AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Sent. And Mr. Bennett? I’m sorry.”
Zack ends the call. It’s uncharacteristic of him to hang up on me, but he must’ve sensed my all-consuming horror. My phone chimes with a notification, and I quickly open the attachment. I need to see with my own eyes the things my mind wants to deny.
The medical record, a mere composition of black characters on a white background, stare back at me, fucking with my sanity. My heart pounds with a jagged cadence, heralding dread and something darker as page by page, her past unfolds before me. Calista drugged, bruised, and lying on the kitchen floor…
Was she sexually assaulted?
The blood drains from my face at the trajectory of my thoughts, causing bile to rise in my throat. I swallow it down and take deep breaths, forcing myself to continue. By the time I have finished reading the entire file, I am drenched in sweat, my breaths coming hard and fast.
Until I double over with the force of a pain that’s not mine.
Callie, a woman whose only desire in life is to help others, has been brutally violated. The chances she wasn’t raped are too minuscule to offer comfort.
Rage unlike anything I have ever known surges through me and colors my vision red. I grip the edge of the desk, every muscle drawn tight by the urge to commit violence. With a growl, I erupt from my seat, sending the chair crashing into the wall behind me. Loose sheets of paper flutter in the air like leaves adrift on the wind, and the legs of the desk screech against the floor as I shove it aside, causing my arms to burn from the exertion.
But it’s not enough. Not when the fury within me is a pressure that’s increasing every second, seeking an outlet only destruction will satisfy.
I whip around and seize the chair to send it flying. The piece of furniture hits the fireplace with a resounding crash, the impact creating cracks in the marble. I grab the nearest books from their shelves and hurl them into the wall. They land with a thud that barely registers as I reach for another. And another.
The wreckage continues until the room mirrors the chaos within me. Chest heaving and sweat gathering along my spine, I stand amidst the ruin, my gaze darting wildly for something else to destroy. A gentle knock on the door is followed by Calista’s voice. It’s that of an angel whereas I’m the devil personified in this moment.
“Hayden? Are you okay?”
Chapter34
Hayden
I leanagainst the wall and pinch the bridge of my nose, struggling to calm my breathing enough to answer Calista while searching for a response that won’t give away the depths of rage I’ve yet to ascend from. My delayed response only prompts her to open the door.
She steps inside, her gaze immediately finding mine. Her hazel eyes are bright with uncertainty, and her bottom lip trembles with worry, but she still makes her way toward me.
“Don’t,” I say, holding up a hand, palm facing her.
Calista flinches and comes to an abrupt stop. The hurt look on her face has a pang streaking through my chest. What if she knew about the shit I wanted to do to whoever hurt her?
If she were smart, she’d run faster and farther than she did earlier.
After folding her hands in front, Calista twists her fingers in the material of my t-shirt, unable to contain her nervousness. “You know.”
I nod, not trusting myself to speak. My gut is still churning, and my fists are so tight by my sides that my arms shake with the strain. If I could touch her without being a danger to her, I would. But right now, I’m not… stable.
Calista bows her head and her hair glides along the sides of her face, a curtain of silk to caress her pale cheeks. “I knew you’d look at me differently.” Her whisper, filled with pain and disappointment, is loud in the silence. I stiffen with alarm at the dejection in her voice, having never heard it before.
When she lifts her head, her gaze has hardened into crystallized amber, fractured with agony. After turning on her heel, she leaves the office, briefly pausing to glance at me over her shoulder. “I was hoping you’d still want me once you knew, but I was wrong.”
She disappears from sight before I’m freed from the trance she put me in with her confession. I take off after her, my strides eating up the distance between us. She quickens her steps at my arrival, which only has my blood pumping that much faster.
I catch up to her in the hallway and grab her arm, spinning her around to face me. Then I invade her space, wanting nothing between us, and press her spine to the wall. She blinks up at me, her eyes glistening with unshed tears, gutting me where I stand.
“I still want you,” I say. “So fucking much.”
“Then why…” She flicks her gaze in the direction of my office, her message clear.
“I’m enraged that this happened to you. And because I can’t do a fucking thing to take the pain away.”
She stills, eyes widening at my tone. I curse under my breath and force myself to relax my grip on her arm, though I don’t release her. I need the contact with her, the reassurance that she’s here with me.
“I need you to tell me everything you remember, so I can find who did this to you,” I say.
