“Whitley must have told her when she was in the jewelry store,” I said as I started pacing.

“She didn’t tell him Whitley’s address. She just said she told him Whitley lived down from the coffee house in a place she was restoring.”

I looked at Courtney.

“She’s not answering, Layton.”

“Courtney, do you have a picture of Roger?”

Courtney started shaking her head and then began crying. “No! No, Layton. He can’t possibly know where she is. How would he know?”

“At the benefit dinner a few months back, a guy was there who Whitley knew. He works with Roger.”

Courtney slowly started to fall to the ground, but Reed quickly ran and grabbed her. Mitch was next to Courtney and took her from Reed’s arms as Reed shot him a dirty look.

“Courtney, I need to see a picture of him.”

She quickly wiped away the tears and started looking on her phone. “I think I have a picture of us from last Christmas on my phone. Here! Here it is.” She handed the phone to Reed, who looked at it, and then handed it to me.

“That’s the same guy I talked to, Layton,” Reed said.

My heart slammed in my chest as I dropped the phone to the ground. I ran out of the barn and toward my truck.

Go to her. She needs you.

Chapter Twenty-Five: Whitley

After I packed up a few things I would need for the next week, I grabbed the box that had Kate’s necklace in it and threw that in the bag as well. I jumped into the shower for a quick rinse-off, and then I started getting dressed when I heard a noise downstairs. I glanced over and looked at the alarm.

Shit! I forgot to set it.

I pulled my hair up into a ponytail and threw on a Texas A&M T-shirt that belonged to Layton. It was almost a dress on me, so it covered up the pink lace thong I had on.

I sat there for a few seconds and just listened. It was silent. I shook my head and put my hand on my stomach.

Gah! This feeling of being watched is driving me insane and making me paranoid.

I turned back around and walked into my bathroom to grab the new perfume Layton had bought me. I loved it and wanted to make sure I wore it for my birthday. Layton kept telling me he was taking me somewhere special.

Maybe I should pack a dress as well. He hasn’t mentioned if it’s someplace fancy or not.

As I turned to head back out into the bedroom, I stopped dead in my tracks. I slowly brought my hands up to my mouth and whispered, “Oh my God.”

Roger was sitting on my bed, looking at me. I dropped the bottle of perfume and jumped when it hit the hardwood floor and broke into a million pieces.

Roger slowly shook his head. “Look at what you’ve gone and done, Squeak. You’ve broken it, just like you’ve broken my heart so many times.”

“How?” I couldn’t even talk.

“How did I know where to find you? It wasn’t really that hard, Squeak. Once Nick said he had seen you at a benefit dinner in Austin, I started putting two and two together. Then, when Nick told me about how you and Melinda spent some time in the restroom together, it didn’t take much to convince Melinda to give me a little bit of information.”

I felt like I was going to throw up. “You bastard! You better not have laid a finger on her.”

Roger threw his head back and laughed. “Worried about your new little friend, are you? Don’t worry. I didn’t have to. You see, I happened to have set up my phone when we had our little fuckfest under the tree. One look at it, and she gave me your new boyfriend’s name. Then, I remembered how you used to always talk about some little fucking town in Texas. So, you see, Squeak, it wasn’t hard to find you at all.”

I tried to talk, but my mouth was completely dry. I managed to finally get some words out. “Layton is going to be here any minute, and I suggest you not be here when he gets here.”

Roger’s smile quickly dropped, and his eyes filled with anger.

Oh God. Please, God, no…not again.

He stood and started to walk toward me. I went to take a step back, but I stepped on a piece of glass and cried out. He grabbed my arm, pulled me over toward the bed, and threw me down onto it.

Please, no. Layton, I need you!

I put my hands up and instantly started crying. “Wait! Roger, please don’t do this.”

“Don’t do what, Squeak? Don’t touch you? It seems to me that you like to be touched nowadays. You’ve even gotten into kinky sex now, haven’t you?”

I started to shake my head. “What are you talking about? Roger, please don’t do this. We’re not meant for each other. I don’t love you. I love Layton. I’ve moved on, and so can you. We aren’t good together. We never were.”

He jumped on the bed, put his hands on both sides of my face, and got inches away from me. “Don’t. Say. That! Ever! He can’t fucking give you what I can. He can’t possibly love you as much as I do. I was your first, Whitley. I’ll always be in your heart. You think ’cause he uses some goddamn sex toy and fucks you hard from behind that he can make you happy?”

My heart slammed into my chest. I couldn’t breathe.

Oh. My. God. Roger was in Layton’s house. He watched us having sex.

I barely whispered, “What?”

Roger gave me an evil smile that caused me to start crying even harder.

“Oh yeah, baby. I stood there and watched the whole show—him kissing your pussy and you screaming out in pleasure. You know, Whit, I never pegged you for one who would like oral sex. I have to tell you though, Squeak. As fucking pissed-off as I was, watching another man fuck you, I got pretty turned-on from seeing him touch you and hearing you call out in pleasure. How about you show me some of the new things you’ve learned?”

