Unnerved, I blinked.
Waiting and unsure, because I was sure this man was so utterly different from my first impression of him. So much more than the assumptions I had made.
“Take care of yourself. Let yourself off the hook once in a while. You deserve to be happy.”
I let the emotion wind to my mouth. “I am happy.”
“But fear is holding some of that back.”
And I knew it then.
He could see straight through me.
“There are some things important enough they are worthy of that fear,” I told him, not sure why. Not sure how he made me want to split myself right open and reveal it all to him when I didn’t even know his name.
His chin ticked up in a quiet kind of understanding, and I gave him a small nod before I turned and opened the door to the cab waiting at the curb.
I stalled when I heard his voice hit me from behind. “I truly hope whatever is holding it back resolves itself quickly.”
From over my shoulder, I cast him a small smile. “Don’t worry. My heart is always hung on hope.”
Before I allowed myself to say anything else, I hopped into the backseat of the cab, slammed the door, and didn’t look back when it drove away.
I gave the driver my address, my thoughts all over the place as we traveled the short distance to my sleeping neighborhood. He pulled up in front of the one-story house on the left, the grassy yard literally hedged in a white-picket fence.
My emotions warred between satisfaction and dread. This little place rang with hope. I just had to make sure it stayed that way.
I tossed a twenty into the front seat, mumbled a, “Thank you,” and then stepped out. The click of my heels echoed against the walkway that cut down the center of my yard, the towering trees swaying overhead as I made my way up the two steps to the covered porch.
I already had my key out, ready to slide it into the lock as I approached the door, when I sensed the movement.
The hairs lifted at the back of my neck.
Shivers raced.
A flood of dread. A sea of apprehension.
Slowly, I turned, watching as the shape emerged from the shadows.
Ominous.
Cold.
My heart roared, an erratic crash that thundered through my body, lifting to a deafening pound in my ears.
I took a step back toward the door. “What are you doing here?”
He laughed a malignant sound.
That was what he was.
Malignant.
Set on destroying the best part of me. For years, I had kept faith that one day he would see. That the stones of anger that lined him would finally crack, and his eyes would be opened to what true beauty actually looked like.
That he’d understand the world’s definition of perfection was nothing but a falsity.
Now, I knew better.
He approached, his steps slow as he moved. “I think the better question would be, what are you doing just getting home?”
“I don’t think that’s any of your business.”
He laughed again. As if I were ignorant. Small. Foolish. “Anything you do is my business, Harley. Do you really think running off is going to change that?”
“Yes.” I said it with as much power behind it as I could manage, the sound of the word reverberating through the dense air.
“I won’t let you walk away.” He edged forward. “Tell me where you were tonight.”
I didn’t want to give him the honor of an answer. But the last thing I wanted was to give him ammunition to feed his twisted mind. Funny, how he demanded perfection, respect, when he’d lost all of mine so many years ago. “You know it’s Jenna’s birthday. And why do you even care? I’m giving you an out. I’m not asking you for anything other than to leave us alone.”
Desperation wove into the last. All I wanted was for him to leave us alone.
His eyes blinked black fury, and he inched closer, his voice dropping to a threat. “You think you can take my say away? Leave me to look like a fool? I won’t allow it.”
Disbelief pulled from me in a scoff. “That’s all you’ve ever cared about, Dane. Appearances. Control. Inheriting your grandfather’s goddamned business as if it were the only important thing in the world. I told you when I left that I was finished, and there’s nothing you can do or say to change my mind.”
I turned my back to him and pushed my key into the lock, needing to escape. Working it open, I started to push the door open but he clutched me by the wrist. I whirled around to the anger on his arrogant face.
But his arrogance was cruel.
Proud in the most twisted kind of way.
“This ends now, Harley, or you’re going to regret it.”
I yanked my arm free. “You’ve already made me regret every single second I willingly stayed in that house. That I willingly stayed with you.”