CHAPTER SEVEN

Derek was staring at her in disbelief when Chloe came out of her waking nightmare and looked at him.

“Are you okay?” she asked him.

He laughed, but there was no humor in it. “Am I okay? You’re worried about me?” He stood up from the table and walked over to the balcony. He sucked in a big gulp of the fresh air and then breathed it out slowly. When he turned back to her, he said, “No baby, I’m not okay. I want to kill someone and I can’t decide who I want to get my hands on first.”

“I’m sorry,” she said.

“You’re sorry? What the hell could you possibly have to be sorry for? I’m sick, literally sick that you had to go through any of this and even more so to know that I’ve sat down and eaten meals with this freak. He swam in our pool, and he rode our horses. I want to snap his fucking neck!”

Chloe stood up and put her hands on his shoulders.

“Me too,” she said. “I try really hard not to dwell on the past and just move forward but I also never want to forget, because if I do, it could happen all over again.”

“No,” Derek said. His blue eyes were so dark that they were almost black with the rage he was feeling. “No, it will never happen to you again. I’m going to make damn sure of that.”

“Thank you,” she said. “I’ve worked hard over the past few years to make sure of it myself.”

“How long did you live with this maniac?”

“For two years,” she said.

“And it was like that all the time?”

“Not constantly. I’m sure you’ve read enough books and seen enough movies to know how abuse works. He would be profusely apologetic the next day when he sobered up. He would send me flowers or buy me a new necklace or ring. None of it made me feel any better but I didn’t have anywhere else to go and I didn’t have anyone to talk to. I had a friend from high school, Chantelle. She was the only real friend I ever had and I never even told her about my father. I was so ingrained to believe it was my fault and I was so ashamed. I didn’t tell her about Jesse either, for a long time. It got harder and harder to tell anyone anything. Jesse started monitoring everything I did and if I came home from school one minute later than he thought I should, he would accuse me of screwing around and nine times out of ten, I’d get punched or beaten. I missed a lot of school because he wouldn’t allow me to leave the house with visible bruises. As time went on, he got better at it and he started leaving them low…unless he was really drunk and really pissed.”

“So, you told me that he was in prison for trying to kill you. Who called the police?”

“Chantelle did,” Chloe said. “On my twenty first birthday, I asked Jesse if I could go out to lunch with her. He was in a good mood. He gave me a few hundred dollars and told me to make a day of it. Chantelle picked me up and we went to the mall and we had lunch and did some shopping. I was usually so careful by then, not to be later than he expected me getting home but I got carried away that day, and I think I also believe that there was no way he’d hit me on my birthday.

Anyways, she dropped me off a couple of hours later than I’d told him I would be. When I got upstairs and opened the door, I saw that he’d ordered Chinese food. He had the table set and a bottle of Champagne chilling. The bottle was empty and he was sitting at the table with that look on his face he always got before I got beat. It reminded me of someone who was possessed. Something inside of me snapped and I tried to run. I heard him running after me and I’d almost made it to the bottom of the stairs when I ran into Chantelle. I’d forgotten a bag in her car and she was bringing it up to me. She could see how upset I was and one look on Jesse’s face and she knew what was going on. I think she’d always suspected it.

“Kelly, go get in my car,” she said.

“Don’t even think about it,” Jesse whispered up against the side of Kelly’s face. She could feel his hot, heavy breaths against her neck.

“It’s okay, Chantelle, go on. I’ll be fine,” Kelly said trying to sound like maybe her and Jesse were just having some fun. She didn’t want Chantelle involved in her mess.

“I’m not leaving you here,” Chantelle said.

Jesse kissed Kelly on the side of her face and let his hands slide around her waist and come to rest on her abdomen. He looked at Chantelle then and said, “She said she’s fine. Now get your skanky, lesbian ass out of here. Kelly and I have a birthday to celebrate.”

Chantelle turned her eyes back to Kelly’s face. Kelly tried to smile. “Thank you for today, Chantelle. I’ll call you.” Chantelle gave Jesse another dirty look and she turned and went to her car. Jesse took Kelly by the arm and drug her up the stairs and back into the apartment. As soon as he closed the door, he slapped her across the face. Then he picked her back up and pushed her over towards the table.

