Page 51 of Bloody Quarter

“You want the truth?”

“I want to know your side of events.”

I turned around to face her, anger simmering under my skin. “That is not what I asked. I said, do you want to hear the truth? Are you ready for it?”

“How do I know what you say is the truth and not you just spinning the story to suit yourself.”

“Unbelievable,” I grumbled and began walking away once more.

“Wait, please…tell me the truth,” my mother asked. She sounded genuine, but I doubted it was. I hung my head. What did it matter at this point?

I looked over my shoulder at her. “I drank half a beer over two hours at the party. No, I shouldn’t have, but I wasn’t drunk. The guy at the party who said I was drinking was my ex, and we’d just had an…altercation,” I said for lack of a better word. “I walked from the party to your work, and yes, I took your car. No, I shouldn’t have.” When my mother didn’t say anything, I faced her and shoved a small stone around with my shoe as I prepared myself to say what always tore me to shreds to repeat. “I picked up the girls, but something was off. I eventually got it out of them that the boy Evie liked, who had invited her to the party, basically ditched her or lured her there. I don’t know which, but his older brother raped her.”

My mother’s face blanched, and her hand covered her mouth.

“We hadn’t gone far, so I backed up and took a tire iron to his truck and then him. All I saw was red. I thought that would be the end of it. He was super drunk. Everyone there seemed to be. We left and were about halfway home when he caught up to me. That guy, that rapist piece of shit, sat in court with a cast on his arm and said that I was drunk and acting wild and broke his arm. That guy you hugged before he and his family left. Yeah, that guy. He ran us off the road.”

She was sobbing behind her hand, tears spilling from her eyes. But I couldn’t bring myself to feel bad or offer her comfort. The grey clouds rolling in announced that a storm was coming, and that was my cue to leave.

“I will never forgive myself for my part in what happened that night. But we would’ve made it home if he hadn’t wanted us dead and then left the scene and lied about what happened. Didn’t you think it was weird that the cops couldn’t find his truck that I smashed with the tire iron? That there was no insurance report? That someone randomly stole his beat-to-shit truck and made it disappear? Yes, that is exactly what car thieves are looking for.”

Another gasping sob ripped from her mouth. I was going to cry if I didn’t get away from her. Being this close to Evie’s grave and talking about that night was creating a well of emotion that was going to spill over.

“Look. I can’t go back in time. If I could do things differently, I would. I’d do many things differently, but I want you to know that I would never intentionally put Evie’s or even Tammy’s life at risk. And being stuck in the vehicle for over an hour staring at my sister’s lifeless body will punish me more than you or any jail ever can, and it will continue to haunt me to my grave.” I held up the bottle. “I’m not perfect, but neither are you,” I said and then walked away to the sound of her breaking down. Just before I left the row, I looked back, and she was down on her hands and knees. They never said the truth was easy, and she could go home and still decide not to believe me, but I’d finally said my piece. Words that the cops, my mother, my lawyer, and even the judge wouldn’t let me voice. It was finally off my chest.

Reaching the top of the path, I’d forgotten all about my conversation with Greyson and stopped in my tracks as he leaned on the car, shirtless with his sunglasses on. My mood immediately shifted, but so did his. The smile fell from his face, and he marched over to me.

“Who am I killing?”

I laid my hand on his chest. “No one.” I lifted the bottle. “I couldn’t leave this at my sister’s grave.”

“You sure that’s all?”

I nodded. “Yeah, but I do appreciate this look.”

“Don’t worry. I plan on showing you all of me before we leave the city.” I smirked as he wrapped his arm around me. He looked over his shoulder as a soft sob could be heard on the breeze.

“There’s a service going on.” He nodded and I was happy he didn’t push. I wouldn’t put it past him to want to hurt my mother for upsetting me, and I didn’t want her blood on my hands. I already had two skeletons reaching for me from the grave, and I didn’t need to add a third.

After the cemetery, we grabbed coffee and ran errands. Doing everyday, mundane tasks with a man you know could easily slice open anyone’s throat is…odd. We went to the grocery store, and Greyson complained about how the butcher cut our steaks and demanded new ones. Then we went to the hardware store, and he pointed out a guy buying all the fixings to make a bomb and another who was going to attempt a very amateur kidnapping. I stared at the seemingly normal men with what looked like standard house or garden supplies and wondered what he saw that I didn’t. Then I wondered how often that happened.

A couple of hours later, we pulled up in front of Miss Harper’s Diner, and a flash of fear flew through me. I looked over at Greyson as he turned the car off.

“Why are we here,” I asked, grabbing his arm.

Usually, that devious smirk made my body hot, but right now, all I needed was for him to say he wasn’t going to hurt Miss Harper. I couldn’t think of why he would want to, but why else would we be here?

“Do you really think I’m going to storm into the diner and kill Miss Harper?”

“No, but you could be plotting something, or I’ve somehow angered you, and you want to make it clear what I have to lose, or you could come back tonight.” I glared at him as he laughed. “Don’t laugh at me. All of those scenarios are very possible.”

He cupped my cheek. “This is a very awkward moment for me. The fear in your eyes is making me fucking hard, but we are also past me killing your friends. Unless, of course, you run off. That still stands because I’m never letting you go,” he said, and there was a steely edge to the way he spoke that made me swallow hard. Greyson leaned in closer, his lips curving up. “But if you ever want me to chase you again….” His tongue ran seductively over his bottom lip. “Now that is a different story altogether.”

It was like I was fucking and sleeping with a wild animal. You never knew when it would turn and rip your arm off before eating you. I remained still, staring at him. It was best not to move, or I might get dragged into the back of the car. There was nothing I’d put past him.

“Okay, I give you my word that I’m not here to hurt Miss Harper or planning to come back later. Feel better?”

“Or go to her home or anywhere else. Swear to me you’ll never hurt her unless I break the rule about leaving.”