Dangerous Lies(42)
Jake held my stare with his, begging me to forgive him and stay, but I just couldn’t do it. He’d lied about too many personal things, and some of them were just terrifying, and I didn’t know if I could trust him. Martin out to get me or not, I had to get away and think.
“I’m coming,” I grumbled, edging passed Jake.
“Cora, please don’t go right now. Wait until morning. Sleep on all of this, we can talk more and then you can decide.”
Finding the back passenger door, I swung it open. “The time for talking was months, or even years ago, Jake.”
Jake followed, setting his hand on the door. “You’re being irrational.”
“Let go of the door!” I shouted, pissed he’d call ME irrational, considering he was the one with all of the lies. “I need space,” I whispered, resisting a sniff from my running nose.
“Love,” he pleaded.
I only shook my head, facing forward, refusing to see the deep brown of his gentle eyes begging me to come back to him.
Chapter TwentyFive
I’ve never been so upset with myself. I knew I should have told Cora the truth about my past, but I was so terrified it would blow up in my face, and like I feared, it was a full on explosion, ending with the woman of my dreams driving away with tears and anger because I was such an idiot.
So like the paranoid creep she presumed me to be, I ran inside, threw on a t-shirt and sneakers, grabbed my go bag with spare clothing and hopped in my truck, following her like the love-sick puppy I was.
It was more than just because I wanted her back in my life. She wasn’t safe, not with Martin making threats to her safety. Ben led me to believe Martin had something cooking against Cora, and I wasn’t willing to take any chances.
I drove like a maniac until I caught up to the taxi. Thankfully the road didn’t have many turns, and by the path we were taking, Cora was headed straight for the airport. I’d have to pull some major strings if she were to try and get on a flight home.
Pulling out my phone, I dialed Ben. He’d called me while Cora and I were making love. A shudder ran through me, recalling how she touched me. I needed to fix us.
“You do know about the time difference, right?” He croaked from his sleep. “I figured me leaving a message for you to call me meant you’d do it when I wasn’t in bed.”
“Sorry mate, glad you answered. Look, I’ve run into a bit of snag.”
He cleared his throat. “Trouble in paradise? Did she find out about your secret life?”
I clenched my jaw. “Something like that. Can you pay Martin another visit? I need to know if he’s left town.”
Actually, if he left, then Cora heading home wouldn’t be so terrible. Martin would be on his way here, and I could handle him while Cora was safe half the world away.
“He actually called me last night, wanting to meet with me about a new job. I was going to sleep before I called and told you.”
I rubbed my jaw. “Did he hint about who he was looking for?”
Ben sighed. “A woman.”
I closed my eyes, knowing Martin was searching for Cora.
“Tell him she’s with me. I’ll settle the rest.”
Chapter TwentySix
Although traveling home should have flown by, it moved at a snail’s pace. I didn’t have any hold ups, and all flights were on time. Amazing what happens when you offer to fly on stand-by out of the country. The ticket prices were gouged, but I had to get out of New Zealand.
The taxi driver welcomed me in my boring state of Illinois, and a cold, rainy night came along with him. He didn’t speak a lick of English, and I was fine with that. I didn’t want to talk to anyone, fearful that I’d start crying for the umpteenth time.
Jake broke my heart with his lies. I didn’t know what to believe anymore. I probably should have booked a flight to some small island and disappeared from both Martin and Jake, but that wasn’t logical. I needed to strap down and finish a manuscript, make a good chunk of money, then flee the country.
When we pulled up in front of my home, it was still raining. The mums hadn’t died like I thought they would when I came home, but then again, I was supposed to be gone for a month, not only five days.
How did I fall hard for a man and get my heart shattered in only five days?
Paying the cab driver and grabbing my luggage, I muddled my way to the front door, not caring that the rain was getting me soaked. It helped hide the tears that kept shedding out of my control.
It also sent flashbacks of Jake and my make-out session under the willow tree in the storm.
Everything was reminding me of Jake within the two day shit show of getting home. A man sat next to me on my first flight who was obsessed with mountain biking, and wouldn’t shut up about it. Then, when I was waiting for a coffee, and the people behind me were talking about a book in the same genre as what Jake wrote. My last flight, I sat next to a woman who carried on her cat, who had the same coloring as Shepley.
Turning the key, I came inside, not bothering to bring my suitcase upstairs with me to unload it. I was going to curl under my covers and cry until I passed out, not caring how long that would be. I had nothing planned, and nothing to look forward to. My phone would stay shut off until I could handle seeing all of the missed calls, messages, and texts from Jake. Which right now felt like it would be never. In fact, whenever I felt like I could get out of bed, I’d go to the phone store and get a new number.