“Finn, a restraining order is just a fucking piece of paper. I don’t want you to get in the middle of this.”
“Princess, you know that I’m not going anywhere.”
She sighed and I felt her shift away from me. “This is something I need to face on my own.”
“Damn it, Cora. Don’t pull away from me. Yell, scream, tell me you hate me, but talk to me. I can’t deal with the silence anymore. I already feel you slipping away and I don’t know what to do to fix it. Derek’s not even here and he’s already tearing us apart.”
A single tear slid down her face.
“I just can’t do this right now.”
“Can’t do what? Talk about Derek or be with me?”
She winced. “Both. I need some time, Finn.”
“What do you mean you need some time?”
She stood up and I reached for her hand. When she took a step away I knew. Cora wasn’t going to let me help her. Instead of fighting, she was going to shrink into herself and become the scared shell of a person she was after the attack. I didn’t want that to happen, but there was nothing I could do to stop it if she pushed me away. There was a shadow falling over her face and I could visibly see her shutting me out.
I watched her turn and walk away. She didn’t look back when I called out to her. If I gave her the time that she wanted, I could lose her forever, but going after her could make her resent me even more. I wanted her to trust me and to lean on me, but she wasn’t and I didn’t know if it was because she couldn’t, or if it was because she didn’t want to. As I watched her walk away, I did the only thing I could think of. I called Olivia and told her that Cora needed her. If Cora wouldn’t let me be there for her I hoped that she would at least open up to Olivia.
____
Nate handed me a beer and I took it gratefully. All I wanted to do was go see Cora, but I was being a pussy about it. It had only been a few hours and I was already falling apart.
“Do you think she’s going to blame you since you’re the one who told her?”
“I have no clue, but I hope not. Cora is an enigma. You never know what she’s going to do or say next.” He sat down next to me and I glanced over at him. “How pissed off at me is Liv?”
“She’s not. She wants to make sure you’re okay and she’s thankful that you thought to call her. Cora isn’t doing so hot though. Liv thinks you should go see her.”
I sighed. “Nate, I don’t know what to do. What if I go and she doesn’t want me there? What if I just make it worse on her?”
“You were there through everything that happened right?”
I remembered her lying face down in the grass covered in blood after I found her and I took a huge gulp of beer. “Yeah, I was there.”
“Maybe she just doesn’t want that memory right now. I think you should go though. If Olivia thinks you should, then you need to.”
I rested my head in my hands. “Why did that fucker have to get out now? Things were going so good and now I have no idea where Cora and I stand.”
Nate cleared his throat and I glanced up at him. He looked serious and he wasn’t that type of guy. He was the type to crack jokes and break the tension, but not this time.
“I waited for your sister to be ready. You know that I was miserable while she was gone. If I could do it all over again, I would have fought for her. Learn from my mistakes, dude. Go talk to Cora and don’t let her push you away.”
He stood up and I watched him walk back inside the house. Nate was right. I needed to go after Cora. My chest ached because I didn’t want her to go through this by herself. I set down my beer and stood up. When I turned back around, Cora stood silhouetted in the doorway.
“I’m so,” she choked back a sob. “So sorry.”
I opened up my arms and she ran into them. My fingers ran through her hair and I pressed a kiss to her head.
“I panicked. As soon as I left, I realized what I did, but I didn’t know how to take it all back.”
I sat down in the chair and pulled her into my lap. Her arms wrapped around me as she sobbed into my neck.
“I want to do what’s best for you, Princess. If you want me, I’m not going anywhere. And I don’t want to let you push me away, but I don’t want to make you resent me either. I’ve been numb all afternoon. Nate just talked sense into me and I was about to come to you.”
I pulled her in tighter, resting my forehead against her shoulder. Her sobs quieted and she took a few deep breaths. We sat there quietly and I tried to figure out what to say next because I knew Cora hated the silence. It terrified her.
“You were coming for me?” Her voice was a whisper.
I nodded. “I’ll always come for you, Cora.”
“Don’t let me push you away. I know I’m a bitch sometimes, but it’s my defense mechanism. It’s what I know. Everyone who is supposed to be important in my life always leaves me. If I can push you away first then you can’t leave me.”
“Princess, I’ve known you almost your whole life. I know what you do when you’re hurting, but the problem is I’ve never been afraid of losing you before.”
“I’m sorry, Finn.”
My fingers trailed up and down her back. She was finally starting to relax in my arms and I was afraid that if I moved she would tense up again.
“Do you want me to see if we can stay here tonight or do you want to go back to your dorm?”
“Can we go back to the house?”
“Of course. We can stay wherever you want.”
We stood up and slowly made our way out of the house. Nate and Olivia gave us encouraging smiles and I think they were happy that we had made it through without any major damage to our relationship. When we got back to my room, Cora curled up in my arms and was asleep as soon as she lay down. I wanted to protect her. I was burning up inside over the fact that someone had so much power over my girl. My brave, amazing, strong girlfriend shouldn’t have to be afraid of anything.
