Forgotten Awakenings (Awakenings #2) Read online

  Elle laughed softly. “You think you’re so tough, don’t you? Came after me with a gun, tried to attack Samuel with a knife. But you’re not tough. You’re weak and pathetic.”

  “No, I’m not,” Trixie snarled, pulling on the chains wrapped around her hands. “You stole everything from me.”

  “Can’t steal what wasn’t yours,” Elle argued. “Derek and Callum, they were never yours. You and you alone are to blame for losing your job, for every decision you’ve ever made. I don’t understand why you blame me.”

  “Why I blame you?” she asked incredulously. “You … You just waltzed into the office with your little lesbian girlfriend and suddenly you were everything. Samuel was singing your praises, talking about how amazing your designs were, how many potentials were begging to work with you. It was a slap in the face to all of us who had poured years of our lives into his company.

  “And then you went and cost him a multi-million dollar project, and I thought he’d finally kick your ass to the curb. But he didn’t. He fucking bought your piss-ant company and gave you an entire division to run. He trusted you to pick and choose your projects, but he still insisted on approving my work, always finding something he didn’t like in my plans. Of course, you were probably fucking him, too. His little boy got you into the company, and Daddy was going to keep you there.”

  Elle shook her head. “You know there’s never been anything between me and Samuel.”

  “Do I?” she asked, cocking an eyebrow. “Maybe I do, but do you really think people aren’t talking about you all over town? About you whoring yourself out for accounts? You’re not that stupid, Elle.”

  “Maybe they do. Or maybe they’ve heard that I’m good at my job. Not just good, but damn good, and they want to see what I can do for them.” Elle leaned forward. “You want to know why Samuel always had to approve your plans? It’s because you were lazy. Your plans were messy and unprofessional. You spent more time flirting with anyone with a Y chromosome than you did your work and it showed.”

  “Some of us had to fight to find people to love us,” Trixie argued.

  “And I didn’t?” Elle snapped. “You don’t know me. You don’t know the hell I’ve been through at the hands of someone who claimed they loved me.”

  “Oh, boo-fucking-hoo,” she snarled. “You have everything and I have nothing! Nothing!”

  “Because you threw it away over petty jealousy!” Elle slammed her hand on the table, causing the woman across from her to slink backward.

  The door to the room opened and the guard stepped into the doorway. “Everything okay?”

  “I’m done here,” Elle said, standing up and bracing herself against the table. She looked down at Trixie. “You can call me a whore, blame me for living the life you so desperately want, but in the end, you’re going to be spending the rest of your life in jail while I’m loved and cherished and wanted. You will never be able to hurt me and mine again.”

  As the guard handed Elle her cane, Trixie threw her head back and laughed. “Just you wait, fucking little whore, sooner or later, your precious lovers are going to get tired of you. And when they do, they’re going to kick you out on your ass with nothing. Nothing!”

  Elle ignored her as she hobbled out of the room, struggling to keep her tears from falling. She ignored Sonia’s pleas for her to come back, needing to be free of that place. She burst through the doors that led to the hallway, scrambled through the outer doors and sucked a deep gulp of air into her lungs.

  “Ma’am.” Elle turned and saw one of the police officers who’d been managing the front doors standing in the doorway. “Are you okay?”

  “No,” she whimpered, quietly.

  As tear slid down her cheek, she turned and walked back to her car, leaving behind all the questions she’d been begging to ask.

  —FA—

  “Where have you been?” were the first words out of Sadie’s mouth when Elle walked into the living room. She was sitting on the couch between Callum and Derek, one hand clutching her cell phone, while the other was resting on her belly. It had become a habit as her stomach expanded, as their baby grew.

  Elle sighed and tossed her keys and cell phone onto the coffee table and sat on the smaller couch, leaning her cane against the side and clutching the aching muscle in her thigh. “I went to see Trixie.”

  “You what?” Derek asked, scrambling to his feet.

  “You heard me,” Elle muttered, leaning back.

  “Are you out of your fucking mind?” he yelled.

