Simon’s eyes darkened momentarily, and he released her. “Oh, I’ll be nice to you.” He started petting her cheek. “But I expect something in return. If I don’t leave here with the pictures, then I’ll have to leave with something else. So you should start thinking about what you can do to put a smile on my face.”
Julia cringed.
“Things have certainly changed, haven’t they? I’m really going to enjoy this.” He pulled her into his arms and pressed his open, eager mouth to hers.
***
At six-thirty sharp, Gabriel excused himself from the dining room table and walked into the living room, readying himself to receive Julia’s call. The call never came.
He checked his voice mail. No messages from Julia. No new texts from Julia. No e-mails, either. At ten minutes to seven, he dialed her cell phone. After a few rings his call went to voice mail.
“Julianne? Are you there? Call me.”
He ended the call and used the White Pages application on his iPhone to find Tom’s home number. It rang and rang and rang. Then the answering machine came on. He hung up without leaving a message.
Why isn’t she answering the phone? Where is she? And where’s Tom?
A dreadful suspicion took hold in his mind. Not wanting to waste a single second, Gabriel stormed out the front door without speaking to anyone. He started the Jeep and sped all the way over to Tom’s house, trying again and again to reach Julia or Tom on the way. And if a policeman stopped him for speeding, so much the better.
***
Simon’s victory was so close he could taste it. He knew that Julia wasn’t a strong person, and he was accustomed to using her weakness to his advantage. When she looked him in the eye and pleaded with him to believe that she didn’t have the photographs, he believed her. It was far more likely that Natalie was setting her up, trying to deflect attention from her own vindictive game. As he held Julia in his arms once again, he gave up his quest for the pictures. Now he was on an entirely different mission.
Undeterred by the ringing of the telephone in the kitchen, which alternated with a few bars of Message in a Bottle, as played by Julia’s iPhone, Simon continued kissing her, pulling her so that she was straddling him as he sat on her father’s couch.
She was still frigid. She was tolerating his advances, but barely, her arms and body limp. She’d never liked his tongue in her mouth. She’d never really liked anything of his in her mouth, and even now she squirmed in his arms. But her discomfort excited him, and when he slid his tongue over and around hers, he felt his arousal grow and strain against the zipper of his jeans.
He kissed her until she screwed up the courage to push against his chest with her fists, and he knew it was time to move on to other activities. As he began to unbutton her shirt, she struggled.
“Please don’t do this,” she whimpered. “Please let me go.”
“You’re going to like it.” He chuckled as he leaned around to cup her ass, kneading and groping it while she tried to escape from his lap. “I’m going to make sure you enjoy it. Then I’ll let you go.”
He dragged his mouth across her jaw line and down to the left side of her neck, sucking on a patch of skin near the middle of her throat, above the pearls. “I don’t think you want a repeat of our last fight, do you Julia?”
She trembled.
“Julia?”
“No, Simon.”
“Good.” Since his eyes were closed, he missed the obvious love bite on the right side of her neck. It wouldn’t have mattered. He’d already planned on marking her. A nice bite mark so that her boyfriend back in Canada would see what his little girlfriend had been up to. A mark that would even the score between the two of them. He vacuumed her blood up to the surface of her skin and for good measure, sank his teeth into her.
She cried out in pain.
He licked the skin softly, enjoying her taste, salty and sweet and bloody and Julia. When he was finished, he moved back to admire his handiwork. She’d have to wear a turtleneck to cover it up, and he knew that Julia didn’t like turtlenecks. The mark was monstrous, angry and red. It showcased his large ring of teeth. It was perfect.
Julia looked up at him through her impossibly long lashes, and he watched something shift in her eyes. He leaned forward in anticipation and licked his lips. Suddenly her palm connected with his cheek with a vicious slap. In a flash, Julia flew to the staircase to escape to the second floor.
“You fucking bitch!” Simon roared as he followed, easily catching up to her. Just before she reached the top stair, he caught her ankle with both hands and twisted. She collapsed on her knees, shrieking in pain.
