Page 62 of Scar Tissue

“Stay?” I echo, acting ignorant even though I know what she means, because she already told me.

She nods. “Stay. Through anger. The nightmares. Through the days you hate everyone, including yourself. Because every day you’re still here, is something they didn’t get to take.”

I stay still for a moment, before squeezing her hand. “Okay.”

“Do you want me to stay with you?” she asks.

I smile meekly. “Won’t Fletcher protest that?”

She huffs a quiet laugh, shaking her head. “Fletcher can deal with it. He’s not the one waking up in a cold sweat at three in the morning.”

“Still,” I murmur. “He’s…protective.” And that may be the understatement of the century.

“So am I.” Her voice softens, but there’s something unyielding beneath it. “The

difference is, I’m asking whatyouneed.”

“I don’t want to be alone tonight,” I admit, even though I know Nathan is here. “But I also don’t want to feel like I’m keeping you from your life. Not when you’ve already experienced enough of this to last a lifetime.”

Her thumb brushes over my knuckles. “You’re not a burden. You’re a person who went through something horrible. And you’re my best friend. So I’ll ask again, do you want me to stay?”

I hesitate for a moment before answering her, knowing that the last thing Nathan and I need is more space. But knowing that I need someone who’s been consistent with me through everything, and more importantly, someone who understands. The best friend that I let get too distant from me, and the person who has always been the best at grounding me.

Chapter

Thirty-Five

CLAIRE

My palms are clammy as I navigate the district downtown, and I’m fighting to keep down the bile that keeps rising up my throat with every footstep, despite the tough act I put on for the others a few nights ago. As much as I trust them to get me out of this situation once I’m in it, I know nothing is foolproof. If it was, then maybe I would’ve been born into a family who actually wanted me. Maybe bad things wouldn’t happen day in and day out in the world.

I made sure to dress inconspicuously, but also in his favorite colors. Not that I think colors alone will get his attention, but because his favorite colors onmewill. They didn’t have an exact time or location for where he would be today, as he hadn’t shown his face in public since the night Thea, Fletcher, and Nathan infiltrated his auction. But I know his schedule well enough to know that Wednesdays were non-negotiable when it came to his favorite brunch house. It wasn’t strictly for the food of course, although it tasted as good as it looks. He brought me along a few times in the past. He happened to also conduct some of his most lucrative meetings there—the kind that you don’t simply reschedule because you’ve been grazed by a bullet. The kind where one can casually and quietly orchestrate halfthe city’s underbelly over eggs benedict and imported coffee without looking suspicious.

I slow as the corner comes into view, forcing my breathing to even out, to match the unhurried pace of the people around me. I’m not wearing a wire, or any monitoring device for that matter, because once he has his opportunity to get his hands on me, that would be the first thing he searches for. But I know the others are watching from multiple spots along the street. I didn’t let them tell me exactly where because if this thing blows to shit, I refuse to bring them all down with me.I survived him once. I can survive him for long enough for them to end it.I repeat what I told the group in order to ground myself, but even I’m having a hard time believing it as I pass the first window to the brunch house.

I briefly glance inside and notice that no one looks like they’re walking into a predator’s den. They’re laughing, scrolling on their phones, complaining about wait times as if they’re blissfully ignorant to the evil surrounding them. My mind wonders, not for the first time, what it must feel like to live a life where the worst part of your day is a bad cup of coffee. But the thought cuts short when I recognize his frame slightly slouched over in what I now know is his regular booth, across from some sleazy business partner. I pause midstride, debating whether I keep walking or stand here and purposely draw his attention, but it appears that my legs are already making the decision for me, because I’m suddenly like a deer in headlights.

My lungs have seized up and my heart is pounding so violently that I’m convinced it’s visible through my ribs and that at any second someone will ask if they need to call an ambulance. My vision starts to go black, the unexpected anxiety attack washing over me at the worst possible time knowing he could see this and come out acting like the good samaritan or claim that he’s my father and no one would bat an eye as I’m whisked away into this monster’s car. Because no one would dare question the mayor’s morality, and if the press released headlinesand tabloids over the fact that he has a “daughter” they knew nothing about, he would do the honorable thing and claim he keeps me out of the spotlight for my wellbeing. And they would fuckingpraise himfor it.

“—Ma’am? Ma’am?” The feeling of someone’s hand on my shoulder has me jumping backward, landing on my ass as I trip over the concrete and my fear in one clumsy step. The stranger puts his hands up as if to say he doesn’t mean any harm, but all I can do is roll over and puke. The contents of my own breakfast a few hours ago painting the sidewalk in a macabre fashion that has several other onlookers looking at me in disgust. “Are you alright?” the stranger asks again, and it takes me several more seconds to catch my breath enough to answer him.

“I—uh, I’m sorry.” I push myself back to my feet as I dare a look inside the brunch house again and this time, Harrison Clark is looking right at me. I don’t bother to explain myself any further to the man as I take off at a brisk pace up the sidewalk, not daring to look back. I don’t need to. I already know that he will be following me. Up the sidewalk and past different blocks I can feel his presence. By the time I reach one of the city parks, I’m out of breath and dizzy and find myself leaning against the trunk of a tree. He hasn’t approached me yet, but I know he’s here. He no doubt has his men scouting the area for any other trouble before approaching me, especially if he thinks that I’m in bed with Thea or Nathan. My only saving grace is how busy it is; moms and dads watching their children play, dogs being walked on their leashes, people riding bikes along the path. I wasn’t lying when I said he wouldn’t risk a scene, but I know he won’t let me just walk away either, and trying to physically prepare myself for what I have to do feels like swimming in concrete.

“Well, I never thought I’d see you again.” The tone in his voice sends alarm bells ringing in my head. “Have you enjoyed your taste of freedom, Claire? Have you realized that life on the streets isn’t all that it’s cut out to be and made your decision to come home?”There’s something about the way he says it, like it’s something warm even though it’s never been anything but a cage.

My fingers curl into the rough bark behind me, as every instinct in me tells me to run. But instead I let go and turn around to face the man who makes up all of the monsters in my nightmares.

“I was wondering how long it would take,” he continues as he straightens the cuffs of his shirt, but I don’t miss the flinch when he aggravates what is so obviously a bandaged shoulder under his suit jacket. “You always were, well, predictable.”

“Predictable?” I echo, unable to help the breathless laugh I release. “That’s funny. I don’t remember meescapingbeing a part of your plan.” I don’t miss the anger that flares in his eyes, and I doubt anyone else would have managed to catch it before it was gone. But I’ve spent enough time around him to know every one of his cues.

“And yet here you are. Came back all on your own, just like I knew you would.” He steps closer to me, unhurried as his eyes rake up and down my body.

“Don’t flatter yourself,” I say, quiet this time. The way I know he likes it. “I didn’t come back for you.”

He smiles at me then, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “No? Then enlighten me, Claire. What possible reason could you have for putting yourself back within my reach?”

The one thing that gets him off more than harming innocent children is when those same innocent children play right into his hand, making him feel like the smartest and most important person in the room. So I take a step forward, close enough to see the faint scar near his jaw and smell the expensive cologne that used to make me sick for entirely different reasons. Close enough to make this believable. “I ran,” I admit, letting my voice shake just slightly. “I thought I could just…disappear, start over. But you were right.”