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“No more petting me like a dog.” Holding my wrists in one hand, he tucks a strand of my hair behind my ear.
I can barely breathe, my heart fluttering like an idiot again. I’d mentally tell it to shut the hell up except something else has got me distracted. A faint memory pressing against the back of my mind.
“This is going to sound really weird,” I say to Blaise. “But have we ever met before? Like a long time ago?”
Blaise ravels a strand of my hair around his finger. “No. Not that I know of. Why?”
“Because I had this weird memory while I was at Austin’s house, and I swear I heard your voice in it, but it was from a long time ago.”
“What was the memory of?”
“I’m not sure. It was really foggy.” When puzzlement takes over his face, I add, “There was this time in my life when I suffered from amnesia. And up until a couple of days ago, I haven’t been able to remember anything. But over the last few hours, bits and pieces have been coming back to me, but they’re mostly just voices and blurry images.”
“That’s weird,” he mumbles, staring into my eyes.
“I know.” I sigh. “Maybe I’m just being weird.”
“No, it’s not weird because of that.” He trades a quick look with Rhyland before looking back at me. “It’s weird because last night Rhyland and I were talking about how you looked familiar.”
An unsteady exhale flees from my lips. “But you don’t know why?”
He gradually shakes his head. “What caused your amnesia?”
I shrug, staring at the window, unable to look at him and risk him really seeing me. “My dad said it was because my mom died, but lately I’ve been wondering if it might be because I was kidnapped and my dad’s just trying to cover up the fact so I won’t remember.”
“Kidnapped,” he says in shock. “You think your dad would lie to you about that?
Sighing, I slant back to look at him. “I know it sounds bad, but my dad did beat my ass and then leave me to deal with a bunch of mobsters on his behalf.”
“Is that what you think they are?” he questions curiously. “Mobsters?”
I shrug. “They sure seem like it.”
He drags his tongue piercing along his teeth, deeply considering something. “What time did this happen? I mean, when do you think you were kidnapped?”
“About eight years ago, in June.” My pulse pounds against his fingertips as he continues to hold onto my wrists. “Do you… Do you think that maybe your dad kidnapped me and while he held me hostage, we talked?” It sounds so crazy saying it aloud, but at this point, I don’t have any other theories.
“No. There’s no way,” Rhyland denies from behind us, shaking his head and looking at Blaise for help.
Blaise just helplessly shrugs.
“I wouldn’t put it past Dad to do something like that,” he says. “And from what I understand, Mel’s debt to Dad has existed for a long time.”
“So you think he did it?” Panic courses through my veins. “You think your dad kidnapped me?”
Blaise pales. “I honestly don’t know, Hadley. I can’t remember my dad holding a little girl hostage, but it was also around the same time my mom died and all these people flew in for her funeral. There were a lot of kids around and he could have easily said you were my cousin or something.”
I smash my lips together until my jaw aches while searching his eyes, trying to find the truth. From what I can tell, his confusion mirrors mine. I want to get up and leave, but at the same time, I don’t want to be alone.
What is wrong with me? Did today break me?
“Hey.” Blaise lets go of my wrists and cups my cheek. “I promise we’ll figure this out. I can talk to some of the people who work for my dad and see if they know anything, okay?” He waits for me to nod before continuing, “And I can also ask if they have an idea of where Mel may have hid these bags. I’m sure my father has someone keeping tabs on him.”
“If that’s true then how did he escape Honeyton undetected?”
“I wouldn’t necessarily say he escaped.”
“You think he’s still here?”
“Maybe.” A drop of relief starts to drip through me, but then he says, “There’s something else I need to tell you. Some bad news about your sisters.””
My drop of relief evaporates. “Are they okay?”
He nods. “But Darla wasn’t able to get you an early visit.”
I swallow down the lump welling in my throat. “Did she say why?”
Remorse reflects from his eyes. “She just said that when she called her contact, they said an early visit wasn’t possible. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s fine. It’s not your fault.” My hollow tone doesn’t match the raging storm rising inside me.
It’s too much.
I can’t keep it bottled in.
Tears pool in my eyes.
Shit.
“I have to go home,” I sputter as a tear manages to escape my eyes. I push back from Blaise, but he threads his fingers through mine, holding me in place.
“Had.” He uses the nickname Londyn always calls me.
The sound of it causes the storm inside me to explode.
I break the fuck down, a sob tearing from my chest. This day, losing my sisters, getting beat up by my dad, learning I may have been kidnapped—it all pours out of me. Right here, in the Porterson’s living room. In front of Blaise and Rhyland.
I need to get out of here.
But when I move back to bolt, Blaise pulls me against his chest and wraps his arms around me. For an instinctive second, I start to fight him. But as more tears pour out, I curl into a ball and grab onto the bottom of his shirt, holding on for dear life.
And that’s how I spend the next half an hour.
Sobbing like a baby.
And Blaise? He sits there and holds me, letting me soak his fucking shirt with my goddamn pathetic tears.
Blaise
Have you ever had one of those life-changing moments where you know you’re never going to be the same again? That’s what today was. Life-changing. In a good way and also a bad way. It’s crazy when I think about it, how a mere twenty-four hours can be so chang
ing—so significant. It makes me wonder what’d happen if you simply lost twenty-four hours of your life.
Like Hadley has.
Although, I think her amnesia was for a a bit longer than twenty-four hours.
The worst part is that I wouldn’t put it past my dad to have taken Hadley. Mel’s owed him for a while. Perhaps he took Hadley as punishment. But then why give her back and not make Mel work off his debt? As far as I know, Mel just started working to pay back my dad. But maybe I’m more in the dark about my dad’s work than I thought.
“Is she okay?” Blaise whispers as he quietly walks into the room with a bottle of water in his hand.
After Hadley sobbed into my shirt for a half-hour straight, I managed to get her to lay down on the sofa with me. Almost the instant we laid down, she fell asleep.
Right now, my arm is tucked underneath her head and her face is nestled in the crook of my neck. I’m not going to lie. It’s strange to be cuddled up this close with someone. But it’s not necessarily bad. Just… new and different and… calming.
“I’m not sure.” I softly brush my fingers through Hadley’s hair, turning my head to look at her. “She fell asleep about a half an hour ago, but…” I sigh. “I think until she gets her sisters back and takes care of this problem with Axel and our Dad, she’s not going to be okay.”
“I know.” He sinks into the chair across from me and unscrews the cap from the bottle of water. “We’re going to help her, right?”
I shake my head. “I am. You need to focus on going to school and running your shop.”
“It’s your shop too. Sofie and Jay gave it to all of us.” He takes a swig of water then sets the bottle down on the coffee table. “I want to help. There’s no way you can handle all of our problems and her’s.” He rests back in the seat. “Besides, I like Hadley and I want to help her.”
I comb my fingers through her hair, my muscles constricting as I ask, “Like her, like her?
He wrestles back his amusement. “Would it bother you if I did?”
I want to shake my head, but instead I just swallow hard.
