Saving Scotty (10 page)

Chapter 18

Nick

Ryan had brought over Eve, and I felt like kissing her. She was a beautiful woman, of course, but that wasn’t why I wanted to kiss her.

She was literally going to be my way of saving Scotty.

But I tried to tamp down my excitement. “Eve, yes,” I said, taking her hand and kissing it. “Ryan tells me that you know our good buddy Paul.”

“Yes, of course. My ex-husband plays golf with him on Mondays.” She emphasized the word “ex” when she said “ex-husband,” and looked at Ryan meaningfully.

“Well, then good. I’ve lost touch with him, but I’ve heard that he has a place out here.”

“He does. It’s over on Wallah Street, by the beach. It’s a gorgeous place, set on several acres of land. I’ve been there a few times myself.”

My heart started thumping loudly. I looked at Ryan, and he had on his poker face, but I could see a glimmer of glee in his eyes. I looked down at my hands, which were visibly shaking.

“Oh,” I said, as casually as I could. “What’s the address? I need to pay him a visit while I’m here. He’d kill me if he knew that I was in town without seeing him at least once.”

She gave me the address, and sat down on the other chair that was across from Ryan. “So,” she said, looking me up and down. “I have to say that you two are the prettiest men I’ve seen around here in a long time.” And then she smiled. “Oops, did I just say that?”

I nodded my head, not paying attention to a single word that she said. I glanced at Ryan, and he knew what I was thinking.
Time to move, and move NOW!

“Thanks. You aren’t so bad yourself,” I said. “But, if you’ll excuse me. I have something that I need to attend to.”

She looked disappointed. “Already? You guys just got here. I was so excited to see two new hot men at this place, I could barely contain myself.”

I smiled, and looked at Ryan. She looked at Ryan, too. “Well, hopefully you can stay and have a drink or three, Ryan.”

“Eve, would love to, but I gotta move, too. But I’ll catch you around.”

“Pooh,” said Eve. “Just when I thought that the party was finally getting good. Oh, well. I guess I’ll have to make do
with talking to all those stuffy preppies around this place.”

“Nice to meet you, Eve,” I said. Then, I looked at Ryan again. Both of us stood up. Then we walked rapidly out of the party.

We got into the rented Rolls, and I let out my breath. I realized that I was sweating, and my heart was racing wildly. “Hurry, let’s Google map this place and get over there ASAP.”

But Ryan was already on it. “Okay,” he said, and turned on the navigation. “Let’s move.”

∞

We drove up to the address that was given to us by Eve. Eve was right – this was a magnificent, modern beach house. The house was all angles and f
loor to ceiling windows and perfectly manicured lawns. The sun was beginning to set over the ocean. In all, this was a beautiful, tropical, tranquil scene.

And I was about to be over the moon with happiness and joy at seeing my beautiful Scotty. I couldn’t believe that so many things had broken our way since we set out on this quest. I was only grateful
that they were.

I didn’t want to imagine the alternative.

We rang the doorbell.

A dark-skinned man in white came to the door. “May I help you?”

“Yes, sir,” Ryan said. “We need to see Paul Lucas.”

The man shook his head. “I’m very sorry, but Mr. Lucas is not available right now.”

“What do you mean-“I began, but Ryan nudged me hard.

“I’m very sorry,” Ryan said, “but do you know when Mr. Lucas will be available?”

“Maybe later on this tonight, but I doubt it. Today is his wedding day.”

I felt confused. Was this all a big mistake? Was Scotty not there with him at all? If he was marrying somebody else, how could Scotty still be there with him?

“Wedding,” Ryan said. “I’m very sorry, I didn’t know that he was engaged to anybody.”

At that, the man suddenly realized that he hadn’t bothered to ask either of our names. “Well, it was a sudden thing. But I can give him the message that you two gentlemen have called. What names may I give him?”

Ryan and I glanced at each other. We had nothing to lose at that point.

“My name is Ryan Gallagher,” Ryan said, “and this is Nick O’Hara.”

“My name is Javier,” he said. And then he repeated both of our names. “Can I tell him what this is about?”

“It’s personal,” Ryan said. “But we also would love to give our regards to his lovely bride. What is her name?”

“It’s a young lady who has been staying here. I don’t know what her given name is, but I know that Mr. Lucas calls her Scotty.”

Chapter 19

Scotty! NO! I was screaming to myself. God, no, please, no, anything but this.

“I’m very sorry,” I said to Javier. “But I have to get in there right now.”

“You can’t come in here.”

