Page 125 of Twisted Redemption

“Then I’ll stay with Alex. Or Dominic.”

They both lied to you, too.

“Fuck. I’ll stay with Liling.”

“And if David finds you?”

A chill runs down my spine. “A hotel, then. I’ll lock myself in my room, and I won’t come out until I’ve thought through everything.”

“I can’t let you go, Brooke.” He steps forward again, and I’m too lost in trying to figure out where I can safely hide that I don’t turn from his touch. One hand cups the back of my head as he leans his forehead against mine. His eyes slide shut, but not before I see an unmistakable shine in them. “Daisy. Please.”

Having Blaze this close is too overwhelming. Too good. Too painful.

“I need you to,” I whisper.

He slumps, his head falling to my shoulder. “Will you let me send one of the guys with you? Please. I just need to know you’re safe.”

My chest burns with self-hatred for putting him through this much pain. But I need to figure this out, once and for all. I’ve been avoiding it for weeks, all because I’m too afraid to lose Blaze again.

But now, I realize I need to figure out whether I trust him or not before I lose myself in a fairytale that’s not meant to be.

“I will. Just let—”

“Not yet.” His arms come around me again. “Just give me one minute. If this is the last chance I get to hold you, I—” His voice breaks as he wraps me up tighter.

“Blaze,” I whisper, tears forming in my eyes. My lips press against his shoulder. “I’m sorry.”

When he finally lets me go, I place a hand on his chest and rise up on my toes to kiss him on the cheek. And then I brush past him, my hand lingering on him for longer than it should, before I slip into the hallway.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

BLAZE

“I DON’T CARE what she said. I’m not letting her out of my sight.”

Ryan frowns. “How are you going to pull that off?”

Brooke made plans to go home with Liling, and Ryan volunteered to stay with them to keep her safe. But I don’t care. It’s not enough.

For the past hour, Brooke hasn’t left the reception hall. Per usual, she has two drinks before moving on to nonalcoholic beverages. She’s been on the dance floor, laughing away with her friends.

It gives me a sense of deja vu, transporting me back to the club when I took Ryan out for the first time. She was smiling all night, but it was unnervingly fake.

I hated it then, I hate it now.

But I’m not going to interfere. She said she needed space, and I have to do my best to respect that, regardless of the fact that I feel like I can’t breathe when she’s more than a few steps away from me.

“I’ll follow you back to Liling’s. Then watch the house from outside.”

Ryan lets out a breath. “She won’t like that.”

“Yeah, well, I didn’t like her running off to her ex who drugged her and fucking beat her, so I say we can call it even.”

That knowledge chafes at me—that Brooke is holding back on telling me what happened to her when she was with David. Liling is the one who mentioned that he’d drugged her and that the only thing between the bruises on Brooke’s face and my eyesight is a well-applied layer of makeup.

But that’s a problem for another time. Brooke needs space to think. And I need to make sure she’s alive and well when she’s finally ready to come back to me.

If she comes back to me.

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