  “Probably,” she admitted, leaning her head against the palm of her hand as she propped her elbow on the arm of the couch. “I needed to talk to her.”

  “About what?” Callum asked, heatedly. “What could she have to say to you that you needed to hear so badly that you had to sneak out of bed and leave without telling us?”

  Elle sighed. “I’ve spent the last seven months wondering if I had done something, said something that made her come after me. I can’t forget what it felt like to feel the bullet slice through my leg, or the fear I felt as I begged for my life. And I needed to ask her why.”

  “Why?” Sadie scoffed. “Because she’s a fucking loon, Elle!”

  “Why didn’t you tell us you wanted to go see her?” Derek asked. “Do you know how scared we were when we woke up and you were gone? And why didn’t you answer one of our calls? We were fucking scared, Elle!”

  “I didn’t tell you because you would have tried to stop me,” she explained as calmly as she could. “And I didn’t answer your calls because it was taking the small amount of strength I had to face her. You were scared? I’ve been scared every day for the last seven months!”

  “So have we,” Sadie said, drawing everyone’s attention to her. “You left that morning, too, without telling us, remember? You almost died that morning. Would have, too, if Samuel hadn’t found you.”

  “But you weren’t the one who was shot!” Elle quipped. “You were scared because I was lying in a hospital bed? Well, I was scared because I had a hole in my leg and another in my chest. I was scared because you’re having a baby, Sadie, and I didn’t think I was going to be alive to see her be born. And every day since, I’ve hurt. Physically, emotionally hurt.”

  “I never meant to make it seem like we’d suffered more than you, but don’t sit there and act like we aren’t her victims, too,” Sadie argued, standing up and walking over to Elle. She sat next to her, taking hold of her hand. “But we can’t have a life together if you’re not going to be open and honest with us.”

  “I am,” Elle insisted, but Callum snorted. “I am!”

  “No, you’re not,” he said. “We’re married, Elle. We’re having a baby, and you’re taking field trips to the police station to visit the psycho bitch that tried to kill you! That’s not okay!”

  “I needed to talk to her,” Elle snarled. “I needed to understand, because there are all these feelings inside me and I don’t know how to handle them. Every morning I wake up and my body hurts, and I find myself expecting her to jump out of the shadows and kill me once and for all.”

  “But she can’t, Elle,” Derek groused, kneeling in front of her. “She’s in jail. She can’t get to you again.”

  “I know, but I guess I needed to see for myself that she’s really gone.”

  Derek brought her hands to his lips. “Do you feel better now that you’ve talked with her?”

  “No,” Elle admitted. “No, I can’t say that talking with her did any good.”

  “What’d she say?” Callum asked, crawling over so that he was sitting on the floor next to Derek.

  “Nothing really. Just kept going on and on about how I stole everything from her. I thought it would help, you know, understand why she came after me that morning, why she broke into the house and wore my clothes, or even why she attacked your father last night. But it didn’t.” Elle slipped her hand out from under Derek’s and wiped the tears off her cheeks. “Guess she just saw me as the person w
ho got in her way.”

  “But you know you’re not, right?” Callum asked. “Trixie never had a chance with us. You do know that, don’t you?”

  “Of course I do,” Elle said. “She’s bat-shit crazy and desperate, and a hundred other adjectives, but that doesn’t make the pain lessen, or the fear that someday, someone’s going to finish what she and Leo tried to do.”

  “What do you mean?” Derek asked, a look of horror on his face.

  Elle shrugged her shoulders. “Leo tried to kill me. Trixie tried to kill me. Who’s to say that there won’t be someone else that sees me as a problem?”

  Derek pushed up on his knees and cupped her face between his hands. “That will never happen.”

  And when she went to argue with him, he pressed his lips against hers. “That will never happen because I will never let anyone hurt you again, Elle. Never.”

  “Promise?” she whimpered, grabbing the front of his T-shirt.

  “I promise,” he murmured, and kissed her again.

  Elle hoped like hell that he would never have to keep his promise.

