Love Behind Lies

Chapter 28

I walked back into the building. I must have interrupted something because everyone was staring at me after I walked into the room.
“Katie, are you okay?” Sam’s voice seemed concerned. Nate removed the knife from Sam’s neck.
“Yes, Sam. I’m fine,” I replied, grabbing my chair, setting it up right. Hopefully Sam hadn’t seem my face, because I could feel it starting to swell and bruise.
“Well okay then,” Loren said.
I sat down in my chair. “What did I miss,” I asked.
“Nothing,” Loren said. “We are just waiting for you. Where is Brent?”
“Right here,” Brent said, walking into the room as well.
“Oh, okay. I guess that we are all set then,” Loren said.
Brent came up behind me and I tensed up, anticipating his hands coming down on my shoulders, but there was nothing. Brent was just standing there. He didn’t even tie my hands up.
“She isn’t going anywhere is she Brent,” Loren asked.
“No, I don’t think so,” Brent replied.
“Good,” Loren replied, smiling. “Now Kate, we have some questions for you.” This was just like my dream, from the night before. I tensed up, but I knew that things were going to go differently.
The questions that Loren asked me weren’t hard to answer, and I didn’t have to lie, too much. I had totally forgotten about the dream when Loren informed me that Nick was now in jail here in Evansville, and he wouldn’t be leaving for a while. I guess the laws in Indiana were different from the laws in Italy since Nick was receiving more punishment.
Loren didn’t have a change to talk to Nick before he was put into jail, so Loren was counting on me to fill him in on what happened. My guess was that Loren had no idea any of this was going on. He seemed surprised by what I told him. He didn’t think that Nick was the type of person to do anything like what he did.
I was asked a variety of questions, all starting from when I first met Brent. Loren wanted to know what I thought about Brent’s ideas and I told him, flat out, that I knew it was a scam the entire time. Loren asked me what my reaction was when Brent told us the truth. I didn’t have a hard time going into detail about that.
The last thing I was asked had to do with the day I was stuck with Nick in a room, alone. Answering this part was definitely the hardest. I didn’t want to go into detail about what Nick had done to me. I was still having trouble sleeping at night because sometimes Nick haunted me there.
At one point, while I was explaining the one night I spent with Nick, I began to cry. The memories were coming back to me. Brent’s hands gently rested on my shoulders, then. It was as if he was trying to comfort me, just like the Brent I once knew would have done.
I finally got through the whole story, even about what had just happened outside with Brent. Everyone had been filled in on everything, even Margaret.
“So why did you think that Margaret would know the answers to these questions,” I asked Loren after I was done explaining.
“Well I knew that you wouldn’t come talk to me if I texted you and told you to meet me somewhere. You’re too smart now.” Loren paused. He was absolutely right. “I didn’t want to come knocking on your door to ask you questions, because that’s too boring. So I just brought Margaret up here.”
“Okay,” I said, trying to make sense of him. “Why did you want to know? And how did Brent get caught up in this?”
“I wanted to know the whole story. I knew there was something different about Nick and when I heard about this I wanted to know all of the details.” Loren paused. “I called Brent when I couldn’t figure out how to get to you. He knew that Margaret would come out here and you would follow eventually. The whole thing was his idea.”
My blood started to boil, but I took a deep breath. “Oh, okay.” Brent’s hands were still on my shoulders.
“So what’s next,” Margaret asked, speaking for the first time.
“I actually want to talk to Catherine, alone,” Loren requested.
“I do too,” Brent said.
I looked at Sam. He stood up and walked over to me, taking my hand and bringing me into him. “I will be waiting for you outside, love,” Sam told me. He kissed me gently on my forehead and let go of me, walking out the door.
“I’ll take Margaret home,” Nate said, walking over to Margaret, who stood up.
“I’m going to wait outside. I’ll talk to Cat after you, Loren,” Brent said.
“Brent?” I asked.
“Yes, Cat?”
“Please don’t do anything stupid. Sam’s out there, you know.”
Brent just nodded and walked out.
I stood up and walked over to Loren, who motioned for me to sit opposite him. It was just the two of us in the room now.
“I am sorry Catherine,” Loren said. I never expected Loren to apologize for anything. “I know that you probably hate me right now, but I want everything to be right between us.” I looked up at him and he continued. “I never should have done what I did. I know what I did was wrong and I won’t do it again. From now on, I am going to leave your family alone. Not just you and Margaret; everyone. I’m breaking the group up. Sam’s not going to participate with you in the picture, Nick’s in jail, and we got all the drugs from him anyway. Nate is a really sweet guy and I have my own life and future too.” I was still staring at him. “Do you forgive me,” Loren asked.
