Chapter 2 #3
"Good. That means you're alive, not just surviving. My brothers and I, we built everything from nothing. No family money, no connections, no safety net. Just four damaged kids who refused to give up. If we can do it, so can you."
She looked at me then, really looked at me, and something shifted between us. Two broken people recognizing the damage in each other—but also the survival. The strength. The stubborn refusal to let our pasts define our futures.
"Why are you helping me?" she asked softly. "Really. You don't know me. You owe me nothing."
Because you're mine. Because from the moment I found you in that storm, something in my chest claimed you. Because I see in you what my brothers saw in me—someone worth saving, worth fighting for.
But I couldn't say any of that. Not yet. So instead, I said, "Because I know what it's like to need help and have no one to turn to. And because sometimes the family you choose is the only family worth having."
"Is that what this is? You choosing me?"
"Maybe," I admitted. "Or maybe you chose me when you decided to trust a stranger who looks like he could snap you in half."
She smiled then, small but genuine. "You wouldn't hurt me."
"No," I agreed. "I wouldn't. Ever.”
She finished her wine and hid a yawn.
“You should get some sleep. There’s a spare bedroom right off the bathroom. I made it up while you were in the shower. It’s the room with the red quilt."
She nodded but didn't move. "Kevin?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you. For helping me. For this." She gestured around. "I know you didn't have to."
"Anyone would have done the same."
"No," she said. "They wouldn't have."
TONYA
Lightning still flashed outside, illuminating the darkness in stark bursts, but I felt safe here in Kevin's house. Safer than I'd felt in years.
I should have been thinking about my grandmother's cottage, or about the blown engine on my car. I should have been planning my next move, figuring out how to salvage my escape from Michael's control.
Instead, I was thinking about the man downstairs. The way he'd looked at me across the dinner table like he was on my side. The way his hands had felt on my waist had been so gentle, despite their obvious strength. The way his hoodie smelled like him and it was so comforting to me.
Michael had never made me feel like this—safe and protected and wanted all at once. With Michael, I'd always felt like I was auditioning for the role of perfect girlfriend, perfect fiancée, perfect future wife. But I was always falling short, always needing to be fixed or improved or controlled.
Kevin looked at me like I was already perfect exactly as I was.
It warmed me up inside almost as much as the beef stew and his hoodie I never wanted to take off.
Settling into the comfortable bed, surrounded by Kevin's scent on the pillows and blankets, I closed my eyes.
Tomorrow would bring new challenges, new decisions to make.
Even as the thunder continued to crash overhead and the house creaked around me, sleep came easily.
When I woke up the next morning. It was still gray and drizzly. The storm had finally moved off. I had three bars on my cell phone, but no one to call. The smell of coffee and bacon led me back to the kitchen where Kevin was cooking breakfast.
"Morning," he said, glancing up as I appeared in the doorway. "Sleep okay?"
"Better than I have in months." I accepted the mug of coffee he offered, inhaling the rich aroma. "Thank you."
"We should go check on your grandmother's cottage this morning," he said. "See what we're dealing with."
Right. The cottage. My inheritance. My supposed fresh start.
"What if it's not livable?" I asked.
Kevin's dark eyes met mine over his coffee mug. "Then we'll figure something else out."
We. Like he planned to help me, whatever I decided to do. Like I wasn't just a temporary inconvenience in his carefully ordered life.
"Kevin, I can't impose on you."
“You’re not. The road’s clear so I had my buddy Jerry from the garage in town come and tow your car early this morning. He’ll take a look at it and give you a good deal on fixing it.”
“Oh good. That stupid car had been my sweet sixteen birthday present from my parents and I’ve had it ever since.”
He grimaced. “Mercedes last a long time, but not forever.”
“Well, it’s lasted this long. Thanks for doing that for me. I owe you one.”
“Put it on my tab for that website you’re going to build for me.”
The sharp ring of my cell phone cut me off. I glanced down to see Michael's name flashed on the screen.
I recoiled before I could hide my reaction.
"Don't answer it," Kevin said.
"He'll just keep calling. If I don't pick up, he'll—"
"Tonya." Kevin's voice was firm, commanding. "Don't. Answer. It."
But it was too late. My finger had already swiped across the screen.
"What do you want?" I asked, forcing my voice to sound cool and unconcerned. Meanwhile my insides were jiggling like jelly.
"Where are you?" His voice was annoyed. "I've been worried sick. When you didn't come home last night—"
"I'm not coming home."
"Don't be ridiculous. This little tantrum has gone on long enough. I've already talked to your parents, explained that you're having some kind of breakdown. They agree that you need help."
My parents. Of course he'd called them. Of course he'd made it sound like I was the problem.
"I'm not having a breakdown," I said, aware of Kevin's intense gaze on me. "I'm done, Michael. We're done. I told you that."
"You didn’t tell me anything. You texted it." His voice hardened slightly. "You can't survive without me. You know that. You're helpless on your own."
"I'm doing just fine."
"Are you? Because I've been tracking your car, and it looks like you're Vermont. What on earth are you doing there?"
Tracking me. Of course. He'd probably been monitoring my every move since I left.
"That's none of your business anymore."
"Everything about you is my business. You belong to me. The sooner you accept that, the easier this will be." His voice dropped to the silky tone that had once made me think he loved me. Now it just made my skin crawl. "Come home."
"No." The word came out stronger than I felt. "I don't want to see you."
"What you want is irrelevant. You're my fiancée."
"Ex-fiancée. I left the your ring on the bedside table.”
"A temporary misunderstanding. Don’t make me come after you."
The line went dead.
I stared at the phone in my trembling hands, feeling like the walls were closing in around me. He'd do it too. He’d track me down, drag me back to New York, and this time he'd make sure I never had another chance to leave.
"Tonya." Kevin's voice was gentle but firm. "Look at me."
I raised my eyes to meet his, and what I saw there stole my breath. Not pity or concern, but cold, deadly purpose.
"He's not taking you anywhere," Kevin said quietly. "You're under my protection now."
Protection. The word sent a shiver through me that had nothing to do with fear.
"You don't understand," I whispered. "Michael always gets what he wants. He has money, connections, private security."
"I don't give a damn what he has." Kevin stepped closer, and I could feel the controlled violence radiating from his massive frame. "He's not taking you, if you don’t want to go."
The certainty in his voice made the tightness in my chest loosen and I felt like I could breathe again.
"Let’s get you settled into the cottage," Kevin said. "Then we'll deal with your ex."
Deal with him. Like Michael was just another problem to be solved, not the controlling force that had dominated my life for two years.
Maybe, with Kevin standing between me and my past, he was.