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Faithfully
Chapter 4
By Dottie
Copyright 2016

Hanna Jo's POV: 6 Months Earlier

With AJ's arm around me, we walk away from the helicopter toward the door leading to the stairwell. "AJ, how could they land the helicopter on this hotel?"

AJ laughs. "Darling, this is how most celebrities get here."

Denise is in front of us and she turns to look at me. "Get used to Hanna Jo...I know my son, he's going to try to spoil you and your baby."

I roll my eyes. "That's all I need."

AJ laughs. "I hope it's a girl. I can really spoil a princess."

Denise opens the door and a man is standing there holding a gun. We all stop short as he says, "Nobody moves, nobody screams."

AJ pulls his mother and me behind him. "What do you...wait. I know you. You work for..."

The man smiles "I work for Mr. Wahlberg. I'm here to invite you to be his guests on a private cruise ship for the next few days."

AJ squeezes me. "Why?"

The man smiles. "He would like you to be his guests until he concludes his business with Mr. and Mrs. Carter."

I feel fear clutch at my heart. "What kind of business do they have with him?"

The stranger shrugs. "Mr. Wahlberg didn't disclose that information with me. He just said Mrs. Carter had made a promise to him and it was time for her to fulfill that promise."

I nearly faint. "No! No he can't!"

The gun waves my way. "Mr. Wahlberg will do exactly what he wants. Now, if you'll follow me, we'll go down to the car and head out to the marina. Not to worry, Mr. and Mrs. McLean, you'll have privacy. Mr. Wahlberg requested that I tell you to enjoy your honeymoon cruise."


Jessi's POV: Present Day

I can't stop the sobs that swell in my chest. "He...oh my God I'm so sorry!"

AJ is sitting beside me and takes my hand. "Jessi, it wasn't your fault. No one expected this..."

I shake my head. "No, I did! I told Nick...I told Thad...I told you all he was never going to give up! I was a fool to believe the charges would stop him or the restraining order would stand. I should have...I should have just disappeared when I ran in Australia. None of this would have happened!"

Hanna Jo grabs me and forces me to look at her. "Jessi, you already loved Nick and he loved you. You couldn't stay away."

I pull away from her and stand, waddling across the room to stare out the window. "He...he didn't love me."

AJ sounds angry. "Dammit, Jessi, Nick loves you more than life itself. Donnie threatened to KILL you if Nick didn't cooperate. He threatened to kill all of us. The 'cruise' he sent us on was a yacht loaded with explosives and a crew with automatic weapons."

I turn to AJ, the blood draining from my face. "You were...he tried...he was going to...kill you all?"

AJ nods and Hanna Jo whispers, "Jessi, I'd give anything if...if I could change it."

I sniffle. "I would have died if anything had happened to any of you. But...Nick should have told me...he said he owed Donnie money. That Donnie threatened to ruin the group if..."

AJ shakes his head. "What would you have done if you had known? You would have given in to protect us and protect Nick. He knew that. He didn't want you to know we were in danger because he wanted you to fight. He was hoping you'd find a way to get free." I close my eyes, scalding tears raining down my face. "Jessi, Donnie's men beat him."

My eyes fly open and meet his. Hanna Jo whispers, "He almost died. After you ran, he went ballistic. He went after Donnie but his men stopped him."

I grab my stomach and double over. AJ jumps up and grabs me, leading me to a chair. I hear Hanna Jo calling for a nurse. I can't breathe...I can't think. All I can do is feel...I feel anger and pain and fear. Deep seated, heart wrenching fear.


After the nurse brings in a doctor to examine me, I find myself wrapped in a blanket in Hanna Jo's room with a steaming cup of chamomile tea nestled in my fingers. I take a shaky breath and whisper, "What happened to Nick?"

AJ kneels bedside me and takes my hand. "Jessi, this can wait."

I shake my head. "Tell me."

AJ looks at Hanna Jo. She says, "He had several broken ribs, his kidneys were bruised, his spleen ruptured..."

I gasp. "Oh my God!"

She's crying with me. "Jessi, it doesn't matter..."

I cry out, "But it does! What else? Tell me!" I look at AJ and whisper, "Please, AJ, tell me."

He says, "He had a concussion, a broken arm...he was...he was just brutally beaten."

I can't stop myself from asking, "But he's ok now?"

AJ slowly shakes his head. "No. He's not ok. Physically, he's still healing."

Hanna Jo whispers, "Emotionally, he's a train wreck."

AJ moves to sit beside Hanna Jo before asking, "Jessi, are you sure that's Donnie's baby?"

I nod sadly. "Yes. Nick had a vasectomy a long time ago."

AJ stuns me by saying, "No he didn't."

My mouth drops. "How do you know? You weren't there?"

AJ shrugs. "I heard management talking. Nick had a couple of paternity cases against him. They told him if he wanted to avoid anymore, he should have a vasectomy."

I feel so confused. "So if they suggested it, why didn't...how do you know he didn't have it?"

AJ smirks. "I was a jerk. When they brought him back from the hospital, he was sleeping off the anesthesia. I was eavesdropping. They didn't want to take the chance of him missing any of the tour so they had him knocked out for a couple of hours. When he woke up they told him it was done, but when he had sex, he should really wear condoms because one of the women that accused him had an STD. Scared the shit out of him so he covered up all the time after that."

I look down at my stomach and whispers hoarsely, "This could be..."

I hear Hanna Jo sobbing as AJ says, "It very well could be Nick's...and he has a right to know."

My eyes fly up to meet his. "NO! You can't..."

He leaves Hanna Jo's side and comes over to kneel in front of me. "Jessi I won't call him now if you don't want me to. But you need to think about it. When you're ready to see Nick, I'll try find him again."

I reach out and grab his hand. "You'll TRY to find him?"

Hanna Jo struggles to climb off the bed and comes over to. Stand beside me. She rubs my shoulder as AJ says, "He's gone underground. Said he was better off alone...and we would all be better off without him."

I sniffle, reaching up to grab Hanna Jo's hand. "He...he wouldn't...AJ tell me he wouldn't..."

I see a tear trickle down his face. "I don't...I hope not. I think there's still part of him that wants to think someday you'll forgive him."

I lean back in the chair and close my eyes. For the last six months my heart has been hardened against Nick for letting Donnie rape me. Now I know that if he didn't, we'd all be dead, including Hanna Jo and AJ and their baby.

Baby. I hold my stomach and for the first time I let myself feel hope. Hope that Donnie really didn't impregnate me. Hope that my baby was one conceived in an act of love...not an act of violence. I have to find Nick. Somehow.

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