Page 41 of Ruthless Deliverance

“Like Ethan.”

“Creed, don’t—” Mom begins as I cut her off.

“No, I’ve accepted it. And the two of you should too. You already know the truth, but neither want to accept it. You’re hell-bent on holding someone else accountable; looking for someone else to blame. But you already know. Ethan and I are the ones who are guilty. And he paid the price for the both of us.”

Mom opens her mouth, but Dad interrupts her, “Yes. You and Ethan are responsible for your actions. Which were reckless, juvenile, and selfish.”

“JR,” Mom shrieks, moving to step in between us as Dad holds his arm out, preventing her from blocking me.

“But what you two did not know was you were given laced pills. It hit Ethan faster, his heart gave out and crashed. Had it not been for you already being around medics when you flatlined, you’d be dead too. It was a lethal dose. And I hired Philip to find out who was to blame for that.”

“Yeah. I know. But the question is why wouldn’t you tell me if you’ve known all along?” All this time I’d lived in fear of him finding out when he already knew.

“Have you both been aware of that this entire time?” Mom asks.

Dad takes a moment before answering. “Yes. The toxicology report at the hospital—the doctor alerted me to it. And I … requested he keep it out of the police report.”

“I don’t understand,” Mom says, shaking her head, her hands covering her face.

And I’m with her. How could he have known all this time? It didn’t take me long to discover the drugs were laced. It was the only thing that finally made sense about that night. Ethan and I had taken pills before, but we’d never lost control. Not like we did that night—physically, mentally, every way possible.

“Creed. Tell me who the supplier is. It wasn’t difficult to figure out one, but I don’t know who the other is. Philip couldn’t figure it out either. So that’s why we brought Dani in—to find evidence on who else is responsible … and to protect her.”

“Protect her? How the fuck would this protect her? It’s gonna put her in more danger.” And I’ll lose her either way. It’s something I don’t want to admit. But how will I hold on to her when she discovers the truth?

“There’s a lot more going on that you don’t know about. If you’re as smart as I believe you to be, you won’t speak a word of this for her sake. And before you question my motives, consider your own. You brought her into our home, you formed a relationship with her, and you’re putting her directly in harm’s way.”

“Of course, it’s on me. And I’ll accept it. But it wasn’t only for your benefit. Yeah, I wanted to show you that I found out about your little operation. But that wasn’t my reason for staying with her last night.”

Rotating, I walk out of the room, not able to face my dad, mom, or myself after admitting that aloud. Because nothing about last night was a lie. And that makes telling her the truth so much harder.

36

DANI

“Well, well. I guess we’re making our own start times for school nowadays,” Garbo complains as I look up to see Creed walking into the classroom. His attention is on his seat, and he goes straight to it, not even making a retort to Garbo’s comment, which is completely out of character. And if I gave a shit, I’d find it curious. Who am I kidding? Of course I give a shit. Several of them, in fact.

There’s hardly ten minutes left of class, and I really hope Creed didn’t spend much time at the house after I left. I’d regretted bailing on him, but when Philip messaged saying he wouldn’t be back until lunch, and I figured it was the best way to get Creed out. Because at the rate we were going, it would’ve been well into the afternoon before I got his stubborn (and naked) ass out of my bed.

Once the bell signals that class is over, I grab my things and head out. I’m walking down the crowded corridor when I spot him next to me, his fingers entwining with mine. But he doesn’t look at me. He hasn’t looked at me. At all. “Creed.”

His face remains void of emotion. My eyes are on him as he steps through a doorway that is not my next class. Instead, it’s an empty one and he pulls me into it, closing the door behind us. Before I can get the words out of my mouth, his is covering mine. His tongue, his hands, everything consumes me like he needs something more. But it’s not with the same hungry energy as last night. This is more desperate, like he can’t get close enough.

Pushing at his chest, I break away from the frantic kiss as I look to him, but his eyes still won’t meet mine. “What is it?”

After everything that happened last night, this is how he’s acting? Yeah, I wigged out a little (okay, a lot), but his carefree, let’s fuck, it’s no big deal attitude was in full force this morning. Oh no. “Did you see Philip at the house?”

“No.” He shifts forward, attempting to resume his quest of distraction but I shift to the side enough.

“Then what is it?”

“Nothing.” He lets out a frustrated breath, his hand reaching into his hair, pulling at the locks as he steps back, his arms dropping to his sides. “I hate that fucking word.”

“Yeah, me too. So, fill me in on the context of this nothing because it’s something.”

His eyes finally meet mine as he holds me locked in his gaze for a few seconds before stepping back to me. He doesn’t try to kiss me, instead, his hand reaches up, his thumb stroking over my cheekbone. “You ran out on me this morning.”

“Yes, we had school, and you weren’t interested in partaking in anything that required clothing.”