Chapter 60: Chapter 60

/Amber's pov/

"What the heck is going on?" Jake yelled as he walked towards Josh, his face contorted with rage.

"I don't know what to say. Just as I was about to put on my clothes, she freaked out and began weeping. Nothing happened, Jake. "I didn't do anything!" Josh screamed, his voice tinged with fear.

Jake grabbed my arm and dragged me away from Mike's presence. "Has he hurt you, Amber?" he said with a vengeance, pointing accusingly at Josh.

I tried to speak with a shake of my head. "They believed Josh had harmed me," I said. "I went to his place. The words "He wasn't meant to be there" broke my heart, and my legs gave out from beneath me. I was about to collapse to the floor when Mike grabbed my waist and swiftly snatched me up. He sat down next to me, bringing me into his lap, stroking my hair away from my face, and kissed my cheek.

"Don't worry, Angel. It's all right. "Everything is OK," he reassured her.

"Who was supposed to be there but wasn't? "Someone has to tell me what the heck occurred, and they need to tell me right now!" Jake screamed, his voice becoming more and more enraged.

"Dad," I managed to mumble.

When Jake looked up, his eyes widened, his hands tightened into fists, and his mouth clamped shut. Mike's arms wrapped around me and became tighter. "Did you happen to see him?" Jake inquired, his tone bordering on dangerous in its tone. I nodded and stood there watching him scowl at Josh as if this was somehow his fault. What kind of person brought her to your house and allowed that as**ole to be near her?" Josh flinched in response to Jake's snarl.

"I had no idea he was in the building! He wasn't meant to be there in the first place. It was Jake who looked like he wanted to murder him right then, so he protested, holding his hands up innocently as Jake looked like he wanted to murder him right then and there. Josh would be dead right now if appearances were capable of killing.

"Can you tell me what he did, Angel?" Mike spoke something in hushed tones, bringing my face around to face him. I made a shaky motion with my head. Is it okay if I tell them? IF they found out, I had absolutely no doubt that they would go around to that location in the very near future to confront them and then put them in serious trouble. "Please tell me," Mike said.

I wrapped my arms around him firmly because I couldn't lie to him. "He.. he reached out and grabbed my arm. He said that I... I couldn't say anything because I was sobbing. "I looked lovely, exactly like my mother when she was my age, and that I was a f....fucking p....peach," I mumbled, barely able to get the words out before my voice hitched and caught in my tears. Mike's arms began to close around me, becoming so tight that it was beginning to hurt my ribs. "Mike, you're causing me pain," I wailed, burying my hands in his dreadlocked hair. His arms relaxed almost immediately, but his whole body was stiff to the point that he was definitely causing himself an ulcer.

Jake snatched his keys from the side of the car. "I'm taking the train. "Do you want to come, Mike?" Jake inquired as he approached the front door. No way in hell! I couldn't stand by and watch them get into trouble!

On the couch, Mike helped me up off his lap and onto his lap again. "Keep an eye on her," he whispered severely to Josh as he rose to leave the room.

“No!” I shouted and grabbed Mike's hand in my own. "No, Jake!" I pleaded my case.

"I'm not going to allow him to harm you again," Jake swore.

"He isn't going to do it. He's not going to come near me. My mistake; I shouldn't have gone to Josh's in the first place. I should have known better than to take the chance. Please, please, please don't do it. I don't see how you could get into trouble. I'm in desperate need of your help. I require the assistance of both of you. "Please don't abandon me in the middle of nowhere," I pleaded. To emphasize my point, I grasped Mike's hand. Then I pleaded with him, pushing him closer to me once again.

He sighed and looked Jake in the eyes. "She's absolutely correct, Jake. We can't go without him taking some action first. As Mike reasoned, "He'll just get away with everything, and we'll be the ones who get into trouble."

I took it easy. Mike was making sense; he was the type of person who always thought things through, unlike Jake. "Can you explain what you mean by 'hurt her again?" Josh inquired in hushed tones.

We were all looking at him at the same time. Jake was the first to speak. “Nothing. "I believe you should go, Josh." He walked up to the door and nodded, signaling that he should go.

