Page 4 of Dark Embrace

I send my response and wait patiently as the little gray bubbles dance across the bottom of the screen. Fuck him for thinking he can treat me like that and send a stupid little text and think everything is fine and dandy. Nothing is okay right now, my mind is spinning, my heart is being ripped in half, I’ve got dried tears and crusty make-up on my face from last night.

Rune: Calista Jane Sanders, you mean so muchto me it fucking hurts. But this path we’vewandered down is only gonna make shit worsefor both of us.

I suck in a breath as tears build behind my eyes. He’s not wrong, I know where this path leads… Right back to Josiah and the drugs.

Me: Sorry, new number. Who is this?

Rune: Grow the fuck up.

Me: Big talk coming from such a small man.

A text from Josiah pops up, and I quickly open it to see how long I have to wait.

Josiah: Meet you? So you can flake likeyesterday? No thanks.

I slam my head against the back of the seat and smash my fists against the steering wheel while screaming at the top of my lungs. Why can nothing ever go my way in life?Because you won’t let it go right, you do everything in your power to mess it up.

I grab my small bag of clothes from the passenger seat and get out of the car to check into my hotel room for the week. I’m extremely lucky I was able to get a room anywhere this close to Christmas.

I check into my room and head straight for the bathroom to shower. When I’m finished getting clean, I wrap myself in the fluffy robe and dig through my bag for a pair of comfy pants. My options are pretty limited since most of the stuff I own is at Rune’s house. Grabbing my phone from my jean pocket, I pull open the texts from Rune.

Me: Can I at least get my stuff back, please?

I send the text and drop the phone on the bed. Unshed tears fill my eyes as I stare at the wall, wishing the past twenty four hours never happened. If only I didn’t go out with the girls last night, none of this would be happening right now. My phone pings and I wipe away the tears that have fallen before unlocking it and reading his response.

Rune: I’m at your parents to bring youclothes. Where the fuck are you, Cali?

Me: I can’t stay there while Emmett is intown, I booked a hotel room.

Rune: I’m on my way.

Me: Thank you. I’m at the Comfort Inn.Room 303.

I set the phone down on the nightstand and fall onto the bed face first, letting the tears flow freely now. We’ve had little fights before, but I never thought he would completely give up on me like this. My heart breaks more and more with each tear that falls, the realization of how much I fucked this up weighing on me like a ton of bricks. I run to the bathroom to wipe my face with a cold wash cloth, deciding today is the day I finally grow a backbone and fight for what I want. When Rune gets here, I’m going to make everything right.

Grabbing my phone again, I open my group text with the girls and send them a message.

Me: I know I’m an adult, and I shouldhave kept saying no to drinking lastnight, but fuck you all for leaving meby myself like that.

Once I send the message, I block them all. Who needs friends that leave them at the bar alone with no way home? If I’m going to make my relationship work, I need to be willing to makesacrifices. That is one sacrifice I’ll gladly make for the love of my life.

Chapter 5

Rune

The drive from Cali’s parents to the hotel only takes twenty minutes, but it feels like an eternity. Thoughts of her swarm my mind making me miss the way things used to be. Before she was addicted to drugs, she was the most loving, caring person I’d ever met. She would give the shirt off her back to anybody that needed it. The drugs turned her cold and selfish. Everything was going great, she was clean for a year before she started the heavy drinking and letting people walk all over her. Lately, she’s turned into the victim for absolutely everything. Nothing that happens is her fault, it’s always someone else made her do it, or she doesn’t want to disappoint anybody so she does what they ask.

Reaching my hand into my pocket, I pull out the tiny black box and flip the lid open. I inhale deeply as the diamond sparkles under the red light. I worked my ass off to make sure this Christmas was perfect for Cali, I even made sure to get the ridiculously overpriced pink diamond for her. The light turns green and I quickly flip the lid closed and toss it onto the passenger seat. I push the clutch and shift into second gearbefore I see the car coming from the left. I speed up, shifting into third to get out of the way, but the car turns, following me down the street. The horn blares from behind me. I glance into the rearview mirror and recognize Cali’s brother Warren. Pulling over to the side of the road, I kill the engine and get out of my car. Warren meets me in front of his car, glaring daggers at me the whole time.

“What can I do for ya, Warren?” I ask, leaning against the trunk of my car and crossing my arms over my chest.

“Take my sister back.” He says, running his hand through his hair as he paces back and forth in front of me. “If you don’t protect her, Emmett is going to kill her.”

Dropping my arms to my sides, my fists clench as soon as the words leave his mouth. “Why the fuck would he do something like that?”

“His wife cheated on him with some prick named Elliot. Cali called him that name this morning and he punched her in the stomach.” He says, dropping his hands and looking me dead in the eyes. “He’s not himself right now, he went on a rampage after she left. After you showed up, he picked a fight with my mom. He left right after you and I have no clue where he went.”

He continues talking behind me, but I ignore him as I climb in the car and race to my girl. As soon as I pull up to the hotel, I breathe a sigh of relief seeing Karrion’s truck in the parking lot.Why am I not surprised she would call him?Grabbing the box from my passenger seat, I head inside the hotel and knock on Cali’s door. I open the lid and get down on one knee as I wait for her to open the door. A few seconds later, the door swings open, but Cali isn’t the one on the other side of it.

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