“B-but you promised me,” I whisper, frozen in fear.
My dad grins, spit gathering in the corners of his mouth. “You’re right, kid. I s’pose you don’t belong to me.” He focuses his attention on me, now, and gives a sinister chuckle that chills me to my core. “But Susannah does, don’t she? And the longer you’re here, the more she’ll deal with the consequences.”
Chapter 23
Danny
Seventeen Years Old
Istare at her dad straight in his bloodshot eyes, unafraid of what might happen to me. I almost hope he hits me. At least then I would be able to press charges and she’d be safe.Gracie would also move away, my selfish subconscious cuts in. I shake my head and focus on the task at hand. Her safety is my number one priority.
Her dad burps loudly, cutting through my thoughts. “I’m not in the habit of waiting,” he slurs in a high-pitched, mocking tone of voice. “And I’ve given you more’an enough time. I’m not usually this generrrrous.” His face reddens with anger, looking almost purple now.
As he lunges forward, I get ready to go toe-to-toe, but he stumbles right past me toward Gracie. He reaches for her hair but misses and whacks her face instead. She staggers sideways toward the brick fireplace. Before she can steady herself, her forehead hits the corner of the wooden mantle and she crashesto the ground. Blood trickles from a cut at her hairline, looking like red paint against her pale skin.
“Gracie!” I quickly crouch down on the floor next to her. Holding her close as she cries in pain, I gingerly stroke her forehead, just below the cut. Blood coats my finger, and I swallow the bile rising in my throat. Drops of blood slide down her cheek, mixing with the tears streaming down her face.
Her eyes try to focus on me as a small whimper leaves her lips.
I know I will remember that sound for the rest of my life.
I don’t have time to concentrate on anything else but her. I closely examine her wound and try not to cry, only vaguely noticing when her dad stumbles back out of the house. I hold Gracie tightly until I feel her breaths even out, getting drops of her blood on the shoulder of my gray T-shirt.
“It’s fine, D-Danny,” she whispers meekly. “He won’t even really remember this t-tomorrow. He never d-does. He d-didn’t even mean t-to hurt me this b-bad, b-badly. You saw for yourself. I was knocked off b-balance.”
Hearing her repeatedly stutter my name cuts me to my core. “You need to come with me. Right now. I need to take care of you, of this.” I gesture to her swollen head injury. “He’s a lost cause, Gracie. We’ll figure something out together. We can tell my mom, and?—”
Her walls go up. “You need t-to let me make my own d-decisions. I’m not a child.”
“I know you’re not. Of course you’re not. But it’s okay to ask for help. Mae and my mom would only have your best interests in mind. They would never make you do anything you don’t want to do. I can make sure of it. Trust me.”
She crosses her arms. “I’m actually feeling much b-better. You d-don’t even need t-to stay.”
Huh?“Don’t even need to… Be serious, Gracie. I’m not leaving when you’re bleeding.” My stomach plummets at the thought of walking away, and a bead of sweat slides down my temple.
“So there’s a b-bit of b-blood? Nothing I can’t handle. Nothing I haven’t handled b-before.”
I flinch. “You shouldn’t have to ‘handle’ anything. It doesn’t have to be this way. You don’t deserve what’s happening to you. You’re worth more than?—”
“I knowexactlywhat I’m worth.” She glares at me and pushes to her feet, but I can tell she’s slightly woozy when she rises from the floor. I stand and hold her arm in case she needs the support.
Tugging her closer to me, until she’s flush with my side, I gently smooth a curl back from her wound. “I didn’t mean…it’s just, you have to understand where I’m coming from here.”
“We’ll b-be eighteen soon, D-Danny. There’s no point in changing anything now.” She pulls away and walks over to the coffee table, picking up a tissue.
“The point is you’re not safe, Grace.”
With a small sniff, she presses a tissue to her wound, blocking it from my view. “I think you should go now. Please.”
I rear back. “Is that really what you want?”
She crumples up the tissue in her hand, crossing her arms. “For t-tonight, yes.”
I run my fingers through my hair and take a deep breath in through my teeth. The last thing I want to be is another man in her life who bends her to his will. I don’t want to take away her agency, but something’s got to give.
“I’m going to call you in one hour. If you don’t pick up, I’m coming back over to check on you.”
She doesn’t even glance my way. “Sure.”