“Yes, I do. Did you apologize to my sister yet?”
“Yeah, I did.”
“Then I think everything is good between us,” I said. Loren smiled and stood up. I did the same and Loren came closer to me, but I wasn’t scared. He gave me a quick hug and that was it. He was a friend now; not an enemy.
Loren and I separated and then he left the small house, but the room was only silent for a couple seconds before Brent was with me. He came right over to me and we just stood there, staring at me. He grabbed both my hands and waited until I looked him straight in the eye.
“I am sorry Cat,” Brent began. “I know that you trusted me and I know that I probably lost your trust again. Please forgive me.”
I didn’t want to say anything, so I looked down at the ground. One of Brent’s hands left mine and went to my cheek, forcing me to look at him. “I am sorry,” Brent said again. “I guess I just lost control.” His hand brushed up against where he had hit me twice. I winced because of the pain, but he still kept his hand there. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.” He paused. “In any way I mean.”
I just stared back at Brent. I had nothing to say.
“Cat, I understand now. I understand what you must be going through. I don’t expect you to forgive me anymore. I promise that I will leave you alone forever. From now on.” Brent was dead serious.
“Brent…” I said.
“I am serious Catherine,” Brent said.
“Please don’t leave me for good. Stay in town. Come and visit me. I thought we had this all planned out last night,” I replied, my heart beat picking up because I didn’t want him to disappear. Yes, Brent had hurt me, badly, but I still loved him. Deep down he was truly a nice person and I loved having him around.
“I know what I promised you, but---” I cut him off.
“Please don’t break another one of our promises,” I said.
Brent just let his head fall. He kept his hand on my cheek but let go on my hand and put a hand on my back. After a moment, he raised his head to look me in the eye. “So you want me to stay forever,” Brent asked.
I nodded my head.
“Even after everything I have put you through?”
I nodded my head again.
“And you forgive me, for everything that I’ve done?”
I nodded my head for the last time.
“Then I guess I will stay,” Brent said, smiling. I smiled back. Brent brought me in for a tight hug. “Can I ask you from you? I will never need on after this. I promise you.”
“No, Brent,” I said, knowing what he wanted.
“Please, Cat. One last time,” he begged and backed away from me enough so that he could see my face. Both of his hands came up to my jaw line and stayed there. He pulled me closer to him now and I had shivers going down my spine.
“Please don’t,” I said, but Brent ignored me.
“I want a kiss,” Brent said.
“No,” I said, trying to pull away.
“Please,” Brent said. I decided to stop arguing. He obviously wasn’t listening to me.
This was going to be my last kiss from Brent and I wasn’t excited about it. Our lips met and it was like the first time we kissed. He had a lot of energy and I was just along for the ride. Brent’s hands stayed where they were and I wasn’t going to let them move anywhere else. I kept my hands around his neck, not wanting to make it too obvious that I didn’t want this, however, I was the one who broke the kiss.
“Thank you Cat,” Brent said, a little bit out of breath.
“Did you talk to Sam while you were outside? Is everything alright between you two,” I asked Brent.
“Everything is worked out for the most part. I’m jealous of him, but there is nothing I can do about that,” Brent said, smiling. He grabbed my hand and then walked me to the door.
I think Sam was happy to see me. I wasn’t really gone for that long, but I am pretty sure that Sam doesn’t like it when Brent and I are alone.
“Katie, are you okay,” Sam asked, stepping towards me.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I replied.
“Are you ready to go home then?”
“Yeah,” I said. Brent let go of my hand and I took Sam’s instead.
“Can I walk home with you guys,” Brent asked.
“Sure,” I said. Sam didn’t seem to mind.
Most of the walk home was silent. We didn’t really have anything to talk about and when we got back to my house, Brent left and Sam and I went inside. Sam led me up to my room and we both flopped down on my bed.
“So, what did you and Brent talk about,” Sam asked, sitting up.
“He apologized,” I replied. I didn’t want to go into detail.
“Oh, anything else? You were in there for a while,” Sam pointed out.
“He told me that he was going to disappear. Leave, forever.”
“And?”
“I asked him to stay.”
“Why?”
I took a deep breath. Sam’s questions were persistent and I wasn’t in the mood to talk about anything serious. “I still care about him, Sam.”
