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“Spit it out, Lily,” Harley says through clenched teeth. “Was it him? Was it your father who hurt you?”
Tom’s eyes widen as he looks between me and Harley. “What–”
“No.” My voice is barely more than a whisper, but it stops Tom’s question. They both stare at me, waiting for me to elaborate, but I can’t. I can’t knowingly put them in danger. I shake my head. “I can’t.”
“You can’t what?” Tom’s voice is kind, soothing. “You’re safe here with us. We won’t let anyone hurt you, Lily.”
“It’s too dangerous.”
Harley lets out a snort. “I think we can handle ourselves, Lily. Just tell us.”
I’m scared, but there’s something in Harley’s eyes that calms me enough to finally open up and tell them the truth. “It was my fiancé.”
FIFTEEN
HARLEY
FIANCÉ.
What the fuck?
I’m frozen in place, my blood gone cold as Lily pushes back from the table, her chair toppling over with a crash as she runs from the room. Fiancé? She’s only nineteen. How the hell can she be engaged to someone at nineteen? And how can her parents just stand back and allow the asshole to beat her black and blue?
Tom’s the first of us to recover, and he levels his heavy gaze on me. “You should go talk to her.”
“Me?” I manage to choke out, still tripping over the fact that Lily is engaged. Why is my life always full of complications? Can’t something justbe easy for once?
“Yeah, you,” Tom’s voice is firm. “You’re the one she ran to. You’re the one she obviously feels comfortable around. Go and make sure she’s okay.”
I sigh as I push back my own chair and get to my feet. I’m in over my head with this one. What am I supposed to say to her? I drag my feet as I make my way down the hallway and knock on her door.
There’s no answer, so I try again. “Lily, it’s me. Can I come in?”
I hover outside her bedroom, feeling like a creep. I shouldn’t have pushed her. She clearly didn’t want to say anything, but it’s been bugging me ever since she showed up here. How could anyone want to hurt her?
I’m about to walk away when she opens the door, her gaze focussed on the floor. “Please, Herc. Don’t push. I know that’s not fair of me to ask of you, especially after you have invited me into your home, but please just trust me. I need you to drop this.”
“Can I come in?”
She hesitates a moment before stepping back to let me in. I move over to the desk and lean against it, whilst she perches on the edge of the bed. The room hasn’t changed much since Jordan was living here. There’s no sense of Lily in the room at all, except for her skateboard leaning up against the wall next to the bedside table. It feels very temporary, and I don’t like that one bit.
I rub the back of my neck. “Lily–”
“I can leave if you don’t want me here. I totally understand if you and Tom–”
“We’re not kicking you out. Christ, what kind of guys do you think we are?” My gaze washes over her and the way she rubs at her left ring finger absentmindedly. “Can I just ask you one thing? Are you still engaged to the guy?” She shakes her head. “Does he know that?”
“That’s more than one question,” she sasses, and I narrow my eyes at her. She pulls a face. “I assume me running away was a pretty good indicator.”
“So he has no idea where you are?” Another shake of her head. “And your parents?”
“I haven’t spoken to them.”
“What did they think of you being engaged at nineteen?”
She squeezes her eyes shut. “It was an arranged marriage.”
Part of me is relieved that she hadn’t fallen for some douchebag that had promised her the world and then beat the shit out of her. The other part is horrified that her parents would force her into an arranged marriage–especially with someone that could put her life in danger.