Josh made a shaky motion with his head. “No. "Amber, you told me you'd tell me what this was all about," he said, his eyes pleadingly fixed on me.

It was my intention to say that, and he is correct. Jake only stared at me, as if he wanted me to make the choice. "I did say that," I agreed, nodding and closing my eyes as I pressed my face into Mike's chest once again. Oh my goodness, this was going to be so difficult!

/Mike's pov/

It was important to me that she remained near to me, so I slid her back into my lap. My emotions had not yet returned to normal after seeing her weeping. I was so enraged that my jaw was throbbing from the constant clamping of my teeth together in an attempt to maintain control. However, she was right in stating that we would be the ones in trouble if we went around there and beat him till there was nothing left of him. She didn't need any more stress at this point.

Jake signaled for Josh to have a seat on the sofa across from us, and Josh sat down next to him on the couch. Both of them seemed to be under pressure. Amber scrunch up into a ball on my lap, drawing her legs up to her chest and snuggling her face into the side of my waist. She was gently rocked in my arms as I listened to Jake tell Josh about the violence they had suffered as children, how their father had attempted to assault Amber, and how we had forced him out of our home three years ago.

He didn't mention the sexual assault she had suffered, which no one knew about since she refused to speak about it publicly. Josh was simply sitting there, fiddling with his hands the whole time. Why didn't he seem to be surprised by any of this? If someone sat in front of me and told me that their father had mistreated them for years, I'm sure I'd be at least a little taken aback, wouldn't you say?

It took approximately 10 minutes until I looked down at Amber and saw that she was fast asleep in my arms.

Her cheeks were still red from sobbing, and she seemed to be in a vulnerable state. I vowed to myself that I'd never let anything harm her again. For Jake's attention, I waved my hand at him. As I lifted her up and tried to keep her motionless as I carried her to her room, I said, "I'm going to put her to bed." I tucked her into her bed. Because she began to cry and cuddle closer to me, I sat down beside her for a few minutes till she was back in a deep slumber. I gave her a kiss on the forehead, and I returned to the sitting room.

With his face in shock, Josh cradled his head in his arms. Jake was visibly agitated once again. When I ask, "What the hell is the matter?" I inquired, my gaze straddling the two of them. Jake stared at me with a look of extreme concern and worry on his face." As a result of his strength, I didn't see Jake in this state very frequently, and seeing him in this state made me feel ill to my stomach.

"He's up to his old tricks once again...." His mother and Josh have both been beaten by him," Jake snorted, his face flushed with rage. What a waste of time and energy. We should have contacted the police instead of evicting Jake, but he refused to listen since he didn't want Amber to go through that ordeal. In addition, he was now doing it to someone else!

'Last year, my mother expressed her desire to divorce him.' So we changed our location and came to this place instead. 'She insisted that it was a new beginning and that we should all start again,' Josh lamented. 'But it hasn't helped,' Josh said. In front of him, I crouched down and placed my hand on his shoulder to comfort him. My acquaintance with him was limited; he was more of Angel's buddy than mine, but I was aware of his character as an excellent young man.

In response to Josh's question, "Does your mother still want to divorce him?" As I stared at Jake, who seemed to be on the verge of bursting into flames, I posed the question. Keeping a tight check on him would be necessary. We wouldn't rush into anything, and it would have to seem to be self-defense if the time came. If the moment came, I'd be there by his side.

'I don't know,' Josh said. As a result of our relocation, I haven't spoken to her about it. "I have no idea." Her fear for Stanley is well-known to me. "He hasn't struck him yet, but he's only a year old," he said, his voice cracking as he responded.

I put my arm over his shoulder in a supporting position. It was a nasty piece of work from that as**ole. Awkwardly patting his back, Jake took up a position next to him on the couch. We weren't very skilled at providing help. The character of Angel would be ideal for this since she was so very kind and caring.

It's important that Josh inform his mother that he has done this previously. She may just get the push she needs to get away from him before he does anything to Stanley," Jake speculated.