Page 14 of Acid

I grit my teeth and go to my jewelry box, placing it in the bag just as someone knocks on my door before it opens. I turn, ready to tell off whoever’s there, thinking it’s Mom or Andrea, but I furrow my brows when I see Cassidy.

Her hazel eyes are empty, her face pale as she twists her fingers together.

“Cass?” I question with concern, and her tears fall.

I rush to her and take her in my arms as she falls apart, sobbing. My heart races, my pulse racing with concern.

“I-I, I have to leave, Pez,” she sobs, and I pull back to look at her. Anger hits when I see a bruise on her collarbone.

“Did Steal do that?” I ask, nodding to it, but she shakes her head only to then admit, “But he did hold a gun to my head and told me to leave town…. He-he believed Faith, Perrie, over me….”

That son of a?—

“Wha…” I start, but she stops me from asking what happened.

“I have to leave, Perrie.” She sniffles before handing me paperwork. I frown and look at it, but my eyes widen when I see it’s the deed to the house. “It’s all yours,” she looks at the bag, “though I’m guessing you're going to the apartment above the gym, so maybe just sell it, let Mom figure her life out for once; the place hasn’t been the same since Dad died anyway….”

I swallow hard and beg, “Don’t leave me, Cass….”

Her tears fall harder before she kisses my head and whispers, “I don’t want to, but I have to. I can’t have him come after you.”

Like hell he would; the jackass loves her, I know he does.

This has to be a misunderstanding, right?

Cassidy pulls back, taking a good look at me with despair shining in her eyes, before she turns and grabs her suitcase. My tears fall as she leaves, knowing I won’t hear from her after today.

She’s scared, and she’s running. I don’t know what happened, but my sister is the most caring person I know. She wouldn’t do anything unless she had to.

I’m going to kill Steal!

“My daddy misses you,” Andrea whispers as I get to the bottom of the stairs, my duffle hanging off my shoulder, my heart in tatters.

She’s really gone….

Anger shoots through me at the bitch’s words, and I grip the strap on my bag over my shoulder tighter. “It’s been two years. Maybe you two can try again….” Andrea continues.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart, but my husband, though mad at me, was the love of my life. What happened with your father never should have happened, and you know this. Now, Perrie doesn’t know, even though Cassidy does, and I need to keep it that way, so please don’t discuss this again. I don’t want to hurt her; she loved her father, and I’d lose her if she ever found out,” Mom replies, and I scoff silently, knowing she doesn’t want to lose her only income.

I turn and open the front door.

“Perrie?” I hear Mom shout from the kitchen as I slam the front door and head to the Mustang.

“You’ve got to go faster than that, Dad,” I giggle as my dad races some idiot in a Ferrari next to us, and my dad laughs, going faster….

I blink back the tears and swallow the lump in my throat before opening the driver’s door, throwing my bag in the back, and climbing in.

I notice Mom in the doorway, looking at the car and then toward me, but I ignore her and start the ignition before I pull out of the driveway.

Cassidy is gone. She’s left because of Steal, leaving me alone. I need to let my anger out, and there’s only one way I know how….

“Daddy,” I scream, “please don’t leave me!”

I press my hands firmly on his chest, counting to thirty before I blow two breaths into his mouth, and then continue with compressions, my tears falling hard.

I swing my right fist, hitting Franky in his jaw, making him grunt, his long ginger hair falling over his face as memories of my dad consume me.

Franky, who has wanted to beat me for the past three years, swings back, his left fist going to my ribs, sending shockwaves through me, but I ignore it, and I spin, bringing my elbow back and hitting him in the neck, making him cough, before I drop to the floor, kicking my legs out, knocking him off his feet.

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