AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I just don’t know what to say. This is a lot to take in. It’s making me light-headed, and I’m glad to be sitting down.
“We’ve covered the basics now,” Lex says. “We’ll leave you girls alone for a bit to catch up.
“Don’t leave this room. Ethan and I will be next door. Knock on the internal door if you need us.”
Looking at Rhia, his gaze softens. “Trouble, we need to leave in three hours. I’ll order you some food.”
My best friend nods, then gets up to hug her boyfriend. “Thank you,” she whispers.
He takes her face into his hands and gently kisses her eyelids, first the left, then the right… just like he’s always done.
And strangely, I needed this just as much as Rhia.
I needed to see this, needed the reassurance that some things remain the same when everything else around me is changing.
This simple gesture of love between them has me melting, and I wipe my eyes before more of these damn tears have a chance to fall.
Lex leaves, and Rhia and I are alone. She pulls me from the lounge and drags me to the bed where we lie on our backs, staring at the ceiling, holding hands.
We’re silent for long minutes, just taking comfort in each other’s presence.
My heart is so full of love for this girl. She’s always been my rock, and she’s proving it all over again.
“Now sweets, tell me all the parts you left out when you recounted what happened to Lex and Ethan. I need to know all of it.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
Ella
“I’vesleptwithTieroagain, and now I could be pregnant.”
Rhia shoots to sitting and stares at me.
“Oh Rhi, what am I going to do if I am? It’s why I was so upset yesterday… I think he’s trying to knock me up so I’m bound to him for life.”
“Did he force himself on you? I swear to God and everything that’s holy, if he has, Iwillcastrate him.”
I puff air into my cheeks and let it out noisily. “No. He wouldn’t do that. In all his fucked-upness, he never crossed that line. After Monday… after seeing people killed over me… I wasn’t in a good place.”
“Who would be? I was traumatized just listening to you. El, seriously, when you get to Atlanta, I want you to talk to someone about all this. Freemont is bound to have psychologists working for them. You’re the purest soul I know, and I don’t want this to darken you. Promise me, please?”
It’s an easy promise to make. It had occurred to me too that I might need some type of therapy to get over all that’s happened. Not just for the horrendous experiences of the past two weeks, but also for losing someone I love so deeply.
How will I ever get over Tiero?
I should have sought help after my parents’ accident, but I hated the idea of talking about my loss. This time feels different, though. I don’t want to lose years again because I shut down. I can’t go down that path again.
Despite everything that happened, or maybe because of it, I want to live my life to the fullest… now more than ever.
“I will, Rhi. I haven’t even begun to process everything, and it’s the stuff of nightmares. Talking it through with someone, maybe even doing some hypnosis, is a good idea.”
She lies back down, mollified, and takes my hand again. “Sorry, I interrupted you. You were talking about Monday.”
“Yeah… after everything that happened that day, Tiero was wonderful in the way he cared for me and wanted to make me feel better. He wasisland Tiero, and I felt so close to him. And yes, it could have been because of all the trauma, but those feeling were there well before he kidnapped me.
“Rhi, I know in my soul that he really loves me. And I love him back. But I can’t live in his world, and I sure as hell won’t bring children into that darkness.
“As perverted as it is,part of me can understand his thinking. In his mind, a child is the answer to his problems. It binds me to him, guaranteeing I won’t run again, and his family line is secured.”
