I smiled again. “Yeah?”
“Look at me.”
He didn’t get it. I couldn’t. I was cracking open, and the only way to hold the pieces together until I got away was if I stayed still and quiet.
38.
***Ian***
I’dfeltwhite-hotragea few times in my life. When I hadn’t been able to stop Dad from beating the shit out of me and Seb. When Seb got locked away for doing what I should’ve done myself. And while I sat in a fancy hotel with the woman I loved and watched the light leave her eyes.
The snickering of the women across from us at the table was ceaseless. It wasn’t unlike sitting in the fucking desert, dressed in twenty pounds of gear, listening to constant machine gun fire. The sound, and knowing it was Violet they were laughing at, pushed me past politeness.
I slammed my hand down on the table, making the silverware jump and the women gasp. I only grew angrier when I saw Violet sit, unmoving, like she wasn’t even there. “If you two cackling witches don’t pick on someone your own size, we’re going to have a problem. Leave her the fuck alone.”
Violet’s ice-cold hand slipped into my lap. “It’s okay, Ian.”
The fuck it was. I glared at the women, letting them know I wasn’t fucking around. I’d never been more tempted to strangle a couple of old ladies. Their cruelty towards Violet made no sense, and they deserved to sit in shame for how they’d acted.
“Now, young man, this is just how we—” The red-faced man shut up when I turned my glare on him.
I clutched Violet’s hand, trying to warm it, and her, with sheer will. I could feel her shutting down. Having lost her once before, I couldn’t help the fear that lodged itself in my throat. Something was wrong. I knew it, and I couldn’t do anything about it until the fucking dinner finished.
Course after course, we sat there in painful silence. The entire place felt stiff and uncomfortable. It hung in the air like a bad smell. No amount of pretty lights and decorations could change the fact that everything was off. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end, and I wanted nothing more than to throw Violet over my shoulder and get the fuck out.
When Pat Thomas stood up with his wife, I felt Violet stiffen next to me. I stared at her, watched her eyes flinch, and felt her start to shake as she kept a frozen plastic smile on her face as she watched her parents. They’d done something.
“Wow! Okay, I just wanted to take the opportunity to make a speech for my beautiful daughter, Rose. It’s not every day a father gets to embarrass his daughter in front of so many people, after all.” Pat smiled warmly at Rose and wrapped his arm around Debbie. “Rose has always been our baby. She’s always been delicate and sweet. We were lucky to have her. Most babies screamed through the night, but not our Rose. She was always our princess.”
More rage scorched through me. He spoke as if he didn’t have a second fucking daughter.
“Our Rosie was always so determined and driven. She’s just like us. We knew she was going places from the very beginning. From the first time she brought home perfect grades and asked how she could get even better ones, we just knew she was special. And now look at her. A doctor.” Pat took out a tissue and dabbed his dry eyes. “We couldn’t be prouder of the woman you’ve become. You’re the apple of our eyes, the light of our life. It’s time for you to leave the nest, though. You found a good man, honey. He’s going to have his hands full, but you’re worth it.”
My body had gone into fight mode. I sat there, still as possible, barely breathing, waiting for the final blow. I wanted to attack, to rip his fucking head off for hurting my girl, but I knew it was too late. The damage was done. All I could do was watch as a single tear rolled down the side of her face.
“To our beautiful daughter and her amazing partner. You two are perfect for each other, and we couldn’t ask for a better addition to our family.” Pat raised his glass, and the room followed suit. Casting a look over at his other daughter, the one he seemed to have forgotten about, Pat shook his head and looked back at Rose. “May you two have a happy marriage and give us a couple of grandbabies soon.”
I heard people laughing, but I couldn’t take my eyes off Violet. Seeing the slow-burn torture in person made me realize just how hard our woman had fought to hold her head high and bravely do what she wanted in life. It made me understand better why running from us had felt like her only option before. When the people who are supposed to love you most in the world hurt you so deeply, the question of what other people could do is a terrifying one.
The sound of glasses clinking filled the room, but Violet and I sat frozen. I needed to get her away from the soul-sucking vampires around her as fast as possible.
“Hey, man. You’re friends with Jay, I’ve heard?” Anthony, probably the most decent and boring man I’d ever investigated, held out his hand. “Anthony. I’m so glad to see someone tie down our runner over there.”
I shook his hand and managed to contain my frustration. It wasn’t his fault. He didn’t realize he was marrying into a family of vipers. “Ian Cooper. Nice to meet you. Congratulations.”
“Cooper? No way. Do you own the PI firm downtown?” He grinned and squatted next to me. “I have questions, man.”
I nodded. “That’s me.”
“On average, how many people in this town are having an affair? I know that’s gross of me to ask, but I’m into true crime and I’m so interested in the statistical relation between affairs and murders geographically.”
Damn. I really did like the guy. That would’ve been a conversation I jumped at, if I weren’t concerned Violet was self-imploding. “I want to talk about that, but I—”
She was gone. Sonofabitch.
I stood up so fast that my chair tipped over and shattered the quiet conversations around the room. “Did you see where Violet went?”
Anthony stood up. “No, sorry. I was too focused on affair rates. Is everything okay?”