Fated - A Mermaid's Curse 2 (15 page)

I make my way to the room and I’m pretty sure Dad had one of his men help destroy the apartment while he was busy destroying Blake.

I throw a few pictures, clothes, and books in a few boxes and decide to get someone to clean up and pack the rest later. When I make my way back out, I can hear him tell her, “I hate to hear you cry. We’re done now. This part of my life is over, okay? If he tries anything else we’ll just take Mike’s offer and move. I promise.”

I clear my throat and step out into the living room.

Blake looks at me, “He doesn’t know about mom helping me get the island, does he?”

I shake my head. “No.” I want to tell him Dad plans to find out what happened through his own means, but I don’t want to give Blake yet another thing to worry about.

One month… I have one month to do what I need to and learn what I need to make sure they are safe. I owe her at least this much.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

BLAKE

Owen and Arianna have been gone for a while so when I hear someone at the door, I rush to open it thinking it’s them. Instead, I open it to find dad and his friend Darius.

They both walk past me.

“
Close the door,” says dad.

I do and I start hoping now that Owen and Arianna don’t return while they’re still here.

Dad nods at Darius who moves toward the corner of the living room, grabs a vase and throws it against the wall.

“
What the fuck?” I say.

When I turn to face dad again, the first blow comes as his fist comes into contact with my stomach at full force. I try to block it, but it’s too late.

After that, the sound of Darius breaking things around the apartment is drowned out by the sound of me being hit over and over again, and it’s always the same. I always feel like the same little kid that I was when he first hit me like this. I can’t move. I can’t fight back. All I can do is hope that Arianna doesn’t come in through this door.

Dad never even says anything but I know that this is about my new arrangement with Mike and my refusal to decline it.

He doesn’t stop until he hears the door open and at that moment, my heart stops. When I see Owen walk through the door the first thing I do is look past him, but I don’t see her and I don’t know if I should feel relieved or even more worried.

I try to get up but I can’t move, so I stay there quietly and as soon as dad and Darius are out the door, I let my panic show as I ask Owen where she is.

The fact that Dad is on his way to the parking garage where she is, makes my panic even worse.

I really don’t want her to see me like this, but seeing her safe is more important than anything else. Owen seems surprised when I ask him to go get her, but he finally does as I ask.

While he is gone, I manage to get up and stumble my way into the kitchen to grab an icepack and then go back to the living room and sit on the couch. I feel the blood running down my face, so I put my head back to stop the nosebleed and the icepack to my lips.

I expect Arianna to fall apart when she sees me, so I’m surprised when she sits next to me, takes the icepack from my hand, and holds it put to my mouth. When she puts her arm around me and I flinch, she instantly pulls my shirt up. It’s sore as hell so I can imagine how bad it looks. And it’s not until she looks at the bruises that her eyes water.

“
I’m okay. This is really nothing,” I say.

I manage to move my arm around her and pull her close to me. After a while of just sitting there quietly, I hear her sob.

“
I hate to hear you cry,” I say. “We’re done now. This part of my life is over, okay? If he tries anything else we’ll just take Mike’s offer and move. I promise.”

After Owen gets back into the living room, we make sure we are on the same page as far as what Dad knows about Mom’s involvement with the island.

My nosebleed has stopped by now. I lift my head and take a look around. I just shake my head.

“
Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

Owen helps us get a few boxes into the car and then to the island. Sitting in the boat, Arianna lays her head against my shoulder and closes her eyes. I don’t know if she does it out of exhaustion or if she is afraid of the water and this is her way to keep her mind off of where we are, but I just put my arm around her as Owen takes us back. She doesn’t open her eyes until the boat stops. We’re all so tired that we go straight to bed.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

ARIANNA

I open my eyes and find that Blake is no longer in bed. I get out of the room expecting to see him with Owen, but instead, I find him outside, sitting on the sand and alone. I go outside and sit next to him.

He gives me a sad look. “I’m sorry you had to see me like that.”

I bite my bottom lip. “Blake, you have nothing to apologize for.” I take a deep breath and try to change subject. “Where is Owen?”

“
In there,” he nods toward the house. “He was up early making some calls. He probably went back to sleep.” He pauses. “I have to go to my office in the city to get my things. Do you want to come?” he asks.

I sigh. I can’t handle another day like yesterday. “I’d actually rather stay and unpack your things, if that’s okay, but what about your dad? Is it safe there?”

“
Owen says he’s out of town on business until tomorrow. He left last night. It’s perfect timing.” He pauses. “You know, I could ask Mom and Molly to come stay with you while I’m doing this. Molly misses you a lot.”

I smile at him. “That would be wonderful.”

He calls them but Molly is at a play date so we make plans for them to come to the island tomorrow instead.

Blake is kissing me when we hear Owen clear his throat behind us.

“
Ready?” He looks like he’s in a terrible mood.

Blake looks from him to me, “He’s not a morning person.”

“
I’m not an any time of the day person. Are you ready or what?”

“
Yes, I’m ready!” says Blake.

He hesitates before leaving.

“
I’ll be okay,” I whisper.

But it’s him that I worry about. I stand by the door and I watch the boat leave to make sure nothing strange happens in those waters.

