Page 77 of Forever Always

Beckett squeezed my arm before I could speak again. “The cops won’t do shit, and I can’t have them sneaking around. H-he’s followin’ us. I won’t put Riley or Jay in more danger.”

“I don’t need to go to the cops. Not if you don’t want me to, and even if I do, I have a few that I can trust. They’d be discreet and off the books.”

“He can’t hurt Riley.”

For the first time, I saw true emotion in Wes’s expression: just a hint of anger. “He won’t. Please, Beckett. Let me help you.”

Beckett didn’t move for a while. I didn’t know what to do, so I stayed where I was, and leaned against him, letting him know I was there no matter what.

“Give them to him, butterfly. I need to protect you, and if that means trustin’ him, then I will.”

I blinked back tears. Was Becks really this desperate that he was giving something so personal to a stranger? It scared me to my bones. I wouldn’t argue, not about this. He was the one who was exposing himself, sharing a secret he’d kept buried for years. I wouldn’t dishonor that by fighting him on his decision. I handed over the photos.

“Thank you. I need to make a couple phone calls, but I’ll come by your place tonight to update you and we’ll figure it out.” Becks nodded.

“Okay, good. Thanks for trusting me with this. I’ll keep both of you safe.”

My jaw ticked but I didn’t say anything. I just wanted to go home.

“Are you two okay to get home on your own?”

“We’ll be fine.” My tone was short, but I really wanted to get Becks outta here. Our apartment wasn’t any safer but it felt better than this.

“I’m good,” Beckett responded tightly.

“Okay. I’ll let you know when I’m on my way.”

Wesley left us then and I all but dragged Beckett to the truck. “I need to drive,” he told me when I tried to get him in the passenger seat. “I need to be doin’ something, otherwise I’ll . . .” He didn’t need to elaborate. I knew exactly the kinda of thoughts that we were running through his head. I just opened the passenger door and slipped in, letting him know I trusted him completely.

As soon as the truck started up, I leaned against the window. I felt hollow. I felt disgusting and violated and the ones of me weren’t even that bad. I couldn’t imagine what Becks was going through.

I tried to watch Becks from the corner of my eye. He was clenching the steering wheel so fuckin’ tightly, his body was completely stiff. I wanted to talk, but I didn’t even know what to say. He was seconds from losing it, and I didn’t want that to happen until we were safe in the house. The hell was only just starting.

CHAPTER 28

BECKETT

I couldn’t stop my knee from bouncing, even when Riley placed his hand over it. Up and down. Up and down. I shifted, trying to smooth out the lump that was pressing into my back between my shoulder blades. Has our couch always been so uncomfortable?

Riley squeezed my leg, as he tried to lend me his strength. Usually, that would be enough, but as I watched Wesley pace the length of our apartment, typing furiously on his phone, I didn’t think anything would ease my nerves.

I thought it should’ve been harder sharing all this shit with Wesley, but he had a way about him that made me just wanna spill all my secrets. It probably helped that he took it all in stride, never once questioning or doubting me. Wes believed me.

And yeah, okay, some of the pictures made it pretty hard not to, but I remembered things now that I hadn’t in years. One of those was when Mr. Chase held up a camera and forced me to ask him for it . . . in detail. That was one of the things that had kept me quiet as a kid, until eventually I never even considered trying to talk. There was no way anyone outside of Riley, and Jay, would have ever believed me over Mr. Chase.

Yet, Wes did. Without question. He never asked me if I was sure or confused. He just took me for my word and immediately went into action.

He told me he had to tell his friend Luca, but he wouldn’t give our information to anyone else. It seemed like Luca was the one who’d found us to begin with, so he already knew everything about us.

I didn’t matter anymore, anyway. I felt numb. All this fuckin’ time, I’d thought I was keeping Riley safe and the fucker had been watching us. For years! There was even a picture of Dad at the boarding house. It was fuckin’ unreal, and I was tired of fighting. If Wes really thought he could do something to end this, I’d take it.

After a while, Wes finally shoved the phone in his pocket and sat on the coffee table in front of us.

“I spoke to Luca. We’ll take care of it.”

“What does that mean?” Ri asked. “It kind of sounds like you’re gonna kill him.”

Wes raised an eyebrow but otherwise kept his face neutral. It was kinda unnervin’ how good he was at that. It was so different from Riley, who showed all his feelings on his face. “Is that what you want?”

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