15. Thalia #3
“So, she can still speak.” Taryn huffs.
“What you experienced was a mistake,” I say slowly. “They mistook us for someone else.”
“HA!” Taryn belts from around my seat as she leans over the center console. “You’re joking, right? Do you think we’re just going to believe that–”
I slam on the brake, sending everyone forward before I whip around to her. “No. You’re going to believe me because it’s the sensible thing to do. You’re not going to speak about this to anyone, and you aren’t going to the gala that Burton Langford is throwing. Do you understand?”
Taryn’s brain buffers as her brows draw. Reed beats her to the question that’s souring at the tips of their tongues. “How did you know about that?”
Without answering him, I turn into the entrance of the complex. The gate buzzes open at my approach, and I roll to a stop in front of Taryn and Emma’s building.
“…We never told you where we live…” Taryn whispers.
“Have a good night,” I say without looking up to meet her eyes in the mirror.
They quietly shuffle out, and Taryn pats a hand over Reed’s shoulder before disappearing behind her front door. The quiet between us stretches so long that it thins into something uncomfortable and fragile. Even the tires rolling across the asphalt feels invasive in this moment.
“I know you want to say something.”
I’m never someone to back down from confrontation, but this is different. I’m expecting the man beside me to withdraw and rethink his decisions. Not that I would let him, but I can still give him the illusion of being in control of what’s going to happen.
“I do,” he says thoughtfully, causing my chest to squeeze.
Here it comes.
You’re too crazy.
I don’t think I can do this anymore.
We shouldn’t—
“How are you feeling?”
I blink at the road before slowly turning to face him. “What?”
His expression is soft—caring. He lifts a hand before brushing a strand of hair behind my ear like I’m precious. “That was intense. I want to know how you’re feeling.”
A startled laugh escapes me as I avoid his gaze by looking back at the road. “I’m fine.”
“Good,” he says quietly. “So that means you’re well enough to stay the night, right?”
“Reed,” I stress as my hands tighten on the wheel, “I’ve just gone and done something absolutely delusional, potentially put you all in danger, and you’re not even a little suspicious of me?”
He snorts. Actually snorts. “Oh, trust me. I have plenty of questions that you’ll answer in time, but right now I just want to focus on you.”
My jaw twinges. “What about me?”
I don’t like the way my insides twist at the attention he’s giving me. I’m not used to it…
“What do you need?” he asks softly.
My whole frame tenses. Something unpleasant and nasty grips my psyche as my breathing picks up. For some fucking reason, the bitter words my mother always drilled into me circle my mind as I get lost in a day terror I haven’t had in years.
“Did you really think he cared about you?” My mother crooned over me as I knelt in the grass outside our home, my heart shattered and ripped from my chest, and my whole body shaking with my sobs.
Everything melted together—the dirt beneath me, the sounds escaping unbidden past my lips, and the shattering of everything I thought I knew twinkling around me like shards of glass. My fingers dug into the earth, ripping the soil up as the pain pierced me so deep I knew I wouldn’t recover.
“Oh, stop your fucking crying,” she bit with venom.
“You knew better than to trust another soul, much less a man, Thalia. Maybe now you’ll understand what I was saying all along.
” She crouched down, making me recoil before she snatched my hair tightly, causing pain to lick across my scalp.
“You’re nothing more than a pretty face to them. ”
A hand covers mine over the steering wheel, ripping me violently from the horror of that night.
Reed’s thumb brushes over my knuckle tenderly as my heart slams so loud I can hear my pulse racing in my ears.
I focus on his appendage, letting the fear leech from me as an unsettling calm fills the car.
“Just breathe,” he coos. “You’re okay. I’m here.”
He has no idea what just happened to me, or maybe he does since he’s a professional, but he’s comforting me after everything I’ve done tonight.
And I hate to admit it, but it’s working.
His presence, his calming demeanor, his voice.
It makes all the noise quiet until I can finally speak without tripping over my words.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper.
“Don’t apologize,” he says. “We all have our moments—”
“No,” I close my eyes, taking a deep breath. “I’m sorry for everything tonight. I’m…I’m not used to having anyone there for me besides my brothers and Alana. This is hard for me.”
He hums thoughtfully, still offering me a comforting touch. “And what would make it easier?”
I shrug, shaking my head. “I don’t know!”
“Okay,” he nods. “I can work with that. Pull over.”
“What?”
“Pull over, Thalia.” He orders like he’s handling something fragile as he guides my hands to the shoulder of the road.