Dark Boundaries (12 page)

Chapter Thirty One

Garrett~

I’ve been parked outside the coffee shop a few stores down the road from her bookstore. Justin was with me until he saw Riza run from the store. He went after her and I watched Riza throw her arms around his neck. She looked happy to see him. He waved at me and walked down to the beach with her.

So here I am, stalking Kristine.

I didn’t sleep. I kept trying to think of ways to fix this mess.

I keep seeing glimpses of her and the other girl, when they pass in front of the window. I sit for a few more hours hoping she’ll come out. But luck’s not on my side today.

It’s okay, I have nothing but time.

I go home to shower. When I walk out onto the deck I see Justin and Riza sitting down on the beach.

“Who’s that?” Mom asks behind me.

“The girl?” I nod my head in their direction.

“Yes, is she from town?”

“No,” I don’t know how to explain this to Mom. If she ever finds out what we had to do to get Andrea back, she might just kill us. Instead I say, “she’s a friend we met a while back. They ran into each other in town.”

It all sounds so normal but it’s far from.

“I’m taking Andrea shopping. We’re going to go get something to wear for tomorrow.” I hear the excitement in Mom’s voice. “I’m so glad you’re all going to be there.”

Yeah, about that. “Mom…” She looks up at me with so much happiness I can’t take it away from her, “…never mind. I’ll see you at dinner.”

There’s only one thing I can do. I have to beg Kristine to keep quiet. I walk the short distance back to her store. I can’t believe I haven’t seen her around here. The town has one main street. There aren’t many places to go. That’s what makes it so peaceful.

When I reach her store, I hesitate to knock. What if she freaks out again? I’ll just have to deal with it then, won’t I?

I knock and wait a few seconds. When she doesn’t come I knock again and then spot the button. I press it and hear it ring inside.

Seconds later I see her come from between the shelves. She sees me and stops. For a moment I think she’s going to leave me standing here, but instead she squares her shoulders, lifts her chin and comes to open the door.

“What the hell do you want? I told you to leave me alone!” she snaps at my chest, seeing as how she’s refusing to make eye contact still. There’s a fire burning in her eyes and it makes me smile. She has her fight back. It’s so good to see the flames licking, darkening her eyes.

“I just want to talk,” I say quickly when the frown on her face darkens. “It’s about Mom, you’re hosting the signing for her book.”

“I can add one and one together. I’ve figured out Liza is your mother after I almost broke my neck tripping over the boxes you just left in the middle of my store!”

She’s so feisty, I love it. A full blown smile spreads over my face. “It’s so good to see you.”

“Fuck off, Garrett!” She goes to close the door and I quickly block her by stepping into the store. She goes to shove me but I grab hold of her wrist and yank her against my chest. Her eyes snap up to mine and our eyes meet for the first time.

“There you are,” I murmur, staring deep into her eyes.

Her breathing speeds up the longer I hold her eyes captive. I brush my fingers over her cheek, enjoying to soft feel of her skin. I get lost in the moment and lean in.

“What the fuck!” someone screams from the back of the store. “Get your hands off her.” My head snaps up and I see the other girl running towards us. Couldn’t she have waited just five more minutes?

Kristine yanks her wrist free from my grip and steps back, thinking she’s safer next to her friend. She’s not, but I’ll let her think so for now. Now that I’ve seen the emotions in her eyes, the anger, the hurt but most of all the longing, I won’t stop until I have her.

She was mine then and she’ll be mine again.

“I’m just here to ask a favor,” I say to the angry friend. For the life of me I can’t remember her name.

“Go fuck yourself! Kristine owes you nothing,” the friend spits out.

“I didn’t say she owed me anything. It’s for my mom.”

Kristine shushes her friend. “What about Liza?”

“Can you please not hold what happened between us against her? She’s been really looking forward to tomorrow.” Kristine drops her eyes back to the floor, her shoulders sagging. “Just … please, after the signing you can go back to hating me.”

She laughs bitterly. “I’m not a monster like you. I’ve committed to helping her and I will.” She turns away from me. “I’m nothing like you,” she says as if she’s trying to convince herself.

She’s so much better than me. She helped me get Andrea back and now she’s helping Mom. All I ever do is cause her pain.

I close the door behind me but watch through the window as she walks to the back, her friend comforting her. At least she’s not alone.

I need to talk to Justin. I need to know what he did differently that Riza’s not scared of him.

~*~

Chapter Thirty Two

Kristine~

I get up with a heavy feeling. Another night of tossing and turning.

Kelly went home at around twelve, after I begged her to. Riza never came back, but she did call to let us know she’s okay.

I don’t know if Garrett is coming today and I don’t know how to react if he does.

I go through my morning routine, showering, brushing teeth, drinking tons of coffee. I dry my hair and put on a pair of jeans and plain black shirt. I’m in a dark mood and my clothes show it.

I hesitate before unlocking the door and turning the sign to show that it’s open. I try to keep busy, unpacking the books and making sure everything is ready.

