Страница 131 из 138
“Stop! Both of you!” Della screamed.
We didn’t listen.
I kneed him in the ribs, sending him rolling to the side. He shot to his feet, trying to punch me again.
I punched him first.
I wanted to kill him.
My broken wrist, long healed from being cow-kicked, twinged as I swung hard and true and co
He reeled backward, right into Della.
Oh, fuck no.
I charged forward, intending to throw him off her, but she pushed David to the side and leaped in front of me.
Slamming on the brakes, I managed to avoid bowling her over. “Move, Della.”
She crossed her arms. “No.”
David stood behind her, his eyes glittering with malice and triumph. He knew he’d won because he’d had what I couldn’t. He’d taken the most precious thing in the world to me, and fucking gloated about it.
I couldn’t help it.
I couldn’t walk away from this without making him bleed. He’d fucking destroyed me; it was the least I could do.
I swung again, aiming over Della’s shoulder at the bastard’s face. Only, she shied the wrong way. David bumped her, sending my fist half into his jaw and half into Della’s temple.
“Fuck!” Catching her as she fell, I choked on worse pain I could’ve imagined. I’d come here wanting to hurt someone, and I’d ended up hurting her.
She moaned, cupping her head with a wince.
David tried to grab her, but I snarled in his face. “Touch her and I’ll kill you.” I wasn’t joking. I didn’t need any other reason to murder him. I wanted to kill him. Needed to.
He heard the raw truth in my tone.
He froze, allowing me to hoist her into my arms like a groom would carry a bride and stumble through the house to the front door.
Della mumbled something under her breath, her fingers tangled in blonde curls as she rubbed where I’d hit her.
“I’ll make it better. I promise,” I groaned as I carried her down the steps and across the garden to my bike.
Standing on the threshold, David didn’t follow us as I gently placed her on the back of the bike, mounted, revved, and sought her arm to latch it tight around my waist.
She still had strength even if I’d dazed her, and the feeling of her hugging me even if she didn’t want to sent my heart smoking with sadness.
“This is my place, Della Ribbon,” David called over the rumble of the engine. “Come by anytime.”
I fed gasoline to the rumble, turning it into a snarl, ripping from the curb and away from all ma
The entire time I drove, all I could focus on was David calling Della by my nickname.
She’d allowed a stranger to share something so intimate.
She’d allowed a stranger to take her i
* * * * *
Home.
A word that was supposed to mean contentment, safety, and love.
Now, it meant nothing as Della leapt off the back of my bike the moment we arrived and cleared the stairs to our apartment before I’d even turned off the engine.
I sighed heavily, killing the rumble and locking up.
Coming home to an empty place before had been a nightmare, but heading inside with a pissed off female who had every right to be angry was even worse.
My boots thumped on the steps as I went to her, stalking over the threshold before closing and bolting the door.
I found her sitting on the couch with a bag of frozen peas held against her temple.
Shit.
Raking hands through my hair, I lingered by the coffee table, not knowing how to fix this. “Della, I’m…I’m sorry.”
“You’re sorry?” Her eyes flashed as her head snapped up. “Sorry for ruining my night, sorry for punching my date, or sorry for hitting me?” She threw the peas at my face. “What exactly are you apologising for, Ren?” She laughed coldly. “Maybe you’re apologising for sleeping with half of the female population over the past year? Maybe you’re apologising for walking out night after night and leaving me here alone, wondering where the hell you are and who the hell you’re doing.” She crossed her arms tightly as if warding herself against me. “What do you want to apologise for because I’m confused.”
“I didn’t sleep with them. Well…” I rubbed the back of my neck. “Not all of them.”
“Oh, excuse me for thinking you’d turned into a man whore.” She flung up her hands. “Really, you’re just a regular male, aren’t you? Sleeping around, looking for someone to make you happy.”
“You. You make me happy.”
“Ha! Yet you’ve never tried to sleep with me.”
“What?! No, of course not. You’re Della! You’re—you’re—”
“I’m what? Too i
“I don’t want to hear it.” I held up my hand. “Stop.”
“Oh, you don’t want to listen? You don’t want to know how he took me or what it felt like? Then again, I’m sure you don’t need to know. I almost forgot. You have enough experience of your own to fill in the blanks.”
“Della, just stop.”
“No, how about you stop, Ren. You know what I realised tonight?” Her cheeks flamed red as her eyes welled with furious tears. “I realised I hate myself. I hate what I’ve become. I hate everything I stand for, and I’m done. You hear me? I’m done. School is almost finished and instead of moping about wishing for things I can’t have, I’m focusing on my future. Did you know David goes to the college who hosted the party tonight? I told him I’m interested in creative writing…that I might want to be a storyteller like you used to be or maybe a journalist or writer or I du
Her shoulders slouched with weariness I hadn’t seen until now. “I’m weak for giving up, but I tried. I really did.”
I stepped toward her, hesitant, wary. “Tried what? What aren’t you telling me?”
Her fatigue faded with yet more crackling rage. “Are you really that blind? Do you honestly not know? Or maybe it’s because of me. Maybe because you raised me, you can’t see past the mess of being sole guardian to an entirely reliant child. And maybe that’s my fault for not realising that sooner; for believing that the love we share wasn’t just one-dimensional but could grow into something different.”
She glowered at the ceiling, tears trailing paths down her cheeks. “God, I’ve been so stupid.”
Every inch of me begged to go to her, to hug her close and do my best to shield her from her unhappiness, but I couldn’t move. I daren’t do anything because right here, right now, the end gaped wide between us, and I didn’t want to fall into the abyss.
I didn’t want to be faced with the reality that had been slowly gathering ever since Cherry River.
“Della…don’t,” I begged. “Don’t do this.”
I didn’t understand what I pleaded for, only that I wasn’t ready. I’d never be ready.
She cocked her chin, shaking with blonde hair wild and a red mark I’d graced her with on her temple. Her ribbon tattoo flashed on her naked foot, snaking up her ankle.
She was gorgeous, and she was wrong that I’d been blind.