NIGHT ENCROACHED, USHERED IN quickly by the storm that grew on the fringe of the horizon, taking possession of the sky. A streak of lightning twisted and tangled through the dense clouds. A jolt to the air, sending a crackle of energy snapping through the darkening heavens.
Another lash of anger singed me as if the lightning had struck against my flesh. I gripped the steering wheel of the Suburban and focused out the windshield as I rolled into Savannah after leaving Anthony’s place.
This morning, seeing Shea’s reaction had been almost more than I could tolerate, the fear and disgrace that had clouded every feature on that gorgeous face.
I’d been here before. Many times. Not a whole lot could surprise me anymore— the way the stories were slanted, skewed to fit whatever bill they wanted to fill.
But this.
This was appalling. Fucking. Appalling. Those pictures nothing but sickening.
I’d left Shea under the guise of needing to handle it, that I needed to go back to Anthony’s office at the house where I’d sit in on Skype calls with my attorney, publicist, and agent throughout the day, seeing to it that this garbage was thrown in the trash bin, exactly where it belonged.
Which was precisely what I’d done.
But it’d been more than that.
I could feel her spirit screaming for a breath, for a chance to come up for air, a reprieve from the constant drama that had eaten up our lives for the past two days.
I knew Shea needed time to process. To grasp what being with me was really going to mean.
Because now she knew firsthand how cruel it could be.
The burdens and the bullshit.
The hurt.
And this fucking hurt.
I knew I had to give her the space to decide if someone like me could ever be worth it.
Street lamps blinked past as I drove through town. I resisted another welling of rage. I was about five seconds from coming completely unhinged, turning around, and tracking down the fucker who’d crossed every boundary and line. What I wouldn’t give to tear him limb from limb just so he could experience a little of the agony he’d inflicted, the excruciating pain of having someone rip your life apart.
And for what?
Sport?
Financial gain?
Fuck that.
Instead of giving in, I made a turn and inched down Shea’s quiet street. I parked at the curb and pushed out a strained breath as I looked over at her darkened house. Trees canted in the harsh gusts of wind, sucked to the side as they lurched and swayed. Something lonely and desperate seeped from the strong, white exterior walls, seeping out across the lawn, stretching out for me.
I cut the engine and climbed from the cab. Nerves hit me as I climbed her steps and slipped the key she’d given me into the lock of the front door.
Sucking in a breath, I pushed it open.
Inside, a heavy darkness crawled along the walls, a quiet so thick I could taste it.
But that energy.
That energy was alive in it.
Her storm.
Pressing and pulling me forward.
I didn’t have to call out to her to know she was in Kallie’s room.
Silently, I mounted the stairs, wood groaning beneath my feet as I climbed.
April’s door was closed, and I figured she would be in her room catching up on studying, the way she seemed to do whenever Shea was home in the evenings.
My chest ached as my mind flipped through every scenario, and that time I’d afforded Shea now felt like a crushing force. Because fuck…if she wanted to send me away? Didn’t know if I could do it. Give her up. This girl had become my world.
Resolve settled over me like the slow drizzle of rain, droplets hitting me everywhere until I was completely soaked. I was going to make sure I was worth it. Besides, I knew it in my gut that Shea couldn’t live without me any more than I could live without her.
Could feel the same damn thing calling out for me from Kallie’s room.
More.
More.
More.
Slivers of muted light glowed from the crack in Kallie’s door, and I softly nudged it, and it creaked as it fell open to reveal the room.