My cell vibrates on my leg, and as soon as I see Mom’s name, I tense. When I told her what I did with Lily last night, to say she wasn’t pleased was an understatement. I think I’ve only ever heard her curse a handful of times in my whole life, and last night was most of those times.
Swinging my gaze over to Evan, I look back down at it and shake my head before answering.
“Yeah?”
“Luke!” Mom gasps. “I need you to help Lily.”
My jaw locks, my breaths coming out of me at the same speed as a raging bull. “I told you it’s not your place, Mom.”
She’s silent a beat before whispering, “He hurt her, Luke…. Bad.” The terrified tone of her voice has my body locking to epic proportions. “I’m going over there, I won’t let him do this—"
“No… Mom… Fuck! Don’t do that.” I slap my hand off the dash, clenching my fist. “No, you’ll make it worse.”
“You don’t get it.” She sniffles, lowering her voice. “She’s here, Son, and she’s in a real bad way. I… I don’t know what to do.”
Evan pulls into the hospital lot and I rush out, “I’m at my car, I’ll be there in twenty.”
“We should have done something sooner,” she hiccups out and I can only imagine the memories this is bringing back. The same ones that haunt me each and every night.
“I know, Mom.” My body deflates, all the anger leaving me in a rush. “I tried to help… I did.”
“We should have tried harder… she’s—”
I bob my head, agreeing with her but not knowing what’s happening right now, all I know is I need to get there and help. Fuck. What the hell am I going to find when I get there? The images rushing through my mind are ones I want to scrub out but I tell myself I’m probably thinking it’s worse than it actually is.
“She said she didn’t need help… what am I meant—”
“I’m getting blood on your carpet,” I hear Lily whisper, her voice broken, and it has my body jerking forward as I push out of the car.
“No! No. Don’t move, I’ll sort it out, honey.”
“I can go,” she croaks out.
“Fuck! Keep her there, don’t let her leave until I get there.” I end the call, my chest heaving up and down but I don’t feel like I’m getting enough air into my lungs. Closing my eyes, I do what I always do and slip my mask back into place before turning to face Evan.
“Luke?”
“Let me know how Lexi is,” I growl before spinning around and jogging over to my SUV. I speed out of the lot, my body working on automatic, and before I know it, I’m pulling up in front of my mom’s house, just about managing to turn the engine off before jumping out and slamming the door behind me.
What am I doing? I asked her to tell me if she needed help. Hell, I practically begged her to let me help, to get her out of the house I’m sure she’s trapped in. But instead she walked away from me, probably telling herself she could handle it.
My feet are stuck in front of the door, my arm not working to reach out and open it, afraid of what I’ll see behind it.
But as soon as I hear her soft sobs, I’m flinging the door open, just like she said, ready to be her superhero.
I stand in the open doorway, my hand clutched on the handle as she slowly lifts her head, her perfect blond hair matted with dried blood as she tries to look at me but fails.
My stomach bottoms out, the blood rushing from my head and making me stumble a little as I take her all in. The swollen eye stops her from being able to open it, the split lip, the bruise forming on her cheek. My gaze roves lower, seeing the fingermark bruises on her neck and the small rip in her tank top before moving further down and seeing the much larger rip in her skirt, showing her legs and the trail of blood flowing from the inside of her thighs.
“Luke,” she whispers, her voice hoarse, but all it takes is my name coming from her lips in that way and I’ll do whatever I can to save her whether she asks for my help or not.
LILY
He’s the reason… it’s him. Why I have the guts to run away right now, to veer off my plan and seek help from people who I know will believe me. To take the plunge and hope like hell things can get better from here on out.
His ice-blue eyes don’t stray from mine as he closes the door and walks toward me, his movements slow. I swallow as he crouches in front of me where I’m perching on the edge of the sofa.
“Angel?” The guttural tone of his voice has the lump in my throat getting bigger. “What happened?”
I see Kim standing to the side out of the corner of my eye, her hands over her mouth as tears slide down her face.
“He…” Oh God, I’ve got to tell him. I have to reveal what will forever be the darkest part of me. I don’t know if I can… I don’t know if—
“It’s okay, angel. Nothing will happen to you now. I promise.” His eyes tell me the truth, and when I clear my throat, he takes hold of my hand on my lap.
“He…” I hiccup a sob, my other hand over my chest as if to hold my broken heart in place. I’ll never be the same. Nothing will ever be as bright or as loud as it used to be. It’s muted… in black and gray. “He r…” I can’t say the word, it’s lodged in my throat for all eternity, but I can see from the anger shining in his eyes that he knows what I’m saying without me having to speak the words.
I hate I can’t tell him, and when he nods in acceptance, my anger bubbles beneath the surface. I don’t want my dad to have any kind of control over me again. Today is the first day of the rest of my life, and I won’t let him have any say in it.
“He raped me,” I rush out. “My dad… he… did this.”
My breaths quicken, my head starting to spin, my vision becoming blurry until Luke reaches up, cupping the side of my face and swiping the tears away.
“I’m so sorry,” he whispers, and when I focus on him, I see the sheen of tears covering his eyes, the heartbreak I’m feeling being reflected back at me. “I’m so so sorry, angel.”
