Chapter 9
CALEB
I swear I’m high as I leap off Eliza as our parents’ voices outside reach my ears. We both gasp as we unlink, my whole body pulsing head to toe. Somehow, I manage to get my pants on as my heart nearly explodes from my chest.
Eliza lies naked and gorgeous beneath me, eyes wide with panic. I wanted to fall asleep on top of her, but now there’s no time. Reaching down, I snatch her by the waist with one arm and lift her onto my shoulders. Then I quickly grab up our clothes and race upstairs.
Getting caught like this would be a catastrophe. What are they even doing home? They were supposed to be gone for two days.
“Oh God, oh God, oh God,” she whimpers as I carry her down the hall. The front door opens, and I hear Daniel’s voice.
“Look at me,” I tell her, resting a calming palm against her cheek. She’s already shaking. “Breathe.”
“What happened to the lock?”
“Shit,” I hiss, moving into Eliza’s room. I set her down on the bed and give her a quick kiss on her swollen lips.
“Put this on,” I whisper, tossing her robe to her. “Everything will be okay.”
I turn to go, but her fingers wrap around my arm, holding me back. “I love you,” she tells me. The sweet sincerity in her voice touches my heart. God, she couldn’t be more perfect. Her beauty is a gravitational pull, fighting to keep me from leaving the room.
“I love you, angel.” I kiss her deeply and step out into the hall. I’m just about to slide into my shirt when I hear a gasp and look up to see Daniel at the top of the stairs.
We both freeze, staring at each other down.
“What is this?” he asks, but he knows what it is. He’s just caught me coming out of his daughter’s room half-naked. What else could it be?
“You son of a bitch!” He explodes, racing toward me. “Under my roof? You used her!”
He swings at me, but I duck and put distance between us. “I didn’t use her, Daniel.”
“She’s your sister—"
“Step-sister,” I growl, my protective instincts flaring. He glares furiously back at me and raises his fist like he’s going to hit me.
But I’m not backing down. If that’s how it’s gonna be, then that’s how it’s gonna be. I hold eye contact, making the message clear—I’m not going anywhere.
“She’s barely out of high school,” he says, his voice low.
“She’s not a child.”
My words detonate like a bomb. His whole body goes tense, and he advances on me. But I hold my ground.
“She’s na?ve,” he whispers through clenched teeth. “You manipulated her.”
I shake my head, raising a finger to him. “No. I stayed away. She didn’t. You don’t get to re-write what happened.”
I feel Eliza’s presence behind me and look over my shoulder to see her standing in the doorway, a pained expression on her face. “Dad, it’s my fault—”
“Quiet, Eliza,” he snaps.
“It’s not her fault,” I reply. “It’s mine. I take full responsibility.”
“You’re goddamn right you do,” he replies.
Still keeping my eyes on his, I speak the words that will change everything. “She’s not broken or confused.” I lower my voice, give him a warning look, and say with a calm breath, “She’s mine.”
For a brief second, I’m sure Daniels is going to swing at me. But then I catch a flash of motion behind him and see my mom, her eyes wide. She must have heard most of the conversation as she was coming up the stairs.
She looks at Daniel, then at Eliza, before finally settling her gaze on me. “Tell me this isn’t real.”
Before I can respond, Eliza speaks. “I love him, Sara.”
She gasps, and like that, Daniel loses it. Roaring, he raises his fist at me, but Mom leaps forward and grabs his arm, pulling him back. “Daniel, no! He’s your son!”
“Is he!? What kind of a son would do something like this?” The tension in the air is palpable. I see our family breaking apart before my very eyes. Daniel looks at me, and all I see is rage. “If you care about your mother at all—about this family—you’ll get out. Now.”
Get out…
Eliza doesn’t even have to speak for me to know what those words mean to her. My leaving hurt her. And the last thing in the world I want to do is cause her pain. My angel. My love.
“I’m not going anywhere, Daniel.”
He raises an eyebrow. “I’ll call the police.”
“It’s not illegal. We’re not blood-related.”
He steps forward, my mom still clinging to his side. I can see the beads of sweat on his face and the anger in his eyes. “Then I’ll divorce Sara.” My mom gasps. “I’ll lock her in her room if I have to. You’ll never see her.”
My jaw tightens. It sounds over the top, but the way he’s looking at me right now, I believe every word. Tears are pooling in Mom’s eyes as she slowly backs away from Daniel. She looks terrified. Like she’s been hit by a meteor.
I can see it now—the destruction of our family causing me to loss the most important thing in my life. Her.
Before anyone can move, I grab Eliza by the wrist and pull her into her bedroom, locking the door behind me. Daniel beats on it. If he hits it any harder, we’re going to have two broken locks in this house.
“You’re not leaving,” Eliza says, almost pleading, her voice strained as she looks up at me, her eyes fragile.
Reaching out, I gently stroke her cheek with the back of my hand. My chest is tight. Nothing hurts me more than seeing her in pain. “If I stay, they’ll win. If I leave, I’ll control us.”
She freezes. I see the realization come over her as she takes a step back.
“So…you are leaving?”
This is a moment I never wanted to put her through. I reach in and wrap a hand around her, cupping her lower back. Goddamn it, this is where I belong.
“I’m not leaving you, my love,” I tell her. “I’m leaving so they can’t take you from me.”
Tears spill from her eyes. She shakes her head and tries to wriggle out of my grip, but I hold her steady. Grasping her hair with both hands, I pull her lips to mine and kiss her with everything I have. I put my heart and soul into my lips, stamping her with a promise.
“I’ll come back with a plan,” I whisper. “You’re mine. Don’t forget that. They don’t decide who you are.”
And like that, I unlock the door and step back into hall. Daniel nearly strikes me, but I push past him and head for the stairs. “Get out of here!” he shouts after me.
“I am. But this isn’t over.”
He walks behind me like a bouncer escorting me from his establishment. I’m right on edge. If he was anyone else, I’d have dropped him by now. But I need to keep this family together. Not destroy it.
Just as I reach the door, I hear Eliza’s footsteps upstairs. I look back to see her chasing after me, pain streaking across her face, tears coating her cheeks. “Caleb—!” she shouts, but my mom catches her, holding her back.
“No, sweetie,” she whispers. “Let him go.”
It’s a punch to the gut. I know this image will be burned into my mind for as long as I live. I want to swing out, shatter everything around me. But I can’t. All I can do is grab my keys and step out into the night.
Each step I take to the truck feels impossible.
Like trudging through eight feet of snow.
My heart pounds like a drum as I wrench the driver’s side door open and get in.
My hands are shaking as I start the engine, and just before I pull off, I drive my fist into the steering wheel, letting the pain distract me, even if it’s only for a second.
Daniel thinks he won. Thinks he got rid of me.
But I’m coming back for her. And next time, there’ll be no negotiating.
She’s mine.