Unbeautifully Loved (Breathe Again) (40 page)

In his hands he held a familiar square box wrapped in black shiny paper.

Shit. Shit.
Shit.

This had got to be some sick, fucking joke.

I felt like I’d been kicked in the gut again as I sucked in a breath. “
You
, it’s been
you
this whole time, sending me things,” I murmured, trying to come to grips with this whole situation.

Lukas was right.

Fuck,
everyone
had been right. They all warned me and what did I do? I ignored them and invited him into our lives.

He didn’t say anything. Just stalked over to me and held the box out to me. “Open it,” he snapped.

I flinched, sending my body into a pain frenzy. “I can’t.” I quickly said biting through the pain.

“
I said
open it
,” he bellowed, his voice echoing off the bare walls.

I flinched again, trying to move away from him only to cry out in pain. “I can’t, something’s wrong with my arm, and my other one is a little tied up.”

I watched as his eyes looked down at my arm then up to the one cuffed. He didn’t say anything only started ripping the paper off the box. The black paper finished fluttering to the ground followed by the top of the box. I saw the white tissue paper inside and instantly prayed it wasn’t what I thought it was.

I watched as the box fell to the floor then saw that he was holding a silver frame in his hands and I knew exactly, when he turned it around, what I’d be looking at. I held my breath as he turned it around in what felt like slow motion and I saw the picture it held. It was the one that had been in my room, the one of Finn and me.

Lukas was right.

It’s been Erik this whole time.

“You broke into my house?” I asked in complete shock.

He turned the picture back around and studied it. “Finn’s a great kid; you raised him well but he needs a father figure in his life. Every kid needs someone they can look up to.”

He couldn’t be for real.

I blinked as I looked at him, taken back by what he said. “You actually think that’s
you
? That I’d let
you
anywhere near
him
, let alone be a
father
figure to him,” I said dryly, just utterly disgusted.

“You already did, or did you forget all the time I spent with Finn when you were working or when I was at the house,” he replied smugly, his eyes never leaving the picture as he spoke.

“Where is he? Where’s Mollie? Are they okay?” I panicked.

“Of course they’re okay, Mollie’s too stupid to know anything was ever up. Great lay but not too bright. But they’re both where you left them, at Lukas’ place,” he said, his eyes coming to mine and I felt like with each look, a piece of me died inside. “At least for now, anyways.”

“For now?” I breathed out

“We’ll get Finn shortly and then the three of us will take off far away from here,” he stated nonchalantly.

Dread filled me and I couldn’t talk about Finn anymore. Just seeing him in the picture hurt. “You didn’t answer me. You broke into my house?” I asked changing the topic.

“I think you know the answer to that question,” he said softly, his mood completely altered from a few moments before.

“That was you, in my bed, and who put all the flowers in there. You’ve been watching me this whole time, even while dating Mollie?” I finally became conscious of everything, feeling completely violated and disgusted. “How… why’d you do it?” I didn’t want to know but there was a part of me that had to know.

“Same way I got you here. I popped a little sleeping pill in Mollie’s
drink and sent her off to la la land. Unlike you, she drank the whole drink and was out. Stupid bitch never knew a thing,” he smirked.

Fucking, crazy ass bastard.

“Oh my God, you’re crazy, you’re insanely crazy. Breaking into my house, watching me, drugging my friend God knows
how
many times,
sleeping
or whatever in my bed and it’s all for what exactly?” I felt sick to my stomach.

“For you, I already told you. The moment I saw you, I needed you to be mine and you feel the same way. I know you knew I was watching you; every time your eyes scanned the area they came across mine and for that small split second we shared; you enjoyed it. I know you felt it,” he said as he sat down next to me, his hand resting on the side of my face, his thumb brushing over my cheek.

His touch made my skin crawl.

I tried to shake him off. “When we met, Erik, I thought we agreed to be friends, that you understood where I was coming from.”

His eyes icy glare stared at me. “That night in the bar wasn’t the first time I saw you.”

I was confused. “When you came to town, that Thursday I think it was, was when we first met.”

His cringe worthy laugh echoed in the room. “We’ll get back to
that
,” he said.

He was making me sick to my stomach with his touch and his presence next to me. I wanted to close my eyes and be able to rewind back and listen to Lukas. “Erik, just let me go, please. I wanna go home to Finn and L–”

“
Don’t say his fucking name
,” he barked, his hand striking me across the face hard as I let out a yell.

Pushing everything aside, I welcomed the anger that boiled up inside me.

I was tired of having men take their hands to me. Ones who made me feel weak and worthless. Knowing what I was about to say to him would set him off and probably make things worse, though I wasn’t sure how, I couldn’t begin to care or stop myself.

“I’m with him, I always will be, Erik. I’d never be with someone like
you
, not after all this, and I’d never let
you
be any kind of figure to Finn. If anyone is, it’s
Lukas,
” I shouted through the pain, tears clouding my eyes.

