{Chapter 5}
“How are you feeling,” Glen asked Joselyn as they sat in the garden. It was sunset, Joselyn’s favorite time of day. It had been a month since she had moved into the mansion.
“The morning sickness was worse than I thought. Thank goodness it only lasted a month,” she replied rubbing her rounded belly. “Glen?”
“Hmm?”
“Mark doesn’t like me, does he,” she asked.
“What makes you say that,” he asked placing a hand on her belly. He could feel the twins moving under his large hand.
“He avoids me like the plague,” she replied with a sigh. “Everyone seems to. Mickie and Cherry just sneer at me. Kennedy just glares.” Tears were in her eyes. “The only one remotely civil to me is Thorn.”
“Pay them no mind,” Glen replied. “They’re all loyal to Mark and don’t like change.”
“I think I’d like to go lie down,” Joselyn said getting to her feet. “I find myself much more tired these days.”
Glen watched her head into the house and soon heard the snickers from Kennedy, Mickie and Cherry. With a low growl he stood and headed into the house. He found the trio on the couch in the sitting room, Mickie in Kennedy’s lap. Cherry was at his feet.
“What did you say to her,” Glen demanded.
“Who? Oh…her,” Kennedy replied pointing toward the ceiling indicating Joselyn. “Nothing…much.” Mickie and Cherry snickered.
Glen crossed the distance between them in two strides and grabbed Kennedy off the couch with one hand. Mickie went sprawling to the floor on top of Cherry. Both women screeched in terror as they watched Glen dangling Kennedy several feet off the floor.
“What did you say to her,” Glen demanded through gritted teeth.
Kennedy’s legs flailed as he tried in vain to get free of the bigger man’s grip. “I called her a slut,” Kennedy finally choked out.
Glen growled pinning Kennedy to the wall. “My brother RAPED her,” he growled, his voice deathly low. “How does that make her a slut?”
“So, you’re picking up your brother’s sloppy seconds,” Kennedy groaned. “What does that say about you?”
Glen glared at him a moment before tossing him dangerously close to the roaring fireplace. Kennedy felt the heat from the fire and skittered away from it. Mickie and Cherry were by his side checking him over in a matter of seconds.
“Stay the hell away from Joselyn,” Glen growled. “Don’t talk to her. Don’t touch her. Don’t even look at her. Understood?” He headed toward the stairs to check on Joselyn.
“You’re too attached to her, Glen,” Kennedy called, rubbing his sore throat. “You know what her fate is. You can’t save her. She’s already made her decision.”
When Glen arrived at the top of the stairs he was met by Thorn. “Don’t let Kennedy get to you,” he said. “You and I both know that Joselyn is a sweet girl. She did nothing to deserve this other than catching your fancy.” Glen hung his head. “Your brother has always been a cold hearted bastard.”
“And he never goes through heartache,” Glen replied softly. “Maybe he has the right idea.”
“Go be with Joselyn,” Thorn said patting Glen on the back. “She’s going to need you more as her pregnancy progresses.” Glen nodded and headed to his chambers.
When he entered his chambers he heard the sound of Joselyn softly weeping. She was lying on his bed curled up on her side. Quietly he sat on the edge of the bed, placing a hand on the small of her back. She sniffled and tried to stop the tears, but couldn’t. Glen pulled her into his arms, stroking her hair as she continued to sniffle.
“Why are they so cruel,” she asked softly.
“It’s what they are,” he replied. “Their inner demon has no off switch.”
“Sometimes I feel like you’re the only one who cares,” she said, hiccuping as she pulled free of him.
“Maybe it was a mistake bringing you here,” Glen said softly. “Perhaps I should take you away from this place. You’ll be better off without…”
She silenced him with a finger over his lips. “I want to be here,” she said softly. “I like spending time with you.” Her words touched him, but also broke his heart. If only Mark hadn’t interfered. She would be all his. The look of sadness in his eyes didn’t go unnoticed by Joselyn. “Why are you so sad?”
He sighed. “Joselyn, would you have ever been mine,” he asked softly. “If you had never met Mark. Would you have ever wanted to be with me?”
She thought about this long and hard. His height and the mask he wore made him a very intimidating figure, but one look in his eyes and she could tell that he would never hurt her. Getting to know him over the past month had told her that he was quite taken with her and would risk his life to protect her.
“Yes,” she replied honestly. “Once I got to know you…I believe I would have given myself to you.” Glen closed his eyes and turned away from her. “Did I say something wrong,” she asked.
“No,” he replied. “You should rest.” He attempted to stand, but she stopped him. When he turned to face her she slipped her hand behind his head, her fingers tangling in his brown curls, and brought his face down to hers. She pressed her lips to his and kissed him softly.
“I don’t want to rest,” she said softly when the kiss was broken. “I want you to be the first man to make love to me.”
“Joselyn,” he said, shocked by her forwardness. “I wouldn’t be your first.”
“Mark took what he wanted and left me for dead. I know that you’ll treat me the way I should be. I know that you’ll show me how I should be loved,” she replied, taking his hand and slipping it under her shirt. She kissed him again. “If I may not survive this birth...I want to be made love to at least once in my life.”
~~~~~
“Took you guys long enough,” Phil Brooks said opening the door to his apartment. He looked from Shawn to Hunter with a crooked smile, his lip ring glinting in the hall light.
“We hit traffic,” Hunter said shoving him aside and entering the apartment.
“What do you have for us, Punk,” Shawn asked.
“I did a missing person’s search,” Brooks said taking a seat at his desk and in a few keystrokes he brought up a newspaper article on his screen. “A twenty-two year old woman named Joselyn Levesque went missing around the same time the two girls were found in the dumpster.”
“So,” Hunter asked gazing at some action figures Brooks had on a shelf. He picked up the Ironman one looking it over.
Brooks stood, crossing the distance between them quickly and snatching the action figure from him. “That’s a rare piece,” he said. “You break it you bought it.”
“You’re thinking this woman’s disappearance has something to do with the vamp that got rid of the bodies,” Shawn asked before Hunter could pick a fight.
“The funny thing is that police suspect that she too was dumped somewhere,” Brooks said setting the action figure back on the shelf and heading back to his computer.
“Why’s that,” Hunter asked taking a seat next to Shawn on the couch.
“When they did a search of her apartment they found massive amounts of blood staining the bed. With the amount there they concluded that she couldn’t have survived such blood loss,” Brooks said running a hand through his shoulder length black hair.
“But she’s still a missing person,” Shawn asked quirking a brow.
“No body, no proof of death,” Brooks replied. “I think that if we find this woman…”
“We find that bastard vamp and ultimately Calaway,” Hunter concluded.
“There’s one problem,” Brooks replied frowning. “There’s no evidence of a struggle. No sign of a break in. The vamp who did this was either already inside the apartment when she got home or she knew him. Either way the trail goes freaking Siberian cold.”
“We’ve worked with less,” Hunter said. “I’ll call Bobby and see what he thinks of the situation and how to approach it. You did good work, Punk.”
~~~~~
Glen lay in bed with Joselyn in his arms, his hand resting on her belly. He could feel the babies moving inside of her. For a moment he lied to himself thinking that they could somehow be a happy family.
He knew too well that fate wouldn’t allow it. Odds were that she would never survive the birth of one child let alone twins. He cursed Mark for stealing happiness from him.
Joselyn stirred in his arms and he kissed the crown of her head, whispering sweet nothings in her ear until she settled. “Soon this will be over,” he said softly. “My sweet Joselyn.”
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