Present
Rosalyn
“Bridge!” I blurted out when I got the answer after four minutes.
‘A man walks over, a man walks under, in times of war he burns asunder.’ That means a man walks over the bridge and a man walks under the bridge and at the time of war the bridge breaks down and he buries under the bridge.
But why did he choose a bridge? Was he going to hurt Roy there? Oh my god! My mind was alarmed, and I immediately ordered the driver, “take me to the nearest bridge right away!”
He gave me a nod before taking back the car and turned to the right. I chewed the corner of my lip as every moment of panic was hitting my chest harder and harder. Roy, please be safe. You know how to fight, don’t you? I closed my eyes and sighed defeated but still; he was only five years old. My brother would be dead if anything happens to my nephew. Rowan didn’t live with his son because Roy didn’t like being around his father. He hates his father. But Rowan loved his son more than his own life and it would kill if anything happens to Roy.
I jerked when the car stopped on the side of the road. I looked through the window, catching sight of the Bridge. Immediately I got out of the car and looked around but there was no sign of any human. What the heck! I moved further, watching the several vehicles passing by, but not a single one stopped. I thought Travis would bring Roy here, but they were nowhere to be seen.
Where the hell are they?
After scanning around, I caught something unexpected. A pink balloon was tied to the railing of the bridge. Crossing the path, I reached the balloon and found a small box. I bent down and grabbed the box and read the caption over it.
‘Do you remember?’
Frowning, I opened the box and my eyes widened when I found a small box of ice cream inside. Strawberry flavor, my favorite. He still remembered that! I took out a letter and read.
‘Do you remember that night at Brooklyn Bridge? Just me and you and our first kiss.’
I drew a deep breath, gripping the paper in my hand, and my lips trembled as I continued….
‘When I brought you ice cream and when you got excited and when you hugged me. Since then I have realized what it feels like. Seeing you happy that day made my heart flutter for the very first time. I thought every woman is not the same, some of them know love and loyalty. But who knew that you would be the biggest bitch!’
I felt a stab in my heart.
‘You betrayed me and I will never forgive you! I was learning to trust women, but you broke it and you have to bear the consequences!’
A small tear from my eyes dropped over the paper, making it wet.
‘You haven’t noticed your nephew's tie yet? I bet you haven’t! Look, darling. It might give you a shock.’
I immediately took out a white tie and panic hit my chest when I found several spots of blood on it.
No! No! No! He could not! Travis, you could not!
“Ma’am…” the driver caught my forearm when I was about to drop to my knees.
Gripping the tie I begged him, “please take me to your boss, please…” I lost my voice, wheezing. My chest tightened and my breath became shallower. Shit! My inhaler! I patted my coat’s pocket but there was nothing inside.
Where is my inhaler!
“Ma’am…” the driver said, worried. “Are you okay?”
I looked at the driver. “My….inhaler…” I wheezed. God, it was becoming worse. I reached the car and got inside. Grabbing my purse, I pulled out the inhaler before taking a few puffs, relieving myself. But it lasted for a few seconds when my vision went blurry, and I saw black.
***********
I woke up confused and scared. I looked around the unfamiliar room. Concrete walls, dark tiled floor, gray curtains, and the last thing I noticed I was curling in dark sheets. I inhaled his scent.
Travis. It was his room.
How could I? Oh my God! I got off the bed and dashed off the room. I didn’t have enough time to look for my coat even though my body was freezing, as I was just in a pair of leggings and a tank top.
I stopped dead on my track when I heard a scream. It was a man’s scream. I moved to my right, from where the screaming was coming. The more I got closer, the louder his voice became.
“Aah!”
I jumped back when I heard him again. This time his scream was louder than before as if he was in great pain. I moved further and reached the corner of the corridor and I saw a dark hardwood door. Swallowing hard, I pushed the door open and stepped inside. Cried escaped my mouth when I stumbled and lost my balance but a hand shot out and grabbed me just in time.
He pulled me over his body and wrapped an arm around my waist. “Look out!” He warned, staring at me down.
