Fulfillment (Book 3 in The Temptation Series) (6 page)

“Right. Where
are you?” His tone seemed softer and somewhat concerned.

“I’m about ten
minutes away,” I answered. “I’ll see you shortly.”

“Okay, Hunny.
But pull over if your headache gets any worse, and I’ll send
someone to come get you.”

He hung
up.

I put my hand
to the bridge of my nose and sighed. “Charli, I’m sorry for
snapping. Mummy’s head is killing her.” I looked in the rear-view
mirror and smiled apologetically.

“Well, you
should tell it to stop killing you.” She rolled her eyes, as if
that was simply the cure to a headache.

“Duly noted,
Sweetheart.”

***

I pulled into
the basement carpark where Bryce was standing, waiting for us. He
eyed the visible contents of my car as I stepped out and closed the
door.

Charlotte ran
up to him and hugged his waist.

“Hi, Charli.
How was school?”

“Good. I start
swimming lessons tomorrow. Do you want to come and watch?”

He looked
slightly shocked at her invitation. “Sure. I’d love to come,” he
smiled. Charli looked over at me then motioned for Bryce to lean
down so that she could whisper in his ear. Whatever she had said to
him provoked a smile to appear on his face, piquing my
curiosity.

He winked at
her then spoke to Nate. “Mate, can you take Charli up to the
apartment? I need to speak to your Mum in private for a
minute.”

Nate nodded,
and both the kids stepped into the elevator.

When the doors
closed, I wasted no time in questioning him. “What did Charli say
to you?”

“She told me
to make sure your headache didn’t kill you because she loves you,
and if it tried, could I please kill it first.” He raised his
eyebrows at me, and I smiled guiltily. “Are you feeling okay? How
bad is your headache? Do I need to kill it?”

I smiled and
scoffed. “It’s just a small one. I’m fine.” I lied. I didn’t want
him hauling me over his shoulder, bundling me into the Crow and
flying me to the nearest hospital.

I turned
around and opened up the tailgate to my car. Three bags and my
couch cushions tumbled out onto the ground. “Shit.”

“What’s all
this?” Bryce asked dubiously, obviously sensing my fragile
state.

“
My
stuff,” I hissed ever so slightly.

“Hunny,
there’s a vacuum cleaner in there.” He leaned in and pulled it
out.

I could hear a
very small hint of amusement in his voice, which helped snap me out
of my ridiculously angry mood. “I know. It’s my Dyson. It’s a good
vacuum.”

“So I’ve
heard...but...we have house-keeping. So...you...don’t...really need
it.”

I turned
around to find him cautiously smiling at me. “I know,” I conceded
“I just didn’t want
her
to touch it. These
things are mine. I worked for them, I chose them, I used them; they
are mine, not hers.”

“Hers?”

“Claire’s. She
was at the house when I showed up. She was wearing my dress and had
just taken a shower. I got angry and went a little crazy.”

“Oh,” he
smiled, stepping closer and wrapping his arms around me.

“I’m not angry
at her for being there with Rick. Really, it’s not that at all,
they can have each other, I honestly couldn’t care less. It’s
just...I don’t know...those things were mine, are mine,
and...and...she can get her fucking own. Anyway, I’ve decided I
need to see my solicitor. I’m going to make Rick pay me out for the
house—.”

“You don’t
need to worry about money, Alexis. What’s mine is yours.”

“It’s not
about the money, Bryce. I know you want to share what you have with
me, and I will let you do that eventually. It may take me some time
to get used to, but with that time, I’m sure I will get used to it.
No, this is more about...and I know this is petty...but,” I sighed
and slumped into his chest. “It’s just...he doesn’t deserve to get
everything we both worked for all our life. It’s a matter of
principle.” I blurted out, shrugging out of his grip to pick up my
cushions. I brushed them down. “Some of this stuff is special and
stupidly sentimental, and yes...some of it is obviously just
downright stupid, I get that. But what I want to do—what I
need
to do— is see my lawyer and change my will,
divide our assets and put final closure on Rick’s and my life
together.

“I know we
have to wait a year before we can get a divorce, but finalising
these things first will help give some form of separation and maybe
help me deal with it all a little better. I have been civil to him,
and I have been pleasant. But it is getting increasingly hard to
keep that shit up.” I closed my eyes, willing the throbbing in my
head to dissipate. “If it weren’t for the kids, Bryce, I would have
unleashed hell upon him. I think I just need the formality of
separation from Rick as his wife. Maybe that will help with my
building anger.”

