Font Size:  

Fire blazed high in her eyes. “I’ll kill him.”

“No,” I cried when she started to release me. “Please. I’ve had enough tonight. I just want to go home. I don’t want to even think about your brother right now.”

Behind me, I heard Cannon call my name, and I shivered against Remington. “Please,” I whispered, my voice choked with emotion. “Please, let’s just go home.”

“You’re in no shape to drive, and I can’t…” Shaw’s voice quivered. “I’m so sorry, Vi.”

“I’ll take you both home,” Remington offered. “But you’ll have to come back for your car later.”

“I don’t care about the car,” Shaw told him.

He drove us to my house, because there was no way I could handle going to Shaw’s when Cannon could come home at any time. I couldn’t even stomach being around him. I wasn’t sure if I was more hurt or angry with him, but I knew if I saw him again anytime soon, I would do something I’d end up regretting.

Thankfully, it wasn’t too far past my curfew when Remington pulled into my driveway. I turned to face him and tried to smile. “Thanks,” I murmured.

He touched his thumb to my painful, swollen bottom lip. “Are you going to be okay?”

“I’ll live,” I said with a tiny smile.

“I’ll see you Monday,” he said, returning my smile.

With a nod, I got out, and Shaw followed me. Remington waited until we were on the porch before reversing out of the driveway, and I unlocked the door. As we entered the house, Dad stuck his head out of the living room. “Hey. I thought you two were staying at Shaw’s tonight.”

I pushed Shaw up the stairs, hoping Dad didn’t smell the booze on her. I tried to keep my face turned away, not wanting him to see my mouth. I’d tried to clean off the blood myself with some tissues in the car, but I could still taste it and wasn’t all that confident it hadn’t smeared on my chin again.

“Changed our minds,” I told him as I started up the steps behind my friend. “Night, Dad.”

“Vi, wait…” I kept walking. “Are you okay? You’re…”

“I’m fine,” I told him as I practically sprinted up the stairs behind Shaw. “Love you.”

I got to my room and shut the door before locking it. Shaw had fallen face first onto my bed, already snoring. She’d really overdone it with the rum earlier, and even though she’d been pissed at her brother, the booze had caught up with her on the ride home, and she couldn’t keep her eyes open any longer.

I walked over to her and pulled off her boots, then walked into my bathroom to look at myself in the mirror. There wasn’t any blood on my face, thankfully, but my lips were swollen, especially the bottom one, and there was a bruise forming around the outline of my mouth.

Fingers trembling, I carefully touched my tender lips, and fresh tears blinded me. Luca was the only person ever to kiss me until now. My mouth had only known the kiss of the man I loved, and now…

Swallowing a sob, I walked blindly back into my room and found my phone. I needed to tell Luca. This wasn’t something I could keep from him. It wouldn’t be right to even try. He was going to be mad, and I was sure Cannon was going to be a dead man very, very soon, but I wasn’t even sure if I cared if Luca killed him. Not as upset as I was.

I checked the time and cursed when I realized it was going to be the middle of the night in Mississippi. But I didn’t want to wait. It would only make him angrier if I kept it from him for even a second longer.

“Hello?” Luca’s sleepy voice filled my ear.

Just hearing his voice made my tears fall faster. “Hey,” I whispered.

“Baby?” I heard him moving around for a moment and imagined him sitting up. “Babe, what’s wrong?”

“I… Oh God. Something…happened.” I swallowed the knot in my throat and closed my eyes, but all I could picture was Cannon’s aggressive eyes, and I quickly opened mine, fighting a shudder.

“Are you okay?”

“No,” I answered honestly, scrubbing the back of my hand over my tear-streaked face. “Not really.”

Chapter 21

Luca

I tried to clear my head of the sleep fog and hear what Violet was saying. She was upset, and I could tell she was crying.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
Articles you may like