CHAPTER 32
SABLE
We’re all together,in the same room, and I believed so deeply that would never happen again. I try to hold back everything I’m feeling, but it’s impossible when all my pain and fear are brimming to the surface along with an impossible love I never imagined I could feel. I didn’t really think too much about who I would wind up with, but it certainly wasn’t these five who would literally go to hell and back to find me. They all look like hell too.
The room is the same in most ways. I never really did anything to change it or make it my own, other than propping open a suitcase. It was Orion who made the closet something specific to me. My heart can’t bear to look in there and see if my clothes have been removed. I don’t think I could take it on top of everything else. I hadn’t realized just how much I missed parts of my life here at Bellthorn.
Tears spill, and before my own hands can move to wipe them away, Parker and Orion are each reaching to wipe them away. Lex and Hadrian come to surround me as well, and they all coo comforting nonsense, telling me everything will be okay. Just for one moment, it feels like that might really be true, until I meeteyes with Soren standing there, watching the five of us like he’s been stabbed in the heart.
“Where have you been?” Orion asks.
“What happened?” Parker adds.
“She needs to rest, not be subjected to the third degree,” Lex says, but I don’t see any reason not to tell them the truth when we’re all finally here, finally together.
“Do you want the short version or the long one?” I ask.
“Tell us everything,” Parker urges.
“Please,” Orion agrees. I smile at both of them because they can clearly see how messed up I am right now, and they still want to know. None of the others have pushed for answers yet, but something about the two of them demanding I unburden myself makes me feel safe.
And so I tell them the long version. It takes a while, and the release of all the secrets makes me a little faint, but they’re holding me up.
“You already killed him,” Parker confirms when I’ve finished. “Your uncle is dead, in the ground, and fucking rotting?”
“With Sable’s shoe still sticking out of his eye,” Hadrian says. I don’t mention Nina’s part in this story. I’m still not sure how to feel about her having me by the balls. Soren and Hadrian must feel the same because I don’t think they told Lex about her at the hotel, and they don’t correct me to include her now. Soren gives me a begging look, but I can’t figure out for the life of me what he’s asking for. It’s more than I got out of him the whole time we sat in that damn car.
All of them are clearly upset, but Parker has turned a concerning shade of red, and I’m starting to worry about his health. “The things my uncle did were absolutely disgusting. I fought him to his death. They found me, Hadrian buried him, and now we’re all caught up.”
“How did Hadrian find you?”
“He—”
“I dug into her mother’s side of the family because of the scrapbook Parker gave me.”
Genuine excitement makes me smile for the first time in so long. “You have my scrapbook? From the house?”
“Yeah, we do.” I can tell the guys want to ask more questions, but my happiness holds them back.
“Can I see it?”
Hadrian smiles at me. “Of course you can, Sable, but let’s get you settled in first.”
“Are you hungry? What do you want to do?” Orion asks, practically bouncing with excitement and taking me with him because he hasn’t stopped touching me for a moment. I’m happier than I ever thought I’d be again, but frankly, I’m overwhelmed, and something feels wrong in a way I can’t explain.
“I think I might just need a little space.”
“Space?” Orion asks.
“How much space?” Parker takes a step back, but his expression is almost as hurt as Parker’s. Lex and Hadrian have already fucked me, so they don’t seem to take it as hard, and guilt floods my stomach.
“I’m just a little overwhelmed,” I admit. My hands are starting to shake, and for some reason, I can’t help the visions of Uncle Carl touching me that flash through my mind, his disgusting hands all over my body, and him pleasuring himself. I can’t breathe, and vomit climbs my throat.
“A lot has happened,” Soren says, surprising me by sticking up for me. I try to hide my shaking and swallow my turning stomach. Soren’s words may not have made Orion feel better about my rejection, but it certainly distracts him.
“What the fuck would you know about it?” Orion shouts. “All of this is your goddamn fault!”
“Orion.” My tone corrects him. The last thing I want is for them to fight. My nervous system has been on overdrive for so long now, I fear I might drop dead from a fear heart attack like a rabbit.