I waited outside the dorms for Finn to show up and walk me to graduation. Today was a big day for Nate and Olivia and I couldn’t wait to get there and help them celebrate. I paced back and forth as I waited. My nervous energy was getting to me and I had a feeling that I was being watched. Every time I looked around, there wasn’t anyone there, but I couldn’t shake the unnerving feeling.
Finn pulled into the parking lot and climbed out of his car. I instantly felt better when he was there with me. He pulled me into a hug and I held him longer than normal.
“Princess, is everything okay?”
I nodded and bit down on my lip. If it were any other day, I would tell him about my gut feeling, but I didn’t want him to worry.
“It’s just a big day,” I said, flashing him a bright smile.
He looked at me like he wanted to push, but he didn’t ask anything else. We started walking towards the football stadium. I loved the way he looked in his suit and at least for now, I was distracted by how amazing his ass looked in those dress slacks. It was difficult not to drag him back up to my dorm and have my way with him.
“I know that look,” he said, smirking. “What kind of ideas do you have for later?”
“I bet you have an idea.”
He placed his hand at my bare lower back and I shivered. My dress was a navy blue gauzy slip dress that was low cut in the back.
“You have no idea. I can’t wait until this is over and we can get back to a room, any fucking room at this point. It’s been a week since we’ve had sex and I have no idea how that happened. My balls are going to explode soon.”
I laughed and poked him in the side. “You are ridiculous. It’s been like two days.”
His lips trailed over my neck. “All I know is that it’s been too long.”
I grabbed his hand. “Come on. Your parents are waiting for us and we don’t have time for a quickie in my room.”
He pouted. “Are you sure?”
We found his parents outside the stadium and they were as polite and dista
nt as always. They hadn’t seemed shocked to hear that we were dating, nor did they really seem to care one way or the other. Olivia plastered a smile on her face when she walked up. She tugged me away from them as soon as she could. Finn and I were going to be stuck sitting with them at the ceremony.
Nate’s family was the exact opposite of Olivia’s. They were all warm and welcoming. His mother Diana pulled me into a warm hug and asked me about the internship I would be attending this summer. Nate’s brothers flirted with me and I could tell they were doing it to get a rise out of Finn. To the outsider, you wouldn’t be able to tell, but the way that Finn wouldn’t let go of me was a sure sign he was pissed. It was adorably sexy that he was so protective of what was his.
Before they called everyone inside to start commencement, I had the feeling of being watched again. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and I gripped Finn’s arm tighter. He tucked me under his shoulder and we walked inside the stadium.
“Are you sure you’re okay,” he asked, stopping in front of me and putting his hands on my shoulders.
“I’m not sure. Something feels…off.”
He pulled me into his chest and looked around.
“I’m going to talk to Riley. I want him to walk us back to the dorms later.”
I nodded. Nate’s brother was a cop, and I couldn’t deny that the idea of him walking us back made me feel a little better. There was something there that made me uncomfortable and I knew I wasn’t imagining it. A shiver worked its way up my spine and my skin felt like it was crawling.
Nate and Olivia walked across the stage one right after the other and we cheered and screamed for them. Nate’s grandparents were adorable. They were so proud of Nate and although they looked incredibly refined and proper, they yelled along with the rest of us.
We hugged everyone goodbye and Finn squeezed my arm.
“Wait here for one second. I’m going to go get Riley.”
I nodded and crossed my arms over my chest. A family walked between where Finn went and where I stood, causing me to take a few steps back. Fingers gripped my arm hard enough to bruise and I gasped at the contact.
“Shut up, Cora. Act like you’re happy to see me.”
That voice.
“Derek.”
I started to scream, but he dug into my arm tighter. He yanked me to his side and I saw the glint of a gun he had in the waistband of his jeans. I stumbled in my heels behind him and he cursed. We had just moved behind the corner of a connecting wall when Finn called out my name. Derek reached for the gun and I knew I needed to distract him.
“Why are you here?”
He sneered at me. “I’ve been waiting for you. I told you I would be back for you once I got out. Did you forget?”
I shivered. I sure as hell hadn’t forgotten the threat he had given me at the trial.
“You could have just moved on. It would have been a fresh start for you.”
He laughed and the sound chilled me down to my bones. It was the sound that a crazy person makes. Finn called out my name again and he sounded closer this time. I had to do something. It was either his life or mine and there was no way I was letting him get hurt because of me.
“I’ll go with you, just leave him alone.”
Derek grinned. “I knew you had feelings for him. You really were a cheating whore, weren’t you?”
He gripped the hair at the base of my skull and I cried out.
“Cora?” Finn was louder and he sounded frantic.
“I never cheated on you. Finn and I started dating a few months ago.”
“Maybe I should show him that you’ll always be mine.”
“No!” He gripped my hair tighter and I fought back tears. “I already said I would go with you.”
“Maybe that’s not enough, Cora.”
“What do you want from me? I don’t understand why you’re doing this?”
I watched his eyes as he looked at me. “You were mine and he never should have gotten close. He wanted you to break up with me and you were going to.”
“I wasn’t,” I pleaded.
“You sent me to jail,” he hissed.
“You nearly killed me.”
