“I’m sorry, Fallon.”
“It’s okay.” I try to not show the emotion I feel welling in my chest. “It was a Hail Mary.”
“I’ve gotta ask though, have you thought about just calling your dad on his bluff?”
“That’s the problem, he’s not bluffing. He proved that when he had us arrested.”
“I could talk to my dad. Maybe see if there’s something he can do.”
“No.” I shake my head, knowing that will likely make things worse. “I’ll figure something out.”
“Fallon.” I tense at the sound of my father’s voice, turning to find him quickly approaching. “There’s a few people I’d like you to meet.” He stops in front of me and Christy.
“On that note, I’m going to go mingle. We’ll catch up later.”
“Okay.” I nod, turning toward my father.
“You look nice,” he tells me as I follow him across the room.
I didn’t buy anything at the mall, mainly because I wasn’t in the mood to try on dresses and pretend like my life wasn’t in complete shambles. As such, I’m wearing a beige A-line dress that I already had. It’s nice and used to be one of my favorites. Now it feels more like a uniform. A mask to hide the hurricane raging inside me.
I nod, not giving him a real response as we stop in front of a few people grouped together, talking about something I don’t care enough to take note of.
“Tom,” my father interrupts, drawing the attention of an older, balding man, dressed in a navy-blue suit. He turns, smiling when his eyes come to me.
“This must be Fallon. I must say, you weren’t lying. She really is a beauty.” The way he looks at me makes me feel incredibly uncomfortable. Then again, I’ve grown accustomed to the feeling over the years.
Most of these old men look at you like you’re a piece of meat rather than a real person. They think just because they slap on a fancy suit it somehow makes them less creepy. It doesn’t.
“Tom here is running for Mayor in the fall,” my father tells me.
“And with your father’s endorsement, I’m hoping to take the polls by storm.” He clasps my father on the shoulder.
“Where’s your boy tonight?” my father asks.
“He’s actually right over there.” He gestures into the great room. “Come. I’ll introduce you,” he tells us, pivoting before heading in that direction.
I take a steady breath in, trying to keep my fake smile in place as we follow him.
I’m used to having people around. Even before my father became Governor, we were always hosting parties, attending events, preparing for my father’s eventual run. Once he won, though, it became an entirely different type of chaos. Imagine living in a home where people come to visit, take photos, and even do field trips. It’s insanity. It takes lack of privacy to a whole new level. Even though the top two floors are not open to the public, it’s still weird having people constantly come into your home.
“Austin.” Tom steps up behind who I assume is his son. He’s in deep conversation with a blonde girl around the same age as me. “I’d like you to meet Governor Buckley,” he says as the boy turns.
The instant his face comes into view the ground beneath my feet starts to quake. It’s him. The Austin from that night at the lake house. I do a double take, certain that my eyes are playing tricks on me.
“Governor Buckley.” He reaches for my father’s hand. The sound of his voice causes my skin to prickle.
I remember it so clearly, only that night it was void of the fake pleasantness it currently possesses. My stomach stirs and my palms begin to sweat.
I never expected to see him again, let alone standing in the middle of my father’s house.
“It’s very nice to meet you, sir.” He smiles and the action makes me feel like I’m seconds away from spewing vomit all over his perfectly polished shoes.
“You as well, son. Your father tells me you’re attending Columbia in the fall.”
“Yes, sir. Pre-law.”
“A lawyer.” My father nods his head in approval. “A man after my own heart.”
“Yes, sir. That’s the plan.”
I swear if he says sir one more time I might haul off and hit him right in the nose.
In this light, he seems harmless. Well groomed, perfectly styled hair, pressed suit. A boy a father could be proud of. But I know that under his put together façade lies a monster. I can still see the look on his face as he held me down, the wild unhinged way his blue eyes cut through the darkness of the night.
I shiver at the thought.
“Well if you ever need anything, don’t hesitate to call. I’d be happy to mentor a promising young man like yourself,” my father continues.
“I appreciate that, sir. Thank you.”
“Austin, I’d like you to meet my daughter, Fallon.” He reaches around and pulls me front and center.
I see the recognition on Austin’s face, but he’s quick to cover it up.
“Fallon, so nice to meet you.” He smiles, reaching for my hand.
“Actually, we’ve met before,” I say, watching him retract his hand when I make no attempt to take it.
“I don’t think we have.” He shakes his head. “I must have a familiar face.”
“I’m sorry.” I turn to the two men on my right. “Will you please excuse me?”
Without waiting for a response, I take off through the house like someone lit a fire behind me. I weave in and out of the crowd currently occupying the house, finally managing to duck inside the study.
I press my back to the thick, dark wood, trying my best to regulate my breathing. Tears sting the backs of my eyes and I press them closed.
I can’t do this. I can’t be here.
I can feel a panic attack coming on. The air becomes thick, making it impossible to get a real breath. My heart is hammering inside my chest so hard it feels like it might explode at any moment. And I’m pretty certain it might.
