Betrayal: Brianna's Secret (The Betrayal Series) (8 page)

 “Who knows how much more of Miller’s special therapy I was going to have to endure. At some point, he probably would’ve gotten bored with me and gone away to find another easy target, but I couldn’t just wait him out. If I had stayed, one of us would’ve ended up dead.”

“What happened when you got to L.A.?” Abby asked.

“Billy’s cousin was really nice. She was appalled at what my father had done to me and assured me I’d be safe with her. She took really good care of me. I owe her and Billy a debt of gratitude.”

“What’s her name?”

“Andrea. She is an aspiring musician and a total hippie. I had so much fun hanging with her and her friends. She helped me get a job waiting tables, and I eventually moved out of her apartment, but we’re still great friends. She is one of the few genuine people I’ve met in L.A. since I moved there.”

“What happened with your parents?” Abby asked. “Did they try to find you and bring you back?”

“Yes. Even though I threatened to go to the police, my father still tried to coerce Billy into telling him where I was. Somehow my father figured out Billy was the one who had helped me escape. My bedroom door being riddled with bullets must have been his first clue, or maybe Kyle told them. I don’t know.”

 “Billy did not tell my father anything no matter how much my father threatened him. My father eventually gave up the search, and he and my mother started to pretend I didn’t exist.”

“What about Kyle? Did you stay in touch with him?”

“I tried. I sent him several emails over the course of the first five years I was in L.A., but he didn’t answer any of them. I even mailed him a really nice birthday present once, and he returned it unopened. I had a feeling my parents had turned him against me, and that’s why he ignored me and rejected the present.”

“Then two years ago, out of nowhere, I received an email from him. It said our dad was really sick and didn’t have much time to live. The email also said our mom wanted me to come home and see Dad before it was too late.”

“What about the pastor? What happened to him?”

“I heard that a few months after I left Montana, he unexpectedly moved with his wife and kids to another state. No one knows why he left or where he went.”

“That monster should be rotting in prison for what he did to you. Why didn’t you go to the police, Brianna?”

Brianna shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I was afraid no one would believe me. Glen Falls is run by extreme religious fundamentalists. Miller was a highly respected member of our church and the community, and I was known as the perverter of innocent girls.”

 “It was going to be his word against mine, and I was going to lose. Besides, getting Miller thrown in jail would have meant getting my dad thrown in jail too. I didn’t want that. Not because I cared about him, but because I didn’t want Kyle to grow up without a father. That would have screwed me up pretty badly.”

Abby was amazed at how much Brianna loved her brother even though he had been so vicious to her. “You have done so much to protect him. You don’t deserve to be treated the way he treats you. You have to talk to him and make him see the truth.”

“It’s pointless, Abby. He will never believe me. The only person who could convince him I was telling the truth about the whole thing is my mother, and she won’t talk. She will go to her grave with that secret. She does not want Kyle’s memory of his father to be tarnished.”

“I can’t believe your mother went along with Miller’s scheme. What type of mother stands around and lets her little girl suffer like that?”

Brianna began to sob uncontrollably once again. Abby cradled her head with one hand and stroked her cheek with the other. After she had regained control of her tears, Brianna continued.

“My mother was so ashamed of me. People gossiping about me really got to her. She didn’t even want to be seen in public with me. I felt so unwanted in my own home. I would’ve probably run away anyways even if Miller had not done what he did to me, just to get away from her.”

“What’s your relationship with your mother like now?”

“After I ran away, I didn’t have contact with her again until I came home two years ago to see my father who was on his deathbed. She seemed glad to see me. We had a long chat, just her and me. She told me she never supported my father’s method of dealing with my sickness. She said she wanted to intervene, but was afraid of my father. She told me the guilt had been eating her inside and begged for my forgiveness.”

“Have you forgiven her?”

“I have, but I still don’t want her in my life. Anyone who chooses to call the way I live my life a sickness is not worth having around, even if that person gave me life.”

“Kyle also thinks you’re sick for liking girls. Why did you still want him in your life?”

