Rebel With A Cause (13 page)

Bekah scowled. “It’s not what you think, Kaitlyn.”

Kaitlyn got up and walked away. She’d had enough of Carter and Rebekah. The whole drama with them and her parents split had taken its toll on her.
She felt physically drained.

Everyone was breaking up these days, is what it seemed like. Her parents, once such a strong team, were now
breaking up. They no longer loved each other.

Carter no longer loved her.

She was depressed. Not clinically depressed, but with all the drama in her life, she was feeling really down. She wandered
off
, not caring where she was going. She just wanted an escape, just for one night.

Now, she was beginning to understand how Carter felt.

The loud roar of the racers cars soon came into earshot.
She looked up and saw Carter and Deangelo in the lead. It was close – Deangelo kept taking over Carter, then Carter would push ahead and take over Deangelo.

Despite Kaitlyn’s earlier teasing, she didn’t really want De to win. She wanted Carter to win, same as always.
It was hard to let go of the love she still had for him.

She stood on the sidewalk, waiting with baited breath for one of them to cross the finishing line.

Time seemed to slow down to a crawl as Carter crossed the finish line before Deangelo, winning by an inch. She felt like jumping up and down, screaming in ecstasy, but wouldn’t even allow herself a grin.

When the boys climbed out of their cars, both looked over at Kaitlyn. Carter had
hope
written all over his face, clear as day, but Deangelo looked furious.

De turned around and kicked his car, slamming his fists on the roof. He was furious, thinking that he’d lost his chance with Kaitlyn.

He hadn’t. Kaitlyn glared at Carter, masking her joy that he’d won. She jogged over to Deangelo and pushed him flat against his car, grabbing him by the neck and bringing his
lips down to meet hers.

De was stunned for a moment, before eagerly moving his lips against her, kissing her back with such fervour that it caught
her off guard. She gasped, and his tongue delved into her mouth, teasing her.

As his hands roamed her body, she realised that he was taking it too far. They were in public, and
what they were doing was just too much. She wasn’t loose; she had standards.

“De, stop,” she murmured. “Not here. Why don’t we go back to your place?”

He pulled away.
“Why not?
Carter’s over there shooting daggers at me for kissing his girl, so maybe we should take this somewhere else.”

He let go of her and climbed into the driver’s seat
. She walked around the front of his car to go to the passenger side, but Carter was waiting for her, holding the door shut.

“Don’t do this, Katie,” he pleaded.
“Don’t go with him.”

She scowled. “Butt out, dickhead, I don’t need your opinion.”

“Katie,” he begged. “Don’t go. Come home with me.”

She slapped him. Neither of them saw it coming. His head snapped to the side and he touched his cheek disbelievingly. Carter had never thought that Kaitlyn would hit him, no matter how angry she got. She would always just get even.

This was a new side to her.

Kaitlyn stared at her hand in shock for a brief moment, before returning to scowling.

“You deserved it,” she snapped irritably. “Butt out.”

Carter wanted to cry. He wanted to wrap Katie in his arms and never let go. Even though they had a strange relationship,
deep down, he knew she was The One. He wanted to apologise, and take his time doing it.

Seeing the hatred in her eyes, he stepped away, allowing her room to get in the car. That didn’t stop him from pleading with her one last time, though.

“Baby, please,
don’t
go with De. You don’t know him like I do. He’s just going to use you, and he’ll hurt you during the process. Don’t leave, not with him. Please.”

Kaitlyn felt sick. Carter was a good guy, and he let others do what they want. He wouldn’t warn people off someone without good reason.

“Is there something I don’t know?” she asked quietly.

Carter was about to reply, when there was a knocking on the window. Deangelo had got sick of waiting.

“You coming or not?” he demanded.

With one last look at Carter, she turned around and opened the car door. She got in his car and they roared off, leaving their world behind them. Everything felt so surreal, and Kaitlyn knew that she would heed Carter’s warning. She would be on her guard, ready for anything.

Carter was worried about Kaitlyn. He and Deangelo went way back, and he knew things about De that no one else knew. De was dangerous, and Kaitlyn was only going to get hurt.

Not many p
eople knew about Estella
C
arboni
. It was only by chance that Carter even knew about her.

Estella was De’s daughter, and she died when she was only few months old. De got into a temper, and while his then gi
rlfriend, Alana, was holding Estella
, he attacked
her
. He’d lunged at her, attempting to beat and strangle her.

Estella died.
Alana ended up in hospital, in critical condition.
She didn’t last long before dying from her injuries.

The post mortem determined that Estella died from head injuries, due to being dropped.

De had fled from Sydney, Australia, to Auckland, New Zealand.
Here, he was hiding.

But De’s past was not what Carter was worried about. He was worried about Kaitlyn. She was angry and hurting, more than
he thought she would.

And now she was going overboard. Hooking up with De was a mistake, and Carter wished he’d been able to stop her.

He didn’t want her to get hurt.

Meanwhile, Kaitlyn was pinned underneath Deangelo
, as his sweaty hands roamed her body. He was pushing her tops up with one hand, and attempting to pull down her leather pants with the other.

“De, no,” she murmured. “Stop it.”

He stopped kissing her neck for a moment. “But I thought you wanted this, Katie,” he whispered in mock sadness.

She squirmed. “Not like this, De.”

