The Secret (North Woods University 3)

“It’s over, Clark. I doubt he’ll ever mess with us again, we have nothing to worry about.” I reach across the seat and place my hand on his. I can’t let him risk his future, his life for me, for something that happened a few times, when I was a teenager. Yes, he raped me, and hurt me, and ruined my life, but I’ve bloomed into a flower in a new garden and my future is bright and filled with happiness. I don’t want Clark to do something stupid that will rip all of that away from me.

“What if he does it to someone else, or already has? You could be saving someone else? What if there are others?” My throat tightens. I can’t imagine something like that without feeling the need to vomit.

“I… I don’t know. I would never want someone else to go through what I did, but he’s a lawyer Clark, and it would be my word against his. I mean, who would believe me? If I told my father, he wouldn’t even believe me. He thinks that I’m a whore, some girl who got knocked up from partying too much. Anything I say will be twisted into a mess that makes me look bad.” My voice cracks and I feel the tears stinging my eyes. I wish my mother was still alive, because I know she would’ve protected me, would’ve made sure nothing like this ever happened to her little girl. Where my father failed, my mother never would’ve.

Sucking in a hard breath Clark lets his head fall back against the seat, and his eyes drift closed, and I take the opportunity to unbuckle my seatbelt and crawl across the bench seat and into his lap. He tenses for a moment but then wraps his arms around me as I snuggle deeper into his chest. Home. He is my home.

“Don’t risk what we have for him. He’s already taken so much from me, and I can’t bear to lose you, Clark. You’re the one thing that matters most to me, and if he takes you, if we try and fight him and we end up losing each other because of him, then he wins all over again.” I clutch onto his shirt with desperation, as if he’s going to disappear into thin air.

Squeezing me tighter, as if he’s trying to embed me into his skin, he says, “Nothing, and I mean nothing will ever take you away from me and I’ll always be here, and always love you. But he will get what’s coming to him, even if I’m not the one that delivers the final blow.”

His words should soothe me, and in a way, they do, but they also scare me, because if Clark isn’t going to hurt Rick, then who is?

Chapter Seventeen

Clark

A few days pass, and I let myself stew over my next move. I know what I need to do, what I will do, no matter what. I didn’t think I would ever be the type of person to wish death on someone, but Rick has that dark need stirring inside of me. Rick deserves everything that’s coming to him, which makes my decision easy.

The next morning, Vance and Ava swing by the condo to pick up Emerson. I hate lying to her, but I tell her my father has some work for me to do and needs to talk to me about it. It’s not a full lie since I will be speaking with my father, but it’s one that leaves me feeling guilty as she gives me a kiss goodbye. Once she’s inside the car with Vance and Ava, I head back up the steps and into the house. Closing the door behind me, I head into the living room and sag down onto the sectional. I pull my cell out of my pocket and scroll through my phone, finding my father’s number in the recent calls list. I hit the green call button and shove all the guilt, and shame down. I can’t feel bad when I’m doing this for her.

He answers on the third ring. “Clark, son, is everything okay?” I don’t miss the worried note in his voice, which is something I still haven’t gotten used to. I wonder a few times if the entire thing is an act, a ploy to draw me closer to him, but even if it is, I don’t care. Right now, I need his resources more than I need anything else.

“No, I need to talk to you. Emerson won’t be home for the next few hours. Can you come here so we can talk?”

“Okay, I’ll be over in about thirty minutes.” The call disconnects and I drop the phone to the cushion beside me. I get up and do some mindless cleaning feeling the need to do something with my hands before I leave and go find Rick myself. I’m in the middle of sweeping the kitchen floor when the sound of the doorbell fills the house.