The bell rings, almost giving me heart failure. “Morning, hon. Did you have a nice day yesterday?”

I can’t make eye contact with Liza. If she ever finds out what I let her son do to me it will kill her. There’s been enough hurt to last us all a lifetime.

“Hon?” She places her hand on my arm, looking worried. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, of course. I just need more coffee,” I laugh her worry away. Kelly comes in saving me from having to think of something to say. “Oh, hey.” I turn to Liza. “Let me introduce you. This is one of my best friends, Kelly.” I give Kelly a hard look, hoping she won’t say anything. “Kelly, this is Liza Macht.” I wonder if that’s Garrett’s last name or if Liza is writing under a different name.

To my great relief Kelly behaves and shakes Liza’s hand.

“I’m going to make sure the coffee machine is ready for when the bakery delivers the muffins. Kelly, are you sure about manning the counter for me?”

“Of course. My butt is glued to that chair.” To show me how serious she is she goes and sits behind the counter.

I look to Liza, not sure what to do with her. She goes to sit behind the table and laughs, “My butt will be glued here. Just say if you need anything.”

“I will.” I go to check the machine and double check that there are enough cups. I have a little reading nook in the back with a couch. People don’t use it much, but it’s perfect for me.

I hear voices as I walk to the front and feel my heart thud when Garrett’s voice is one of them. He has his back turned to me, busy taking the tray of muffins from the delivery guy. He turns around and freezes when he sees me. Justin and Riza come in just as the delivery guy leaves, followed by a customer.

I walk right past Garrett so I can help the customer. “Oh, don’t bother with her, that’s my daughter, Andrea,” Liza says just as I get to the girl.

Bright brown eyes meet mine and recognition sparks in them. “It’s nice to meet you,” she says in a sweet voice and then she hugs me. I’m so shocked to see how good she looks I forget to hug her back.

Liza laughs next to us, oblivious to the connection I have to her daughter. “You’ve met my sons?” she asks unsure.

I nod. “We’ve met.” I take a step away from Andrea and feel panic rising fast. There have never been so many people in my store at once and there are more coming. I turn around and almost bump into Garrett. I grab the tray of muffins from him. “I’ll take it,” I mutter under my breath and flee to the back of the store.

I place the tray on the side table and start to rearrange the muffins. A hand closes over mine. “You’re going to be okay. You’re doing great.”

My whole body stills. I turn my face away from him.

“Here you are? Why are you hiding,” Riza asks cheerfully. She’s holding Justin’s hand.

I can’t understand how she can just forgive him. I need to blow of some steam. “How can you, Riza? After all the man did to you, you’re just going to forgive him and let it slide?”

The smile drops from her face. “There’s nothing to forgive. Justin didn’t do anything to me. He was there for me.” She frowns, actually looking angry with me. “It’s because of Justin and Garrett that you’re here, living your dream.”

Anger bubbles hot through me and my temper matches hers. “It’s not! Don’t say that! It’s because of them we were taken,” I hiss back at her. “This …” I wave in the general direction of the store, “all this is because I worked my butt off and refused to give up.”

“You wouldn’t be here if Garrett didn’t buy your freedom for you,” she snaps. With her revelation icy realization pours into my veins, extinguishing my hot temper.

“What?” I gasp.

“Garrett bought you at the auction. They could’ve left us there but they chose to give us our lives back,” Riza says, only now realizing that I never knew.

“How do you know?” I can’t believe what I’m hearing.

“Justin dropped us off at the police station. I recognized his smell. I’d recognize it anywhere.” She smiles up at Justin and I see the love in her eyes.

I look at Garrett where he’s been standing, letting me figure this entire mess out on my own. “You could’ve told me!” I want to hit him. I want to hold him. He didn’t just forget about me!

Feelings crash over me. Feelings I tried to bury but I never got that quite right. First shame and anger, and then acceptance. Yeah, I never claimed to be normal.

~*~

Chapter Thirty Three

Garrett~

I want to shake her. I want to yell, swear and hit something.

Kristine laughs bitterly. “You know it’s actually worse, Riza. At first I thought a stranger bought me and then ended up changing his mind. But,” she starts to walk away towards the front of the store, “it turns out we were never good enough to begin with. There were many times Garrett told me I was nothing, nothing but a slave. He proved it by throwing me away. You’re a fool if you think Justin loves you.”

I want to stop her and explain but the second Mom sees her, she calls her over to the table. I glare at Riza. “Drop the subject and let me handle it.”

Kristine stays close to my mother and even when the signing starts, she doesn’t leave her side. I’ll have to wait until she closes the store. I stick around for a while, making sure Mom sees me, and then I sneak up the stairs to Kristine’s apartment. While I have time I look around, curious about the space she calls home. It’s small and pretty empty, not quite what I expected her to home to look like. It looks like she put most of her time and energy into the store.

I notice there’s no door to the bathroom and that makes me look at the apartment again, it’s just one big open space. I take a seat on her bed and when I look straight ahead I see the television, and her front door is right next to it. The whole apartment is laid out so she can see when someone comes. I’ve reduced my wildcat to a paranoid, scared girl.

