Page 220 of Obsession

“How… how did you figure it out so quickly? What does this have to do with the dust?”

He looked at me and licked his lips as he struggled to find his words.

“It’s a revenge plot.”

“Revenge for what, Harris?”

“For killing his brother.”

I struggled against my own collapse as Harris speed up.

I couldn’t find the strength to ask any questions; I probably wouldn’t have known what to ask anyway, but as soon as he’d confirmed that terrible thing, Ty had called him.

They had Olsen.

I wanted to wake up from the nightmare.

That was all I could think about…that it was all a nightmare. A horrible nightmare that didn’t seem to end, where the boy I’d fallen in love with was a criminal and all his enemies were using me as an instrument of revenge against him.

“V’s still at the garage, I’ll take you there and…”

“Take me home, Harris.”

The anger in my voice had the desired effect as he just nodded and accelerated towards my house.

I wanted to be with my father, take a bath and pretend none of that was true for at least a few hours or I would have lost my mind.

“I want you to promise me that you’ll protect Adam.”

His lips drew into a line as he looked ahead.

“He doesn’t deserve it.”

“Yes, he does, Harris, because he didn’t do anything. He was trying to save me, get me out of town. If anything happens to him, I swear it’s all over between us. I can accept what’s happening to me, I can deal with it, but I can’t accept that the important people in my life are suffering because of it.”

He still didn’t look at me, but he nodded.

“I’ll make sure he stays alive.”

I was satisfied with that and banged my head against the headrest. God, it hurt so much I felt like my brain was spilling out of my ears. I didn’t even notice Harris pull up in front of my house.

He reached for me.

“And I’ll make sure you’re safe. For real, this time. Someone will be watching you at all times until I clear everything up.”

I didn’t want to know what that meant, I didn’t want to ask for details either, not now, so I just nodded. My dad’s car wasn’t in our driveway, but shortly after, another car pulled up behind us and I winced. Trauma.

Harris took my hand in his.

“They’re my friends. They’ll stay here while I’m gone.”

I looked at him and wished… wished I could have resisted him, wished I could have looked at him and said that I didn’t love him, that I could have just ended it and kicked him out of my life forever.

Everything would have been so easy if I had been able to, but when I looked into his green eyes, I felt all the anger, fear and love in the world.

He had gone in too deep, left his mark, but today had been too much for me.

I couldn’t hide anymore and pretend it wasn’t real.

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