“Kyle and I had a special bond growing up. He was my buddy, my partner in crime. I guess I thought he could learn to accept me with time, given that he is very reasonable and smart and from a younger generation than my parents. I was wrong. I know now he will never accept me.”

“What about your father? You visited him on his deathbed. Did he apologize to you?”

“No. After I got Kyle’s email telling me our father only had a few days or weeks to live, I went to see him. I wanted some closure. But my father went to his grave believing that what he had done, what he let Miller do to me was the right thing to do. He told me he’d do it again if could. His last words to me were that I was going to burn in Hell if I didn’t change my ways.”

 “I watched him lie on that hospital bed and no longer felt hate for him. He looked so small and frail hooked to a bunch of machines. He was just a shell of his former self, coughing and gasping for air while judging me for something I have no control over.”

 “I just felt sorry for him. So many great things were happening in my life. My career as an actress was starting to take off. I was starting to make really good money. I was proud of myself and wished I had a family I could share all those achievements with. But my father did not care. It didn’t matter to him how successful I was. In his mind, all that mattered was that I was sick and going to Hell.”

“During that hospital visit, Kyle treated me with so much disdain, it tore me up inside. I remember how he always had my back growing up. He would cover for me when I snuck out of the house and many times took the blame for things I did. But that day in that hospital, he acted like he didn’t want me there. My mother tried to get him to be civil to me, but Kyle refused to listen to her. I felt like Kyle was blaming me for my father’s cancer.”

“I had planned to stay in Montana until my father died but decided to return to L.A. the day after I visited him at the hospital. My father was a lost cause; they all were. A week later I got a call from my mother telling me my father had died.”

 “My mother begged me to come home for the funeral, but I chose to skip it. What was the point of me being there? They all hated me, and my mother only wanted me there because she felt guilty for what she allowed my father and Miller to do to me.”

While Abby continued to stroke her hair and cheek, Brianna realized it was getting pretty late. She sat up and wiped her damp cheeks with the back of her hands.

“Well, now you know everything. I’m not an evil person, Abby. I’m not lying. My story may sound too sordid to believe, but it’s all true. I hope you believe me.”

“I do,” Abby replied. She believed every single word. No one could make up a story like that and cry the way Brianna did no matter how good an actor they were.

“You should go home, Abby. It’s getting late, and this city is very dangerous.”

Abby shook her hand. “I’m not going anywhere. You’re not well. I’m not leaving you like this.”

“I’m fine, really. You should go,” Brianna sniffled, her eyes red and puffy.

Abby reached out, cradled the side of Brianna’s face and stared into her eyes. “I’m not leaving. If you want me gone, you’re going to have to grab me by the arm and throw me out.”

“I told you, I don’t want your pity.”

Abby sighed. “I don’t pity you, Brianna. I could never pity you. I admire you. I admire your courage, your determination to not let what happened to you make you bitter. I wish that when I was eighteen I possessed a smidge of the bravery, strength and maturity you displayed seven years ago. And those tears, that vulnerability that you’ve shown me today, they don’t make you weak or pitiful. They make you human.”

 “The things that happened to you are so awful, so horrific, they would’ve robbed anyone else of their sanity, but you’re still standing and fighting. It’s okay to cry. It’s okay to be angry. I’m not leaving. You’re not alone. I’m here for you. If you want to cry, I’ll cry with you. If you want to scream, I’ll scream with you. If you want to talk, I’ll listen. I will hold you until you fall asleep. Whatever you need me to do, I’m here for you.”

Brianna exhaled. A nervous chuckle escaped her lips, and her eyes began to well again. She lunged at Abby, wrapping her arms around her neck and holding her tightly.

“Thank you so much for being here. You’re such a wonderful soul, Abigail Slone. You’re the kindest, sweetest person I’ve ever met.” Brianna bit her lower lip while resting her chin on Abby’s shoulder.

There were other things she wanted to say to Abby. She wanted to tell Abby how madly in love she was with her. She wanted to tell Abby she wanted to spend the rest of her life with her. She wanted to tell Abby she was never going to find someone as perfect as her no matter how hard she looked.

