Captive

Chapter Thirty Six

It was only eight o'clock when the front door opened and closed and she looked up surprised to see Bret come in, still in his ring gear and a scowl marring his features. Watching warily as he paced up and down in front of her, seemingly trying to rein in his temper Juliet flinched when he finally stopped and glared down at her.

"Why the fuck would you arrange to meet your mother without telling me?" he finally demanded. All of the colour drained from her face as she wondered how on earth he could know that. She scrambled to her feet as he approached her, backing away to the far side of the room which stilled him. Shaking his head he leaned on the table looking across at her. "You think for a minute I would leave you here alone without anyone keeping an eye on you with everything that's going on? One of the boys is always close at hand Juliet, always. And when they leave me a voicemail to say that you've been out to town to meet with your damn mother who is in this up to her neck and it's the first I've heard of it... fuck! If ever you needed your ass whipped over something it's this!" She flinched and took another step back, unsure as to exactly how serious he was. He glared at her, his eyes glittering with protective anger. "So why didn't you tell me?"

"You would have forbidden it," she said softly and he stared at her.

"Forbidden it? What the fuck do you think this is Juliet? I wouldn't forbid you anything! You're a grown woman and can make whatever decisions you like but if you're going to make fucking crazy choices maybe at least talk to me about them first! What would you have done if she'd brought those two pieces of shit with her? How would you have protected yourself? And what if she turned on you? Did you intend to tell me when I got home what you've been up to?" He saw her face cloud and shook his head. "No. You were going to keep it to yourself and then wonder why there is no trust between us! Trust cuts both ways! Fuck, I am so close to whipping your ass right now!" Juliet felt tears gathering in her eyes as Bret's hurt rang out loud and clear. This wasn't about her meeting her mother, it was about her not trusting him enough to tell him.

"I'm sorry sir," she said softly. "I just didn't want Mum to hear it all from the police or worse from Edward. I wanted to tell her myself what had happened, let her decide whose side she would take from there. I've always hidden it from her, kept myself covered up so she would never see the scars and never talked about it with her. I knew she would take it hard..." She paused, picturing her mother's eyes flashing with fury which had not been directed at her, rather at the two men her silence had protected for so long. A shiver went through her. "She was so angry. I... I don't know what she might do."

"It's Bret," he said, irritated that she called him sir again. But then he thought about the rest of what she had said and a sigh escaped his lips. "Look I understand you needing to talk to your mom but I wish you'd told me first. I could've helped, could've been there for you. Instead... well I hear from Brian that you've gone out alone as I finish my match and have to head back here before the night is finished because I don't know what kind of state you'll be in."

"She was so angry, Bret," Juliet said, a little faintly. "I'm scared of what she might do."

"Hopefully kick the pair of them out and realise she owes you first as her own flesh and blood," he retorted. Juliet raised her eyes to meet his gaze and looked troubled.

"I expected her to be angry but to be honest I thought she'd be angry with me. That she either wouldn't believe me or she'd be angry I'd hidden it for so long. We were barely together for half an hour though and she told me she loved me, said she would fix this and then she stormed out. I.. I'm scared she'll do something stupid, Bret." Her voice was filled with emotion and Bret sighed. Her fears were probably reasonable. Taking out his phone he called Brian.

"Did you keep an eye on where Rachel went?" he asked. There was a pause. "Juliet's worried she'll do something stupid. You reckon you and a couple of the others could keep eyes on her? Yeah. Keep me posted." He ended the call abruptly and looked at her. "Brian will watch her, make sure nothing happens ok?"