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Old Jenna would’ve stormed over to Elijah’s and demanded he stop. Old Jenna would’ve raged and screamed and gotten herself into trouble, especially since raging and screaming was exactly the type of reaction Elijah wanted and expected from me.
And so instead I watched and waited, as difficult as that was. I gave Elijah nothing in the way of ammunition or satisfaction, as I trusted my boyfriends’ instincts and took them at their words.
Tyler went to see a lawyer about his options with the restaurant and the lease he signed. Luca spent two whole days fighting with the town over permits and inspections and everything else. At first he made very little headway, but toward the end of the week he hinted that he could see a tiny pinprick of light at the end of the tunnel.
Jay on the other hand, was restless like me. He teetered between wanting to tackle Elijah every time he saw him walking the neighborhood — which was all the time — and making jokes about stealing one of the two Ferraris obnoxiously parked in the driveway. We had fantasies, Jay and I, about hijacking both those beautiful cars and ramming them straight through Elijah’s house. But we decided the house didn’t deserve such a fate. Nor did the Ferraris.
It took every ounce of willpower not to be an accomplice, but somehow Jay and I calmed each other down. I reminded him of the end game; Elijah getting bored enough that he’d finally fuck off and leave Northhold for good. And Jay reminded me that no matter what my asshole ex-boyfriend did or said, none of it really mattered. Because in the end I came home tothemevery night… while Elijah went home to a lonely, empty house.
And there wasn’t a girl in the world who could argue the logic in that.
Instead I picked up even more hours at work, and stayed as far from the neighborhood as possible. Elijah still drove by, of course. He still stalked and tracked and hounded me, right up to the front doors of the places I worked at. I could’ve called the police, of course. Maybe even filed a stalking or harassment report. But with Elijah, I knew the outcome. He’d conveniently disappear the moment they showed up, or even worse, he’d give them fifteen different reasons why he was supposed to be there… all while making me look like an overreacting asshole for calling them in the first place.
There were times when I felt followed by other people too, and I didn’t doubt for a second he was using every one of his resources to keep tabs on all of us. It was how he operated. I was all too familiar with it, mostly because I’d seen him use the same tactics on enemies and opponents, back when we were together.
“There’s one thing I still don’t understand,” Tyler said, twirling the spaghetti of what we’d dubbed ‘pasta Friday’ on his fork. He waited until I’d looked up at him. “How the hell did you stay with him for solong?”
The guys glanced up together, their faces softening as I sighed heavily. I might’ve come off as a little disappointed, but if so, I was only disappointed in myself.
“Well for one, I was alone,” I said simply. “I had nothing. Nobody. Only him.”
Jay shook his head. “I still don’t know how you did it.”
“Elijah was tough,” I shrugged. “Dating him was intimidating. He was ex-military, a Navy SEAL. And he was violent. Not toward me at first, but there were signs I should’ve recognized. The way he talked down to people, for one. But mostly the way he reacted to anything that didn’t go his way. When that happened, he’d go from totally calm to terrifyingly angry, just like that.”
I snapped my fingers for effect. The guys weren’t impressed.
“I once saw him beat the hell out of someone as we were leaving a restaurant. There was blood everywhere, all over his hands. It covered the guy’s face so that I couldn’t even see his expression.” I shook my head, remembering. “The whole thing happened in the blink of an eye. I didn’t even know why.”
“Did you ask?” inquired Jay.
I nodded glumly. “Later on in the car he’d tell me the guy mumbled something derogatory about me on the way out of the door, but I didn’t believe him. Elijah had been in a bad mood that whole night. I came to realize that something inside him just snapped. Something triggered him, and he just went off.”
By now the guys had stopped eating. They were listening intently, as if taking the information and storing it away.
“You were right to leave,” Tyler confirmed. “Even if it did take you way too long.”
“I know.”
Remembering back, everything had seemed so filtered and far away. I’d made excuses for certain things for far too long. Kept myself intentionally in the dark, because waking up was a more difficult option.
It was hard not to feel foolish.
“Elijah is the product of never being denied anything,” said Luca. “He’s never had to answer for anything he’s done.”
I nodded. “That’s because his father always cleaned up his messes. Or more accurately, the men his father employed.”
“His father sounds like a piece of work,” spat Jay.
“Actually, I don’t know about that,” I shrugged. “He was definitely not there enough. The man admitted that to me outright. He enabled his son by throwing money at whatever he needed to, but the few times I met him I got the sense… the sense that he…”
My thoughts drifted aimlessly through my exhausted mind. My train of thought, utterly derailed.
I pushed my plate away, but Tyler pushed it back.
“Know what?” he said gently.
“What?”
