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It was strange how the world changed, but some things didn’t. I was different. Older and scarred. So was she. We were torn apart.
But when I looked at the trees around me, it was all the same. They still stood strong like they had for hundreds of years before us. Like they would for hundreds of years after.
My body stilled as I stepped into the clearing. There she was, sitting in the very spot we always met. Her knees were tucked to her chest, and her chin rested on them as she stared into the distance.
I’d searched for her everywhere, but it had never occurred to me she’d come back here. To our spot.
Relief and hope filled my heart as I walked to her. Maybe she didn’t hate me as much as I thought. If she could come back here, then there was a chance.
She didn’t turn or acknowledge me. But her soft sigh told me she knew I was here. Her voice carried on the wind as she whispered. “I wanted to be in the last place I was happy.”
I didn’t answer. I couldn’t with the lump in my throat. I wanted her to know I felt the same. Instead, I bent down and picked up the bag beside her. I swung it over my shoulder before reaching for her. She didn’t resist as I lifted her up and carried her away.
Her skin was cold from the hours she’d sat outside. The torn dress she was still wearing was wrinkled and covered in dirt. Her honey-colored eyes looked lifeless as she stared at me. There was none of the warmth I’d always been searching for.
The darkness was beginning to fade around us. The moon fell behind the horizon again. Chased away by the light. It had always been my least favorite time of day because it meant she was going.
I was the darkness. She was the moon. We couldn’t survive in daylight.
24
Ariella
Ifelt warm and safe as I peeled my eyes open. I didn’t want to wake up, afraid this feeling was an illusion. That safety was only found in my dreams. But it didn’t go away as the sun assaulted my eyes.
It took me a second to remember where I was. The feeling of Adam’s warm body pressed into mine pushed the new memories to the surface. I could hear his steady breathing as I sorted through them. His arm was wrapped around my waist, keeping me close. Giving me that feeling of protection.
My eyes flicked around the space. The ceilings had the same wood beams as the living room, making it seem open and airy. There were two nightstands and a dresser. A door led to the hall, and another on the right to the bathroom.
This bedroom, like the rest of the house, seemed unused. I’d watched Adam put the sheets on the bed last night after he’d carried me back here. This house boarded my father’s property, but I still had no idea whose it was.
Carefully, not to wake Adam, I slid from beneath his arm. The floor was cool under my feet as I tiptoed from the room. Rummaging around in his cupboards was probably rude, but I desperately needed coffee. And wasn’t it actually nice to make some for him too?
My oversized sleep shirt rode up my thighs as I searched his kitchen. Once I finally started the coffee, I wrapped my arms around myself, staring out the window as I waited for it. My fingers twitched to sketch the landscape.
It was so different from the view out the window at my father’s house. He’d built the mansion on the edge of the city, not caring if he tore down trees to make it fit. This place was built to live in the landscape. To honor it. To be a part of it.
It wasn’t harsh or hostile. It didn’t fit what I knew of Adam now. I wondered if he was renting it while he was in town. I grabbed a mug and poured myself a cup before heading towards the glass doors in the living room that led outside. But my eyes snagged on something sitting on the kitchen island.
My heart stilled as I saw my sketchbook. I grabbed it, yanking it to my chest as my heart started to beat again, fast like I’d run a marathon. This book was personal. Not meant for anyone else to see. Had Adam looked at it?
My mind raced as I grabbed a blanket off the couch and went outside. I wrapped it around myself to ward off the morning chill. There was a porch swing that was calling my name. I pushed with my toe to get it moving. Slowly rocking back and forth, I tried to figure out what to do.
I could go home, back to my apartment cities away from here, forcing Zara to handle our father alone. My chest constricted at the thought. I didn’t want to leave her vulnerable.
My anger had spoken last night, and my father wasn’t just going to let me leave, not this time. I’d drawn a hard line in the sand. We were enemies. And Zara would be caught between us.
And then there was Adam.
I had no idea what to make of the revelations I’d learned. Or the things we’d done. He’d destroyed me in that closet. Pinned me down and taken me without regard to what I wanted.
I had wanted him. And I’d liked it. It was so different from how he used to touch me. It was harsher. Brutal. But my body had responded. For the first time in years, I felt alive. Instead of living in a fog. In the past.
A past that turned out to be a lie.
Britney had split us up. She’d betrayed me. Why?
Next to Adam, she was my oldest friend. I’d never treated her differently because she was our housekeeper’s daughter. We’d spent our childhood laughing and playing together.
