Chapter 51
FIFTY-ONE
COLE
M y arms band around Lana’s waist as she pounds down on Callum. I don’t think she’s even noticed me holding her, but I’m not about to make it known.
And I’m not about to pull her away. This asshole has taken so damn much from her, and I know she needs this.
The need to feel his pain before she can let go of her own.
I can feel the fight slowly starting to drain out of her, her hits becoming weaker, her rhythm starting to slow until she slumps over, but my hold on her stops her from falling on top of him completely.
I lift her, and Logan kicks Brice’s body out of the way to make a path for me to walk her through to the living room and lay her down on the sofa—the sofa that faces the one with a dead guy on it.
I guess Lana got to him.
“We should let her rest for a while,” Logan murmurs, and I nod in agreement.
When Dare had told us his plan for getting in here, he had also told us the plan he and Lana had been working on.
How they’d been compiling information on the family and should it ever come to this, they were going to leave it behind if they made it out alive.
I look back towards the dining room. I can’t see his body from here, but I know his death is going to kill my girl.
“We can’t just leave him here. He wouldn’t want that, and neither will Lana.”
Logan nods his agreement, and we debate for a few minutes on what we should do before settling on burying him just off of the Richardson property, since we don’t want to do it on their land, but we also can’t drive too far with him in the car in case we get caught.
Lana sleeps peacefully on the couch, and I’m in no rush to wake her. She’s barely slept in days, and after everything she learned today, she has to be exhausted.
We work quickly and quietly, cleaning up what we need to in order not to leave any evidence of us being here.
Logan is good at this, and it makes me wonder if he’s ever done anything like this before.
He didn’t even bat an eyelash at killing someone.
I’ve always known he has secrets, I’ve just never caught on to how dark those secrets really are.
I t’s been nearly twenty-four hours since we got home, and Lana has barely spoken a word. She’s been sleeping a lot, which is to be expected, but the guys and I are starting to worry about her.
I cradled her in my arms the entire drive back to Blackwater while Logan drove, and then carried her inside where Noah and Harley were pacing the living room, worried out of their minds since Lana, Logan and I had just disappeared without a word, and they couldn’t reach anyone .
Their barrage of questions came to a halt once they saw me carrying Lana in my arms, all of us covered in bruises from the fight we had to endure on the way into the Richardson mansion.
Lana had already taken out most of the guards with the help of a guy Dare knew on the inside, but we still had our fair share to deal with.
But once I had Lana settled in my bed and I made it back out to the main room, their questions came flying at me and Logan. He opted to stay mostly silent, letting me answer in ways I wanted, only telling them as much as I needed to.
They don’t need to know that Logan and I have blood on our hands, or the depth of Lana’s past. I kept it as vague as possible whilst also telling them the truth, since I do trust them both with my life.
“She should be up by now, right? Threatening us and stuff?” Harley says in a hushed whisper, glancing towards my room with concern in his eyes.
The guys all look equally as worried, and I’m glad they have my back. None of us have been in a relationship before, but they’ve just added Lana to the fold without question.
I pace in front of the sofa where Noah and Harley are sitting while Logan stands off to the side. It doesn’t escape my notice that he’s strategically standing where he can see the door to my bedroom.
“Maybe we should call a doctor?” Noah adds, worrying his bottom lip.
Logan snorts. “She’s not dying. She’s grieving.”
His eyes immediately flick to me, and I sigh… we may have left out the part where the dean of the school came with us because he was like an uncle to her, and that he didn’t make it back.
The entire time we spent burying him, Lana just sat there with a blank look in her eyes.
Nothing has ever scared me as much as that look did, and I’m worried that this is going to be the thing that finally pushes her over the edge.
But I can’t think like that. I need to stay positive, for her.
Because she is going to be okay.
“Grieving?” Noah asks.
I shake my head. “Don’t worry about it.”
“But Cole… how can we help her when we don’t even know what we’re helping with ?”
I spin to face him, my emotions warring inside me as I try to think.
None of us have ever dealt with loss the way Lana is right now, and I honestly have no idea what to say to her when she does snap out of it and starts talking.
I’m not the best communicator to begin with, and this is way out of my depth.
But I need to help her. I need to get her through this.
“What about if we invite her friends over?” Logan asks, and I stare at him in bewilderment.
“ Friends ?” Has he met her? She doesn’t exactly come across as the friendship bracelets and gossiping kind of girl.
I could ask my sister to come over, but she’d have far too many questions that I can’t answer.
I wrack my brain, trying to think of anyone I’ve ever seen Lana with, and then it hits me.
I snap my fingers, getting everyone’s attention.
“I’ve got it. Savannah Marks. I’m pretty sure she and Lana have a friendly thing going on, but I’m not sure how close they are, or if they’re close enough Lana would want her to know her business.
But I guess I could ask Savannah to come over and… I don’t know, talk to her?”
“No,” Harley says almost as soon as I finish my sentence.
“What? Why not? ”
He shakes his head. “Your girl isn’t the type of person who would want someone they’ve only just met knowing their business. What happens when we invite Savannah over and fill her in, only for Lana to not want anyone to know about what she’s been through?”
I sigh, knowing that he’s right but also not knowing how else to help her. We all glance between each other, equally as clueless about how to make this situation better.
“Jeez. Who died?”
I spin around to find Lana standing at the entrance to the room. She’s wearing a pair of my sweats with a tank top. Her eyes are a little puffy, but she looks brighter than she has since before this entire thing.
She looks at us all quizzically before understanding flashes across her face.
“Ah… you’re wondering what to do about me, huh? Well then, I’ll just get out of your way and let you keep discussing,” she says, backing away, and I take a step towards her. She holds up her hand, but for once, I don’t listen.
She huffs, spinning and walking from the room. I follow her back to my bedroom and she takes a seat on the bed, her bottom lip caught between her teeth as she bites down on it.
“Are you okay?” I ask and immediately regret it. What a dumb fucking question to ask her.
She shrugs halfheartedly and nods her head once before shaking it.
“I don’t know,” she whispers, and the look of utter heartbreak on her face cracks my chest down the middle. I sit down next to her and gather her in my arms, pulling her into my lap so she’s sitting sideways with her head nestled in the crook of my neck.
“You don’t need to be strong all of the time, baby. It’s okay to be weak. It’s okay to feel the pain, and it’s okay to let it out. You don’t need to mask how you feel around me. I’ve got you.”
My words pierce the last barrier she had in place, and she breaks.
She trembles in my hold, her body shaking as she sobs into my neck. My skin is wet with her tears, but I just hold her, murmuring quiet reassurances and letting her know that I’m here for her, and that I always will be.
God, she’s so fucking strong. So fierce.
“You’re okay, little menace,” I whisper into her hair, and she shivers. I grab a blanket and wrap it around us, cocooning us in our own little bubble as I keep a tight hold of her, never once loosening my hold.
Her cries quieten, and her body slowly goes lax in my arms, though I can tell from her breathing that she’s still awake.
“You’re not alone in this, Lana.”
Her head lifts, and her reddened eyes peer into mine.
“Everything I touch turns to ash,” she murmurs, and I place a kiss to her forehead.
“Not anymore. The worst of it is behind you, and you’ll get through it, baby. You’re not alone. You have me, the guys, this school, and an entire future ahead of you.”
“How are you so sure? How do I know you won’t leave, too?”
I snort. “I’m not going anywhere, little menace. You’re stuck with me.”