Page 98 of Grace

Fear coils inside me.

The right decision would be to go to Tulsa. But I couldn’t look Greta in the eyes, with her wordlessly telling me, I told you so. And Cyrus… My heart is breaking for him, but Ortíz and Cameron are right. The only way he won’t get hurt is if I stay away from him. I should stay away from everyone, really. I’m free, but at this moment it feels like heavy chains are binding me to the man standing in front of me.

Cyrus didn’t get pulled into this because of me, but I can’t sic another lunatic on him. That would be too much. I can’t expect him to protect me all the time. I can’t put his life in danger—especially not because there’s a maniac standing in front of me who would gladly take every bullet fired at me from a gun he and his brother have loaded.

Lucas and Chase. This whole thing is because of them.

“I’m going with you on one condition. You let the boy go. The knowledge that their son could die if they don’t make it in time will be punishment enough for the parents. Or—” I get in his face and meet his dark irises, defiant—“I’ll run so far you’ll never find me.”

Anger isn’t the only thing blazing between us. There’s passion, too. The passion that drove us into each other’s arms in the basement. The passion that stops me from bolting in panic, that makes me stay. The passion I shoved down into the deepest part of my heart because I was ashamed of it. But it makes no sense to deny something that was never a secret.

I’m in love with Chase Baker, despite everything he’s done.

Chase leans closer, smiling. Our noses brush.

“You think so?”

My bag drops into a puddle. Chase wraps an arm around my waist, pulls me in, and cups my face in his ice-cold palm. My heart races like in panic, hammering against my ribs. The dark whirlpool—the pitch-black danger that’s always in his eyes—pulls me under. My eyelids grow heavy. My lips part. My breathing turns uneven, halting. Chase leans down and doesn’t ask for permission or confirmation. He slides two fingers under my chin and tips my head up. He looks straight into my eyes. Tiny raindrops cling to his full lips and thick lashes. He puts me under his spell and lets me drown in the moment. He threads his fingers through my wet hair and kisses me with wild, crazy passion. He fills me with life—energy, dreams, desire. He tempts me with everything he took from me, everything I’ve been grieving for for years, everything that could never be mine.

Until now.

Chase

When a butterfly’s wings are soaked through, it cannot fly. And it’s much easier to trap.

Chapter 11

Grace

You don’t feel guilty until you have to face the consequences of your actions.

Disgust puts a huge knot into my throat. When I enter the apartment, the memories come up. The moments between me and Cyrus. These walls hold two years. It’s true that our relationship has only gotten to a new level recently, but two years is still two years. The mornings, days and nights we spent together hit me and throw my sins into my face. I have kissed Chase Baker again. The man who kidnapped me, sexually assaulted me, gutted me emotionally—and sometimes beat me bloody. Who took my parents' love and warmth from me, who took my normal life from me.

I feel like crouching in a corner and rocking back and forth until my mind finds safety in the motion.

“Hurry up. We can’t stay here long.”

“I don’t think—”

“Grace. I know you’re torn between staying and coming with me. Fighting yourself. Fighting your feelings. You can throw my sins in my face again, but it won’t help you right now. It’s best for everyone if you come with me.”

“I…” I catch my lower lip between my teeth and freeze like that for a long time. Chase cups my face in his hands and looks straight into my eyes. He strokes my chilled skin with his thumb.

“You’ve never been his. And Cyrus knows that, too.”

His words hit me like cold water.

“How can you be so sure?” I ask, heat creeping into my voice. “And why do you think there’ll be anything between us after what happened? If Lucas really is who you say he is… all we have to do is hunker down until he finds out who sent the gifts. Then we part ways. I…” I close my eyes and take a long, deep, hissing breath. “I don’t want to be surrounded by murderers.”

Chase leans in close to my ear and whispers into it in that deep, resonant voice of his. My body reacts instantly to his closeness, his wordless touch, his voice. A wave of warmth shudders through me. My breathing turns uneven, and my heart kicks faster.

“Just tell me what you felt when I killed the men who had defiled you.”

A hot tear runs down my face. My lips tremble as I part them.

“Joy. And relief, that they can never hurt me again.”

“No one can hurt you.”