Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 124451 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 622(@200wpm)___ 498(@250wpm)___ 415(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 124451 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 622(@200wpm)___ 498(@250wpm)___ 415(@300wpm)
She gives me a sad smile. “If I knew the answer to that, I’d already be doing it,” she promises. “I just hope you can forgive me for allowing this monster into our lives.”
Mom pulls me into a tight hug, holding onto me with everything she’s got, and I hold her right back, every last piece of me completely broken. I can’t stand by and allow this to continue. I have to put an end to it, even if it’s the last thing I do.
Guilt soars through my chest. For months I’ve hated on my mother, not knowing the horrendous abuse she was going through just to keep me safe. She sacrificed her own safety, her happiness, and her relationship with me to make sure I was protected from this monster. And in return, I hated her. I treated her like shit and spat hurtful words while wishing things could be different. She took the fall for me, throwing herself under the bus to save me from suffering this fate.
I should have trusted her, should have known my mother would never turn her back on me for a lifestyle with a man who was less than perfect. “I’m so sorry,” I whisper through the dark room. “I’ve treated you so badly and you didn’t deserve it.”
“You didn’t know,” she argues. “If anything, your anger and frustration only helped make my dismissal seem all that more authentic.”
“I—” I stop abruptly as a plan begins to form in my mind. I might not be able to get Mom away from Orlando, but maybe I can get Orlando away from the world. “Do you think you could get him out of town tomorrow?” I question. “I think I have an idea.”
Mom pulls back, her eyes wide as she looks at me. “Oh, honey. No,” she breathes, the fear in her eyes all too real. “Whatever you’re thinking, no. It’s too dangerous. I don’t want you to have anything to do with this. I can handle it myself. I’ll … I’ll come up with something.”
“Mom, please,” I insist, desperately wishing I knew what he was holding over her. “You need to let me try. If I can just find what I’m looking for, we’ll be okay. I swear, all I need is him out of town for the day to give me freedom to look. I won’t disrupt anything. He’ll have no idea I was looking, but please, Mom. This could be our only chance to save ourselves. You have to let me take it.”
She presses her lips into a hard line, resignation in her eyes. “I don’t like this.”
“I know you don’t,” I tell her. “But we’ve always been a team, and I’m not about to let you shoulder this burden on your own. Let me help you.”
She watches me a moment longer before letting out a sigh. “Okay,” she finally says. “The Country Club has been advertising an art exhibition in Broken Hill. I can suggest a day trip out for that and perhaps dinner afterward. He likes to show off his money and always boasts about how many clients with deep pockets he can screw over in Broken Hill.”
“Perfect.”
“I can’t guarantee that he’ll go for it, but I will try.”
I squeeze her hand. “Thank you, Mom.”
She nods and just keeps staring at me, her eyes filling with tears all over again. “It’s killed me not to be your support system over the past few months. With everything that’s been happening with Colby and getting stabbed. You’ll never know just how much it broke me not to hold you in that hospital and be there for you. It killed me to see my little girl hurting like that.”
“It’s okay, Mom,” I whisper. “I understand now, but it’s over. Colby is dead. He can’t hurt me or anyone else ever again.”
Mom gives me a fond smile before standing, pulling me up with her. “As much as it pains me to send you away, I truly think it’d be best for you to sleep at Tanner’s place tonight. I wouldn’t forgive myself if something happened to you here. Not to mention what your brother would do.”
I gape at her in horror. “Why hasn’t Damien done anything about this already?”
“Oh honey, I can’t let him see me like this. He’s got such a promising future ahead of him, and I worry—”
“That he’ll kill Orlando.”
Mom presses her lips into a hard line, the truth right there in her eyes. “He’s been having a good time here with Jensen. They’re out partying all the time and enjoying life, and in a few weeks, everything is about to become very serious for the both of them out in the real world. I want to give him this time to be young.”
I nod, not wanting to tell her just how messed up I think that is, and after giving me one more firm hug, she sends me on my way. I slip out the front door, being careful not to make a sound before cutting back across the lawn and over the hedge.