Our Darkest Maze

by Sarah Bailey

  I looked away, hating everything he’d said. Hating it all.

  “No. It’s not.”

  “I’m sorry. I truly am. I know what it’s like to love someone you can’t have.”

  It didn’t make me feel any better. Uncle Brent and Aunt Jen had only got together twelve years after he’d come to work for my dad. He’d loved her that entire time and thought he couldn’t be with her because she was his best friend’s little sister. Things had worked out for them in the end. It turned out Dad wanted his sister to be happy and it was clear Brent did that for Aunt Jen.

  It didn’t change the fact my uncle was asking me to hurt the person I loved. The girl forbidden to me. It made Aurora’s words come back to me. She asked me why I didn’t tell my mum how I felt about owning the company. If I did, would it change things? If I wasn’t the heir, would it mean I could have Aurora? There would still be the issue of her family and their connections. It all felt so fucking useless and futile. All of it.

  “Yeah, well, sorry doesn’t change what I have to do.” I looked away. “Is that all? Because I need to get back to her.”

  “Logan…”

  “Don’t. I’ll end it. I’ll do it and no one will find out, okay?”

  “Okay. Thank you.”

  I shook my head and started to walk back over to the car.

  “Don’t thank me for breaking a girl’s heart, Uncle Brent.” I let out a hollow laugh. “Family comes first, but right now, I want to say fuck this family and our stupid fucking reputation.”

  If he had a response to my words, I didn’t hear it. I opened the car door and slid inside, slamming it shut behind me. I started the car without looking at Aurora. Facing her felt impossible.

  “Logan… are you okay?”

  “No.”

  “Your conversation with your uncle looked kind of heated.”

  I sighed and pulled away from the curb.

  “I don’t really want to talk about it.”

  I had no fucking clue where we were going, but I had to be away from my uncle and everything he’d said to me. All of it made me ill. And the fact I had to end things with her? I couldn’t deal with it.

  My heart fucking shattered when she reached out and stroked my hand on the gearstick. Her touch was magic to me. It made my skin heat. It soothed my demons. She was the earth, the air, the sun, the moon and the stars. I needed her to survive.

  “I should take you home… what’s the address?”

  I glanced at her, finding a sad expression on her face. She told me where she lived in Kensington and I typed it into my satnav. Aurora didn’t try to engage me in conversation. When I had to move my hand, she put hers on my shoulder instead, reassuring me of her presence. As if I could forget when I could feel her next to me.

  How could I end it? How could I tell her I couldn’t see her anymore? And all because of my family. I could only imagine the hurt in her eyes. She would hate me. I couldn’t stand the thought of her doing so. Not again. She’d already hated me before. And she’d told me not to prove her right about me not having a heart.

  Fuck.

  When we pulled up outside of her house, I turned off the engine and stared ahead, trying to work out how to do this.

  “Is everything okay?” she asked.

  I couldn’t do it. Not right then. I know what I’d promised my uncle, but the thought of it paralysed me. Telling her was impossible.

  “Just family shit. I thought it better to bring you home, then I can deal with it properly.”

  I turned to look at her. Aurora’s eyes held so much fucking compassion. It killed me.

  “Okay, well, I shouldn’t keep you then. I hope you work it out.”

  “Rora…”

  She gave me a smile.

  “It’s fine, Logan. I promise. I get it. Family comes first.”

  If only she knew how fucking true it all was. Family coming first would only tear us apart.

  She leant closer and I moved with her, letting her wrap a hand around my neck and kiss me. Her lips were so fucking soft. I wanted it to go on forever, but it couldn’t. I had to be content with the kiss we’d shared earlier to remind me of the passion between us.

  I cupped her face when I pulled back slightly.

  “Rora, you make me happy too. I need you to know that.”

  “I know. Just text me when you can, yeah?”

  I nodded. She placed one last kiss on my lips before pulling away entirely and opening the car door. I watched her get out, my heart sinking with each movement. Before she closed the door, Aurora leant back into the car.

  “I want you to know I’m here for you whenever you need, Logan. I’m not going anywhere or leaving—”

  There was a loud commotion from behind her. She ducked back out of the car, allowing me to see what was happening. I knew in that moment, we were fucking screwed. And everything was about to come to a head.

  I’m sorry, Rora. I’m so sorry it came to this. I’m sorry for what I have to do. I’m sorry for it all.

  Chapter Twenty Eight

  I pulled back from the car to find my dad storming down the steps of our house with my mum on his tail. The sight of them made my stomach roil in protest. What the hell was going on?

  “Quinn, stop,” Mum was shouting as she tried to grab his arm.

  “No, you kept this from me. You are just as fucking bad as our daughter,” Dad shouted back.

  “This is not the time.”

  Dad reached me and pulled me away from the car, slamming the door shut.

  “You are coming with me.”

  “What the hell, Dad? Get off,” I said, shaking him off my arm.

  I heard the car door open behind me and my stomach sunk. This was a disaster. I should’ve had Logan drop me off further up the street.

  “You!”

  I watched my dad point at Logan as he came around to our side of the car. Logan didn’t say a word, just looked at me with this heartbroken expression and I knew things were only going to get worse. He came to a standstill next to me before looking at my father.

