43. Chapter 43
Chapter 43
Nellie
I couldn’t get Ronan’s words yesterday out of my head. I had been smothered and kidnapped, taped to a pole, and smacked around by some man I didn’t even know before I watched him die in front of me, but all I could think about was Ronan. I never wanted you to get hurt.
Spice was curled up next to my leg, almost half under it. From the minute Ronan let him into my room yesterday, he hadn’t left my side. I think he could sense that I was hurt. He knew something was wrong. He didn’t even care about demanding his nightly can of tuna last night when I had forgotten.
When there was a quick knock and the front door opened, I jumped, and Spice’s head shot up. We both looked in the direction of the noise, waiting for someone to turn the corner. I couldn’t hear the footsteps over my heartbeat pounding in my ears. I held my breath, releasing it in a rushed exhale as soon as Grace turned the corner.
“Are you okay?” she asked, looking taken aback when she stepped into the living room. “You look really pale.”
“I thought you were someone else.” I didn’t want to admit to her that I thought she was the man I had seen bleeding out on the storage room floor, knowing there was no way he could be walking through my front door. Would the woman with him know where I lived? I shivered.
“I got the address from Ronan,” she said, stopping at the end of the couch. “Why do you even have the door unlocked in the first place?” I could see the resemblance between her and Ronan more when she scolded me.
I tilted my head, sitting up straighter and tucking my feet under me to give her more space. “Did you really come here to lecture me about my safety?”
“No.” Grace giggled, and I couldn’t help but smile. “I came to check on you. Are you okay?”
“Totally fine,” I said, swallowing back the lump in my throat. I wasn’t used to having anyone but Ava and Spice check on me.
“You’re a liar.” She lifted one brow and pursed her lips in a don’t-even-try-to-lie-to-me scowl. “I know you’re not because I know my brother’s not. You went through a lot.”
I shrugged. Story of my life. “I’ve been through a lot before.”
“I know you have.” How much did she know about my past?
I looked down, picking at the skin around my nails until one of them started to lightly bleed. “He’s the reason my brother is dead.” My eyes stung with tears I didn’t bother to blink back, and one slipped down my cheek.
“That’s not exactly true. He just couldn’t prevent it from happening.” Grace took my hand, brushing her thumb over the top of my knuckles. “He beat himself up for it for years. I don’t know if he ever stopped. He would’ve done anything for Dickie.”
“How can you say that? He didn’t even come to the funeral.” I sniffled, and my throat burned. I cleared it.
She smiled sympathetically, the way one does when they are faced with someone else’s grief. “He paid for it, though. He tried to stay in touch, but it was painful—for him and your parents. It’s hard to be around someone who reminds you of what you’ve lost. Then, when your parents died…” Grace patted my hand, placing it in her lap but not letting go. “Look, I don’t know what it is about you two, but I’ve never seen my brother react to anything the way he has to you. Then, when he thought he’d almost lost you? Something snapped in him.”
“I don’t know what to say,” I whispered. My hand twitched, but I resisted the urge to pull it back. Accepting comfort had always been difficult for me, but she had a way of demanding it.
“Just tell me you’re as in love with him as he is with you.” Was he? Was I ? I thought about how it felt to watch him walk out of my room yesterday evening, knowing I had pushed him away, and my chest cracked again.
“He’s in love with me?” The tears that had been streaming down my face stopped falling, but I could still feel that my cheeks were damp. I didn’t wipe them dry.
She nodded. “Oh my God, yes. It’s so obvious.” She looked excited, like she was watching a movie with characters she favored falling in love. “He’s even fighting with Giaco, and that never happens!”
“Why are they fighting?” I asked. I never wanted to cause conflict in his family.
She looked around like she had to make sure nobody else was with us. “I have to pretend I don’t know because I’m not allowed to be part of it, but they yell so loud, it’s impossible to miss sometimes, ya know?” Grace lowered her voice anyways, leaning towards me so she could make sure I heard her. “All I know is that the woman who hurt you, Nikki? She was a friend of theirs.”
“So why did she do it?” My wrists twinged with the memory of tape tightly wrapped around them, and the bruises on my face stung when I clenched my jaw. I took a deep breath, trying to slow my heart rate. It didn’t work.
Grace looked at me like she was suddenly hesitant to share. She looked behind her again and said, “Because she found his weak spot.” She nodded, looking pointedly at me.
I pointed to myself. “Me?”
She nodded. “You.”