AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The lines in his forehead deepen. “I can’t keep you safe if I don’t know the details.”
I pull out of his arms and shake my head. “Then I’ll run.” I think of my belongings upstairs, still unpacked, a car I can borrow from my father. “I won’t put you and your family in the middle of this.”
It’s the wrong thing to say.
Davis freezes, and anger reflects in the dark depths of his eyes.
“Help me God, Dakota, you run, you won’t get far.”
Anger crashes into me. Anger that Aiden can fuck with my mind even though he no longer has any hold on me.
“I will never go back to him,” I hiss, stepping backward. “I will die before I let him find me again.”
“Don’t say that.” His features are grave, his voice a low tone of warning. “Don’t you ever fucking say that. Nothing is more important than you. Than the life you have. He will not take it away. He will not take you away. Not from me.”
From me.
My lips part in shock. I want to ask him what he means, but before I can, Davis says, “Don’t run from me, Dakota. Because I’ll keep you here.”
“I hate him.” The words explode from my chest with a vengeance. “I hate him so much.”
“I know, baby. Let it out.”
I inhale unsteadily.
Hot tears flood my eyes. Blood thunders in my ears.
“I lost everything. My notebooks. My recipes. My investment. My arm.”
“What else?” Davis takes a step forward, reaching for me.
Pain wells inside me again, and I squeeze my eyes shut to block Aiden’s voice from my ears. “I can’t bake. My sister hates me. And I’m scared. I’m scared to be a mom.” I whisper it like the baby can hear me. Like he or she will hold it against me for the rest of my life.
“When will I feel okay? Like a human being? Like a mother? I’m sick of feeling like some broken failure. I’m sick of being strong.”
“So don’t,” he says, low and strained.
“What?”
“Be strong.” He captures my wrist and tugs me into his arms, locking me against him.
Shaking my head, I try to shove him away with the heel of my palm, but he holds me tight. Won’t let me loose.
“Scream.”
“What?” I blink and look up at him, thinking I’ve misheard.
“Scream. Let it out, Cupcake. Everything. I want this fucking lodge to shake.”
My eyes meet his.
Somehow, he always knows what I need.
And then I grab onto Davis’s shoulders, dig my nails into the meat of his muscle and scream. The piercing scream rattles my entire body, has my knees threatening to give out, and still Davis holds me upright in his arms.
He doesn’t flinch.
He takes it with me. A man giving me a safe place to land.
