket to stop the pouring of blood from his nose. That was my favorite. I can never use that again now. When I look at Ben, I just see AJ all over again.

He is staggering unsteadily toward us, looking around for his knife. Tralen must have grabbed it during the commotion after my distraction technique, because he slid it over to me behind him when I landed. The knife is now safely under the couch behind me but it is close enough to reach when I need it--which is right about now, by the looks of it.

Ben mutters, still holding his nose, "Bitch, I am going to enjoy fucking you up!"

He takes another step. Then he stops and a surprised, terrified look comes across his bloody, swollen face. I hear a very angry, strong, low, familiar voice behind the couch roar, "I can't believe I ever trusted you. Get the hell away from my daughter!!!"

Ummmm?!?!!… Whoever it is, I think he is lost but we can clear that up after he kills this son of a bitch. Ben crumbles to his knees and his head drops as he begins to sob.

Police rush by my line of sight toward Ben. Then four paramedics come toward Tralen and pull him up with urgent but gentle effort. I feel the loss of his heartbeat immediately after they take him away. It was slow and shallow through his back against the front of my chest and the hand he was holding shakes now. I want to reach for him and not let him go, but I know how bad a shape he is in.

Another paramedic leans down and grabs a blanket, wrapping it around my shoulders, effectively hiding my state of undress.

"Ma'am, we are going to get Tralen stabilized before we make the trip to the hospital. These officers will be taking the other two of you in the squad car to follow the ambulance," he says and motions to me and someone around the side of hallway from the entry.

I stand, not sure what happened. I thought I was going to die. I thought I would lose Tralen, and I push the thought that I still might out of my mind. I can't lose faith now, for Christ's sake.

Who came? I ask myself as a pair of really nice shoes appears beneath me.

Mr. Greyson's face appears in front of me when I look up at their owner. He is watching my face process the events and images being laid out in front of me. It was his voice. I should have known by Ben's reaction to him. He said, "Get the hell away from my daughter"

What did he mean by that? Could he really be? What the fuck?!?!

Tralen-

She loves me. She just told me she did in my ear. I hope that wasn't a dream and I am dead already.

I think it was real; I felt her breath and the graze of her lips on my ear.

I know what I felt. She held me close. I felt her heart calm mine as she was pressed up next to my back.

I am floating and I hear a deep voice rumble.

"I love you too Hadley-Made," my mind tries to get my lips to respond… just before everything goes white. Then I see Jenna smiling down at me, and her hair is long and slightly blowing, like in a soft breeze. She looks like an angel.

Chapter EIGHTEEN

There Is So Much I Need To Tell You

Hadley-

Tralen is tubed and a mask has been put over his face. They loaded him up rather hastily after the checked his pulse and opened up his lung. We are in the squad car, following the ambulance into the hospital. He was unconscious when they pulled him from my chest to treat him and he still was one they loaded him up to leave.

I had just recounted the whole sequence of events to the detective taking my statement while it was fresh in mind and they were working on Tralen so we could move him safely. During the recounting, Mr. Greyson held me tightly to his side and squeezed me every time I would get a little choked up or tense as I was speaking. Could he really be my dad? I can't think of any of that right now.

I just want to see Tralen and be with him. He shouldn't be alone.

Speaking of alone, I should probably find a way to contact Cody and Mags. It occurs to me that I don't even know where to find his parents.

Please let him be all right.

I don't realize it right away, but Mr. Greyson is studying me. I peer up at him from beneath my lashes.

He gives me a sweet, apologetic smile and squeezes the hand he has been holding while I sat next him on the back bench seat.

I hadn't even noticed it. I haven't had much time to process or really care about anything but Tralen. Just that he stays alive.

There is one question I have to ask because it is important to me… to saving Tralen's life. "How did you know to come?"

When I had started to ask the question he inhaled deeply, almost bracing himself for what it might be. I have never seen him like this. He is agitated. He looks nervous.

He pats my hand. "There is so much I need to tell you. Another time, when you are ready, I will tell you everything. However, I came when I did because I knew something was wrong. The engagement and marriage announcement Ben gave at dinner seemed to catch you off guard the other night. It didn't seem like something you would want, especially the way he presented the idea. Normally it would be the bride sharing all the plans and details of the joyous occasion. I also knew if it were true you would prefer a smaller, more intimate affair. You have class and wouldn't want all the fluff, just the substance. Not to mention he is not the one for you; I was sure about that. I know what goes on in the Wellness Rooms at Mathis Engineering, or at least in the hallways that capture images of those entering and leaving the confines of the room. Then I got word that Tralen Creed had resigned immediately and Ben had been the one to notify HR. Let's just say the reasons were starting to mount in volume and continue to even as we speak. However, the breaking point was when I confronted Ben this afternoon about the figures you mentioned in your e-mail to me last week. It took us a while to put it all together, but you were right. The closing documents didn't disclose the correct figures from the project schedules. I knew it was likely a competency issue on his part when I confronted Ben and he lost his composure and started spewing all these accusations about you and your past and how you are not qualified to take over for me."

BOOK: Truth Meets Love
7.69Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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