He pouted. “Come on, Katie, aren’t you having fun?”

She tried to sit up. “No De, not anymore.”

He frowned, and his face darkened in anger. “Too bad, Katie baby. You wanted to play, and we’re doing it
my
way.”

She suddenly felt scared. No, scared was an understatement; she was terrified. She tried to struggle, even attempted to scream, but Deangelo
slammed a hand over her mouth and used his other forearm to cut off
her airway.

“Can’t breathe,” she choked. De growled.

“Shut it. If you scream, it’ll be that much worse for you.”

Kaitlyn believed him. She wished she’d never gotten in the car with him. She wished that she’d listened to Carter, and stayed away. It was only her need to feel wanted that drove her to De.

Now, she was feeling worse than before. She just wanted Carter.

She wanted her mum.

She wanted her dad.

As she cried silently,
Deangelo did his thing. She pretended it was happening to someone else. She didn’t want to remember any of this in the morning.

When it was over, De rolled over and went to sleep. She silently got up from the bed, picked up her clothes,
dressed and then left the room. She tiptoed out of the house and pulled out her phone. No signal.

She bit her lip, willing herself not to cry.
She walked to the end of the cul-de-sac
and gripped her phone tightly in her hand. She checked again, but still no service.

She couldn’t phone her dad, which was obvious; she didn’t have
a
signal.

But she
did
recognise the area she was in. She was in Manurewa East, not far from Carter’s place. She could easily walk there.

So she did.

It was chilly, as it often was at two in the morning. It was dark, and definitely not a starry night. It was cloudy and oppressive, just like the feeling in her chest.

Her tears warmed her cheeks but blurred her vision, and she felt like she was being followed
. She couldn’t tell if she
really
was
, or if it was just a feeling. Either way, she hurried her steps, realising that as she did, the noise of her
feet hitting the ground increased. This didn’
t worry her; she was too scared to slow down.

In five minutes, she had managed to reach Carter’s house, and she frantically pounded on the door
. Her heart was hammering, tears were streaming down her face, her eyes were burning from the cold, and her breath was caught in her throat.

“Carter!” she screamed. “Carter, please!”

She was banging hard on the door
, hoping like hell that he was home and praying that no one had followed her.

Luckily, the door flew open underneath her fist, and strong arms pulled her inside the house.

She heard the door slam shut behind her
, and the lock clicking into place.

Carter’s arms wrapped protectively around her and he pulled her to his chest. Instead of talking to her, asking the dumb question
s, he picked her up and carried her to his bedroom. He then deposited her on his bed and lay down with her. She was
s
till wrapped in his arms, and he let her cry.

Eventually, Kaitlyn fell asleep in Carter’s arms, and he gently removed himself from her vice-like grip. He was furious. No, furious was too soft a word. His blood was boiling
. He knew exactly who had hurt Kaitlyn, and how. The rips in Kaitlyn’s clothing said it all. De had forced himself on Katie.

Carter went over to his dresser and opened the top drawer. In there was a change of clothes for Katie. He’d taken some clothes out of the wardrobe
before he’d dumped her, keeping
them because they were what he loved to see her in the most. No, the clothes weren’t her usual style of sexy and slutty, but they were the things she was most comfortable in, and when she was comfortable, she was happiest.

As was he.

He went into the bathroom and hung the clothes over the heated towel rail. He
also added one of his new towels that he’d bought a couple of days ago.

It was light now, around nine in the morning. He debated whether to wake Kaitlyn up now, and decided to do it. Yes, she needed to sleep, but she also needed to wake up and have a shower, to scrub off the dirty remnants of Deangelo’s hands.

He crawled onto the bed next to her and brushed her hair away from her face.

She’s so beautiful
, he thought admiringly.

He cupped her cheek and tenderly kissed her on the lips. Back when they were happy, this was the best way to wake her up. Hopefully, she’
d remember this and wake up.

She didn’t wake up immediately, but Carter could tell she was slowly awakening by the way her eyelids danced.

“Baby, it’s time to wake up,” he said quietly. “Come on, wake up, Katie.”

She groaned and rolled over onto her back. Her eyes flickered and she blinked quickly. The sun hurt her eyes and she hastily raised a hand to shield them.

“Carter?” she asked tiredly. “What am I doing here?”

He moved away. “You came here last night. You were screaming and crying, saying Deangelo hurt you.”

Katie frowned. “I don’t remember. Or at least, I don’t
want
to remember.”

He sighed and softly kissed her again. “I know. I also know you’re probably still tired, but I’ve put clothes in the bathroom
and a towel, so you can go have a nice warm shower while I make breakfast. Believe it or not, I actually have food in the fridge.”

She laughed. “Now
that
I’d like to see, but you’re right, a shower is exactly what I need right now.”

Carter smiled. “I knew it. Hurry up and get in there, and I’ll have breakfast ready when you’re done.
Any preference?”

“Eggs!”

Carter laughed. “Marcus told me about your fascination with eggs.
Every morning, in any way, shape or form.”

Kaitlyn grinned. “
Yeah,
definitely, I love eggs.”

He smiled. “I hope you like scrambled, because that’s all I can do.”

She laughed again, but her laugh was almost instantly replaced by a frown. “Where did we go so wrong, Carter?” she asked unhappily.