Page 144 of Stay for Me

“You and Bowen were right,” Ash confirmed. “He’s taking her back to Pennsylvania.”

My eyes shot over to Chase. “He’s taking her back home.”

His nostrils flared, and he turned, pacing as he muttered, “Should’ve killed him in when he was in my fucking jail cell.”

My eyes sliced over to Kings, phone still to my ear. “I’m leaving Hallow Ranch.”

He nodded.

“I’m not coming back without her, no matter how long it takes,” I stressed, hearing the chopper overhead. I didn’t give any of them a chance to respond as I pulled off my cowboy hat, handed it to Beau, and walked out.

Keep that light shining for me, Firefly. I’m coming.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Diana

Pennsylvania. Diana’s childhood home.

“You’reinsane,”Iwhisperedin fear as I stared up at my ex.

Lucas ticked his head to the side, clicking his tongue, the tree in the front yard of my childhood home swaying in the breeze behind him. I didn’t know what day it was, but the sun was about to set, and my parents’ quiet neighborhood was already asleep, the people in the houses around us old and uncaring. I was still in my PJs, my hair still in a braid, my feet still bare. I don’t know what happened, but when I woke in the backseat of a moving car, my head in my mother’s lap, I thought I was still sleeping, trapped in some twisted, fucked up dream. When she bent her head and mouthed, “I’m so sorry,” I was certain it wasn’t reality.

In fact, reality didn’t set in until I saw Lucas in the driver’s seat, my father in the passenger.

“When we’re married, you talk to me like that, I get to pop you in the mouth.” His voice was filled with pride, and he looked over to my parents, who were now out of the car, gawking at Lucas with fear in their eyes.

“Get out of the car, Diana,” my ex ordered.

I looked back to him, my lip curling. “I hate you. I hope you know that.”

He was in my face then, my jaw in his harsh grasp, his fingernails pressing into my cheeks, sure to leave a mark. “I have no issues doing everything in my power to make you love me as you once did,” he whispered.

If any other man—any other person—whispered those words to me, I would’ve been okay. I would’ve taken them at face value and ran with it.

But this wasn’t a normal man.

This man abused me for years, sucked the soul out of me, and the only thing in life I had to cling to was the simple pleasure of food. His promise wasn’t a promise. It was a threat filled with nothing but violence, and suddenly, all the healing I’d done, all the strength I’d built, vanished in an instant. Underneath it all, I was just the old me, the foundation of my life.

Weak.

Frail.

Scared.

Nothing.

When I didn’t respond, Lucas growled, dropping my hand from his face to my arm. There would be bruises tomorrow, mixing in with the ones I’d obtained on the mountain. I was ripped from the car then, and as he slammed the car door, he pointed his gun at my parents. “Get the fuck inside,” he barked.

My mother, whom I hadn’t seen in over eight years, couldn’t take her eyes off of me as a whimper left her.

Oh, look, she cared. How lovely.

My father, however, was only looking at Lucas. “Hand me the gun, and then we can go inside,” he said, his voice shaking as he held out his hand. “Son, please.”

I looked up to the tree. After all this time, my dad still have the audacity to call him son. When no one moved, my eyes met my mom’s. “Let’s just go inside. Please.”

My father opened his mouth, but Lucas stepped forward, yanking me with him, putting the end of it to my father’s forehead. I said nothing, pressing my tongue to the roof of my mouth, settling into the disassociation. I didn’t know if I would make it out of this, but I knew Mags would at least try. I was supposed to call him when I got on the road, and now I wasn’t sure I would ever speak to him again. My eyes began to sting, my hatred for the universe building in my chest.

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