The door against my back jars and I quickly take a step forward, the entire floor threatening to swallow me whole when I see Austin slip into the room.
“What the...” I hammer out, but he cuts me off before I can finish the thought.
“What the hell was that?” He points in the vicinity of where we just came from. “Were you trying to embarrass me in front of your father?”
“Embarrass you?” I stammer. “After what you did to me you’re lucky I just walked away.”
“Don’t be dramatic, Fallon. We both know I didn’t do anything to you.”
My entire head spins.
“Excuse me?” I spit, anger pooling in my chest.
“We were having fun. Things went a little too far.”
“A little too far?” I repeat. “You tried to rape me!” My voice echoes off the walls around us.
“I did not.” He takes a step toward me, his nostrils flaring. “And you would do well to keep your voice down.”
“Do not tell me to keep my voice down. This is my house,” I grind out. “And yes, you did. You tried to rape me. And if I hadn’t been successful in fighting you off, you would’ve. And now you have the nerve to come here, to shake hands with my father like nothing happened. Are you insane?”
“You’re a stupid girl starving for attention. I think you’ve got your facts twisted.”
“And you’re a sociopath.”
“You know what I think?” He takes another step toward me and I immediately take one back. “I think you liked it.”
“I’m sorry?” I question, sure that I must have misheard him.
“You heard me.” He smiles, but not like the smile he gave my father. No, this is dark and dangerous. Alarm bells start going off through my entire body.
I have to get out of here.
“You’re delusional,” I fire back, making a bee line for the door. He intercepts my path, cutting me off a few feet short from my only means of exit.
“And you’re even sexier when you’re mad.” He reaches out and gra
bs both of my shoulders. “Makes me tempted to finish what I started.” He gets right in my face, his breath hot on my cheeks.
“Get off of me,” I warn him, fully prepared to scream bloody murder if I have to, no matter how many of my father’s politician friends are in the next room.
“I swear to god, Fallon. If you breathe a word about what happened at the lake house, what comes next will be so much worse.”
With that, he releases me and quickly exits the room. The door no more than shuts behind him when I crumble to the floor, overwhelmed by fear and anger.
I can’t go back out there. I can’t pretend like everything is fine when nothing is fine. Everything is spiraling so far out of control that I have no idea how to reel it back in.
I need Titus...
Clamoring to my feet, I cross to the other side of my father’s desk and pick up the phone. I’m ready to punch in my cell phone number when the door opens in front of me.
I look up to see my father enter the room.
He eyes the phone in my hand before his gaze darts to my face.
“What are you doing?”
“Getting the hell out of here,” I tell him, the receiver clutched tightly in my hand.
He storms toward me, ripping the phone out of my hand before slamming it down on the desk, causing me to jump.
“I don’t know what the hell is going on with you, but you need to pull yourself together. I have a house full of very important people and now is not the time for you to be acting like some crazed lunatic.”
“Lunatic?” I scream across the desk at him. “If anyone is a lunatic in this room, it’s you.”
“Fallon,” he warns, his voice low.
“I can’t do this. I can’t be here. Not with you and not with him.” I point toward the door.
“Not with who?” He straightens, confusion marring his face.
“Austin.”
“Austin?” he questions.
“You want to know why I disappeared from the lake house? How I ended up with Titus. He’s the reason why.” Tears spill over my cheeks.
“What are you talking about?”
“He was there. At the lake house. He tried to rape me!” My voice trembles.
“He what?” His face pales slightly.
“Austin tried to rape me. I barely escaped. That’s when Titus found me. I was running through the woods, no shoes, no idea where I was going. Titus saw that I was in trouble and he helped me, no questions asked.”
My father takes a deep breath in and lets it out slowly. “That’s a very serious accusation to be throwing around, Fallon.”
“Accusation?” My voice screeches. “It’s not an accusation. It’s the truth!”
“You’re mad at me for forcing your hand and now you’re grasping at straws.”
“Would you listen to yourself? I’m your daughter. I just told you someone tried to rape me and your first thought is that I’m trying to get back at you!”
“I don’t know what you’re trying to pull but whatever it is it’s not going to work.”
“What I’m trying to pull?” I gawk at him. If I ever had any hopes of rebuilding the bridge between me and my father, he just took a match and lit it up in flames. I’m fully realizing what I’ve always known. He doesn’t care about me. Hell, I’m not sure he ever did.
I square my shoulders and take a steadying breath.
“You don’t care. You’ve never cared.”
“That’s not true...”
“It is true!” I cut him off. “I’m only a chess piece to you. And you know what, I’m done. I’m done letting you use me. I’m done!” I scream with finality.
“Do I need to remind you...”
“Let me stop you right there,” I cut him off again. “You may think you hold the upper hand here, Dad, but you just handed me all the cards. You want to come after me, after Titus, bring it on. Because if you do, I’ll go public. I’ll tell the world what that jackass did to me and how you refused to take me seriously because you were worried about how it would look. Endorsing the man whose son tried to rape your daughter. Let’s see how long you can hold your position once that news goes public.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“Oh, I would. And I will. If you force my hand I’ll burn this entire fucking shit show to the ground.”