She also wanted to tell Abby she felt it was unfair that they had to swallow their feelings and stay away from each other just because it would be weird for Kyle. Yes, it was selfish for her to think like that, but she didn’t care.

Brianna wanted to break that hug and just crush Abby’s lips with hers. But Abby had already told her the type of relationship Brianna wanted with her was not possible. She knew how stubborn Abby was about everything so she decided to keep all of those thoughts to herself.

Brianna had no choice but to swallow her feelings. All Abby could offer her were her sympathetic ear and a shoulder to cry on. Brianna had to accept the fact that she and Abby were destined to be friends and nothing more.

“You need to rest. Let’s get you into bed,” Abby suggested after breaking their hug. Brianna nodded, thankful she wasn’t going to spend that night all alone. Abby got off the couch, took Brianna’s hand and led her to the bedroom.

A week earlier they had held hands and walked into a bedroom together. Things that were both wonderful and regretful happened between them that time. Things were very different this time around. That night there was no kissing, no touching, no exploration of sexual curiosity, no lovemaking. That night was all about a kind, caring soul providing much needed sympathy and comfort to another.

 When they made it to the bedroom, Brianna crawled on top of her bed and laid on her side before curling in the fetal position. The conversation with Abby had left her emotionally drained. She was also physically exhausted from all the rehearsing she did that day. Her eyelids felt heavy, and every muscle in her body ached, but she didn't care because an overwhelming sense of peace was washing over her.

Abby laid next to Brianna, watching over her like a mother would watch over a sick child. She curled her body behind Brianna’s while her hand gently stroke Brianna’s face. She was more fascinated with Brianna than ever. She also felt very protective of her.

Abby was not a violent person and never wished ill on anyone, but she felt a strong desire to go track that bastard Miller down and bash his face against a wall. But Abby didn't fret over the fact that Miller was still out there, potentially destroying the lives of other innocent girls, because she believed in karma. She was confident that sooner or later that horrible man was going to pay for what he did to Brianna.

It didn’t take Brianna long to fall fast asleep. That night she slept better than she had in ages. The heavy weight of the awful secret she had been carrying for seven years had finally been lifted off her shoulders. 

When Brianna moved to L.A., she lived in fear that Miller would find her, lock her up and rape her again. She had constant nightmares about it. After a year living in the City of Angels, the fear of Miller tracking her down had subsided, but the nightmares did not.

So many times she had woken up in the middle of the night crying and in a puddle of sweat, but that night at her apartment, with Abby guarding her dreams, she slept like a baby.

Chapter VI

The next morning, Abby woke up in an empty bed. From the bright lights filtering through the drapes covering the floor-to-ceiling windows, Abby could tell it was mid-morning. She felt rested, but concern quickly invaded her thoughts when she glanced around the room and did not see Brianna. Abby got off the bed and went to look for her.

After not finding Brianna in the bathroom, Abby went searching for her. From inside the bedroom, Abby could tell Brianna was making breakfast because of the delicious smell of bacon that saturated the air. With her stomach growling, she opened the bedroom's door, and her eyes immediately flew to the open kitchen a few feet away.

She gazed over the long, black chrome counter that separated the dining room from the kitchen and found Brianna hovering over the stove and holding an oven mitt. Without making her presence known, Abby stepped closer and curiously gazed at Brianna from the other side of the long kitchen counter. She grinned at how adorable and domestic Brianna looked wearing a checkered apron tied behind her neck and back.  

Sensing the presence of someone standing behind her, Brianna turned around. “Hey, there. You’re up,” she beamed before dropping the oven mitt on top of the stove and walking around the counter to meet Abby who was standing next to the dining room table. “How’d you sleep?” she asked.

 “Good. Your bed is really comfortable,” Abby grinned, suddenly becoming self-aware of how unkempt she looked with her wrinkled clothes and her bed head while Brianna looked impeccable as always in a pair of khaki shorts and a tight white tank top.