“I’m going to teach you a lesson you’ll never forget,” he said, moving to grab her by the hair.
She howled as he yanked her head backward.
Flailing madly, she kicked at him furiously with her uninjured foot and miraculously made contact with his groin, releasing his grip from her hair and sending him careening down the stairs. She hobbled up to her bedroom and locked the door behind her while he doubled over in pain.
“Wait till I get my hands on you, you bitch!” he shouted, clasping his crotch with both hands.
Julia braced her bedroom door with a chair and tugged on a nearby dresser. Old framed photographs clattered against one another on top of the antique as she tried to move it, while a china doll crashed to the floor. Ignoring the pain in her now injured ankle, she hobbled to the other side of the dresser, pushing it frantically with short, desperate attempts. Simon shouted expletives at her as he wrestled with the doorknob.
Finally, she managed to place the dresser in front of the door. She only hoped she could buy herself enough time to make a phone call before Simon came bursting into her room. She limped over to the telephone that sat on her nightstand, but in her haste she knocked it to the floor.
“Shit!”
She picked up the phone and with trembling fingers, began dialing Gabriel’s cell phone. It immediately went to voice mail. As she waited for the beep, Simon’s body came hurtling against the door. Julia watched in horror as the old door sagged and began to come away from its hinges.
“Gabriel, please come to my dad’s house right away. Simon is here and he’s trying to break down the door to my room!”
Simon cursed and growled, pounding relentlessly against the door. Once he smashed his way in he’d tip the dresser over to get to her.
This is it. I’m dead, she thought.
She couldn’t imagine a scenario in which she escaped without sustaining serious bodily harm or worse. Realizing that she couldn’t wait another second, she dropped the phone and opened the window, preparing to crawl out onto the roof and possibly to jump. Just as she was trying to swing herself over the windowsill, she saw Gabriel’s Jeep screech into the driveway. He left the car running and tore across the lawn.
Gabriel shouted her name and Simon swore at him. Light, quick footfalls reverberated from the staircase followed by the sounds of flesh hitting flesh and a torrent of curses. Something heavy fell to the floor. Someone tumbled down the stairs.
Julia crept over to her nearly destroyed door, straining to hear. The noises seemed to have moved outside. When she limped back to her window, she saw Simon lying on the front lawn. He was cursing and holding his nose. She watched breathlessly as he lurched to his feet, blood pouring down his face. In the blink of an eye, blood from Simon’s nose mingled with blood from his mouth as Gabriel’s right hook split his lip, dislodging a few teeth.
“Asshole!” Simon spat out the teeth and lunged at Gabriel. Despite his obvious impairment, he was able to land a punch on Gabriel’s chest.
Gabriel reeled back, winded. Simon took another step forward, eager to capitalize on his opponent’s weakness. Gabriel recovered quickly, plowing into Simon’s stomach with his right and his left. Simon doubled over in pain and fell to his knees.
Gabriel straightened his shoulders slowly and cracked his neck to one side. He looked remarkably relaxed in his tw
eed jacket and Oxford shirt. He looked as if he was on his way to a faculty meeting at the university and not presently kicking the ass of a senator’s son from Philadelphia.
“Get up,” Gabriel said in a voice that made Julia’s blood cool.
Simon moaned.
“I said get up!” Gabriel stood over him like an avenging angel, beautiful and terrible and absolutely without mercy.
When Simon didn’t move, Gabriel grabbed a fistful of his hair, jerking his head back.
“If you even think about going near her again, I’ll kill you. The only reason you’re still alive is because it would upset Julianne to see me go to prison. And I’m not about to leave her alone after what you did to her, you sick motherfucker. If a photograph or a video of someone who even looks like her ends up on the internet or in a newspaper, I’ll come after you. I’ve gone ten rounds with a few Southies in Boston and lived to brag about it. So don’t think that I will hesitate to smash your skull in next time.”
