Vengeful Heart: Fighting Heart Erotic Bad Boy Romance Series Book 3 (10 page)

“Suspended. Until further notice. But if you somehow manage to stay on here, Tom, it’ll be by the skin of your bloody teeth.  I’ve had enough. Let’s adjourn.”

There was a tangible mixture of repulsion, shock and disgust in the room. But I also knew there was relief. Temporary relief only. For Tom Ridgley, there was a chance he would keep his job. Brandon Lynes would be forced to leave the college. But maybe only for a time. He knew too many people and had too much influence, whatever the outcome here. My relief would only be temporary at best, because once Brandon got over the hurricane that was about to hit him, he would come for me. And now I doubted there would be a Professor Ridgley to help me ever again. Tom had too much to lose by getting close. And Bonnie Davis, what could she really do against the likes of Brandon Lynes? For now I wanted to stick with my feeling of relief. And now I wanted to find Cody and tell him that it was all finally over. But I wondered if he would even hear me.

Cody heard the knocking from the kitchen while preparing dinner. Joanna was due to visit tonight. Whether Joanna stayed over depended on whether his flat was tidy enough to accommodate a lady of her fine tastes, and whether his version of Italian food was up to the mark. Pasta Puttanesca was hard to get wrong, but Cody knew if there was a way to screw up a recipe, he’d find it. Two telephone calls from Indian call centres had already interrupted his preparations, and now there was the knock at the door. What now? He wiped his hands on the tea towel and stomped out of his tiny kitchen through his miniature one bed flat to reach the door. His mouth fell open as wide as the door when he opened it, his heart slammed against his chest and he found himself speechless, pinging between at least three opposing feelings. Joy to see Ashley, anger at her audacity, and upset at her timing. He watched her waver as she saw the successive emotions roll across his face.

“Hi Cody. Is this a bad time?”

He watched her eyes peer over his shoulder. She was looking for Joanna, the woman she believed he was to marry.

“No, not too bad a time. I’m cooking dinner. I’m expecting a guest later.”

“Joanna?”

“Yeah, Joanna.”

There was silence.

“Come in. Welcome to my humble abode.”

He watched her take it all in. The plain white walls given personality with his art and posters. The stacks of books. The writer’s desk crammed in the front room alongside his TV and iPod dock speakers.

“You’re cooking, for Joanna…”

“Um, yes.”

He felt awkward, and was annoyed about it.

“You know, I would have cooked for you too if I had the chance.”

Ashley blushed and looked away for a second.  Cody winced at himself.

“I came here to tell you something, Cody. Something important.”

Anxiety quickly crept in on Cody.

“What?”

“I’ve been to see Dean Mayhew with Professor Cantor and the Student welfare people.”

“And?”

“Brandon Lynes is going to be taken off the course. More important though, they now believe that Brandon had been psychologically and emotionally abusing me… I know that sounds a little over the top…”

“Over the top? That’s exactly what he was doing! And Dean Mayhew went along with that? I thought he was in the Brandon Lynes fan club!”

“He is. He just didn’t have any choice in the matter.”

“What do you mean?”

“I had an argument with Brandon the other night. I goaded him a little, because I needed to get some evidence of his behaviour. I recorded him and played it to Cantor and the Dean…”

Cody saw the pained look on Ashley’s face. He waited for it.

“I didn’t mean to goad Brandon that much. He got carried away.”

“Don’t you dare make excuses for him, Ashley! What did he do?”

“He tried to rape me.” She blurted, then watched Cody’s face go pale, and then flare with anger.

“That sick, evil son of a bitch. I told you to get out of there, didn’t I?”

“You did. You did. But what you just said about him being sick, being evil… they think he’s having some kind of break down, which is the reason for the suspension. But the good news is this part. The college are going to help me locate new accommodation and support me to ‘recover’ from all this. That means I’m finally out from under him, Cody. It’s finished. I’m free.”

Cody smiled, but stayed calm. He wished he could celebrate.

“That’s great Ashley… really great.” He remembered her leaving him in York. Watching her leave with Brandon, the man who had just beaten him hard. He remembered the days of feeling empty and broken before he succumbed to Joanna’s kisses… At least Joanna had given him something. He looked at her again with guarded eyes.

“Professor Ridgley must be very happy.”

“Ridgley and me was a near miss…” she said, in a half lie. The relationship was a no-go, the sex a great one-time deal, never to be repeated. Ridgley wanted his job too much and Ashley already knew what she wanted. He was standing in front of her.

“A near miss. Does he see it that way?”

“The Prof is being suspended too, but Dean Mayhew dropped him a carrot. I think he’ll never mess up again.”

Cody sighed. “I’m pleased for you, Ashley.”