The bed shifted under me as Erik stood to his feet. Looking at him his body was rigid with anger and his free hand balled into a tight fist, his knuckles looking ready to pop. He looked at the picture in his hands then at me with his cold dead eyes. “That’s what
you
think,
Lex.
”

He hurled the frame against the wall; glass shattered and flew everywhere as the frame hit the ground with a clatter. He turned, stalked towards the door, flicking the lights off and slamming the door behind him; leaving me in the darkness.

Fuck.

What did I do?

I fell in and out of consciousness, waking from dreams about Lukas, Finn and Mollie. Being with them, laughing, and feeling their loving warmth around me. But each time my eyes opened I was back in a cold, dark room that was starting to feel more like a tiny hole. Unbearable pain surfed through me. I could no longer feel or move my wrist. The cuff grew tight and had dug into my skin, cutting me anytime I moved.

The door burst open, and banged against the wall, bright light flashed in as Erik stood in the doorway; his dead menacing eyes on me. He’d changed out of the clothing he’d been wearing earlier and into fresh clean ones; he looked almost normal. If you were to pass him on the street, you might not think crazy ass psycho who clearly has mommy issues.

“You’re awake,” he crossed his arms over his chest.

“Boy, you’re a smart one,” I said hoarsely.

I wanted to throw something at him, but there wasn’t anything other than my words and I barely had the energy for that. I lifted my head slightly off the bed. My right eye was almost swollen shut while the other only opened half way. “What day is it?” I whispered my throat feeling like I swallowed a double sided sword.

“Early Friday.”

Friday?

“How long have I been here?”

He shrugged his shoulders slightly, “Close to fifteen hours I think.”

That’s it?

It felt like I’d been cuffed to the bed longer, and that I hadn’t seen Finn, Mollie or Lukas for days.

Fifteen hours.

I’d been in hell for fifteen hours, a hell like I’d experienced with Dex; so far Dex and Erik seemed to be cut from the same cloth. Then it dawned on me, and I remembered back to when I first met Erik, and how he seemed familiar to me in a way I couldn’t place. But now, looking at him standing just feet away from me I saw it. I saw the resemblance between the two.

They almost had the same hair color, their eyes were close; both icy blue and dull. They had a similarity in the way they held themselves, the way their grins slyly spread across their lips but never reaching their eyes and hearing Erik talk to me reminded me of Dex.

I should have been startled but I wasn’t. When Erik and I met, he wasn’t anything like he was now; he had put up a facade and completely blinded me.

He caught my attention as he made his way across the room to the side of the bed. His cold, coarse hands slithered over my hair, brushing pieces that were caked in blood and stuck to my face off to the side, and then down the side of my face over the bruise. My body stilled at his touch, the once subtle ache in my head no longer as my eyes snapped shut and I tried moving my head away from his contact.

His hand ran down my side, lingering briefly against the side of my breast before gliding up my naked arm. I felt movement around my wrist, he tugged it and I cried out in pain as my hand fell, finally free. I tried shaking him away as his hand was again lingering at the side of my breast, brushing the side. His hand skimmed down my side, over my hips, and his fingers lifted the hem of my shirt and flattened over my bare stomach; I again tried to recoil.

“
Fuck
. I’ve been waiting to feel you under my touch. You have no idea how hard I became as I watched you, picturing you underneath me,” his voice was hoarse, his eyes wandering over my body dancing with a sick desire.

I was repulsed by his words, “You really are sick, you know that. Watching me, stalking me; you need serious help Erik,” I said disgusted at the thought of being the slightest bit intimate with him. “Like straight jacket and white padded room kinda help.”

His hand shot to my arm, gripping it tightly above the elbow as he pulled me to a sitting position, and the room started to spin. “Time for your surprise. You see, I had this all planned out but watching you and Lukas the other night, in his room fucking, I knew I had to move things–”

“You were watching Lukas and me?” I whispered, my stomach-churning.

“Yeah I watched you fuck him,” he said his voice husky.

“Oh, my God,” I groaned, feeling violated and revolted. “I should have listened to everyone.”

“As I was saying, since I had to move quickly you didn’t get the last gift and I had to wait until now to give you your surprise; I had to go... pick it up,” he spit out, his voice sounding grave.

Oh God, Finn.

“What did you do?” I breathed out looking up at him, my heart pounding against my chest.

His hand tightened around my arm, “You’ll see, I think you’re going to love it.” A wicked grin spread across his face as he pulled me to my feet.

I felt like I was standing on pins and needles. My feet bare and frozen, my legs shook, knees knocking as I stood and they felt like they were going to snap and give out. I swayed to the side ready to crumble to the ground but Erik’s grip held me upright, his fingers digging into my arm pinching my skin.

What’s one more bruise?

He started to pull me towards the open door, my eyes squinting, trying to adjust to the light. He was dragging me along at his side, my ribs throbbing made it hard to breathe and my broken wrist cradled into my chest. I didn’t know where he was taking me and I didn’t have any strength to fight him off and make a run for it. So I let him pull me taking me wherever, knowing it wasn’t going to be good.

Please God, don’t let him have Finn.

Please.

“Where are we going?” I asked looking around at my surroundings, nothing was familiar.

“Almost there, then you can get excited.” He slid a look my way, grinning excitedly as a child on Christmas morning.