Chapter 10 #2
That’s why Wyatt suggested we talk about it. I see it in all their eyes. They know I’m in danger, and none of them wants to be the one to tell me because it’ll scare me.
Wyatt gives my shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “We’ll figure something out. For now, you need rest. Your voice is still a little raspy. While we’re in town, we could swing by the doctor’s office for a quick checkup.”
He says it so casually. Too casually. It wouldn’t be a stretch to believe they already talked about this, and this trip into town had two purposes: scare Derek away when he sees four big alphas hovering protectively over me, and get me to see the doctor I refused last night.
“You are very good at maneuvering me,” I tell him quietly, unsure if it’s a compliment or a criticism.
Derek’s form of moving me was physical. Sometimes emotional, but often physical. My bruises have faded, but I remember everything he ever did to control me.
When Wyatt kissed me before, it was deep and passionate. He wanted to draw eyes to us so everyone would believe we were sleeping with each other. The kiss in our booth is sweet, as intimate as it is apologetic. No one would see it but Hunter, Elias, and Knox.
“I’m not trying to maneuver you,” he says so quietly that if Lina were still at our table, she would struggle to hear him. “I intend to treat you with the care you deserve, darlin’. Never doubt that for a second. And if you doubt it, then I’m doing something very, very wrong.”
I give him a searching look and sigh, knowing this visit to see the doctor comes from concern, not a need to control me. “Okay. I’ll see the doctor for a quick checkup. I don’t need it, but I will.”
Knox calls Lina back to our table, and she takes our order, starting with me.
I order a chicken burger with fries and a soda, then sit quietly, my mind wandering as Lina takes Elias, Wyatt, Knox, and Hunter’s orders.
When I’m not the one who has to cook, my appetite has always been bigger than when I’m doing the cooking.
Derek made me second-guess myself so constantly that I came to dread it.
I hadn’t expected to enjoy baking pies for Nico when he was sick one morning as much as I did.
Enough that I agreed to keep doing it. As I made pie dough and filling, I couldn’t help but smile when I remembered weekends laughing with my sister and grandma.
My eyes meet Winston’s in the kitchen, and he grins and waves when he sees me.
I wave back. Even if I wanted to keep making pies for Nico, I couldn’t.
Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been staying for a couple of hours after serving tables, making the pies in one tiny corner of the kitchen so Nico could bake them when he opened the next morning.
I have no car and no way to get from the farmhouse to the diner, even if I might be safer from Derek if I stayed in the kitchen instead of serving tables.
Only after Lina returns with our drinks and tells us that our food will be ready in about twenty minutes does Knox say, “We haven’t seen any new arrivals in town. We asked the other guys if they’ve seen anyone at the motel, and they said they’ll keep an eye open.”
Considering they don’t even know who they’re keeping an eye out for, that’s going to be close to impossible.
I’ve not told them about Derek, though they must be curious about who would want me dead.
I haven’t even told the sheriff, and he’s made more than one pointed comment over the last month that if I had any trouble, he’s ready to step in and help.
“I appreciate you doing all this,” I say, playing with my straw, “but I can’t imagine he’s still here. He wanted me dead, and he’s probably left.”
Wyatt shakes his head. “If he wanted you dead, there would have been an easier, less explosive way to do it.”
Thankfully, he doesn’t list them out. I would never sleep again.
“So, what was he doing?” I ask.
“Scaring you so badly you’d run,” Wyatt says.
When they all nod, it’s clear that they’ve talked about this. Probably after I went to sleep last night.
“I don’t understand.” I push my drink aside and sit back in my seat, twisting my fingers together as nerves get the better of me.
“He wanted you afraid and alone,” Knox says.
“But you’ve been here for a month. You have a job.
” His eyes track Lina, who weaves between the tables, a constant flurry of efficiency.
“Friends.” He looks at me. “If he’d been in town long enough, he’d know the sheriff was checking in with you as well.
If I were him, I’d think that you were looking to settle down here and build a life where people knew you, liked you, and cared about you.
And if I wanted you alone and desperate, the first thing I’d want to do is scare you so badly you’d take off in a blind panic so I could easily scoop you up. ”
I stop twisting my fingers, my heart in my throat.
He winces. “Shit. I scared you. Sorry—”
I let out a quiet sigh. “You didn’t scare me. What you said did. It is absolutely what he tried to do. If I went missing here, Nico or Lina would notice when I didn’t come into work, and they’d tell the sheriff.”
“We would also notice,” Knox says quietly. “And we’d look for you.”
I smile at him, remembering how fiercely he’d protected me from the guy who’d tried to grab me.
Lina hustles over with a tray overloaded with plates before we can continue our conversation.
After we’ve eaten, I visit the doctor, who gives me a quick checkup and reassures Wyatt that the fire and smoke inhalation didn’t leave me with any lasting damage.
It’s only when we’re back at the farmhouse, settled on the couches in the living room with the TV on low, that I decide to tell Hunter, Wyatt, Elias, and Knox everything.
“It was my ex-husband,” I say. “None of you have asked, and I haven’t wanted to tell any of you because I’ve been ashamed for so long, but being here with you means I’m putting you in danger.
You need to know more than I’ve told you, and you need to know it so you can decide if I’m worth all this, and I’m not. I’m really not.”
Knox picks up the remote and turns off the TV. “Whatever you want to tell us, we’ll listen. But you’re worth it.”
Hunter, sitting on the couch beside me, takes my hand and gives it a squeeze. “You are absolutely worth it.”
I shake my head. “You don’t know how bad it is.”
“Nothing is so bad that it’s not worth you,” Wyatt reassures. “We’re ready to listen.”
I hesitate, not knowing where to begin. They patiently wait for me to unload years’ worth of trauma on their heads. If they tell me to leave, then so be it. They need to know how dangerous Derek is.
“I fell in love with Derek when I was sixteen, and I thought I would love him forever.” My eyes are on my hands when I take a breath and release it in a soft exhale.
“What we had started off as love. Along the way, it turned into something that nearly destroyed me. It still might. You need to know that it might destroy you too.”