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Bitter laughter threatened to choke me. “In Brent’s world, you can.” A growl startled me and I looked up. Silas’s irises were pure gold, his hands fisted at his sides.
“Calm the fuck down, brother,” Cole snapped. Silas took a deep breath and unclenched his fists.
“Did he hurt you?” There was an undercurrent of pure rage in Silas’s low voice, but I understood he wasn’t angry at me. Nothing about this gentle man scared me.
My eyes stung but remained dry. I’d cried too many tears over Brent. I had none left. Nodding, I looked down, unable to bear the pity on their faces.
“Brent was the only person who stepped in when my father died. I was 14, just a kid. The rest of the town had turned a blind eye to my father’s alcohol problem. They didn’t want to get involved, even though it was clear Dad was in no fit state to look after himself, let alone a kid.”
“Where was your mom?”
I shrugged. “I never knew her and Dad always refused to tell me anything about her. It was just him and me. As I grew older, Dad got sicker, until I had no choice but to care for him instead of the other way around. We managed. Just. Dad worked enough days here and there to cover the rent on our trailer. Once I was old enough to wash dishes at the local diner, I brought in some extra money to pay for food and electricity. Life wasn’t great and Dad was mostly absent, but I was OK. Then he died.”
I got home from school one day and Dad was on the floor, his sightless eyes staring up at the stained ceiling, an empty bottle lying beside him. Even though years have passed, when I think about that moment, it still makes me want to vomit.
“Brent showed up the day my father died. He offered to help pay for the funeral. He said he’d known Dad for years, claimed Dad had asked him to take care of me if anything happened. Maybe he did, I don’t know. All I knew was someone was helping me when nobody else cared. He was fine for a while. Kind and caring. As a cop, people believed him when he said he was my guardian. If I’d been in my right mind, I would have known Child Protective Services should have been informed, but I had no clue about anything. He moved me into his house. Looked after me. Paid for stuff I needed. Never laid a finger on me but from the time I turned 15, he made it clear I owed him a debt, and when I turned 18, he would be collecting.”
“How old are you, Sugar, and how did you manage to get away?” Silas reached out and grasped my hand. The feel of my small hand in his large one was strangely comforting.
“I’ve just turned 18.” Which was why I couldn’t wait any longer. I knew he had something planned. It was obvious from the way he kept smirking at me that day. “I waited until he left for work. Then I took the car keys and some money I’d saved and drove away as fast as I could. I intended to keep going until I reached New York. I figured he’d never find me there. Only I never made it.”
My words trailed off. There was nothing more to say. Brent was still out there, searching for me. Until one of us was dead, he’d never give up.
“You can stop running. Eva. You’re safe with us.”
Cole’s words penetrated the thick layers of trauma around my heart, sparking something deep inside.
Hope.
Hope that maybe I had found a home.
At last.
Eva
It had been a couple of days since the accident. While I was still nervous as hell about the possibility of Brent showing up with his loaded shotgun, the snowdrifts around the cabin reassured me it was highly unlikely.
Today was the first time blue sky had peeked through the trees. I stood on the covered porch, wrapped up in a thick blanket with a pair of over-sized boots on my feet, and inhaled the crisp air.
Everywhere smelled so fresh. There was no trace of pollution up here. Just the scent of pine needles and frost. All around, as far as the eye could see, I saw nothing but piles of pristine white, virgin snow and tall pine trees.
God, it was beautiful.
Where I came from, snow rarely stayed white for long. Usually, within a couple of hours, it was gray and dirty looking. Dad’s old trailer hadn’t been insulated properly, so snow meant freezing nights, shivering under a blanket, followed by uncomfortable days walking to and from school with wet feet and blue extremities.
I sure didn’t miss that.
While I didn’t have any real clothes here, other than the stuff I’d arrived in, the guys had been generous enough to give me some old sweat pants, sweaters, and other random items. I was definitely lacking in the underwear department, but I was making do with some pairs of boxers and fluffy socks.
It wasn’t ideal, but since I didn’t plan to go anywhere for the moment, their clothes were good enough. They were both far bigger than me, so their tees and hoodies swamped me, but that was OK. I was not trying to impress anyone.
Not that I could.
“Hey, sweetheart, are you warm enough out here?” Cole ducked out of the cabin to check on me. He’d been doing that a lot. It made me feel warm inside knowing he cared about whether I was too cold.
“Yeah.” I smiled. “It’s so pretty here. I can see footprints in the snow. What kind of animal made them?” The prints all around the cabin were large and dog-like. I frowned. Shit, were there wolves in this forest? I knew there were bears, and possibly the occasional mountain lion, but the thought of wolves roaming around made me shiver.
“Erm, maybe a wolf.” I spun around in alarm.
