Second Chance Mine, page 19
There was something about my little brother going to bat for his wife I couldn’t overlook. Cade was smart. He wouldn’t be married to psychopath without even knowing it.
“Then start talking. Because I can’t find anyone from Paige’s past that could be responsible, so who has your wife fucked over?”
He shrugged, shaking his head at me. “I honestly don’t know. I’ve been awake all night trying to get her to answer her fucking phone. Racking my brain over what is going on. I’m at a loss. You’ve been around Hayley. What enemies could she possibly have?”
Feeling completely out of control, I left him there. I needed a minute to think clearly. I was running on nothing but emotion and that was never a good thing. I didn’t recognize this man I’d become. All I knew was if something happened to Paige…
I shoved away the mere thought of it from my mind as Cade walked into the living room.
“Do your guards know she’s missing?”
“No.”
“Don’t you think that would be a good place to start?”
“No.”
“Okay, Adrian… I need you to actually answer my questions.”
“I am. If my guards were loyal, she wouldn’t be missing, Cade.”
He jerked back in understanding.
“Yeah, I have to come to terms with the fact I trusted someone I shouldn’t have with her life. I’ll deal with that shit later. Right now, we need to find her.” I hesitated for a second. “Because I can’t live without her anymore.”
“Holy shit…” he breathed out, shaking his head in disbelief. “You’re in love with her.”
“Cade…”
“No, you’re not getting out of this one.”
“We don’t have time for this.”
“Fuck you, Adrian! I’ve spent the last ten years feeling the guilt of your mistakes! And come to find out, it was for nothing? I’ve been living with this remorse of how could I let my own brother use my best friend? Like how did I not see it? How did I not stop it?”
“You saw what I wanted you to.”
“Then why the hell did you tell me you didn’t love her when you did? When you do?”
I fought to stay in the present with him.
But I couldn’t.
The spinning wheel of my memories played out in front of me and all I could do was beg for mercy.
The irony was not lost on me.
Thirty-One
Paige
Then: A few months later
“Are you scared?” Adrian questioned as I sat on the couch of their apartment.
I looked behind him through the glass sliders. “It’s really bad out there.”
“We’re in a concrete building.” He smiled reassuringly. “We couldn’t be in a safer place.”
“But we’re surrounded by windows.”
“We boarded them up.” He nodded to me. “Relax. Okay?”
I half smiled as Cade walked back into the living room with Hayley behind him.
“You still freaking out?”
I shrugged.
We were hunkered down and had been for the last couple of hours. A stage five hurricane was tearing its way through town. We were all natives of the gulf coast. We were used to storms like this, but…
This one felt different.
Or maybe it was my sixth sense knowing it’d eventually come this. To a place where Adrian and I couldn’t hide our love for each other anymore. All I was aware of was when I woke up that morning, there was a strong shift in the energy.
I felt it deep in my bones.
By the time I drove over to their apartment, most of the prep was complete. However, there was this thick tension in the air you could choke on if you paid attention.
It didn’t help we’d already lost power a couple of times, triggering my irrational fear of the dark. It wasn’t like I could jump into Adrian’s arms like I wanted to. I had to tough it out on my own.
All you could hear were the hundred mile an hour winds from the outside world, beating against the glass. Mother Nature wasn’t messing around, she was coming out swinging and taking names.
“I’ll be right back.”
I stood, hurrying toward the bathroom. Afraid to be alone. I shut the door behind me, leaving it unlocked. I think it was the fastest I’d ever gone before. Buckling up my pants, I was about to turn on the faucet to wash my hands when I heard a loud pop.
The next thing I knew, I was screaming, and Adrian was barging through the door. Looking like a mad man as he took me in arms. I immediately wrapped my body around his as if we were now one person. He carried me like that into the kitchen, and it was only then I realized my arm had a piece of glass in it.
Which only made me yell louder, crying hysterically while blood oozed out onto the floor.
“Shhh…shhh…my Cherry girl,” Adrian hushed in a gentle tone, completely remaining calm while I continued to freak the fuck out.
Gripping onto the sides of my face, he made me look him in the eyes. “Paige…” he lulled. “I need you to be my brave girl.”
My gaze went wide.
Bringing his lips close to mine, he rasped, “Can you do that for me?”
I think I nodded before I shut gaze, trying to find my happy place. I held onto Adrian’s voice as he fixed me right up. Unsure of how long I sat there. It could have been hours but were probably minutes as Adrian continued to express the sweetest things.
“You’re such a good girl, Paige,” he praised, close to my lips. Close enough to where I felt his breath on my mouth. “You’re forever my good girl.”
I smiled against his mouth.
“Don’t scare me like that again. Do you understand me?”
I nodded, unable to form words.
“Tell me,” he coaxed in a desperate tone. “I need to hear you say it.”
I opened my eyes to stare profoundly into his. “I understand.”
