Total pages in book: 164
Estimated words: 152853 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 764(@200wpm)___ 611(@250wpm)___ 510(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 152853 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 764(@200wpm)___ 611(@250wpm)___ 510(@300wpm)
The first rush of nauseating fear is swept away by something more potent. It's so bitter it might burn a hole through me. I'm sick and tired of being pushed around by loud men who think being the loudest and strongest makes them the biggest deal in the room.
"Get your hand off me," I whisper, teeth clenched. Every breath I take is fuel poured on the fire he started. None of this is my fault. Not his anger, not his frustration, not his weird, controlling bullshit. "Unless you want to explain to the neighbor why you're hurting me."
His growl doesn't scare me—if anything, it intensifies my fury. "Go ahead. Let her call the cops," I whisper. That word shakes him up enough that he lets go.
"In the house." He steps aside so I can brush past him.
I turn on my heel in the center of the living room and wait until he closes the door before speaking in a low, controlled voice. "I'm going to ask you a question, and I want the truth. All these weeks, you've kept me shut in here with you. I wasn't supposed to talk to the neighbor. I wasn't supposed to go out by myself. How much of that was actually for my protection, and how much of it was for yours?"
He was all ready to lay into me, so this turn of events leaves him sputtering. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about you being afraid. Scared shitless that I would... what? Find out you had a shitty childhood? Find out how bad it really was? Or maybe you were afraid I would find out what happened the night Dad came and brought you home."
"You don't have a clue what you're talking about, little girl."
The way he tries to make me feel small only makes me stand up taller. "I know your father was found dead days after my father showed up here. Is that what you've been trying to keep from me? Did Dad kill him? Did you see it happen? Did he bring you back with him so you would never tell anybody here what happened? I need to know. Stop with the lies. Just tell me the truth!"
I'd swear his features soften in relief before hardening again. It was so fast, I could've imagined it… but I don't think I did. "Oh, you really don't have any idea. You should stop digging."
"Because I'm getting too close to the truth?"
"Because you're making a goddamn fool of yourself!" he snarls. "Leave it alone! This has all been about you from the beginning. Do you think I would have returned here if it weren't for you? I never wanted to set eyes on this town again. Do you want to know something else? I even hated when Callum started putting money into this fucking hell hole. It could all burn to the ground and I would piss on the ashes. That's what this place means to me. That's all it's ever held."
"You're lying. Even now, you're lying! And the worst part is, I don't know if you're lying to me or to yourself. And it's pitiful."
"You don't know—"
"I know how happy you were on that motorcycle. How peaceful you were at the lake. You didn't hate everything about this town. You just hated this house. But don't blame that on me. I didn't ask to come here. I could have gone anywhere, and you know that."
"The little princess needed someplace nobody would be able to find her."
"I could have gone anywhere," I whisper, because I'd scream otherwise. "But you brought me here, and now you're blaming your bullshit on me. I have nothing to do with any of this. I didn't do anything to you. When are you going to stop treating me like the enemy?"
"Leave me the fuck alone! Why can't you leave all of this alone?"
"Because that's no way to live. All the anger you have, all the hatred and secrets. I'm sorry if I care."
"You don't care! You're just nosy. You have to know. And the further away I push you, the more determined you are. That's what this is about. Don't pretend you give a shit about me. If you did, you would know it's not as easy as telling a few stories. Going back to all that shit? Do you really want me to do that just to make you feel better? Because that's all it's about. You. What you think you deserve to know. It's my fucking life we're talking about! Not yours!"
Under all my anger, under the skittering, icy fear that stirs up in me when he's like this, there's knowing he's right. If I really cared, I wouldn't want to drag him through all of that again. But... "It wouldn't matter if you wouldn't make it my problem. If you didn't have to be such an asshole to me. Hot and cold. I never know which version of you I'm going to face from one minute to the next. You think you're any better than your father? Did he ever make you feel that way?"