I catch her at the front door, snatch her by the wrists, throw her over my shoulder, and carry her screaming and crying back to the couch. She’s kicking at my chest as I toss her down beneath me, but it doesn’t take much to pin her down and immobilize her.
“Stop it,” I say simply. “No one can hear you. You’re just wasting your breath.”
It takes her a second, but she gets the message and quiets down. My heart is killing me. I’ve been wounded many times throughout my life, but I’ve never known this kind of pain before.
“I knew it. Now you’re kidnapping me—”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” I snap. “I’m not kidnapping you, Billie. I’m saving you.”
“Saving me,” she scoffs, turning her eyes away. Even now when she’s furious with me, she’s absolutely gorgeous.
“Three, five, four, five,” I say.
“What?”
“There’s a safe in the bedroom closet. That’s the code to open it. It has all the money you will ever need for the rest of your life. I’ll leave you now, angel. I’m going to sort this whole thing out. You’ll see. Because you are my everything, angel. I’m nothing without you.”
She scoffs again, but when I stand, she doesn’t run for the door. In fact, as I stand and look down at her, I catch her glancing back at me out of the corner of my eyes.
“Stay here, Billie. Stay safe. Finish your book. And I will prove that you can trust me. I promise.”
And then I turn my back on her, but not for long. I’ll return. And when I do, I will bring my angel the perfect heaven she deserves.
Billie
Five months later…
“And as the sun set over the mountains, they fell asleep in each other’s arms, wrapped in love, both knowing they had found the one person in life they could truly trust.”
With an enormous smile and a huge sigh of relief, I click save and lean back in my chair, staring at my laptop.
It’s finished. Gage My Love for You is finished.
Part of me can’t believe it. Given what happened and how we left things, I wasn’t sure whether or not I’d be able to finish the book I started when I first met Gage. But there was something inside of me that just wouldn’t let me quit. Since he walked out that door five months ago, I’ve been typing away, writing and re-writing, but today is finally the day that I’m able to say that I’m done. It’s done.
I’m smiling as I get up and go into the kitchen to make myself a cup of jasmine tea, but as the water starts to boil, I feel that same hint of sadness I’ve been fighting to push back these last few months rear its head like some kind of hideous spider-bear hybrid monster.
Why now? I should be celebrating by ordering ramen and snuggling up on the couch watching Netflix for the rest of the day. But now that the book is done, all I can think about is Gage and the promise he made me. It’s been five months now since he walked out that door after claiming he would fix everything, prove that I could trust him, and make everything all better. Five months, and I haven’t seen or heard a thing from him.
Could he have been lying the whole time?
But why? Why would he lie about that and essentially give me this incredible house? Is it possible something happened to him? He’s strong and he’s fast, but he’s not Superman. Bullets do hurt him. I should know. I cleaned up one of his wounds myself.
I hate Gage.
I hate the way I love him so damn much. I hate the way I still don’t trust him, the way I’m still afraid of him because I don’t understand his world, where he is now, or how despite all of these things I’m worried about him.
And I hate the fact that now I’m terrified that his child might grow up without a father.
I reach down and run my hand across my stomach. There’s no question about it anymore. I’m pregnant. Not only have I missed my period several times, but there’s a baby bump that anyone would notice. Not only that, but I’ve started having what they call pregnancy cravings too. My taste buds have gone absolutely haywire. I’m eating things that would gross most people out, I’m sure. Pickles with peanut butter and mustard with Oreos are two of my favorites. In fact, I can put mustard on basically anything these days and enjoy it.
I wish I had someone around to share all of this with. My parents are long gone, and now Gage is gone too. I know I have what it takes to raise this child on my own, but I don’t want that. I want to give my child what I didn’t have—a strong, complete, loving family where they can feel safe and know they have people around them they can rely on.