Finding YOU Finding ME (You & Me Trilogy Book 2) (14 page)

            “Yes,
Baby, I am. I still have so much to do there. I would have stayed, but when you
told me you’re not going to Stanford, and I knew the reason behind it, I had to
return. I’m here, Baby, all because of you. Everything I’m doing here and
today, Baby, remember, is all because I love you.”

            “Oh
Collins!” I threw my arms around him and kissed him. I didn’t care how I looked
in court, I just knew I loved this man.

            Michael
shot us a look then, and I knew what Collins was saying was true. Michael
looked jealous and angry, as though he really did feel something for me. I felt
bad that he did, but I never knew nor did I actively encouraged it.

            After
we kissed, Collins sat up straight and stared ahead. The bailiff came to the
front of the court and said, “Your Honorable Judge Colleen Seevers is
presiding.”

            Everyone
stood up while an exquisitely beautiful woman in her late thirties walked in,
wearing a judicial black robe. She had long straight black hair, an oval face
with high cheekbones, and beautiful green eyes. I couldn’t tell from the robe
she was wearing, but she seemed to be trimmed and elegant, too.

            I
was not the only one spellbound by this beautiful woman. The entire courtroom
seemed taken aback. She sat down and everyone sat. “So, we have Sullivan vs. Sullivan,”
she began, her booming deep voice commanded the room.

            She
looked at my father sitting at the table, looking calm and cool. “You’re the
pastor of a large congregation in Newport Beach,” she said. “I know you have a
reputation to keep up so we won’t be mudslinging here in court today.”

            She
looked at my mother sitting with Howard at the table across from my father’s.
“That goes for you.” She looked at everyone in court, her bright green eyes
assessing the room. When she spotted Collins sitting next to me, she stopped.
Her eyes seemed to devour him for a moment while her tongue shot out to lick
her lips.

            “We’ll
leave all the he says she says and sob stories in the bedroom where it should
be. I read all the files you submitted to me, counselors, and I thank you for
making it well-organized and easy-to-follow.” She looked at Collins again, a
smile on her face.

            “Mrs.
Sullivan has shown remarkable progress in her support group, it seems,” she
flipped through pages and pages of paperwork. “I commend you for making the
effort and putting your child first,” she said.

            “Thank
you,” my mother said.

            “And
you,” Judge Seevers nodded to my father, “Your plans to spend more time with
your daughter this summer is noted. It will do you and everyone some good to
take time off to spend with your children. They’re only this age once so make
the most of it.”

            “Thank
you, I will,” my father said.

            “So
the court appoints Pastor Sullivan and Mrs. Sullivan joint custody of Nydia
LeeAnne Sullivan. Case rests.” At that, the judge stood, gathered her files,
and walked out of the courtroom. Before she left, though, she turned and
glanced back at Collins with a smile that would have made me burn with jealousy
had Collins not told me he loved me minutes before.

            I
ran down the aisle to my mother’s table and gave her a big hug. “You did it, Mom!”
I said. “You have joint custody of Nydia. That’s so much better than before.”

            “Yes,
it is!” Mom said, her eyes tearing up.

            “Thank
you, Howard,” I said. “I don’t know what you did since you only had less than
24 hours to do all this, but thank you anyways.”

            Howard
smiled and looked a little sheepish. “I just filed some paperwork I got from
some sources. The one to thank is Collins. He’s pulled some strings, and this
time, he really asked for a huge favor.” Howard glanced over at where the judge
just departed.

            “The
judge?” I asked. “They know each other?”

            Howard
nodded. “She was the one who got him out of jail when he was a teen.”

            “Oh,”
I said. “So she’s a friend of Collins. That’s great, I’d love to meet her and
get some insight into him…”

            Howard
laughed. “I’d suggest if you want any insight into Collins at all, you’d have
to talk to him yourself. He’s pretty mum and mysterious to all of us.”

