Chapter 28
Twenty-Eight
Brandon had appeared out of nowhere, right next to her parents’ mailbox. She looked around frantically. What was he doing here? Was he stalking her?
“Still waiting till Sunday morning to get the weekend mail, huh?” Bran said with an underlying hostility to his voice.
Her body tensed, remembering the danger of his moods. “What are you doing here? You shouldn’t be.”
“You know, I’m about sick of you blowing me off. I told you I wanted to see you while you’re in town.”
“I don’t have anything to say. You should go,” she said, turning.
He grabbed her and yanked her back to him. “No, I decide when we’re done talking. Say, Yes, Sir.”
“No.”
“Say it, Kate. Or I’ll make you say it.”
“You’re making a big mistake. I’m—”
Brandon grabbed her throat. And squeezed.
She slapped him and wrenched free, but he clutched her hair and then both hands were on her neck, just like before, tighter this time. Kate couldn’t break away.
She clawed at his arms and his face in a blind panic.
Not enough air. The world tilted around her in a stomach-lurching spin. Would he kill her? Her heart pounded. I need a breath. Now!
Her vision blurred as she fought for her life. Not strong enough. Starting to fall.
Then, miraculously, he let go.
Kate was on her knees gasping as her vision started to clear. Run! She needed to run.
Go! Before he grabs you again.
Except he didn’t touch her. Beyond the rushing sound in her head, she heard gurgling and a low voice she knew.
She looked up. Rory had Brandon in a chokehold from behind. There was an acrid smell. She back-pedaled a couple of feet as Brandon crumpled to the ground, unconscious.
She couldn’t catch her breath, not even to gasp. As Rory dropped Brandon’s limp body, Kate remained silent. If Brandon was dead, she didn’t care.
An instant later, Rory was beside her, speaking softly and running fingers over her neck, like he was tracing her muscles.
“You’re all right, baby. Let me hear your voice.”
“You’re here,” she mumbled.
“Yeah, of course.”
“He’s moving,” she said, jerking back so fast she fell. Rory caught her before she landed and held her up.
“Think you can walk back to the house, kitten?”
“With you?”
“No, I’m gonna be a minute.”
“I’m staying with you.”
“You can. But sit down. I don’t want you to fall.”
“I smell urine.”
“Yeah, he pissed himself.”
“He’s getting up. He carries a knife—” None of her sentences sounded normal. They were raspy and disjointed.
“Let’s see if he remembers where it is.” Rory looked totally unworried. It was completely surreal.
She sucked in a panicked breath when Brandon staggered to his feet.
He looked ready to launch himself at Rory.
But Rory’s fist slammed into Brandon’s face.
There was a pop, like a crack, and Brandon was on the ground again.
He made noises like he was in pain. He scrambled to get his hand to his boot, but Rory, who was barefoot, pinned Brandon’s arm to the ground with his foot and leaned forward.
Kate was frozen.
Rory hit him twice more in the face, and blood splattered on Rory’s shirt and the ground. Kate winced but couldn’t take her eyes off the scene. A part of her was afraid to. What if they turned their back and Brandon grabbed one of them?
Rory was not scared, though. He had control of the situation and his confidence helped her hammering heart to slow down.
“You lie there and bleed,” Rory said to Brandon. “Do anything else, and I’ll beat your ass so bad your own mother won’t recognize you. You feel me? Stay down.”
Rory backed away, watching Brandon, but held a hand out to her. “Okay, baby. Let’s go.”
She took his hand and rose. She walked stiffly, looking back every few seconds until they were too far away for Brandon to sneak up on them.
In the house, her parents were noisy, but Rory made them lower their voices.
“I’m okay,” she heard herself say over and over as the blood rushed from her head to her feet. The world turned gray and then black.
She woke up on the couch. Rory was on one knee next to it, pushing her hair back from her face.
“I’ll take it,” he said, and then a cold, wet washcloth was on her forehead.
“I think I fainted,” she whispered.
“I don’t understand why she didn’t warn us that someone was stalking her,” her dad snapped. “Kate, what were you thinking! You should have told us!”
“Hey,” Rory said sharply. “With respect, ease off. When she’s okay, I’ll talk to you. Till then, get under control or go away.”
“She’s my daughter.”
“I know. That’s the only reason you’re still in the room. Now, like I said, settle down or go,” Rory said in that low emphatic voice.
“I’m okay, Rory. For real this time.” Kate pushed the washcloth back so it wasn’t partially covering her eyes. “Rory, your hands,” she said, noticing his scraped knuckles.
“Don’t even start that,” he said.
“Will you please wash them, though? So they don’t get infected?”
“Will you drink some water?”
