Toxic Bad Boy Part 24

He finally disappeared around three o'clock and I figured he'd gotten hungry.

Plopping down at my desk, I flipped open my laptop. I hated reading emails on my phone, the screen was too small and I sometimes. .h.i.t the wrong keys by accident.

I deleted most of the new emails all at once in bulk, ones from department stores and social media notifications. Two emails remained, one from a dance blog I subscribed to and another from an email address I didn't recognize with the subject line, Funny Pictures of Gianna.

Clicking it open, I scrolled down to check out the pictures and couldn't breathe. Through a full blown panic attack, I struggled to call out for my dad. Collapsing back into the chair, I hyperventilated in helplessness. It felt as if my heart was trying to pound out of my chest. At the same time I had the scary sensation that my body was being squeezed into a ball. Through my dizziness, I threw up into my trash can.

Bent over, I closed my eyes and concentrated on breathing like my therapist had taught me. Over and over, I reminded myself it couldn't hurt me. It'd been awhile since my last panic attack and the unexpectedness of it had left me unprepared. The last few time it'd happened, I'd been in public. My home had become a safe haven, or so I'd thought.

It took what felt like forever, but was probably only several minutes, to calm down. My chest hurting and arms tingling, the moment it was possible, I screamed for my dad. Grabbing several tissues from a Kleenex box, I wiped my face and nose.

His footsteps stomped up the stairs and he burst through my door. "Gianna?"

Instead of answering, I pointed to the laptop screen I'd avoided looking at during my freak out.

He drew near, his eyes focusing on the screen. "What the h.e.l.l?" In a fast move, he slammed the laptop shut. At my flinch, he pulled me out of the chair and guided me to my bed. "Do you know who sent those?"

My whole body shook and my dad squeezed me to him. "It had to be Josh," I said on a deep shudder.

"The police a.s.sured us his access to any form of communication was heavily restricted."

The youth correction facility Josh had been sent to north of Denver for really bad teen offenders had sent a letter to our lawyer listing the precautions they'd taken so he couldn't contact me. His stay there was specifically tailored for his violent and obsessive tendencies. "Dad, I don't know who else it could be."

"Gianna, two other people were there that night before the police and paramedics arrived."

"Caleb wouldn't do this," I protested.

"What about that other kid, Ian?"

I was pretty sure Ian wouldn't either. "He's my friend and he's still locked up until school starts in August."

"Are you sure?"

"Dad, he got arrested for beating up Josh. Do you really think he'd send pictures of me from the night of the attack?"

The pictures were horrible. The real life version of what Caleb had painted. I understood what Caleb had found in that cafeteria. Me, a broken mess. The image had been burned into his mind, causing him to transfer it onto canvas.

My dad still held me against him, his strength comforting. "Then Josh must have taken the pictures with his cell while you were unconscious before he left the cafeteria and someone got a hold of the phone. If the police had submitted the phone as evidence, those pictures would've never come to light. Josh's cell phone must have been lost in the shuffle that night."

"What if whoever sent them posts them online?" I asked in horror.

"Listen, Gianna, we need to take this to Officer Novak tomorrow morning. I'll call him tonight and ask him to meet us at the station or come to the house."

"Okay," I whispered, wishing none of this was happening. Wishing I didn't want Caleb's arms around me right now. "Dad, I'm scared to sleep alone tonight."

"Do you want to invite Cece over?" he asked. "Or I can drive you to your mom's house. She's worried about you."

"You told her about the letters?"

"Of course I did. She's your mother and she has the right to know."

"I'll call Cece," I rushed to say as I imagined my mom insisting I move back in with her.

I awoke to the sound of Cece throwing up in my bathroom. It sounded painful and I felt sick myself at the thought of her puking back up the pizza we'd ordered late last night.

Hovering in the doorway, I took in the sight of her kneeling over the toilet. "Are you okay? Can I get you anything?"

Cece flushed, pulling some tissue out of the box on the counter. "A time machine."

"I thought you were happy about the baby."

She got to her feet and began brushing her teeth with the toothbrush she kept here. "I haven't spoken to Dante in almost two weeks and my parents still don't know. Pretty soon I'll start showing so I won't be able to hide it anymore."

"I'm sorry you're having such a hard time, but I'll always be there for you."

She smiled pathetically around the toothbrush in her mouth. "Both our lives are a mess. You broke up with Caleb again because he was a d.i.c.k and you have a stalker."

"I'm thinking of getting my GED and moving to live with my grandparents in Arizona."

"Can I go with you?" she joked and spit into the sink. "I might as well start looking into getting my GED. Who the heck is going to take care of my baby while I go to school? My parents are busy with the restaurant."

"Dante's mom would help out, even if he's being a dumba.s.s."

"I hate him," she said, her eyes watering.

"Is he still calling?"

She sniffed. "Not since Friday night. What if he met another girl?"

"He has enough problems, Cece. I doubt he'd be stupid enough to add another girl to the mix. Besides, he loves you and he's just scared."

"I'm scared! You don't see me running to a clinic for an abortion."

"Well, I think you made the right decision. I can't wait to meet him or her." I clapped my hands together. "Now that you're stomach is empty, how about we go downstairs and fill it back up?"

"I am hungry," Cece said, rubbing her still flat belly.

"How about leftover pizza?" I teased.

She groaned dramatically. "Anything but that."

