“Better a fool than a puppet.”
I quirk an eyebrow at him, and he growls before spinning and leaving the room. I guess he really isn’t here to help me.
That’s fine. I can totally save myself.
I think.
Chapter Twenty-Five
To say a night in a holding cell is uncomfortable might be the understatement of my entire life. The upside is that I’m probably safer here than I’ve been at home since Smithy left town. No one can terrorize me in a jail cell.
Well, other than the officers, and they’ve been okay, despite still not allowing me to make a phone call.
Lying down and staring at the discolored ceiling while shivering is basically how I spent the night. I'm officially living the dream.
“Miss Royal, you are free to go.” I look up and find an officer unlocking the door to the cell with a really fucking angry East looming over him. “The charges have been dropped.”
I sit up, eyes wide as shock floods my system. I have no idea how that’s possible, considering my cousin’s the biggest asshole in the world, but I won’t question it. At least not until I’m alone with East.
I stretch out before standing and exiting the small, cold cell. East wraps his jacket around my shoulders, all while wordlessly glaring at the officer. “Let’s get you home.”
I look up at him as he puts an arm over my shoulder and tucks me against his side. “Thank you.”
The words are little more than a whisper, but he squeezes me tighter before leading me out of the station to his waiting car. He opens the door for me and helps me in before running around the front of the car.
I try to wait until he’s in with the engine running to question him, but he beats me to it. “What happened?”
His knuckles turn white as he grips the steering wheel, his cheek twitching as he clamps his jaw shut.
I pick at the skin beside my thumbnail, hating how small I feel having been saved by him yet again. I never saw myself as the damsel in distress type, but I seem to keep ending up in situations where I need rescuing. Shame floods me at the thought as my stomach twists, making me feel like I might be sick. “I have no idea. I got home last night, and the cops were waiting for me. They said Blair had pressed charges for assault and then carted me away. Lincoln came and basically told me he wouldn’t help me. So I figured I was on my own, but they wouldn’t give me my phone call after he left.”
“He’s such a fucking asshole.” His words are clipped, his rage obvious in the set of his shoulders as he maneuvers the car toward our homes. “He was supposed to get you out, not leave you in there. He told me it was handled, otherwise I’d have been here sooner.”
He takes a deep breath as my eyes go wide. Here I was thinking Lincoln and I were making progress. I guess I was wrong. “So, how’d you get me out?”
He glances over at me, his gray eyes like a raging storm. The eyes are the one thing he and Lincoln have in common as far as looks go. Their eyes are the same liquid steel, and they’re like an endless pool to get lost in. “I pulled a few strings. Let’s just say that your family shouldn’t be a problem again.”
I gasp, my eyes wide. “Do I even want to know what that means?”
He shakes his head once, and I look down at my feet. I didn’t think I’d end up caught in the web of crazy that is Echoes Cove while I was back here. It’s only one year, but it feels like each day I stay here, the more entangled I get in the inner workings. Though, it feels like I have no idea what's actually going on around this place.
We spend the rest of the drive in silence, with the sound of his radio filling the space along with the black cloud of his rage. I mean, I’m the one who spent the night in a cell, but he’s definitely more worked up about this than I am.
Am I pissed at Blair? Absolutely. But am I shocked that she did it? Absolutely not. I knew the second I hit her again that I’d regret it at some point. I hadn’t considered this to exactly behowit would blow up in my face, but I knew something would happen. She’s too spiteful and petty to just let shit go. Though I still have no idea why she attacked me in the first place.
I really should start working through all the bullshit swirling around me. Maybe I need a journal or a whiteboard or something. Just to try and work shit out.
That’s a future me problem. For now, I’d like to get home, shower, and sleep for a few hours. Maybe then I can try to figure out what actually happened last night. With Maverick and with Blair.
I thought my life was a rollercoaster when I was out on tour with my dad. That shit has nothing on Echoes Cove. East puts in the code to the gate and drives up to my house. I jump out of the car and head for the front door, finding yellow tulips waiting for me again, with another blank envelope, red wax seal and embossed black card.
Yet another thing to add to the ever-growing list of mine.
East slams the door and stalks over to where I’m standing, flowers in hand. “What is that?”
“Flowers, they arrive here every now and then,” I say with a shrug. He plucks the card from my fingers, and the blood drains from his face. My heart races because I’d put money on him understanding this more than I do. “What?”
“Do they always come with this card?”