AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Call me.
Two simple words full of too much meaning.
He didn’t have to sign his name to announce who to call. Eve knew immediately it was Darrian’s work of art. The pictures on their own weren’t suspicious. But the why of it worried her.
So she called him.
Like he knew she would.
It hadn’t been a long conversation. Enough to get his point across.
If she didn’t leave and come home, he’d kill them. Every single one. The pictures were proof he could get them at any time, anywhere, and they’d never know what hit them.
Eve knew her brother was capable of murder. The maid was proof. The many beatings he bestowed upon her, nearly taking her life once was more than enough to take his words as gospel.
While she feared for her life every day, she didn’t want to fear for Griffin or his family. She wouldn’t be responsible for another person’s death. Especially not the people who’d made her feel like part of a family for once.
She knew if she told Griffin what Darrian had done, he would’ve made promises that he’d keep her safe. That no one would hurt them. That wasn’t something he could keep. She wouldn’t have him or Bryce or Juliet looking over their shoulders for the rest of their life. Not like she planned to.
Because she left. She kept her word to Darrian.
But he was very mistaken if he thought she’d run back home to him.
Maybe it was time to be the predator for once. Not the prey.
18
Griffin sat slouchedon the couch while Juliet paced in front of his coffee table. Bryce sat in the recliner looking as relaxed as him when he knew neither of them were relaxed. Walter, who didn’t normally sit in his lap, was curled up purring. As if he knew Griffin needed comfort.
“I don’t get it. I don’t understand why she’d leave. Why’d you let her leave?” Juliet shouted, throwing her hands up in the air. “Why?”
“I’m not going to try to keep someone where they don’t want to be. Eve knew that. I’ve never tried to make her stay. And if she doesn’t want to stay of her own free will, then she doesn’t. I won’t beg anyone to be with me.”
Juliet paused, turning to him, the anguish he felt sparkling in her gaze. “You know something happened. She wouldn’t leave on a whim for no reason.”
He nodded, agreeing. What else could he say? He suspected the same thing. But he knew how stubborn Eve could be. If she wanted to leave in that moment, short of tying her up, nothing would’ve stopped her.
Part of him had also hoped she wouldn’t actually go. She hadn’t the first time. Because he’d given her space and let her make her own choice. He thought doing the same thing as last time would’ve worked in his favor. He’d bet wrong, and now he was paying the price.
“Did Darrian contact her?” Bryce voiced the question they’d all been thinking but hadn’t said yet since Griffin had called to tell them she left.
It’d been two hours since he watched her from his bay window drive away. No word from her. No hesitation.
“She didn’t admit to that.”
“Well, if he threatened her, she wouldn’t.” Juliet shook her head, her face contorting as if tears would emerge any minute. “A person just can’t erase the fear. She’s had no one in her corner all her life. She’s been on her own, living a nightmare and surviving the only way she knows how to.”
Griffin straightened, which startled Walter, causing him to jump off the couch. “She has us now. She knows that.”
“Grif, maybe he didn’t threaten her. Maybe he threatened you. One way to silence someone, to make them do your bidding, is to threaten the one thing they care about. Trust me, I would know.”
Every time Juliet spoke about her past with Gerald, he wanted to break into the prison and beat the living shit out of the man. He hated hearing these things. But he also needed to know them.
“What…” Bryce hesitated. “What kind of things did Gerald threaten?”
Juliet looked away from both of them, turning her attention to the big bay window. Darkness poured in, not helping the melancholy filling the space.
“You know he was good with chemicals. He loved doing crazy projects with his students, showing the many wonders of science.” Juliet wrapped her arms around herself. “One time when I told him I was leaving, that I was going to tell Griffin everything, he warned me that would be a very bad idea. He said he’d hate for Griffin to have car trouble or house problems because I was being a whiny bitch.” She turned around, staring hard at them. “He had a look in his eyes that frightened me even more than when he hit me. He didn’t have to spell out what he would do to you, Grif. But I knew he’d do something terrible, and it would be all my fault that you got hurt.”
