Page 190 of Liberating Lily

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Lily stared out at the large, imposing house as they drove up to it.

She’d been to Ronan’s house before when her mother was being held in the basement. And she’d been anxious back then, but this was a different sort of anxious. Today, she was going to meet all of Harvey’s family.

They’d arrived back home yesterday and had gone straight to the cabin. Harvey had already put his other house on the market. This weekend, they were going to look at houses that were closer to his work, but offered a bit more outdoor space and flexibility.

She wanted more animals. Surprisingly, she really liked being around them. They helped calm her, well, some of them did. A number of Clem’s animals actually caused people’s blood pressure to rise.

They’d stayed a few more nights with Clem and Jaret, getting everything sorted. Her attacker was being held without bail until his trial. Which apparently could take a while. The police figured out his identity through his fingerprints, and discovered that he had a record from a few years ago for stalking an old girlfriend.

The police had raided his apartment in New York City and found pictures of her all over the apartment that he’d taken from the videos that Doctor Wallace sent him.

Everyone was certain that he’d be put away for a long, long time, although Harvey didn’t seem all that happy about that. She was pretty certain he wouldn’t be happy unless the other guy suffered a slow and agonizing death.

Lily was just glad that she and Harvey were back together, and that the future was looking a lot more hopeful. Sure, she still had things she had to work through, and she knew she wasn’t magically all better or anything like that.

But she felt steadier in herself and more confident in their relationship. Of course, it might have helped that she now wore a huge rock on her ring finger. Harvey hadn’t wasted any time in getting her an engagement ring.

She hated that she’d worried him so much, but she’d also needed some time away to sort out her heart and her head. Turns out, Clem had realized that. Which is why she’d waited a few days to call Harvey and let him know that Lily was there.

“Don’t be stressed, all right?” he said. “I’m not going to let anyone hurt you, not even my own family. They will like you.”

He said it like it was a command, and that wasn’t what she wanted. She wanted them to like her of their own free will.

Not because Harvey told them that they had to.

“You can’t force anyone to like me,” she told him.

He just raised his eyebrows before undoing his seatbelt and getting out of the car. He walked around to her side of the car and opened the door as she undid her belt. When he held out his hand, she slipped hers into it.

He helped her out before reaching into the backseat to grab Crackling. They’d had a bit of a disagreement over him coming.

But in the end, Harvey had given in.

In some ways, he was still treating her like she was delicate. And she understood it.

However, Crackling made her feel stronger.

He was her emotional support animal. And she didn’t care that he was a pig. They hadn’t been able to fly home because of him. Instead, they’d driven. But not in the car she’d bought. Harvey had declared it a piece of junk when Jaret took him to see it. And said she was never to drive it again.

Rude.

She clung to Harvey’s hand as they walked into the big house. Crackling walked next to her. He now had a bright blue collar and lead.

Part of her still expected her mother to be in the basement, and she had to remind herself that she was locked away and she never had to see her again.

Lily didn’t like that she was going to have to be involved with the trial for the asshole that had been obsessed with her. But if it meant he got locked away for a long, long time, then that’s just what she’d do.

They entered the house and headed toward the back, where she guessed the kitchen was.

Everyone was either sitting around the table or in the kitchen cooking. The noise immediately dropped away as they entered. That didn’t seem like a good sign.

Just when she thought she might turn and run, Ronan walked in front of her and held out his hand. She let go of Harvey’s hand reluctantly and placed her free hand into Ronan’s. He squeezed it lightly.

“Lily, I’m glad to see you again.”

A weird sense of unease filled her. It was like she didn’t want him to be disappointed in her for running, which was silly. She barely knew him.