“I know that, don’t worry.”
I gave a sigh of relief. I was hoping Sam would react like that. I wasn’t in the mood to argue either.
“What else happened?”
“Why are you asking so many questions?” I was flustered now. I took a deep breath. “He said he would stay.”
“And,” Sam persisted.
Okay so Sam must know that I kissed Brent because he keeps trying to get more out of me which is actually starting to make me angry. “We kissed Sam. Okay?”
“I know.”
“I know, you knew. So why didn’t you just drop it?”
“Why did you do it Katie?”
“It was a goodbye kiss and he forced me to do it.”
“It’s okay Katie, I get it. Now, don’t let it happen again, because you’re all mine and only mine now. Okay?” Sam was smiling as he leaned into me and kissed me softly on the lips. My hair had fallen over my swollen cheek and Sam gently removed it, touching the swollen area while doing so. I grimaced and pulled myself away from him.
“It’s really bad Katie. It’s getting worse. I didn’t know it was that bad.” Sam paused. “I’m sorry. I should have stopped him from hurting you.”
“No, I’m glad you didn’t. I needed to talk to him. He was a little confused and we needed to talk it out.”
“I believe you,” Sam said and gently kissed me on the lips, being careful not to touch my cheek. “I bet Brent feels bad about leaving that bad of a mark,” Sam told me.
“He does, I think,” I replied, sitting up and looking at Sam. “I think he still loves me.”
“Oh I know that’s the case,” Sam said, looking down.
“I’m not leaving you, Sam. I just wanted to tell you that. Don’t worry about me. I promise I’m not going anywhere.”
“I trust you, Katie and I’m going to prove it.”
“How so,” I asked.
Sam got up and locked my bedroom door and I stood up from my bed. My hair was on end. I trusted Sam but I was still scared.
“Relax babe, I’m not going to hurt you. I promise.” Sam came over to me slowly and gently wrapped his arms around me. He slipped his arms around my hips. “I think we should make us official,” Sam said. “Kiss me.”
I reached up to his lips and touched them quickly, my hands resting on his arms.
“Really? That’s it,” He asked and I just smiled back at him.
“Do you remember our first kiss,” I asked Sam.
He laughed. “Of course I remember. You hated me.”
“Yeah, what did you expect? You forced me to kiss you.” I wrapped my arms around his neck.
“Yes, I did. I don’t blame you,” Sam replied.
“The good thing is…that you don’t have to force me to kiss you anymore and I love you.” Then I made my lips lock with his. I felt him smile against my lips and then I was lost in his embrace.
Our kiss was gently at first. We were both standing in my room. Sam’s hands were under my shirt and on my back in no time. He pushed us over to my bed. We laid down, relaxing a little before Sam tried to take off my shirt.
“No Sam,” I said, breaking the kiss.
“Please Katie,” Sam begged.
“No.”
“Okay, Katie. I’m sorry. You’re right.”
“Sam, I’m scared still. You’re the only guy I trust not to hurt me, but I’m still freaked out right now. Can we go slow please?”
“Of course Catherine. I understand.” Sam smiled and then began kissing me again. I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him closer to me, although that was impossible. One of his hands left my waist and grabbed my leg, slowly moving down to my thigh before he pulled it up and wrapped it around his hip.
He was the one who broke the kiss this time. “I love you, Katie. I really do,” Sam said and relaxed his head on the pillow.
“I love you too,” I replied, laying my head on his arm.
Sam’s lips brushed up against mine one last time before he was up and off the bed. “Let’s go do something,” Sam said.
“What are you thinking we should do,” I asked, wanting his warm body to come back over to me.
“I don’t know, but do you think we have to bring William with us,” Sam asked.
I shook my head. “Let’s go get something to eat. I haven’t eaten yet,” I said.
“Good plan.” Sam grabbed my hand and led me downstairs.
It was a short walk downtown form where I lived. As we walked, Sam and I talked about everything imaginable. It made me realize that that Sam and I had never really had any alone time to talk and get to know each other the way normal couples do. As we walked into the restaurant, I made sure to take a moment to look back outside.
The sky was blue and there were no clouds in the sky. Sam and I had walked down the sidewalk, hand in hand and at this exact moment, there are no problems I have to fix. Nothing is on my mind and I had nothing to worry about. For the first time in two weeks, I felt like myself again, and I plan to keep it that way, at least until I run out of time.