Coming Home (Only Time Will Tell #1) (32 page)

The bat hits something else, I hear it crunch and smash, but my eyes never leave this one. I can feel my pulse bulging out of my neck as I continue trying to get him off of me.

He leans in, his sweaty, smelly body rubbing against mine and I feel on the verge of vomiting into his hand as the sound of my breathing and heart pummels my ears. He gets in my face and says in a menacing, slow voice, “You were told to keep away from Kyle. I don’t take too kindly to people who don’t play by the rules. Next time it won’t be the apartment that gets smashed. It’ll. Be. You.”

I hear the bat hitting things behind me and I can only assume that he’s destroyed my kitchen, not that I care. I feel a teeny tiny bit better and hopeful that I might walk out of here alive. The apartment can be replaced. I can’t.

My eyes focus in on baseball guy and watch as the bat flies up in the air, smashing into the dining table before swinging around and starts beating the life out of the computer and desk.

He’s destroying everything I worked hard for, because of Kyle.

Burley man releases my mouth. I suck in the fresh air and brace myself as his hand flies up and back down, colliding with my cheek which I know will hurt tomorrow, but as for now I’m numb to the full force of the pain.

As baseball man starts destroying the walls around him, burley man moves me by the neck and I clutch at his shirt for support. What I notice as I do, is a tattoo that’s around his neck. I look at his arms that’s clutching at me like I’m waste paper and notice the end. It looks like a snake.

He walks me backwards into the kitchen, my bare feet stepping on all the broken pieces of my apartment and glass. I want to cry and yelp in pain as he launches me on the floor, my body hitting the cupboards like I’m a baseball and I lie limp against them, debris from the apartment strewn all around me.

They both stand at the opposite end, looking at me and burley guy snickers, “You’ll think twice before you fuck with Kyle, lady. Keep away from him or we’ll be back.”

“That’s right,” baseball guy confirms. “We don’t give a shit if you’re a woman or not. You’re just disposable scum to us.”

Burley guy nudges him and nods towards the door. They both leave after that, the door slamming shut behind them.

I sit there, scared out of my mind to move, unable to get up out of fear. Even if I could, the smashed glass would only hinder me, digging into me further.

The floor in front of me is stained with bloody footprints and my feet are slowly seeping out more to add to it. What has my life come to when I get attacked in my own home, over a guy, a guy who chased me? I didn’t ask for this or for him, granted I’m glad I have him back, but is my life really worth it?

Curling into the corner I cry. Cry about everything that has happened today and in the past. I know life was hard back in England at times, but at least my life wasn’t at risk.

Fists have been pounding at the door for a couple of minutes now and each time they do I want to scream for them to help but I’m petrified that it’ll be them, or someone else who’s come back to finish the job.

They’re all voices I don’t know. They can claim to be who ever they want, but I don’t know if I trust anything now. Or anyone.

About ten minutes after they started I hear a commotion outside and I stop breathing as the pounding turns into full on knock-the-door-down banging. You’d think I’d be happy at the sound of his voice but I’m not. He’s only going to make this worse if they find out and come back.

“Cat!” he shouts and I open my mouth to shout to him but the words just won’t come out. I don’t know if it’s fear or the fact I can’t after all the crying. “Cat!” he shouts again. “Open the door now! You’re scaring the shit out of me. Cat!”

I try and stand, intent on letting him in but the pressure on my feet cripples me and I slump back to the floor. I try again, just as the walls start shaking and the loudest bang imaginable ricochets through the apartment.

I can hear the voices from earlier shouting over the noise that I assume is my door being broken down.

Hearing it fly open, the door connecting with the wall, I fall to the ground and give in.

Kyle comes running in, halting at the end of the kitchen, looking around at what’s left of my apartment in bewilderment, until finding me. His eyes lock with mine and the color drains from his face. “Cat?” he whispers before running over to me, him in his suit becoming a wet blur as the tears start falling again.

He cradles me in his arms as the rest of them talk among themselves from somewhere, talking about what could have happened.

Kyle pulls back but I grip onto him, just needing some support but he doesn’t agree and peels my hands from around his jacket and taking them in his. “Cat, what happened? I left you a couple of hours ago and I come back to this?”

Trying to regain some composure I tell him, “I was attacked. Two guys did this, but I need you to go, I can’t see you.”

He looks at me confused. “I’m not leaving you, did they touch you?” he asks as he starts checking me over, lifting and twisting my limbs in ways that cause more pain than what they did.

“Not really.” I placate. “I need to deal with them though.” I say, pointing to my feet. He looks at them and his eyes bug as he takes in the shredded skin that once were my soles.

He doesn’t say much else, not to me any way, it’s all mumbled threats and curses as he gets to his feet and picks me up. Cradling me in his arms he orders the driver to grab my purse, then tells the others to deal with the door and to keep everyone out.

Lacing my arms around his neck I play with his hair at his nape, making myself feel calmer. But I know the fear will come back when I get through this, unless I can find a way of making him see that for now, the only way to keep me safe, is to keep away.

Safe in my little sanctuary, I try and compose my thoughts after a quick nap. I wasn’t planning on waking up so soon, but those three think I’m deaf. They must think that because I’m in another room and the door is closed, I can’t hear them.

