Page 54 of Savagely Scarred

His head flies to the side as my palm connects with his cheek, the crack echoing in the room.

“You’ve known for a fucking week?! And you didn’t think that that was something important you should have fucking told me?!”

“Liv—,”

I jab him in the chest. “No, Sage! This is MY life!”

“No, it’s not!” He steps into me and grabs the sides of my face. “You are my life. If there is no you, there is no me. Don’t you get that?”

“You shouldn’t have kept that from me,” I whisper.

“I know. I’m sorry. Roberts ordered me not to until we knew for sure if it was Kyle.” His thumbs stroke my cheeks.

“Kyle? You think he is doing it?”

“I didn’t at first. It’s not exactly his MO. Unless he’s just trying to terrify you first.”

I shake my head. “No. Trevor said—,”

“Trevor?” He drops his hands and steps away from me.

“I went to see him last Sunday. For closure. Ava and I took a detour from shopping. He said Kyle changed toward the end. He didn’t want to kill me anymore.” I pause and bite my lip. "Although, that was before I stabbed him."

Sage looks up at the ceiling with his hands on his hips, clenching his jaw. When his gaze returns to me, he shakes his head.

“I would have taken you. All you had to do was ask. I'm not an asshole. I wouldn’t have prevented you from seeing your brother if you wanted to.”

"I wasn't sure how you would react. I'm sorry. And technically, right now we are both assholes for keeping shit from each other.”

He laughs silently and pinches the bridge of his nose. I smile softly at him. He grabs my chin and tilts my head up.

“No more secrets.”

“Promise.”

He presses a gentle kiss to my lips and then jerks backward. "Wait. Why did you think I was Kyle?"

"Sage—," I attempt to swallow the thickness in my throat. "He was in the house."

His eyes flare with something I've only seen in madmen. His jaw tightens and the air thickens around us. He takes a step forward and I stiffen.

"You are mine. In every way. You live in every beat of my heart. Every breath I take. And when he takes his last one, I will make damn sure he knows it."

Chapter Sixteen

Sage

Dad’s tears fall right before I do.

He lets me go.

The neighbor grunts when he catches me in his arms. When he sets me down on my feet, I look back up at the window and Dad is gone.

Strangers are surrounding me, talking to me, and asking me questions. But I don’t take my eyes off the window.

A lady in blue listens to my heart and lungs. A firefighter runs past me with a hose. I briefly shift my gaze to him as I watch him turn it on and spray the house with water.

But my eyes drift right back to the window. Dad is going to have to throw Bingo out of it too. And I’m going to wait right here so I can catch him.