“Yeah. I was just wondering
how
pleased…” She looked into his eyes and waited. Cody felt her probing look, and a swirl of emotion twisted up in his body and mind. Her sweet lips, the sensation of her body, the pleasure of being inside her, the shared joy of her delight. And then he thought of the pain she’d caused him, and it was equally intense.

“Very pleased, Ashley. You can start over…”

“What about us? Can we start over?”

Wow. She actually said it
. Cody put his arms back behind his head to cushion the shock and to buy a few seconds thinking time.

“Joanna is due round in half an hour, Ashley, and I don’t want to hurt her feelings. I’m just not the kind of guy who toys with people like that.”

“And I am, is that it?”

Cody shook his head. “I didn’t say that, Ash.”

“Joanna’s a big girl, Cody. If you still wanted me, we could work it out…”

“Ashley… I can’t do that…”

“Fine. Absolutely fine,” said Ashley, throwing up a hand. “Please just forget I ever asked. I want to stop embarrassing myself right now. Promise me you’ll never mention this to me again, okay? It didn’t happen.”

“Ashley?!” said Cody, feeling a jab of regret hit his heart. “Don’t be like that, please.”

“I’m a survivor, Cody. That’s the way it’s got to be. Enjoy your dinner.”

Ashley turned towards the door and started walking, her body racked with sadness and raw emotion which she didn’t want on show.

“Ashley, please don’t go like this.”

“No, you’re right,” Ashley turned, and pulled her blonde hair from her face. Cody loved the way she did that thing with her hair – he always did. His eyes glazed with nostalgia and longing. “I don’t want to leave like that either. We’re still friends, right?”

“We’ll always be friends, Ash.”

“Yeah. Friends… and I’ll still need your help, Cody. I don’t think the danger from Brandon is over yet. In some respects I think the next forty-eight hours could be the most dangerous. Think about it. He could do anything. He’ll be insanely angry.”

“Name it, if I can do it, I’ll do it.”

Ashley took a seat and he made her a drink. They started talking, just chit-chat to thaw the ice. But they forgot the clock and Cody’s visitor appeared on time.

Dinner was an awkward affair. Joanna Laws came in dressed like dessert. She wore a short red dress with a low neck line and a high hemline which showed all her finest curves. Cody watched the girls evaluate each other and quietly cringed, making excuses to go and get the wine glasses. An awkward dinner was going to have to stretch to three.

“Oh, I didn’t expect to see
you
here…” said Joanna, handing Cody a bottle of champagne on his way out. “I didn’t expect to see you here,
at all.”

“Ashley came here to share some news and ask us for some help, that’s all. Look, I’ve got to go and finish dinner. Can you explain, Ash?”

Cody made for the kitchen and wiped his brow in relief as soon as he got through the door. He served the dinner, small portions of steaming spaghetti with rich dark sauce heaped in the middle. He tore up some French bread, put it in a bowl and walked back into his little front room. He saw Joanna seated like a glamour model on his sofa with her shapely legs crossed, nodding and listening to Ashley while striking a distinct pose that said I’m the queen here. They were engrossed in conversation about college, about Brandon, about everything else but their most obvious issue. Each other and Cody Barnes.

“Of course Cody and I will help. Only, I don’t think we can help tonight, can we Cody?” said Joanna, making a coquettish face with a glint in her eye. She looked up at Cody, her body angled at precisely the right way to make it appeal. Inwardly, Ashley rolled her eyes.

“I didn’t expect your help tonight, Joanna. But like I said. The man’s dangerous. I just needed your advice and maybe to use your knowledge about his violent behaviour. Who knows, the college may need some other voices to back me up if the Dean starts back-sliding. Besides, it’s not all about the college. There’s a lot of time for danger outside of college hours.”

“Yes. The man’s a monster, and you’re so much better off without him,” said Joanna. “And I hear you’ve moved on too.”

Oh, it was cringe worthy. They were like cats with their claws barely sheathed. And now she’d incriminated Cody. Ashley looked at Cody then back at Joanna.

“News travels fast, doesn’t it? But no, Joanna. That’s not true. I’m a free agent.”

“Oh well. Plenty more fish in the sea and all that.”

“Hey, forget my plate, Cody. I think you guys had best eat it. There’s definitely a crowd, right?”

Joanna didn’t say a word. She just batted her eyelids.

“Ashley…” said Cody.

“Let the girl go. She wants to celebrate her freedom, I’m sure, don’t you, Ashley?”

“Of course I do,” said Ashley, with no joy whatsoever.

“I’ll be glad of any help you can offer. Especially you, Cody. I’m going to need a friend in the next few days and weeks.”

The women made a weak smile at each other and said goodbye. Cody walked her to the door.

“Stay safe, okay, Ashley? I’m going to call you first thing. Really, you should stay with us.”

