Her CEO Stalker and Her Second Chance Mate Chapter 79

Briar

It took five rings for Misty to pick up. I put the phone on speaker as she answered. These people were my friends, they may as well know.

“Adelaide, are you OK?”

“I’m safe, for now,”

“What happened?”

“He left me a ‘gift’ on my doorstep, the same flowers he left in my bedroom window when I left, when he found my apartment.”

“Is Carter with you?”

“Yes, I’m at his place.”

“I woke up a few minutes ago to one of the notifications going off. He got to the lawyer a few days ago, it seems. His secretary’s sister went by the firm after her sister didn’t show up to a family event yesterday. He killed them, or had them killed; they were torn limb from limb, and the office was trashed. Don’t go anywhere alone right now. I’ll dig into his finances and see if there is anything more. I need someone to look and see if there are any clues as to where the flowers came from, or if he left a note with them. He may have just sent them, but there could be other addresses he sent the flowers to, also. He may not have people in your area yet. He is due for a press conference here tomorrow, so I doubt he is in a position to leave right now, but don’t let your guard down.”

“I’ll go check the property,” Carter said, standing, and Mazzie stood with him.

“Don’t you leave her alone right now!” Misty ordered.

“She won't be,” Carter called over his shoulder, as he opened the closet under the stairs. He disappeared inside, and the sound of a gun being loaded could be heard, then another. He came out, handing one to Lana, and the other to me.

“Piece of shit shows up, or any of his men, you don’t think, you just shoot. He told us. He looked at me. “I meant what I said, he’s a dead man,” Carter said, before he disappeared with Mazzie out the front door. Lana got up and locked it before walking to the back door and checking that it was locked as well.

“Well, they will be a while,” she said, coming back from the kitchen with a tub of ice cream and two spoons. “How about you tell me who this asshole is so I can hate him better,” she said, handing me a spoon as she plopped down next to me.

So I told her everything I had told Carter, except for the twisted way I felt in my dreams. Since telling Carter, a weight had lifted, and it felt easier this time. Lana was quiet, which wasn’t like her. When she spoke, her tone was different, serious even. 

“I got involved with an older man when I was sixteen. I thought he was the answer to all my prayers to leave the boring, simple life I had in my small community. I was selfish. I grew up in a loving home with good parents. I was a bit wild for what was expected of me there. We lived in a little village in Alaska. I was born ‘different’, special even, so a lot was expected of me. I saw it as a ball and chain. So when Nex offered to whisk me away, I took the chance.” Her voice sounded far off, lost in the memory. “He promised to show me the world. What I got was being holed up in a single-wide, where no one could hear my screams and pleas for help. On a good day, he raped me, on a bad day, something as small as a burnt bit of toast would set him off and I’d be black and blue for days. That single-wide became my prison. One night, he went off on me, and I got it in my head to run. It was the best thing I ever did. I don’t know how far I ran; I didn’t even know where the trailer was located. When I found the road, it was Mazzie who stopped, gathered me up, and brought me home. She had happened to be doing something for another…county. I know she went back for him. I never asked if he was still alive when she and Carter got through with him. I doubt he is. I wrote to my family, to let them know I had left him, and I was still alive but not coming home, because I was with Mazzie. I got one letter telling me they were glad I was OK but I had dishonored them by walking out on my duties and choosing a life with Mazzie. I haven’t heard from them since, but I’ve made peace with it. 

“Your ex is an important man, and important men are dangerous; they get what they want, or they will ruin everything in the process of acquiring it. It makes sense that you are keeping Carter at arm's length, just realize, he isn’t going anywhere. That man is devoted to you, whether you want to admit it or not. Mazzie was like that, too; no matter how deep I went into depression, or how thoroughly I tried to sabotage myself in the beginning, Mazzie wouldn’t let me, and I hated her for a while. I didn’t believe her when she said she loved me. I was too damaged to accept it as the truth. Eventually, I found my way. Considering the circumstances, you're doing better than I did, only my shattered dreams tied me to Nex, your issues are much deeper and more significant than my trivial ones were.”

I dug my spoon into the ice cream and tried to take a bite, only to grimace at the taste of ash as the food made its way down my throat. I cleared my throat.

“I don’t know how my situation makes yours any less, Lana,” I said, pulling Tucker to my chest, discarding the spoon into the tub.

“Eventually, you will understand,” was all she said.

“I don’t even know who I am anymore,” I admitted. “Who I was is a ghost. I feel like just a shell when I think about it, most days I don’t feel like I’m even alive until…”

“Carter,” Lana finished for me, maybe she did understand.

“He shouldn’t have to be the thing that keeps me going, he has a life to live.”

Lana snorted. “That man didn’t start living till you showed up.”

I rolled my eyes, not believing her. She bit her lip like she wanted to say something but held herself back. I wasn’t going to pry. There were so many unknowns in my life that I just didn’t have the capacity to deal with anymore right now; my father, my ex, my feelings for Carter, and trying to navigate this new town, where most didn’t want me in it. The secrets piled up around me like hail from a storm biting into my soul. Unfortunately, this hail wouldn’t just melt away, it would stay there til I addressed it, and shoveled it out of my life. I was so fucking tired of living.

“All I can say, Briar, or is it Adelaide?”

“Adelaide is dead.”

She just nodded. “Is that eventually, with some help from your friends, you will find who you have become, and that will be the most authentic self you have ever been, because you will always carry the memories and the scars, but know we see you, even when you can’t see yourself,  and we will not let go until you are unapologetically the person who persevered through it all and came out on the other side. It’s a hard fucked up journey but it’s worth it in the end. There can be a beautiful life on the other side.”

My fingers stroked through Tucker’s fur as I considered her words. Maybe she was right, maybe I just wasn’t open enough to the new me for everything to click into place. Then I thought about my messed up feelings.

“Lana?”

“Hmm?” she asked, as she sucked a large scoop of ice cream off her spoon.

“How fucked up is it, that when I have nightmares of him, I’m so conflicted about my feelings? There is real fear there, but underneath it, there is still a longing I can’t make sense of.”

“In your circumstances, whether you believe it or not, it's understandable. Just don’t let it destroy what can be. I bet when you think of Carter, you feel guilty, too.” I looked down, not wanting to admit it. No matter how much I wanted him, this boulder of guilt, or the feeling of insurmountable betrayal, was like a dark cloud over my head, which prevented me from moving forward. I wanted him physically, emotionally, and instinctively, however, that cloud bore a heavy weight over me.

“Will it ever go away?”

“Yes, at some point. You just have to choose happiness,” she said, her eyes meeting mine. Maybe she saw my wheels turning, trying to turn what she said into sense, but her answer only made me think deeper into myself. Something I hadn’t considered.

“For me, it was the shame of being duped; for you, it may be something completely different. When you find all the answers, it will make sense.” I cuddled Tucker closer to me. The weight of my future weighed heavy on me. I had a lot of inner work to do.