Gabriel reared back and his left uppercut shattered Simon’s jaw. Simon slumped onto the ground and remained perfectly still. Pulling a handkerchief out of the pocket of his wool trousers, Gabriel nonchalantly wiped the blood from his hands. At that moment, Julia appeared at the front door and hobbled out to meet him.
“Julia!” He caught her in his arms as she nearly fell down the stairs. “Are you okay?”
He swung her to the ground carefully, clasping her to his chest.
“Julia?” He pushed her hair back so that he could see her. Her lips were red and swollen, there were scratches on her neck, her eyes were wild and was that…a huge bite mark?
That animal fucking bit her!
“Are you all right? Did he…?” Gabriel dropped his eyes to her clothing, fearing what he might see. But no, her clothing wasn’t ripped, and she was still dressed, mercifully, even though her shirt was unbuttoned.
He closed his eyes and thanked God that he hadn’t arrived any later. Who knows what he would have found.
“Come with me,” he said firmly, removing his jacket and placing it around her shoulders. He quickly buttoned up her shirt and carried her to the passenger’s seat of the Jeep, closing the door behind her.
“What happened?” he asked as he climbed in beside her. Julia was clutching her injured ankle and muttering to herself.
“Julia?” When she didn’t respond, he reached over to brush the hair out of her eyes.
She flinched toward her door.
He froze. “Julia, it’s me. It’s Gabriel. I’m going to take you to the hospital. All right?”
She gave no indication that she’d heard him. And she wasn’t shaking or crying. She’s in shock, he thought. Gabriel pulled out his phone and dialed a number.
“Richard? Something happened to Julia.” He paused and looked over at her. “Her old boyfriend appeared, and he attacked her. I’m taking her to the hospital in Sunbury. Yes, you could meet us if you want to. See you there.”
Gabriel looked over at Julia, hoping she would make eye contact. “Richard is going to meet us in Sunbury. He’s going to call a friend of his who is a doctor.”
When Julia didn’t respond, he dialed information to find the number of the Selinsgrove Fire Station. He left an urgent message for Tom, explaining what had happened and that he was taking Julia to the hospital.
It’s her god damned father’s fault. Why the fuck did he leave her by herself?
“I slapped him.” Julia’s voice, high and unnatural, broke into his thoughts.
“You what?”
“He kissed me…I slapped him. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry. I’ll never do it again. I didn’t want to kiss him.”
At that terrible moment, Gabriel was grateful that he had to drive her to the hospital. Without his need to care for her, he would have turned around and finished Simon off. Permanently.
She began to say the most bizarre things. She was murmuring about him kissing her and something about Natalie, and then something about him, Gabriel, not wanting her anymore because she’d been marked and she was going to be a lousy lay…
What the fuck did he do to her?
“Sssshhh, Beatrice. Look at me. Beatrice?”
It took a moment for the old nickname to sink in, but when it did she looked at him, her frantic eyes slowly focusing on his face.
“This isn’t your fault. Okay? It isn’t your fault that he kissed you.”
“I didn’t mean to cheat on you. I’m so sorry,” she whispered.
The tone of her voice, the panic in her eyes—Gabriel swallowed back bile.
“Julia, you didn’t cheat on me. All right? And I’m glad you hit him. He deserved it and much, much worse.” Gabriel shook his head, wondering with horror what had actually happened before his arrival.
***
When Richard arrived at the hospital, he found his son and Julia in the waiting room. Gabriel was stroking her hair and speaking to her softly. It was a tender scene, but the level of intimacy between the two of them surprised him. Greatly.
While they waited for Richard’s friend to arrive, he gently examined her ankle. She yelped. Richard glanced sideways at Gabriel, who was gnawing on his knuckles in order to control his reactions.
“I don’t think your ankle is broken, but it’s certainly injured. Gabriel, why don’t you get us all a cup of tea and maybe some cookies?”
Gabriel pulled his knuckles out of his mouth. “I won’t leave her.”
“It will just take a minute. I want to speak to Julia.”
Gabriel nodded reluctantly and disappeared in the direction of the cafeteria.
