Chapter 88 Fight or Flight mode
Lana’s POV
I felt Gerard's breath against my ear as his hand moved down my arm, moving all the way to the slit of my dress. I closed my eyes as he began to trail soft kisses on my shoulder. My hands gripped the edge of the basin even tighter. But what filled my mind in this moment and what I saw was flashbacks of Brady and his friends in the club’s bathroom. This was not Arden. I felt suffocated as the images in my mind were clear, as if it was happening again.
Until I felt a snap and my eyes opened. My thong was ripped off. Panic began to set in…my fear. I shoved Gerard, which barely made him move and he grabbed my arms, spinning me around to face him and he looked at me with a scowl. He moved closer so fast that his lips crashed against mine, his grip was so tight on me that I'm sure that I would bruise. I tried hard to fight him but he was strong. My lower back was pressed against the vanity, but my fight or flight mode kicked in. I sunk my teeth into his bottom lip and I bit him as hard as I could.
He groaned in pain, pulling back. “Get away from me!” I snapped at him while I tried to shove him.
“You f^cking b^tch!” he hissed at me with a bleeding lip. But then a painful sting resonated through me, my head turned to the side as I covered my cheek with my hand. “I will make sure that Arden leaves you and this is the perfect time to make that happen,” he hissed as he pressed against me, but I shoved him as hard as I could. But it was no use. I didn't want anything worse to happen. He held both of my wrists tightly.
“Let me go!” I yelled at him.
“Not until you leave Arden,” he said.
“I will never leave him.” I tried to get my wrists out of his strong grip but then my phone rang in my clutch bag, which caught Gerard’s attention.
“You won't be answering that,” he said.
“Is this what you do to women? Is this what you did to Lucinda? You wanted to get rid of her and I believe that you did much worse to her to make her f^cked up. Did you have s^x with her?” I asked, hoping that it would help him to loosen his grip so that I could shove him, punch his face and run away.
His jaw clenched, “Do not bring her into this,” he said through clenched teeth.
“You forced her, didnt you?” I pressed on.
He shoved me backwards, further against the vanity, pain laced through my back. “Leave her out of this,” he hissed in my face. I shut my eyes. I felt cool air down below as I was not wearing a thong because Gerard ripped it off me. The thong that Arden bought for me. I was also afraid of anything happening to the baby which he was unaware of.
“I'm pregnant!” I blurted out. I felt his grip loosen and he pulled away a bit. I was breathing at a rapid pace, I was afraid, and I wanted to get away. I pulled myself together and I shoved him away because he was still standing there…stunned. I took my clutch bag, “Stay the f^ck away from me and don't ever lay a finger on me again, you sick f^ck,” I warned him with every strength that I had. I hurried out of the bathroom and then I bumped into someone.
“Lana, are you okay?” Cynthia asked me “You have blood on your lip,” she said with worry.
“I will see you later,” I replied and I hurried away from her as I wiped Gerard's blood from my lip and I began to move through the groups of people, searching for Arden.
I bumped into an older man. “Are you okay, young lady?” he asked me politely.
“Yes,” I said and moved along through the mingling crowd and I just wanted to get to Arden and get out of this suffocating place. I try to keep it together in front of everyone.
I moved towards the bar because that is where I told Arden I would be after the bathroom. He was walking in my direction from the bar and I was relieved to see him. I hurried over to him.
“Are you okay?” He asked with concern as I came to a stop in front of him. He cupped the side of my face, studying me as I caught my breath and I'm trying not to freak out. I closed my eyes. “Just breathe,” he tried to soothe me.
“Take me home,” I managed to say.
“I need to get something from an uncle-”
“Just take me home!” I yelled and I didn't care if I drew the attention of the crowd because my eyes were now filled with tears and I bite my lower lip to stop it from trembling. Arden looked panicked.
“Okay, let’s go and just breathe,” he said as he draped an arm over my shoulder, guiding me through the crowd until we got to the exit. Fresh air hit me as we stood outside.
We were waiting for the car. “Are you okay?” Arden asked me.
I shook my head. “No.”
“You will be home soon,” he reassured me.
The valet parked the car in front of the sidewalk and then Arden assisted me to get inside of the car and he jogged around the front, getting inside of the car. I rested my head against the headrest. As we drove, my eyes were closed but I kept on seeing the scene in front of me. I jumped at the touch of Arden’s hand on my thigh.
“Its okay, its only me,” he reassured me. “Will you tell me what is going on? Is it the baby?” he asked.
I licked my lip to moisten it but then I remembered I had Gerard's blood on me and I felt nauseous.
