Chapter Eight

Selson was pissed, but I was more pissed. As a woman I could hold onto my anger for as long as possible – which seemed to piss him off even more. He kept trying to talk to me, but I ignored him. Until I got an apology for his meddling, I refused to talk to him.

"Alora, are you ever going to forgive Selson?" Corey questioned, as I sat down at the breakfast table with French toast the following morning.

"Of course I am" I snorted, around a mouthful. "But until he actually says the words 'I'm sorry', he's getting the silent treatment". I offered him a bright smile, as my phone began to ring.

Glancing down, I frowned to see it was my home number. My heart rate spiked and I felt butterflies fluttering in my stomach. No one was at my house, so how was someone calling me from that number? I answered after a few seconds.

"Hello?" I asked tenderly.

"Alora thank god" a female voice yelled in shock. I breathed a sigh of relief because Charlene was obviously in my house – which she was supposed to be, because she was house sitting for my father.

"Charlene, hey, are you alright?"

"No, I'm not alright. Someone broke in to your house, Alora. They trashed everything". She began to cry, hiccupping softly, as my heart sped up once more. I heard Corey ask if I was alright, but I just waved him away with dismissed.

"Alora say something" Charlene sobbed. I let out a shaky breath, before pushing my fear aside.

"Have you told my dad?" I finally asked.

"No".

"Alright, don't. I'm on the next plane out, and I'll call Deminick. Just lock everything up as best you can, and go to work. Don't call the police, don't tell anyone. My dad doesn't need to know. We'll come back and clear it up". My voice was calm, but I was not. Corey looked at me in concern from across the table.

Charlene wasn't happy with the choice not to tell my father, but she quickly agreed as she didn't want to upset him and put a damper on their budding relationship. "What happened?" Corey asked, as soon as I hung the phone up.

"Someone trashed my house" I frowned, fear still freezing my blood.

"Shit. Do you know who?"

"I have no idea" I lied. "But don't tell Selson, he'll freak. But I have to go back to the Island to sort it out".

"I can't let you go alone" Corey protested, his brown eyes shining in worry.

"I'll call my oldest brother, and he'll meet me back home".

"Still, you have no idea who did this Alora. Your brother would kill me if he knew that I let you go back to a house that had just been trashed, and I didn't tell him".

"You can't tell him" I hissed, pleading.

"Why not? Do you know who broke in?"

"Please, Corey, promise me you won't tell him?" I fluttered my large eyes at him, hoping I looked cute enough to convince him.

"You do know who broke in, don't you?" he frowned – a statement more than a question. I sighed, running my hand down my face. "Fine don't tell me. But I'm not letting you go back alone. Either I tell Selson, or I come with you".

"Are you crazy? You have class, you can't just come back to Vancouver Island with me on a whim" I exclaimed, throwing my hands in the air.

"Yes I can" Corey argued, crossing his muscled arms over his muscled chest and glaring at me. "We'll make it a weekend trip".

"It's Tuesday" I deadpanned, and he shrugged uncaring. However, when weighing up the options I would rather take him with me than get Selson involved. Because if Selson found out that it was all beginning again, he would ape shit. Plus, I was nervous to go home alone – so I was glad that Corey would be coming with me. Not that I would ever tell him that.

"Fine pack a bag, I'll book us a flight" I sighed, getting up from the table. Corey blinked in shock.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, seriously" I sighed. "Look Corey, bad shit has happened to me recently, and I'm praying this has nothing to do with it...however, I'm pretty sure it does. But getting Selson involved will not go down well".

He shuffled awkwardly, "he's my best friend, Alora, and you're asking me to lie to him".

"Yeah I know. But you know what he's like when he gets angry, and you know how possessive he is of me. Imagine the two together".

Corey ran a hand through his dark hair before sighing heavily. "You're right. But what are you going to tell him?"

"I'll get Deminick to lie to him and say I went to visit him for a few days. As long as we're gone by the time he gets back from class he can't stop me".

"He's not in class".

"Where is he?" I asked in confusion.

"Hasn't come home after a date last night" he replied. I blinked in shock.

"What the hell time was his date last night? He was home when I got home at eleven...what sort of date starts later than that?"

"The booty call with the entire girls' soccer team type of date". My face must have said it all because he laughed. "Yeah, I don't know how your brother does it either. The lucky bastard. I heard he's very skilled with all sorts of balls...if you know what I mean".

"Oh god, I could have gone by entire life without knowing about my brother's late night orgies". I shivered in disgust and Corey laughed some more. I moved past him to walk upstairs, trying to clear my mind from the disturbing visuals I was getting.

I ran upstairs to my room, and even though I'd only been in LA for seventy eight hours, I re-packed quickly. I only filled a carry-on bag with essentials that time however. I then used Deminick's air miles to book Corey and I onto the next flight to Vancouver from LAX.

"Corey, let's go" I shouted loudly as I raced downstairs.

"Coming, coming, keep your panties on" he grumbled. I heard him jogging down the steps as I climbed into the Prius – I would let him drive because I needed to call my eldest brother and let him know what was going on.

Whereas Selson was a ticking time bomb ready to explode at any moment, Deminick was quite the opposite. Quiet, studious, sensible and as cool as a cucumber. So as Corey climbed into the car and started it up, I called Deminick's office.

"Kristinal Law Firm, Jane speaking" a chirpy receptionist answered.

"Hi, I'm calling to talk to Deminick Jefferies" I replied.

"Can I ask what it's about?"

"It's an urgent family matter" I stated.

"Can I take your name please?"

"Alora Jefferies, I'm his sister".

"Alright, Miss Jefferies, if you'll just hold the line" she said, and then disgustingly happy hold music filled my ear. Corey drove towards the airport, as I waited patiently. A few seconds later, the music stopped and the receptionist returned. "Mr Jefferies is happy to take the call, let me just patch you through".

"Thank you" I said, and there was a few beeps and rings before my brother answered.

"Alora are you alright?" Deminick stated, voice smooth yet professional as always. He could always sound both serious, caring and dominate at the same time – I had no idea how he did it.

"Someone trashed the house".

"What?" he demanded, a spark of anger flowing through his voice. He took a deep breath, composed himself, before continuing. "How do you know?"

"Charlene called me. Dad's still in denial that they're dating, but he asked her to house sit. Anyway, she called this morning freaking out about how the house had been broken into and trashed".

"Was anything stolen?"

"She wasn't sure...she said it just looked turned over not robbed".

Deminick was silent for a moment. "I know what you're thinking, Alora, but Parker is in prison. I know, I put him there". Tears blurred my eyes, but I blinked them away, before taking a deep breath.

"I know Parker is in prison, Deminick, but this was how it started last time".

"Alora, sweetheart, listen to me. Parker Owen is in prison and he's not getting out any time soon. I know this is scary, but Parker cannot hurt you anymore".

"Then why was our house trashed?" I asked, voice barley a whisper. But my big brother still heard.

"Because someone saw no one was living there and broke in. Honey, it is not starting again. Parker Owen will never hurt you again, you have my word on that".

"I'm going home to clean it up" I replied, wiping a tear away from my face in anger. I would allow no more to fall. "No point telling Dad, or Selson, they'll freak out".

"Sure. I'll tell Selson that you're visiting me" he replied, almost reading my mind.

"Thanks Deminick. I love you".

"I love you too, kid" he said. There was a pause, before he sighed. "Alora, remember, Parker didn't do this. Parker Owen will never hurt you again".

"Parker Owen will never hurt me again" I whispered.