Richard couldn’t help but notice her neck. The bite mark was obvious, the love bite less so. His eyes flickered to where his son had stood a moment before. The love bite was old, obviously from a day or two ago. Clearly, things between Gabriel and Julia were more intimate than he thought.
“Grace used to volunteer at this hospital. Did you know that?”
Julia nodded.
“Over the years, she served in a lot of capacities but most of her work was with victims of domestic abuse.” He sighed. “She saw a lot of sad cases, some of which involved children. Some of her cases ended in fatalities.”
He looked into Julia’s eyes. “I will tell you what Grace used to tell her patients. This is not your fault. It doesn’t matter what you did or what you didn’t do, you did not deserve this. And at this moment, I don’t know when I’ve been more proud of my son.”
She looked down at her injured ankle and remained silent.
A moment later, a pleasant-looking Asian gentleman walked up to them.
“Richard,” he said, extending his hand.
Richard sprang to his feet, shaking his friend’s hand. “Stephen, I’d like to introduce you to Julia Mitchell. She’s a friend of the family. Julia, this is Dr. Ling.”
Stephen nodded and directed a nurse to help Julia to an examination room. He followed shortly thereafter, assuring Richard that he would treat her as if she were his own daughter.
Knowing that Julia was in good hands, Richard decided to walk to the cafeteria to join his son. As he entered the hallway, he could hear Gabriel arguing with Tom Mitchell. Loudly.
“I think I’m a better judge of character than you are.” Tom was in Gabriel’s face, trying to physically intimidate him, but Gabriel met him toe to toe.
“Well, clearly you aren’t, Mr. Mitchell, or I wouldn’t have had to drag that animal out of your house before he raped your daughter in her own fucking bedroom.”
“Gentlemen, this is a hospital. Take it outside.” Richard was stern as he walked toward them.
Tom acknowledged his friend briefly then turned back to Gabriel.
“I’m glad Julia is okay. And if you rescued her, then I owe you. But I just got a phone call from a police officer telling me that you beat the shit out of Senator Talbot’s son. How do I know you didn’t start the whole thing? You’re the drug addict!”
“I’ll take a drug test.” Ga
briel’s eyes flashed. “I have nothing to hide. Instead of worrying about the senator’s son, don’t you think you should be a little more concerned about your daughter? Protecting Julianne was your job. Your job as a father. And you’ve been doing a lousy fucking job of it her whole life. Christ, Tom. How could you have sent her back to live with her mother when she was a little girl?”
Tom clenched his fists so hard he nearly burst the blood vessels in his hands. “You don’t know what you’re talking about, so you need to shut the hell up. You’ve got some nerve lecturing me about my daughter. You’re just a cokehead with a history of violence. I don’t want you anywhere near her, or I’ll have you arrested.”
“I don’t know what I’m talking about? Come on, Tom, get your head out of your ass! I’m talking about all those men traipsing in and out of the apartment in St. Louis, fucking your ex-wife in front of your little girl. And you did absolutely nothing. In fact, you finally rescue her before she becomes another statistic for child molestation, and then you send her back. Why? Was she a delinquent nine-year-old? Was she too needy? Or were you too busy being volunteer fire chief!”
Tom looked at Gabriel with an expression of utter hatred. It took all of his self-control to keep from either punching Gabriel’s lights out or grabbing his hunting rifle from his truck and shooting him. But he wasn’t about to do either around the corner from a waiting room full of witnesses. Instead, he swore at Gabriel a few more times and stomped over to the Admissions desk to make arrangements to pay for Julia’s hospital bill.
By the time she returned on crutches, Tom had calmed himself. He stood by the door of the emergency room with his hands in his pockets, swimming in guilt.
Gabriel walked to Julia immediately, his eyebrows furrowing when he saw her bandaged ankle. “Are you all right?”
“It isn’t broken. Thank you, Gabriel. I don’t know what I would have…” Julia swallowed her words as tears fell down her face for the first time that evening.
Gabriel put his arm around her shoulder and tenderly kissed her forehead.