For a short moment in time, I saw his love staring back at me. Even if he had yet to say it, I knew he did. However, just as quickly as I saw it, he blinked, and it was gone.
Vanished.
Adrian Drake drew his shield of armor, and his expression went blank.
No emotions.
No words.
His love was now disguised as nothing. Which was far worse than hate.
I didn’t understand the sudden change of heart until Cade’s voice filled the room as if he was asking his question through a microphone…
“How long have you been fucking my best friend, Adrian?”
I swear that question echoed off the walls, resonating deep into my soul. It felt like it was a shot to my heart, and I whimpered upon the impact. Gripping onto the edge of the counter, I prayed I could hold myself up when all I wanted was to crumble to the floor and beg for more time with him.
My body trembled as I bowed my head, feeling the shame of Cade’s question.
Adrian backed away from me like my skin burned him or maybe it was my love that was having that effect on him. Either way it hurt like hell in this inferno we made for ourselves.
My tears fell onto the ground between us the further he stepped back away from me. He placed his hands in the pockets of his jeans. Almost like he was surrendering before the war had a chance to begin.
All of a sudden, they were a foot apart from one another. The two men I loved the most couldn’t have hated each other more than they did at that moment. The intensity radiating off of them was too much to bear.
I wanted to run to him.
To promise it would be okay.
I wouldn’t leave him.
I chose him.
Adrian…
I did none of those things. Instead, I sat there while the last year of my life played out in front of me.
All his smiles.
His laughs.
His touch.
His kisses on my neck.
It all blended together. Forming memories of a love I’d never feel again.
Cold, dark eyes stared back at me, sucking all the air from my lungs like it belonged to him.
With fists at his sides, Cade snarled, “Answer me, Adrian. How long?”
It was the first time I saw true rage my best friend murderous glare at his own flesh and blood.
What did you do, Paige?
Before Adrian replied, I spoke out, “Please, Cade, don’t do this…”
Not turning to look at me, Cade spewed, “Stay out of this, Paige.”
“Please… Cade… I’m begging you…” I pleaded with everything inside of me.
He didn’t listen. I didn’t expect him to, but I had to try.
How is this happening? How can I stop it?
“This is between me and my brother.” When Cade shoved Adrian, I knew there’d be no getting through to him.
I lost.
Game over.
“Cade,” Adrian clenched through a tight jaw. “Don’t fucking touch me, man.”
“That’s what you respond? That’s what you’re concerned about?” He pushed him harder. “My hands on you?”
He barely waved, pissing Cade off more.
“Stand down, Cade. I don’t want to hurt you.”
He cocked his head to the side. “Don’t you think you’re a little last for that? The one thing that was mine you had to take away from me. Why?”
The desperation in Cade’s voice was crippling.
I hated that I hurt him. This wasn’t all Adrian’s fault.
“Cade, I don’t know what you want me to say.”
“The fucking truth!” Cade slammed him up against the wall and I loudly gasped.
“How long have you been fucking her?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Oh, really? That you fucked my best friend? You mean that doesn’t matter?”
“Cade, I’m not going to warn you again. Get your hands off me.”
As soon as the last word flew out of Adrian’s mouth, Cade was already swinging. His fist landed right across Adrian’s jaw, whooshing his head to the side.
“No!” I yelled, jumping off the counter.
I ran to Adrian.
Except, he stopped me dead in my tracks with his lethal stare in my direction.
“Don’t,” he demanded.
I wanted to fall apart.
How could he deny me?
My heart was breaking.
Shattering right in front of him.
And all I could see…
All I could feel.
Was nothing from him.
“Adrian, please don’t do this…” I begged with tears streaming down my face.
“Out of all the women you could’ve fucked?” Cade spit poison. “Why her? Huh? The one thing that’s mine and you have to steal from me.”
I shook my head, glancing over at him.
Hayley was holding him back by gripping his arm. The sympathy she felt for us was evident in her expression.
Shifting my gaze to Cade, I informed, “That’s not what happened, Cade. I swear it!”
His glare snapped to me. “Then look me in the eyes and tell me you didn’t fuck my brother.”
Adrian
It was the moment of truth.
There was so much I still wanted to tell her.
So much I still wanted to experience with her.
A life.
A future.
Those three little words.
You see, I couldn’t tell her I loved her. Not when I knew all along, I’d have to fuck her over. As if she meant nothing.
When she meant everything.
From the second I heard the window in the hall bathroom break, followed by her screams I hauled ass in there. For the next couple of minutes, I moved in autopilot tending to the cut on her arm. It wasn’t that bad, but it was enough to have me care for her in a tender and loving way.
It didn’t dawn on me until I looked back at Cade and Hayley who were both frozen in shock of how protective I became with her. It was obvious. There was no hiding it anymore.
Despite having prepared for this moment, it didn’t strip away how much this was going to devastate her and kill me in the process. I saw it since the first time she batted her long, dark lashes.
