“You need to go outside, Everly.” He nods behind him, and I feel soft female hands touching my arm.
I turn to see Isadora. “Come on, let them finish, and let’s get you cleaned up.” I pull free of her and look back to Gunner.
“Do you plan to kill him?” I ask as he looks at me in confusion. “Truth please, Gunner.”
“I always tell you the truth, Everly,” he says, then pauses. “Yes, I plan to kill him for touching you.”
I look past his dark eyes and see Roberto on the floor smiling up at me. A shiver racks over me knowing what he did, how he bit my skin as if it was his own special candy. I hate him. I hate who he is. And to think he could do this to someone else scares me.
“Don’t tell me not to do it, Everly.”
I look past him to Jasper, who’s watching silently, his eyes trained on us.
“Does he have a family?”
Gunner swears under his breath.
“Look what he did to you,” he seethes, his hand pulling at the coat, looking down at my body. “He hurt you.”
“You hurt me,” I say back to him.
“I didn’t do this. I would never do this.” He shakes his head. “You think I’m capable of this?” he asks with a pain in his voice I haven’t heard from him before, while nodding to my body.
I don’t answer him.
“I don’t want you to kill him,” I say, then turn and walk out.
Isadora offers me her hand and I take it, she gives mine a reassuring squeeze. I hear a loud bang, so I whip my head around to the house, hoping he didn’t do it. Yes, I want him dead, but I don’t want that on my conscience. I’m not that person. I will never be that kind of person.
“Let’s go, Everly,” Isadora says.
I see them both exiting the house. Jasper has a gun in his hand, and Gunner looks up to me at the door.
“I asked you not to,” I say in a small voice, but he hears me.
“I didn’t,” Gunner answers.
I look at Jasper who’s smirking. “I did,” he says. “You didn’t ask me not to.”
Looking back to Gunner, he stares at me, waiting for me to say something, but I can’t. I have no words left, and I’m tired, so tired. He starts walking my way, but I put my hand up. Looking to Isadora I ask, “Will you take me home?”
“Of course.”
Jasper places a hand on Gunner’s shoulder. “Isadora will look after her. She’s in good hands.”
I don’t know what he means by that, but I can see Gunner doesn’t want me to leave without him. I need to, though. I need time to process, time to get my head straight.
Climbing into the car, she slides into the driver’s seat and pulls out onto the street. I watch him, just as much as he watches me.
“Do you want to go back to your place?” I shake my head. “Okay. Where would you like me to take you? You can come back to mine if you like, but be warned, it’s full of men.”
I shake my head again. “Please take me to my parents’ home.”
“The exclusive houses in Evergreen?” she asks, referring to the neighborhood where my parents live.
I nod and she starts to drive.
“I didn’t think this through,” I say, looking down at myself.
“I can make a run for it. We still have time, we haven’t gotten out.”
I notice my mother at the door, waiting for me. She doesn’t know it’s me, but her eyes narrow, and I know the minute she spots me as her smile develops into something that touches her eyes—it’s a mother’s love. I look down and try doing up the buttons of the jacket. I don’t know why I came here, but I knew I’d be safe, so it’s the first place I thought of outside of Gunner’s place.
“No, it’s okay.” I smile at Isadora and wince as I do. My cheeks hurt, my lip is busted and so swollen. Roberto hit me hard, so hard that it cracked my lip in the corner. Let alone the bite marks on the top and bottom that need attention. “Thank you, Isadora, I really appreciate you helping me.”
She waves me off. “Anytime. And if you feel like escaping, call me. I would love some girl company, considering I’m surrounded by men,” she says with an eye roll.
Stepping out, my mother pauses at the door. I watch as her hand grips it harder than normal, and her face winces at the sight of me. Worry’s etched all over her features from her tight lips to her crinkled forehead.
Walking up the steps, she stays where she is as if she cannot move. When she finally does, her hands are on me, and I’m wrapped in her arms like a cocoon while I try not to think of the pain that her embrace brings me.