Beautiful Surrender (The Surrender Series Book Three) (4 page)

“It’s
what happens when you—” He cut his sentence short. “When you really care about
someone. If you’re asking if I’d do it again. I’ll tell you right now: I’d do
it in a heartbeat.”

After
he left, I locked the door. Then I went to my room to cry.

***

I’d
cried until I felt nauseous from everything and vomited. It was incredible the
police didn’t show up. The commotion from the fighting, shouting, and cursing
was probably heard on multiple floors. I didn’t know my other neighbors on the
floor that well but I knew they were in their mid-twenties. They were probably
out clubbing. It was Friday night after all.

I
walked from the bathroom to the kitchen to get a cup of water. It was past
midnight and I was exhausted from the evening’s events. I couldn’t wait to fall
asleep and block everything out until tomorrow. During a long sip of water, the
front door unlocked, opened, and clacked against the chain lock.

“Kristen?
You left the chain lock on. Open up.”

I
nearly choked on my water before I recognized the voice.

“Riley,
is that you? Are you by yourself?”

“Uh
yeah, duh. Were you expecting someone else?” She jiggled the door again but it
wouldn’t budge. “Are you naked right now with whip cream on your nipples
waiting for Vincent to show up? Is that why there are flower petals all over
the doormat?”

I
breathed a sigh of relief. Typical Riley. “No, I’m not naked,” I hollered.
“I’ll open the door.” I went to undo the chain. Once she was inside, I redid
the chain.

The
short blue dress she went out in was rumpled and there were drink stains on it.
She must’ve danced pretty hard, even if she’d gotten in early. “So how was
dinner?” she asked.

I
groaned. “Bad.”

“Bad?
Or badass?” Riley said, her mood chipper as she flung off her shoes into the
corner.

When I
didn’t respond, she looked at me and studied my face. “Whoa Kristen, were you
crying? Oh my god, what happened?”

I told
her about how I saw Ariel’s text message during dinner with Vincent and how I
ran home and then Marty showed up.

Riley
dropped her bags, gripped my shoulders, and shook me. “Are you okay? Did you
call the police?”

“No.
Kurt and Bernie tackled him. Turns out they were Vincent’s security team he
assigned to watch over me.”

She
squinted. “You mean the gay couple across from us?”

I
wasn’t sure about the gay couple part. In fact, I didn’t know what to believe
about Kurt and Bernie. They could’ve been Navy SEALs or trained killers for all
I knew. “Yeah.”

“No
way.” She put her hand up to my forehead to check my temperature.

“Yes
way. They restrained Marty and Vincent showed up and beat the shit out of him.
I thought Vincent was going to kill him.”

Riley
gasped. “Wow! I’m sure he was just protecting you though, right?”

“Yeah,
but it was way overboard. Marty wasn’t even doing anything threatening. We were
just talking outside my door when he was tackled.”

Her
voice lowered. “But he could have done something. It can happen in a split
second.”

I shook
my head. “Still. You don’t go as far as Vincent did. He was punching and
kicking Marty so hard I thought he was going to die. Plus, he lied to me. He
asked me before if I wanted a security team and I told him no and he ignored my
answer completely. It makes me feel so small and powerless!” I began to cry.

Riley
pulled me to her and hugged me. “It’s okay. You’re safe now.”

I
sobbed into her shoulder. “I don’t know what to do, Riley.”

“Are
you afraid Vincent’s going to hurt you?” Her words were careful.

“No, I
don’t think he’ll hurt me. But then again I didn’t know he was capable of what
he did to Marty. I don’t know if I can trust him. I don’t know what to think.”

“You
said he cheated on you with that chick Ariel, right? Then fuck him. Let him go
surfing with sharks and have his dick get bitten off.”

“I saw
a text from Ariel saying she enjoyed riding his cock—and I freaked out. But
Vincent explained that she was referring to his company’s new surfboard called
the Shuttlecock.”

She
pulled back and looked at me. “Are you serious? You have to be kidding.” She
laughed. “That’s hilarious. What a clever name.”

“No
it’s not! It’s stupid.”

“A
shuttlecock in badminton moves back and forth through the air—kind of like how
a surfboard moves across a wave. Plus it has the word ‘cock’ in it. You have to
admit that’s pretty genius marketing.”

Apparently
I wasn’t the target audience. “You’re the worst.”

She
laughed. “Aw, I’m sorry Kris. I’m listening.” She led me by the hand and we
took a seat on the couch.

Riley
whipped out her phone and began pecking at it. “Looks like there really is a
surfboard named that. It’s got rave reviews already. People are saying they
love the handling but the best part is the name. So I don’t think he was lying
to you. It was just an innocent misunderstanding.”

“He
lied about the security team though. And he acted like a psycho. He told me it
was because his younger sister Giselle had an abusive boyfriend and he beat
that guy up.”

“Sounds
like he’s a knight with shining abs.”

Her
tone was starting to piss me off. I needed my best friend to take me seriously.
“Or a guy with a temper problem. I never knew Vincent had that side to him.”

That
wiped the smile off her face. “Stop it. Vincent’s totally different from Marty.
He had a good reason for doing what he did. Marty hurt you before and I can see
why Vincent reacted the way he did. Hell, if I was here when Marty showed up,
I’d probably mace first, ask questions later.”

She put
her phone back in her pocket and rested her hand on my knee. “Give Vincent a
chance. He’s not perfect. You showed him your baggage, now he’s shown you his.
Take some time to think about it.”

That
was a good point about baggage. “I get where Vincent’s coming from, but I don’t
know if we’re going to work out. There’s so much drama in my life—Vincent,
Marty, work stuff. I really wish things were simpler. I don’t know if I can
handle all the chaos right now. I’m pretty close to a total breakdown.”

