Page 45 of Ryder’s Storm

She stopped fighting against him, and he just held her. “I’ve got you, baby, you’re with me now.”

“I won’t go home,” Scarlet said with a determined look.

“You don’t have to, I promise.” He tipped his chin in the direction of the car. “Please get in my car, so I don’t block traffic, and then we can talk, okay?”

“Okay.”

Ryder led her to the passenger side and helped her inside. Behind him, another car was already honking at him. Ryder made a sign to apologize, and hopped in on the driver’s side. Moments later, he drove off.

He glanced at Scarlet, who sat there and stared at her hands in her lap. Ryder reached over and squeezed them, and she jolted. Their eyes met, and he let go of her hands.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured.

“There’s nothing to be sorry about,” he assured her. “Let’s get you somewhere safe.”

“My father… he thinks I made it all up… he believes that Derek never tried to rape me… and what he said about me… about me being mentally ill—”

“It’s not true,” Ryder interrupted. “You don’t suffer from any mental disorder. I can assure you. So don’t even think about that. And we both know what Derek did. I was there. I should have known that he would poison your father against you.”

“Thank you… thank you for believing me. I wouldn’t know what to do if you sided with my father…” She reached for his hand, and he took it, and held it.

“I’ll always believe you,” he promised, before he stopped the SUV and switched off the engine.

“Where are we?”

“This is where I live.”

He parked in the driveway, blocking access to the garage. As a rule, his parents’ cars were parked in the garage underneath the house, so that they could get into their cars via the house and never be exposed to sunlight. He and his siblings had to park outside, either in the driveway, or on the street. The fact that neither Nessie’s nor Ethan’s car was parked in the driveway, told him that his siblings weren’t home. And his parents would be sleeping. Nobody would disturb Scarlet and him.

“Come,” he said, and they got out of the car.

Ryder took Scarlet’s hand to lead her up the stairs to the front door, unlocked it, and ushered her inside. It was quiet in the house just as he’d expected.

They walked past the open plan living and dining area that led to the kitchen. Beyond it was a small office, as well as a powder room. At the back of the house a door led downstairs into the garage, and a small workout room that used to be his mother’s clinic before Scanguards had installed a mini medical center for her at headquarters.

“Do you want something to drink or to eat?” Ryder asked.

She shook her head.

“Okay,” he said softly, “let’s go to my room. Nobody will disturb us there.”

On the second floor, Ryder turned toward the back of the house. He opened the door to his room, and ushered Scarlet inside, while he listened for any sounds from the third floor. He heard none. His parents were sleeping. He entered his room behind Scarlet, then closed the door quietly. For the first time in years, he locked the door. It was one thing for his siblings to walk in on him constantly, it was another to subject Scarlet to the same breach of privacy.

“You have a lot of space here. Even a living area,” Scarlet said and pointed to the comfortable couch.

“We all have similar rooms. That was the deal with my parents for me and my siblings to agree to keep living at home.”

He led her to the couch, and she sat down. Ryder took a seat next to her and held her hand. “I understand that you’re upset about your father believing Derek and not you. I tried to make him see reason, but whatever Derek and Claudia said to him convinced your father that Derek told the truth.”

Scarlet sniffled. “And that’s not even the worst.” Her hand trembled.

“We both know you’re not mentally ill. You’re perfect.”

She lifted her head and gave him a brief smile. “I wish I could be as certain as you. But after what my father told me today, I don’t know.”

There was a resignation in her voice that Ryder didn’t like. “Don’t listen to him about that. He’s wrong.”

“But what if he’s not? What if he’s right and I’m like my mother? What if I’m crazy like her, and will commit suicide too?”