Page 83 of Beautiful Life
“Night, honey.”
*****
Tony
I turn the corner to my street and start up hill hearing nothing but my running shoes hitting the pavement. The morning light is barely peeking over the horizon. I decided to run outside this morning instead of hitting the gym before work since the warmer weather is supposed to stick around for another few days before the temps are supposed to dip again.
I left Leigh in bed this morning, kissed her and told her I’d see her after my run. Fin jumped into our bed and had his head rested on her stomach while she was scratching his ears. I shook my head at her letting the dog up on the bed for the second day in a row. I couldn’t get upset with her when she grinned, telling me she knew what I was thinking. I’d do anything to see her like that—happy and naked in my bed, even if it means having a dog in it with us.
I slow to a walk as I hit the sidewalk in front of my house. Moving up to the front door I come to an abrupt halt as something catches my eye on the ground. Halfway sticking out from under the doormat is a manila envelope. Wiping the sweat off my face with my shirt, I move to the door and bend to slide it out from under the mat. It’s a legal-size envelope and I swear this wasn’t here when I left this morning. I would’ve noticed.
It’s blank. I reach in and pull out its contents. My heart stops and my stomach flips at the same time.
I turn immediately and scan the street. I don’t see any sign of life.
Fuck.
Chapter 20 – Let Me Be Yours
Tony
Standing behind my desk in my home office, I stare down at contents of the envelope in front of me.
Pictures.
And a note.
My insides are coiled so tight I might explode. Most of the pictures are just of Leigh, but a few are of Leigh and me together. They were taken yesterday, I can tell from what we were wearing. There are pictures of Leigh walking from her apartment building looking ahead, getting into her car, and more of her sitting there. Some are close up, some far away. She’s wearing a private smile in some as her eyes are casts on her phone typing on the screen. One even looks like she’s close to laughing.
Others are of Leigh and me walking Fin yesterday. I’ve got my arm around her neck, pulling her close as we walk to whisper in her ear or kiss the side of her head. More pictures of us walking and holding hands. Some are of Leigh scratching Fin or looking up at me with a huge smile on her face. The most disturbing by far are the close ups focused on Leigh. And it’s worse because I remember everything she was saying to me when the pictures were taken.
But the note is what cuts me to the core and has me itching to hunt down the sick bastard who took these. It’s typed in plain font and reads, “You took something from me, now I’ll take something from you.”
I drop to my chair and rest my forehead in my hands. It has to be Preston. But he’s cutting a deal today with the DA’s office. Why in the fuck would he do this now? With these pictures they could have proof of him violating his restraining order and I wasn’t kidding when I told Leigh last night he’ll be in deep shit if he violates his probation. He’ll face jail time and so far, he’s done everything possible to avoid it.
I don’t want to tell Leigh about this but someone is following her, taking pictures of her, and threatening me by threatening her. She has to know. But shit, this is going to set her back and she’s progressed quickly, especially in the past few days. Dreading what I have to do, I decide to leave the pictures and note here and break it to her first.
I walk out of my office and start toward my room. I hear her in the kitchen so I change my course but stop immediately before she sees me when I hear her talking. And she’s talking to the dog.
“He’ll come around, Finny. He just thinks you’re too big, but you’re not too big, are you? Of course, you’re not—you’re perfect.” She’s talking in that voice women only use when speaking to dogs or babies.
I drop my head, squeeze my eyes, and don’t move.
“Mama will talk him into it, I promise,” she goes on. “I don’t want you to have to sleep in that kennel. Those are for bad dogs, not good puppies like my Finny. I don’t know what your daddy is thinking anyway, he and I only use half the bed, there’s plenty of room for you.”
I feel my chest expand and even the fucking contents on my desk can’t keep me from tipping my lips.
“We’ll go for a walk later—the weather is still nice. Maybe if you get in better shape, your daddy will take you running with him. I don’t run. Your daddy and Aunt Gabby are crazy because they love it. It hurts my side. But we’ll go for a walk later—Tony! You scared me! You can’t sneak up on me like that,” she yells when I moved into the open space by the kitchen.
She’s sitting on a barstool drinking coffee and Fin is sitting at her feet, but now they’re both looking at me, surprised. Fin’s tail is going a mile a minute but stays by her side, communicating to me who his person is. Leigh is wearing my t-shirt again and it barely covers her ass on the barstool with her long thin legs crossed, turned to the side. I can tell by their positions they were deep in conversation before I entered the room.
I let my eyes drag over her like I’ve become addicted to doing. Soaking her in, finding it hard to believe she’s here, she’s real, and she’s mine. I think about how far she’s come over the past few months—how she’s happy, she wants to be here and, most importantly, that she loves me.
But someone is threatening her. Someone wants to take her from me. Someone could hurt her and the thought of fucking anyone, anyone, touching her let alone hurting her, makes me crazy. It’s got to be Preston, but I don’t give a fuck who it is. No one on this Earth is ever going to hurt her again. She’s had enough hurt to last a lifetime. I’ll do everything I can to make her safe and that she’s never scared again.
“Tony?” she calls, pulling me out of my trance. “What’s wrong?”
Her makeup free face is now wearing a concerned look. I find myself having to clench my fists tightly to control myself—my emotions, my need to rip someone’s fucking head off. I let my mind wander back to when Gabby brought her home from the hospital, her eye swollen shut, bruises on her fair-skinned face, a broken arm, and how she was recovering from losing a child because of blows to her gut. And that was just what was physically wrong with her. Her nightmares that would take over her brain in her sleep—nightmares that stayed with her night and day. Demons she couldn’t seem to escape. Demons I could see in her every time she woke from dreaming of her reality.
