30. Nolan #2
He tuts, folding his hands in front of him. “It’s so sad to hear that Eliza Pierce had a little accident,” he says. “I’m sure your friend is thankful it was only a little one. A hit-and-run, I heard.”
“Did you talk to the police?” I demand. Is that how he knows?
Morpheus tilts his head at me. “Now, why would I do that?”
“Then how did you…” The meaning behind his words slams into me and my hand clamps down on the bed railing until I swear I hear it cracking. “You didn’t…”
“I know you’re having a hard time seeing me, Juliet,” Morpheus continues. “It’s why I asked Dr. Pillard if we could borrow one of their empty patient rooms. So that we could talk.”
“You want to talk?” I gape at him.
“Of course I want to talk,” he says. “We never talk anymore.”
“I don’t have anything to say to you,” I snap. “You’re trying to have me declared unfit to care for myself!”
“Lower your voice, young lady.” The tone of his words is quiet and cutting and it makes me shut my mouth. I swallow around the rock-hard lump in my throat.
Morpheus sucks in a slow breath and then releases it, closing his eyes briefly before reopening and fixating them on me.
“I apologize for the deceit it took to get you here,” he says.
“But I felt like it was necessary for us to have a heart-to-heart. You seem to be under the misapprehension about my intentions.”
“Did you have someone slam into the back of Mrs. Pierce’s car?” I ask. “Just to get me here?”
He blinks and then puts one hand over his chest—right where I suspect a heart would be if the fucker had one. “Juliet, I’m shocked you would think that of me.”
Liar. I narrow my eyes on him. “Answer the question.”
“Of course not.” He shakes his head. “I would never be so cruel as to drag an innocent woman into our family matter.” His pupils are bigger than normal as he sets those eyes of his on mine and holds me captive. “That would be you.”
My breath catches. Me? “W-what?”
“I have no desire for anyone to get hurt, Juliet,” Morpheus tells me. “You, however, seem to only enjoy causing me pain.”
“Me? Cause you pain?” I laugh, but the sound is hollow. “You’re the one who took advantage of a drunk teenage girl at his own friend’s party.”
It takes me a moment to realize what I’ve said as the room goes silent.
I don’t know if it’s from his shock or my own for the words, but Morpheus doesn’t speak for several long moments.
Then, he steps forward, not stopping until he’s right in front of me, our bodies a mere hair’s breadth away from each other.
I stand stock-still, unable to move. Frozen, not in fear but in stubbornness, and an unwillingness to show him just how much he fucking terrifies me. In this room, all alone, with no one the wiser—aside from Dr. Pillard, who obviously works for him—he could do it all over again.
“You have the wrong impression of me, Juliet.” His scent is one of an expensive cologne. It’s thick and cloying, invading my senses. I choke on it as I stare at him. “All I want to do is give you the life you deserve. Our relationship is one built on mutual love.”
“I don’t love you.” The words are out of my mouth before I can think better of pushing this man and once they’re out there, I can’t seem to help myself. “I don’t even trust you.”
He dips his head. “I’m sorry to hear that and truly sorry you feel that way.
” His hand drifts up and I can’t stay still any longer.
I don’t care what he thinks of me, but I won’t let him touch me again.
Not willingly. Taking a step back and removing the possibility of his fingers grazing my cheek, I glare at him.
“Tell me the truth,” I say. “Did you hurt Eliza Pierce to get me here?”
Morpheus’ hand hovers in the air right where I’d been moments before.
He stares at the space I’ve put between us and his expression shifts from one of sympathetic acceptance to stone-cold resolution.
“Fight it all you would like, Juliet,” he murmurs.
“But I will do what I have to in order to get you back where you belong.”
“Where I belong is wherever I want to be,” I snap.
He ignores my words as he continues. “You were never meant to struggle to survive,” he says. “You were born into a life of a higher class and that is where you should be. Soon, you’ll see that I can give you everything you need.”
“Not out of the goodness of your heart, I’m sure,” I sneer back at him, glowering as his hand slowly lowers back to his side. He remains where he is, watching me.
“You are my heart, Juliet.”
I shake my head. “Why? Why do you think that? What did I do to make you think that I—” When my voice cracks, I stop myself and take another breath.
Calm. I need to remain calm. My eyes lower to the floor.
How many other women get this chance to face their assaulters?
How many of them can face them and ask all of the things that I want to?
Even if it felt like a trap at first, maybe it’s an opportunity.
All thoughts of Nolan and the others fade into the back of my mind.
“What you did to me… wasn’t right.” The truth echoes between us in the quiet, cold room.