“It’s not
petty, Alexis. If that’s going to make you feel better, then do it.
It’s your call; your decision.” He turned his back on my car so
that he was facing me. “Speaking of changing wills, you should know
that I have already changed mine. I don’t want you to ever have to
worry about any of that.”

I looked at
him, shocked. “What do you mean you have already done that?”

“I had a
meeting with my lawyer the day after you told me you were having
our baby, and I sorted it all out.”

“Oh.” I
nodded, warily. I don’t know why I was dubious, it sort of made
sense he would do that. I guess I just didn’t expect him to do it
that soon.

“What’s this?”
he asked holding up a lop-sided ceramic mug.

“It’s
mine
.” I snatched it from him while smirking. “I
made it in high school.”

“It’s lovely,”
he said sarcastically.

My mouth
dropped, and I smiled at his audacity. “Shut up. It’s art, kind of
abstract.” I rotated it in front of me, secretly thinking my
statement was bullshit.

He picked up a
photo of me and the kids which had been taken on my birthday the
year before. “When was this taken?” he asked, as he studied the
photo. “I like it.”

“Last year, on
my birthday.”

“I’m keeping
it,” he said matter-of-factly, continuing to look through my
stuff.

“Get out. Stop
touching.” I playfully shoved him out of the way then gathered up a
few things. He too grabbed my suitcase and a few things more. The
rest I would come back for later.

***

The elevator
doors opened to the apartment, and as I stepped out, the sight
before me had me frozen with fear.

“Alexis.
Bryce. Finally, I’ve been waiting for you.” Gareth or Scott—I’m not
really sure who and I didn’t really care—had been sitting on the
sofa casually chatting away to my children.
How the fuck did he
get in here?

Bryce stepped
out in front of me. “Gareth, what are you doing here? Who let you
in?”

He gestured to
Charlotte. “This beautiful young lady here did.”

My heart
literally plummeted to the ground.
Charli-Bear, how could you be
so stupid? You know about stranger-danger.
Like every parent, I
had explained to Charlotte that talking to a stranger, let alone
letting one inside your house was extremely dangerous. Obviously, I
hadn’t done a very good job of it.

“Gareth, in my
office!
Now!
” Bryce said sternly.

“Now wait a
minute. You don’t need to be like that. I’ve come here to take my
meds in front of you just like you asked me to. I’ve been doing it
every day like you said.”

“Gareth,”
Bryce warned.

“Hang on and
hear me out. I want to apologise to Alexis, explain a few things.
We seem to have gotten off on the wrong foot, and I want to make
things right, especially now that she and her children are living
here.”

I thought I
noticed the faintest evidence of fallacy, but I couldn’t be quite
sure. Then again, maybe this was Gareth and he was being genuine.
No, regardless of that, I wanted him as far away from Nate and
Charli as possible. He was unstable, and I did not trust him, not
for a minute.

I looked at my
kids who were still sitting on the sofa now looking nervous. “Nate
and Charlotte, please go to your rooms for a minute. I will be up
soon.”

Nate sensed my
unease and took hold of his sister’s hand, both of them making
their way upstairs very quickly. When they were out of sight and
the door to the bedroom had shut behind them, I addressed
Gareth.

“Okay, so
apologise.” I put down the items I still had in my arms and walked
over to the sofa my kids had been sitting on. Bryce did the
same.

“Look, I know
Bryce has explained my situation, and I’m glad he has. Hopefully
that will help you understand and be, um...forgiving of my flaws,
so to speak.” He seemed very calm and informative, but I couldn’t
help pick up on a tinge of arrogance in his expression. The whole
apology seemed forged. Then again, I had no experience whatsoever
with someone who had Dissociative Identity Disorder, so I couldn’t
say for sure that this wasn’t Gareth trying to make amends.
Regardless, I went along with his attempt.

“The day I
attacked you...well
I
didn’t attack you, Scott
did...” He seemed angry, angry with Scott, who was also Gareth, but
he wasn’t angry with himself.
Oh my God, this is so surreal
.
“The day Scott attacked you I had lost all control of myself. I had
no idea I had even seen you, let alone touched you. That was until
Bryce told me what I had done. I’m so sorry, Alexis, please believe
me,” he pleaded.