After we’d finished at the hospital, my feet bandaged up so much that I don’t think I even have feet anymore, I ended up at Nod’s. Kyle wanted to take me back to his but I protested, crying like a baby until he gave in and let me come here rather than go to his, fearing that Josie would be there. After her first attempt at drugging Kyle, and then finding out that it didn’t deter him, I can’t help thinking this is something she or his Mom has cooked up.

While I was in the hospital I had a visit from the police. It was a catch twenty two for me. I wasn’t sure what path to take when it came to dealing with all of this. Part of me wanted those guys caught but then the other half of me thought that they’d come back for me one way or another if they either got off or got out. Kyle begged me to press charges, but in the end I dropped them, but not before having him kicked out of the room.

I know his heart is in the right place, but it’s bad enough going through everything once. It’s worse when you’re reliving it, trying to remember everything to tell the police, and then when you have Kyle by your side, repeating their questions, and picking at your answers trying to drag more out of you. You kind of need space.

They still took down all the details they could, and gave me their card just in case anything suspicious happened once I was back home.

Nod kindly gave me some of her clothes so that I could relax and try and get some sleep before she retreated to the kitchen to cook. While she’s at it, by the sounds of it, her, Ryan and Kyle have been having a heated discussion about the day.

Kyle is getting more irate by the second, screaming at Ryan like it’s his fault, adamant on killing the people that did this but I fear that he’ll just kill Ryan so that he can get it out of his system.

Getting up from the bed, which I’ve been laying on for the last half an hour trying, “to sleep,” as they told me to, only to be woken an hour later, I plod to the door unsteadily, feeling like I’m walking on the moon. Taking a breath I slowly open the door, hearing those three and not seeing them, as I looked down the hall from the spare bedroom.

Making my way to them, liking the fact that these bandages muffle any sound I’d make, I prepare to walk into World War Three.

At the end I peer at the three of them in the kitchen, Kyle and Ryan finally shutting up as they lean against the work surface, breathing heavily as Nadine starts serving up what ever she’s cooking; it smells amazing and a million times better than what I could have concocted.

On a huff, Nadine turns around and glares at the pair of them, waving a spoon around that’s making the sauce fly everywhere. “Are you two done, now? How is any of this helping, coming up with accusations and tearing in to each other? The only person you should be asking is her. She’s the only one who can tell you what’s happened.” She shouts. “And I swear to God Kyle if you keep talking to either of us like that, you’ll be out of here. We are just as worried and concerned about Cat as you are. We want to help too but we…,” she flings the sauce between her and Ryan, splattering him with some and he looks down at it in disgust. “…care about her just like you do. Yes I know you have history but that doesn’t make you the king worrier.”

“I know but—” Kyle starts, but gets cut off.

“But nothing! I know less than you but I have a funny feeling that this is closer to home than you want to believe. And don’t even get me started on Tuesday night. You act like you care, and yet you stooped so low, you slept with Josie?”

Kyle’s head shoots up to glare at her. “I didn’t sleep with Josie. You only know half the story!”

“Josie?” she repeats, not listening to Kyle at all and chucking the spoon into the pan. “Are you serious? I expected it to be Penelope, but Josie?”

“I didn’t—” he tries again.

“What the hell were you thinking?”

“Nothing happened!” he shouts, shutting her up. “I’ve told her everything and she believes me. I found sleeping pills of my Moms in Josie’s stuff, she drugged me, she planned all of that.”

Nod and Ryan both look at him warily and he looks disgruntled at the fact that they don’t believe him. “You can prove that?” Ryan asks.

“At this moment, no. But I told C.J. and she saw the pills. Yes, there is the possibility that I
could
have taken them myself to cover my own back, but I didn’t. Josie stole the pills and drugged me and to be honest, it’s only Cat that needs to believe me and she does. Because it’s the truth.”
 

Nod shakes her head at him in disbelief. “If that’s true then I wouldn’t believe that your Mom didn’t have anything to do with it. I know for a fact that she hates her and I wouldn’t put it past her to be in on it.”

“She doesn’t hate her. She doesn’t know her well enough to cast an opinion on her so that’s the biggest load of bull I’ve ever heard.”

Nod shakes her head again. “You’re in denial. The sooner you wake up and smell the roses, the better. She—” she starts and turns her head in my direction, clocking me instantly. “How long have you been there?”

Ryan and Kyle look at me too, shocked and looking slightly embarrassed that they’ve been caught talking about me. “Long enough.”

Kyle pushes himself off the counter, hurrying over to me to help. Not that I need it, I’m happy perched against the wall. “What are you doing up? I told you to get some sleep.”

“Sleep?” I laugh. “Have you heard the three of you? It’s like you’re stood in there arguing. I think everyone can hear you in this block.”

Kyle takes one my hands in his and slinks his other around my back, guiding me towards the lounge.

“Don’t you dare park her backside in there,” Nadine barks. “The food is ready and we’re all eating it while it’s warm.”

Kyle looks back over his shoulder, still helping me to the couch. “Don’t you think we need to talk about what happened?”

“Yes! But that can wait. For the next half hour we are eating and letting her have a tiny bit of normality. She doesn’t need to be bombarded with your questions as soon as she’s up and moving around.”