Page 103 of Hearts Held
I don’t dare visit the Den or any other Afton establishments. I have resumed my schedule from prior to meeting the Aftons, yet I still reside in the townhome he gifted me.
I haven’t returned to our house.
When I am in the townhome, I have an eerie feeling I’m being watched. Whatever ghosts that are residing within me must be sick of my sobbing by now.
As I hug Tilly and Bobby after our evening walk, I peer up at the cold townhome, feeling a shift in the atmosphere.
“He will come around soon, yeah? Just be positive.” Tilly smiles with such warmth. God, I’m so glad her light didn’t get snuffed out.
Bobby rubs my forearm. “I forgive you for being a Kraut. Shit, I think Baba holding Tilly from me wasfar worse than what you did, but who am I to say? I’m fucking mental.” Bobby tips his hat toward me then grasps Tilly’s hand as they bid me good-night and walk away.
I grasp the door handle to my townhome, bracing for what may lie behind the door. As I open it, I notice Piggy sitting before me, his tail wagging back and forth along the rug.
I pat his head. “Hi, good boy.” Then I give him a small peck on the forehead, still feeling a sense of foreboding. His large frame hops up the stairs with loud thuds, beckoning me to follow him. He faces the door to my room, pawing and whimpering at it. My heart begins beating loudly. I can feel the pulse in my neck as my breathing stutters.
Anxiety pulls me toward the door handle, though I’m scared to come face-to-face with Everett. If it were an enemy that lay beyond the door, I doubt Piggy would be this endearing.
Slowly, carefully, I grasp the handle and twist theknob.
A loud creak comes from the hinges as I push the door open and find a shadow sitting in the small lounge chair across my room.
My breathing continues to stutter as I slowly enter alongside Pig. He rushes to the shadow’s side, licking at the back of its hand.
Everett’s voice snakes out from the corner. “How are you?”
I can’t help but give an exasperated giggle. “What?”
I clutch my lower abdomen, remembering it once carried our child, though that blip in time has passed and I figure he has now come to slay me, his enemy. His wife.
“I’m…” I lose my train of thought and decide to throw all politeness out the window, for I haven’t seen him in a month. Though I kept things from him, I never betrayed him. My fists ball up in frustration as they lie by my sides. “I’m shite, Everett Afton. I’ve been quite shite since the incident.”
A long pregnant pause fills the cold room. I almost wish he would shoot me. I hope he just doessomething, for the silence is painful.
“I’m supposed to hate you.” His growling voice sounds again from the corner, then he stands. “But I can’t.” I hear him swallow as he slowly walks toward me, toward the center of the room. “I can’t, ’cause I need you. I fucking love you, and not being around you is killing me, Brielle. Fucking killing me… I can’t sleep, and you’re not there to soothe me when the terrors haunt me. I can’t eat. Can’t fucking breathe without seeingyou. I feel like a depraved animal.”
I can see his hollow, tired eyes, the slightly sunken structure of his cheekbones and feel the sorrow in his soul.
“Why now? Why did you wait?” I quietly ask.
His Adam’s apple bobs. “Because I struggled to differentiate. Compartmentalize my trauma, and it was so difficult until I saw this.”
He pulls out the small picture of my twin brother, Marcus, and I. The small memento from my nightstand. The one piece of my brother I still have left.
“I looked through your things, I’d seen you peeking at it before and I was curious.” His eyes bore into my soul. “He was the one who saved me. When I was being tortured as a POW, he saved us.” He holdsout the photograph to me, and I carefully take it. “That’s why your eyes are so familiar to me, and that’s how I realized I should not hold any prejudice towards you. Despite my trauma.”
A small tear escapes me as I peer down at the picture, frozen in time, silently thanking my brother for rescuing Everett. Not only from the war but from the shitty scenario I placed us in.
“I’m sorry, Everett, I never meant to keep things from you. I didn’t know how to tell you, how to explain,” I say, my voice trying its best to stay calm and not crack. “I was terrified to tell you and lose you, but I ended up losing you anyways. My family helped cover up my husbands death. They would only assist me if I came to assist with their illegal dealings here and also aide in the strife between your business dealings with Sabini, so they could become potential partners with you. I’m not doing a great job of explaining this, but I am so sorry. I am so sorry it caused me to lose the best thing that ever happened in my life. The only person that truly understood, who I am.” I clench my fists so tightly that I can feel my nails cutting into my palms.
A pregnant pause between us and I ache for him to say something.Anything.
“May I touch you?” Everett asks so politely, his voice hesitant and I nod my head. His strong arms encircle me as I hear him inhale deeply. I can feel a faint kiss upon my head as he speaks up. “Just the proximity of your essence controls me. Brielle, I surrender to you. With one wave of your hand, I shall go in any direction you order.” I grasp him tightly, leaving no room between us as I tilt my head to look up at his amber eyes, so filled with love. “The entirety of my soul is at your mercy.”
Then, in one swift movement, I reach out on the tips of my toes and kiss him. God, I missed him. His touch. His mahogany smell. The feel of his arms around me, helping me feel safe.
“I need you,” I state, then he slowly backs me onto the bed.
Chapter 38: Everett
