Page 59 of No Broken Promises

“What in the fuck is this, Remy?” Parker’s voice from directly behind me holds more than a hint of danger.

When I turn around to see what she is talking about, every fiber of my being freezes in complete and utter terror.

My heart stops, which should be impossible, but it skips a fucking beat in my chest right there. My face flames, and my stomach drops all at the same time.

The box. Parker has the second box. Panic replaces the terror, and I try to figure out how to get the box away from her. I can’t think fast enough, though, and Parker already has a letter in her hand. The telltale number in the corner gives it away.

Number 1.

The first of a hundred and eighty-two letters I’d written, but never sent. My fingers itch with the need to grab it, to keep her from reading the words I’d written so long ago.

“Where did you get that box?” My traitorous voice comes out hoarse, betraying that I know exactly what she holds in her hands. Parker doesn’t answer me at first; she is too busy staring down at the letter clutched between her fingers like it is a poisonous snake that has latched on to her skin and refuses to let go.

“Parker.” I say her name to get her attention, and I cringe when I see the fury reflecting back at me from her amber eyes. “Where did you get that box?”

“I went to clear out the bottom of the closet to make room for my shoes. You said that you wanted me and Nox to move in here so I would be safe. I thought I was doing something sweet. Something you wanted. That’s beside the point, though, isn’t it?” Her hands are trembling as she holds the letter in one hand and sets the box gently down on the coffee table. “Why is there a massive box filled with letters addressed to me in your closet, Remy?”

Before I say something I’ll regret, before I can scream or rage or take out my anger on the woman I love, I leave.

Without even bothering to put on a shirt or call Daisy to come with me, I walk the fuck out of my house and leave everything I love behind.

After all, Parker holds every piece of my soul in her hands with the box that sits in front of her on the table.

She has every single word I never had the strength to say to her.

The proof that I will never deserve her.

She has everything.

Along with the power to destroy me.

24

PARKER

The letters sitting on the table in front of me are the only reason I don’t storm after Remy and demand that he explain what the hell his problem is.

He’s not the one who got blindsided by an entire box full of unsent letters.

Letters, all of them, addressed to me.

Not a single one of them has a stamp on them, either.

He never sent a single one.

I stare down at the one in my hand and notice that my fingers are trembling. The letter shakes as a shiver creeps from the base of my neck down into my stomach. My entire body starts to tremble as the knowledge of what I have in front of me finally hits.

I have my phone in my hand before I can reconsider, dialing the only person I know I can count on to help me. I can’t read these letters alone. I may be an adult, but there isn’t a chance in hell that I won’t be a confused and muddled mess by the time it is over.

“I swear, I’m going to murder you unless you’re in the ER with Nox.” Kennedy’s sleep-addled voice fills my ear.

“I need you to come to the house right now, Kennedy.”

Shuffling and a muttered curse filter through the other end of the line as I hear her throw off blankets and scramble out of bed.

“What’s going on? Which house am I going to? Are we killing someone or dismembering a body? Do I need my Mucks?” She ends her tirade with an excited yell, and I roll my eyes at her eagerness to bury a body.

That is Kennedy. The only member of her family that hasn’t shunned me after Danny and I had gotten together. The only person in town who always stands by my side and snubs her nose at anyone who tries to treat me differently.

---