Page 92 of Revive
“You broke that rule first,” Flynn muttered under his breath, but Marshall ignored him.
“This isn’t over, Princess. I’m not letting you leave with him.”
Not letting her! “How are you stopping me, Marsh? I’m not your fucking possession.”
“He’s going to screw you. He’s already put you in hospital.”
“He saved me. I fell down a cliff. And as for the screwing part, God I hope so. I hope he takes me home and screws my brains out and keeps doing so for the rest of our lives.”
“Are you mad? He’s a fucking sadist, Alle.”
“No, I’m not mad. I just happened to like something you don’t understand. You might try educating yourself instead of being a judgemental arsehole. He doesn’t hurt me, he spanks me. It’s a sex thing. It turns me on. Nor does he gaslight me, or treat me like an imbecile, or set impossible to achieve goals then humiliate me because I can’t achieve them. He’s not our father, and you can’t use him to get revenge on the man who hurt you. The simple fact of the matter is that what I do in privacy as an adult, with my partner is none of your business. You don’t get to dictate who I choose to love, Marsh. Nor how I spend my time, or what’s bad for me. You’ve been trying to hold me back for as long as I can remember, and I’m done with it. I’m done being your glass princess.”
“Princess—”
“No, Marsh. It stops now. I’m sorry that you can’t hack competing with me. I’m sorry that our father screwed you up, but neither of those things make up for the harm you’ve done. My private life was never a story you had a right to. Never. And nor was Spook’s.”
They’d drawn a crowd of attentive onlookers, but Alle didn’t care. All she had to say was true and had no qualms about admitting any of it. “I love Spook,” she said, still staring fiery fury at Marshall. “I love him with every bit of my heart, and in a moment, I’m leaving here with him.” She squeezed Spook’s hand tight, and then raised it to her lips. His knuckles were scabbed, but she brushed a kiss across them anyway. “No one needs to tell me who he is, because I know already, and I hope he knows exactly who I am too. The woman who’ll stand by him, who loves him exactly as he is, and who listens to him and admires him, and won’t ever betray him.”
“Alle.” Tears glittered in Spook’s eyes.
“I love you,” she told him. “I’m so sorry my brothers are arseholes.”
Marshall took a step towards them. “This is—”
Flynn’s hand landed on Marshall’s shoulder. There was a determined look on his face. “Over,” he said. “It’s over, Marsh. We’re done here. We’re going to walk away, and you’re going to let it go. You’re going to accept that she knows her own heart and mind and let them be happy.”
“What?”
“You’re going to let them be happy, or I’m going to go to the police and confess everything. All of it. Everything you said and did. The lies, the manipulation, the phone theft. All the stuff you let slip about Ava March andBang! Magazineand how they came by some of their information.”
“Don’t be so dumb.”
“Don’t make me be, and I won’t make you an accessory to a serious assault and all the rest.”
Marshall’s tongue poked out and ticked his lower lip, before his teeth scraped across it. For a moment, he looked genuinely scared.
“If he hurts her, it’s on your head.”
“No,” Flynn replied. “If he hurts her, it’s on his. Now let’s go.”
-31-
Spook
Alle’s tea had gone cold, so they stopped and bought another one, then she and Spook dozed on one another’s shoulders as Ash drove them home. Rather than trekking out to the Pepperpot with its lack of modern conveniences, Alle and Spook took over the spare room in the barn conversion Xane and Luthor had been sharing. Ash had explained that he’d dropped Luthor off at the train station earlier that day, the latter man having received a text message from Dani that simply read:He’s with me.Therefore, they had the place to themselves.
“Sofa, or bed?” Spook offered.
“Neither. I want a bath. My muscles ache and I feel like I have grot embedded in my skin.”
He bowed. “I’ll go run it.”
Having just sat down, Alle struggled to stand again. “Spook, you don’t have to. I can manage. I’m not an invalid, just a klutz with no sense of direction.”
“Let me,” he insisted. “It’s how last night was supposed to conclude, me pampering you and smothering you in affection. I had all sorts of potions and lotions prepared. As it is, unless you want me to sprint across and get them, we’ll have to make do with stealing some of Xane and Luthor’s stuff.”
“They have luxury bath stuff?”
