Christ, I’d been really, really stupid. I was so used to being let down by people – from corrupt police officers who’d turned a blind eye to my father’s activities, to everyone around me who had always been powerless in the face of my family. But Rafe wasn’t corrupt and he certainly wasn’t powerless. He could protect me and he could protect Zach. Watching him stride through this courthouse corridorI knew that now, down to my bones. My father started tugging me along, but I found a surge of strength from somewhere and wrenched myself out of his grip to run to Rafe and the redhead. When I stopped in front of them, I was out of breath and my pulse was pounding in my ears with the stress of what I was going to do.
“Rafe,” I said as I blocked his path. He came to an abrupt stop and stared down at me like I was a lower form of life. But I was too desperate now to be put off by the hatred radiating from him. So I took a chance and stepped into his space, my hand going to the middle of his broad chest.
“Rafe, I?—”
“I have nothing to say to you,Clarabelle,” he snapped. “I don’t want to hear any pathetic apologies or excuses.”
I shook my head. “No, I?—”
He barked out a laugh. “So you’re not even going to try to apologise? Why am I not surprised? Tell me, Clara. How long were you stalking me? The shy little schoolteacher act – was that your father’s idea? Fuck’s sake, you lied to myson.” His voice broke on that last word, and I felt like I was going to throw up.
“Please,” I begged, my eyes filling with tears. I had to make him understand. “I need your help, Rafe.”
My fingers on his chest curled in to grab onto his shirt. He froze for a few seconds, then disgust swept over his features.
“Let me be very clear,” he said in a low, dark voice. “I wouldn’t spit on you if you were on fire. You’re sorely mistaken if you think for a minute I’m going to help you and your disgusting family.” He let out a bitter laugh. “But don’t worry, you’ve managed to get me recused. I’m sure you’ll all land on your feet. Your kind always do.”
My kind.
He was lumping me in with my family. Of course he was. I was a product of them, wasn’t I? I’d seen enough over the years to be complicit. It was fear that had held me back from doing anything about their descent into violence and tyranny. I’d known what was going on in that house when I lived there, and I didn’t say a word to anyone. Shame washed over me as I blinked up at him. Okay, so maybe I was one of them in a way. But I didn’taskto be born into that family. And I knew Zach and I deserved a life outside of it. So I had to take this chance, and I wasn’t above begging.
“Please, Rafe,” I whispered, my hand tightening on his shirt to fist the expensive material. “Help me, you don’t under?—”
“Get the fuckoffme,” he clipped, grabbing my hand in a painful grip and literally throwing it away from his body.
I stumbled back a couple of steps towards mydisgustingfamily.
As soon as he was free of me, Rafe strode off down the corridor without even a backward glance, looking even more like the lord he was, still the most beautiful man I’d ever seen in my life. Time stopped as I watched him walk away. When I came back to myself, that redhead from before was right in front of me. But instead of the fury that had been in Rafe’s eyes, hers held curiosity and maybe even a hint of concern.
“Clarabelle?” she said softly as she took a step towards me.
I stutter-stepped away from her and straight into what felt like a solid wall behind me.
“Watch where you’re going, Runt,” snapped Pinky before he grabbed my arm and yanked me back towards mydad. I flinched at the pressure on the bruises already there from Dad’s previous punishing grip, and the redhead’s eyes flared. Her mouth opened, and she took a step towards me, but before she could say anything I was dragged along behind my dad and his entourage to the waiting cars.
Chapter 29
Oh my God, you are such a dick!
Rafe
My first instinctwas to protect my son. Luckily, thanks to Clara, my schedule was clear for the foreseeable future. I had all the time in the world to go to the school. There was to be an investigation into the reasons behind my recusal, which I had encouraged. I had nothing to hide apart from the shame and humiliation of my poor judgement. So, at school drop-off that morning I was determined to speak to the teachers.
Ozzie had asked after Clara last night, and I hadn’t had the heart to tell him that she wasn’t coming back, or that he would never see her again. It was going to devastate Ozzie, and I was devastated enough for the both of us. I didn’t think I could cope with a crying Ozzie on top of that. So I just told him that she wasn’t well and that I wasn’t sure when she’d be back.
“Wasn’t well like last time?” Ozzie had asked in his worried little voice, and I hated Clara even more. How dare she worry my son?
“I’m not sure, buddy,” I muttered. But then my mind flashed back to when Clara had been “ill” before, to the bruising and the cast on her arm. For a moment my blood went cold before I shook my head to clear it. Clara was with her family now. I doubted the Masons would let some dickhead ex-boyfriend near the precious daughter of the family.
“Miss Summerfield,” I snapped as I strode into her classroom. Fuck the diktat about parents not being able to invade their sacred domain. I was done playing by an arbitrary set of rules that, quite frankly, made absolutely no sense to me.
“Lord Sterling,” Lily said, frowning across at me. “I’m terribly sorry, but I think you’ll have to return later. As you can see, I’m incredibly?—”
“No,” I cut her off and her eyebrows flew up into her hairline. “I willnotspeak to you later. I’ll speak to younow. Have someone else take your class.” All the kids were staring up at me then. Ozzie looked furious.
“Well, I don't think that this is?—”
“It’s about Clara.”
