So This Is Love (The Bridge #2)

Chapter 1

Chapter One

“Charlotte.”

My name. Barely a whisper, but just loud enough to reach me in the darkness that had swallowed me. A darkness where there wasn’t any pain or fear. Just an ebony sea of nothing. I felt weightless, warm, and at peace.

Am I dead?

Am I finally free?

“Charlotte.” Another whisper echoed around me.

I tried to ignore it—pretend that I hadn’t heard anything—hoping that it would stop.

But even in death, hope still found a way to screw me over.

“Charlotte,” was said louder. It sent a ripple through and all around me. Then my peaceful nothingness was being ripped away.

The pain hit me first. There was so much that I wanted to scream. The endless void around me shrank as it filled with light. In only a moment, I went from weightless to so heavy that I felt pinned where I was lying.

Whimpering, I slowly opened my eyes. Everything was blurry at first, but I could make out a silhouette of someone above me.

My heart tried to pound out of my chest.

“No more.” My voice came out hoarse and it hurt my throat to speak.

A hand quickly covered my mouth, startling me.

“Shh,” the silhouette whispered.

I blinked a couple more times until I could see better and Reid’s face came into focus. He was kneeling next to me.

Why is he here? I wondered as I closed my eyes. Why am I here?

Memories of Clay above me with his hands around my neck, strangling me, came rushing back. I was supposed to die.

Reid shook me a little. “Keep your eyes open.”

He shouldn’t be here.

I was scared to even imagine what would happen if Mother caught him.

Reluctantly, I opened my eyes again, only for them to fill with tears.

They rolled free from the corners of my eyes and dropped to the rug beneath my cheek.

My watery vision was caught by the sparkle of broken pieces of mercury glass on the floor all around me.

Then I noticed the smudges and dots of blood already drying into the pink and cream fibers of the rug.

More memories came back: Clay throwing me into my nightstand and the lamp on top.

All I could do was brace for the impact.

My arms slammed into the body of that glass lamp as my face crushed the shade and bulb.

The back of the nightstand and I rammed hard enough into the wall behind that it cracked.

As I fell to the floor, glass had sprinkled down on and around me like confetti.

Even though it hurt, I began to cry harder, and the sound was muffled behind Reid’s hand.

“I know it hurts, but you need to stay awake,” he whispered with worry furrowing his brow.

With his free hand, he reached into his back jean pocket and pulled out his phone.

As he unlocked the screen, he glanced around the room as if searching for something before quickly focusing back on his phone.

He tapped rapidly—sending a message to someone, I assumed.

It was still light out, but it didn’t look like it would be for long. He was wearing the same clothes he’d worn to the Haven’s Rebels barbecue. That told me not a lot of time had passed since I had come home to find Mother and Clay waiting for me.

When he was done with his phone, he stared back down at me while shoving it back into his pocket.

The worry on his face had been replaced with determination.

“I’m going to get you out of here,” he whispered as he removed his hand from my mouth and shoved his arms underneath me.

He lifted me from the floor and every inch of my body screamed in agony.

Unable to stay quiet, I groaned as I hung limply in his arms. He adjusted his hold by hoisting me up a little so that my head could rest on his shoulder. It was a more comfortable position for both of us, but the process of getting there made me cry more.

“I’m sorry.” He sounded sincere, yet pissed off at the same time. “Just bear with it a little longer.” He turned and began heading for my bedroom door.

I stiffened when I realized that he intended to go through the house. I was going to protest, but before I could, the knob on my bedroom door turned and the door began to push open slowly.

Reid froze and tensed up as if ready to take on whoever it was.

To my relief, Prue poked her head in. Her eyes widened when she saw Reid.

“Prue,” I said in a low hoarse voice, drawing her attention.

There was stress written all over her face as she quickly stepped into the room. She looked from me to Reid to me again as she closed the door silently behind her.

Whatever she saw, she seemed to come to some conclusion and met Reid’s eyes. “I’m going to assume that you’re her friend,” she said to him quietly.

He gave her a single nod.

“Where are you taking her?” Prue questioned.

Reid hesitated. It was clear on his face that he didn’t trust her. “Somewhere safe.”

Her gaze dropped to me. A pained look took over her face as her eyes bounced to different areas of my body. For only a moment, they turned glassy. Then she quickly blinked a few times and returned her attention to Reid. “You need to take her to her father.”

Reid didn’t respond.

“He’s a Haven’s Rebel.” Prue’s voice was full of desperation. “They have a place where they meet on the south side. I can get you the address.”

“I know who her father is,” Reid said.

He most certainly does.

Prue nodded. “Take her to him. He’s the only one who can protect her.”

Reid didn’t agree. Instead, he said, “Can you help me get her out of here?”

“How did you get in?” she asked.

Reid nodded toward the other side of the room. “The balcony.”

Prue looked past us toward the balcony doors, then to me, and I saw understanding wash over her. I couldn’t make that climb and Reid couldn’t get me down from there by himself.

Where are Roe and Wyatt? I wondered. Why is Reid here alone?

I had so many questions, but not enough energy to dwell on them.

Prue worried her bottom lip between her teeth as she quietly thought for a moment. “All right. Follow me and stay close.”

She turned and opened the door just as silently as she had closed it. She peeked her head out into the hall. When she walked out, I assumed it was clear.

Reid carried me effortlessly as he followed her.

We moved as quickly and quietly as possible.

The closer we got to the stairs, the faster my heart pounded in my chest. With each painful beat, I worried that my ribs might be broken.