Watch me.
“Either you let me in, or I’m going to force my way in there, and you’ll wish that you had let me in.”

Ryan made no move to hold me back. In fact, he stood, shoulder to shoulder, with me. Both
of us were 6’2” and in very good shape. Javier was about 5’6” and very slightly built.

I felt badly for Javier, but I knew that we had to do what we had to do.

I clenched both of my fists and gave him the most menacing look that I could. I glanced over at Ryan, and he was doing the same.
Good to see that Ryan’s on the same page. As he always has been.

Javier looked at the two of us, his dark eyes flashing from one to the other. He obviously saw that we meant business, because he turned around and ran into the home and out a sliding glass door, the two of us following him in hot pursuit.

We got to the end of a long path, and there was Scotty, sitting in a wheelchair in a white dress. A well-dressed man with salt and pepper hair was standing up next to her, and the minister was reading a sermon.

All of them stopped when we got there.

I immediately ran up to Scotty.

She looked at me, and then looked away. There were tears in her eyes, and she was shaking all over.

“Scotty, oh my god,” I said. “Oh, my god. I’m so relieved.”

The man, who, at first, was looking at me with shock, now had a look of pure anger on his face. “What is the meaning of this, coming in here and interrupting my wedding ceremony?” Then he looked at Javier. “Get the police over here, right now.”

Javier nodded at the man, and ran back into the house.

Ryan was in hot pursuit of Javier, I guess because he was going to try to prevent Javier from calling the police.

I stood up, and looked that man in the eye. “Listen, I don’t think that you want the police to come here, do you? I know all about you and what you were doing to this beautiful woman, when she was only 13 years old. And what’s more, I have proof.”

I was bluffing. I had no proof at all, of course. There was no way that I would
have proof of anything that had happened between him and Scotty.

He
looked at me, his eyes narrowing. He seemed to be sizing me up, wondering if I was telling the truth about the “proof” that I seemed to have about his raping Scotty.

Javier came back out into the yard, with Ryan hot on his heels. “Sir, I couldn’t call the police. This man here, Ryan, wouldn’t let me.”

Mr. Lucas still stared at me, and, not taking his eyes off of me, he said to Javier “just hold off on that for a little bit, okay, Javier?”

“As you wish,” Javier said.

Mr. Lucas looked at Scotty. “I’m very sorry, my little love bird, but this matter will have to be postponed for a later time. I need to talk to this man here.” Then he looked at me. “What did you say that your name is again?”

“Nick,” I said, my eyes trained on Scotty’s face. She looked hopeful, bewildered, ashamed, and just plain pissed, all at the same time.

I could understand most of the emotions that I read on her face. What I didn’t understand was the anger. I had no idea, no clue, on why she would be angry with me, yet, she clearly looked like she was.

“Nick,” Mr. Lucas said. “Well, Nick, why don’t you and I go inside and talk for a little bit?”

“Gladly,” I said. And then I looked at Scotty. “Are you ok? God, I was so worried, you wouldn’t believe it.”

“I’m fine,” she said, her voice cold and clipped. She refused to look me in the eye.

I shook my head.
Why was she acting that way?
I clearly had it in my head that she was going to be as happy to see me as I was to see her, yet she acted like she didn’t want to see me at all.

Chapter 20

Scotty

At first, I had a hard time believing my eyes. There was Nick. Nick! My heart started pounding wildly, and I felt like was dreaming.

Was this the miracle that I was praying for?

And then, just like that, I realized that it
really
was
Nick.

And I remembered what he did to me by sleeping with that witch.

My mind was going 100 MPH while I stared at him. So many thoughts were conflicting in my head. The first thought was positive. Nick had come to save me, again, and I had no clue how he finally found me. After all, there wasn’t just a way to
Google
Paul and find just where he was living here on this island. So, Nick must have gone out of his way to find where I was.

That means that he loves me.

But, crossing that thought was the memory that was seared in my brain. Of him and her. Naked. On the couch. And she looked so happy and satisfied. She had clearly won. She had fought a battle against me from the moment I set foot in that firm’s corridors, and she had finally won. She got Nick, and she wanted me to be the first to know it.

That means that he doesn’t love me. People in love don’t do that with other women. Especially at work. Especially when you know that the person you love might see you.

Of course, I was also extremely happy. Because I knew that I would have a way out of my awful dilemma. Come what may, Nick was there, and he was going to take me back to where I belonged.

I didn’t think that he and I could possibly have a romantic relationship, ever again, but, at the very least, I might have my life back.

