Page 53 of Forever Always

“You thought you could hide this from me? How dare you mock me like this! She fucking left me! Are you trying to taunt me?”

I tried to shake my head, beg for him to let me go, anything, but I was trapped. His hand squeezed tighter even as the knife pressed into my skin and pushed down.

My whole body bucked and I tried to scream around the hand choking me, but I didn’t know if any sound came out. Help! Please, someone help me!

A fist pounded on the door so hard the apartment was fuckin’ shaking and shocked me out of the nightmare memory.

“Beckett, open this fuckin’ door now or I’m breaking it down!” Jay barked.

Dad glanced toward the door. The distraction was enough for him to pull the knife just a centimeter away. The tip had been pressing into my skin and had probably left a nick. I stepped back, grabbed his wrist, and twisted him around so his arm was behind his back. The knife fell to the floor.

He grunted in pain and slammed down on my foot. He was wearing boots and I was barefoot so it hurt like a motherfucker. I clenched my jaw but didn’t let the bastard go.

“You need to get the fuck outta here. We got nothin’.”

“I know she left the freak money! That should be mine! I’m the one who had to deal with you two. I should be the one who gets it!”

What the hell was he talking about? Mom didn’t leave us with any money. She didn’t have any to leave. Her small life insurance policy went to funeral expenses, and whatever was left over went to hospital bills. Or at least, that was what I’d figured. I sure as shit had never seen any money, and neither had Riley.

I twisted his arm farther, bracing myself as he kicked me in the shin.

“Don’t say that shit about Riley. In fact, keep his name outta your fuckin’ mouth. You don’t deserve to breathe the same air as him, let alone say his fuckin’ name. We don’t have no money. Anything we did fuckin’ have ended up in your nose years ago. Let’s fuckin’ go.”

Not letting go, I started to drag him toward the front door where Jay was still screaming and pounding on it. I could hear one of our neighbors yelling for him to shut up, but I knew no one would call the cops or bother to come out and see what was up. It wasn’t that type of building.

I didn’t expect the elbow to the gut, so I wasn’t prepared for it and let go of Dad’s arm. He spun around and landed a fist on my face before I could block it. Fuck, why was he so fast? Was he on fuckin’ speed? I staggered back, nearly stumbling, but managed to keep my balance. The room spun but I ignored it as another fist came flying. I dodged it and took advantage of the asshole being off balance and bodied him to the floor.

My fist smashed into his jaw. “I fuckin’ hate you! We don’t have anything! You took everything from us.” I punched him again. “Why can’t you leave us alone!” Another punch.

My vision was black and all I heard was white noise. I was so sick of this fucker ruining everything. How was life so unfair that they took someone as good as Mom so young and so brutally but left fuckers like him alive? Why wouldn’t he just die? Nails bit into my skin but I ignored it. Another punch.

Something heavy landed on my back, and my arms were pulled behind me.

“No! Get the fuck off me! He needs to die!”

“I know, baby. I know. But not this way. Not like this, Becks. Please. Please stop fightin’ me. You’re okay. You’re safe.”

I stopped thrashing. “Butterfly?”

Lips touched my neck. “Yeah, baby, it’s me. Riley. I’m so sorry I wasn’t here.”

I shook him off, and this time he let me. I turned to face him, my vision still blurry around the edges. Riley knelt in front of me, his eyes full of concern. His hand was out like he wanted to reach out to me, but he hesitated.

He looked fine. Worried, yeah, but there didn’t seem to be a mark on him. I grabbed his face and twisted it this way and that.

“Becks, what’re you doing?”

“Checkin’ to make sure you aren’t hurt.”

He covered my hands with his, staring right at me. “Baby, you’re the only one who got hurt. Not me. I’m fine. We need to do something about him, and then let me take care of your face.”

I jumped when someone knelt next to me and then relaxed when I saw it was Jay.

“You fuckin’ locked me out, you asshole!”

I cringed. “I’m sorry. You needed to be safe.”

He rolled his eyes. “You let me make that decision for myself, you fuckin’ idiot. He could’ve killed you and I couldn’t get to you. Do you know what that would’ve done to me?”

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