Riley
looked at me searchingly. “Are you thinking of breaking up with Vincent?”

I
sighed. “Maybe. Or at least taking a break from our relationship.”

She
took my hand gently in hers. “To me it sounds like Vincent really cares about
you. And I mean really. He got you a freaking security team. And from what
you’ve told me over the past few weeks, you really care about him too. Am I
right?”

“Of
course I care about him.”

“This
is only your first fight as a couple, right?”

“Well,
it’s our second. The first one happened after I met Ariel. This one is much
bigger.”

“So
it’s your first major fight. That’s pretty normal considering how long you’ve
been seeing each other. I usually have major fights in the first few weeks.”

“The
circumstances aren’t normal at all. Lying about security teams and mauling exes
isn’t normal.”

“Lies
are pretty common, Kris. People have been forgiven for far worse lies than
covering up an attempt to be overprotective against a psycho ex-boyfriend.”

I
rolled my eyes. “That’s a strong case.”

Her
blue eyes became serious. “Kristen, you’ve always been afraid of consequences
since I’ve known you. You’re afraid of getting hurt and that makes perfect
sense given what you’ve been through. Your relationship with Vincent is a risk
for sure. He could hurt you emotionally but you could also hurt him. But what
relationship isn’t a risk? Sometimes you have to take a risk because the reward
is worth it.”

I
groaned. “You sound like Vincent talking about risk-taking.”

She
smiled. “Do I? Have you considered that maybe Vincent sounds like me?”

A grin
spread on my lips. I didn’t know how she did it, but Riley always knew how to
make me smile in the worst circumstances. “He definitely does not sound like
you. You’ve got a dirtier mind.”

Her
smile turned wicked. “And proud of it. So are you going to be okay? Or do we
need to go to Savage Hunks to cheer you up? They’re still open at this hour you
know.”

The
last thing I needed right now was to see more muscled men causing a commotion.
I needed peace tonight. “As tempting as that sounds, I think I’m okay now. At
least a lot better than before.”

She
squeezed my hand. “I’ll be here for you, whatever you need.”

I
squeezed her hand back. “Thanks Riley.”

***

I
didn’t have work the next day since it was Saturday. Thank goodness because I
didn’t think I’d be able to get any work done with everything spinning in my
mind. Although I had been exhausted the previous night, I still had difficulty
falling asleep.

Unfortunately,
that didn’t stop me from waking up at the usual seven. Habit can be a bitch
sometimes.

I
immediately checked my phone and realized I had turned it off the previous
night. Remembering why I had done so, I chose to leave it off. Still groggy but
unusually hungry, I decided to start the morning with a big breakfast of eggs,
bacon, and sausage, hoping the meal would help me fall back asleep.

Fortunately
it did the trick. I ended up sleeping well into the afternoon. I woke up and
immediately went to the couch to veg out in front of the TV. There was a lot on
my mind and I wanted to drown it out, which is why I tuned into Bridezillas—my
guilty pleasure. Except I felt no guilt watching it, only pure unadulterated
pleasure.

Just
when a bride’s grandmother said she looked like a slut in her chosen wedding
gown, I heard a rustling across the hall. I looked out my peephole and saw Kurt
and Bernie moving boxes from their apartment. I’d barely gotten to know them
and they were already moving out. Bernie’s face was looking a lot better
without all the blood, although it was a bit swollen. His deep tan made it less
noticeable, though.

I
thought about stepping out to say something to them but everything I could
think of sounded awkward: “Thanks for beating up my ex-boyfriend yesterday . .
. I think? How do you two know Vincent? So . . . do you guys tan together?”

I ended
up watching them for a few minutes then returning to my show.

They
didn’t have much stuff, so after a few hours, I heard them finish and lock up.
I spent the rest of the day vegging out on the couch, thinking about my
situation.

I was
still upset with Vincent even though I knew he cared about me and I cared about
him. It only made it that much more painful that he lied to me. There were
trust issues Vincent and I had to work out and that would take time and effort.

Then
there was the issue of work. Carl was feeding me opportunities and I’d been
snapping them up, which made me busier and busier. Vincent seemed to be in a
similar situation with his company occupying most of his time the past few
weeks.

Even
though my employers hadn’t found out about my relationship with Vincent, it was
still becoming a problem. It needed work and neither of us had the time to do
it—at least not without making significant sacrifices.

When
the latest episode ended with the bride literally pulling chunks of her own
hair out, I came to the conclusion that I was going to take a break from my
relationship with Vincent. I couldn’t keep going with things the way they were.
If I didn’t make a change, I would lose my mind.

***

On
Sunday afternoon I finally gave in to turning on my phone. I was going to call
Vincent and tell him we should take a break. Closing my bedroom door, I picked
up my phone from the nightstand and turned it on. There were a bunch of unread
text messages—some of them new and some of them from Friday when I ran out of
the restaurant.

I
ignored the messages and called him.

He
answered on the first ring. “Kristen?”

His
silky voice had its usual effect on me even though I knew to prepare for it.
“Vincent . . .”

He
released an audible exhale and I could picture his chest lowering from the
release of air. “I’m so glad to hear your voice. I thought I wasn’t going to
hear from you again and that scared me.”

“Hey
Vincent. Listen . . . I need to tell you something.” I had to push this
conversation forward before  Vincent’s persuasive hold took effect.
Otherwise, I’d begin doubting my decision. Fortunately, it was much easier to
resist him on the phone than in person.

“Wait.
Just a moment.” I heard some mumbling in the background. “Shit. I’m sorry,
Kristen. I have a meeting right now. But whatever you want to tell me sounds
important. Is it an emergency? Can I meet you later? I’ll try my hardest to be
done by six.”

“You’re
at work on a Sunday?”