Suddenly, the rage bursts out of me, and I fly out of the car.
Storming toward him, I stop myself two feet away, afraid of what I might do if I get too close. I could wring his neck right here. I imagine my hands closing the airways of his throat, watching him turn blue and slump into a lifeless heap on the cement.
There’s a look of disgust on his face as he takes in my appearance, tattoos, piercings, white hair. He’s looking at me like he hates me, and I don’t care.
“You need to stay the fuck away from me,” I snap at him.
“I’m your father, Cullen.”
“You are nothing to me.”
“I just came to say goodbye. I’ll be going abroad for a while. Escape this press nightmare.” He sighs, looking displeased with how things are going for him, and I have to squeeze my fists at my sides to keep from punching him.
“I don’t give a shit where you’re going as long as you stay the fuck away from me.”
“You blame me for what happened to your mother.” It’s not a question. His brow furrows as he watches me, waiting for a response.
“Fuck, yes I blame you for what happened to Mom. You ruined my life! You ruined all our lives. Why? To make more money? You left me with nothing!”
“Stop being so dramatic, Cullen. Your mother cared more about that money than she did about you or me, so don’t get so upset about it.”
Turning away to breathe out some anger, my thoughts freeze on his words. She didn’t care more about the money than me. I was her son—
I spin back toward him, glaring angrily at his face. “Was she my real mother?”
His gaze shoots up to stare back at me. “Why would you ask me that? Of course she was.”
“What about my first nanny? That girl in all the photos of me as a baby.”
There’s a subtle panic that washes over his expression, the corners of his mouth falling as his eyes widen. “I don’t know who you’re talking about. Where did you hear this?”
“Was she my real mother? Tell me the truth!”
I’m growing tired of his denial, so I snatch his collar in my hand and sneer in his face. The man behind the wheel steps out of the car and stares blankly at us. Of course, my dad brought a security guard with him to see me.
“Where did you hear that, Cullen?” He’s squinting at me, and there’s something about the way he asks me that that sends chills through my body. He’s asking me where I heard this…like he already knows.
“Is it true?” I ask with a shake in my voice. “Please tell me it’s not true.”
“Of course it’s not. Did that reporter bitch tell you that?”
My hands lose their grip on his shirt as the blood rushes, seemingly out of my body. Because now I know it’s true. It was in his expression, the way he spoke about her, the way he already knew how I knew. It’s fear that floods my system, and I glare at him.
“How did you…”
“I found out she was teaching here. Then I learned you were in her class. I knew she couldn’t keep her nose out of our business again, and she’d find a way to spread those lies to you. I tried to stop her before she could, but I guess I was too late.”
“What did you just say?” I grit through my teeth as realization dawns. The attack on Everly…I should have known. “Did you hire someone to hurt her? Because she learned the truth—"
As I step back, suddenly feeling that pull to Everly now like something is trying to drag me back to her and I can’t get there fast enough. She’s in danger. And I left her there.
With another step away from my father, I hit a brick wall. Turning, I stare up at the man in black made of nothing but muscle. His hand grasps hard onto the back of my neck, and I try to fight, but his grip is like claws digging into my flesh, rendering me useless.
“Put him in the car,” my dad says with an annoyed groan. “This is getting a lot messier than I wanted it to.”
As the man tries to drag my body to the car, I scramble, dropping my weight and doing my best to fight away from his hold on me.
“Don’t cause a scene,” my dad mutters, his eyes on the guard holding me. “Knock him out for fuck’s sake.”
His arm wraps hard around my neck, and I thrash against him, dropping to the ground. My head begins to pulse as he cuts off my circulation, and I know I only have a few more seconds before I’m out cold. And the only thought in my head is that Everly is in danger. If they knock me out right now, she’ll be dead before I wake up. I can’t take that risk.
My vision begins to blur, my muscles growing weak. Letting myself go heavy in his arms, I tip my chin to my chest, and just as he starts to drag me into the car, probably thinking I’m already out, I press hard against the ground, shooting backward and punching my skull into his face.
The arm around my throat instantly loosens, and I fall to the ground, coughing and trying to get my bearings as the blood rushes back to my head. There’s a hand in my hair as he tries to haul my ass back into the car, but as I stand up, I slam my knee into his crotch and he lets out a heavy grunt. This is my chance.
Sprinting toward Everly’s car, I stumble into the driver’s seat and slam the door closed behind me. Everything happens too fast. The security guard is tearing my car door open as I punch the ignition button and throw it into reverse. He’s trying to drag me out by my shirt as the car flies backward, and he almost succeeds, my ass leaving the seat, but I hold tight to the steering wheel. He falls to the ground, and I slam the door shut, peeling out of the parking lot.
I’m trying to catch my breath and assess the damage as I speed toward Everly’s. Looking around the car, I try to find my phone, but in my rush to leave her, I didn’t even fucking bring it. There’s something warm dripping down the back of my head, and there’s a pretty bad pain on my arm from where I hit the car in a rush to get in.
Fuck, without my phone I have no way of knowing if anyone came to her house. I have no way to track her or contact her. Fuck!
How could I be so stupid? Why do I have to be so impulsive and hot-headed? I couldn’t just stay and listen to her? I was so obsessed with my revenge I left her alone and defenseless.
It’s dark now, and when I round the corner, my tires screeching against the asphalt, my heart sinks into my stomach and bile rises in my throat. There are lights, blue and red, flashing in front of her house, the colors cascading down the street and reflecting off the other craftsman’s around hers. Slamming on my breaks in front of her house, I climb out and everything starts to get very hazy.
I lose track of my actions as I run screaming past the firemen in the yard. Flames are devouring her house, licking their way up the walls and hovering over the roofline.
“Everly!” I yell as I barrel toward the inferno. Someone snatches me by the arms, holding me back from plunging myself into the flames. Trying to fight them off, all I can think about is getting in there to save her. Someone has to go in there to get her. She was there when I left.
“You can’t go in there!” a man yells, pushing me away from the smoke, but I can’t take my eyes off the front door.
“There was a woman in there!” I scream.
“It’s too late, son. I’m sorry.”