Beautifully Hurt (Beautifully Broken)

“The other half of the Jackson’s Hardware?” Ethan asks as he pulls a document out of the envelope, then surprise tightens his features. “No way. You didn’t.”

Mom comes to stand next to Dad, wrapping her arm around his lower back as they both watch Ethan’s reaction with unconditional love on their faces.

“Half of the gym?”

I’m not surprised. Ethan’s always loved that gym and spends all his free time there.

He darts forward, wrapping Mom and Dad in a tight embrace. “Thank you. This is the best gift ever.”

“The ball’s in your court now. Make a success of the business,” Dad tells him the same thing he told me.

I glance down at Quinn, and seeing how happy she is for my brother, I know in my gut she’ll fit perfectly in with us.

Then it hits – I brought a girl home to meet my family.

I let out a soft chuckle because it’s not like I didn’t know Quinn’s the one.

The only one for me.

Chapter 9

QUINN

With my dad on the road, I’m spending Saturday night at Katie’s. It was her twenty-second birthday yesterday, but she had dinner with Jason. Tonight, I’m getting to celebrate with Katie and her parents.

We have a tradition of watching a movie of Katie’s choice while filling up on snacks. Afterward, Katie and I always lie beneath the stars, dreaming about what our futures will be like.

Eli dropped me off at Katie’s, and he'll come to get me again tomorrow morning, so I can spend the day with him. The past two weeks of dating him have been nothing short of heavenly.

Settling down on the couch, Mr. Conley rolls his eyes at his daughter when he notices we’ll be watching Five Feet Apart. “What I wouldn’t do for my baby girl.”

She grins at her father. “Thank you, Daddy.”

Mrs. Conley places a bowl of popcorn next to the candy and cupcakes I made for Katie. “That should take care of the snacks.”

“Yummy,” I say, reaching for a vanilla cupcake. As I peel the paper off, Katie presses play.

She always cries her heart out, but Five Feet Apart is her favorite, so I brace myself for the tearjerker.

Halfway through the movie, Mr. Conley gets up, and I assume he’s done torturing himself watching the drama with us as he heads to the double garage that’s attached to the house. He loves to tinker around in there.

As he opens the door, I hear a manic-sounding chuckle, and then someone slams a baseball bat over his head, making Mr. Conley stagger backward.

A startled scream tears from me, but I sit frozen in horror while Katie and Mrs. Conley dart to their feet.

Time freezes and nothing makes sense as Mr. Conley falls to his back, blood seeping from his hairline. Two men enter the house, and they begin to beat and kick Mr. Conley.

“Daddy!” Katie screams, drawing the men's attention to us.

One points a gun at her, shouting, “Shut the fuck up.”

Pins and needles of fright spread over me, making my skin tingle horribly.

Mrs. Conley grabs her phone off the coffee table, and then a loud bang rips the air from my lungs.

In absolute shock and horror, I watch as Mrs. Conley falls back onto the couch before slumping to the floor. A spine-chilling red stain bleeds into the fabric of her sweater.

“Mom!” Katie screams.

My body just reacts, and within a second, I drop down beside her. My hands tremble as I reach for her, whispering, “Mrs. Conley?”

It takes a moment longer before everything registers, like lightning bolts striking through me. Every nerve ending in my body goes on high alert, and the shock sends adrenaline rushing through my veins. Terror fills me, my eyes darting to the two men.

I have to get help.

Not thinking, I dart up and run for the front door. Before I can grab hold of the doorknob, the bat slams against the side of my head, and it sends me stumbling into the kitchen. I fall against the table and barely manage to keep myself standing as my head spins, a dull ache slowing my thinking process.

I hear Katie scream, and through my blurring vision, I watch as the guy with the gun throws her down on the carpet. He straddles her before hitting her with the gun.

“Katie,” I cry out, and ignoring the throbbing pain in my head, I start to stumble toward her.

I hear manic laughter, and then the bat slams hard into my side, knocking all the breath from my lungs. I fall onto my knees and hands, intense pain shuddering through me.

All I can see is Katie’s head sticking out from behind the couch. She turns her face to me, fear tightening her features as she tries to fight off her attacker.

The terror is crippling, distorting my reality as I’m roughly shoved onto my back. My body just reacts, and I begin to claw, slap, and kick at the guy as he straddles me, and then our eyes lock, and recognition shudders through me like an earthquake.