“Are you sure about this?”
“Yes.”
Cole and I stare at one another for a beat before he nods and turns his gaze to Josh, who watches us silently, a stoic look on his face.
“The last thing we want to do is set you back, Shayla. You’ve been pushing yourself too hard. Do you really think you’re ready for this? What if it triggers you, and you go right back to the state you were in?” Josh questions, concerned, pulling his knees to his chest. I look at him and wipe the sweat that had gathered above my top lip.
“I have to do this. Otherwise, what am I killing myself for?” I utter, looking between him and Cole, who share a look. “What am I fighting for if it’s not to face my fears.”
“The trials will start next week, baby. You’re going to face them there. Don’t put yourself in a position where you’ll be vulnerable before you take that stand.” Cole voices, reaching over and rubbing my ankle. We just finished another training session, and we were sitting in t
Cole smirks devilishly and licks his lips. “Mhm, you’re fierce, and I love it.” He whispers, walking around me until he was behind me. “It’s sexy as fuck.” He murmurs in my ear, and my insides clinch when I hear my attacker's voice instead of Coles. I squeeze my eyes shut and push the images away and release a slow breath while I keep reminding myself it was Cole. It was Cole’s lips brushing against my ear like he has many, many times before. He grabs me, wrapping his arms around my neck suddenly, and I open my eyes and remember the months of gruelling training I’ve had with Josh.“Every instinct will tell you to be afraid, you’ll freeze, and for a moment, your fear will take over, and you’ll forget everything you’ve learnt. You’ll want to panic...don’t. Your training is all up here.” Josh told me, tapping at his temple while he held me down by the throat. “Push aside that crippling fear and fight back.”I place my hands on Cole’s forearms around my neck and pull as he
A couple of days later, Cole and Josh told me they had arranged what I had asked for, and here I was, sitting in the passenger seat while Cole drove us to the prison where they were keeping Harvey and Quinton Smith. Just hearing their names gave me chills. It’s incredible what money can buy you. Cole wouldn’t tell me what it cost him, but I could imagine it would have been quite a bit to get me in a room with the bastards that stole everything from me. I stare out of the window silently, mentally preparing myself to face them again and going through everything I wanted to say to them.Cole looks at me, “Shayla. We can turn—”“No.” I cut him off firmly and turn my gaze to him. Cole holds my gaze and frowns a little before he nods and looks at the road again. I look at the prison up ahead, and my hands fist tightly in my lap.“Hey,” I look back at Josh when he leans closer to speak to me from the backseat. “We’ll be right there, and guards will be in the room too,
I watch Shayla as she walks out of the doors to the prison ahead of Josh and me. “I’m so fucking proud of her,” I tell Josh with a sigh, who smiles, nodding.“Me too. She’s a warrior,” Josh squeezes my shoulder, and I look at him appreciatively.“I don’t know how I'm ever going to thank you, Josh. You’ve helped me with her so much the last couple of months. If it weren’t for you, she’d still be a wreck.”Josh shakes his head. “I didn’t do anything, Cole. I just pushed her into facing her fears. She did the rest. You know I’ve always got your back, brother.”“I know, and I’ve always got yours, brother.” We share a smile and fist bump as we walk over to Shayla. “One last stop. I don’t know how I'm going to face that bitch and not want to kill her for everything she’s done.”“Shay’s got her bro, leave her to it,” Josh mutters as we walk outside. Shayla had her gaze up at the sky, and she released a long breath, her shoulders which were tense before wa
“You should be rotting six feet under right about now.” Sophie hisses her frosty eyes on Shayla, who smirks.“And you should be sipping champagne in some pretentious restaurant, but… here we are,” Shayla mutters, crossing her arms over her chest. “Orange really isn’t your colour. All though it does go well with the black eyes you’re sporting there.” She pushes her finger against it, and Sophie hisses and pulls her head back.“Is that why you’re here, to give me fashion tips?” Sophie snarls, and Shayla shakes her head.“No, I came here to tell you personally that you failed, and your little plan tanked just like I told you it would.”Sophie grins, biting her lip a little. “Maybe, but it wasn’t a complete failure. I hear those brothers fucked you up real good. If you’re alive and standing there today, it’s because of me.” She hisses haughtily. “If I hadn’t told them where you were, you’d still be rotting in that little room. You owe your pathetic life to me
