32. Cassidy
Chapter 32
Cassidy
E ric had only made it through one and a half chapters before falling into a deep sleep. I stayed up most of the night, checking on him even when he swatted me away and said it was nothing. It hadn’t looked like nothing. He’d literally been attacked and bitten by wolves. All because he’d been protecting me.
By the time morning broke, I’d hardly been able to sleep at all. The gruesome images kept replaying in my mind. Eric was curled up in bed, the sun barely risen when I slid out from underneath his arm and made way to make his breakfast and coffee. Shadow hadn’t left the end of the bed all night either. It was remarkable he hadn’t sustained so much as a scratch and for that, I was grateful. I gave him an appreciative pat, proud of my little hero. He’d not only saved my life but protected Eric as well and I could never show this furball my deepest thanks enough.
I’d only just switched the coffee maker on when I heard bouncing wheels come up the dirt road and a vehicle park outside the cabin. I looked over my shoulder where Eric was now sitting up in bed, an effective glare in my direction.
“Were you expecting someone?” I inquired. He shook his head. It was probably Coots or Thomas but even for them it was early.
I made my way to the door, startled by the low growl that crept from Shadow, my hand lingered in front of the handle, heeding his warning like a bad omen. He must’ve still been spooked from yesterday. Eric rose out of bed, his feint limp noticeable. “Stay in bed,” I instructed. But I couldn’t shake the foreboding sense as I opened the door.
When I did, all the breath left my body and the chill from outside ran deep into my bones. Frederick’s unpleasant smile greeted me. “Well, it’s about time I found you,” he said, pushing past me and into the cabin.
“You can’t be here,” I panicked. Not in here. This was Eric’s home. Not a single part of Frederick should be in here, contaminating everything he came in contact with.
“You?” Eric’s voice cut through as Frederick’s bodyguard shoved his way in as well.
“Consider me surprised when I find out you’ve been staying with the small-town café owner… even when I came through town two weeks ago and asked if he’d seen you.” Frederick’s cutting gaze went from Eric to me. “You played cat and mouse for longer than I’d given you credit for but I’m sick of the game.”
“You need to get the fuck out of my cabin,” Eric said, throwing an arm over my shoulder and pulling me back.
Frederick began to laugh, bemused and disgusted. “I should’ve known she’d have no issues with fucking the local old man for a place to stay as well.”
I flinched under his harsh words. I was shoved back, and Eric swung. I screamed as Frederick’s bodyguard lunged for Eric. Instinctively, I grabbed Shadow’s collar, the poor dog yelping as he was yanked back. No, no, no, if he got involved, they’d have him put down. Everything happened so fast that it took me a moment to try and figure out what I could do.
In his weakened state, the bodyguard easily grappled Eric to the ground in seconds, pinning him headfirst and twisting his arm behind him with a knee in his back. Eric looked feral, probably still groggy from the medication, as he gritted his teeth. Red began to seep through his bandages.
“Get off of him!” I screamed but Frederick stood in my way, coming between us—as Frederick always did. Bemused, he played with his glove, the power he held over me pinning me in place.
“What a disgrace. If you weren’t my betrothed, I’d publicize this humiliation and blackmail the Carrington family without a second thought.”
I flinched under his regard.
“What did you just say?” Eric growled as he tried to shove back the man holding him down. Suddenly, he seemed to have less resistance, more interested in Frederick’s reply. No, no, no. Tears streamed down my face as I held back Shadow, still keeping him safe, but ut it left Eric vulnerable and bleeding on the floor. His harsh green eyes met mine.
Frederick looked between us both and chuckled. “Oh shit, he really doesn’t know?” He clicked his fingers all the more amused. “Listen here, old man, I’m not sure if your little, small-town brain can comprehend the status and situation those from money have, but the little runaway you’ve been cozying up with is actually an heiress.” He pointed a delicate finger at me. “An heiress, that was promised to me when she turned twenty-six. We were meant to have the announcements and formalities dealt with already but someone decided to run away.”