I lean back on the bed and place a pillow at my back. I might as well make myself comfortable. I let my memories wander back to that week I spent with Kris. At first I was too consumed with worry for Andrea to really care about Kristine’s feelings, but as every day slipped by, she wormed her way in under my skin. Those last few days she gave me her trust and I thought by giving her her freedom, I’d be making her happy. I thought it’s what she wanted, I was obviously wrong. She saw it as being rejected. I have to restore her sense of self-worth. I’m going to make it my goal to get the old Kris back. I broke her … I’ll fix her.

It’s after one the afternoon when the door suddenly bursts open. Kris rushes in and slams the door shut. She rests her forehead to the door and after a few seconds I hear her take deep breaths, trying to regain her composure.

I get up and slowly walk to her. When I’m right behind her, I reach out and gently touch her shoulder. “Hey.”

She spins around, fear and fright clouding her eyes. “What the hell? I thought you left! What are you doing here?” The fear quickly makes space for anger.

“We never got to finish our talk.” She tries to squeeze by me but I take a step to the right, causing her to walk into me. I grab hold of her shoulders and yank her even closer. Her eyes dart up and just like that we fall into the old roles. I’m the tormentor and she’s the slave. For the life of me I can’t let go. I can’t step away.

I shove her back against the door and take hold of her jaw so she can’t pull away from me. My body looms over hers as I press my mouth hard against her trembling lips. Fuck, I missed feeling them. Luckily she doesn’t fight me. She parts her lips and I slip in, drinking in her addictive taste. My body shudders with want and I lose all sense of reasoning. I grab hold of her ass and lift her against me. She wraps her legs around my waist. With an urgency born from the intense need I feel for her, I carry her back to the bed.

I place her down gently and start trailing kisses down her neck and shoulder. I push her shirt out of the way and rain kisses on her flat stomach. Her hands grab hold of my shoulders and she pushes against me.

“What are you doing?” she asks confusion thick in her eyes.

Her response confuses me, too. I cock my head to the side, watching her closely. “I’m kissing you.” I remember what she said about kissing being too intimate. “Kris, we’ve had sex. It doesn’t get more intimate than that. I’m going to kiss you.”

She shakes her head and shoves harder at me. “We fucked,” she snaps, “actually, you fucked me and I only let you to keep myself safe. You never kissed me all over. It was only about the fuck.”

She shoves against my shoulders and I sit back, stunned by what she just said. Then anger flares hot through me. “You enjoyed it just as much!” I see the denial in her eyes and for the second time in a matter of an hour, I lose my shit. “You wanted me!” I grab hold of her and toss her back against the mattress. I press my body hard against hers so she can’t get away. “I’ll make you want me again. I paid for you, remember? You’re mine.”

My fingers work to unbutton her jeans and I drag them down her legs. I throw the irritating piece of clothing on the floor. When I turn back to her, she’s lying still. She’s not fighting me.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” I shout.

Her eyes flash and she spits the words at me, “You’re what’s wrong with me! Take what you paid for and get out!” Her anger doesn’t last and fizzles quickly away. She turns onto her side and buries her face in the pillow.

I’m losing control. She’s making me do things I don’t want to do. I just want her back and I don’t know how to do that. I lie down behind her and I hold her close as she cries, letting her get rid of the pent up emotions.

Once she calms down, I brush strands of hair from her face. I lean half over her so I can see her reaction to what I’m about to say. “I want to get to know the real you.”

She scoffs, “Unless you’re taking what you paid for, I have nothing more to say to you.”

My patience is wearing thin and the words just tumble out. “Fine, if that’s how you want to play this game.” I turn her so she’s flat on her back and looking up at me. “I paid for you and for that fifty thousand dollars I want three months of your life in which you belong to me.”

Her mouth drops open but I quickly cover it with my hand. “I’m not finished. For those three months you’re moving in with me. You’ll do everything I ask of you. You’ll pretend to like me until you fucking believe it yourself!”

I push myself away from her and get up. She immediately darts up, her cheeks pink with outrage. “My life is not a game! I won’t just pack up and become your slave! I have a bookstore to run! I have-”

I hold my hand up to silence her and when she flinches - as if I’d ever hit her - I make up my mind. “You’re coming with me so I can fix this shit. I’ll hire someone to look after your store. I’ll…” I was about to say I’ll give her the night to pack, but then I might just give her time to run. Looking around her apartment there isn’t much to pack anyway. “Screw that idea. You’re coming with me now.” I know what I’m about to say is a low blow, but I need to cement this idea. “It’s either three months or you pay me back the fifty thousand dollars.”

She gasps, “I didn’t tell you to pay for me! Where am I going to get fifty thousand dollars? Every cent I have is in my bookstore.”

“Well, then that settles it. You’re coming with me.” She looks like she’s on the verge of tears. “Come on, Kris, how bad can it be? It’s just three months.”

~*~