Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 75734 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75734 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
“Fuck,” he whispered, then picked me up and began carrying me down the stairs like a child.
I buried my face in his chest, wishing the tears would go away. I didn’t want to cry over this. Having sex with him had made me this way. I wasn’t mature enough to have a sexual relationship and not get attached. My emotions were involved now. I was being that girl.
Blaise sat down while still holding me in his lap. I wanted to hit him for making me act like this. I had lived through bad things. Much worse than this. A guy should not have this kind of power over me. Yet I stayed there in his lap and let him hold me.
“I’m sorry I was gone so long,” he said.
I understood that Angel had issues. I got that. I had witnessed it. This wasn’t jealousy. It was more of the feeling that I was being held at arm’s length. Not allowed inside the world of Blaise. He wasn’t telling me things. His world was one I was hanging on the outside of, looking in.
I stayed silent, searching for the right words. To try to explain exactly what was bothering me. Also, the warmth of his body comforted me. I had never been held as a child, or if I had by my mother, I had no memories of her. My father hadn’t held me or hugged me. I hadn’t known what it felt like until now. This wasn’t sex or something sexual. It was simple comfort.
His lips pressed against my head. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I was trying to get us away from an audience. I should have been easier with you.”
My arm wasn’t going to be bruised. He hadn’t hurt me that bad. I might have used that as an excuse to get him to let me go. Feeling guilty, I turned to look up at him. The concerned line between his brows eased some when my eyes met his.
“I had to deal with Angel,” he said gently. “She had known about you, but she hadn’t seen us together yet. I knew if I didn’t take her upstairs and talk to her, then she’d find the first fucking knife she could and start cutting herself.”
I sat up, and his arms stayed around me. I hadn’t planned on getting up, but his explanation of Angel wasn’t enough. He needed to expand on her cutting because of seeing us together.
“Why would she be upset by us?” I asked, wondering if I wanted this answer. Was I ready for the truth I kept demanding?
He sighed, as if he had hoped I wouldn’t ask more. That didn’t help my growing dread.
“Angel hasn’t always been like this. We were kids together. Grew up in this world together. She was my first girlfriend. My first kiss. We were young, and at that time, we thought we’d always be us.” He paused and studied me for a moment.
“She was with her parents when they were killed. She was shot last. She should have died, too, but the gunman didn’t check to see if she was dead. The gunshot to her head didn’t go into a critical part of the brain. It went in with a high enough velocity that it didn’t wobble or move, but it went clean through. Her parents weren’t as lucky.” He let out a heavy sigh.
“She was thirteen years old. It took a year of therapy before she could walk, talk, feed herself, do common tasks again. She was able to remember things. All the events of that night. But her brain didn’t mature. She remained the same intellectually.
“My dad brought her home. She lived with us. He had special nurses move in for her. When Gina’s mom—one of my dad’s ex-wives—left, Gina stayed. She was there with Angel through all of this, and she became a sister to her.”
I sat there, silently digesting this. My heart hurting for all she had suffered. Feeling like a complete bitch for acting the way I had when Blaise left me there. Gina had been so nice to me when she knew I was upset about Angel.
“Angel lives here. On the third floor. Gina does too. She refuses to leave Angel, and honestly, I don’t know what I’d do if she did. My dad tried to get me to let Angel and her nurses stay at the farm, and for the first few years, I did. That’s when the cutting started.”
I closed my eyes and exhaled. How horrible.
“I’m sorry,” I said, knowing that wasn’t enough. Not for what all she’d been through and all he’d done to help her.
“You didn’t know. I didn’t tell you. Don’t apologize,” he said.
“Gina was so nice to me tonight,” I whispered mostly to myself.
“Gina knew this was going to be hard for everyone. She also knew you didn’t know the story,” he replied, taking my hand and threading his fingers through it.