  “So, you have the balls to face me, do you? After you’ve been doing fuck knows what with my daughter.”

  Logan flinched but otherwise, his expression became impassive.

  “What happened between me and your daughter isn’t anyone else’s business. She’s an adult and capable of making her own decisions.”

  Dad looked between us as if he couldn’t believe what had come out of Logan’s mouth.

  “She’s my daughter. What she does is my business, especially when it’s related to getting involved with a family like yours. I told her she wasn’t allowed to see you and she knows why. I refuse to have her in the public eye. She is not going to be subject to the fucking media circus.”

  “I’m aware of what would happen if our involvement with each other were to become public. And trust me, I have no interest in putting Aurora through it.”

  I blinked. Dad had told me that, but I didn’t realise how much of an issue it was until now. Not until Logan had agreed with him.

  “Quinn, we should take this inside,” Mum hissed. “Or do you want to air our family business to our neighbours?”

  She’d come to a standstill next to us. Logan put his hand up.

  “There’s no need for that. I understand what you’re saying and I agree. Just let me have a conversation with Aurora and then I’ll go. I promise you won’t see me again.”

  I looked at Logan, but his expression hadn’t changed. What did he mean? I couldn’t not see him again. He’d become important to me.

  I loved him.

  “You better fucking keep to your word, do you hear me? Or you won’t like the consequences,” Dad barked before he let go of my arm and turned back towards the house.

  I watched him walk up the steps. Mum gave me a haunted look before she followed him. I wanted to go after them and ask what all of that was about. Ask how he’d found o
ut about me and Logan, but I couldn’t.

  “Let’s get back in the car,” Logan said with no small amount of sadness in his voice.

  “Logan—”

  “Get in the car, Rora.”

  He walked back around to the driver’s side and I had no choice but to follow him. I opened the passenger door and slid in, setting my bag back down in the footwell. Logan stared ahead when I looked at him, his fingers tapping on the steering wheel.

  “What my dad said...”

  “What your dad said is right.”

  I flinched, my heart already burning with the knowledge this conversation would be difficult.

  “I don’t care about our families or the stupid media. I care about you.”

  “You shouldn’t. I’m not worth it.”

  His voice was flat and void of emotion.

  “So what? My dad says I can’t see you and that’s it? I’m an adult. He doesn’t get to tell me what to do.”

  He didn’t even glance at me. It’s like he’d completely shut down and I couldn’t take it. Where the hell had the vulnerable and open Logan gone? The one I’d fallen in love with.

  “No. I don’t care what your father says.”

  “Then what?”

  He turned to me then, his ice-blue eyes hard. The sight of them broke something inside me.

  “If I truly wanted to be with you, I would. I’d tell your father to go fuck himself and make you mine.” His lip curled up into a sneer. “But I don’t.”

  Logan basically drove a knife into my chest and twisted it with his words. The pain they caused had my hand curling into a fist. My nails dug into my palm but it didn’t hurt as much as my heart did.

  “This was a game to you? Is that what you’re telling me?”

  My voice came out small and shaky. I wanted to sound strong, but my heart was bleeding.

  “Yes.”

  “I don’t believe you. After everything we’ve said and shared, I don’t fucking believe you.”

  How could I? He’d been so genuine and sincere with me. He’d given me access to his demons and secrets. Did he think telling me I was a game to him would suffice? It wouldn’t.

  “Did you really believe this was going to end any other way, Aurora? I thought you were smarter than that. I told you when we first met, this isn’t a love story. Nothing has changed.”

  I hated the tears welling in my eyes. Hated how his voice had taken on a cruel note to it.

  “This was all a lie, is that it? You said all that stuff for what, Logan? To get me to fall for you so you could crush me?”

  He shrugged.

  “Pretty much.”

  I shook my head. This couldn’t be happening. Surely I wasn’t right about him being callous and heartless. I couldn’t be. He’d proved me wrong, hadn’t he? He showed me he had a heart.

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “What is there not to believe?”

  I put my hand on my heart, feeling it thumping against my chest.

  “I feel this and I know you fucking well feel it too. Stop lying to me.”

  He looked down at my hand and shook his head.

  “I don’t feel anything for you. This was only ever about getting back at you for fucking with me.”

  A traitorous tear leaked out of my eye. I didn’t swipe it away. I wanted him to see. He needed to understand this wasn’t okay.

  “No. Don’t you fucking say that. You are not that childish or mean, Logan. I know you.”

  “You only know what I wanted you to see.”

  I shook my head as another tear streaked down my face.

  “No, I know what I feel and I know what you feel. I know! Fuck, you cannot do this to me now. I won’t allow you to.” I reached out and tugged him closer until our noses brushed together. He didn’t stop me. “You take that back. You tell me the fucking truth because I won’t have it. I’m not letting you do this to us.”

  “I don’t want you, Aurora.”

  “Liar. You’re a fucking liar.”

  His smile was cruel as if he pitied me.

  “It’s such a shame you fell for it.”

  “Don’t do this, Logan, please,” I whispered, my voice breaking on my words, “Don’t break my heart.”

