Page 80 of Safe and Sound

Holding his bloody hands cautiously in front of him, Dare said, “I can explain.”

As he took a step forward, I jabbed my finger at him. “Don’t you dare come one step closer.”

“Just hear me out.”

“There’s nothing you can possibly say right now to me that would remotely make any of this okay!”

“This man is a traitor. He threatened our family.”

“That’s always what men like you say to justify your actions.”

“I swear it’s the truth. I can show you the vile things he said he would do to Julianna.”

Bringing my hands over my ears, I shook my head. “No, no, no! Don’t you dare use that baby as justification for your vile actions.”

“He vowed to rape a baby. I can swear to you, we never hurt innocent men.”

Sweeping my arms out in front of me, I countered, “Nothingyou’ve told me is the truth!”

“I’ve never meant to lie to you.”

I manically shook my head back and forth. “But you did. Our entire relationship is built on one fucking lie after another.”

“This is only one part of who I am. Everything else you know about me is the truth.”

When he took a step towards me, I started to jump away when my foot slipped in something slick. The next thing I knew my feet were sliding out from under me, and I was crashing to the ground. Bile rocketed into my mouth when I found myself in a puddle of blood.

Frantically, I tried to get to my feet. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get my footing.

As Dare’s arms came around me, I started swinging my arms against him while kicking my legs. “Don’t you dare touch me!” I shrieked.

“I need to help you.”

“I’ll do it myself.”

With a defeated sigh, Dare took a step back from me. After several agonizing seconds of slipping and sliding through the blood, I finally got on all fours and pushed myself up. When I started to open the door, Quinn stood in front of me.

“Get out of my way.”

“I’m not sure you’re in any state to go back upstairs,” he cautioned.

Sneering, I said, “Afraid I’m going to run out into the streets screaming about your crimes?”

Quinn shook his head. “I’m afraid you’re about to go into shock.”

“Don’t try to act like you care about me!” Jerking a bloodied thumb at Dare, I said, “You’re just as bad as he is. You’re a fucking liar.”

“Let her go,” Dare said in a defeated tone.

“I need to give her something before she totally loses it,” Quinn argued.

My eyes bulged. “You want to drug me?”

“It’s just a sedative.”

“Excuse me for not trusting a man who's been torturing others.”

“Despite what you think, I want to help you, Ava.”

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