I fought to keep my balance as he yanked me around. “That was a mistake.”
“Cora! Where the fuck are you?”
Several people were calling my name now, but the only one I heard was Finn. It was only a matter of seconds before he found us. Derek had the gun in his hand now and I couldn’t reach it. He backed us against the wall and I tried to keep from passing out.
As Finn turned the corner I yelled out to him to run and threw myself at Derek. He fired off two shots, but I had thrown him off balance enough that he wasn’t able to get off the shots he wanted. My head hit the concrete as we went down and I saw stars. It stunned me enough to give Derek the upper hand. I scrambled to get to the gun first, but he knocked it away.
He pinned me to the ground and I cried out as he struck me across the face. From the corner of my eye, I saw Finn on the ground. He wasn’t moving. Fists pinned my neck to the ground and I gasped for air. Tears streamed down my face as I clawed at Derek. Riley came running around the corner, pulling his gun as he did, and yelling for Derek to put his hands up. At least I had a chance now that he was in front of us. Everything happened so quickly, and I was losing consciousness fast, but I heard the sound of the gun and focused on the fact that Derek’s grip loosened immediately.
Derek’s body jerked and he fell back onto the concrete. I sucked in a choked breath and scrambled away from him. Blood pooled around him and I felt bile in the back of my throat. I turned to look back at Riley and he stood in front of Finn’s body, gun still aimed at Derek.
Finn.
My body felt numb as I crawled over to where he was on the ground. His shirt was covered in blood and it took me a second to find the bullet wound in his shoulder. Through the haze, I realized I needed to apply pressure to Finn’s wound. My hands were covered in blood. Nate gently moved me out of the way and started to help Finn. Olivia pulled me to her and she wrapped her arms around my shoulders. I stood there silently weeping, waiting for the ambulance to get to us.
____
Derek was dead.
Riley came into Finn’s hospital room to tell me. I couldn’t help but feel relief. His parents would be grieving somewhere, but honestly, I didn’t give a fuck. He had mentally abused me during our relationship and almost killed me at the end. I had become some kind of sick obsession of his and he wanted revenge. Now he had hurt the one person that I needed most. Finn was going to be okay. Luckily the bullet had passed clean through and hadn’t hit anything vital, but he was still going to be in a lot of pain.
I blamed myself for getting Finn caught up in my drama. He would be having fun at some graduation party if it weren’t for me. Olivia and Nate should be out celebrating, but instead they were waiting in the hallway, trying to explain what the hell had just happened to their parents. Finn had come to just enough to tell the paramedics that he wanted me with him, not his parents and that was the only reason I was here now.
“Cora.” Finn’s voice sounded raspy.
“I’m here.” I reached out and took his hand in mine. “You’re fine. We’re fine.”
He nodded slowly. “Tell me what happened.”
“He had been watching me all afternoon, waiting for the perfect opportunity. I tried to keep you from getting hurt Finn. I told him he could have me if he would just leave you alone.”
I laid my head down on the bed next to his arm. He ran the fingers of his good arm through my hair. “Princess, I would have torn that place apart looking for you. There’s no way I would have let him leave with you.”
“Finn, all of this is my fault.”
Tears streamed down my face and soaked his bed.
“No, it’s not. Derek is a sick man. He’s twisted and demented. I’m going to make sure he never gets to you again.”
“He’s dead.” He looked at me in
confusion. “Riley just came in and told me. He died when Riley shot him to get him off of me. He wasn’t listening to commands and Riley had to shoot him to get him to let go of me.”
Finn laid his head back on the bed.
“Even better.”
“We can talk about all of this later. I just want you to focus on healing. You have a long road ahead of you and it’s going to hurt like hell.”
“At least I’ll look like a badass for you.”
He closed his eyes. Within minutes he was asleep.
“Cora, I’m not made of glass. I’m going to be fine.”
She hushed me and insisted on helping me out of the car. This was only going to last for so long before I lost my temper. I knew she blamed herself for everything, and as soon as I could stay awake for any amount of time, I was going to set her straight. The painkillers the doctors gave me were strong and I hated how they made me feel.
Olivia unlocked the front door and everyone slowly followed me inside. I turned around, only to see all of them staring at me.
“Guys, I’m fine. Can we stop with the babying?”
“Fine with me,” Olivia said. “I’ll let you get your own pain pills and water.”
Nate laughed and tugged her into the kitchen after him. She had been worried, I had seen it in her eyes. But Nate had explained the extent of my injuries and she understood it wasn’t quite as bad as we first guessed. I would be making a full recovery, but I would have limited use of my arm for a while. Cora trailed behind me, unsure of what to do.
“Come here, Princess.” She took a step closer. “I meant all the way.”
“I’m scared I’m going to hurt you if I touch you.”
I reached out and took her hand in mine. “You’re going to hurt me if you don’t touch me.”
“Finn, this isn’t funny.”
“I don’t think it’s funny at all.” She reluctantly took the last few steps towards me. “If you want to play Florence Nightingale, at least do it with your mouth on my cock.”
Waiting to Fall: Book Two of the Waiting Duet Page 19