Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 22697 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 113(@200wpm)___ 91(@250wpm)___ 76(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22697 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 113(@200wpm)___ 91(@250wpm)___ 76(@300wpm)
I pressed my forehead to the door, hovering my hand at the knob and willing her to open it.
“I'm sorry I ran out on your mom.” Her tiny words squeaked through the wooden cracks.
My heart sighed with relief, my body sliding down the door until I was ass on porch. “She doesn’t mind. She’s just worried about you. I am too.”
Soft sobs sank into my ears, and my heart broke.
“Daphne, please tell me what’s wrong and what I can do to make it better.”
“Nothing.” Her cries turned up a level. “The damage is done.”
“Damage? Baby, what damage?”
She didn’t answer, but I waited.
I waited and I listened to her tears, because even if I couldn't hold her, I could let her know I was there for her. She could lock me out all she wanted, but I would never leave.
“Arkin! Oh my God, are you crazy? What are you doing out here?” An angel’s voice melted the sleep from my mind as I came to, early morning rays of sunlight streaming through the eaves of her porch roof.
“Morning, sugar.” I pressed up off the tiny welcome mat I’d been huddled on, one ear pressed to the door all night as I faded in and out of sleep to the sounds of her soft sobs. “I was prepared for at least a few more nights out here, if that’s what it took.”
My eyes trained on hers, red and watery and ravaged with all the feelings.
“You’re a sight for my tired eyes first thing in the morning.” I trailed my thumb across her temple, thankful for her skin against mine. “It was a long damn night without you in my arms.”
Her forced smile fell, eyes dropping to our feet.
“Would you mind if we made a cup of coffee? Help get the kinks out of these old bones before we have a talk about you locking me out all night?”
“You don’t want to have coffee with me, trust me.” She shook her head, backing off.
“Like hell I don’t.” I caught her hand, swirling her back into my chest where she belonged. “I was just offering you a chance to collect your thoughts before we get into the good stuff.”
I clasped her fingers with mine, dragging her into her tiny house alongside me.
“I may not look like the smartest tool in the shed, but after Layla was gone, Mom insisted I get myself into some grief counseling. I hated it at first, but it grew on me.” I paused, cupping her chin with my finger and forcing her gaze to meet mine. “I learned a few things: that talkin’ is the only way through a problem, and that grief takes many forms.”
The soft hollow of her throat moved as she tried to force down her emotions. “You deserve the best, Arkin, and I’m not it. Your family deserves better. Mine is a…nightmare.”
“Hey, I’m not interested in your family. I’m only interested in you and me. There isn’t a thing you could say that could scare me off now.” My teasing grin ticked to one side. “I slept on your front porch all night. I can’t imagine it gets much worse.”
Her gaze lingered, as if she were debating her next words. “You wouldn’t say that if you knew.”
“Try me.” I guided her to the couch, settling her beside me.
She pressed her lips together, hands twisting in her lap before she looked up, crestfallen expression on her face.
“I…I don’t know how to say this…” She looked like she was in physical pain. “My family… My father…he was a monster.”
I nodded, clasping a reassuring hand on her knee.
“He did a lot of things, bad things, and nobody knew he did them until one night when he was finally caught.”
My brows furrowed together, trying to make sense of her words.
“Apparently college campuses were my father’s favorite place to hang out. One night he assaulted a girl, and she fought back and I guess it made him angry. When my father got like that, he…he became a monster.”
She was crying again, violent tears washing down her cheeks.
“That night was the eighth of September, exactly ten years ago, and that girl lost her life at my father’s hands.”
My face fell, shock turning my blood cold as I registered the details of her story. “Th-That’s the night my sister was murdered.”
Daphne nodded, hands trembling. “I knew as soon as I saw her face… Her pretty, smiling face brought everything back to me. My mom tried to keep the newspaper headlines from me. She kept me in the dark mostly, but I remember seeing your sister’s face on the news when she was only a missing person.”
My heart clenched with the memory of the sadness in my mother’s eyes and the terror that burned behind my father’s.
“I’m so sorry, Arkin. My father stole your sister’s life, and you don’t deserve to be reminded of that pain every time you look at my face. My mom changed our last name after it happened to try to escape it, but there’s no escaping the past. I understand if you never want to see me again.”