            I
turned to head back to Collins but couldn’t find him anywhere in court. I
walked out of the room, thinking he was outside, taking a call. I turned and
walked down the hall to see if he was near the restrooms, but he wasn’t.

            Then
I heard some voices. Collins and a female voice.

            I
walked closer to an area close to the courtroom where the voices were louder.
They were coming from a hallway hidden behind the courtroom, but the vent where
I was standing allowed me to hear part of the conversation.

            “I’m
with someone I care about now,” Collins said. “I don’t want to hurt her. She’s
not used to the lifestyle. She won’t understand.”

            “But
you know what I did out there, didn’t you?” came the female.

            “Yes,
thank you,” Collins said.

            “So
you’ll meet me at the club, won’t you? For old times’ sake.”

            “I’m
through with that. I’m not into that anymore,” Collins said. “I’m trying to have
a normal relationship…”

            “But
you love what I do to you,” the female said. “You’ve always have ever since I
took you out of jail, took pity on you, and taught you what it is like to have
love and pleasure.”

            “No,
you taught me to be your sex slave, if nothing else!” Collins said.

            “No
you were a very willing participant, I recalled,” the woman said.

            “No,
I was a teen, a minor under 18, and you took advantage of me and my situation,”
Collins said angrily.

            “I
showed you love. I loved you, Collins. We would have been beautiful together,”
she said. “You know you desire me. You never forgot me. I bet you were trying
to find a girl to be my replacement with this new so-called love of yours, whom
I just did you a big favor for.”

            “That’s
not true,” Collins said.

            “Then
why are you responding to my touch right now, Collins? You’re getting so hard,
we can do it here in the hallway and no one would know.”

            “Keep
your hands off of me,” Collins said angrily.

            “You
may say that, lover boy, but your body is humping me right now, and why aren’t
you stopping me from slipping my hand down your pants to play?” A moan. “You
feel so hard and hot, I’m going to unzip your pants and…”

            “No,
Colleen!” Collins said. “I don’t even know why I agreed to talk to you again,
but I’m here because of her, not you.”

            “Really,”
she laughed. “I took a good look at her sitting in my court today. If you
haven’t forgotten me, I don’t know what. She looks like my doppelganger. Same
hair, eye color, and even body type. Really, Collins, you should pay more
attention to your subconscious. It would have told you your new girlfriend is a
replica of me, your original love…before you get all high and mighty with me.”

            I
couldn’t listen anymore. My heart was in my throat. I was shocked. I had so
much respect for the gorgeous judge that I just admired in court. But she and
Collins had been lovers?

            I
couldn’t refute that from the conversation. And she was right. We did share the
same coloring. I did look like a younger more innocent version of Colleen Seevers.

            I
couldn’t stand it. I ran into the restroom and threw up.

           
Get
yourself together! You have to show you know nothing.

            Oh
shut up! I told Susan.

            I
let the tears fall, and when I was done, I head back outside where my mother
and Howard was waiting.

            “Where’s
Collins?” I asked.

            “He
texted me with a message saying he had an emergency he had to deal with and to
please take you and your mother home,” Howard said.

            How
could I tell Mom that the reason she won was because my boyfriend had promised
a favor from the judge? How can I tell Howard that?

            “Fine,”
I said, looking at my phone. There were a few texts from Collins. One of them
saying he had an emergency, and he apologized he can’t take me home.

            My
heart dropped. Was Collins really going to go meet her?

            When
Howard dropped me off at the entrance of my apartment building, I went straight
up to my apartment, wanting nothing more than to take a shower and sleep,
feeling emotionally exhausted and drained. Afterwards, I didn’t know what I was
going to do.

            I
gave up my dreams of going to Stanford partly because of him, and I almost gave
up my body to him. I knew that he loved me or he wouldn’t have gone through
such lengths to be with me. But was I enough for him sexually and emotionally
to get him to heal and turn away from his past?

Chapter
17

I
didn’t even make it to the showers.

The
door slammed shut behind me as soon as I opened the door and walked into my
apartment.

