Yours Completely (Reign 2)

Without a family. Without a support system. I had Harper, and she was the best friend I could ask for, but if ever I had a corner, dark or not, there was no one in it.

Would Cal be in it?

I shook my head and looked at Brock. No matter how small I felt, I couldn’t let him see it. I couldn’t let him think he was winning. I couldn’t let him see me crumble.

“Just be smart, Lana. Use that brain of yours and keep your mouth shut, and everything will be fine.”

Story of my life. The one I’d been living since the night he took my sense of self. Something I was trying like hell to get back and hold on to.

I needed him to answer one question, though. I had just enough rage left to carry me through this conversation without causing me to burst into a panic attack or cry.

“You discredit me to everyone. You even try to sell me on the past with your distorted version by saying ‘you supposedly raped me.’”

A small grin tugged his lips. He got off on this. Reminding me of what happened while discrediting it at the same time. But I pushed on, because I had to know.

“Have you lost your mind to the point that you believe your own lies?” I asked. “Or do you just have a shitty memory?”

That grin turned to a full-on evil smile. His eyes scanned my body, the slow motion of his gaze on me made vomit rise, but he finally met my stare once more and said, “There’s nothing wrong with my memory.”

My chest split open, and it was all I could do to keep from shaking. He may not admit out loud, or to anyone else, what he’d done to me, but he knew. Admitted to it. And, somehow, that gave me the smallest ounce of strength.

It was real. It was horrible, but it had happened. And he knew it. That was worth the figh

t. The truth was worth the fight. All I had to do was figure out how to beat him before he took me down.

With a lecherous grin, he pushed back from my car. “I’ll see you around, sis,” he said, and started walking toward the building.

I started my car and sped toward home. My mind was in chaos, my entire world spinning off its axis.

Chapter 11

I pulled up to my house and saw a large firefighter sitting on my porch.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, getting out of my car with my things.

“I wanted to be here when you got home. I knew today was going to be hard.”

My pulse skipped. Cal had waited for me? Like he knew I’d need him. And I did. So much. I walked up to the house, unlocked it, and tossed my bag on the couch. I paced for God knows how long, the only thing getting accomplished was anger rising. I didn’t know where to start. What to say.

“Lana?” he asked, trying to get my attention, while closing the front door and locking it. “Are you—”

“I’m not okay,” I said, before he could ask.

“I can see that. What happened?”

I threw my hands up and paced some more. Adrenaline and rage were surging because I was not going to let weakness and fear take over. I needed to hold on to my frustration. Not the terror.

“Brock got to Erica before I did. He convinced her I’m the crazy one. I tried to tell her!” I hit the wall. “I tried so hard to tell her, and she won’t believe me.”

I hated the idea of her being with him alone. He could hurt her. And there was nothing I could say to her.

I knew I was throwing a fit, but everything in my body was going out of control. Brock was winning. Again. And this time an innocent person was caught in the middle. I dealt with him the best way I knew how. But bringing Erica into this wasn’t okay. Messing with my life and threatening everything I worked for wasn’t okay either.

“My family wasn’t enough,” I said. “My father wasn’t enough. Tormenting me wasn’t enough. He’s going after my school, my dreams, and Erica is caught up in all this. If she gets hurt—”

“Shhh, hang on, Kitten,” Cal said in a soothing voice, catching me in the middle of one of my paces and pulling me into his arms. He cupped my face. “You did everything you could. You told the truth, but you can’t make people believe you. She’s an adult and has to make the call for herself.”

“I hate this,” I whispered. “It doesn’t quit. This emptiness, this pain and fear and anger. It won’t go away. Just when I think things are getting better…”