“I hate you!” I screamed. Those three trembling words felt like the only form of defense I had against him. This ugly man that my parents had promised me to. All to bring two families together in fame and wealth. It disgusted every part of my being. He disgusted me. The moment our fathers had made the agreement on our behalf, Frederick’s polite mask wiped off and he’d only ever shown me this hideous thing beneath ever since.
“Ohhh but, wifey, you only have one job to serve.” He made sure not to step any closer as Shadow snapped and snarled, trying to wrangle free. “You will go through with the plan so I get my inheritance. I didn’t convince your parents to cut your funds and cell just for you to say no and walk away with some poor person. I’ll burn this fucking town down before I let you humiliate me any further.”
Tears welled in my eyes, not at his threats but the silence that overtook Eric. He wasn’t looking at me anymore. “Eric,” I said with a wobbly voice. “Please I can explain.”
“You lied.” His voice was distant. Miles away from me. Cold and reserved.
“Don’t believe him, I don’t want to go back. I won’t go back. I—”
“Is it true?” Eric asked pointedly and finally, his green gaze landed on me. I saw the mixture of hurt, grief, and anger all infused in one and I choked. “Are you engaged to this man?”
My mouth was dry. All words lost as I tried to hold back the tears, realizing that no matter what I said, he’d only compare me to Katia now. A woman and a snake. Someone who tricked him. A person like who he hated the most.
“Not officially but as soon as we return to Manhattan it will be. And you will be forgotten, nothing but the small-town trash you were raised to be.”
“Don’t speak to him like that!” I snapped, cowering on the floor as I held back Shadow. In fear for what they might do to him and me. I’d seen Frederick’s cruel side, a part of him that no one else saw. But I’d resigned myself to being a coward, because I found it easier to shout my hate at him than meet Eric’s gaze again and suffer under that hurt.
Frederick laughed. “You really were always so na?ve, sheltered and a brat. Just do as you’re fucking told for once and make it easier for both of us. Do you truly plan on running away forever? What can you possibly do on your own other than just sleep around? That’s all you’ve ever been good for.”
“Jealous because it’s never been you?” I snarled with all the acid I could muster.
His smile twisted, revealing his hideous nature. It reminded me far too much of the week after my twenty-first birthday. It was my first memory of seeing Frederick like this, his cruel and vile intentions seeping through. A powerful man who would do more harm than good. A memory I’d run away from for years now.
We’d both been at a party and despite our parents agreeing to a pre-organised marriage, I still didn’t want to get to know him any further. Tears pricked at my eyes when I thought about him pinning me against the wall, hidden away from other members of the party.
“You’re mine and you will give me what I want” he sneered.
“I won’t sleep with you,” I hissed. “Get off me.”
Slap . The cold air and his palm struck me. I clutched at my face, the alcohol in my system and the hit forcing the room to sway. Or was that me?
“You’ve never been pretty in the first place. I was showing you a mercy tonight. I hope I don’t have to see you for another five years until our wedding day. Fucking disgusting.” He walked away, my shallow breaths felt like they were bringing in the walls as I slid down it, holding my burning face.
Had I been only good for one thing? Was this what my loveless marriage would look like? Tears streamed down my face. How could my parents give me over to someone so cruel and all in the name of status and growth? And as much as I’d hated the sting on my cheek, I’d welcomed it. Relieved he’d hit me and walked away instead of the alternative. Terrified that he might not have stopped and taken something that was never his to take.
I’d wrapped my arms around myself and cried, disgusted that I was so pitiful but determined to find someone that genuinely loved me and cared. That I wouldn’t be an item shipped around, that I had a meaning to someone. That I wasn’t only judged for my looks or last name.
The few years after that were hell, Frederick was everywhere, sneering at me from the shadows but boasting his glee in front of friends publicly. Every party and every event. We had the same friends and circles. I’d just become known as the party girl when he’d become known as some golden goose to watch out for. My father’s eyes sparkled with pride that he’d made the right investment.
And so, I ran away to Manhattan determined to find a man who would actually love me. To prove to my parents that they were wrong. That I wasn’t just some bargaining chip and marriage was something to be cherished and filled with love, respect, and passion. And yet here I was… Him and me in the same room again. The only reason his hand probably wasn’t raised to me was because of the snapping and snarling dog that came between us.
