Love, Lies, and Deception(64)
My phone was ripped out of my hand and taken by a figure all clad in black with a hat pulled low over his eyes. My gaze grew bleary and I couldn’t tell who the man was that was standing before me. All I knew was that my mind was fading out of existence and I was slowly succumbing to the dark.
I felt sleepy, tired. I could barely hold my eyes open, but I could hear the last clear words coming out of my assailant’s mouth.
“Hello Karey,” the man replied lazily into the phone. I couldn’t hear Alec’s response, but I could tell he was screaming. “No, no, there’s no need to get angry. Not yet anyway.”
Alec replied again, but the voices were getting muffled. I was losing consciousness. My eyes closed, but I was still awake; I had to hear more. I had to hold on just a little while longer. I recognized the voice, but it was too far away.
“I tell you what, Karey. I’m going to let you stew for a while and have fun with your girlfriend here. However, I do think she’s moved on from what I saw earlier, and why wouldn’t she when you obviously f*cked her over.”
More yelling ensued on Alec’s end. “Yeah, well she doesn’t know that now does she? All she saw was what I wanted her to see. I’ll call you tomorrow and you better be ready. It’s payback time.”
He hung up the phone and threw it on the bed. I could feel his breath on my face when he got closer. I knew his voice, and I knew his smell. Betrayal weighed heavily on my chest and I wanted to cry. He grabbed my face and forced my eyelids open with his thumbs.
“Look at me, Marissa,” he commanded forcefully. “I know you’re not unconscious yet.”
Tears streamed out of my blurry eyes, but out of all the years I’d known him there was no way I wouldn’t be able to recognize him now. The man in front of me wasn’t the same man I thought I knew. The once warm eyes that stared back at me many times before were now cold and detached … empty, no remorse for what he’d done. How could I have not seen it before?
Was I that blind, and so oblivious to the danger that was hidden inside of him? Obviously I was, but now it’s too late.
My eyes fluttered open and immediately I thought I’d just had a bad dream. Unfortunately, when I woke up alone with my phone nowhere in sight I knew it wasn’t so. I was still dressed in my clothes from the night before, and my hair was still slightly damp from the shower. Slowly, I climbed off the bed and tiptoed out of the bedroom and down the hall.
I could hear the television in the living room, and the crinkling sound of someone jostling around a newspaper. When I walked into the room, I wasn’t surprised to see the one person who I thought was the sweetest and most down to earth guy I knew. He lowered the newspaper and smirked when he saw me.
“Ah, Marissa,” he crooned, smiling. Anger blossomed in my chest, and I scowled at him. I wanted to rip that smile off his face for what he did.
“Justin,” I replied in a clipped and angry tone.
He patted the seat beside him and grinned smugly. “Please, join me. We have much to talk about before your boyfriend shows up tonight. Oh, but wait, perhaps he’s not the one you want anymore. I do believe I saw you f*cking Kristian last night in the pool. I must say you two put on a rather naughty show. It’s a shame Karey, no wait … Alec couldn’t see it.”
“You’re such a bastard,” I growled. “Where’s Kristian? What did you do to him?”
Justin rolled his eyes, and folded up the newspaper. “He’s fine. I just gave him a little more of the tranquilizer than you. I couldn’t have him spoiling my plans now could I?”
“That depends on your plans. What are you up to anyway?”
Justin tapped the seat beside him and said, “Sit, and I’ll answer all your questions.”
I didn’t want to sit close to him, but I feared I had no other choice. Reluctantly, I lowered myself down onto the couch and tried to scoot as far away from him as I could.
“Why are you doing this?” I asked.
He glared at me like I was stupid. “I thought that’d be quite obvious. Karey killed my girlfriend and got away with it. Now he has to pay for what he did. I’ve failed too many times, but this time it ends.”
I peered at him incredulously. “Lindsey made her own choices to take the drugs. You can’t blame that on Alec.”
“That’s not the point,” he snapped. “The paramedics saw Alec in the water and chose to save him over her. They left her there to die so they could save him. He was the one who should’ve died, but no … they had to save their precious star.”
“So you want revenge … is that it? To take me away from him since he supposedly loves me? Why would you do that when he f*cked me over? I’m nothing to him,” I stated forlornly.
Justin smiled, showing his gleaming white teeth. “Ah, see that’s where you’re wrong. He’s so enamored by you it makes me sick. Emily said he came to her all worried and upset over how he couldn’t find you.”
“I don’t understand why he’d do that. He cheated on me.”
Justin laughed. “No, he didn’t, and if you would’ve trusted him and asked questions you might’ve realized it was all a farce. I set up the whole thing.”
“What do you mean you set it up?”
“Oh, Marissa, you are as dumb as you look. I had that blonde headed bitch come in and make it look like Alec f*cked her. You know, it’s amazing what people will do for a little bit of money. Imagine the look that’s going to be on Alec’s face when I tell him you ran away from him and f*cked someone else the next day. You are a vindictive thing aren’t you?”