I nod, causing me to wince with the action. “He took a part of me I can never get back,” I croak out. “He just… took it.”
Closing my eyes, I relish the feel of Luke’s gentle hand as he grips me a little tighter, the air shifting as he moves closer to me and presses his forehead against mine. “I’ll never let anything like this happen to you again.”
“Promise?” I ask, my voice so raw I’m not even sure it’s mine.
“With my life.”
I breathe him in, letting the feel of his breath on my face relax me and relishing in his soft touch as it replaces the rough one I had to endure. I allow him to witness a part of me I never thought I’d let anyone have access to, not only that but I trust him. I trust this broody man who’s over a foot taller than me and has muscles on top of muscles.
When I open my eyes back up, I watch the tattoos on his arm dance as he flexes his hand and rubs his thumb back and forth on my cheek before he pulls away a little.
“We need to report—”
My eyes widen and I shake my head before he gets the full sentence out. “No… I have to run away, to escape and never look back. I can’t get everything out in the open.” My breaths become panicked when I think about what could happen. “They won’t believe me,” I tell Luke before looking over at Kim. “I tried to tell them years ago. I really did, but they wouldn’t—”
“Breathe, Lily,” Luke whispers. “Just take a breath, okay?” I turn back to him, focusing on his calming presence. “Just... breathe.”
I do as he says, trying to get my panic under control, but I need to make him understand. They’ll put me back in that house with him. I’m still a minor and they won’t care what danger I’m in, so long as they protect the name of the preacher.
“I can’t relive it, Luke,” I choke out. “I just… I can’t.” The lump in my throat is so big I find it hard to breathe through it. My wide eyes stare at Luke, trying to show him how much I mean it, but when he doesn’t acknowledge what I’ve said, I
shoot up off the sofa, wobbling and wincing from the quick movement.
“Lily—”
I hold my arm out, my other hand on my chest. “No. I won’t do it… I’ll leave right now. I’ll go…” My bottom lip wobbles, tears running down my cheeks as fast as a waterfall as realization hits me. “I have nowhere to go.”
Luke steps toward me, his large body taking up so much space, but he calls to me in a way nothing else ever has.
“We won’t report it for now,” he says softly. We. Not me; we. “I’ll get you as far away from here as I can.”
My body deflates as I sway to the side, dropping back to the sofa and letting my hair create a curtain around my face. My head thumps, my eyes sore, and I can’t help but run my tongue over my lip, wincing against the biting pain it causes.
Escape. That’s all I can think about. To get as far away from here as possible.
“I need to shower,” I whisper, my voice hoarse. Looking back up at Luke, I see the sorrow flashing in his ice-blue eyes and I think that breaks me even more. He’s never affected by anything, but right now, all his emotions are on display for me to see.
Kneeling in front of me, he takes my hand in his, his large one encasing mine. “I know, angel.” He lifts his hand and runs his palm down my face. “We’ll get you cleaned up and then you can sleep.” Standing up, he pulls his cell out. “I need to make a couple of calls first, okay?”
“Okay,” I whisper, leaning back against the sofa, my eyes closing, tiredness setting in at an alarming rate, but as soon as I start to drift, all I see is his face, the way he leaned over me, the evil smirk, the way his head reared back with pleasure as he took everything from me.
Whipping my eyes open, I find Luke standing a few feet away, watching me. He opens his mouth, but before he can say another word, I stand up, letting my head drop as I walk toward the stairs.
I can’t sit there with him still inside me, around me, crawling over my skin.
LUKE
Stepping away from Lily is one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do, it’s right up there with seeing the utter devastation on her face. I want to simultaneously hold her but also go and find her dad and teach him a lesson. Just like I had to do with my own dad. Fuck.
My hands shake as I pull my cell out, listening for Lily as she makes it to the top of the stairs, a door opening and closing. When the water from the shower turns on, I know I need to get a plan in place. The longer she’s here, the more danger she’s in.
I swallow as I head out the back door, trying to get ahold of myself as I work out what to do. She needs to be away from here, but taking her back to the compound is out of the question. She’ll be a runaway still being seventeen; I don’t even want to think about what could happen if they found me with her. No amount of explaining will get me out of it, and I’m sure her dad would love that.
Fuck! I have no idea what to do, but the way she looked at me as if I have all the answers fills me with both pride and fear.
Letting my arm drop to my side, I lean my head against the cold brick wall, closing my eyes as I think back to a few years ago when we were on a job and had to rent a house out in the woods for a couple of weeks. My eyes spring open before I shoot a message off to Ty asking for the details.
A plan is formulating, and when I look back at the house, I can’t help but think it was my fault. If I hadn’t have asked her outright, she never would have given me the cell back and she could have called. But would I have been able to get to her in time?
This isn’t meant to happen, there shouldn’t be this kind of evil in this world.
“Luke?” Mom’s voice calls and when I hear shuffling by the back door, I push off the wall and turn to face her.
We stare at each other for several minutes before I ask, “How did this happen? Why would he do this?”