A
large hand covered my face, my mouth, while I struggled to free myself. I stepped
down on the masked intruder’s foot, which caught him by surprised, and elbowed
him as hard as I could. He let go of me long enough for me to turn around and
use the palm of my hand to push up into his nose, throwing his head back.

He
stumbled, and that gave me the chance to try to run out the door, but another
masked assailant blocked the door. Was there another way out?

I
ran to the nearest door near me…my bedroom. The assailant blocking the door
followed me, getting close enough to grab at my hair.

He
pulled me back before my hands could reach for the door, and I fell into his
chest, pushing him down. His body broke my fall, but I was trying to stand up.
Wearing a dress and heels today was not the best outfit to run in. I didn’t
care. I had to get away.

“Don’t
run!” his voice shouted.

“Like
hell I won’t,” I brought my knees to his groin as hard as I could, causing his
hands to fall off me while they grip his balls. “If you touch me again, there’s
plenty where that comes from.”

I
glanced over where the other assailant was supposed to be, but didn’t see him.

If
I head into my bedroom now, I knew I would be trapped, and then I’ll have to
wait it out, but if I tried to make a run for the outside door, I could get
away.

I
decided to go for it, but reached into my pocket, and pressed an emergency
button on my phone. I didn’t know who to call, except Collins, but most likely
he was still busy. I hit 9-1-1 instead, and then left a brief message with
Collins. “Trouble. Here in Apt. Help!”

It
would take a few seconds for me to reach that door and I’ll be out, running for
the building’s security.

Too
late, as soon as my help message sent, a hand grabbed my hair from behind, and
I was pulled back into the arms of the first assailant. This time, he was
prepared for a fight.

I
lashed out with my elbows, both of them, but couldn’t make contact as he
swerved his torso to miss my blows. My heels were trying to stomp down on his
feet, but he knew that move already. So I bent forward, using my butt to crash
into his groin and my weight to make it hurt, and tried to slip out of his
grip.

He
let out a yell and moved back, but with one arm, he still held my waist. “I
love this fierce side of you, Sam,” he said through his mask. “It’s very sexy.
Oh you are making me so hot for you, I can’t wait to fuck you over and over
again. Me and my friend there.”

My
heart stopped, and I was paralyzed for a second. I knew that voice so well.
It’s haunted me for so long. Billy.

My
body reacted by wanting to recoil in fear.

Oh
no, I cried inside. This is not happening. My body was shutting down. 

Billy
pulled me to the sofa in my living room and sat me down. He took off his ski
mask, and threw it on my table. He smiled, his white teeth grinning like a
toothpaste commercial. The breath in me was knocked out as I stared at him. He
had grown, like I had. Instead of the awkward teen that tormented me, he was
now a man who was about six foot two inches, with muscles, a gash near his blue
eyes, and another near his temples, leading to his dirty blond hair. He looked
like a surfer and the handsome boy next door football player, rather than the
boy who molested me throughout junior high and then tried to rape me.

He
sucked in a breath before sitting right next to me, putting his hand on my thigh,
which I tried to push away. “You are looking really good, Sammy.”

“I
have nothing to say to you,” I said, trying to turn away.

“Aww,
Sammy, is that the way to treat an old friend?” Billy said, moving his hand up
my thigh headed in the direction of what was underneath my skirt.

“You
are not my friend,” I spat.

“Oh
but I am. We’ve known each other for how long? You’re the first girl who was
ever nice to me.”

“My
mistake,” I said, trying to move away from him.

“Oh,
don’t be that way, Sammy,” he said, his face moving closer to me. “You smell so
good, and you’re pretty now than you were when we were kids.”

“So
now you’re nice to me?” I asked.

“I
was always nice to you,” Billy said.

“Touching
me and fondling me against my will, forcing me to do the things you wanted me
to do to you by threatening me? All that is being ‘nice’ to me?” I spat. “You
are one sick…” I stopped.