I stop twisting my fingers, my heart in my throat.
He winces. “Shit. I scared you. Sorry?—”
I let out a quiet sigh. “Youdidn’t scare me. What you said did. It is absolutely what he tried to do. If I went missing here, Nico or Lina would notice when I didn’t come into work, and they’d tell the sheriff.”
“Wewould also notice,” Knox says quietly. “And we’d look for you.”
I smile at him, remembering how fiercely he’d protected me from the guy who’d tried to grab me.
Lina hustles over with a tray overloaded with plates before we can continue our conversation.
After we’ve eaten, I visit the doctor, who gives me a quick checkup and reassures Wyatt that the fire and smoke inhalation didn’t leave me with any lasting damage.
It’s only when we’re back at the farmhouse, settled on the couches in the living room with the TV on low, that I decide to tell Hunter, Wyatt, Elias, and Knox everything.
“It was my ex-husband,” I say. “None of you have asked, and I haven’t wanted to tell any of you because I’ve been ashamed for so long, but being here with you means I’m putting you in danger. You need to know more than I’ve told you, and you need to know it so you can decide if I’m worth all this, and I’m not. I’m really not.”
Knox picks up the remote and turns off the TV. “Whatever you want to tell us, we’ll listen. But you’re worth it.”
Hunter, sitting on the couch beside me, takes my hand and gives it a squeeze. “You are absolutely worth it.”
I shake my head. “You don’t know how bad it is.”
“Nothingis so bad that it’s not worth you,” Wyatt reassures. “We’re ready to listen.”
I hesitate, not knowing where to begin. They patiently wait for me to unload years’ worth of trauma on their heads. If they tell me to leave, then so be it. They need to know how dangerous Derek is.
“I fell in love with Derek when I was sixteen, and I thought I would love him forever.” My eyes are on my hands when I take a breath and release it in a soft exhale. “What we had started off as love. Along the way, it turned into something that nearlydestroyed me. It still might. You need to know that it might destroy you too.”
Chapter 11
Maisie
Icrack my heart open another couple of inches. “Derek was a quarterback. From his first goal-winning throw in high school, everyone knew Derek Brandon would play in the Super Bowl one day.”
“What happened?” Hunter leans his shoulder against mine, and I relish the contact.
It’s as much about comforting me as it is about him wanting to touch me. Don’t ask me how I can be so sure about that. I just am.
“His life was too perfect,” I say with a bitter smile. “Derek had a dream life. He had everything that anyone could want.”
“Got that,” Wyatt says with quiet intensity. “He had you.”
He prompts a smile when I didn’t think I had one in me. “That wasn’t what I meant. Rich family, talent, he was handsome and smart.”
“Is it okay to say I hate the guy?” Elias asks with a dark scowl. “`Cause I really fucking hate the guy.”
“He also had no one ever tell him no,” I say. “Which was a problem. He thought he was untouchable on the field and off it. As we got older, he started wanting to party more. I wasn’t into it. My parents died when I was thirteen, and my older sister,Missy, practically raised me after our grandma died later. She’d given up so much of her life for me that I didn’t want to risk getting caught underage drinking or messing up my grades right before college.”
Elias cocks his head. “So why didn’t you break up?”
“We did a couple of times, actually. I wanted to go to a good college, so I studied more than he did. He never needed to work that hard. His good grades had always come easier to him than to me. But we’d break up, and days later he’d be at my house with flowers and chocolates, full of apologies. And I loved him, so I always went back to him.”
“But something happened,” Wyatt says, cocking his head.
“It was after one of the last games before we graduated,” I explain. “He was out drinking. His coach had warned him not to go out, especially with the championship game coming up. Derek didn’t listen. He got drunk and drove his car into a tree.”
“Fuck!” Hunter curses.
