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After a quick goodbye, I hopped on my bike and rode straight over to Sky’s place. I knew she might not be alone, and going there was in direct violation of what she’d most recently asked of me. But I needed to see her, at least to assure myself that she was all right. I didn’t want to hear that from her via text, or even a phone call. I had to see for myself.
I rang and knocked, impatient for the door to open. Good or bad, I had to know what was going on. After a short while, I heard fumbling with the deadbolt and Sky appeared.
“You shouldn’t be here.” She instantly started to back away, closing the door behind her.
“Sky.” I stepped forward, wanting to reach out and touch but stopping myself before I did it. “Talk to me for a minute.”
She looked down, hair hiding part of her face. She shook her head and repeated. “You shouldn’t be here.” But she kept the door ajar.
“Two minutes, Sky. I just want to make sure you’re OK. I heard you’re not working at the home anymore.”
She sighed, her shoulders sagging under an invisible, heavy weight. “I shouldn’t do this,” she muttered, but then she opened the door. “Two minutes,” she echoed my request. “But then you have to get out of here.”
She shut the door behind me, but before she did she looked both ways, like we were criminals up to no good. I cringed at the implication, partially because I knew it had some truth to it. Real adult life was so much more complicated than I’d thought as a kid. I remembered how my father used to cheat on my mother, and how I’d promised myself I’d never do that kind of thing to a woman. Now here I was, sniffing around a married woman’s heels. Only I promised myself, this time I’d keep my hands to myself.
Up in her kitchen, things didn’t look right. It was messy, the shades drawn, no sign of the usual energy and liveliness Sky seemed to embody. She closed the apartment door behind her, then stood with her arms crossed, still looking down, not meeting my eyes.
“How are you, Sky?” I felt even more concerned than I had when I’d first arrived. “Are you all right? Why did you quit your job?”
She exhaled, shaking her head. It was when she brought her hand to her forehead that I caught a glimpse. With her hair further back away from her face, I could see a dark bruise along her cheekbone.
“Sky.” At her side, I took her hand, went to touch her face. She jerked away, putting space between us.
“It’s nothing. I’m fine.” She let her hair fall back down again, hiding the worst of the bruising.
“Did he do that to you?” My voice tight and controlled, fury churned up inside of me. I knew before she answered. Griller had done it, the fucking monster.
“It’s not your business.” She shook her head. “I shouldn’t have brought you up here. You should go.”
Before she could open the door again, I asked, “Did he hurt you?”
She rubbed her forehead and muttered, “He was angry. We got in a fight.”
“Motherfucker!” I kicked the side of the refrigerator. The loud clang echoed throughout the small apartment.
“Jax, I don’t need another big, pissed-off guy storming around here.”
I ran a hand over my head, trying to calm myself down. She was right. It wouldn’t do anyone any good for me to lose my temper. Not yet anyway. I could save that for when I could plant my fist into Griller’s skull.
“What did you fight about?” I remembered the last time I was there, how I’d snuck out the window and down the fire escape like an escaped convict. Was there any chance he’d found out? Had I gotten her in trouble? “He doesn’t think—?”
“He does think I’m cheating on him,” she confirmed, sounding as bitter as I’d ever heard her. “He made me quit my job because of it. But he has no idea about you.”
“Why then?”
“Because he found my birth control pills.” She threw up her hands in exasperation. “I may as well tell you everything.” She shook her head and continued. “Mike wanted to fix things between us by having a kid, but I wanted to leave him so I went on the pill. Then he found them because I suck at hiding things. And he got furious.”
I wanted to take her into my arms so badly my teeth hurt from clenching my jaw. But I didn’t, even though I noticed how she shook, how she’d lost weight. She had shadows under her eyes, but still she looked so heartbreakingly beautiful.
“He should never…” I had to pause, balling my fists as rage pumped through my veins. “He has no right to hurt you.”
“I was stupid. I left them right out on the counter where he could find them.”
“You’re an honest person. That’s not a bad thing.”
“I’ve sucked at hiding things from you, too, haven’t I?” She eyed me ruefully. “You’ve probably known for months I’ve had a crush on you.”
“I was too caught up in my own to know for sure.” I hated that we were finally having this conversation while she stood across the room from me, a dark bruise blooming on her face. The bastard deserved to die. The urge to protect her rose up so fierce, I barely had any room to register she was expressing feelings for me.
With a nervous glance at the clock on the stove, she started toward the door again. “Anyway, you should get going, Jax. What if he walked in right now?”
“What if you walked out right now?” The words came out before I’d fully thought them through, but the second I said them I knew I absolutely meant it. “Leave with me. Walk away. You’ve said you want to. Do it now, with me.” Urgent, I moved toward her, wanting to take her hand. But again, as if we were magnets with opposing forces, she pushed away, maintaining distance.
“I can’t.”
“Why not? I care about you, Sky. I know I don’t know you that well, yet. But I’d like to. I’d like to help you. See that you’re safe.” I reached out, trying to touch her hair, but she brushed my hand away.
“I can’t think with you here talking like that.” She sounded frustrated, not swayed.
“Then let’s leave and have the conversation somewhere else.” She looked so frail and sad there in the dark kitchen. I wanted to take her to my house. Or even better, I could take her someplace down in Mexico with a beach. I could whisk her away, the two of us sipping tropical drinks and making love—
“It’s not that simple.” She interrupted my train of thought. “I’m married.”
“But you want to leave him.” Why wasn’t she seeing this the way I was?
“I need time to work this out,” she insisted, like I was making things harder and more complex instead of the other way around. “I’m going to leave him. But I can’t leave him for you.”
“Let me help.” But I could already sense her answer. She wasn’t yielding, wasn’t feeling persuaded at all. If anything, she was growing more agitated, more anxious for me to leave.
“It’s too complicated.”
“Damn, Sky.” I rubbed my head, looking at the floor. It seemed like a lot for her to take on. I didn’t want to list all the obstacles, but it wasn’t just that Griller was a hell of a mean guy. He was also part of a club of blood brothers, men who wouldn’t blink an eye over killing a girl who crossed any of their paths. If Griller didn’t want her to leave him, he could sure make it hard for her to do it. “Are you sure?”