A tear slid down my cheek, my only focus now Eric. I was terrified as to what Frederick might do to me, but this wasn’t Eric’s mess. I’d only brought trouble to him.
“I didn’t mean to lie,” I squeaked. I’d only brought him pain, literally as he bled on the floor of his own cabin. This retreat he frequented. I’d tarnished it unknowingly because I’d been selfish and tried to run away from my own responsibilities. “Eric, please look at me.” But I could feel he’d already slipped through my fingertips, leaving me as cold as the air sweeping through the front door in the early hours of the morning. “Eric, I don’t love him. I love you.”
Frederick laughed. “You’d really let anything put its dick inside of you, wouldn’t you?”
Eric tried to wriggle free, but he was shoved painfully back down. The bodyguard was straining but I could only stare as the bandage thickened with red.
“She lied to you, dude. And you fell for it.”
Silence. Eric’s face was shoved into the floor. Tears streaked my cheeks. I wanted to hold him and say that I was sorry but I felt the distance stretch further between us. A layer of ice keeping me further away. My warm-hearted lumberjack had frosted over again, and I only had myself to blame. I was no better than the con woman who tricked him the first time.
“I swear to God, Cassidy if you don’t get off the fucking floor and get in the car, I’ll demolish this entire town.”
Eric and I both flinched under that statement, and I knew with painful clarity that if Frederick threw a big enough tantrum, he had the money, power, and status to do it.
“Please don’t hurt anyone,” I begged. This was because I’d run away, not anything they’d done.
Frederick pointed at me. “Get off the floor. And you, shithead.” He pointed at Eric. “If you or your fucking mutt try anything I’ll put a bullet in both of your heads.”
I flinched at his words. And then Frederick’s cruel smile stretched. “But don’t worry, wifey, nothing will ever happen to you. The golden child of Mr. Carrington. We can’t have anything happen to his precious daughter.”
The bodyguard slowly stood. Eric shook him off and stood painfully, his limp more pronounced.
“Eric, I’m sorry,” I cried. He looked away from me and my heart thudded to the floor.
“I really don’t like having to raise my voice and go to these measures,” Frederick said, adjusting his gloves. “But you’ve really created some trouble for me this time. So, get in the car and we’ll pretend like none of this happened, okay?”
“Eric,” I cried out again. But he was already lost to me. Slowly, he walked over, and my heart froze as he gently slipped his hand around Shadow’s collar and took a step back. I choked on a sob.
“I won’t let anything happen to this town,” he said, finally eyeing me. “And you know I don’t believe in fairy tales. If I had just been some fun for you to pass the time, then let’s leave it at that.”
“It wasn’t—”
“Leave!”
I winced under his guttural growl.
“Ah a smart man after all,” Frederick applauded. His bodyguard, despite his size and previous show of brute force, gently pulled me up from the floor. I hated this. I hated this family. I hated this hurt. I hated these chains.
Tears streamed down my face as I realized I was tired of running. I’d found what I’d been looking for. Someone to love, and in the process, I’d hurt them more painfully than I could’ve ever imagine I was capable of.
Shadow whined behind me as I made for the door, scratching at the wooden floorboard to follow. I felt numb as I was escorted to the car, in complete disbelief that not only had my father bargained me off, but Eric had so easily let me go too. But I couldn’t blame him for it. I hated myself. I’d brought this upon him. If I’d told him earlier, would it have been any different? Or had I really been that stupid, thinking that I could keep running away and avoiding my responsibility?
After Frederick’s bodyguard collected all three suitcases and slammed the trunk shut, I finally looked up and out the window. The cabin’s front door was closed, a fitting metaphor for the memories shared and now, the disbelief of my heart being ripped out, discarded and bound to remain in the mountains. It’d been the last place I’d ever thought I’d wind up and feel at home. I curled my arms around myself, the cold chill of coming day seeping into the car. No, it wasn’t this place that made me feel at home—it’d been Eric. And I’d fucked it all up.
I began to sob in the back of the car, the calamity of everything that was about to happen unfurling. My biggest nightmare had finally caught up to me, and yet I felt like I’d just left behind an even bigger disaster.