Page 29 of Unbroken Promises

Chapter Twenty-Six

Theo

Six Years Earlier

-Mid January-

I warned you and you didn’t listen. Now you will pay the price for your arrogance. I meant what I said before; end it with the girl or I will end it for you. I told you there would be consequences, and when I said you wouldn’t like the consequences, I meant that too. I gave you plenty of chances to call things off, but you continue to ignore my warnings while you run in circles trying to figure out who I am. . . I promise you, that is something you will never be able to figure out. But, since you couldn’t man up and do the deed, I will do your dirty work for you. Just remember, you were warned. ..

“Baby, call me . . . please. . .” My voice cracks a little as I hear the signal that the voicemail recording has ended. I have been driving around for hours, desperately searching everywhere with no sign of my girl. After she raced out of my apartment earlier this morning, I followed suit as quickly as I could. There was no sign of her at Finn’s place. Her roommate at the dorm says she hasn’t been home. She didn’t go to the gym. I can’t fucking find her and I am panicking. She fucking ran away. From me. I rub at the tightness in my chest with one hand before slamming my steering wheel in frustration. “Fuck!”

Sitting on the side of some random ass road in the middle of Seattle, I’m unsure of where to look, desperately waiting to hear back from my girl. From Finn or Caleb. Anything to give me a sign that she is fucking okay. How could I have been so fucking stupid? The letters I had been receiving for months had become more and more ominous, each threat more blatant than the last. I naively assumed that between me and the guys we would have been able to find out who this fucker is by now, that it wouldn’t be an issue. I was such a goddamn idiot.

My phone rings, and I almost jump out of my seat, dropping my phone in my haste to pick it up.Shit! The ringing continues. I scramble to reach down by the floorboards, answering just before the ringing cuts off.

“Hello? Baby? Hello, I’m here!”

“I’ve got her.” Finn’s voice is quiet. Grim. It’s not a tone I hear from him often.

As I release a shuddering breath, tears prick at the back of my eyes in relief. “Is she- is she okay? I’ll be right there, where are you?” My words are urgent, as pressing as the stabbing pain in my chest.

A long pause comes over the line, the weight of the silence sitting thick between us.

“She doesn’t want me to come.” A statement. Not a question.

“Just give her some time.”

I run a hand through my hair, shaky from adrenaline over my worry and the infinite relief that she is safe. She’s with Finn. And then a wave of anguish hits me. She doesn’t fucking want me there. She doesn’t want me to come to her. Sitting back and waiting is not a skill I have ever been good at, but I know if I force this, if I push her right now, I could lose herfor good.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Danica

Six Years Earlier

-Mid January-

Sitting in the middle of Finn’s bed, knees pulled up to my chest, I hug them tighter as I pull Finn’s hoodie over my legs. My eyes burn from hours of tears, and I know I must look like a disaster. When I had received the note under my door earlier this morning, I was sure that if I just came up here, saw Theo in person, that he would be able to clear everything up. He would deny the authenticity of what was written on those pages, and the implications of what wasn’t. I just needed to see his face, just one glance from him and all my fears would be eased. A phone call wasn’t good enough.

Instead, after making the almost four hour drive up here from my school, I was slapped in the face with the brutal truth. Bradley, fucking Brad, was murdered. Most likely by the love of my life, and then the crime was covered up. It’s not as if Brad didn’t deserve what was coming. After almost two years of being verbally and mentally abusive, he finally crossed an unforgiveable line when he raped me; when he spent the next six months raping me and abusing me any chance he got, all while having his fun flings on the side. It’s a fucking wonder he didn’t give me an STD. And then he brutalized me. Put me in the hospital. Broke me down.

I have spent the last year trying to come to terms with what happened to me, to work through my trauma, to realize it wasn’t my fault. Theo finally convinced me to go to therapy when I moved to Oregon for school, when I moved across the country to get away from what happened. So, I could put the past behind me, so I could heal and move forward with my life. A life that I had planned to spend withTheo. If I am being honest with myself, I was afraid to take that final step, though. To make myself vulnerable in a new and painfully uncomfortable way by bearing my soul, my darkest thoughts and showing all my ugly and broken pieces with a stranger. But finally, I did. And because Theo convinced me to take that leap of faith, I have come to terms with the past. Or at least, I thought I had.

So yeah, Bradley had it fucking coming.

I jerk my chin up, forced out of my internal spiral as Finn plops next to me on his oversized bed. He doesn’t say anything, doesn’t hold me. But he sits next to me, his shoulder resting against mine, silently staring ahead. With a sniffle, I wipe my arm on the sleeve of his hoodie. Gross, I know, but I am so fucking mentally and emotionally exhausted, and I don’t think I could force myself to get up and find a tissue even if I wanted to. Tilting my head, I lean into Finn, taking comfort in his quiet strength.

And I don’t know how long we sit there. It could be minutes; it could be hours. All I know is that, staring blankly ahead, it finally registers that time has passed; as I blink into the fading shadows, darkness of the setting sun filtering in though his cracked blackout curtains. With a swipe to my eyes, I try to rub away the aching sadness that has lodged itself inside my very soul. My eyes feel so puffy, so painfully swollen that it is hard to see clearly. Finn, to his credit, continues to say nothing, giving me the space I need while alsobeing here.

“He lied.” I croak, my voice cracks from lack of use and the scratchiness lent from hours of crying. I don’t ask how Finn found me in the parking lot of that run-down diner in the middle of nowhere, don’t ask if he told Caleb or worse, Theo, where I was. Instead, the first words out of my mouth are the ones that I don’t even want to think in my own head. But they need to be said. Painfully, I clear my throat, and then start again. “He lied to me. For months.”

With a tilt of my head, I can see Finn’s profile as he continues to stare blankly ahead; see the grim look on his face as his lips press into a thin line, and then I hear the quiet tap tapping as he sets a quiet rhythm of fingers to his thigh. Reaching out slowly, I grab his hand, stilling the obvious sign of unease as I thread my fingers through his own. Almost imperceptibly, his hand tightens, giving me a gentle squeeze. “You did too. . . didn’t you?”

No response. But it’s answer enough.

My voice is soft, but I know he can hear me as I continue. “You all did.” Not a question. I glance up at him now, turning so that I can see him more clearly. “But Finn. Why didn’t youtell me? Did you think that you couldn’t. . . thatI would-” The words stick in my throat, and I swallow painfully. “Don’t you trust me? Why didn’t you trust me?”

“We do trust you, il mio passerotto.I trust you.”I glance up sharply, squinting against the darkness, only to find Theo,my hoodie guy,lingering in the shadows of the doorway. Even after this betrayal, through the hurt and the tears, my heart still leaps at the sight of him.Stupid worthless muscle beating in my chest.Leaning against the doorframe, hood up, leaving his face in shades of darkness, I can still see the glint of his crystal blue eyes, sharp as they assess me. And I know what he sees. Red face, skin blotchy and swollen, eyes puffy, hair a disaster, and wearing-

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