As soon as he is gone, I start working on something that I had planned the night before when I couldn’t sleep. Since Blake has to work mostly from here and will be using his dad’s old office, I want to erase all traces of his father from that room. I walk into the dark office and the first thing I do is to take down the curtains to let light into the room. I look around wondering just how much stuff I need to get rid of. The first thing I do is what I wanted to do the most to make this Blake’s room. I walk over to the bookshelf out in the game room and put Blake’s books into a box. I carry that box to the office and make room for them on the bookshelf. I then grab the two boxes that we took from Blake’s apartment. I take down the paintings from the wall, putting them in the closet and replace them with the few pictures that Blake had in his apartment. One is an overview of the island, and the other is a picture of him, Owen, and an older man who I assume to be his grandfather. There are more books that we took from Blake’s apartment and I carefully put them on the bookshelf as well. Then I decide to go through the desk drawers to see if there is anything that belongs to Blake’s father that I should throw in a box to be sent to him, but he never kept anything personal here.

Once that is done, I start to get tired. I didn’t sleep well the night before so I take a nap. When I wake up, I eat a sandwich and finish cleaning the office. It’s already getting dark when I get a message from Blake saying that he is on his way back. I can barely wait until he sees the office. I haven’t done much, but I hope he likes it. I run to the back of the house, and grab the small squared lanterns that we use outside and bring them in, making a trail from the front door to the office, where I wait impatiently for Blake to get back. As soon as I hear the sound of footsteps, I stand in front of the desk. I had closed the door and I hear it open slowly. Blake peeks in and his face lights up as soon as he looks at me, and then, takes a look around. He rushes inside and wraps his arms around me.

“
Do you like it?” I ask.

He lets go and takes another look around and his eyes land on the bookshelf and he is speechless.

“
Well?” I ask.

“
It’s perfect, Arianna. Thank you,” he grins at me.

“
I thought maybe you could get back into writing.”

“
Arianna, I—”

I put my finger against his lips, “Tell me one good reason why you can’t?”

He chuckles. “You have no idea how much I love you.”

He moves to where he is standing in front of me. He puts his hands on my waist and lifts me up, putting me on top of the desk and he leans me down as he kisses me all over.

When I move my hand inside his shirt and graze my fingers against his stomach, he flinches and moves back.

I give him an apologetic look as I sit back up.

“
I’m okay,” he says.

He takes a step closer to me again and I carefully move his shirt up and over his head and start kissing every bruise on his chest and stomach as he watches me with nothing but love and desire in his eyes.

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Later in the evening, Blake is getting a few things done for Mr. Jones and I decide to go outside and face my fears. I sit on the sand, close to the house and away from the ocean, and just stare at the water. I can’t help but to imagine what is happening at home… well, what used to be my home. I wonder how my father is doing and can only hope that ruling the kingdom is taking his mind off me. I think of Bram, and hope that he can find someone else and move on.

I don’t even hear when Blake comes outside, but I feel him when he is next to me. I look up at him and he sits down behind me, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me down so I can rest my head on his chest. I close my eyes and take in his scent mixed with the scent of the ocean.

“
I wish you’d tell me what you’re thinking about when you look at the ocean,” he whispers in my ear.

“
What do you mean?”

He kisses the top of my head. “Every time I see you look at the ocean, you have this sad look in your eyes. I hate seeing you like that. I wish you’d tell me whatever is bothering you so that I can fix it.”

I turn slightly so I can look into his eyes.

“
There is nothing to fix, Blake. I couldn’t imagine anything better than we have right now.”

That makes him smile. “Let’s go to bed,” he says.

We stand up and I feel that pain on my legs again.

“
What’s wrong?” he asks.

“
Just a cramp, I guess.” I remember what the doctor said. “Do you mind if we take a walk by the water before we go to bed?”

He shakes his head and slips his hand into mine. We make our way to the sea and as soon as the water touches my feet, my heart skips a beat. I close my eyes and smile. I don’t even know if that is what made the pain fade away, but I take the time to enjoy that feeling of happiness when the water touches my skin, not to mention the fact that Blake is right next to me. When I open my eyes, I see Blake watching me and smiling.

“
Do you want to go for a swim?” he asks.

I hesitate. I think about Owen and the magic protecting us, but I’m still nervous.

“
Maybe another time.” I say.

We keep walking for a while. Blake still has his hand in mine. When I yawn, he asks if I’m tired and I nod. We walk back toward the house, still with the water hitting our skin. When we are in front of the house, he scoops me up, making me giggle as he carries me to the room.

BRAM

I swim close to shore like I’ve done every couple of days, and once again, all I see is a human couple, but I know something is off about them, especially the woman. It’s like I’ve know her from somewhere and I can’t let go of this instinct that I need to keep coming back.

Everyone else has given up, including Arianna’s father. After he talked himself into believing that she didn’t return because she is dead, he gave up the throne. I’m now the king. I make the rules and everything is perfect, except for one thing… I miss my queen and I know she is alive. I know she’s alive because Lyra ran instead of returning, and I will do anything to find and bring her back.

***

ARIANNA

Over the next two weeks, Blake and I get a taste of what happiness really is. My pain only comes once and when I call the doctor to talk about it, he suggests a third theory that maybe the pain is physiological because of my having to keep my past from Blake. Blake’s bruises heal and I think so does a part of his soul. We laugh more than ever before. We spend time with his sister, Molly. Blake loves to work for Mike, although I’m still trying to get him back into writing. It’s just us and the people we love, at least until tomorrow, when we have to go back into the real world to attend his company’s yearly party.