She lets out a breath, her body sagging against the doorframe. “I don’t know, Son, but I should have seen it coming.”
My eyes widen. “What?”
She looks up at the window to the bathroom, probably checking it’s closed before she whispers, “He did it to her mom and she—” She cuts herself off, her hand on her chest as she clears her throat. “She couldn’t take it anymore, that’s why she killed herself.”
Taking a step toward her, I growl out, “You’re telling me you knew he’d done this before, not only that but we both fuckin’ knew he was doing something to her, and you didn’t tell me?”
“I tried to get you to help—”
“No!” I roar, hating that she flinches but not being able to see past it right now. “You should have told me everything. Everything. Not just what you thought I needed to know.” I run my hands through my hair, gripping it. “Jesus fuckin’ Christ. She’s been in more danger than I ever thought, and you knew.”
A tear slides down her cheek, and any other day I’d wrap my arms around her and hold her tight. But right now, I can’t even stand to be near her.
“I… I should have told you.” Her shoulders slump. “I should have done more.”
My nostrils flare as I try to get my breathing under control, and when she looks up at me, the scared look in her eyes has me stepping back.
She’s the last person I want to be frightened of me.
Those looks don’t normally bother me, not from strangers who see my height and width and automatically assume they know what I do and what I’m about. But seeing it from my mom—no matter that she kept information from me that could have stopped this from happening—has me regretting my temper.
I want to tell her I’m sorry, but I can’t. Not right now. Lily is more important. “I’m going to check on Lily.”
I step forward and she moves back, letting me past. My heart is thumping in my ears, my focus on getting to the girl whose life will never be the same again.
She’ll be running; always looking over her shoulder. I’ll do all I can to help her feel safe, but if she’s not going to report him, there’s only so much I can do.
My boots pound on the stairs, and when I get to the top, I see my old bedroom door open as well as the bathroom door.
Taking another deep breath, I try to shutter my eyes before stepping toward the door.
Halting when I get to my bedroom, I watch her sitting on the edge of the bed, a towel wrapped around her, soft cries falling from her mouth. My hands itch to comfort her, and when I take a step into the room, her head whips up.
Her eyes widen, her mouth opening slightly but I don’t move another step, not until I know she’s in the here and now.
“I’ll get you some clothes to wear,” I croak out, stepping toward the chest of drawers.
I feel her eyes on me as I pull out one of my old t-shirts and a pair of sweatpants that’ll probably be too big for her, but it’s better than nothing right now.
Placing them next to her, I move back. “I need to check your… injuries before you get dressed.”
Her throat bobs as she swallows. “It’s okay.” She pauses. “They’re just bruises.”
Crouching down in front of her, I place my hand on her cheek, hating the purple bruise that mars her skin already. “I need to make sure you’re okay, darlin’.”
“I…” Her hand grips my forearm, causing my gaze to focus on her blue eyes. “I just want to sleep right now.”
I watch her, knowing I need to check her over in case there’s anything more serious going on, but the way her sad eyes bore into mine, I know I can’t make her. I need to let her deal with it how she needs to and be there to help however I can.
The first tear slips free as I continue to keep my hand on her face, neither of us saying anything out loud, but I silently tell her it’s okay. Something breaks inside her and then the dam is broken and they’re sliding down her face so fast I can’t swipe them all away quick enough.
“It hurts,” she whispers, her voice sounding as broken as she looks.
Gripping the sides of her neck gently, I make sure she’s focusing on me bef
ore asking, “Where does it hurt, angel?”
Her hand moves to her chest, her palm resting over her— “Here… my heart hurts.”
I stare at her for a beat before leaning forward and resting my forehead against hers. “We’ll make it better. We’ll fix it together.”
LILY
My heart beats faster in my chest, my pulse galloping like a racehorse sprinting to the finish line. Only there is no finish line for me. I have to stay here, in the middle of the track with nowhere to go and nothing to move me along. I don’t have the animal on the sidelines for me to follow, I don’t have the jockey telling me to move forward. I have nothing.
My skin crawls as I open my eyes, a lump in the back of my throat and tears shining in my eyes that I won’t let free. I can’t; afraid if I do I’ll never be able to stop. He took something from me I can never get back, no matter how hard I try.
I keep my head down, my gaze connected to the dark comforter covering me, afraid of what I’ll see if I catch my face in the mirror on the back of the door.
Will there be darkness behind my eyes? Will the blue ever shine as bright as it used to?
The house is silent, the sun not yet risen in the sky. I wish it never would. I want the darkness to surround me, to reflect how I feel, but I know it won’t happen. It’ll rise high in the sky and everyone will wake up and go about their day, not caring or knowing that I’m falling apart from the inside out.
Pulling the covers aside, my feet land on the carpeted floor, my muscles aching with the movement. Standing up, I keep my head low as I walk across the room—Luke’s old bedroom—causing the floorboards to squeak. I freeze, waiting, listening. But after several minutes and no other noises in the house, I continue forward, nothing else on my mind but to get to the shower and wash away the feel of him—the scent of him. My nose wrinkles as I scratch my nails along my arm before opening the door and walking down the hallway, locking myself in the small bathroom and turning the shower on.
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