Unpolished

I Loved

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

I Loved

(Playlist – Hurts Like Hell by Fleurie)

Thank you everyone for continuing this journey with me. I don't thank the people around me enough for all that they do to support my little charade of writing; my husband who I bounce ideas off of and annoy constantly about the boys and how in love I am with them (lol), my kids, my friends in The Academy Fan Fiction, my betas (SilasAggeleMou & BLTS2004) mine!, and then of course the incredibly fabulous CL Stone who created this world for us to play in.

Jade's POV:

I locked the door, and ran for the bed. My heart was beating fast. Too fast. I dropped the glass, bottle, and corkscrew on the bed. The glass broke into several large pieces, but that wasn't where my attention was focused right now. The heavy metal object was cold in my hand, yet I felt like I held a grenade that was about to explode at any moment. The weight, the length; I could end everything right here, right now.

I sat there, lost in my thoughts, thinking about taking the easy way out. Then I thought about how much I had grown in the short amount of time I had had with my boys; Vance, then Marco, then Isaac. I even had friends, well, we were on the way to becoming friends. Perhaps one day, but I felt it was developing. Then the child that was growing in my belly, made purely from love. I couldn't take the easy way out. I had to live for everyone that I had grown to care for, and especially for the child I had always longed for.

A plan quickly set in. Gently, the glass was stowed in the side-table drawer, along with the corkscrew. I found the wine chiller and filled it with ice. I went and found the salt, some rope, and gloves from the medical kit.

Once everything was set, I had a good cry. Mentally preparing myself for marriage to the man you hated was taxing, but once it was out of my system I showered, taking my time. I built the walls up that I would need for today. I would be Misses McCoy today. Even if my guys showed up to save me, I had to go through with this. This was a necessary evil of life.

My bath took up a good hour or more. The water had run cold, and my fingers and toes looked like prunes. When I wiped the mirror off to look at my face, I almost didn't recognize the face in front of me. The steeliness behind "my eyes" scared me. "I'll need to soften that up if I'm getting married today." I went about drying my hair, and doing my make-up, making sure to look as put together as possible without putting too much effort into it. I wore my hair down, only pulling up the sides up just enough to place a couple bobby-pins. The lipstick was skipped until after I would put the dress on. Walking back into the bedroom, I saw that a lunch tray had been brought in. On it was a couple of finger sandwiches, a bowl of broth-like soup, a fruit drink, and a note.

'To the future Mrs. McCoy, I will see you in a little over two hours. Be prepared for a plethora of special guests, and beauty. Inside your dress bag, you will see a few items; your dress, the shoes are under the bag, also in the bag is you rcrown and other accoutrements. Your soon to be husband.'

I closed my eyes, and centered myself once more. "Remain strong, Jade." I said aloud.

There were two knocks at the door. "Yes?"

A man walked in and went straight towards the dress bag. He was tall, and muscular under the Armani suit he was wearing. He took the shoes from the shoebox and placed them on the floor, then unzipped the bag. Inside was a smaller bag. He brought it over to me. "Please take your towel off and put these items on."

"Um, I don't know you from Adam, and I'm just supposed to drop my towel and put on my underwear and stockings in front of you?"

"Hello, my name is Todd. Your body does nothing for me. Regardless, this is part of my job. Drop the towel and start getting your undergarments on. I will help with the corset closures in back, as well as hooking the stockings. Then we will get your dress on you."