Closure

By Olivia Keyes

Natalie left her troubled past behind and finally found luck in love. She met Alex, who is charming, gorgeous, and sweet. He treats her the way she’s always dreamt of being treated, and now, they’re about to get married. Natalie is prepared to become Alex’s loving wife, but the past soon comes back to haunt her with the arrival of Jay.

Jay is Natalie’s abusive ex-boyfriend. He was her first love, the first man to ever awaken her passion. Jay steps back into her life, determined to stop her from marrying Alex. He just won’t let go. Due to his ruthless advances, Natalie gives him a chance to explain his past behaviors and the reason he uses violence in place of love.

Natalie decides she must understand Jay before she can move forward and be the wife that Alex deserves. However, things get messy the closer she gets to her ex. Now she wonders, is it better to let sleeping dogs lie or get closure for the past? Natalie may realize the answer to this age-old question only once it’s too late.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu Publishing Services
• Release date: Sep 30, 2014
• ISBN: 9781483418551

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KEYES

Copyright © 2014 Olivia Keyes.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted by any means—whether auditory, graphic, mechanical, or electronic—without written permission of both publisher and author, except in the case of brief excerpts used in critical articles and reviews. Unauthorized reproduction of any part of this work is illegal and is punishable by law.

ISBN: 978-1-4834-1854-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4834-1856-8 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4834-1855-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014917109

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Lulu Publishing Services rev. date: 09/24/2014

CONTENTS

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

About The Author

To the most wonderful guy out there. Justin, thank you for all the support you’ve given me to get this book done through sacrifices and the countless amount of hours put in.

Mom and Dad, thank you for teaching me who didn’t deserve my heart growing up. Unlike my character Natalie, I’m always glad that you’re my parents.

To Jon for being the first one to read my book, and providing me feedback.

To all my Backers for helping me get my book off the ground. This one’s for you!

We are products of our past, but we don’t have to be prisoners of it.

—Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For?

PROLOGUE

I n a quaint, little town called Brighton, in a diner that could seat at most thirty people, a guy couldn’t stop gazing at the familiar face that haunted his mind for many years. Though it had been years since they had broken up, Jay Whitlock knew every curve on her body and every inch of her face. He longed to hear her breathe into his ear again. The thought of her touching him made Jay shiver.

The scrambled eggs left on his plate were getting cold. It tasted rubbery, but he didn’t care. He didn’t plan on eating it or paying for his food. Ordering food was an excuse for him to watch her in secret.

Jay drew a sharp breath as he noticed the way she walked and how her face lit up when she raised her foot in the air to examine the expensive leather boots she desperately wanted from the nearby shoe store. With the back of his hand, Jay wiped sweat off his brow. He couldn’t stand it any longer. The thought of her drew him absolutely crazy. It was as if her presence were taunting him. He hated the feeling. He needed to see her again.

I will make you mine again. His hands violently shook as he dug into his coat pocket and found those fat pills he took every day: two in the morning and one at night. Picking up his free water, he downed the pill in an instant. It was an old habit for someone like him. Jay hated taking his daily pills because they were huge and distasteful. He pounded his fist on the table as the pill forced its way down his throat. People seated nearby stopped their conversations to stare at him, wondering why he was acting strange and considering if he were insane.

Jay chuckled to himself. The stares were getting old. People always gaped at him whenever he didn’t fit the norm. The rules that people followed in the public’s eye never sat well with him. He didn’t care what anyone thought. He only wanted to go after one thing. Natalie.

He closed his eyes as he pictured Natalie at sixteen years old, running down the long staircase when she heard the doorbell rang. She kept her blonde hair perfectly straight, but it swayed back and forth as she ran. Jay twitched when he remembered his arms wrapped around her body.

When Natalie and Jay were in high school, he made sure the other boys didn’t touch her by keeping her close to him. Everywhere they went, their fingers were entwined, or his arm covered her waist. When she went to her class, he stood outside the room and peered into the window to make sure she wasn’t cheating on him.

His blood boiled when other boys noticed Natalie with her tight miniskirts and polo shirts hugging her perfect breasts. Tyler Hill, a classmate, noticed Jay’s obsession and boasted he would give two hundred dollars to the first guy who scored a date with Natalie. For that, Jay gave Tyler a black eye and threatened the others. Soon, word got around about Jay’s possessive nature, creating a new game among the high school boys. Their flirtations toward Natalie only fueled Jay’s fire.

No matter how many boys asked her out, she refused. Time after time, she promised she wouldn’t date other men or hang out with her guy friends. He knew she was very much in love and wanted to make him happy. The thought comforted him to know his girlfriend wouldn’t leave him. The other boys gave her concert tickets, gift certificates to her favorite store, and movie ticket stubs, hoping she would attend. They tried everything for one date, but they never had a chance. Not if I could help it, Jay vowed.

One October morning, he snapped. His jealousy caught up to him when he saw her talking to John Rivers by the cafeteria. She was holding her books and laughing at one of John’s dumb jokes. She had pulled her hair back into a ponytail. A gold ribbon fell down to her neck. She wore a blue and gold cheerleader’s outfit with white socks and tennis shoes. She was dressed for a pep rally before the school’s football game.

He panicked. She’s cheating on me! The thought entered his mind, and he didn’t like it. He instantly ran over to John and punched the back of his head. John never saw it coming.

Natalie screamed and begged Jay to stop kicking John in the stomach. John yelped in pain, covering his face with his hands to protect himself. Jay couldn’t hear the screams. He ignored everything around him. To him, the area was completely silent and in his control. He only wanted to get John to stop flirting with his girlfriend. He focused every hard and painful blow to John’s stomach to make him regret what he was doing.

The students gathered around to watch as if they were a driver seeing someone pulled over on the side of the road being questioned by police. They widened their eyes as they watched the fight.

Natalie lunged onto Jay’s back and used her weight to pull him off. She thrashed her arms as she continued to yell at him. Her nails dug into his neck, piercing his skin.

Get off! He shoved her to the ground.

Her knee twisted as it hit the floor. She cried out in pain as her friends Brianna and Isabelle rushed to her rescue. They each took an arm as they picked Natalie off the floor and carried her to the nurse’s office.

As if reality snapped back into place, Jay stopped what he was doing. Feeling ashamed of his behavior, he desperately wanted to apologize to her. But she disappeared into the crowd. Students all around him widened their eyes from witnessing the event. Natalie slowly hobbled away with her friends, violently shaking with fear.

As if sensing his escape, John scrambled to his feet and yelled for someone to call 9-1-1. The principal ran with the faculty members closely behind and led him into the office. Jay knew what was coming. Expulsion. After the violent outburst on school property, the school would undoubtedly expel him. In anger, he punched a locker