She’d choose me over my brother.
If given the chance, she’d sacrifice him for me.
And I loved her too fucking much to have her eventually resent me for it. This was Cade. Her best friend. Her brother.
He was her family.
I couldn’t steal that from her.
She’d already lost too much.
I had to do what was right.
“Don’t look at her,” I ordered in a rough tone, bringing Cade’s attention over to me. “You look at me. I’m standing right fucking here.”
His stare met mine.
“How could you do this to me? You’re supposed to be my brother, Adrian. Doesn’t that count for something? Or you just have to stick your dick into every pussy that throws itself at you?”
“Something like that.”
“Nice.” He shook his head disapprovingly. “So she’s just another conquest to you?”
I angled my chin higher, expecting his next question, “Do you love her?”
My stare instantly locked with hers.
I didn’t bother maintaining eye contact with Cade. My brutal response wasn’t for him anyway. If I was going to give her back to him, I had to take her heart, which she lovingly handed me, and I threw it back in her fucking face—making her choke on it.
I needed to remain strong.
Act unfazed.
Show no weakness.
Our glass house shattered with five words…
“No. I don’t love you.”
Thirty-Two
Paige
Now
My eyes fluttered, feeling as though I was hit by a freight train. My head was pounding, making it hard to see in front of me. I desperately tried to shake away the haze, wanting to take in my surroundings.
In the blink of an eye, I remembered everything.
My phone dinged with a text message, causing me to stir awake. Slowly, I rolled off Adrian’s chest to grab it off my nightstand. The sun was barely peeking through the open shades of the bedroom.
Through a sleep-filled gaze, I came face to face with a text that read.
Come alone or else. Charlie is waiting for you.
I sat straight up from the shock, instantly shifting my attention to Adrian who was thankfully still passed out. Peering back down at the text in my hand, I contemplated my next move.
I racked my brain for what felt like hours, thinking about all the possibilities of how this could end badly, but I couldn’t keep putting the lives of the people I loved in jeopardy.
Careful not to wake him, I grabbed my sneakers and walked out of the bedroom. I was still wearing his hoodie from earlier with sweats. Wanting to feel his comforting prescence with me, I didn’t change. Instead, I threw on my shoes and met Charlie at the door.
This revelation of Charlie being involved was going to hit Adrian hard.
He didn’t say anything to me, just nodded to follow him. I did and he led us to a van in the parking garage. It was a different vehicle than what he’d been driving us in.
I was about to get in, but at the last second, I looked him right in the eyes and stated the truth, “He trusted you.”
If he gave a shit, he didn’t show it, and shoved me into the seat. After he blindfolded me, he started to drive, and I wish I could tell you that my other senses kicked in. However, all I felt was a terror for what was to come.
The next thing I knew, the van came to a complete stop and the sound of the door opening was the last thing I remembered before everything went black.
Based on the throbbing pain in my skull, it was safe to assume this motherfucker knocked me out with something hard. Although I had a killer headache, I was just thankful they removed the blindfold, and I could at least see again, even though that wasn’t much help. I was tied to a chair in the middle of an empty room.
Alone.
Bile rose in the back of my throat as I tried to find my bearings. Then all of a sudden, the door to the room I was in opened. In a matter of seconds, the person I least expected walked in.
“Oh my God,” I muttered with wide eyes. “It is you.”
“No…” Hayley’s arms flew out in front of her in a surrendering gesture as she frantically shook her head while being pushed forward, stumbling to remain upright.
A man wearing a mask on the top half of his face stepped in behind her. He was pointing a gun at her back with another one aimed at my face.
My heart dropped to the floor.
Nothing could have prepared me for a moment like this. Not a nightmare, trauma, or anything was even remotely close to what I was experiencing.
Fight or flight.
I thought I could be brave, but as he just stood there, thriving off my fear, I felt like the weakest person in the world with my life playing out in front of me.
All I could see…
Were the memories of the man I lost.
From the first time that I met Adrian Drake to walking up in his arms that morning. It was a movie reel in vivid, colorful images.
The good times.
The bad.
And everything in between.
Whether I made it out of here dead or alive, he’d forever be my soulmate.
My stalker nodded for Hayley to sit down in the chair next to me. On wobbly legs, she did as he asked, looking at me the entire time. I took the opportunity to get a good look at her. She had a busted lip, and was obviously afraid, but all in all, she was okay.
Once we heard the door close, and the click of the lock, we were instantly relieved.
Hayley leaped off her chair, throwing her arms around me, holding me tight.
“I hate that you’re here.”
“Are you okay?” I asked, more concerned for her.
She pulled away. “I think so.”
“Okay.” I nodded. “Help me get out of these ties.”
She shook her head, sitting back on the balls of her feet. “Don’t make him mad, Paige. If you’re still tied and I’m not it’s for a reason. Whatever he does, there’s a motive behind it. I learned that the hard way.”
