“I’m tired, Carter. Will you please just take me home?” She looked out her window, refusing to look back at me.
“Well, that’s too bad.” I argued gently enough as I crossed my arms over my chest and settled in. “I guess it’s going to be a longnight for the both of us, because I’m not moving until I have a name. So you think it over, and when you’re ready, you can tell me which scum bag abandoned you on the side of the road covered in blood.”
She was staring at her hands again. “Please don’t be mad, I just can’t.”
“I’m already mad.” The understatement of the century.
“Just promise me you won’t do anything.”
I grabbed her chin between my fingers, and her breath hitched when I turned her head towards me, looking her square in the eye. “The only thing I can promise you is that when I’m done with whoever he is, he’s a dead man.”
Pure fear flashed through her eyes, and in that moment, all the terrible scenarios that had been running through my mind won, and I snapped.
CHAPTER 3
My Traitorous Car
CARTER
“Goddamn it.” I muttered under my breath, eyes shuttering as I reached across Sara’s seat and buckled her in.
I put the car in reverse and whipped back out onto the road.
“Carter.” She gripped my arm in panic. “What are you doing? Where are we going?”
“If you won’t tell me who you were with, then we’ll go to the party and I’ll find him myself.” I bit out, seeing nothing but red. I wasn’t going to let this go, wasn’t going to sweep it under the rug.I couldn’t.
“No, don’t!” She lunged for the steering wheel, begging me to stop.
“Sweetheart, I don’t know what the hell happened out there, and honestly it doesn’t matter.Somebody hurt you—left you on the side of the goddamn road, covered in blood.” I clenched and unclenched my jaw. “Whoever he is,I’m gonna kill him.”
“Please,” she begged. “If I tell you, will you turn around?”
“Not a chance in hell,” I muttered, already heading back out towards the Bishop Estate, feeling myself press deeper into my seat as the needle on the speedometer struggled to match my growing rage.
“Please, Carter, don’t do this tome. You’re just going to makethis worse than it already is. Please turn around, I’m begging you. I don’t want to go there.” Sara started sobbing, and I realized she wasterrified. Of what exactly, I didn’t know. “Ican’tgo there.”
My shoulders sagged as I blew out a defeated breath, because no matter how angry I was, no matter how determined I was, I couldn’t bear to hear her beg me like that, and definitely couldn’t bear to make her cry.
“Fine.” I murmured, quickly realizing I was only making things worse.
Despite what Ishoulddo, I rerouted, knowing she had me completely wrapped around her finger—I doubt she realized it.
“Thank you.” She collapsed against her seat.
“Don’t thank me, Sara. Youwilltell me who it was.”
She was quiet.
“Right now.” I demanded far harsher than I should have.
In the smallest voice I’d ever heard her speak in, she whispered meekly, “Someday I’ll tell you. Just not tonight.”
I ground my teeth, wondering if my jaw could shatter from clenching it so hard, but I didn’t know where to put the fierce protectiveness that was washing over me. I was going to tear someone limb from limb before severing them from their favorite one.
We drove the rest of the way home in tense silence, while I suppressed every awful scenario that flipped through my mind, knowing if she was so worked up about this, it was for a damn good reason.
When we were back in Briar Rose, I pulled down the long Devereux Estate driveway, past the circular fountain and parked under the flowering porte-cochere before I killed the headlights.