Cece left after breakfast, having told her parents she'd help with the Sunday lunch rush. Knowing I was freaked out, she promised she'd spend the night again tonight. She'd quit ballet altogether now that she was pregnant and I'd missed cla.s.s yesterday because of Friday night's drama.

Officer Novak arrived just after eleven o'clock. He'd asked that we forward the email to him last night and my dad took care of it for me after I gave him the pa.s.sword to my laptop.

When I answered the door to the police officer, I spotted Caleb's red Camaro parked outside the house. Without acknowledging Caleb, who stepped out of his car at seeing me, I closed the front door.

CALEB.

Officer Novak was inside Gianna's house and I didn't know why. Had something happened over the weekend? Did another letter come in the mail yesterday?

Her dad had told me not to come back until Gianna was ready to talk to me. Despite the warning, I rang the doorbell one minute after she shut the front door.

Chris answered the door, rolling his eyes before stepping out of the way for me to enter. "I'm sure you're dying from curiosity. Come inside, but if Gianna wants you to leave when Novak does, you're out of here."

"Thanks," I muttered, wondering if her dad was secretly p.i.s.sed about the paintings or if he even knew about them.

Advancing straight for Gianna, I took a seat on the couch next to her and grabbed onto her hand for support, lacing our fingers for a better grip. She gaped as if I were a stranger on the street. She had to have known I'd eventually push my way back into her life.

Officer Novak had stopped speaking at my appearance, but continued, "If the pictures do show up online, let us know and we'll order that they be taken down immediately. As a minor, the laws are stricter."

"What pictures?" I interrupted.

"Someone emailed Gianna pictures of herself from the night Josh La.r.s.en attacked her," Chris answered, taking a seat on the other side of Gianna.

I moved my arm around her shoulders and faced Novak. "Where the h.e.l.l did those come from?"

With a wry look, he said, "Only three people could've taken them."

"It wasn't me," I rushed to say. It wasn't hard to figure out which three people he meant. "And it definitely wasn't Ian because I was with him the whole time."

"I'll be visiting Ian Crenshaw where he currently resides," Novak explained. "And Josh La.r.s.en. However, there's only so much we can do. I've checked the police report from last October and a cell phone belonging to Mr. La.r.s.en was never catalogued."

I could not believe pictures existed of that night. "So he must have stashed it somewhere."

A shudder ran through Gianna. "I thought this was over."

"Thank you for coming, Officer Novak," Chris said, standing up to shake the man's hand. "I'll walk you out."

I knew Chris was getting the cop away from Gianna to ask questions which would upset her. I'd drill her dad later about the answers Novak gave him.

Gianna laid her head against me, contradictorily saying, "You need to leave, Caleb. I'm mad at you."

"Okay, be mad, but I'm not going anywhere."

She raised her head and a teary gaze. "Do you want to see them, Caleb?"

"See what, the pictures? No, Gianna."

"I thought maybe you'd want to use them as inspiration for your next painting," she said sarcastically. "Whoever took them was obviously an artist like you."

"I'm sorry. I should have never painted them." Or at least destroyed them the moment they were completed. Definitely never should have handed them over to Jim. "They weren't supposed to be in the show."

"Then why did you give them to the gallery?"

A pang of remorse shot through me. "We were broken up at the time."

She jumped to her feet, crossing the room before spinning to face me. "So, it was payback for dumping you? Did you enjoy remembering me like that?"

"Of course not, but you weren't supposed to ever see them."

"Oh, but anyone at the show who wanted a sick look at me like that could?"

I leaned forward on the couch, clasping my hands together. "I told Jim not to include them. I didn't know he'd make a peepshow out of them!"

"Gianna, everything okay?" Chris asked from where he lingered in the doorway.

"Fine," she said, pacing over to him. "Can you give us a few minutes alone?"

Chris's eyes darted to me before returning to his daughter. "I promised Chance I'd pick him up to see a movie. Is Caleb going to stay with you, or do you want to come along?"

"Cece is coming over later and she can stay with me when Caleb leaves," she told her dad.

I laughed at the same time her dad grinned. "What's Cece going to do to an intruder?"

Gianna didn't think it was funny. "Intruder?"

Chris sighed, grasping her upper arms. "Gianna, you didn't tell me or your mother about the problems you were having with Josh and it escalated to him really hurting you. We're not going to make that mistake again. If you don't want to come with me, I'd feel better if Caleb were here to keep you safe."

With her back to me, I couldn't see her expression but I doubted it was thrilled. "If it makes you feel better, then Caleb can stay," she told him.

Mimicking Chris's earlier words to Novak, I said, "I'll walk you out."

"To the garage?" Chris asked in amus.e.m.e.nt.

"Yep."

Out in the garage, Chris waited next to his car for me to talk. "What did Novak say to you?"

Chris glanced over my shoulder, probably to make sure the door was closed. "Basically that they weren't going to do jack s.h.i.t unless there was a physical threat to Gianna. But I'm hiring a private detective who'll have monetary incentive to find out who's sending the letters and email."

"Have you told Gianna?"

He shook his head. "Not yet. I plan to talk to her about it when I get home tonight."

"I'll take good care of her. I can be here whenever you're not home."

He opened the door to his SUV and rolled down the window after getting in. "Fine, but you're not allowed upstairs."

Suppressing a smirk, I said stoically, "Of course, sir."

Blue eyes like Gianna's narrowed. "And quit touching her in my presence."