“I’ve been called a glutton for punishment before, Cody, but really, staying the night around here would be a step too far.”

Cody blushed.

“Anyway, Cody. You stay safe too. I think she’s going to eat you.”

Her face became cocky with the old fun in her eyes which he’d grown to love. He smiled and waved as she walked down the stairs of the hallway between the apartments. He waited and heard the door shut and then he sighed and looked down the hallway. At the end of the hall Joanna Laws stood framed in the doorway, her hip turned against the wall. She sipped champagne and looked at him with eyes that spoke volumes.

“We
can
help her right?” said Cody.

“Yes, yes, in the morning. But right now I’m more concerned about helping you.”

Cody grinned. Joanna was temptation incarnate. Their relationship was exciting and different. It wasn’t as deep as boyfriend and girlfriend, and it was nowhere near marriage. Joanna called it ‘testing things out’ and so far they’d tested each other three times. But the depths of satisfaction had been deeper with Ashley, then the depths of hurt and rejection had been deeper still. As he considered these things, Joanna Laws walked the length of the hallway and wrapped him in her arms. Dinner was going to have to wait. It was time for another test… but if being with Ashley had been a test, that first night in the York hotel room had given them all the evidence they’d ever need. He couldn’t let it go. He had never wanted to. But the hurt that followed the sweetness was more than he could bear. In time, he guessed, his indulgences with Joanna would become much more… wouldn’t they?

I had absolutely nowhere to go after Cody’s place. Nowhere I wanted to go at least. Brandon’s place was where I had been laying my head. I guessed college bureaucracy would mean Brandon would probably not hear of his suspension for at least a day or so. I had the same expectation of the help the college was going to provide me. Bonnie Davis seemed to be a good egg, but the academic world moved to a very slow beat. I walked away from Cody’s place feeling angry at the world, upset that it wasn’t me with him in there getting ready for a night of wining, dining and romance. Something had gone badly wrong along the way and I just didn’t know how to fix it. I crossed the street and walked half a block away and for some reason I looked back forlornly at Cody’s place. I wished I hadn’t. My roaming eyes found Cody’s window on the second floor. I only knew it was his by the image of two lovers embracing, their bodies set against the brassy light from within. I saw her red dress and I knew she wouldn’t be wearing it for long. I looked away, distraught, my life out of kilter and full of unknowns.  But even then I felt something powerful within me - I felt a resounding determination to win him back. I knew there was a connection between us still. He
cared
about me. He wanted me to be safe. I knew he was going to be with Joanna Laws that night… but Cody was mine and I would take him from her if I could. Like I said to Cody, Joanna was woman enough to take it. She had almost ten years on me, a marriage and a divorce behind her, so she knew how the game went. It was winner takes all and the loser gets to roll again for another guy. Right there and then I was in pieces, but when I was settled, I was going to come back strong.

But ambitions have to overcome reality. The reality was my life was uncertain. I had powerful enemies. But I couldn’t give in to fear. I had to welcome my reality, accept it, deal with it step by step or I was going to end up as beaten as Amanda. And that wasn’t an option.  My reality was I had no true friends left at Smiths. Ridgley was a good man, but we had been burnt by our intimacy, and I knew he wouldn’t want to go there again. He was probably off limits as a friend too. Then there was Amanda. I was getting to trust her, but she was so frail. I doubt she even trusted herself, and there was a chance she would still rat and tell Brandon everything.

In my new step by step reality, I had to accept that right now, I had lost Cody. Love was a marathon, not a sprint. I wasn’t able to take on Joanna Laws there and then so I had to concentrate on getting myself together first. For some reason I thought about Amanda when I thought about myself. She was in pieces. Helping her stay strong and get her life fixed would give me someone I could trust. Helping the girl would also provide me with a distraction to forget about Cody’s fling with Joanna, until I was strong again. And helping Amanda get free of Brandon also meant a double helping of revenge. I wanted to bring him down hard. The guy had all but ruined my life, and if he could, I knew he would do even worse things when he found out what was about to happen to him.

I only went back to Brandon’s place that night to give Amanda assurance that I still had a plan and that she was included. I couldn’t tell her a thing about what was coming and she clearly didn’t know. Which meant Brandon didn’t know either, thank God. That night was one of the tensest of my life. I watched television in trepidation of what could happen any moment. But when I saw Brandon he seemed to be in silent remorse mode. He peered at me as if he was going to say sorry. But I wouldn’t make eye contact and the apology never came.

There was nothing to say to Amanda, not with Luke or Brandon present. There was nobody in the world who knew what I was feeling or what I was going through. Nobody apart from one man, because he was going through the same. Professor Ridgley. But Tom was off limits. Totally Verboten. Late in the darkness, when I was finally sure Brandon wouldn’t try to hurt me, I succumbed to a fitful sleep.