“What?” he shouts.
“Did you talk to him yet? Is that why he came here?”
“I have no clue why he would be there. I’ve been waiting for him to come home so I could tell him and Mom that I’m moving out.”
“I think he just threatened me.”
JD’s temper erupts over the phone. “He threatened you?Son of a bitch! Is he still there?”
“No. He just left. JD, what do you want me to do?”
“I’ll take care of it, Aurora. I don’t want you to worry. After tonight, I will be free of that asshole. I’m coming home to you.”
God, that sounds so good. So perfect. “You are my home, Jackson. I’ll wait up for you. Call or text me when you’re on your way. Are you sure you don’t want me there with you tonight? Your dad is a wee bit scary right now.”
“I love you, baby. I’ve got this. I won’t let him bully me any longer. I won’t allow him to control my life ever again. Be ready for me tonight. As soon as I walk through your bedroom door, you’re mine.”
“Come home to me, Jackson. I love you.”
“I will always find my way back to you, sunshine.”
But that promise never comes.
Chapter 28
The Present
Five Years Later
“Knox! We’re going to be late!”
I’m rushing around my bedroom, trying to find my diamond earrings, my black clutch, and the Louboutins I picked out earlier to go with my black cocktail dress.
“I was ready thirty minutes ago,” Knox’s bemused voice comments from where he’s leaning against the doorframe of my bedroom.
I look over at the handsome man wearing a tailored dark suit who’s watching me dash around my bedroom like a crazy person. I stick my tongue out at him.
“I can’t find my shoes,” I complain, bending down to look under my bed which causes my dress to ride up and Knox to give a moan of appreciation.
“You mean the shoes you left downstairs?”
Trevor, Knox, and I still live in the Montgomery mansion with Fallon, who rarely comes back to the States anymore except for Christmas and birthdays. Knox’s mom and the other families moved out over the years but they all live close by.
I pop up, my hair coming loose from the carefully constructed twist I worked so hard on, and I see that the heels I’ve been searching for are dangling from his fingers.
“Oh, thank goodness,” I reply, relieved, and rush over to grab them from him. With two fingers, he hands them over and I quickly slip them on. “Okay, now I’m ready—”
That’s all I get out before Knox catches me by surprise and hauls me into his arms, then devours me. Thank God for smudge-proof lipstick.
“I’m not going to be able to keep my hands off of you tonight,” he says like a warning. He slips his hand around the nape of my neck and pulls out my hair pin, causing the rest of my honey-blonde lengths to tumble free from of the twisted bun and cascade down my back and shoulders. “So fucking gorgeous.”
My face still turns beet red whenever someone pays me a compliment. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to it after spending most of my life growing up in a home where praise and love were nonexistent.
“You clean up nice as well,” is my response, and Knox laughs, bending down to press his lips against mine one last time.
Knox has grown up and filled out since the first time I saw him five years ago. He’s added another three inches to his height, and a religious daily workout regime has metamorphosed his lean runner’s build into thickly defined muscles and a wide chest. He wears his jet-black hair styled and cut shorter around the sides. His face has matured from good-looking to ruggedly handsome. Luckily, his moss-green eyes have stayed the same. I always found those to be his best feature—full of warmth and kindness and a sense of calm.
Right now, those eyes are full of heat as he looks down at me—another thing that I’m getting used to. Knox pursued me doggedly for the past four years and he finally wore me down a few months ago. After the person who shall not be named—yes, that person is now consigned with the likes of Voldemort—my heart wasn’t ready to begin a new relationship, and honestly, I don’t know if it’s ready now. I don’t think it will ever be ready. Too many broken and missing pieces. But I’m trying. Shelby, one of my best friends, would call that a solid start.
