An Inconvenient Attachment

Chapter Forty Two

Nathan hadn't shown himself since that night and every corner I turned I looked behind me, afraid he was right there just waiting to finally kill me. I was jumpy, paranoid of anyone sneaking up behind me. 

All I wanted was to scream to Jason, to Erica, to my mom that he was back. That Nathan was here and not in prison in more but if I told them, Nathan would find out and he'd only hurt them because of me. 

"What's the matter?" Jason asked, tilting his head as I remained to stand before his desk, zoning out in horror. "You look like you've just seen a ghost."

I chuckled sheepishly. "I watched a scary movie last night," I told him, exiting his office with haste. 

"Hey, what's the matter? You haven't been talking to me," he called, stopping me dead in my tracks.

"Nothing's wrong. I'm fine."

But I was very far from being fine.

. . .

Nathan was waiting in my bedroom when I came home. He shut and locked the door behind me, keeping his gun trained on me. "I didn't think he lived with you," he commented, chuckling lowly. "This makes everything much more complicated," he sneered. "I need you to get rid of him."

"What?" I breathed.

"Break up with him."

A lump formed in my throat and tears immediately spilled from my eyes. "Please," I begged, tears streaming down my face as Nathan hid behind me, pressing the gun to my back, forcing me to face my closed bedroom door.

"I love when you beg," he chuckled wickedly. "You're going to open that door and you're going to kick him out, you understand me?"

My heart was breaking slowly, the pain I felt in my chest was compared to no other. Tears fell down my cheeks one after the other, I could hardly catch my breath.

"No, n-no, I c-can't," I told him, staring at my closed door in horror.

"If you don't want anything to happen to your little boy-toy, you'll listen to what I fucking tell you to do," he growled in my ear, sending a terrified shudder down my spine. "Break-up with him, make sure he doesn't ever come back here. Break him."

"I-I can't," I whispered, my voice breaking. 

"If you don't I will kill him right fucking now," he snapped. "Get. Rid. Of. Him."

My tears were uncontrollable as they came falling down my cheeks. Jason knocked again at my door and more tears fell and I fought the urge to scream out in pain from the ache I felt in my heart. 

Nathan reached around me, opening the door, hiding behind it, the gun still pressed against my back as I stood in the doorway, crying right in front of Jason. He looked at me with such concern that nearly obliterated my heart. I controlled my breathing, holding up my hands and stopping him from stepping towards me.

"What's the matter? What's been wrong with you lately? You haven't talked to me at all, you've been avoiding me," he said. "What did I do wrong?"

He didn't do anything wrong. He was the best man I'd ever met and now I'd have to say goodbye to him in the way I didn't want to. I had to break his heart, to keep Nathan from killing him and to keep him from killing me. 

"You can't stay here anymore," I whispered.

"What?"

"I'm breaking up with you."

An immense amount of silence fell and I was sure he'd hear Nathan breathing, but he didn't. He looked at me, his green eyes swimming with nothing but pure pain and betrayal. More tears fell as I began to hiccup. 

"Leave!" I shouted when I felt the gun press further into my back. "Get the hell out of here! Don't fucking come back!" I screamed, the pain in my voice making me not sound convincing at all. The gun was pressing uncomfortably in my spine and I winced. "Just go, please. I don't want to see you again. Just...just leave."

"Elizabeth, wait--"

"No!" I shouted, wanting him to get away from here and as far away from danger as he possibly could. "Don't you get it? Just leave already! I can't stand you being here!"

He backed away, my words causing him physical pain. I couldn't even look him in the eye. My chest felt like it was going to cave in, my heart was shattered the minute I spoke to Jason. I heard him chuckle dryly and watched as he ran a hand through his dark hair. He didn't say anything, he just turned and left, leaving me completely defenseless against Nathan. I watched him leave, my heart going with him, leaving me nothing but an empty vessel. 

I fell to my knees, sobbing so loudly. Why did this have to happen to me? I loved Jason and I didn't even get the chance to tell him that, to tell him I love him. I didn't deserve one good thing in my life, it was true now. 

"Now, that was quite the show," he cackled. "I should've recorded that."

I wanted to kill him. I was boiling with so much rage and sadness but I couldn't move a muscle. When would this nightmare end? What else did I have to do until he finally left me alone?

"This is just the beginning. You're going to go to that dumb fucks company and resign. Then, you'll leave this house and go back to Michigan, with me."

No, no. There was no way I could do any of that. I was panicking. There had to be something I could do. I needed to end this, but how? Nathan managed to rip my heart out. Even if I could end this right here and right now, who knew if Jason would take me back. I probably hurt him beyond compare, how could he ever trust me again after pulling a stunt like that?

"Just kill me!" I screamed, watching as he lifted the back of his pistol and slamming it down on my face. 

I fell flat down on the floor, the pain radiating through the entire side of my face, my head spinning. 

"Torturing you is so much more entertaining, I want to make you suffer before I finally kill your sorry ass," he growled. "If that bastard continues to get in the way, I will put a bullet in his chest."

"Don't touch him! He has nothing to do with this!" I screamed, sitting up enough to glare at him, only causing him to slam the end of the gun over my face again, forcing me back down to the ground.

"He's got as much to do about this than you do, bitch," he sneered. "I'll get rid of anyone you tell. I'll get rid of anyone who gets in my damn way again."

My jaw clenched and I screamed into the floor, crying pathetically as I watched him leave my room and vanish into the kitchen, no doubt leaving through the back door as he always did. At the beginning of the week I had been the happiest I'd ever been and now, at the end of the week, I was more broken-hearted than I'd ever been in my life. I could probably die from the pain in my chest. I shouldn't have been so naive, I shouldn't have even believed I'd gotten away, that I finally made a new life for myself. He was going to be there until the day I died.

When would this nightmare end?