I closed my eyes again. I just wanted to get home and shower.
“Lana, talk to me,” Arden begged as he removed his hand from my thigh to change gears.
“This is something big and you may not want me anymore.”
“What could be that big to not make me want you anymore?” he asked, but kept his eyes on the road.
“Its best if we talk when we get to my apartment,” I said softly.
The rest of the drive was silent until we pulled up in front of my apartment. I opened the car door before Arden could assist. I need to get into a shower. As I stood in front of my apartment door, I searched for my key in my clutch bag until I found it. I unlocked the door and entered, throwing the clutch bag on the sofa as I continued to walk down the wall.
“Lana,” I heard Arden softly. I turned around to face him. “What happened?” he asked.
I let out a sigh, “Your dad is what happened to me in the f^cking bathroom,” I hissed at him.
His brows furrowed, “What happened? Did he do anything to you? Hurt you?” he asked as he stepped closer to me.
“Well, I went to the bathroom because I could feel this pair of eyes on me and then it was your dad. I wanted to get out of his sight and then I went to the ladies’ bathroom. He followed me inside. He wants to get rid of me, he was planning to use s^x as a way to make you think that I betrayed you. I fought him but he slapped me when I bit his lip. My back is aching because of his force and I want to get what happened out of my head,” I said as tears welled up in my eyes.
“That bastard!” Arden said through clenched teeth. He ran a hand through his hair. “I will be right back. He shouldn't have done that to you. He is f^cking dead to me,” Arden said with anger as he walked towards the front door.
“Don't leave,” I said. I didn't want to face Gerard again.
“He f^cking assaulted you,” I winced at the word, closing my eyes. “Did he do more than that? because I swear, I will kill him. I need to know everything,” he said.
“He kissed me along my shoulder and ripped my thong,” I said as I looked at the coffee table, I couldn't looked at Arden. I bit my lip from trembling. “Nothing more happened because I fought him off.” I looked up into his eyes again.
“F^ck,” he muttered under his breath as he moved closer to me and he cupped the sides of my face with both hands.
“Do you know how hard it is to even look into your eyes right now?” I said.
He let out a breath. “I know…I look like my dad.”
“I don't want you to leave. I want you to stay,” I said.
“I won't go anywhere.” he took me into his embrace and I clung onto him. Smelling his delicious scent which was different from Gerard’s and I was happy about that. He placed a kiss on the top of my head and I pulled away.
“I need to shower him off me,” I said, looking into his eyes.
He nodded and let me out of his embrace. I walked down the hall. Once I got into the bathroom, I locked the door behind me. I let the water run in the shower to get warm and then I get undressed.
I got into the shower and I just stood under the warm water, washing away everything. I started to scrub my lips too. I washed myself and then I stood for the entire time, letting the water pour all over me. At least our baby is okay through this event.
I turned off the water and then I got out of the shower. There was a knock on the bathroom door. “Are you okay?” Arden asked from the other side of the door.
“I'm fine,” I replied as I took a towel that was hanging from a little hook against the wall. I dried myself and I towel dried my hair.
Once I got undressed and I threw the red dress to one side and out of my sight for now. I unlocked the door, opening it to find Arden standing with his back against the wall. He was looking at me with concern.
“I just needed to make sure that you were okay in there,” he said. His jacket was removed. His white dress shirt was tucked into his pants, the bow tie was removed too and the few buttons from the top of his shirt were open.
“Stay with me for the night,” I said softly.
“Of course, I will,” he said as he moved closer to me, taking me into his arms. “How are you feeling now after the shower?” he asked.
“I guess I feel better,” I lied, and I wanted to forget.
“Come,” he said, and he pulled away, but not removing his arm from around me.
We sat down on the sofa. “I do not want to see him again,” I looked into Arden’s eyes.
“You won't have to. Also, its best that he doesn't work with Sternpoint. Is the baby okay?” he asked.
“Yes,” he moved his hand towards me and he placed it on my belly, which was the first time. I placed mine on top of his. It was a special moment despite what happened.
He held my gaze. “I want to kiss you, but I won't put any pressure on you,” he said.
“I don't want to wait,” I replied. I needed that kiss from him, but he is just being a gentleman.
There was a knock on the door and Arden removed his hand from my belly and he got up to open the door.
Cynthia barged in and she wasn't looking okay. It seemed as if she was crying. “What did he do to you?” she asked. Her brows were furrowed.
I hope that this isn't an argument about me exiting the bathroom and I know that she found Gerard in the ladies' bathroom. But the question caught me off guard. She knew he did something to me…not us doing something.