AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I pop another pain pill right before 5. I’m dressed and ready for dinner, and I make myself take the stairs. My whole body feels like it’s been punched and dragged through the dirt, which is accurate, but I've lain around all day and I’m ready to be in motion.
I freeze at the bottom of the stairs.
Brayden is pacing in front of the reception desk. He’s still wearing yesterday’s clothes, his hands are pulling at his hair, his red-rimmed eyes unfocused toward the ceiling. He hasn’t noticed me yet, but I can’t very well go back up the stairs without attracting attention.
I’ve never seen Stella so flustered. Her collar is askew and her up-do is leaning to one side, her frown pronounced as she watches Bray carefully. I can’t leave her to handle my problem.
I approach slowly, and my boot hits something on the floor that goes skittering several feet.
They both turn to look at me.
Stella’s eyes go wide, and she shakes her head. Bray is stationary, peering as if his eyes need a minute to focus.
I bend and pick up the item from the floor. It’s Stella’s prized Montblanc. She never lets anyone touch that pen, and she only uses it on special occasions. She'd confessed it was a gift from a long-deceased suitor who had said it matched the dark blue of her eyes.
I walk over to the side of the desk slowly, and hand Stella the pen. She clutches it in her fist. “Go,” I whisper. She backs around the corner toward the office, and I hear the door close softly and then the click of the lock.
Brayden is still staring at me.
“Bray.” He doesn’t move at all. I take a step forward. “Bray!” He flinches. Then I see tears puddle in his eyes, and he falls to his knees.
“I thought you were dead!” he cries. He shuffles forward on the floor and wraps his arms around my legs. I stand there listening to him sniffle for a full sixty seconds. Then I lean down and put a hand on his head.
“Bray.”
I rub his shoulder thinking it will make him realize where he is.
“Bray, let go.”
He doesn’t lessen his grip.
“Bray. C’mon. Get up.”
Finally, he releases my legs and stumbles to his feet.
“You can’t die, Lai. Who else would take care of me?”
“Bray, I found the best place. It has gardens with fountains and hors—”
My words are cut off by his hand. He covers my mouth and grabs the back of my head with his other hand. “Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop.”
I push his chest with my hands, but his wiry body is immovable.
“You don’t love me. You just want me gone, like everyone else.”
Bray’s hands are big. His fingers wedge against my nostrils, cutting off my air.
I try to shake my head, but his grip tightens.
I can’t breathe.
I pull on his arms. My nails rip into his skin, raking lines down his biceps.
Panic makes my knees shake. Knees. Knees are weapons.
I shove my knee into his groin as hard as I can. His hands fall away, and I gulp in air.
“Dammit, Lai,” he rasps out. He’s bent over, one hand braced on his knee and one cupping his crotch.
