Chapter 18
Felicity
My heart raced, palms damp, as I realized who exactly held me in place. The moment I saw his face, then heard his voice, everything came back to me.
A blind date I hadn’t wanted to go on. A group event that had turned into a fun night of dancing and me running barefoot through the woods, screaming for help.
I had called Callum, hiding in a bush, hoping that Bradley wouldn’t find me.
But here he was, over two years later, in my house.
He lowered his hand and took a step to the side so he could face me. I opened my mouth to scream, but he held up a knife. One from my own butcher block.
“No. Don’t make a sound. We just need to talk it out.”
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
Bradley’s eyes narrowed as he stepped forward, knife in hand.
“What part of don’t make a fucking sound do you not understand?
You’re such an idiot.” His arm slashed out, thankfully the one without the knife, and he backhanded me.
My head hit the wall behind me, and I grasped for something to hold on to so I wouldn’t fall.
Blood trickled down my mouth, and I realized his ring had cut my lip.
“You know, I’ve been watching you these last few weeks. And you’re just so boring.”
Those moments where I had thought someone had been watching me, and I had thought it had been either Callum’s dad, or one of the townspeople, wondering what I was doing with Callum, or just back in town.
All those instances where the hair on the back of my neck had stood on end, and I had felt uneasy.
All those instances I had told myself were nothing, and I was just losing my mind.
“No, don’t speak. I’m not in the mood to kill you. I don’t kill people. But I do make them regret things. Do you realize what you did two years ago?”
I opened my mouth to say something, but he waved the knife around.
“I don’t actually want an answer. You’re going to listen to me.
Because all you did all those years ago was open your fucking mouth and ruin my life.
My dad wouldn’t take me in after college.
I was supposed to go to law school, but he stopped me.
Apparently, he didn’t like what he had been hearing.
Didn’t like what my so-called friends told him about what happened that night.
He wouldn’t pay for fucking law school. He said I had to do it myself if I wanted to prove myself. Why do I need to prove myself?
I’m Bradley fucking McDonald of the McDonalds.
I don’t need to prove myself to anyone. But you decided to be a fucking cunt and lie to me.
Then you lied to everyone else. I couldn’t go to law school.
I’m not going to get a fucking loan like some peasant.
Like something you probably had to do to go to school.
Though, what good was school for you if you’re sitting at that little no-name building being a fucking accountant?
How ridiculous is that? You are nothing.
And you are ruining my life. All because you wouldn’t open your legs like you promised me. ”
“I didn’t promise you anything,” I blurted. And when he lashed out again, I ducked to the side, chest heaving. “Please. You don’t want to do this.”
“I don’t want to do what? Make you realize how wrong you have it?
No, you’re going to go to my father, and you’re going to tell him that you made a mistake.
That way, I can do what I was supposed to.
I was supposed to be in the middle of law school right now, getting ready to join my dad’s firm and, at the end of it, fulfill my legacy.
Instead, you’ve ruined it. All because you’re a fucking bitch who can’t stop lying.
The four Ls agree with me. When they came to visit?
They told me how big of an idiot you are.
Nobody wants to be with you. Well, I don’t want to be with you, if that’s what you’re thinking, but I want you to tell the truth.
” He waved the knife around again, and I realized his pupils were so damn wide he had to be on something.
What, I didn’t know, but there was something wrong with him.
There had been something wrong with him two years ago, too, but it was worse now.
“Okay, I’ll talk to your dad. I’ll do whatever you want.”
“You’re such a liar. You’re just afraid I’m not going to hurt you.
Well, you’re bleeding now, but I didn’t stab you.
So you don’t get to tell anybody that I stabbed you.
Don’t keep lying to make yourself feel better.
Oh, and your big old man that could probably be your daddy?
That’s gross, by the way. He’s not going to come save you.
There’s a leak at the brewery, one by that small window that has a broken pane.
Well, he’s going to be dealing with that for a while.
Probably with the fire station as well. So he’s not going to come and save you. ”
So that was what had happened. The emergency. How long had Bradley been planning this?
“Don’t worry. I’m not alone. I needed help.
Not everybody in this town loves you. And most people hate the Ashfords.
