Dirty Little Tease (Book 2) The Dirty Little Secrets Series

Chapter Twenty-Five-Becca

Hello, Lovelies, 

I hope you are all having a great day!  Thank you for reading Dirty Little Tease.  I am so grateful to have your support.  It means more than you'll ever know.  I will not keep you long.  Tomorrow is my daughter's birthday so I have a lot to do.  

I hope you like this chapter.  If you do, please consider voting and commenting.  If you have questions, comment or send me a message.

-XXXX Amanda 

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When Barrett died, I thought my world had ended. When I fell in love with Lance, I started to believe life was worth living but this...cruelty made me wonder if I truly deserved happiness. Worse, the guilt ate at me for Linc's death too. Would he be alive if I had never dated him? Was I the one who drove him crazy?

Lena narrowed her eyes on me, sitting on the couch as she stood in the middle of the living room, moving toward me before dropping to her knees in front of me. Her blue-green eyes were dark with worry.

"Becca, none of this is your fault," she said, her voice soft like a caress, "Barrett's death certainly was not your fault."
A tear dropped from my eye as I remembered his panic on the phone after my parents had told him that awful lie. They had told him I didn't want him...That I was not going to marry him.

"Becca," Lena said, trying to break through to me but the memories kept playing through my mind. I snuck out of my parent's house and ran until I stood in front of Barrett's door, knocking and knocking and knocking. I struggled to find the hidden key, finally grasping it in my hand, unlocking the door.

"Becca, listen," Lena said, her voice louder but still not breaking apart the memory. I stepped inside the apartment. The silence was eerie as I walked down the hallway, calling for Barrett. I knew something was wrong when I stepped into his dark room. I wanted to sigh in relief when I found him on the bed but he was too still. I moved toward him whispering his name. I glanced down as my foot pressed into something crushing it into the carpet. My eyes widened as I saw the pill and rushed to Barrett. I touched him, the warmth was already fading from his body as I checked his pulse and that was when I broke...Screaming and screaming as I held onto him begging him to come back. The next thing I remembered was the paramedics pulling me away from him as I reached for him screaming his name knowing he would never open his beautiful blue eyes again.

Lena's hands on my cheeks, finally broke the memory apart, "Becca," she said, her eyes remaining on mine, "None of this is your fault. Linc's father is using Barrett to make you hurt and it's working. Barrett's death was not your fault. Believe me, I went through every scenario where I could have saved him too. He chose to take his life. That is on him. If you want to put secondary blame, you can blame your parents but I don't think even they wanted him to die."

Tears poured from my eyes as a sob broke from me. Lena pulled me into her arms, "No matter what, Barrett would want you to be happy. He would want you to be loved. I think he is so happy you are with Lance."

"What if I ruin him too?" I sobbed, my heart aching.

"You won't and you didn't ruin Barrett or Linc or anyone else," Lena said, taking a deep breath, "I know without you, my life wouldn't be as rich. Barrett may be gone but he also gave me a best friend who means just as much as he does."

"I love you," I whispered into her hair.

"I love you too," she said, kissing my cheek, "And all of us are going to help you through this."

I pulled away from her and nodded, "Thank you."

"It's what family does," she said, softly.

My gaze moved from her to Lance, who was staring at me with worry. I forced a smile determined to let him give me strength. Lena rose to kiss my forehead as Lance moved across the room.

"Thank you, Lena," he said, softly.

She smiled brightly, "You're welcome, fun beautiful one," she said with a wink, "I'll let you take this from here."

Lance sat next to me on the couch, immediately pulling me onto his lap and cradling me against his chest. His arms wrapped around me giving me the protection and love I needed.

"Becca," he whispered, his voice soft and sweet with the love he felt for me, "I love you. You know I won't let anyone believe these lies."

I nodded as he tightened his hold on me, "I love you too."

I leaned my head against his chest, listening to his heart as I let my tortured soul calm and heal.

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I stood in front of a news camera with my friends who were the only family I truly cared about standing beside me in support as Lance held my hand. I took a deep breath as I tried to keep my voice from shaking. Linc's death had been big news but somehow, the reason why he was in jail was watered down and hidden beneath the description of his death.

I licked my lips, "By now, you know who I am. My name is Becca Hartford. You've heard some horrible things about me and I wanted to come here to set things straight. I dated Lincoln Brash for a few weeks. During that time, I suffered physical abuse from him. His father was my landlord and after one particular incident after the wedding of my best friend, I moved out of my home. Lincoln assaulted my friend Carina and threatened me in front of her as well as another friend who was retrieving my belongings. I did get an order of protection but he held myself as well as my friend, Nica at gunpoint in the restaurant I worked at. He fully intended to kill me. If it had not been for Lance Christos and Jay Montgomery, he would have succeeded in killing me," I said as a murmur began in the crowd, "Everyone who is standing with me has suffered at the hands of Lincoln Brash. It is disheartening that a woman who has been harmed can be held accountable to her attacker. Before you dig further into my past, yes I was engaged to Barrett Vanzant and he did commit suicide. I am the one who found him. I loved him more than my own life. The fact that Mr. Brash used his death as a way to pardon his son and put blame on me for Linc's death is cruel. However, I do understand how it feels to lose someone who you love and I send my condolences to him for the loss of his son because even after the pain Linc caused me, I wouldn't wish that grief on anyone. Thank you for your time."

Lance pressed his hand against the small of my back leading me away from the camera and the prying eyes. Tears fell down my cheeks as we moved out of the room with Nica, Carina, Jay and Gid answering questions. Lena and Asher followed me into the room. Once out of sight, Lance pulled me into his arms, protecting me and giving me solace when the world outside had only wanted to give me pain.