It was hard to think about which of my thoughts and emotions took precedence at that point in time. They were jumbled up, so that I felt happy one second, and angry the next, and then back again. Unfortunately, the overarching thought, over everything else that was going through my brain, was anger at him.

After all,
he
was the sole reason why I got into the clutches of Mr. Lucas in the first place. It was seeing him and that witch together, naked, that caused me to run blindly into the street. I couldn’t see very well because the tears were coating my eyes, and I couldn’t think very well because I was just so devastated. If I had never ran into the street, then I wouldn’t have landed in the hospital. And, if I had never landed in the hospital, I never would have ended up there with Mr. Lucas.

A chain reaction that was started by Nick’s betrayal. That was what had landed me back with Mr. Lucas, helpless, alone and vulnerable. That was what caused me to be back where I was when I was thirteen, being repeatedly raped and tortured. That was what caused the serious thoughts about suicide.

Nick. This entire thing was his fault.

So, even though there was a large part of me that was thrilled, beyond measure, to see him, there was a larger part of me that had white-hot hatred for him. And what he did.

Finally, the angry part of me was what won the battle of my emotions. And I turned my head, when he clearly wanted to hold me and love me like he used to. I couldn’t stand to look at him. At his blue eyes and handsome face. I couldn’t stand to smell the scent of his woodsy cologne that he usually wore. I couldn’t stand the memories that were brought up upon seeing him again. They were just too painful for me to face.

Because they would never happen again. There was no way that I would ever, and I mean ever, be able to trust him after what he did. So, it was painful to see him. Painful, because I knew that he was somebody that I loved, but couldn’t be with. Ever. And that knowledge ripped out my very soul while I sat there looking at him.

And then I saw Nick and Mr. Lucas leave the premises to go back into the house. I had no idea what was going to happen in there, but I hoped that Nick would prevail. Because, even if I could never be with him, I needed him right at that very moment. I needed him to get me out of this hell, so that I could go home and try to pursue a normal life.

It would be a life without his love, but it still would be infinitely superior to the li
fe that I was living here in this house of horrors.

Ryan hung back, and didn’t go into the house to talk to Mr. Lucas.

I smiled at him. Ryan was such a nice, kind person. So genuine. It was so difficult to find somebody like him – beautiful inside and out. I just knew that he was not the kind to get naked with a beautiful blonde woman while he professed his love to somebody else, and I found myself wishing that Nick could be more like him.

He knelt down next to me. “How are you doing?” he asked.

I said nothing, but just nodded my head.

And then I started to cry.

Ryan took my head, and put it on his shoulder. He put his strong hand in my hair. “Shhhh, I know. I know. I’ve been there, sweet Scotty. I know how it is to be forced against your will to do despicable things. But you’ll get through it. With Nick’s love, you will get through it.”

Then I stiffened up. I wiped the tears away from my face and said, “I have no doubt that I’ll get through it. I have before. All I need is to get back home, where I belong, and I will pick up the pieces of my shattered life. But Nick won’t be a part of it. Ever again.”

Ryan looked perplexed. “I’m sorry, Scotty. I don’t understand.”

I took a deep breath. “Nick betrayed me. He had sex with that Portia woman right in her office.”

Ryan looked taken aback, shocked even. “Huh? What are you talking about?”

“Portia. She called me to come to her office. I was distraught, anyhow, because
I got a phone call to my office about my brother, Aaron. But I got to her office and…”

“And what?” Ryan now looked not only concerned, but angry. I saw the look in his eye, and it looked like he was thinking
I knew it. I knew it. I knew my stupid friend couldn’t keep it in his pants for two seconds.
“Go on, Scotty.”

“I got to her office and she was naked. And so was he. And they both were on the couch.” I crossed my arms in front of me. “So, no, Nick and I can never be together again. I didn’t trust him for the longest time, and it turned out that I never should have trusted him
after all. My first instinct about him was right.”

Ryan just shook his head and muttered something under his breath. And then he looked towards the house. “Excuse me,” he said. And then he stood up.

But both of us could hear loud arguing coming from inside the house. Both Mr. Lucas and Nick were shouting at one another.

I could hear snippets of what they were saying.

“Listen, you fucking pervert, she’s coming with me. And that’s that.”

“How dare you call me a pervert? She loves me, she has always loved me. As you can see, she’s marrying me this evening. Why would she marry me if she didn’t love me?”

“You must have her brainwashed. Either that, or she’s scared to death of you. But there is no way that she would willingly marry you. That much I know.”

“And who are you to her?”

“I’m the man who she’s going to marry for real.”

