Subtle Love ~ C.E. (FIRST BOOK)

That's You Pt. 1

Y/N's POV
Today is the day. It's been almost two weeks since the accident and I still don't feel like myself. Then again, who would? "How's that?" Chris asked, putting on my heels, "It's perfect, thank you. Too bad I can't actually walk in them." I retorted with a small grin. "Don't worry, you still look beautiful." He smiled, kissing me and lightly picking me up and bringing me downstairs. We were all dressed formal yet professional and ready for the trial. He placed me down on the couch as he went into the kitchen to grab something and I looked around. Dodger's chew toys were still in his corner and I really miss seeing him run around. "I meant to ask.......who's Dodger staying with?" "Oh, he's with my old friend, Ben, back in Boston. After everything, I.......I could barely take care of myself so, I had to ask for some help and he was glad to give it. But after the trial, I'll ask him to bring Dodger back down here." I nod and twiddle with my fingers as the anxiousness rose in my chest and my breath hitched. I shake my leg that's not harmed and try to get the nerves out.

"Are you ready-" "Why do we even have to do this? He's obviously guilty-I mean, can't he just go straight to jail?" His lips frowned and he sat beside me, "Love, I know you're nervous. But once we do this, it's over. For real this time. The only reason we're doing this is to find out what exactly he did and to figure out how long he should be in prison."He looks away from me with rage in his eyes and continues to go off, "Hopefully, they leave his ass to rot for the rest of his life. Or something close to that because if they don't-" He glances back at me and realizes that he was getting pissed off. He sighs and attempts to give me a warm smile, "You know what, he will get what he deserves, okay?" "Okay." I say surprisingly calm now that Chris ranted about what he would do if Nick wasn't sentenced long enough. He wraps me in his arms, rubbing my back, letting me know that everything will be fine until we heard a knock on the door.

Chris gets up and it's my security guards. Had to up the protection. "Are you ready Ms. Bennett? Mr. Evans?" "Almost." I say before motioning Chris to grab my crouches as he gives them to me. "Now we are."

****1 HOUR LATER****

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Today, we will be determining the punishment of Nicholas Hoult and Maddison Bennett due to the kidnapping of Ms. Y/N Bennett that was placed. We will be asking a series of questions on the relationship between the defendants and the plaintiff and what happened during the incident." the judge stated. I peeked to my left to see Nick smirking at me and Maddison crying her eyes out. Then, I quickly look back at Chris who's sitting in the bench right behind me, along with some of the crew who came to support and he mouthed, "You got this." I slowly nodded and looked back straight ahead. "I know that your lawyer is present Ms. Bennett and that the defendants usually goes first but, all we need is for you to explain your relationship statuses and what happened." "Please step up to the stand." The bailiff asked. I walked over with my crouches and the bailiff helped me up the steps to sit. The judge pulled out a Bible as I placed my left hand over it and the right lifted up, "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?" the bailiff asked, "I do." I responded, "Okay, please tell us of the incident Ms. Bennett." the judge asked.

I looked at Chris once more before speaking and he motioned his hand up and down, signaling me to breath. I take a deep breath and start. "I was taken  the day before my wedding when Chris and I was on the way to the airport from my mom's house in Queens. We were driving while talking about the wedding before Chris mentioned that there was no traffic whatsoever. Of course, this is a strange thing since there's always traffic in New York. And......when I turned to look, there was a car speeding towards us, knocking us into a pole. After maybe a few minutes, I felt someone pull me out of the car and I knew it wasn't Chris. It was.....Nicholas. I know Chris's touch and........it wasn't him. So when I realized that, I screamed out to Chris, hoping he was okay, but then I was injected with something that knocked me out temporarily. Next thing I know, I'm in this abandoned place I've never seen before. Then, he shows up and tries to taunt me but, I wasn't going to give in so easily. So when I had an attitude with him, he........grabbed my jaw and slapped me."

Chris's head bows down in anger from hearing the way I was tortured, so did Seb who was sitting right next to him. "And that's when Maddie-.....Maddison came in. I know that my sister and I never had the best relationship but." I made eye contact with her from the stand as she had sadness and regret on her face, "I never would've thought my own sister would be apart of something like this. Harming her own blood. But.....you learn something new everyday. And for that whole month, I was barely fed. At first I was being fed with plates of food but the only reason he wanted me to eat, was so I didn't look anorexic. H-he told me......he likes me better when there's meat on my bones." Tears started to swell up in my eyes, "So, I didn't eat. I didn't want to give in to what he wanted so, I starved myself. And every time I didn't listen, he would either slap me, punch me, throw me around.......just take advantage."

After about another half hour as I was finishing up the story, I was interrupted, "You know, I do enjoy every moment I had with you? Even if you were stubborn." He snickered. All the attention was on Nick. "I admit, it did feel amazing to kiss you everywhere. Marking my territory." I shivered in disgust at his comment before Chris lunged at Nick, punching him. I jump in shock as he yelled out, "You piece of shit! Don't you ever speak about her that way! I'll kill you!" The bailiff along with Sebastian pulled Chris off of Nick as he laid on the ground, now with a black eyes and a busted lip. He smiled with blood in his teeth and spit out a tooth on the floor as he chuckled at Chris's anger. "That's enough! Before I get you thrown in jail for starting a fight in my courtroom!" The judge yelled, calming down Chris a bit.

The judge called for a recess and Chris stormed out of the room. Sebastian walked my way and I quickly got up and tried to walk down the steps which ended up with me almost falling, if Seb didn't catch me. "Slow down doll, I know he's upset but he has a good reason. Just let him blow off some steam before your fiancé ends up in jail with the others. Come on, let's take a walk." I nod and he helps me down the small steps, as we walked around for a little. I caught a glimpse of Chris outside with his hands on his head, walking back and forth. I must've caught his attention because he was walking back in towards me, "Hey." he said now looking more concerned than upset. "I'll let you guys talk." Sebastian said leaving me in his hands, "I'm so sorry about that. I know that was out of line, especially in court but, I couldn't take it anymore! I had all this anger built up in me for a month because I was here and you weren't. He violated you in every way and I can't help but feel absolute rage. A prick is what he is!" He said pointing towards the courtroom.

"And now he's in there, smiling. It's like he's happy to be there or something. It's like he's proud of doing what he did. And it pains me, so much that I couldn't stop it-" "Chris, I thought-" "I know, I know, it's not my fault. But I still feels like it is because during that whole month, I felt empty. That joy and cheerfulness that you are, was gone. My mind thought of the worse. I kept thinking there's one thing I can't live without.........and that's you."