AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Sarah’s eyes widened and she sat up, wincing as a sharp pain exploded behind her eyes. “Did you talk to him? It’s not what you think.”
Brielle’s shrewd eyes locked onto Sarah, and she frowned. “No…” She settled on the bed across from Sarah. “But he did mention that you’ve been distant ever since that night we went to the country club. What happened with Dax today? Did he break up with you?” There was an edge in her voice as if she were ready to storm over to Dax’s cabin and have a word with him.
Shaking her head, Sarah reached forward and placed a hand on Brielle’s forearm. “He didn’t do anything. It was me.” She let out a quiet sob, and the tears began once again. “It was all me.”
Brielle remained frozen, her face unreadable.
Sucking in a sharp breath, Sarah wiped at her tears. “I never thought I would feel this way about someone—” Another hiccup escaped her lips. “But I can’t be with him.”
“Why not?” her friend blurted. “He’s crazy about you. I can see it. I think everyone does.”
Sarah shook her head. “There’s more to this than you realize.” How much could she tell Brielle? How much did her friend know about Dax’s history? It wasn’t her place to tell his secrets. She clamped her mouth shut. Telling Brielle about the drinking or the accident was off the table. She couldn’t do that to Dax.
That meant one thing.
She’d have to tell Brielle about Kenneth and make her promise not to say anything. Sarah swallowed hard and pressed her lips into a tight line. “This all started a few months ago.”
Brielle’s features pinched. “Are you talking about the community service thing?”
Sarah nodded. “The guy who shot the sheriff. I knew him.”
Shock. That’s all she could read in Brielle’s face. She scooted closer to the edge of the bed. “Did you tell Michael?”
Another nod, but this time Sarah looked away. “I got my deal by turning him in. I used to date him.” Admitting to that fact made the blood drain from her face. She shook her head as she recalled the differences between Dax and Kenneth. She’d been so blind to Kenneth’s terrible habits.
She stared at her hands, clenching them and opening them again and again. “He ended up getting a sentence similar to mine.”
“But he practically shot Michael!” Brielle blurted.
“I know, I don’t know how he got out so soon,” Sarah muttered. “But it turns out he doesn’t forgive easily.”
The air in the room chilled and Sarah shivered. She hadn’t even told the sheriff the whole truth. Saying everything out loud right now was even harder than she’d expected it to be.
“Kenneth found me, Bri. He came here, and he watched me.”
“That’swhy the sheriff asked Dax to keep an eye on you.” Brielle’s hushed voice was full of understanding. “Has he threatened you? Because if you tell Dax, I’m sure—”
“I’mnotinvolving Dax in this.”
“Why? He loves you.”
“Yeah? Well, that might have changed after what I said to him tonight.” Sarah let out a frustrated sigh. “Besides, he didn’t threaten me, not in the way you might think. He’s blackmailing me.” Sarah finally glanced up to meet Brielle’s confused expression. “There’s a lot about me that you don’t know.”
“Apparently.”
Sarah flinched, even though there was no malice in Brielle’s tone. “My family has a lot of money, and Kenneth wants me to pay for what I did. He’s threatening to tell Dax about what I did—”
“You know Dax wouldn’t care, right? Dax isn’t like that.”
Sarah shut her eyes, a flush filling her face. That may be true, but there was no way he’d support her decision. “He also threatened to tell my parents about what happened.”
“Wait, they don’tknow? What have you been telling them?” She shook her head. “Never mind. That doesn’t really matter. What are you going to do? Did you tell Michael? I’m sure he could help—”
“That’s just it. Evenifthe sheriff could help with this, Kenneth would just tell everyone to spite me. He’s angry. I get it. I ruined his life. Think of it this way. Since his life was destroyed, mine will be too. Unless I pay him.”
“He’s a criminal, Sarah. You can’t just give him money. He’ll keep coming back for more and more until you have nothing left. You have to tell someone. Report him.”
“Ican’t! Why don’t you understand that? Kenneth has a rope around my neck, and I’m no better than an animal he can lead around. If he tells my parents or goes to the press, my whole family’s reputation is at stake because I’m the one who takes over the family business. Sure, maybe Dax would understand and look past the mistakes I made, but there’s no way he’d stand by me while I hand over money to someone else. He’d probably put himself in jail by trying to fix this himself.”