“I can’t believe you watched us! Fuck off, you fucking lunatic!” I screamed out as I started trying to push Roger off of me.

He grabbed my hands and put them above my head. I kicked and screamed, trying everything I could to get him off of me.

“Stay the fuck still.” He hit me across the face as hard as he could.

I instantly tasted blood and stopped moving. He slowly traced my jaw line and moved it down my body. He began running his finger along the edge of my lace panties, and it felt like he was choking me.

“Please don’t do this, Roger. Please,” I cried out.

He grabbed my face and looked me in the eyes as he smiled. “You’re mine, Whitley. You always have been, and you always will be.”

I quickly turned my head and saw an empty bottle of wine sitting on my table. Roger bent down and started kissing me on my neck. I pulled my one hand free, grabbed the bottle, and hit him as hard as I could on the side of his head. I used every ounce of energy to push him off of me. He was cursing me up and down as I started to run out of the bedroom.

I heard him jump off of the bed as he called out, “Whitley, stop! Now!”

I was just about to run down the steps when I heard a gunshot. I instantly stopped.

“Don’t. Do. This,” Roger said from behind me.

I slowly turned around to see him pointing a gun at me.

No…this isn’t happening. Oh God, no. He’s going to kill me if I don’t do what he wants.

I started to step backward, and I ran into the table at the top of the stairs. “Roger, please. For the love of God, what has gotten into you? Are you going to shoot me if I don’t have sex with you?”

He threw his head back and laughed. “Oh, trust me, Squeak, you’re gonna fuck me, and you’re going to love every minute of it. You just need to be reminded of what we shared, that’s all.”

My heart was beating so fast. Layton, I need you.

“What we shared? Are you kidding me, Roger? You beat me. You beat me so badly that I ended up in the hospital. You couldn’t possibly love me. Who hits someone they love?” I screamed out as tears streamed down my face.

His smile faded, and his eyes began to fill with tears. “Baby, I don’t mean to hurt you. I love you so much, Whit. I’m so afraid you’re going to leave me. Hell, you did leave me, and it about destroyed my world. And now, you’re fucking some damn rich cowboy. Baby, I can make you feel like he makes you feel. I can love you better. Let me show you how good I can make you feel. Whit, let me put my lips on you and make you scream out in pleasure like he did.”

Oh God…please, God. Please help me.

My whole body was shaking as I watched him walking closer with the gun pointed right at me.

“Roger…” I couldn’t even say anything else through my sobs.

“Baby, just let me help you remember what we had.”

I looked around, frantically trying to find something to use to protect myself.

The candlestick!

An iron candlestick that Courtney had bought a few months ago was sitting on the table I was leaning against. I closed my eyes as Roger drew closer and closer to me.

“Please don’t do this…please,” I whispered.

He walked up to me and leaned down to kiss me. “Let me show you, baby.”

I bit down on my lip, knowing that it turned Roger on more than anything.

He smiled his crooked half-smile at me and whispered, “That’s right, baby.”

As his lips met mine, I felt like I was going to be sick. I moved my hand up his chest, around his neck, and into his hair, and then I pulled on it slightly. He let out a low moan into my mouth, and it was everything I could do not to start gagging. I reached with my right hand and felt for the candlestick. I could feel his erection pushing into my stomach as he leaned in closer to me.

He slowly pulled away from my lips. “Tell me you missed me and that you want me, Whitley. Tell me now.”

I slowly smiled as I took the candlestick in my hand. “Roger…you have no idea…how much I have not missed you.”

His smile faded, and I used all my power to swing the candlestick around and hit him in the head. He instantly fell to the ground as I screamed and made my way down the two flights of stairs.

Jesus, Whitley, don’t fucking fall!

I had almost made it to the bottom of the stairs when the front door busted open, and Layton came in. The moment I saw him, I started crying hysterically and ran into his arms.

“Jesus, Whitley, are you all right? What the fuck is going on?”

I held on to him, sobbing. “We. Have. To. Go! Now!” I managed to get out in between sobs.

He pulled away and looked into my eyes. Then, his eyes moved to my mouth, and I saw the anger in them.

“Where is he?”

I started hysterically shaking my head. “No! We have to leave—now! We have to call the police now, Layton.” I pulled on his arm to get him to leave with me. “Layton…please…my God, please, we have to leave!”

“I called the police, baby. They’ll be here any second. Where is he, Whitley? Tell me now.”

I tried so hard to stop crying. I glanced up the stairs and pulled on Layton’s arm. Layton followed my eyes and yanked his arm away before he started running upstairs.

“Layton, no! He has a gun! Please don’t go up there!”

I looked around for my purse and ran to it. I grabbed my cell phone and hit nine-one-one. When the operator answered, I was running up the stairs and heard a loud crash.