Immediately, I tore myself away from Travis. “Don’t you dare!” Tears gathered in my eyes. “Don’t touch me!”
His expression hardened as he stepped up to me. “Trust me, I already have…” he eyed down my body.
I stepped back, curling my hands into fists. “Where is Roy?” I demanded, glaring at him with the same anger. “Where is Roy?”
“Rosa,” I heard a soft little voice. I instantly turned around and found Roy, who was scared and confused, standing across us. I spotted red dots on his school uniform and terror gripped my chest.
Oh my God!
“Roy!” I cried and immediately ran to him, but Travis blocked my way and grabbed my forearm. “Let me go!” I tried to snatch my hand from his grip, but my strength was nothing compared to his muscular body.
“No!” He snapped and dragged to another side.
“I said let me go, bastard!”
“No!”
Baring my teeth, I punched his chest. “Let me check him!” I punched him again with my full strength. “Let me go! He is hurt!” I punched him repeatedly, but it only wounded my hand. I felt like I was hitting the iron. He didn’t budge a bit as he stared into my eyes. “You feel happy to see me hurt, don’t you?!”
“Your hurt is fucking bliss,” he whispered, and his jaw clenched harder as his eyes were burning with rage.
“Hurt me! Don’t hurt my family,” I whispered.
“I’m hurting you.”
“Rosa..” Roy came closer to us, glancing between us. I instantly pulled myself away from Travis. “I’m okay. Don’t worry.”
Surprise washed over me when I heard his words. “Roy…” I snatched my hand from Travis’s grip and bent in front of Roy, caressing his head. “Tell me everything. What did he do to you? You’re safe now.”
He swallowed and eyed Travis, who was standing behind me. “I was not hurt...” His voice cracked because of fear. I had never seen him like this before. He was a brave boy.
“What did you do to him?” I hissed at Travis.
One side of his lips pulled into a smug smile. “He just punched one of my men. Is this not amusing to you?”
“What?”
“I didn’t mean to hurt him,” Roy’s nervous voice interrupted. “I didn’t do that purposely.” I looked at Roy and he was about to cry. “I’m sorry I'll never do this again. Please don’t tell this to dad.”
I pulled him into a tight hug, rubbing his back. “No, it's fine.”
“Rosa…”
“No, don’t speak. It’s okay, don’t...” He was just a five and what did Travis do to him? Roy seemed scared and terrified. I pulled myself back and stared right into his eyes. “Are you hurt?”
He shook his head, sweat glistening on his forehead despite the cold weather. I stood up and met Travis’s eyes. “Thank you for everything you did to us.”
I grabbed Roy’s hand and headed to the door, but Travis grabbed me by my shoulder. “I’d like to have some words with you.”
I brushed his hand off my shoulder. “I don’t want to talk to you!”
“Stop acting like a bitch! And do what you are told or else you want me to hurt you?”
I didn’t budge.
“Look, this is my place and you can’t be out of it until I want you to.”
Swallowing down the frustration, I agreed.
“My men will look after your nephew,” Travis said.
“No!”
“Ned!” Travis called his man, even after my refusal.
“I said no!”
A man appeared and reached out to Roy.
“No!” I fought and grabbed my nephew. “No!”
“He is safe here!” Travis hissed and yanked Roy away from me. His expression softened when he looked at Roy. He handed him to his man before giving me his full attention. “He would have been dead by now if I wanted to kill your nephew. This is just a game.”
“Game!” I charged. “Everything has been a game to you! My life, my family, and my feelings!”
Grabbing my hand, he dragged me across the hall and took me to one room. He closed the door behind us. “You’re driving me insane, Rosa!” He came closer to me and a shiver ran down my spine when I caught sight of his exposed chest. His top buttons were undone, showing off his ripped body and his messy hair. He always looked like shit! Unbutton shirt, unbuckled belt, and disheveled hair. Despite that, he won the title of the sexiest man in the world, at least for me.
