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My breath catches again for the third time like I just can’t take a fucking breath to save my life.
To save Reed’s life.
The long black town car turns down the winding road to the Reyes’ mansion. Streets that I’m far too familiar with. We pass the store with the damn bee necklace that seems far too insignificant now, a small restaurant, and then eventually drive through the thick mess of trees that hides the nicest part of town.
The dark truth of what hides beyond these trees would shock the world.
For once, I wish I was walking instead of getting a ride. Public transport is never this quiet or this terrifying.
My fingers twitch on my lap as anxiety crawls through my body. I hold my back straight and stare ahead as if I’m unphased. I pretend like I didn’t just hear my mother was being released early. That everything my father was using me for leverage for was for nothing instead of using me to threaten someone he seems to have had a lot of power over for a long, long time.
His fingers grip the steering wheel so hard his knuckles are white within the moonlight. The car ride is jerky and far too fast.
I wish we could choose our parents. Wonder what my life could have been if I wasn’t born with a selfish mother and a criminal father.
I sure as hell wouldn’t have spent my day sweating in the freezing cold courtroom next to a deadly businessman. Though I have yet to learn what business he really does.
Our tires squeal slightly against the pavement as the car turns into the garage, the large door sliding up to reveal a couple of their other shining vehicles.
We jerk to a stop and I send a fleeting glance back at the boys. Their blank stares match my own. We’re all strung so tight we would probably play a tragically beautiful melody if we were fastened to a violin.
“Go inside,” Ronan says with eerie calmness.
In unison, we all reach for our seatbelts, removing them after the click of the release. Air rushes in from outside smelling like oil, gas, and other vehicle related fluids when the back doors swing open and the boys slide out of their seats.
I reach for my door too. With a tug of the handle it pops open, only to be shut again. Ronan’s heavy arm is against me, holding the door closed as we stare at each other for several passing seconds.
“Not you.” His words are said with a sounding click as he locks us in the car together.
Just outside, Landon, Knox, and Reed all stop where they are. Together they watch us with careful scrutiny. My eyes search them nervously but I keep the tension in my spine locked in place.
My father looks sickly. His cheeks are still rosy red but the rest of his skin has gone utterly pale and a sweat has fallen over his forehead. Steady hands run through his hair.
“Your cunt of a mother knew.” He blows out a long hiss of air. “She knew what the price was if she snitched on our past. And she’s so fucking selfish she chose herself. I want you to know that. I want you to know it’s not me who’s responsible for what is about to happen, Pretty Girl. I wanted--I wanted things to be so different for us.” The violent shake of his words set me on edge but the glint in his eyes is so much worse.
I’ve never seen him so recklessly uncouth.
Every word is a realization, a heart shattering moment of fear.
Both of his hands reach out for me as I’m turning toward the window, grasping at the door, scratching and clawing at cool metal. Anything to find an escape. Before I can so much as graze the door lock my head jerks back by my hair then immediately slams into the glass.
A cry erupts and it takes me a moment to realize the foreign noise came from me. Pain radiates through my skull so much so that I can’t tell what part of me is actually hurt. Hot, sticky blood drips down my cheek.
Landon, Reed, and Knox all rush back toward the car. I can hear the sound of their voices calling out my name, demanding Ronan to stop, and the slap of the door handles as they pull at them with no success.
“You will not run away from me.” He growls sending the urge for me to run back through my body. Every hair on my arms is standing. My muscles tense and the desire to flee floods my system. Where can I go?
It’s a slow motion torture as one by one his fingers wrap around my throat. I make attempts to pull away but he is strong. So much stronger than me.
He’s too strong.
And I’m going to die.
Pure unbridled panic sears through me. Thrashing, my hands reach for him. His arms, his face, his hands, his face, his hair, his face. I claw at anything and everything frantic for a solution.
This isn’t the end. This can’t be the end. I can’t die because of my mother’s endless selfishness.
I can’t!