I wanted to just bury my face in Reid’s neck to hide or possibly return to that dreamy void, but I couldn’t.

The new surge of adrenaline pumping through me wouldn’t allow me.

When we reached the top of the stairs, Mother’s voice carried up to us, making Reid and Prue pause.

“You shouldn’t have hit her face,” Mother grumbled.

“She already looked like she’d been hit in the face,” Clay said, sounding bored.

“That’s not the point,” Mother snapped. “Sharon Carmichael—”

“The Stepford-cunt called you complaining about Charlotte’s disobedience. I’m sure she expected us to punish Charlotte to get her back in line.”

“She needs to be perfect, or they’ll back out of the deal,” Mother said, sounding panicked.

It went quiet and Prue gestured for Reid to continue following her down the stairs. We only made it down a step before the sound of Clay sighing traveled up to us and they both went still again.

“You wouldn’t be this stressed if you’d just kill her and be done with it,” he said flippantly.

Mother hissed a slew of curses and told him to keep his voice down as her heels clacked on the floor, sounding like she was getting closer. “You know why I can’t,” was the last thing we heard before a door slammed.

It was quiet once again and Prue rushed down the stairs.

Reid followed just as quickly. When we reached the foyer, Prue glanced in the direction of Mother’s study before going right to the front door.

As she reached to open it, she paused and looked at Reid.

She took in a silent deep breath that made her shoulders lift slightly before she twisted the door’s handle down.

As she pulled the door open, it made a loud whoosh that made me tense up.

If Mother and Clay heard it, I didn’t know; the moment Prue had the door open wide enough, Reid dashed out and didn’t look back.

It was dim outside. The sun had set or was moments from setting for the day. Reid speed-walked down the driveway and didn’t slow even when he reached the end of it. He turned left down the sidewalk. I wanted to ask where we were going. Were we headed to wherever he’d parked his motorcycle?

“Where—?” Pain cut me off, making me grimace. I closed my eyes as I waited for the pain to ease.

I opened them again when I felt Reid stop walking.

He stood by a cluster of trees and waited.

As he held me, he glanced in the direction we’d come from, then the opposite direction down the road.

Each minute felt longer and longer as they ticked by.

Mother and Clay could come looking at any moment.

Or a neighbor would spot us. They’d call Mother right away if they saw me like this, being carried away by someone they didn’t know.

Mother would take full advantage of how bad Reid looked in this moment. She’d blame my injuries on him.

My heart had begun to pound in my ears when there was the sound of a car approaching from down the road. Reid stared in that direction, not bothering to duck behind the trees.

It was obvious he was waiting for someone. More than likely Roe and Wyatt.

What if it isn’t them?

I tried to bury my face in his shoulder. It was stupid to think that no one would recognize me if I hid my face like that, but it was all I was capable of in that moment.

I tried to listen between the booms of my pounding heart as the car got closer. To my dismay, it sounded like it was pulling up next to us.

Reid started walking again.

I turned my head to face whoever it was just in time to see Roe and Wyatt jumping out of Wyatt’s car. Both took me in with wide eyes as they rushed over.

“Her mother wasn’t supposed to be home yet,” Wyatt said.

“Well, Mommy Fucking Dearest came home early,” Reid snapped.

Roe reached for my face as if to cup it, but paused just before touching me. His eyes kept bouncing to different areas of my body. “We need to take her to the hospital.”

“No!” I forced out and suffered for it. “No hospitals.”

“You need a hospital, Lottie,” Roe said gently but urgently.

I let out a groan before forcing myself to speak again. “They’ll find me if we go.”

Roe looked ready to argue.

“We don’t have time for this,” Reid said, stepping around Roe and going over to the car. “We need to get out of here before they notice she’s gone.”

“He’s right,” Wyatt said as he rushed over to the passenger’s side door. After getting it open, he pulled the seat forward to give us access to the back seat.

“Roe, get into the back so I can hand her to you,” Reid instructed.

Roe climbed in quickly and held his hands out for me.

As Reid transferred me to Roe, I couldn’t stop myself from crying out.

“She’s bleeding,” Wyatt said after getting into the driver’s seat and reaching into the back to help them.

“It’s her side,” Reid said as he finished handing me off to Roe. “It looks like they cut her a bunch of times.”

Wyatt let out a curse as he pushed the front passenger seat back into place.

As Roe cradled me in his lap, he wiped my tears away with his thumb.

“Where am I taking her?” I heard Wyatt ask Reid. “We could go to a hospital out of town. They might not look for her there.”

“No hospitals!” I begged.

Roe began rocking me. “It’s going to be all right, Lottie.”

“We take her to Bram,” Reid said as he got into the car and shut the door.

I wanted to protest, but what was the point? Reid looked set on going and it was better than going to the hospital. So I just cried, which made Roe reiterate that everything was going to be all right.

Wyatt got the car started and pulled away from the curb. “What about your bike?”

“I parked it down another street. We’ll get it later,” Reid said.

“Are you going to tell us why you went to Lottie’s?” Roe asked. “Alone?”

Reid didn’t answer.

“How’d you even know we took her home?” Wyatt asked.

“Roe told me. I texted him earlier,” Reid said.

“Why did you go to see Lottie, Reid?” Roe questioned, sounding pissed off.

“Does it fucking matter right now?” Reid snapped.

The car went quiet for the remainder of the drive.

The farther we got from my house, the faster the adrenaline that had been pumping through me began to disappear.

The pain became worse, but exhaustion was just as strong.

I didn’t remember drifting off. I just remembered feeling relieved to be able to return to the peaceful void.