Christian (The Mitchell/Healy Family #3)(46)
Author: Jennifer Foor

“I suppose I did.”

Her eyes filled with fresh tears. “I’m sorry I got you involved in this.”

I didn’t know what the girl was talking about, but something told me I needed to find out. “Do you know me? Did you know my friend? Her name is Chr-.”

“Christian.” She nodded. “I met her once. We hung out one night after my shift at the club.” She paused for another moment, and I could tell she was very weak. “I’m a dancer.” She started sniffling again. “Your friend is a really nice girl. I could tell she didn’t like bein’ there.”

“She’s the best person I’ve ever known. I miss her bein’ around.”

“Did she leave town?”

“Yeah. She had to. Nobody believed her, and she’s not real good about bein’ bullied.”

“I should have warned her, I just didn’t think he’d do it to someone else.”

“He? Warned her? You’re losin’ me here, darlin’.”

“Seth,” she whispered. “I used to do anything to get his attention. I knew he had a girlfriend, but I didn’t care. All I wanted to do was be with him.”

I handed her a tissue so she could wipe her face.

“We used to meet up at the old house in secret. I didn’t tell anyone, because I knew we’d have to stop if more people found out. I was okay with being the secret girlfriend for a while, but it started to get to me. I’d see them out together and they’d be all over each other. Then he’d meet me and tell me she was nothin’. The lies went on until I couldn’t stand it anymore. One night I met him at the house and told him I was done. As much as it hurt me I knew I couldn’t take bein’ second anymore. I deserved better.”

“Did he attack you that night?” I had to ask.

“No. We parted ways for a month, until one night he got drunk off his ass. He kept callin’ me, beggin’ me to meet up with him. He told me that he’d finally broke it off with Mila, and wanted a chance to prove to me that I was his number one. I caved and agreed to meet him. Seth may have been a cheater, but he’d never laid a hand on me. One thing I loved about him was his compassion. Anyway, he’s different when he drinks. Somethin’ happened to him that night. He started taunting me, tellin’ me he was lyin’ about the breakup. He said that he could fuck me whenever he wanted, and I wouldn’t be able to fight him. That night he forced himself on me. I kept tellin’ myself that he was drunk, and he didn’t mean it. The next mornin’ he didn’t even remember. He’d forgotten about the whole thing and called me because he’d seen on his phone that we’d talked.”

She wiped her face again. I couldn’t help but notice her bandaged wrists. “Five weeks later I found out I was pregnant. At the same time Seth kept comin’ around bein’ all buddy-buddy with my roommates to get to me. I moved out, knowin’ I couldn’t tell anyone what happened, and I didn’t want anyone knowin’ I was carryin’ his child. I managed to get a nice place, and take on another shift to pay for everything.”

She had to stop talking for a moment, because she literally started weeping, as if she were in excruciating pain. “It was a little girl. I felt her movin’ inside of me. I had a sonogram that determined the sex. I felt like out of somethin’ ugly was goin’ to be my most beautiful miracle. I miscarried at twenty-four weeks. The doctors couldn’t tell me why. I had to deliver my dead baby. I got to hold her in my arms that night, and it broke me. It took everything I loved in life and ruined it.”

“I’m so sorry for your loss.” It was the truth. I didn’t like hearing tragic stories.

“Maybe it was for the best. I wasn’t ready to be a mother, and I certainly didn’t want anything to do with Seth.”

“So you didn’t report the attack?”

“I never told anyone.”

“Can I ask why you tried to end your life tonight? I know it’s not my business, but nothin’s that bad to kill yourself.”

“I recently found out about your friend, but not how you might think. Seth asked me to meet him. He was crying, begging me to talk to him about somethin’. When I got to the old house I asked him where the mattress had gone. He laughed and joked that the police had taken it. I asked him if it was because he forced someone else and he lost it. He shoved me down and started screaming. I’d never seen him so angry. He told me that it was my fault. He said I’d ran my mouth and told Christian to go after him. I didn’t know what he was talking about. I ran out of there, hopin’ he’d leave me alone.”

“He didn’t?”

She shook her head. “No.” She started sobbing while trying to speak. “He showed up at my place, called my phone constantly, and waited for me outside the club. I had to change my shift to get away from him. I felt like no matter where I went he was there waitin’ for me.”

“Why didn’t you get a restrainin’ order?”

“I went to talk to Becca. We’d always been close, and I thought that if I came clean she’d help me. Instead she called me a liar, sayin’ I’d talked to Christian and because I couldn’t be with Seth I was tryin’ to ruin his life. Last week I got an eviction notice, because I had to stop dancin’. I can’t afford the place with no job. I’ve got nowhere to go, and no friends to help me out. Lovin’ Seth ruined my life. I hate myself, and I don’t know if I want to go on.”

In those last words I watched as she lost it. It was that very moment where I felt like I was standing there with my best friend. I placed one of my hands over hers. “Don’t give up because a scum bag like Seth made you feel like you weren’t anything. He’s a narcissistic asshole, who doesn’t deserve your compassion.”

She managed to form a half-smile across her face. “When I was lying there bleedin’ out I regretted it. I started prayin’ to God, beggin’ him to save me. Then you were there. I’ll never be able to repay you.”

I thought for a second, wondering if I even had the right to ask this fragile girl something so sensitive. “I lost the love of my life from all of this. I’d never make you feel obligated, but if you went to the police I think you might be able to get the closure you seek. He can’t hurt you if he’s behind bars.”

“I can’t. I’m sorry. His family will take their money and make sure they bury the truth. I don’t have the means to take them on.”