Chapter Twenty
Keaton
W AKING UP, I take a look around despite the headache making my entire head throb and nausea build up that I desperately try to hold back.
There’s a sharp pain in my arms and I realize they’re tied behind my back, whatever is holding them in place digs into my skin.
My breath catches as I realize I’m in Nora’s apartment.
It’s the first time I’ve been allowed inside because she never wanted me to see the way Dillon and her lived.
Now, I understand why. There’s broken furniture from a fight between the two of them, dishes and garbage all over the place in the living room, and an atrocious smell coming from somewhere in the apartment.
I can tell the garbage and dishes have all been left around recently.
This isn’t how Nora would keep anywhere she lived.
Especially with Bridger in the same house.
Nora was always a neat freak and it only got worse after she gave birth to her son.
She was constantly worrying about him getting sick or grabbing something once he started moving around more and choking on it.
This is fucking disgusting and I know Dillon is even worse than I thought he was.
Reminders of Nora are all over the place as I look around the room I’m in.
It’s clearly the living room but I can see into the kitchen and a small hallway to the right of where I’m sitting.
Dillon’s tied me to a chair from the kitchen table if I had to guess since one is missing.
Though, it could have been broken when he was in one of his rages.
Anyway, there are pictures of Nora and Bridger lining the walls and sitting on every available free space.
She loved to take pictures and display them.
If there is one thing in this world Nora was proud of, it’s her son.
Not only did she love him with every beat of her heart, but she was constantly telling me all about the amazing things he did and learned on a daily basis.
In front of the TV that’s mounted on the wall sits a stand with vases of daisies in a variety of colors.
Nora has always loved that flower and as I look closer, I realize they’re all the ones I got her over the years for one reason or another.
All of them have different vases now and I have a feeling it’s because Dillon smashed the original ones.
It wouldn’t surprise me after seeing how bad he is when he flies into a rage.
I still have nightmares of that day and being covered in my best friend’s blood for hours afterward.
On the small wall separating the living room from the door of the apartment, Nora’s purse rests as if she’ll be back at any time.
Like she’s just run to the store or something.
On the coat rack, Nora’s favorite jacket from high school hangs.
Dillon has never liked that coat because it’s from one of Nora’s close friends.
Jake was a football player and wanted to be with Nora.
She never saw him like that. One night he gave her his coat when we were at a beach party.
My best friend was cold because she didn’t want to wear a coat over her outfit so he gave his up when she could no longer deny she was freezing.
Nora kept the jacket all these years because Jake never wanted it back.
He wanted her to have a reminder of him in the hopes she might one day choose him.
Nora never did because Jake was one of her best friends and she didn’t want to lose that bond they had.
I’m not even sure if he knows she was killed.
It’s not like I kept in touch with anyone other than Nora once I left high school.
There’s pairs of her shoes lined up against the wall and I know there’s a ton more in her closet.
Nora had a thing for shoes and bought as many pairs as she could when a huge sale was going on.
It was something I always teased her about and we’d end up laughing our asses off because Nora had enough pairs of shoes to start her own store at one point.
I’m not sure that’s still the case since Dillon always manages to destroy everything close to him.
Everything in this apartment is something Nora picked out with precision.
The dishes she agonized over because she was torn between two different patterns, glasses of all sizes she chose based on the drinks she imagined Dillon and her having, and all of her blankets and bedding.
Bridger’s things are also in the living room.
There’s one of those vibrating chairs, a swing, an open box of diapers sitting on the coffee table, and a few other things Nora talked to me about as she was shopping.
My girl chose every single item with heart and soul because she wanted the best she could provide for her son.
Nora did hours of research into the best products for a baby and was always so worried about Bridger having an allergic reaction or irritating his skin for some reason.
She bought everything for him with concern, love, and the best of intentions.
“Ow!” I finally hear Dillon shout and look around as he comes out from the hallway. He’s glaring at me as he stumbles and almost falls multiple times on his way closer to me. “You’re finally fuckin’ awake.”
“No thanks to you, Asshole,” I state, no emotion in my voice as I return his glare with one of my own. I’m pretty sure I pull mine off even better since I’m not high as a kite with whatever Dillon’s current drug of choice is.
“You fuckin’ took everythin’ from me, Keaton.
Thinkin’ you were better than everyone around you.
Nora always listened to what you told her without fail like you were her God or some shit.
It was so fuckin’ pathetic. Nora was always so damn weak but never more so than when it came to you.
Every time I broke her, you put her back together again.
Are you fuckin’ happy with yourself?” Dillon growls, getting in my face as his skin turns an alarming shade of purple and a vein sticks out as rage fills his eyes.
“No, I’m not fucking happy with myself. You’re the one who took everythin’ from me, Dillon.
Nora was the best person I’ve ever had the privilege of meeting until you entered her life.
She was vibrant, strong, willful, stubborn, and so fucking smart.
You took every shred of confidence and self-esteem from her because you’re a selfish, vile, piece of shit.
Nora shrank herself down to nothing for you and you never saw it because it’s not what you wanted to see.
She would have given you the world and instead you robbed the world of her existence.
“You took my best friend from me and the one person who completely understood every facet of me. You robbed your own son of his mother. Bridger will never get to experience the love she had for him or do all the wonderful things she planned to do with him. I’ll be the one to do all of those things with Bridger now.
And I’ll be the person who tells him every single day what a great woman his mom was,” I shout, letting the anger that’s been building up out because if anyone deserves to feel my wrath, it’s Dillon.
“Nora wasn’t any of that shit, Keaton. She was good at hidin’ her true self from the world around her.
It didn’t take me longer than five minutes to break the bitch.
While you believe she’s so damn innocent, she was out partyin’ and fuckin’ around like a common whore,” Dillon states as if it’s the truth of the situation.
“That’s not what she was doing, Dillon. If you’d ever gone out with her, you’d know that.
Yes, Nora liked to drink and have a good time every now and then.
She never fucked the guys she hung out with.
They were some of her best friends in the world and were there for her safety so she could get drunk without someone spiking her drink or taking advantage of her in an inebriated state.
Those guys treated her with the utmost respect and would never lay a hand on her because she was all about you for some reason.
I know every single detail about Nora in ways you were never let in by her.
She trusted me with every part of her like I trusted her with every part of me.
That’s something you’ll never understand because you would rather get high and drink than actually sit down and connect with another human.
“I know you were cheating on her the entire time. Nora knew it too. She saw you more than once. You fucked girls in her car, in the bed she slept in, and all over this apartment where your son was. There isn’t a single thing about your relationship I don’t know.
Including all the gambling losses,” I inform Dillon as his face changes shades once again and he pulls his hand back to slap me.
I feel my lip split open and blood drip down my chin.
“This is who you are, Dillon. You’re an abusive piece of shit who fights women but never gets in a fight with a man.
You’re a chicken who runs in the face of a worthy opponent who can beat you.
You’re not gonna break me the way you broke Nora, Dillon.
I have a man at my side who will find me and make you pay for every mark you leave on my body.
You won’t have a choice but to suffer at his hands,” I state thinking of Tucker and knowing without fail that he’ll figure out where I am and save me. He’ll take me home to Bridger.