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ALLIE
Despite my silent protests, Harlan brought me out to breakfast, to the mall, out to dinner, then asked me to watch a movie with him in the home theater. I wanted to decline every offer, but that cruel look on his face warned me not to retaliate. And I didn’t want to end up like Jace’s mother or put my mother in danger.
And, plus, Harlan still hadn’t told me where she or Jace were.
I sat at the end of the couch, inching closer and closer to the armrest until I couldn’t get any farther. Harlan sat on the other end with his legs kicked up on a footrest and crossed over one another.
He looked too fucking comfortable for a man who had just beaten his son senseless.
Suddenly, the screen went dark, and the end credits started rolling. I shot up from my seat, completely checked out for the entire fucking day, and stepped closer to the door.
“Are we done now?” I asked, holding out my hand. “I did everything you asked. Please, give me my necklace back.”
Harlan stood and turned the light back on, cocking a finger in my direction. “Come, Allie …” He held the door open for me to exit the theater. “There’s one more thing I’d like us to do together.”
Something told me to fucking run.
I walked into the hallway and made sure to stay a solid four feet from him at all times.
Instead of heading into the kitchen for some ice cream—I thought he’d want to do something fatherly—he walked to his office and gestured for me to enter. I sat on the very edge of his suede maroon guest chair, itching to leave already.
“We’re going to end these rumors once and for all,” Harlan said. He opened his drawer, set his file on the center of his desk, and placed a lighter over it. He nodded to the file that had everything about him and his wife’s murder. “Burn it.”
My eyes widened, and I stood. “No.”
He slammed his palm against the desk. “Burn. It. Now.”
“No.”
When I refused a second time, Harlan grabbed the lighter and paper himself. As he turned on the lighter and started to burn the bottom of the page, I sprinted at him to try to salvage it. But Harlan backhanded me harder than he had last night and sent me flying down.
Jace had worked so fucking hard to get this information. It was my fault—my fucking fault—that Harlan had it and was going to destroy it. A slap was nothing compared to the pain Jace must’ve felt after learning how terrible this man was.
So, I jumped back to my feet and lunged at him again.
I kicked him. I screamed at him. I bit him even, trying so desperately to get the papers away from that fire and to stop them from burning. And when the last of the paper burned, I didn’t stop hitting him. He deserved it all.
Harlan tossed the lighter down and grabbed a fistful of my hair in one hand and my jaw in the other. “You need to learn fucking respect, Allie. Don’t make me lose my patience again with you.” He threw me down and walked to the door. “It won’t end well.”
“You’re not the man you want everyone to think you are,” I said to him, staring him right in the eye.
I wanted to hold myself back, but I couldn’t anymore. This man disgusted me so much more every day—even before had Jace told me about Harlan murdering his mother.
I glared at him. “You are weak and a disgusting excuse for a man. You can buy me the entire world, and I’ll never treat you as my father. My father was strong and fought for truth and justice.”
Darkness flashed in Harlan’s eyes—the same darkness that I had seen in them as he beat Jace last night. Instead of hitting me again, Harlan clenched his fists and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him like a bratty and immature teenager would.
I dug my nails into my palms, waited until I saw Harlan speed out of the driveway from the second-floor window, and hurried through the house to Jace’s room. I gathered enough clothes for him for a couple days, the football he always threw around, and a pair of keys from the kitchen counter.
There were about eight cars parked in the garage. I hit the unlock button on the keys, hoping that it was a car I could drive, and heard the white Porsche beep twice. I needed to find my Jace.
The car was small, so fucking small. I slid into the driver’s seat and hit my head on the car top. Pain shot through me, and I winced, but I ignored it. I went to slam the key into the ignition, but there wasn’t a slot. I hit a button on the top of the car, hoping that a light would turn on, but the garage door started opening, the loud gear sound scaring me.
“Fuck,” I whispered.
Fingers dancing across all sorts of buttons, the fog lights turned on, then the headlights turned on, then the high-beams turned on. What the fuck? Why is this so damn hard? I needed something quick and easy to get out of here before he came back.
After finally figuring out how to turn the car on, it revved to life, and I sighed deeply through my nose. God, I really needed to get my shitty car back. The fender might’ve been dented, the engine going, the back windshield cracked, but at least I could drive the damn thing.
After figuring how to put the car in reverse, I backed out of the driveway, not caring if I totaled the car because Harlan could buy a hundred of these and still be a fucking billionaire. I sped out of the driveway and toward Jamal’s house.
I wanted to sink into Imani’s arms, but I couldn’t put her in danger. Too many of the people I cared about were already at risk with a crazy murderer living in the same house as me. Jamal kinda knew about what was happening.
Kinda.
At least, I trusted him more than I trusted Poison with this.