  Fifteen

  Elle sat in the driver’s seat of her car, anxiously tapping her finger tips against the steering wheel. A glance out the window had her groaning. She’d been stuck in traffic for almost an hour and from the look of the flashing lights fifty yards in front of her, she wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

  She’d spent all afternoon inspecting the progress of Alvarez Park. They were just weeks away from finishing the project, only a few last minute details left to throw together. The Asciari Brothers and their crews had done an amazing job, meeting every deadline, often working ahead of schedule. Even more important, they took great pride in their work, and it showed. But all she wanted now was a glass of ice tea and something to eat.

  A series of three dings echoed throughout the car, alerting Elle to a new text message. She reached into her briefcase and pulled out her cell phone, finding a message from Derek: Getting worried. Where are you?

  Sighing, Elle replied: Stuck on the 280. Nasty accident.

  She had barely sent the message when her phone started ringing and Derek’s name flashed over a picture of him flexing his muscles. Smiling, she accepted the call. “Hello, lover.”

  “Hey, beautiful, are you okay?” he asked.

  “Just tired of being in the car,” she replied, glancing out the window again. “Doesn’t look good for whoever was in the wreck, though. Anyway, doesn’t look like I’m going to make it to dinner tonight.”

  “We’ll wait,” Derek insisted.

  “I could be stuck for hours,” she argued. “You know how bad it gets on here.”

  “I do,” he grumbled. “I should have gone with you.”

  “You had your own work to do.” Elle leaned her head aback against the headrest. “I’m not running, you know? I know that’s you think. That I’m running away, hiding from life, or whatever.”

  “I don’t think you’re running, Elle, but I don’t think you’re here, either. Not really.”

  Elle sighed, but didn’t say anything. He was right, of course. She had been distant with all of them and had thrown herself in her work. Two weeks had passed since she found herself sitting across from Trixie Maxwell. The judge had denied her bail, stating that not only was she a flight risk, but she was a danger to society. Her lawyers were arguing that she was insane, that the stress of losing her job, her home, and her livelihood had caused a mental breakdown; therefore she was not guilty by reason of mental defect.

  Sonia assured her that Trixie’s defense would not hold up in court, that it was just the defense’s lame attempt to draw sympathy for their client, but Elle still worried that they would be successful and she would find herself in danger once more. Trixie hadn’t behaved like a sane person, after all.

  Of course, neither had Elle, had she? Ever since her visit, she had been plagued by nightmares, struggling to keep from screaming out in the middle of the night. More than once, Derek or Callum held her in their arms as she sobbed, reliving the moment the bullets sliced through her skin over and over.

  “I’m sorry,” Derek murmured. “I just worry.”

  “I know,” she whispered.

  “Look, I’ll text Nick and tell him you’re stuck in traffic. We can order in. Chinese, or maybe pizza, and when you get here, we can all eat together. Okay?”

  “You’re not going to drop it if I argue with you, so I guess that’s a plan.”

  Derek laughed. “Finally, you’re learning just how stubborn I can be.”

  “Oh, lover, I learned that when I watched Callum fuck your ass for the first time,” Elle teased.

  He moaned. “I didn’t know it could be so enjoyable!”

  “The first time you and I made love, you were so gentle with me,” Elle murmured, tracing her lips with the tips of her fingers. “I’d been so scared to tell you about Leo, afraid that you’d see me a weak and pathetic, but you didn’t. You never have.”

  “And I never will,” he promised.

  Elle sniffed back her tears, trying but failing to keep her voice even. “I’m scared, Derek.”

  “Of what?” he asked, softly. “Of me?”

  “No, of course not!” she cried. “I’m angry, and I feel like it’s consuming me. So, I work because at least at the office, I’m not the pathetic and weak women I thought you’d see. But then I go home and …”

  “And what?” he prompted.

  “I find myself worrying that I’m letting you down,” she admitted, regretting the words as soon as they left her mouth.

  “What? Why would you think that?” Derek demanded.

  “I …” Elle shook her head, grabbing the bottom of the steering wheel with her free hand. “We’re having a baby in eight weeks, Derek. I don’t know how to be a mom.”

