Chapter Ten

 

I followed Greg into my bedroom, standing in the doorway just in case I needed a quick escape if things escalated.

He held the quilt in his hand as he pushed past me in the doorway. “Is that all you need?” I asked.

He didn’t respond. I followed him into the laundry room where he looked around, opened a cabinet, and then walked back to the living room. “Where’d your little piggy run off to?” he laughed.

His lips snarled under his nose as he laughed, and that same black stare returned in his eyes from the day he’d attacked me.

“If you have everything you need, you should go. You’re not even supposed to be here,” I reminded him.

“I’ll leave when I’m ready. Guess your little piggy realized this is a dangerous neighborhood for pigs, and their trucks,” he snarled as he laughed again.

“You did that?” I asked, shocked that I had been so wrong about him.

“What? Left a friendly note? Sure.”

I reached into my purse, pulling out my phone. “Call the police,” I screamed into the receiver just before Greg slapped it out of my hand.

“Who was that? You got a new man already?” Greg rolled his eyes and then stretched his head back, snapping his neck with a gruesome noise.

I backed up slowly, making my way to the door when he lunged at me, gripping my arm and pulling me towards him.

His breath reeked of wheatgrass as he pushed his mouth against mine. I screamed, kicked, and tried to get away, but he was too strong. “What do you want?” I cried as he slung me onto the couch.

“I own you. I made you. You can’t just walk away,” he growled, reaching for the buckle on his jeans.

I rolled from the couch onto the floor, crawling as fast as I could towards the door. Pain surged through the back of my head as Greg gripped my ponytail, pulling me backward and slamming my head into the coffee table.

This was it. I should’ve listened to Carter. Why hadn’t I listened?

Without Carter patrolling the block, there would be at least five to ten more minutes before the police could arrive in this neighborhood, if in fact Carrie heard me before my phone had been smashed into pieces against the wall. That would give Greg time to do what he wanted, and probably get away.

“When I’m done with you, your little pig friend is gonna get his, and then whoever else you’ve been fuckin’, you little whore,” Greg warned.

“Leave him alone. He left me. It’s me you’re mad at, not him,” I pleaded.

“Oh, no. I’m mad at both of you,” he insisted, his eyes twitching as he spoke.

The front door pushed open and Carter rushed in, slamming Greg against the wall. They scuffled, and in the mix, it was hard to tell who was winning, and who was losing.

They were both on the floor, rolling around as fists flew in every direction. I screamed when Greg’s fist landed on Carter, hard enough I could hear the bone in his nose break.

Carter got up on his feet, swinging wildly at Greg, landing every other punch. Greg’s arms were muscular, but not long enough to match Carter’s reach.

Greg stumbled back, hitting his back onto the wall and knocking my pictures off, before he finally gave in, sliding to the floor surrounded by broken glass.

I rushed to Carter, safe in his arms, and sorry I’d ever doubted his judgment. “Thank you,” I said, looking up at his bloodied face.

Four other officers rushed in, cuffed Greg, and hauled him out to the cruiser.

“Did Carrie call you?” I asked, curious as to how he knew to come.

“No. I hired a detective to follow Greg, to make sure he wasn’t causing you any trouble,” he explained.

“So, you knew he was at the grocery store?” I asked.

“My guy called me as he was leaving. He’d lost track of him for about twenty minutes. I knew you had been there, so I assumed the worst. You know, a hunch,” he smiled. “Anyway. I called the guys, told them to head this way, and voila,” he said.

“He did do that to your truck,” I said.

“I know,” he replied.

“Why didn’t you haul him in?” I asked.

“I was afraid he might come after you, like you said. But, I knew once you started defending him, there would be little I could do to protect you,” he sighed.

“I watched my mother talk cops out of taking my dad away many a time. She’d lie and tell them she fell, that he was drunk, loud, but not abusive. The doctors all knew, though. No kid, no matter how rambunctious, breaks their arm in the same place five times in two years. You were showing all the signs, and I couldn’t stand to watch it again. I’m sorry I bailed on you, reacted the way I did. It just brought back some bad memories, and that feeling of helplessness; I never wanted to have that with you,” he said.

“I can’t thank you enough, or tell you how sorry I am,” I pleaded.

“Don’t be sorry. And no need to thank me. I’m just glad you’re okay. You know, I knew you’d let him get close again. When you didn’t want him picked up for harassing you in the parking lot that day, and you hadn’t reported the phone calls he’d made, it was clear that you trusted him, even after what he’d done. I didn’t want you hurt.” Carter wrapped his arms around me and squeezed me tight against his chest.

His heart was pounding ninety miles an hour, hard against his chest. “Don’t ever scare me like that again,” he gasped, kissing the top of my head.

“I won’t. I promise.”

Another officer came in and took my statement while Carrie rushed into the living room. “I called the police, but they were already dispatched,” she said with confusion in her tone.

“Carter called them, on a hunch,” I smiled.

I suddenly realized that Carter wasn’t on duty. He’d been shopping for a romantic dinner earlier, and probably had plans he needed to keep. “You better get going,” I said, smiling without any jealousy or rage in my heart.

“Going?” he asked.

“That steak dinner you were shopping for, some lucky lady deserves not to be stood up,” I smiled.

I knew at that moment I loved that man, I mean, truly loved him. It was no longer about ‘us’ or myself; it was only about his happiness. That was all I wanted, for Carter Reynolds, super cop, super lover, superman, to be happy, even if that meant not being with me.

“There’s no other woman, Naomi,” he grinned.

 “But your dinner?” I asked, confused.

“I was trying to recreate your dinner, our first one, but with steak instead of shrimp,” he laughed.

“So, there’s no one else?” I asked, tears welling up in my eyes as my heart swelled in my chest.

He shook his head, smiling, his eyes dancing on mine. “No way. What do you say, I take you to my place and cook for you?” he asked.

“What do you say, we make a quick stop at the hospital and let them look at that nose, then I’ll cook for you,” I replied.

“I can live with that. Will you be drinking? I can stop at the liquor store and get you some whiskey, rum, tequila; what’s your poison?” he teased.

I tiptoed to him, kissing him on the lips. He gripped me tightly, caressing my back as my fingers ran through his thick, dark hair. “I love you,” I whispered.

“I love you,” he said sweetly. “But, don’t forget those blue heels,” he laughed.