  For a split second, I saw the regret in his eyes, but it was gone so fast, I couldn’t be sure if I’d imagined it or not.

  “I didn’t think you were the type of girl to believe in fairy tales and love.”

  “I believed in us.”

  “That was your first mistake. You should have listened to me in the first place. I was never going to fall in love with you and give you a happy ever after.”

  I shoved him away from me, not wanting to hear his words any longer. They stung. They made a mockery of everything we’d been to each other. I’d given him everything he asked for. I’d been there for him when he was suffering. Now he’d ripped my heart out of my chest and stamped all over it.

  “Fuck you, Logan. I hope you’re happy now you’ve got what you wanted. I was right the first time we met. You have no heart. And I hope I never fucking see you again because if I do, you can be sure I will make your life a living hell.”

  I grabbed my bag and tore out of his car, slamming the door shut behind me. Tears streamed down my cheeks as I ran up the steps to my house. The front door had been left open. I shut it behind me, dropping my bag as my knees gave out. I sunk to the floor and let out a pitiful sob. Logan had broken my heart. He’d destroyed it.

  “Sweetheart?” came my mum’s voice.

  “I hate him. I hate him,” I sobbed.

  She came over and sat on the floor next to me, pulling me against her chest. I buried my fists in her blouse and cried on her shoulder.

  “Shh, baby girl, it’s okay. Shh.”

  “No, it’s not okay. I hate Logan. And I hate Dad.”

  “You don’t hate your father, Rora.”

  I shook my head.

  “I do. I fucking do. He’s interfered in my life too much. How did he even find out about Logan?”

  My mum stroked my hair.

  “When he discovered you hadn’t come home with E, he asked me where you were. I wouldn’t tell him. He took my phone from me and forced me to show him the messages. I’m sorry, sweetheart. You know I never wanted to betray your confidence.”

  I didn’t blame her. My father had a habit of bulldozing over people when he wanted something.

  “Aurora.”

  I stiffened at the sound of his voice. Pulling away from Mum, I stared up at my dad who was standing in the living room doorway with a stern expression on his face.

  “He ended it. He fucking well ended it. Are you happy now, Dad? Are you happy my heart is fucking shattered? Because if you are, if you dare tell me you’re happy, I will never forgive you.”

  “Rora...” Mum started.

  “No. No, don’t you defend him.” I pulled away from her entirely and got up, stabbing a finger in my father’s direction. “You couldn’t leave it alone, could you? Do you even wonder why I didn’t tell you about it? This is why. You overreact to everything and make out like I’m a disappointment to you. Well, I’m sorry if your daughter fell in love with the wrong man. I’m so sorry I can’t be the woman you want me to be. Fuck you, Dad. Fuck you and your fucking bullshit.”

  I stormed away, not wanting to hear a word out of his mouth. Not wanting to hear anything from him because I was hurting. I was angry at the fucking world for doing this to me. For ruining everything. When I got to my bedroom, I slammed my door shut, kicked off my shoes and curled up on my bed, burying my face in my hands. I was done with everyone today. Done with all of it.

  How could Logan say those things to me? I didn’t understand. How could I have been so blind? None of it made any sense. I didn’t believe in love stories, but I believed we’d eventually find a way to be with each other. I had hope. Logan had torn my hope to pieces.

  I heard
my bedroom door open and shut behind whoever had come in.

  “Go away!”

  “Rora.”

  My heart hurt worse at the sound of Rory’s voice. I sobbed harder, my utter despair taking over everything. Footsteps rang on my wooden floors as Rory crossed the room. The bed dipped as he lay down with me.

  “Come here.”

  I peeked out at Rory, finding his hazel eyes full of compassion and understanding. Then I crawled into his arms and he held me, stroking my back whilst I cried all over his chest.

  “It’s okay,” he murmured into my hair, “Just let it out.”

  I did. I sobbed my heart out, then I told him everything. The whole sorry story from start to finish, not leaving anything out. Well, I didn’t go into detail about the sex parts, since this was still my dad, but everything else was fair game. Rory didn’t say a word, merely stroked my hair and back whilst I bared my soul to him.

  “He broke my heart,” I whispered, “He told me it was all a lie. I hate it. I really believed he cared about me… I thought… I thought he loved me back.”

  “People are fucked up,” Rory said after a moment.

  “Of course you think that, you hate people.”

  He chuckled, the sound lightening my heart a fraction. It still hurt and bled but spilling my guts to Rory had lessened the pain.

  “I’m sorry, Rora, I’m sorry that happened to you. Do you want me to beat him up for you?”

  “No,” I mumbled into his thoroughly damp t-shirt, “He’s not worth it. Besides, I’m sure Dad would be first in line to punch Logan in the face.”

  “Quinn is… well, he shouldn’t have got involved.”

  I pulled back and stared up at Rory.

  “You don’t agree with him?”

  “No, I don’t. You’re the one who chooses who you’re with, not any of us.”

  His words had my heart in knots. Rory had always been the one to tell us we should do what we wanted with our lives. He wanted us to go after our goals and never let anything stand in our way.