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Holy shit.
Saint’s right, this isn’t murder. Val fought for her life and acted in self-defense. Darius makes the call for us. I stand and pull Val to her feet with me, putting some space between us so I can look her over and make sure she isn’t injured.
“Are you hurt?” I ask.
She shakes her head and swipes away her tears. “I’m okay, Beck. He has a room back there made up for Dawson.” Anger courses through my veins. “He said that he tried to find Dawson but Cody hid him and wouldn’t give him up. When she tried to stop him from taking me, he said he stabbed her, is… is she okay?” Her eyes plead for me to tell her that her friend is fine but I can’t. A whoosh of air escapes me as I look at Corv, pain is etched across his features at the mention of Cody. Val follows my line of sight and one look at Corvin gives her the answer. “No, no, please God no, not her.” I wrap my arms around her and hold her close to me as she breaks down again in my arms. Corv stares at Valance with an angry glint in his eyes and it robs me of air, he blames Val for Cody’s death.
* * *
It’s dawn by the time Detective Anderson lets us go. Darius called Troy and he encouraged us to answer any questions they had, which we did. We need to go down to the station tomorrow and give a formal statement but Anderson says it looks like a cut and dry case to him, which is a fucking relief. We all leave and promise to meet Troy tomorrow at noon to give our statements. Val sits on my lap on the ride home, the ride is quiet and filled with tension. The fact that Saint or Crue haven’t cracked a joke tells me that I’m not imagining the tension between Corv and Val.
Darius pulls up out front of the hotel and we all pile out of the car. I wrap my arm around my girl and lead her through the lobby to the elevators. Crue pushes the P as the doors close, and once again the tension amplifies inside the small metal car.
Fuck it.
I dart forward and hit the emergency stop button. The car jolts to a stop and we all stumble a bit. I ignore the other’s protests and shouts and I look at Corvin. He stands tall with his fists clenched at his sides. “You get to be pissed, you get to be mad as fuck about what happened to Cody, but you do not get to take it out on her!” I shout as I point toward Val. Corv presses into me and pushes his forehead against mine.
“Don’t fucking push me,” he snarls.
“It’s not her fault,” I plead. I see it in his eyes, he needs someone to blame as he sifts his way through the grief and the guilt, and that person is my girl.
“She died because ofher!She’s dead because ofher!” Val surprises the fuck out of me when she steps out from behind Darius and moves to stand beside me. Corvin refuses to look at her.
“Corvin?” His face twitches in anger but he still won’t look at her. “Please, look at me.” He growls low in his chest before tearing his gaze from mine to look at Val. I’m poised and ready to fight my best friend if it means stopping him from hurting my girl. “Blame me.” I jerk back and look at Val like she’s lost her fucking mind. “Latch onto that anger you have toward me, it will help you deal with the pain. It won’t fix it or make it easier but trust me when I tell you that blaming me will help you carry on and get out of bed each day. When it comes time for you to finally deal with the pain, come find me because I’ll be here waiting.” It never dawned on me that Val would be the only person able to relate to what Corvin is going through until this very moment.
“I hate you,” Corv snarls.
“I know. You’ll hate me for alongtime but just know you have every right to feel how you do no matter what anyone says. I’m a big girl and I can handle whatever you have to throw at me.”
* * *
Val steps out of the bathroom in one of my shirts, her hair wet and dripping slightly but she looks more like herself now. The moment we entered the penthouse, Crue and Saint retreated to their room to get some sleep. Corvin stormed off to his room with Darius hot on heels, while I led Val to our room where Dawson was fast asleep on the bed. After kissing him and hugging his sleeping form she wanted a shower. In my haste to get the fuck out of the house, I forgot to pack her some clothes so she’s stuck wearing my shit.
“Hey,” she says shyly as she makes her way over to the bed where I’m lying with our son.
“Hey,” I whisper as she climbs under the covers and smiles at our son, who is fast asleep in the middle of us.
“I thought I would never get to see either of you again.” I reach over and cup her cheek, lifting her face until her eyes meet mine.
“We’re right here, baby. No one will ever take you from us again.” She smiles but it doesn’t reach her eyes. It’s going to take a long as fuck time for her to feel safe again and that’s when it hits me, Corvin needs space and Val needs to get away from here for a while. “What if… what if we went to Alaska for six months like I was meant to?”
Surprise clouds her features. “What?”
“You need to get away for a while and Corvin needs space and honestly, I don’t think I would ever feel okay with you or Dawson going back to that house again. You can switch your classes to online so you wouldn’t fall behind. I mean, just think of it as a family vacation.” Her eyes grow misty with tears.
“Are you sure?” The fact she didn’t try to talk me out of it or come up with some bullshit excuse about why we can’t go, means she feels the same way I do.
“Yeah, baby. I’ll call Shayla in the morning and get her to make the arrangements.”
“Who the hell is Shayla?” I fight to keep the smile from my face, even after all the shit she has just been through her only focus is who Shayla is.
“She’s the general manager of the resort and oversees the one in Alaska and runs the one in New Zealand and Japan as well.” Her eyes narrow. “Babe, she’s in her late forties and married to the regional manager of the resort in Alaska as well.” Her features smooth out and she smiles sheepishly.
“Well, in that case, that sounds amazing. I think getting away for a while will be good for us, I’m yet to figure out how much the events of today have impacted Dawson.” I lean forward and place a kiss on her forehead.
“We’ll take it one day at a time.”
“Okay. When will we leave?” I mull her question over in my head for a minute.
