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28
CANNON
“Please,” I whispered, pressing my forehead against the bus door, mentally willing her to open it. But what would I even say if she did give me a chance to explain?
I’d hurt Violet and so many people in the span of one night. Why would Piper trust me with her heart when I was capable of doing something so…monstrous?
“Maybe instead of jumping to conclusions, you should get the full story from your own daughter before you start accusing people!” Shaw shouted at Liam behind me. “A lot of crazy things have happened since yesterday, and instead of trying to get an idea of what was going on, you let your anger fester, and your imagination came up with its own answers.”
“All I knew was that my little girl was hurt and Cannon was arrested for assault. What the hell was I supposed to think?” he defended himself angrily.
“Like you said yourself. You did some fucked-up shit when you were out of your mind on drugs. But you changed. You became a better man. For Aunt Gabriella and your kids.” Her voice became softer. The fact that she was coming to my defense would have blown my mind if I were thinking straight. Even after all the years since that damned night, she still didn’t fully trust me. I couldn’t blame her, though. That night hadn’t just messed up Vi’s life, but had broken Shaw and Jagger as well. “Cannon was young, dumb, and drunk that night. He let his anger at Jagger and me turn him into something he never would have become if he’d been sober. Like you, he changed, Uncle Liam. He became a better man.”
“Maybe, maybe not.” His uncertainty didn’t do anything to calm the wrath still below the surface of his tone.
“I’ve seen the proof of it,” my sister told him, the steel returning to her tone when the older rocker didn’t soften. “I questioned his intentions at first too. But I’ve seen a side of my brother that I never even knew was possible. He cares about Piper. More than I ever thought he was capable of caring for anyone.”
“Just shut up!” I snapped, turning from the still-closed bus door to glare at them both. “Neither of you are doing anything but making this worse.”
“Can, I’m only trying to help,” Shaw murmured.
“Well, you’re not. Nothing can now. She hates me.” I scrubbed a hand through my hair, fighting the burn of tears.
Ah fuck, she hated me. I’d known she would if she ever found out about what I’d done to Violet. It was why I’d tried so hard not to let her learn about it, knowing if she discovered just how big of a monster I’d once been, any affection she felt for me would wither and die. And that was exactly what had just happened. I’d seen it in her eyes as she put it all together.
Right in front of me, I’d witnessed the death of my hopes for a future with her.
There was no one else to blame but myself. My past was my own doing, and even though I’d tried my damnedest to make amends and become a better person—someone deserving of Piper—I should have known that nothing could make up for the carnage I’d caused someone I loved so dearly.
“Whoa, are all tours this chaotic?”
My head snapped up at the sound of Violet’s voice. I blinked a few times, convinced that I was hallucinating, that thinking of her had conjured her before me. But the image of her never shifted. Violet, my precious honorary sister, remained in the same place. Luca Thornton was right behind her with Love Bug secure in one arm, the NFL defensive player looking almost comically huge with the tiny toddler in one arm and the other around his fiancée.
Yet the three of them were perfect together.
I’d nearly ruined that perfection. That night I’d kissed and hurt Violet, her entire future got twisted upside down. She and Luca lost each other when they never should have been separated for a single moment.
Shaw squealed at the sight of her best friend. “What are you doing here?” she demanded with a laugh, hugging her.
“We heard about Piper. Lyric was worried about her, so I promised my brother we would come check on things,” Luca explained while the two women bounced around, hugging each other like they hadn’t seen each other in months, when they’d probably spent the month before at each other’s houses back in West Bridge. Luca’s freaky, ever-changing brown eyes shifted from me to Liam to the bus and then back to me, assessing the situation to make sure that his little family wasn’t in any danger.
“He could have called,” I muttered, jealousy of Lyric Thornton tightening my stomach muscles.
“I wanted to check on you as well,” Violet said, stepping forward to hug me once Shaw reluctantly released her. “Are you okay? I can’t believe you actually got arrested. From what my mom said Aunt Dallas told her, that prick deserved the beating you gave him.”
“Vi,” Luca hissed, tucking Love Bug’s head against his shoulder to shield her ears. “Language.”
She rolled her pretty purple eyes at me, but she called a soft, “Sorry, babe,” over her shoulder.
Shaking my head at her, I scrubbed a hand over my face, only to realize my cheeks were wet. Muttering a curse, I turned away from them, not wanting anyone to see my misery. I’d been so close to having the only thing I’d ever really wanted. And now I’d lost it.
“Cannon,” Violet called after me.
“I can’t right now, Vi,” I told her around the knot in my throat as I walked away. “I just… I can’t.”
