Page 13 of Property Of Chrissy

She looks up at him and apologizes. “I need to go. I can’t do this. I’m sorry.” With her panicked words lingering in the air, she turns and runs from the bar.

“What the hell, Shiv?”

I don’t have time to answer Bentley’s question. I have questions of my own that I need Chrissy to answer. I go to chargeafter my girl but Bentley steps right in front of my path. His lethal glare pointed at me. It’s the one he must use on his most despised criminals.

“You need to step out of my way, Bentley, so I can go deal with my girl.” The words seethe from my mouth. It’s taking everything I have to keep my fists clenched to my side and not shove him out of my way, or worse, break his fucking nose. He may be a friend, but he can still arrest my ass for attacking an officer of the law.

“You better make damn sure you never treat her like that again, or I swear, I’ll be moving in and claiming her for myself. You got me, Shiv?”

I nod. Not that there’d ever be a chance in hell I’d let him have her, but I just need him out of my way so I can get to her before she takes off.

He steps to the side, and I storm out the door. By the time I get outside, her car is already gone. Fuck. This conversation isn’t fucking over. I’m going after her to find out exactly why she’s the one looking like I just broke her heart when she’s the one who ripped mine out all those years ago. I hop on my bike. Only problem is, I don’t know where she’s headed or where she lives to even find her. But Trigger does. He’ll have her address on file.

I take out my phone and dial his cell.

“What in the actual fuck is wrong with you, Shiv?”

He’s obviously Chrissy’s number one fucking fan, but I don’t fucking care if he’s pissed. I just need answers.

“Need to know where she lives, Trigger.”

“Not a chance in hell am I telling you shit so you can go there and harass that girl more than you already fucking have.”

Fuck. He can’t be serious right now.

“Trigger, I need to talk to her. Both of us are hurting. We both need closure. I swear I’m not going to hurt her. I just want to fucking understand why she did it.”

His sigh gives me hope. My brother knows, after all our nights together lost in our pasts, he knows exactly what I went through and how I felt. I’m hoping like hell he can understand why I need this.

“Fine. All I know is that she’s staying at a motel. Don’t have a room number though.”

Well, that’s easy. There are only two motels in town. And one of those is on the wrong side of the tracks where Chrissy would never be caught dead in, so I know exactly where to go.

CHAPTER 7

Chrissy

The lights are all blurred streaks, but I keep driving. I press on the gas, not exactly caring about the speed limit. I just need to get away from him as fast as I can. Everything is crumbling. My mind. My heart. The sadness is seeping into every single pore. How could he believe I had been cheating on him? All this time, he believed I’d betrayed him in the worst possible way. He never even listened to the messages or read my texts.

That night comes flooding back, hitting me like a ton of bricks. The nightmare of what unfolded so vivid. I had just left the coziness of Sean’s bed. I’d been tucked in his warm embrace as he was making promises of a future that I wanted more than anything. Only to pull into my father’s driveway and find the deputy’s car parked in front of our house. The feeling of dread had me dragging my feet to the door.

“You’re late, Christina.” I glance at the grandfather clock in the front entrance. I’m only two minutes late. But I’ll never argue with the man.

“Sorry, Father. The traffic was bad.”

I wasn’t good at lying, but the words rolled right off my tongue. Ever since I’d been dating Sean, I’d become an expert at lying to my father. He was none the wiser to where I truly spent my time. He believed I was studying at school, or the library, or was at an extra cheer practice. Whatever my excuse was, he never questioned it. Just as long as I showed up when he expected me to and did as I was told.

“You not only look just like your mother, you act like her,” he sneered. “So deceptive. Such a perfect little liar. Well, thanks to Deputy Fink, someone I do trust, I now know the truth. All your sneaking around with that low-life scum is going to stop now, Christina. If I find out that you have disobeyed my order, not only willyousuffer the consequences, buthewill end up going away for a long time. Isn’t that right, Fink?”

The panic nearly crumbled me. My father knew about Sean, and he was threatening to ruin him.

My dad turns to the evil man in uniform, the one who’s made me understand the meaning of the term dirty cop. He wasn’t a man of the law. He was a man who used his power to do favors for the ones who paid the right price. And my dad had deep pockets and paid well.

“I think that boy might actually be the one we’ve been looking for. The one responsible for all those robberies that have been occurring lately. Bet if I checked his place, we’d find some of the stolen goods.”

Oh. My. God. No. He’s going to plant something at Sean’s place. They’ll put him away for who knows how long. He’ll lose everything. Everything he’s built. Everything he’s worked so hard for. I won’t let that happen. I can’t let that happen. I’ll do whatever I have to to keep Sean safe.

“Yes, Father. You have my word. I will never see him again. I’m sorry I lied to you. Please tell me what I can do to make it up to you. I’ll do anything.”

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