She nodded.
He put the glass to her lips, and she drank.
“How does it feel when you swallow?” he asked.
“Okay.”
“No pain in your neck or chest?”
“No, why?”
Rory brushed a thumb over her throat. “There’s a lot of high-end real estate in the neck.”
She smiled. “You say things—so strange and funny.”
“I need to talk to you, baby. Ready? Or need another couple of minutes?”
“Ready,” she whispered.
“Your dad wants to call the police. The douchebag might already have. You can tell them what happened, or we can leave you out of it. If you say he attacked you, the stuff from the past may come out. Details.”
“Oh,” she said, a wave of dread washing over her.
“You don’t have to talk. He’s not gonna want to say what happened back then. He’ll keep his mouth shut about it if he knows he can. You just have to agree to stay quiet.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about! She’s going to tell the truth. All of it. Anything else will—” Her dad droned on.
Kate stopped hearing her dad because she was focusing on what Rory was telling her.
“I can say your ex and I got in a fight. I can leave you out of it. We’ll say you weren’t even there. All you need to do is keep quiet.”
“I can’t do that, though, because then they’ll misunderstand what you did,” she said. “Better for me is worse for you. So, no.”
“I’ll be fine either way. I promise. Let’s try to keep you out of it. I went to get the mail alone. You stayed here.”
“No.”
“Kate, baby, listen, I have expensive lawyers. You don’t need to worry. I’ll take care of it. I’m telling you to let me protect you.”
She put a hand on his face. “This one time, though,” she whispered. “I can’t listen to you.”
Rory closed his eyes, exhaling his frustration. When he opened them, he said, “I know how brave you are. You don’t always have to prove it.”
“You, either.”
“I’m calling the police,” her dad said.
“Dad, no, you’re not.” Kate sat up. “If Brandon calls them, so be it. But we are not.”
“But, Katie, if we don’t call, he’ll get away with it.”
“He didn’t get away with anything. Rory hit him very hard. Bones shattered. He’s hurt. I don’t think he’ll try to come after me again now.”
Her dad paled.
Rory was on his feet in an instant, propping her dad up and getting him to the other couch.
“I’m sorry, Daddy. I shouldn’t have said it like that. It’s just not a good idea for us to call the police. They could misunderstand what happened and arrest Rory instead of Brandon.”
Kate finally fell asleep.
Rory decided they wouldn’t head back to Connecticut until the following day in case there was legal fallout. He didn’t want to be pulled over and arrested. If trouble was coming, he’d face it head on.
But the police didn’t come. All was quiet, which had seemed to make Kate more edgy as the day progressed. He’d spent some time alone with her. It was easier to calm her when it was just the two of them.
When he’d come down for food and sat alone eating it, Simon joined him at the table. At first, there was no conversation. He wondered if Simon wanted to tell him to leave but was worried about how he’d react.
Simon eyed him warily. The rapport they’d been developing had disintegrated now that Rory had proven himself to be violent.
Rory appraised Kate’s dad. “I’ll tell you something if you swear you’ll never ask her about it.”
The older man braced himself and finally nodded.
“He hurt her once before. He was playing a game and almost killed her. She had nightmares for a long time.” Rory paused.
“You would’ve had to bury her at seventeen.
She never would’ve come to Yale. I never would’ve met her.
” Rory took another drink of juice, letting that sink in.
“Today, he grabbed her the same way he did back then, by the throat. Except this time he knew how much it would scare her. He did it on purpose.”
Simon was gripping the table so tightly his knuckles were white.
“Yeah, I broke a few bones. Honestly, I wanted to kill him.”
“But you didn’t.”
“No. She was watching, and I don’t want something like that in her head. Protecting her is more important than anything else. Always.” Rory locked eyes with Simon. “Understand? She’s safe with me. You can trust that.”
“You were calm when you brought her in the house.” Simon’s tone was bemused. “Surprising, after what had just happened.”
“Staying calm and focused is in my wheelhouse.” Rory nodded for emphasis. “No one is ever gonna hurt her on my watch. You have my word.”
Simon finally nodded in return and forced a faint smile. “I believe you.”
From behind him, Rory heard Kate’s soft voice as she entered the room. “Hey, how is everyone?”
Rory looked over his shoulder. She stood in the doorway in snowy white flannel pajamas, looking rumpled and beautiful and kittenish with her dark hair spilling over her shoulders.
Rory smiled. “All good, baby.”
She put her arms around his neck and hugged him from behind. “I love you,” she whispered.
Rory squeezed her forearm and held it tightly, communicating silently what she needed to hear.
With words, he said, “I love you, too.”
With his grip, he said, I’ll never let you go.