Chapter Five
893 Words
The authoritative voice that broke through the night was very familiar.
“Take your hands off her, Hawthorne.”
Julian’s tight grip loosened instantly. His head snapped up, revealing the shock that momentarily sobered his bloodshot eyes. Standing on the porch, illuminated by the porch light, was my father, dressed in his night robe. The moon beamed on the cold, hard glint of the long gun cradled in his arms.
My father’s face was utterly devoid of the warmth I had known my entire life. He looked at Julian like a pest he was about to squash.
“It is a felony to trespass on my property, Julian. But to assault my daughter,” Dad started, his voice terrifyingly steady. “I suggest you leave now. Because if I pull this trigger, the police will see a drunken criminal threatening my family, and no one will shed a single tear.”
Julian hesitated, his furious gaze darting between the gun and my father’s expressionless face. Finally, he looked at me last, and I simply held his gaze, masking my internal tremble.
He spat a low, vulgar word and spun on his heel. He didn't look back, but I could hear the venomous hiss in his voice as he spoke: “You think that's it, Brianna? You’ll regret this.” He disappeared down the corner.
I collapsed against the porch railing, the adrenaline fading away and leaving behind a hollow, sickly feeling.
My father put the gun down against the wall and pulled me into his arms. I clung to him, trembling as the reality of the past eight years with Julian finally hit me with full force.
“Why, Dad? Why did I stay?” I whispered into his robe.
He simply held me tighter. “Because he made you feel like that was love. It’s over now, sweet pea.”
As we entered back into the house, Dad began to cough heavily, sending me into a burst of panic. His treatment was barely helping, it only left him feeling weaker by the day.
“Don’t worry about me,” he said, touching my face. “I'm okay.”
But he wasn't. I saw the exhaustion etched into the lines around my father’s eyes.
Connor's POV
I couldn't sleep that night. Which wasn't surprising considering I got barely ten hours of sleep each week.
I had dropped Brianna off, but instead of driving away immediately, I had pulled into a side street two blocks over, waiting five minutes, just to be sure. It was a habit I’d picked up years ago, from a past I tried to forget.
I heard the sound of a shuffle, then saw Julian Hawthorne grabbing her wrist. The fury that ripped through me was instant and almost overwhelming. I recognized the look on his face, I’d seen that mix of entitlement and rage too many times before.
As I reached for the door knob, ready to approach them, I saw her father. My mind did not relax until I saw Julian stumbling away with his tail between his legs.
The image of Hawthorne’s hand on her wrist was etched into my mind. I barely knew her, yet the urge to protect her was so fierce, it felt like a physical ache in my chest.
I wasn't blind. I knew what had happened to her recently, the last thing she needed was another complicated mess like me.
I ran a hand roughly over my face. f**k me.
Brianna's POV
The following week was going so well. Dad's health improved, Anderson agreed to the proposal we drafted out, I had fallen back into pace with work. Although I and Connor hadn't seen much because we were both so swamped with work, I was glad to hear that the Bantam boys were showing improvement already.
Frustrated, I was grumbling to myself in the elevator at work when the doors opened and someone joined me.
“Everything okay?” I heard Connor ask and my head snapped up.
“Sorry, I didn't see you there. And no, not really. I'm trying to order an Uber to my place so I can quickly grab some documents, but it's like the app is malfunctioning,” I groaned.
He smirked. “Why don't I just drop you off at home?”
“Are you sure? I wouldn't want to intrude,” I asked, even as a small, eager part of me hoped he would insist. I needed those documents urgently.
He waved my concern off while we walked to his car.
When I got to the house, the first thing I noticed was that the front door was not completely closed and my heart skipped a beat.
I paused in my tracks as my mind conjured up a thousand things that could be behind that door. Connor, who came out with me, noticed my expression and followed my line of sight.
“Hold on,” he warned, holding an arm in front of me as he pushed the door open with caution.
My heart was beating so loudly, I could hear it. I didn't realize I was closing my eyes until Connor called my name and I slowly peeled them open.
Red.
The only thing I saw was a brilliant splash of crimson pooling on the hardwood floor.
A scream pierced through the cold air.
- Writer