They just don’t say it out loud. I mean, apparently, they lorded their wares or whatever over the town for too long, and now they’re fighting back.
Small-town lore is so fucking ridiculous, but I don’t care.
You’re going to call my father, and you’re going to fix this. Or I’m going to have to fix you.”
He wavered on his feet then, and I scrambled forward without thinking. I shoved him, knocking the knife out of his hand before my fist collided with his jaw.
He let out a grunt, his head slamming into the counter as I punched him again.
I kicked the knife away before reaching for my phone.
“Bitch,” he slurred as I realized blood trickled from the back of his head.
Bile coating my tongue, I grabbed my phone and scrambled out of the house.
I ran, not caring if he was following me or if people thought I was insane. I just dialed 911, ignoring the pain in my lip and hoping like hell that they would come soon.
Because I had a feeling once the adrenaline wore off, I’d throw up. Or pass out.
And I didn’t want to be strong anymore.
* * *
“I can’t believe I wasn’t there,” Callum snapped as he paced his kitchen, his hands running over his face.
My mother held me close as Rune and my father paced alongside Callum.
It had been twenty-four hours since the attack, and I was pretty sure nobody had slept. I had tried to, but people kept coming over, making sure I was okay.
Word of the attack had spread through the small town far quicker than any gossip vine I had ever heard in my life.
Keely, Promise, Teagan, and the others had come to check on me. Even Bronwyn, a townie who kept to herself most days, came over for a few moments. Fiona had dropped off a pie, glared at me as she checked over the bruise on my face, and stomped out.
I didn’t know what that meant, but she hadn’t been the only one.
Nearly everybody in town had stopped by Callum’s house, made sure I was okay, asked about Bradley, had a questioning glance about the fact that I was at Callum’s house, and left.
Now I was with my family, with Atlas on the other side of the country, banned from coming here by every single person in this house since he had a game tonight, and all I wanted to do was go to sleep.
“I was fine. I handled it myself.”
“Damn straight you did. Although, with the cut on your knuckles, we’re going to have to work on your fist placement again,” Rune mumbled.
“We have the punching bag in the garage. We’ll work on it,” Dad said as he made notes to himself on the phone. Apparently, me taking more self-defense classes and adding additional security to the house was only the tip of the iceberg when it came to my dad doing what he did best.
Planning my life so that he could keep his children safe.
“He broke a window and came through the house. That’s how he got in. But you guys are going to put up a security system at the small house, and the owners understand, and everything is going to be okay. I’m fine. He didn’t even cut me.”
Mom’s arms tightened. “Let’s not talk about the knife when I feel like I’m going to throw up.”
“Okay. Okay. But the good thing is I took care of myself.”
“I should have been there.”
I pulled away from my mother, ignoring her sound of protest, and stomped towards Callum.
“You should be sitting. Or lying down,” he said.
“I will be lying down soon. When everybody leaves, I can go to bed. But Callum… He said he was working with somebody and found a way to mess with your brewery. He wanted you away from me. It’s not your fault.”
“I should have had one of my team members handle it.”
“You’re the boss. You wouldn’t have let anyone else handle it. You made sure she was in the house. It’s not your fault,” Rune snapped.
I looked over at my brother and realized though he was scared out of his wits, he was reassuring his best friend at the same time.
Maybe we weren’t exactly figuring out how to deal with my dating Callum, but he was still Callum’s best friend.
They were going to make this work.
Just like I was going to ensure that my family knew I was safe.
Before I could say anything, though, there was a knock on the door, and Rune went to answer it, even though it was Callum’s house.
“Sorry I’m late,” Bodhi said with a growl as he moved forward.
“Window’s fixed, the house is safe. I have a friend who owns a security company down in Denver, and they’ll be up tomorrow to fix everything up. Don’t worry.”
I sighed, then moved towards Bodhi. When I opened up my arms, hesitant that he would actually want to hug me back, he surprised me by pulling me tightly to him.
He kissed the top of my head and let out a sigh. “Let’s not do that again, okay? I don’t like to see my brother looking scared as shit.”
“I’ll try not to. Nearly getting kidnapped doesn’t really sound like a fun thing.”