Page 125 of Show Me How
All of these small changes that I’ve noticed . . . ones I know Chadwick never would have.
My hands hang at my sides as I watch her stand in front of both of these men, knowing I can’t choose anything for her. As sour as it tastes to hold my refusals in, I refuse to be another person in Millie’s life who forces her to do something or uses a bribe like an apprenticeship to keep her.
If she wants to stay, she’ll decide that on her own.
“Your car,” her father says, tearing his gaze from her tattoo. “It has a tag for safety reasons. We simply followed it to this . . .town.”
I trap a growl in my throat, two seconds away from going to tear the car apart until I’ve found the tag they’ve put inside of it.
“I should have guessed that,” Millie says, sounding completely unsurprised by that.
“Yes, you should have. But it doesn’t matter. You had more than enough time to throw your little tantrum. It’s time to go back home. We can still salvage what happened at the wedding once we get you home. A full ceremony isn’t even necessary anymore. You can get married at the house if you’re too scared to stand in front of a crowd again. As long as there are photos to share, it won’t matter.”
Chadwick wastes no time joining in. “Put this back on, Millie. I can’t believe you didn’t bring it with you in the first place.”
The sparkle of an engagement ring shakes the ground beneath my feet. It’s a showpiece, the diamond so big it has to hurt to wear for all hours of the day. I can’t comprehend how much it must have cost.
“Your mother has been going out of her mind while you’ve been out here, doing God knows what with God knows who and risking the family name. We don’t have more time to stand here talking about this. The plane leaves soon. We need to get on the road,” her father demands, already moving toward the car. “Come. You’re finished here.”
“I haven’t even packed my things,” she croaks, standing frozen.
Unable to stop myself, I inch toward her, needing to help her.Soothe her.
“What things? You don’t need to take whatever you’ve collected from this place. Leave it all,” Chadwick says, stretching his hand out for her to take.
I can feel the panic ringing inside of her. The tremble in her hands cuts me from the stomach up to my throat.
Say it, Shade. Tell her to stay with you.
She looks up at me now, seeking the same words I’m repeating in my mind. The hope shining there is cruel. It’s a fucking joke from the universe. A punishment for the number of times I’ve told it to kiss my ass.
We stand like this for what feels like ever, her begging me with her eyes to tell her to stay, while I grow angrier with myself for my inability to do it. Butfuck, can’t she choose to stay on her own?
After all this time watching her grow more confident in herself and find the person that had been suppressed her entire life, I want her to look at Sterling and tell him to go back without her. That she’s happy here and thinks she could stay that way forever.
But she doesn’t.
Her bottom lip quivers when she looks away from me and goes to her father. It’s confirmation of the biggest fear I had when it came to this woman.
Oak Point was supposed to be a place for her to stay just long enough to catch her breath. It was never supposed to be her home. Not even if I wanted it to be.
37
SHADE
Bryce digsher finger into my spine, shoving me forward.
I suck in a sharp breath but keep walking, needing out of this fucking studio before I destroy it. She doesn’t let me go without pushing again, this time spitting fire under her breath.
“You’re a fucking idiot.”
“Tell me what I should have done instead!” I snap, the words punching out of me.
When I whirl around, my best friend is looking at me as if she doesn’t even know who the hell I am. It stings, but I hardly feel it. I’m too torn up already.
“You should have made her stay! Or told her that you wanted her to stay here with you. Instead, you watched her leave while she believed you didn’t care!” she shouts, eyes wild.
“So I could have just been another person who made decisions for her? It wouldn’t have been that easy.”