The scent of bleach is heavy and the only smell thicker is him .
Both make me feel ill. “Why did you do it? Why can’t you just let me go? I didn’t tell anyone. I stayed silent.”
Furious and frustrated tears gather in the back of my eyes. Why? Why me? Why did it have to be me? What did I do? Was it my dress? Was I just convenient? Was it the place? The time? The alcohol?
I have to believe there was a reason I was the one he chose because without that, I have nothing. Without a reason, then I have to face the fact that there was nothing I could have done to change the outcome. That I have no control and there’s nothing I can do to stop it from happening again.
Those tears well and I shove them back, forcing the bubble of emotions to sink beneath the waves of anger versus fear and sorrow and pain and betrayal. Down, down, down deep until they’re covered up again. Anger, I can handle. Everything else… is too much.
Lifting my head, I meet his gaze again. “Why did you do that to me?”
Morpheus’ expression softens and he looks like he wants to come for me. His arms rise and then pause before lowering back to his sides. “Because I love you, Juliet. I’ve always loved you.”
“I’m your best friend’s daughter,” I remind him.
“I know.” He clenches his hands into fists. “I know, and I knew he wouldn’t accept it, but now… he’s not here for you. I am. Why can’t you understand that all I want to do is save you?”
“I don’t want to be saved,” I say. “I don’t need saving from anything but you!”
That’s the wrong thing to say, apparently. My outburst doesn’t do anything but strengthen the hard look in his eyes. He frowns and reaches up, straightening his suit coat before lifting his chin.
“You’re wrong.” Two words. A statement of fact to him. “Soon you’ll see it too. No one else can help you, Juliet. Not your girlfriends. Not the rest of this town. They hate you because of your father. It’s wrong, but it’s the truth. No one is on your side except for me.”
“Nolan and—” Denial is the first thing on my tongue, but he cuts me off.
“Ha.” Morpheus’ bark of laughter is dry and unamused.
“Nolan Pierce? The man who’s back there with his mother?
Do you really think that a trio of poor gangsters from the wrong side of town can give you everything you need?
Everything you deserve?” He shakes his head before I can get anything else out.
“No. Those boys are just using you. You’ll realize it soon enough, but even if you don’t, I’m sure they’ll start to catch on when other accidents start happening. ”
“Accidents?” I repeat the word that he emphasized.
His smile is slow and savage. “Mrs. Pierce was lucky today,” he says.
“She might not be so lucky next time. Perhaps those boys you care for so much will find that their families are going to have horrible bouts of bad luck very soon. Giovanni Vargas’ father has had a few federal agents sniffing around him for the last several years.
They haven’t managed to get anything on the man, but who knows… ”
“Are you threatening them?” A growl forms in my throat. How fucking dare he?
Morpheus shrugs. “I am doing no such thing, Juliet. I am merely stating that the men you surround yourself with have many weaknesses. It would be a shame for something to happen to them, don’t you think?”
I have nothing to say to that. What can I say? So, instead, I remain silent, standing there as ice seeps into my veins. Morpheus nods and tugs on his coat’s lapel once more.
“Well, this has been a very insightful chat, darling,” he murmurs. “But I do have a business to run. I think you should know the best course of action. If all you want is a choice, then I will give it to you. Call me when you’ve made the right one.”
With that, he heads for the door. I don’t stop him. I don’t demand more answers. I just stand there. Cold. Empty. Aching inside.
The accident, the fear in Nolan’s eyes when he heard his mom had been hurt—it was my fault. Even if Morpheus hadn’t admitted as much, his threats made it clear. He’s done playing by the rules and I can’t run from him anymore.
Turning, I press my back into the bottom of the patient bed and slowly collapse down to the floor.
My ass hits the flat tile and pain slices up my tailbone.
Dropping my head to my knees, I breathe slowly and evenly through my nose.
One breath. Two. Three. I count backwards from ten as I consider what I know.
Nine.
Morpheus arranged Eliza Pierce’s accident.
Eight.
Gio’s dad is under investigation.
Seven. Six.
If Morpheus had Nolan’s mom hurt, what else can he do to the guys or their families?
Five.
My father is in jail. My mother is gone. I’m all alone.
Four. Three.
Even if I don’t go back to Morpheus’ house, he might still win a conservatorship case.
Two.
If I do go back willingly, will he drop it? Can I stand to live with him while I try to figure out a way to protect the guys?
One.
Will they let me if I tell them the truth?
All of the tears I’d been fighting break free. They slide down my cheeks and soak into my pants legs as I bow my head.
If it means saving them, protecting them, I’ll do anything, even if it means selling my soul to the devil himself.