Tempted (Complete)

Chapter 4

Ian

I was laid in bed, my wife in my arms, her head on my chest rising and falling with each breath I took. The soft sound of her breaths was calming and not even for a second was I uncertain that she was the one for me. I'd managed to push Vanessa out of my mind, I had reduced her to a mild distraction and wasn't thinking of her in ways I've been for so so days.

I was drifting off to sleep when my phone sounded from the bedside table, I groaned and answered, mainly because I didn't want the noise to wake Irene. I answered without looking at the caller ID.

"Hello?" I rasped.

The voice on the other line, weary, said, "good evening sir. Sorry to disturb your evening." I sat up right in bed to listen, "is this Mr. Collins I'm speaking to?"

"Yes."

Irene was now awake and staring at me questioningly, I threw her a small smile. "This is Limbe Police station," he paused.

"Yes?" I was more interested in the call now.

"Did some of your belongings go missing recently?"

"About a month or so ago. I reported it to the Police here but didn't hear much from them." I explained.

"Would you mind coming down to the station to identify your things?" He questioned, then added, "we caught a thief and there's some stuff that might belong to you." He said, "we need your confirmation."

"Now?" I glanced at the clock that hung high up on the way; 09:03.

"I'm afraid so, sir." The man said.

I paused for a second or two, thinking was it worth it? The things that went missing; two of my latest laptops, a tablet and a latest phone that cost over half a million, the thief snatched them from the back of my moving car in the busy town of Blantyre. I had them replaced days later but I guess there was always room for more gadgets. I could always donate them or something. Annoyed at the idea of having to wake up late at night, leaving the comfort of my wife's heat radiating into me, I grumbled, "I'll be there." And killed the line.

I dragged myself out of bed and into the closet I shared with my wife, I grabbed a pair of sweatpants and a sweater, I was tying the shoelaces of my Nike running shoes when I felt my wife's presence in the room with me. "What's going on?" She asked, wrapping her night gown tighter, as if the thin silky material would warm her.

I showed her a smile, "the cops found my stuff." I informed her, she seemed surprised that that was even possible in the country. We had lost hope long ago. Even reporting the theft to the Police was just like a formality. "They asked me to go down to the station to identify what's mine." I found her in the doorway, my arms holding her hips. I couldn't keep my hands off my wife even if I tried.

"You want me to come with?" She offered, with the way she was shivering, I didn't want her anywhere out of bed.

I brought my face close to hers' as if to kiss her, "no honey. I'll be fine. It'll be fast." I promised then pressed my lips on her forehead as goodbye.

I parked my dark blue crossover outside the Police station, I flinched as I saw the Police drag in a badly beaten up guy inside. My guess was he was a thief. I wondered why they brought him here first instead of the Hospital, he looked like he'd slip out of consciousness any second now. He was bleeding from his bald head, his face was so swollen and he struggled to keep his eyes open. The cops didn't treat him like he was badly hurt, they dragged him like an animal walking to its slaughter.

I watched the poor man and the tired and angry cops some more and only stepped out of my car when they disappeared through the glass doors.

I stepped into the place, meeting more badly beaten up men, and a few drunk ones. I didn't see a Police Officer that wasn't weary. From the way they dragged themselves around the room, to the way their shoulders were dropped and their speech tired mummers. I walked up to a cop that looked a little alive, she was typing angrily at her computer, her eyes squinted at the screen. I was met with an annoying glare when I cleared my throat. Her eyes softened when she took me in, I stated my business and she led me to the cop that called me earlier.

I gathered my stuff, thanked the cop, I even graced him with some cash to get himself a coffee or something. He denied the money, as if I was bribing him. Only when I insisted did he pocket it.

On my way out, I thought I saw someone familiar. It was the golden hair that caught my eyes at first, like the sun demanding for attention. She was looking the other way, at the cop that was talking to her so I had to walk towards her, all senses had left my body when I registered in my brain that it was Vanessa.

"Vanessa?" I asked when I got close enough.

Her head snapped at me and she quickly looked away, her hair hiding her face. When our eyes locked for the split second she looked at me, hers' widened in what could only be alarm. Fear that I was seeing her like that.

I felt my stomach twist, the way it does when you eat something bad and was about to get sick. My skin was cold despite the warm sweater I wore but my insides were burning. My heart was beating in my throat. I found myself kneeling beside the steel chair she sat in, one hand holding hers' and the other holding her face, the places that weren't bruised and swollen. I forced her to face me and I felt my heart squash in my chest.

I swallowed hard, wanting to ask what had happened to her but not finding my voice. The lump in my throat so big I couldn't swallow it. I looked at her, her face, her bruised lips, her swollen cheek, I caress it, my touch so light like a feather. With every second I witnessed the damage, my heart broke into a thousand more pieces.

She was shaking under my touch and it wasn't because it hurt where I touched, her eyes communicated sadness. I was angry. Angry at whoever did this, angry at the universe and whatever divinity out there for letting this happen to her.

"Who did this to you?" My voice was deep, heavy with the anger I couldn't contain.

She didn't mention who. Maybe she was scared for them, I knew I looked deadly. And she was right to be scared. I tried to communicate with my eyes that it's okay, she can tell me. She shook her head a little.

Beside her someone groaned, "see? This is what I have to witness!" The Felix guy complained. The boyfriend. I pieced two and two together, or maybe I'd been looking for a reason to kick his ass all along. He spread his hands on the table in front of him, the table that separated us from the young cop, probably a rookie. I wanted to break each and every finger of those two hands of his since the moment he held her waist tight at the game. Now I might just get the satisfaction of doing the damage I've been dying to do.

"Did he do this to you?" My voice carried a certain darkness that scared me. It scared Vanessa too. She shook her head vigorously. Not answering to my question but telling me not to do whatever was on my mind. I should've listened, we were in the Police station, damn it. But there was this new anger boiling up in me, I couldn't stand a man that lay a hand on his woman, or any woman for that matter.

There was no leaving this to the law, I was going to settle the score. This was Vanessa we were talking about, and it was personal. I didn't know her before, but three encounters later I was willing to put everything and anything on the line for her.

I shrugged off Vanessa's desperate grip on me, she didn't want me to do this, but I needed to do it. I'd go crazy if I didn't. I didn't hear or feel anything as I punched the younger man's face, determined to disfigure it. I didn't hear the shouts of my name, nor the incoherent words I was spewing. Neither did I feel the hands on my shoulders as they tried to pry me from the defenceless fellow. I bet that's how Vanessa felt when he beat her up, defenceless.

I was brought back to earth when the steel bars closed in my face. I was locked in a cell. I angrily kicked, wanting to be free and finish what I started. The boy's bloody face and scared eyes wasn't enough damage to me. I wanted him to feel hell.