Brushing his thoughts away, I looked back into his eyes. “What did you do to him? Who did he punch? Do you want to make him like you? Do you want another Travis!”
“Like me?” He scoffed. “You should be grateful if Roy will be like me. At least he will learn how to fight his own battle. He won’t be like his father who is afraid to face his own child.”
“What do you want?” I gritted.
“You! Always you!” He sneered, and stepped up to me, towering over me.
“Why me?”
“Because you're everything I want to hurt.” A muscle in his jaw twitched. “You betrayed me! You ran away from me! You made a fool of me?”
“Because I….” Before I could complete myself, I got a kick inside my tummy. “Ouch!” I placed my hand on my belly. She kicked me again, but I kept the voice to myself because I didn’t want Travis to hear me.
It surprised me, when Travis put his hand on my belly, feeling our baby. When he felt a jerk, a small smile formed on his lips, but he instantly wiped it off his face.
“She has been kicking me for a few weeks.” I didn’t know why I told him that but I wanted to let him know. Maybe because he was the father of my baby.
“She..?” Travis spoke, surprised. “It’s a girl?”
I frowned. “Yeah.”
“Jesus,” he mumbled and removed his hand from my belly before running it through his messy hair.
“Don’t you want a girl?” I inquired and regretted it. Why do I even ask him!
He shot me a confused look, but the next moment irritation flashed across his face. “Who gives a fuck!” He stepped back and looked away.
We didn’t utter a word for a few minutes, but finally, Travis broke the silence. “You must be hungry.”
“No, I’m fine,” I said and made my way to the door.
“I’m not done yet, darling.” He grabbed me by my hand and dragged me across the hall, and took me to the dining room next to the kitchen. “I haven’t asked you to leave.”
“You can’t rule over me!” I gritted out.
“I can rule over whoever I want!”
“Just leave me, Travis.”
“I will never leave you, Rosa!”
He pushed me down into the chair and sat down next to me. I felt the anger building inside of me, but I chose to ignore it. A moment later, a middle-aged man stepped inside with a tray of food. He placed it in front of us before giving a nod to Travis.
“Thank you, Lou,” Travis said.
The man gave him a warm smile before heading out. It was rare to see Travis’s soft side. He hardly softened to anybody else.
Ignoring this, I looked down at a bowl of black bean soup, brownies, and a few slices of sandwiches. Seeing and smelling them, I couldn’t resist and wet my lip. It looked tasty, and I hadn’t eaten since morning.
“Eat,” Travis ordered me, and my jaw flexed.
When I didn’t move, he grabbed the spoon and dipped it in the bowl, scooping soup and placing it on my lips. “Open your mouth!”
He was behaving like I was his pet.
Scowling, I turned my face away and refused to eat. But it was only provoking him as he grabbed the back of my head, weaving his fingers in my hair, and yanked my head up to his, glaring right into my eyes. Our nose almost touched as his fast breath blew across my face and gave me an unpleasant flutter in my tummy. He was so close to me, so close that he probably was hearing my loud heartbeats.
I hate the fact of how much he affects me.
“Just don’t...” He growled and hunger blazed in his dark eyes as he kept staring right into my eyes and our breath was now matching together. I knew what he was thinking and what he wanted.
A kiss!
His jaw clenched harder as he crashed his lips to mine. The air left my lungs the second his lips touched mine. He yanked me even closer and kissed me fiercely. I whimpered when he sucked and bit down my bottom lip. God! I had been missing his kiss. I wrapped my hands around his neck, wanting him to close as much as possible. In this room and at this moment, nothing else was important except for us.
Without breaking our kiss, he scooped me off the chair and sat me on the table. He broke the kiss and trailed his mouth down to my neck and shoulders. I moaned, kneaded his hair, giving him what he wanted. I loved his kisses; I loved his touch; I loved his harsh words, and I loved everything about him. Because I’m sick because I don’t know how to live without him.
I gasped in surprise when his hard ridge rubbed against me. I looked down at the bulge that formed over his pants. “You did this!” He growled and ground it against me, I whimpered.
**********