His eyes widen at my language. In my eighteen years on this earth I have never spoken to my father the way I’m speaking to him now.
“Fallon, you’re being unreasonable.”
“I’m being unreasonable? You had Titus arrested. You had drugs planted in his truck. You were willing to let an innocent man spend years in prison for no other reason than you wanted to win. And you have the audacity to call me unreasonable. You’re pathetic. And when all this goes away,” I gesture around the room, “you’re going to have no one. And you know what, that’s exactly what you deserve.”
I spin around the desk and head for the door, my father’s voice stopping me right as I reach it.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
I turn slowly, my resolve absolute.
“I’m leaving. And this time, you aren’t going to stop me. You aren’t going to come after me or Titus or anyone else that I care about. You’re going to forget I ever existed. And if you don’t, I will ruin you.”
“You can’t leave. What am I supposed to tell everyone?”
“Tell them whatever you want. Tell them I moved to Europe. Tell them I died of some incurable disease. I’m sure that one will win you some favor with the voters. I don’t give a shit what you tell them, as long as I never have to see your face again.”
“Fallon,” he hollers as I rip open the door, but I’m already sprinting out of the room and heading upstairs.
Grabbing my large suitcase out of my closet, I throw as many clothes in it that will fit, slide my favorite picture of me and my mom on top, and zip it closed.
Everything else I leave as it is. None of it matters to me anyway. My only thought is to get out of here as quickly as I possibly can.
Because the majority of the party goers are corralled in the back of the house, there aren’t many people around to witness my abrupt departure. With my suitcase in tow, I tear through the front door, leaving it wide open as I take off down the front steps of the porch.
I haven’t thought about how I’m going to get to Titus, only that I have to. I’m so focused on escaping that I don’t notice the person I pass on my way off the porch. That is, until his voice hits my ears.
It’s like the sweetest song I’ve ever heard.
I stop dead in my tracks, my head turning toward the sound.
And that’s when I see him.
Titus...
Chapter Twenty-four
Titus
I hadn’t thought much about how this would go once I arrived here, only that I had to come.
After I saw the text messages on Fallon’s phone, the ones I knew she sent, there was no way I couldn’t. I had to see her. I had to tell her that I didn’t care what her dad threatened to do to me. Nothing was worth her giving up the life she so desperately wanted. A life where she could be free to be who she is.
After she disappeared, I’d plugged her phone in. I didn’t even know why I was doing it. I guess deep down I was hoping she would contact me. And finally, she did. I so badly wanted to call her back, to text her that I got her message and was coming, but I didn’t know who’s phone she had called me from and if it would be safe for me to reply.
The last thing I wanted to do was make things worse for her. And yet, here I am, walking up to her house after jumping over the iron gate that surrounds the property like some kind of criminal.
It’s not like I can just walk through the front door, so I’m trying to figure out how the hell I’m going to get inside undetected, when the front door flies open and Fallon comes running out, looking like the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.
I stand motionless for several seconds watching
her come closer. It’s only been four days and yet it feels like it’s been a lifetime since I’ve laid eyes on her.
Her cheeks are pink, her eyes laser focused forward as she runs down the front steps, a suitcase clunking behind her.
She passes right by me without looking in my direction.
“Fallon,” I call after her, watching the way her body goes stiff at the sound of my voice.
She turns, looking back toward the house before finally glancing in my direction.
“Titus.” My name is a sob on her lips.
I swear my feet have never moved so fast before. One minute I’m standing two steps from the front porch, the next I’m on the ground in front of her, pulling her into my arms.
She lets go of her suitcase, her arms wrapping around my middle as she begins to shake against me.
“Are you okay?” I release her, bending down so that I’m eye level with her.
“I am now.” She gives me a watery smile. “What are you doing here?”
I dig into my back pocket and pull out her cell phone.
“I got your message,” I tell her, waving the device in front of her.
“You got my message,” she repeats, her voice riddled in disbelief. “And you came?”
“Of course I did. I don’t care what your father says. We’ll find a way around this. Even if I have to call my own father, he won’t get away with this.”
“I already took care of it,” she interjects.
“What do you mean you already took care of it?”
“I’ll explain later. Right now, I just want to go home.”
Home... With me.
After days of fearing I’d never see her again, those words are like a magic balm, healing me from the inside out.
“Come on.” I reach around her, grabbing her suitcase in one hand before taking her hand in the other.
Without another word we cross the grounds and head toward my truck that’s parked up the street.
As soon as were tucked inside the cab, I pull her into the center seat, wanting her as close to me as possible. If living without her the last few days has taught me anything, it’s that I don’t ever want to do it again.
It isn’t until we’re on the road, driving away from her father’s house, that Fallon finally breaks the silence.
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