  “You think we’re not scared about being parents?” he asked, laughing softly. “I’m terrified, Elle.”

  “Yeah, but you have a little sister,” she argued. “You were nine when Lucia was born. I’m the baby of my family, and Sadie and Callum are only children. At least you’ve been around a baby.”

  Derek snorted. “Lucia screamed like a banshee when I came near her. I’ve never changed a diaper, or feed a baby. I don’t even remember holding Lucia.”

  Elle bit the inside of her lip, shifting her eyes back down the road. “I’d better go. Save my cell’s battery power and all.”

  “Yeah, okay,” he groused. “Be safe, all right?”

  “Aren’t I always?” she teased, but when he sighed, she said, “I’ll be home before you’ve had time to miss me.”

  “I’ve been missing you since you left this morning,” he said, quickly. “Love you.”

  “Love y—” But a click in her ear alerted her to the fact that Derek had ended their call. “Yeah, I love you, too,” she mumbled to herself and tossed her phone on the passenger seat.

  —FA—

  Four hours later, Elle parked her car behind Sadie’s in the driveway and climbed out, stifling a moan. Her body protested the expectation of moving after sitting in the same position for the last five hours. Well after ten o’clock, Elle was surprised to see Nick and Ivy’s car parked in front of the house, along with Aaron’s. Elle sighed, unsure she had the energy to deal with company after a long day, but in the end, she knew she would have to face them.

  When she walked into the house, she found them scattered around the living room. Sadie was lying across the larger of the two sofas, her head on Derek’s lap while Callum was massaging her feet. Nick and Ivy were sitting on the small sofa, Aaron and Lucia were perched on the hearth to the fireplace, while Jonas and Abe were on the floor, in front of the television.

  “Hey, you,” Sadie cheered, struggling to sit up as everyone turned and looked at Elle. “We were getting worried.”

  “Don’t get up,” she said, putting her hand up to stop her pregnant wife. “I’m just going to change. I’ll be right back.”

  “Yeah, oka
y. We’ll reheat the food,” Sadie offered with a smile. “Hurry.”

  “I will.”

  Elle turned and walked upstairs. Upon entering their bedroom, she paused when she saw the white box with a large red bow sitting on the bed. She walked over, smiling when she saw her name scribbled across the note attached to the bow.

  “What is this?”

  “Talking to yourself now?” Callum asked, startling her. Elle looked over her shoulder, glaring at him. “Sorry, I thought you heard me.”

  “Is this from you?”

  Callum smiled. “Maybe. Why don’t you open it?”

  Elle bit the inside of her lip as she turned and sat on the edge of the bed, leaning her cane next to her before she picked up the box. She toyed with the edge of the lid.

  “Open it,” he urged again, pushing off the doorframe and walking over to the bed, sitting next to Elle. His arm slipped around her waist, his fingers curving around her hip. “You know you’re curious.”

  “Very,” she murmured. “But I’m enjoying the suspense, too.”

  Callum snickered as he leaned over and kissed the side of her head. “Please open it.”

  Elle slipped her fingers under the lid and pried it off, placing it on the bed behind her. Then, peeling the tissue paper apart, she gasped. Nestled inside the box was a leather sketchbook with a large ‘E’ pressed into it. Carefully, she lifted it out of the box and flipped it open, finding every page blank but they first one. Scribbled across the first page were the words: Art is part of you. Don’t be afraid to let it shine.

  “It’s beautiful,” Elle murmured, dragging her fingers over the words.

  “There’s more,” Callum said, pulling the box into his lap. “I wasn’t sure what you liked to sketch with so I got you some colored pencils and some regular pencils.”

  “That’s very kind of you,” she whimpered, unable to keep her tears from falling.

  “I didn’t mean to make you cry,” he fretted, reaching for the book, but Elle pulled it to her chest. “I thought if you had a sketchbook, you could draw anywhere you wanted. Give you an outlet for your feelings. Guess it was a stupid idea.”