Chapter 24

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UNEDITED

Jacob refused to go to the hospital. Once making sure Clarissa was safely in her brother's truck he jumped in his own and drove away.

When she arrived home his vehicle was there thankfully.
He was probably so angry with her and rightfully so. He was hurt again because of her. She checks on all four of her children, releases the sitter, grabs the first aid box, and goes in search of him

*Knock Knock Knock* She lightly taps on his bedroom door. After a few moments without a response, she checked to see if it was unlocked and it was. She opens it and scans the room. It was empty but there was a crack in between the bathroom door.
She gets nearer and hears the sound of the running water from the faucet. “Jacob.” She voices softly.

In the crease of the door, she sees his naked back as he washed his face.“Jacob.” She opens the door.

He shuts off the water, grabs a towel hanging nearby, and dries his face gently. “Everything okay?” He asks.

She noticed the bruises on his chest and stomach in the mirror and it stung. He turned and it was automatic when she widened the door and laid her palm on his abs.

He inhales deeply, lowers the towel, and locks eyes with her. His glare was one of burning inquisition and awareness. Awareness of how close she was to him or the fact that she had him pinned against the sink. It had been so long since he had felt her touch he could feel all his blood rushing to the spot where her warmth lingered. He wanted this, her attention, her thoughts, and her hands to be all over him… but he knew she was feeling guilty.

“I’m sorry.” She whispers. Her hands glide against his shoulders and up to his neck. “You have every right to be angry with me.”

He could melt into her touch. It was taking all his restraint not to grab her. “I don’t.” He declares. “I have no rights.”

She blinks. It was the wake-up she needed. She steps back and drops her hand.

He doesn’t move. Intensely he watched her for her next move.

She fiddles with the first aid box and gets it open. “Let me help you.” There was a cut above his eye she was referring to. She gets out alcohol and cotton and when she begins disinfecting the wound she invades his space again and he lets her.

“Are you okay?” She hesitantly meets his eyes.

He nods subtly.

She gets a bandage and sticks on the cut. Why would you let this happen?”

“Just because we're not together anymore doesn’t mean I stopped caring about you.”

“Aren’t you going to yell at me?”

He opens the tap and wets a rag. He takes the rag and wipes his blood off her cheek. “I have no right to yell at you. I had no right being where I was tonight.”

“Then why were you there?”

He shifts his focus to a smudge of blood on her neck and gently cleans it. “Because on some level... I don’t care… you’ll always be mine.”

Her eyes go wide.

“Don’t worry.” He interjects. “I know that you don’t feel the same.” He clears his throat. “If you can excuse me now I need to take a shower.”

“Wait.” She grabs onto his biceps. “I really am sorry. I shouldn’t have gone out.”

He shrugs

“You really have nothing to say?”

“Why? Do you want me to have something to say?” He looks down at her fingers curled around his muscles.

Immediately she removes them. “I’m sorry… I…shouldn’t be…”

“Don’t be…” he steps closer. “Let me make this very clear to you. I may have no rights over you but you have all over me. Until the day you invite another man to your bed, Clair, you have all rights.”

”Why? Why don't you just move on?”

”You know why… And know this, what happened tonight I would do it again, and if you're reckless again, I'll be there again... even if the odds are against me. If you're going to dive into the rabbit hole then I'm going to… Every time I will be there.”

”Don't” she shakes her head. She didn’t want to hear these fake words when he was kissing Regina in his free time. “Are you going to be okay to shower?” She changes the topic.

He rolls his eyes. “I’ll be fine.” He moved to open the glass door and turned on the water.

She was afraid to leave him alone so she sat on his bed and waited. With the liquor still running through her veins, it was easy to fall asleep.

He comes out of the shower dressed in a white towel when he finds her sleeping peacefully on his bed. It was a distant memory the last time he had the luxury. He covers her up before getting dressed and going to the living room sofa for the night.
An hour later Clarissa wakes. She quickly registered where she was and that she was alone. She removes the blanket and seeks Jacob. When she finds him in the living room she stares at his resting face. His swollen bruised handsome face. She felt so sorry for him. Flashes of him being hit appear before her eyes. Her stomach hurt instantly.

She moves near his head and stoops down examining every inch before lifting her hand to brush his hair back.

When he was being hit, it was like he turned the emotion back on within her. “I’m so sorry.” Her eyes well up, she leans down and places a soft kiss on his bruised eye. She didn’t understand how he could claim to love her so much but then be with another woman at the same time. Maybe he was just looking for what he was wanting from her but it didn’t make it okay. She could never trust him. Would he turn to another woman every time he felt his needs weren’t being met?

She folds her legs and covers her eyes. She couldn’t hold back anymore. She cries.

Jacob’s sore eyelids cautiously open. “Clair.” He instinctively extends his hand out and it lands on her head.

She stands immediately.

“Are you okay?” He sits up.

“Lay back down.”

“Not until you tell me why you’re sitting here crying.” He joins his hands and leans forward.

“I’m just…” she looks to the ground. “I’m just worried about you.”

He lets out a breath. “I'm fine…I promise… go back to bed.”

“Yeah…” she agrees. She drags her feet a few steps away but then turns back. “No… actually there’s more.”

His brows furrow. “What’s wrong?”

She folds her arms and swallows. “Well…How could you tell me that I have rights to you when you’re giving those rights to Regina?”

“I haven’t given any rights to Regina. The only woman that can sway me is you.”

“The pictures don’t lie, Jacob...people do.”

His nostrils flare. “I’m not lying… Those pictures are the lie.”

She shakes her head disappointedly.

“Look at me.” He orders.

Her glistening gaze shifts to his.

“I swear… on my life, on my kid's lives, on everything... that I never had sex with Regina. I did not have a relationship with her, nor have I had any contact with her… and those pictures are fake.”

After all these years of being with him, she liked to think that she knew him pretty well, and right now the penetrating glare was telling her that he was telling the truth. He would never swear on his children. But how? She didn’t understand.

“Think about it, Clair… I know our relationship is over… I know that you’re not in love with me anymore… What reason do I have to lie?”

“Then how and why?”

“I don’t know.”

“You think... Regina?”

“I don’t know… at this point anything is possible.” He lays back down and closes his eyes.

“Well... don’t you want to know?”

“No… I don’t want to worry about it… I don’t want you to worry about it. I want to move on.”

“But Jacob…”

“Is it going to get you back?” His eyes snap open and aim towards her.

Her lips seal.

“I didn’t think so… so there is no point. Whoever it is, they can do no more damage.

He turns his head and closes his eyes again.


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