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ChapterThirteen
SAVANNAH
Iran back to town, only slowing down so as not to draw attention to myself.
Scrambling for the car door, I barely kept my wits together, not acknowledging the wetness between my legs, the beating of my heart, or yearning for Donovan. I got in the car and drove to the inn, relieved that Lilly wasn’t there once I’d parked up and entered the reception. She was probably out back, tending to her flowers.
I took advantage, shaking, and racing up to my room, hurriedly closing the door behind me before I let go.
Slumping against the door, I slid down to the floor, sitting against the soft carpet. The tears came fast and fierce. He’s just a man, for goodness sake!I tried to tell myself, but my heart wouldn’t allow it. Something had woven between us, something not visible, but tangible, and it had occurred from the moment we’d first met.
Donovan stripped me bare with a glance. Made me vulnerable. And if it hadn’t been for the lie that lay between us, and the awful act I still had to carry out, then I would have let him take me, screw me senseless, at the place named after him—a place he held dear.
Wiping the tears from my face, I rummaged for the pencils and pad I’d brought from the store. Once I’d tore open the packaging, I allowed myself to bleed everything I felt onto the page.
My heart hurt. I lowered my guard, and the pain settled in my chest.
Emotion spilled and sang, urging me to lose myself in my work.
Tears pooled, but I willed them back. It was all bullshit. All of it. My uncle had got into this mess because he couldn’t see past his own nose, always thinking of himself and how he could use me to his advantage. And now this.
But he took you in.
The pencil sketch changed form, deepening into the page during the collision inside me between my past and present.
A vivid memory entered my mind.
“Did that asshole do that to you?” Will demanded, gesturing toward the bruise on my wrist. A present my boyfriend had given me for refusing to sleep with him.
“It’s fine, Will.”
“It’s not fine.” He snatched the door of the trailer open. “I’ll wring the bastard’s neck.”
“Don’t,” I pleaded, chasing after him. But through my tears, I couldn’t keep up. Dejected, I followed him across the field, through the trees, and into town, my appeals falling on deaf ears.
Will walked into the arcade. The embarrassment flooded my cheeks as I could do nothing but follow helplessly, sticking with Will as he raged through the crowd.
“You!” he yelled, grabbing the scruff of the neck of Pete Finders, shaking him before slamming him against the wall.
“Uncle Will, don’t, please!” I grabbed at his arm, and he let Pete go. But he thrust a finger under my boyfriend’s nose.
“You lay one hand on her again. If you even look at her in the wrong way, I will put you under! Got me?”
Pete smirked at the people gathering behind us. “Let me go, or I’ll make sure my father—”
Will slammed him against the wall a second time. “Let your father do what he damn well pleases. I haven’t got a fucking cent to give you, and if you want me thrown in jail, I’ll make sure I’m put in there for something worthwhile.” He leaned closer, sneering in Pete’s face. “She’s way too good for you. And you know it, don’t you, you piece of shit? So stay the fuck away from her.” He grabbed Pete’s wrist and twisted it hard. Pete squealed loudly, the pain on his face clear to see. “Now you know how it feels.”
Will dropped him, and took me by the shoulders, marched me out of the arcade and directly to the gun range.
After that, he took me home and taught me all the dirty moves on how to put a person down, giving me a lecture about not letting anyone ever get close enough to injure me again. Then he bought me ice cream, telling me I was worth more than the likes of that shit, whether they came from money or not.
The memory came from nowhere, shining out among the shittier days. Things may have gone back to normal between us after that, but he’d cared for me in my darkest moment, had my back at a time my heart had broken, and from then on I’d got interested in his work, helping him out during my spare time.
I couldn’t let an innocent suffer, let alone my only family. No matter what Will had done, he never did it with evil intentions. But now here I was, torn between him and a man I’d just met—one who spoke to me in a way where no words were needed, and one who didn’t deserve what I had to do.
How can I choose?
Tears finally dropped from my face, splashing against my hand. I continued to draw the trees, letting in the sensation of loss. Loss of control. Unable to embrace inaction any longer. All to make a choice that would destroy another.
