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Damien tries to drag the bottle out of my hand, but I pull it to my chest and hold it close, like my life depends on it. I might be intoxicated, but no one is taking my alcohol from me today.
“Get your own,” I snap.
“Okay. So, this is achieving what?” He sits in front of my desk and throws his leg over his knee. “I don’t want to lose you to alcohol poisoning. You’re the only family I have apart from Nancy.”
“It will take away the pain of my broken heart.”
Damien sits forward and runs his hands through his hair. “I’m sorry, bro. I’ve never loved a woman like you love Kally. I know this is a nightmare for you, but she doesn’t want this for you. If you love her like you say you do, like we all know you do, you’ll stand up and make this the best life you can…”
“But…”
He holds up his hands to shut me up. “Because one day, you will get her back. And you’ll want to be able to give her nothing but the best.”
I look at Damien through hazy eyes. I hate drinking too much, but earlier, I needed the escape. I needed to block out what’s happening today.
“You really believe that day will come?”
“I know it will.” He holds his hand out for the bottle. “Colton will slip up one day. Either he’ll meet his maker or he’ll be tossed in the slammer. It’s only our old man that’s keeping him in the position he’s in.”
I look down at the bottle and back up at him. I hand it over and slouch down in my chair. It was like the bottle weighed a ton, and without it, I’m much lighter. My body feels like it’s floating. I wish I felt this light without the alcohol floating through my veins.
I might not get Kally back today or tomorrow, but I will get her away from that asshole before he sinks his claws in too far. I must have her back in my life. I can’t live without her. I don’t want to live without her.
Without Kally, I’m nothing.
Chapter 7
Three Years Later
Clark
You’re Invited
To Celebrate
Kally Collinson’s 21st Birthday
I stare at the invitation sitting on my kitchen counter. It has been there all week, and no one has moved it. It’s like déjà vu all over again. I’ve been transported back to that day where I lost everything I ever loved. I even lost a piece of myself. I’ve just been existing ever since. My family will know what that invitation will do to me. That’s probably why they’ve sent it. To rip my heart in to even more shreds.
Three years have passed since Kally’s eighteenth birthday party, where my life shattered around me. In those thirty-six months, I’ve had to watch her fade away into nothing from the sidelines. The light has died in her eyes as she’s suffered three miscarriages. She’s made to look like the doting wife, but I can see the pain she’s in, and it kills me that there isn’t anything I can do about it. I’ve never felt as helpless. The only way I’ve seen Kally since that night is in photos on social media. I did what she asked and kept my distance. It killed me inside, and after the wedding, I traveled all over the world to sign up new clients. I want to say I had a blast, but my thoughts never strayed very far from Kally and the hell she was living in. The only positive thing I could think about was that I didn’t have to witness anything firsthand. I felt like a coward, and I wanted to jump back on a plane many times after conversations with Damien, but I knew there was nothing I could do.
Four weeks ago, Nancy called me to tell me an invitation had arrived for Kally’s party. I considered staying in London, which is where I was when Nancy called me, but I felt like I had a magnet attached to me, drawing me home. I was unsettled for seven days after that call until I booked a flight back to the States. The moment I landed on American soil, I was filled with mixed feelings, but it was a bit late having second thoughts, though. Everyone who cared knew I was arriving home, and I didn’t want to let them down any more than I already had.
I haven’t attended a single event at my parents’ house since that night. I’ve had the invitations, but I’ve received them in one hand and they’ve been shredded with the other. This one is different. I can’t ignore it. As much as it feels like I’m rubbing salt into open wounds just by considering going back to my parents’ house, I have this aching need to see Kally. I can’t explain it. I feel like I’m betraying her further by ignoring another milestone.
“You and me against the world, remember?”
My words to her echo in my head. I must somehow believe we will get that again one day. I can’t break another promise to her.
I hate myself because it hasn’t been me and her against the world. We’ve both been fighting very different battles. Kally has been fighting to give my brother a son, whereas I’m fighting to forget what has happened.
“Are you going to go?” Nancy places a cup of coffee in front of me.
I didn’t even hear her pottering around behind me. I was too far gone, thinking of the hell I’ve faced over the years. Thinking of the pain and misery Kally has no doubt faced.
“I don’t know. I feel like I should go, but how can I smile and act like everything is normal? Just the thought of seeing Colton makes me want to bash his head in and throw his body in the bayou.”
“Because you’re the bigger person. I think Kally would love to see a friendly face after all this time. You can’t keep running away, Clark. It’s no life for you either.”
