I warred, chewing at the inside of my cheek, before I suggested, “Lunch?”
She giggled. “I was thinking something a little more along the lines of dress shopping, but I’m sure we could fit lunch in, too.”
My brow furrowed.
She squeezed my hands in emphasis. “I want you to be in my weddin’, Violet.”
“Em.”
Distress blazed. Misery over what she was asking and grief over the thought of saying no.
“Please. I miss you. I want you standing beside me when I take the most important step of my life.”
I nodded, even though a horrible feeling was taking me over. “I’d be honored.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
It would have been a whole lot more convincing if the word hadn’t cracked.
I angled my head toward the stairs. “Now, you better get back to your party.”
“Are you going to be okay? Are you sure you don’t want to come down? I’d love to introduce you to Royce.”
“Someday soon, but I think I need to call it a night.”
She hesitated before she nodded and leaned in for a quick hug. “Okay. I’ll talk to you soon. And I mean that.” The last she said with a bolt of carefree laughter, pointing at me as if she had me pegged.
“I’m sure you do.” I let lightness weave into the words.
I watched her as she turned and headed back for the stairs, tossing me a soft smile as she went. I waited until she’d gone and then worked to gather myself. To put myself back together.
Then I lifted my chin and headed for the stairs as if the man didn’t have the power to affect me. To set me off-kilter.
I had too much to be living for to give him the power.
It was a valiant effort, but it didn’t change the fact I could feel the weight of him as I edged down the stairs. It didn’t change the potent energy that lashed and flared and chased me into the night.
His eyes daggers as he watched me go.
Four
Richard
There’s a thing about living a lie.
That lie eats at you. Festers and decays and rots away the good until the only thing that remains is regret.
From where I was hidden below the staircase, I watched her flee across the lobby.
Let her go.
I could have chanted the plea a thousand times and I doubted it would have made a dent in the urge that screamed at me not to let her out of my sight.
To love and to cherish and to protect.
She blew out the hotel doors in a riot of color.
Violet and magenta and teal.
Hair a striking black.
A moonflower in distress.
My guts knotted with the chaos she incited. I might have been the one who’d had her backed against a wall, but she was the one who had me chained.
A motherfucking prisoner.
Possession rose like a storm, a roar that intensified. My hands curled into fists like it might keep me rooted to the spot.
No chance I could ignore the call. Not after I’d been sure some scumbag had come riffling around like a predator cloaked in the night.
I edged out the door, gaze instantly peering to the right where she quickened down the sidewalk, her heels clacking on the pebbled stones.
She ducked into the same old truck she’d driven since I’d met her that she had parked at the curb. Not a second passed before the loud engine rumbled to life like a low roll of thunder in the dense, thick night.
She whipped out of the spot and accelerated down the road.
I jogged to my truck parked on the opposite side, climbed in, pushed the button to the ignition, and pulled out behind her.
My headlights cut through the night, and her taillights were nothing but a haze of red dots up in the distance.
I forced myself not to tail her too close. To give her some semblance of space and respect when the only thing I wanted to do was toss her over my shoulder and carry her away where I could keep her safe.
Was pretty sure she wouldn’t be too keen on the idea.
I followed her through town, keeping back a block, slowing even more as she took the two-lane road that led out into the rolling hills outside of Dalton.
Farms on every side.
My pulse skittered in a stagnant beat of loss as I drove the deserted road that was so familiar. A million memories rushing and gathering and screaming their truth.
“I love you. Forever.”
“Not ever gonna let you go.” My voice a growl as I held her close. As I touched her and adored her.
My fairy girl.
My magic.
My reason.
My insides panged in a want and a loyalty that I’d twisted and mangled so fuckin’ bad they were no longer recognizable.
I eased around the sweeping curve that I knew would bring the modest farmhouse into view.
Still, it struck me like it was the first time I was seeing it. Like I was going to meet her parents and confess what their daughter had done to me.
Slayed me with a look.
It was off to the right, perched high on the hill.
Tonight, it was lit in a dreary moonlight.
Quaint and peaceful and safe.
It overlooked the rolling planes that went on forever behind it.
Rows and rows of flowers, shrubs, and blossoming trees grew over the acres.
Rolling Wallflowers.
The flower farm that was the heart and soul of who Violet was.
My spirit ached and throbbed like it was looking for its rightful place. So near. So far out of reach.
“You are the light hung in my night sky.”
“You are the sun breaking with morning’s day,” she whispered back.
Like some kind of stalker, I pulled off to the side of the road.
Watched.
Watched her truck jostle up the dirt road and come to a stop in front of the wraparound porch. The lights cut off, and a couple seconds later, a shadow of her shape climbed to the porch, wrapped in the glow of the lights hanging on
