And I’ll never forgive him for it.
Chapter Two
Conner
Kenny doesn’t say anything else. Instead, she turns her eyes away from me and focuses on the wall, attempting to block me out.
I sit there for a few minutes before my need to move, to do something, gets the better of me.
“This is fucking bullshit, K.” I push from the chair and storm from the room.
I want to sit beside her and comfort her. Be her shoulder to cry on. But for that to happen, she needs to stop shutting me out.
The door slams behind me, and I fall back against it.
Not a second later does Cole’s bedroom door open and a blonde head pokes out.
“Is she okay?” Hadley asks, concern for Kennedy pulling her brows together.
“Fuck knows,” I spit. Some people might be affected by the harshness of my tone, but not Hadley. She knows me, or more so Cole, better than to be threatened by us. She’s the bravest fucking girl I know.
“You just need to give her some time, some space.”
I lift my hands to my hair and pull until it hurts. I don’t want to give Kenny those things. I want to pull her into my arms and tell her that it’s going to be okay, that all she needs to do is tell me the truth and I’ll make sure that motherfucker isn’t able to touch her, or another woman, ever again.
I trusted that fucker with her. Kenny was the single most important person in my life aside from my brothers, and I trusted him with her.
What a fucking idiot I was.
"I don't fucking want..." My words trail off as Hadley's eyes soften.
"I know, Con." She reaches out and gently pulls my arms down before taking my hands. "I know you want to fix things... her. But you can't. Not as easily as you think you can. Just do as she says, let her heal, then maybe she'll be more willing to let you in."
I stare into Hadley's eyes, I want to believe what she's saying, that Kenny will open up once she's feeling better, but something tells me that this isn't going to be as easy as that.
The Kenny lying in my bed right now is different from the girl I remember. The light and sparkle that was once in her eyes has gone. I fucking hate it, and I know he's the reason.
Thoughts of him have my grip on Hadley tightening.
"You should go back in there." I nod to the door she appeared from.
"Things might be okay with Cole and me now, Conner. But that doesn't mean I'm no longer your friend."
"I-I know," I manage to get out through the emotion clogging my throat.
"Why don't you go and get some air. You've been standing out here all day. Get something to eat, maybe. I know you haven’t had anything yet. Ellen made cookies," she sings. And while I can't deny that they sound tempting, the last thing I want to do right now is eat cookies and pretend like everything is okay, because it's fucking not. Nothing is okay while my girl is laying battered and broken in my bed and I'm not beside her.
"Hads?"
"Yeah?"
"Will you try to talk to her? See if you can get through to her? I need to know if what I fear happened actually did happen."
"I can try. But if she doesn't want you to know, then you need to respect that."
Releasing her hands, I spin away from her. I might know that she's right but that doesn't mean I need to accept it.
Looking at my bedroom door once more, I do something that I haven’t done since I first brought her up here however many hours ago. I walk away.
The second my feet hit the ground floor my arm flies out, knocking the vase and full bouquet of flowers from the top of the dresser. The vase smashes as water splashes everything.
Watching the pieces clatter to the ground doesn't make me feel any better.
"What the hell was..." Ace comes to a stop when he sees me standing there with my chest heaving. "You need to calm down."
"Don't fucking tell me what to do," I bark, taking a step toward him, not stopping until my chest is brushing his.
He doesn't so much as flinch as he waits for me to take out my frustration on him.
"Conner. My office. Now!" A booming voice fills the silence around us as Ace continues to hold my eyes, daring me to do my worst. "Conner?" James says again, finally breaking through my haze.
I take a step around Ace, whose concerned eyes follow me, but I don't look back. Instead, I start up the main staircase, storming toward James and letting myself into his office.
By the time he follows me in, I've fallen down on his couch with my legs stretched out before me and my head resting back on the cushion as I stare at the ceiling.
Dad closes the door before coming to join me. He doesn't say anything, but I know he's looking at me. His attention burns my skin.
"Talk to me, Son."
"Nothing to say."
He lets out a frustrated sigh. "Okay, let's do this a different way. Who is she?"
I think for a few seconds, the silence stretching out between us. "She's... she's everything."
"Okay."
I keep my eyes on the ceiling as words start to tumble from my mouth. I have no idea if he wants to know what I've got to say, but now I've started, I can’t stop.
"She's been my best friend for... well, forever. We met in pre-K, and until I moved here, well..." I trail off, not really needing to say the words. "She's got a boyfriend. Warren.” Warren Kraven. His name is like ash on my tongue. “He was our friend too. They got together a few months before we moved here. I thought she was safe."
"You're saying he did this?"
Dragging my head from the cushion, I stare into my father's eyes. "Yes."
"And you know that for a fact?"
"Well... no, but—"
"You can't start accusing him—going after him—without any evidence, Son."
"Who said I was going to..." His brow lifts in accusation, and I trail off. "I won't let him get away with this."
"I'm not suggesting we do. But you need to know for sure first."
"She said it was a random attack. She's lying."
"What makes you think that?"
"That fact that I know her better than I know myself."
James nods, accepting my words. "No man should ever hit a woman. You get me the evidence, and it'll get sorted."
I narrow my eyes at him, wondering who the fuck our father really is. We were under the impression he was just a businessman, but as time goes on, he only seems to get a shit ton more complex.
"What do you want to do now?"
"Now?"
"Well, I'm assuming you don't want to send her back?"
"Fucking right I don't."
"Does she have any family?"
"Just an aunt, but she's clearly doing a shit job of looking after her."
"Okay, so should I call social services or..."
"No, she stays here."
James leans forward, his elbows on his knees, his fingers steepled. "Here?"
"I mean, yeah... no... I don't know. But she's not going into the system, and she's not going back there. That's all I know."