I wanted to
believe him, but deep down I just couldn’t.

“I have been
taking all my medication and seeing my doctor three times a week. I
have been fine. I feel fine. I really want to get to know you if
you’ll let me. If Bryce loves you as much as he appears to, then I
know I will love you too.” He smiled at me.

That smile,
mixed with those last words had me invisibly dry-heaving. I
couldn’t help it; it was all just a bit too much. My head was in no
state to be deciphering anything, let alone whether a DID alter was
currently putting on an Academy Award-worthy performance.

“Gareth, I
appreciate what you are trying to do, and I appreciate you wanting
to apologise for Scott’s behaviour and actions, but I’ve had a
horrible day and this is all just a bit too much for me to dissect
right now. Look, maybe if we spend a little more time in each
other’s company we might just be able to be friends. But for now, I
really need to go lie down, I have a horrible headache,” I stood up
quickly, feeling a little bit dizzy. Bryce noticed my slight
imbalance and shot up to my side.

“Are you all
right?” He searched my eyes for any signs of distress.

“I’m fine. I
just need to lie down and sleep off this headache. You stay here
and catch up with Gareth. I’m going to go upstairs.” I leaned up
and kissed his cheek while watching Gareth for any indication that
it was, in fact, Scott in his place. Gareth looked away
momentarily, making me think that it was Scott all along. But then
he offered me some get well wishes as I left the room. I slowly
climbed the stairs, watching the two cousins sit and talk. It was
clear Bryce somewhat held back in his interaction, but at the same
time, it was also clear that deep down he cared and respected
Gareth. It was terribly sad.

CHAPTER FIVE

After checking to see if the
kids were okay and interrogating them as to what Gareth had said, I
decided a long talk needed to be revisited—a talk to remind them
both never to let complete strangers anywhere near them. Charlotte
had cried knowing she had done the wrong thing by opening the door,
and Nate, too, had sulked, knowing that he should have called my
phone the second Gareth had entered the apartment. I felt terrible
not having been there to stop the whole scenario, but instilling a
little fear into them about it had to be a good form of deterrence
in repeating the same mistake, right?
Oh I hope so. I hate
deliberately scaring my kids. But this is for their own good; they
need to be on high alert where Gareth is concerned.

I planned to
speak to Bryce about the security of the apartment, especially now
that my children lived here for a better part of the week. I didn’t
like the fact that his family or company employees could have such
easy access to his office.

“Is he a bad
guy, Mum?” Nate asked as I was leaving his room. “You seemed really
scared of him. I know I should have called your mobile when I saw
that Charli had opened the door, but I thought he was okay because
he’s Bryce’s cousin and cousins are family, and isn’t Bryce going
to be in our family soon?”

“Oh,
Sweetheart, just because someone is family doesn’t mean you should
automatically trust them. Trust has to be earned. I know it’s hard
to understand but you don’t know Gareth, therefore you can’t really
trust him yet, right?” I searched Nate’s confused face. “Look,
Gareth is not very well in here.” I pointed to my head. “He gets
confused a lot, and when that happens he can be dangerous. That’s
why I looked scared, because I don’t know when he is going to get
confused, and it’s also because I don’t trust him. Listen, I want
you to stay away from him, okay? Never be alone with him, and
never
let him inside this apartment,
ever!
I don’t want to scare you, it’s just better to be
safe than sorry, that’s all.”

I blew him a
kiss and left the room, heading directly for bed. My head now hurt
with conviction and I needed to rescue my mind from its state of
unrest and whisk it away to a place where it could relax and be
subconsciously entertained—my pillow helping that necessity.

***

The next
morning saw me recovered from the horrid feeling of a miniature
person having somehow climbed inside my head, unleashing hell and
pounding frantically against the inner confines desperate to get
back out. I think the terrible headache I had experienced was a
result of shock from Gareth’s appearance and apology, together with
the stress of having to divide Rick’s and my assets. Just lightly
touching on those two issues in my thoughts was spurring another
head pounding session. That, and the fact Charlotte was overexcited
that she had her first swimming lesson, and more so that Bryce and
I were going along to watch. Her motor-mouth was in overdrive as
she was explained her take on how humans float. I pinched the
bridge of my nose but couldn’t help finding her demonstrations
amusing.