“Do you see what I did for you, you fucking nasty cunt?”

“I’m sorry, Jesse. I didn’t mean to be late.”

“Fuck you and your sorry bitch! I don’t know why I put up with you in the first place. I have to fucking tell you how to dress and what to eat and when your ass is getting too fat. You’re a terrible cook and an even worse fuck…shit, I’d get more response from a fucking blow-up doll. Yet for some reason, out of the goodness of my heart, I pay all of your fucking bills and do things like this for you while you’re out with that lesbian cunt probably licking pussy all afternoon.”

“Jesse…”

“Shut up!” He started to raise his arm when there was a knock on the door.

“NYPD, open up!” Jessie leaned down close to Kelly’s ear and said, “This is where you decide to live or die, bitch.” He straightened his clothes, ran his hand through his hair and went over and pulled open the door. Two uniformed officers stood there.

“Hello officers, how can I help you?”

“We had a report of a disturbance. Can we come in?”

“Sure,” Jesse said with a smile. “My girlfriend and I were celebrating her birthday. We may have gotten carried away. Sorry about that.”

“What’s your name, sir?” The officer asked Jesse. Jesse smiled even brighter and said,”Jesse Donovan. I’m Vince Donovan’s son. The district attorney.”

The officers looked at each other and one of them went over where Kelly was now sitting at the table. He looked around at the Chinese food and candles and the unwrapped gift and bouquet of roses and said, “It’s your birthday?”

“Yes,” she said. She tried to smile, but she wasn’t sure if it was working or not.

“Happy birthday,” he said. “Is everything okay here?”

“It’s great,” she said. “My boyfriend did all of this for me.”

The officers asked a few more questions, but it was pretty obvious once Vince Donovan’s name was mentioned they were leaving this alone. When they were gone, Jesse walked over and stood next to Kelly. She could feel the trickle of sweat down the side of her face.

He leaned down close again and said, “Good bitch. Now eat.” He grabbed her by the back of her head and shoved her face into the plate. “Eat it!” He used her hair to move her from container to container, making her take a bite of each one. It was smeared on her face and in her hair and she was choking on it by the time he was done.

He picked up the champagne bottle then and turned it upside down. “I’m sorry; I started the party without you. I tell you what, if you’re a good girl in the bedroom, I’ll let you have your present and a drink of water.”

He grabbed her head and pulled her up against him and kissed her lips. Kelly felt like she wanted to gag, but she’d learned at the tender age of ten that wasn’t a good idea. Then he took the magnum champagne bottle and rubbed it against her pants between her legs and said, “Come on, birthday girl…let’s go have some fun.”

Kelly had to miss two days of school after that night and to this day, she wasn’t sure how much damage he actually did with that champagne bottle. Whether or not she could have children was anyone’s guess.

Derek’s fists were clutched tightly at his sides when she paused and looked at him. He had sweat forming on his brow and his chest was rising and falling heavily. Finally, he said, “So your friend called the police?”

“Yes. That time and then the last time. The time he really did try and kill me.”

“But that first time, between his threat to kill you and his mention of his daddy, it was pretty much pointless to say anything I take it.”

“Yes,” she said.

Derek dropped down into one of the chairs and covered his face with his hands. He sat there like that for a few seconds and when he looked back up, he was pale. “God, I’m so fucking sick over this. I’m so sorry, Chloe. God, I’m so sorry!”

Chloe went over to him and sat in the chair next to him; she took his hands in hers. “Look at me,” she said. He did and she said, “I spent three years doing everything I could to overcome this. I don’t intend to turn back now. I don’t want you to be sorry for me. I just need you to understand two things: The first one is that although I’m here with you and I feel safe at this moment, I still don’t fully trust you. I couldn’t honestly tell you that I will ever be able to. The second reason is: If Jesse finds me I intend to protect myself this time. I intend to do whatever it takes to keep him from ever hurting me again.”

Derek’s blue eyes were almost black again as he said, “He won’t ever lay a finger on you again.”