Love Beyond Words (City Lights, #1)(77)

Natalie nodded. “Maybe. But how can we gamble with Julian’s life like that? David said they’d hurt him if the money stopped.”

“I call bullshit on that one,” Liberty put in. “Marshall’s right. Once David’s in jail, there’s no benefit to offing anyone but adding murder charges to their rap sheet. That threat’s only useful to keep David in line.”

“Okay,” Natalie said slowly.

“Okay, so we call the cops,” Liberty said.

“No!” Natalie cried. “David’s with Julian now. All it will take is for him to hear one siren. Or a knock at the door. You think the police will storm the apartment and catch him unaware? Maybe bust through the windows like in some movie? With no proof but my word?”

“Honey, you can’t do nothing.”

“I don’t want to do nothing but I can’t do the one thing I know will get Julian killed. I won’t. We just have to get Julian away from David. That’s it. That can’t be too hard, can it?”

“Not at all,” Marshall said. “I’ll to go down to Julian’s building and hang out until the weasel leaves.”

“Then what?”

“Yeah, then what?” Liberty demanded.

“Then I follow him, maybe distract him with my over-abundance of charm and wit, and you call the cops. Easy-peasy.”

“No, Marshall. I can’t let you,” Natalie said while Liberty shook her head in agreement. “I can’t just sit here while every one I love is out risking everything for me. No—”

“You did the hardest part,” Marshall said. “You suffered David’s scary insanity and you broke up with Julian to keep him safe.” Anger flashed in his hazel eyes. “David put a gun to your head, honey. And that pisses me off. A lot. The way I see it, he’s got some payback coming.”

“Oh Jesus, now is not the time to get all butch on us,” Liberty snapped. “He’s got the gun, like you said. All I see happening is that he hears sirens and that’s it. No more Marshall. Uh uh. No way. Call the police.”

“All I see happening is that David hears sirens and that’s it,” Natalie told her, her voice choked with tears. “No more Julian.”

Liberty leaned back in the old chair, meeting Natalie’s eye for a moment before looking away.

Marshall cleared his throat. “Look, David’s clearly got a few screws loose. There’s no possible way his little plan can hold together. We get him alone, get him arrested, and let the cops deal with the blackmailers. Okay?”

“Okay,” Natalie said. “But what if it’s not enough?”

“What do you mean?”

“Even when he’s safe, he’ll still hate me. The things I said to him,” Natalie whispered. “I-I told him…I feared him.”

Liberty frowned. “Who? David?”

“Julian,” Natalie said. “To break up with him. I told him I thought he’d…And he was so hurt. Liberty, I betrayed him. He told me personal fears, about his father, and I just used that to wreck him. I wrecked us, just like he said.”

Marshall gave her a squeeze. “Honey, it wasn’t real. We’ll sort this all out and he’ll know the truth. He’ll understand.”

“What if he doesn’t? I had to say the worst thing. To get him out before David...”

Her words trailed as her gaze found the stack of composition books under her coffee table. She extracted herself from Marshall and gathered them on to her lap. “Everything I said to him was a lie,” she murmured, running her fingers along the cover of the first book. “That I feared him…and that I needed this. These books…my refuge. I chose Mendón instead of Julian.”

Liberty and Marshall exchanged concerned glances, but they faded out of her awareness as she opened the first page. Julian’s tiny, precise script filled the paper in black ink. Her heart ached to read the first sentences, like greeting an old friend for the first time in years. A new Mendón book; familiar and yet tantalizing new…but the beautiful words dwindled to pen scratches on paper in her eyes.

She shut the book and looked up at her friends, smiling through tears. “There’s no truth in that at all.” She set the stack of books on the coffee table. “I don’t want the writing. I want Julian. I can’t…I can’t keep hiding in made-up worlds where nothing bad happens that I can’t turn the page on. I have to…live.”

Liberty reached over and took her hand. “Uh, okay honey. I think you need to rest now. You sound a little burnt out.”

Natalie nodded and stretched out on the couch. The adrenaline that had been surging through her veins had run its course. She couldn’t keep her eyes open. “Will you stay with me? I was so scared. In the movies, someone points a gun and they just put their hands up. But it’s so much worse than that. So much…”

She closed her eyes and someone covered her with a blanket, someone stroked her hair. She felt sleep dragging her down and half-feared she’d have terrible nightmares of David’s gun but there was nothing but blackness.





Chapter ThirtySix


David’s hands trembled so violently, he dropped his cell phone twice. The third time he managed to take the picture of the dividend check from EllisIntel, and whoosh, it was gone, spirited into the separate checking account. But I can’t do this anymore. I can’t. Now Cliff wanted thirty every month, and Julian wanted him to sell the stock. The two opposing forces that were crushing the life out of him. He’d have to find another $30,000 for somewhere else, and if it came from the regular expenses or royalties, Julian would notice. Maybe not right away; his break up with Natalie would consume him but for how long?