“I don’t fucking care!” Cole shouts, livid, as he paces back and forth in his study. “I want the head of whoever this fucker was that went to press with this, do you understand me?” I watch Cole as I sit curled up on the sofa, my knees pulled to my chest. We’re a week into the trial, and someone has leaked information about my case, and the media are going nuts with it. News reporters and paparazzi were camped outside the house trying to get pictures of me.“Tristan, we’re looking into it, but I told you as soon as it goes to court, someone would leak information about what happened to her. It was inevitable.”"Inevitable? What the fuck do I pay you for Lucy?! It's a fucking media frenzy out there. You're the head of public relations. You were supposed to keep this under wraps. I told you to keep a tight lid on this." He shouts at Lucy—his publicist, and she watches him pace restlessly back and forth. "I want the name of the reporter who wrote the story and the publica
“Always, baby.” He whispers, tucking his slender fingers under my chin and tilting my head up so he could brush a spine-tingling kiss to my waiting lips. I moan and part my lips for him to deepen the kiss, but Alaia’s cry from the baby monitor interrupts us. We pull back, and Cole chuckles, shaking his head.“Impeccable timing as always.” He groans, watching me pull away from him to go and check on her. I look back at him once I reach the stairs, and he grins sexily, licking his lips. “I’ll be coming for that kiss, Hart.”I smile and send him a flirtatious look. “I’ll be waiting, Hoult,” I reply and jog up the steps to check on our daughter. I walk into the nursery and pick her up from her bed. “Hi baby, how was your nap.” Alaia stops crying once I pick her up, kissing her beautiful face. She’s seven months old, and she’s growing so much every day. Her first word was Dada, for which Cole was over the moon. He cried, hearing her on the monitor while she was babbling awa
I leave Cole with Alaia while I go and prepare her food. She’s eating solids now and absolutely loves it. It’s upsetting that she’s weaning off my breast milk now she’s eating proper food three times a day. I only give her my milk at bedtime, which I read was more comfort than her needing it. She grew in the blink of an eye, and she’ll be a year old in five months. That’s crazy to me. Cole plays with her on the floor in the living room while I prepare dinner. I can hear her laughing while he does the tickle monster on her. He’s such a goof. Cole takes her upstairs when she starts to rub her eyes tiredly. It was past her bedtime, and if she doesn’t sleep on time, she’ll get cranky. I watch on the monitor as Cole lays her down in her bed and kisses her forehead, she starts to cry, and he rocks her gently. “Shh, oh I know, you’re tired, sweetheart.” He whispers, rubbing her back gently.I stir the sauce to the carbonara pasta I was cooking while watching him with her. I pick up
Another gruelling day of work. That office is unbearable without her. I’d rather stay in bed with Shayla. Actually, I’d rather stay anywhere with Shayla would be the correct term. Despite the stress of the trials and court Shayla is finally back to her usual self. Justice had been served. Sophie got twenty-five years, and the two fuckers got life in prison. It was over. I was worried she would go spiralling back to her depressive state while she was forced to relive the moments they tortured her.They offered to shield her away so she would face them, but she declined. The prosecutor tried to break her, blaming her for Sophie's mental state because of our relationship's breakdown, which resulted in her ‘momentary lapse of judgement’ and wanting to hurt Shayla. She even dared to stand there and lie that she was provoked, that Shayla threatened her first, and I was volatile and abusive to her throughout our relationship, which only worsened her mental state and drove her over t