I looked at Ryan when Nick said that last thing, and Ryan looked at me as well. It was as if he, himself, was trying to reconcile all of what was happening in his mind. Here was Nick, telling Mr. Lucas that he was going to marry me. Yet, there was Nick, naked on the couch with Portia, obviously post-coital.

I knew that Ryan had known Nick for a long time, and obviously knew how Nick was. So, the story that I told Ryan about Nick and Portia probably rang true for him.

“I don’t know what to say,” he said to me. “I don’t know what to believe. I mean, I’m not going to lie. I don’t think that Nick has ever stayed faithful to anybody in his life. I love the guy like a brother, but to say that he’s been a womanizer is severely understating things. But I thought that he had finally changed for you.” He shook his head. “I guess that I
’m just naïve myself. I always hoped that Nick would finally change his ways, and I thought that he did. But, I have to admit, what you just told me about him and Portia sounds just like him.”

I nodded my head. “I’m not making that up. In fact, that was the reason why I ran into the street in the first place. So, Nick is the reason why I ended up here. If it weren’t for him, I would
be safe in New York right this very minute, studying contentedly and popping popcorn with Jack, my roommate.”

Ryan finally sighed. “
Oh, for the love of god. Nick. What am I going to do with him?”

I just looked at the house, and listened to the sounds of the fight, which was reaching a fever pitch again.

“Listen, you fucking bastard, either you let me take her from this house willingly, or I’m going to go to the police with all the proof that I have about everything that you did to her all those years ago. Not to mention all that you have been doing to her now.”

Mr. Lucas was quiet after that one. Finally, he said “Okay, I’m calling your bluff. I don’t think that you have an ounce of proof of anything. Now, I’m going to call the police and have you escorted off of this property. Scotty and I have a ceremony to complete. You’ll be taken to jail, and, trust me, you don’t want to be in jail on this island. Let’s just say that they don’t have the same
due process laws here that they do in the States.”

My heart sunk as I heard this part of the conversation. Mr. Lucas was probably right about that. This was virtually a Third-World country, after all, and I’ve always heard that the jail accommodations were not exactly as luxurious as the resorts in such a country. If Nick
and Ryan ended up in jail, who knew when they could get out? I imagined that Mr. Lucas had some sway with the police force here, as well, and that they probably would be open to a bribe. Mr. Lucas could probably pay the police to detain Nick and Ryan indefinitely.

But Nick was not to be deterred. “I’ll take my chances. But, just know this. I have my proof back at home, and, when I get out of that jail, the first thing that I’m going to do is release what I have to the media. And you will be ruined. Just think
about that. All of your fine friends knowing that you are nothing but a twisted, sadistic, perverted child molester. How many social functions do you think you’ll be invited to after that gets out?”

Mr. Lucas was quiet again, but for a longer period of time. Then he finally said, in a quieter voice, so that Ryan and I could barely hear him “I don’t think you have proof. Now, I’m going to call the police.”

“Maybe I have proof. Maybe I don’t. At any rate, it doesn’t really matter. I’ll start a smear campaign against you. You don’t think that I know the same people that you do? Trust, I know all the same people, and they love a good piece of gossip. And, since when does the media or the social types needs proof of anything salacious like this? Think about it. Do you think Page Six verifies everything they get?”

“If you smear me like that, I’ll sue you.”

“Go right ahead. Get your multi-million dollar verdict against me. Trust, that will be no skin off of my nose, but you’ll still be ruined.”

Mr. Lucas was quiet for much longer this time.

I held my breath. I saw that Ryan was doing the same. We looked at each other worriedly. He put his hand on my shoulder, absent-mindedly, and squeezed the back of my neck.

Finally, Mr. Lucas said, in a voice that was almost imperceptible, from my vantage point, “Okay. You can take her home.”

I let out my breath, and there were tears that came to my eyes. This time, the tears were happy tears. Tears of relief and joy.

But the tears of joy were mixed with tears of sorrow, too. After all, even though Nick had come through for me again,
it didn’t change the fact that he and I were completely over. Once we got back to New York, I didn’t want to have a thing to do with him. Which would mean that I would have to quit my internship. I also would have to make sure that I avoided taking any more classes from him.

I would have to cut my ties to him completely, and move on with my life. Which was a shame, because he obviously went through great lengths to save me from my living hell. That showed that he was a good guy. That wasn’t in question. Ju
st because he continued with his man-whore ways didn’t mean that he was a completely shitty person.

It did mean, however, that I couldn’t trust him.

And, without trust, there could be no relationship.