Page 9 of Unveiled Wounds

“I told Emily some of this, so that she’d understand why I fell under his spell.” My feet shifted forward, and when I was close enough to the counter, I plopped my ass on top of it. Sitting next to Grizz, I matched his position.

“I met him at a country club function. I was hanging out with Stella when he approached our table. How I ever thought he was smooth, I don’t know, but he was the first man to look at me twice, and when he said all the right things, I thought it was the fairytale I’d always wanted.” I looked straight ahead, not really seeing anything. The heat from Grizz’s body against my side was comforting.

“You think I’m a runner because my life got a little too close to Grace’s, but that’s not what happened at all. If Matt hadn’t been cheating, I don’t think Grace would have ever woken up to how bad her marriage was. It’s just in her personality to put everyone else first, and Matt took advantage. That’s the difference. Sabre doesn’t let anyone walk on Grace, including him. They’re equals in their relationship.” Grizz held my hand, encouraging me to keep talking.

“I should have left Brandon before it became so serious, but I told myself that the red flags weren’t so bad. It wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle, not realizing I was conforming to his standards. Brandon told me I was too loud, so I lowered my volume. If he needed me at this restaurant, dressed a certain way, I did it. I tried to fight back, but he always won the argument. I told myself that’s what couples do. They support each other. By the time he proposed, I was so used to working around him, I didn’t even think twice about it anymore. I just did it, breaking another piece of my soul, not knowing why love felt so awful.” A dark chuckle escaped me. “I’m not jealous of Grace, but I refuse to be something I’m not to make someone else happy.”

“You can be as loud as you want because I refuse to lose you in the silence.” He brought my hand up to his lips and kissed my knuckles.

The silence in the garage surrounded us.

“Want to get married?”

I turned to look at Grizz, and he was looking back at me with a huge grin. I hit him in the arm, but I was sure it hurt me more than it did him.

Chapter 5

Why Do They Always Pick Me?

Meredith

“What’s your game plan for today?” Grace asked me. Her fork was in one hand, halfway to her mouth, with a piece of egg hanging off. She held JR with her other arm as he sat on her leg, kicking his feet. She made it look easy, and a twinge of fear ran down my spine.What if I never get the chance again?

“I don’t have any plans,” I replied, stabbing a piece of watermelon. Chef appeared over my shoulder. He reached over me, grabbed my bowl, and set a brand-new plate down.

“I’ll make you your own plate from now on. You’re not eating enough protein,” he said, turning around and walking back into the kitchen.

I had only picked fruit that I liked from the fruit bowl, but this plate had eggs and sausage.

“That looks fantastic,” Grace chimed in, shoving another forkful of eggs into her mouth. “I have to take Aunt E to speech therapy in an hour, but if you’re not busy this afternoon, I thought we might head over to the McMillan Place.”

Grace had asked nicely, but it was a trap. I didn’t want to go, and if I told her no, Sabre would have more ammunition to hate me, and there’d be several comments about how the club was family. I internally rolled my eyes at all of it as I raised my middle finger to the world.

“Why don’t you give me JR and eat?” Sabre chimed in, setting his coffee cup down before reaching for the baby.

This was all Sabre’s fault, I thought, as I shot daggers out of my eyes at him. Grace had always wanted a fancy ass reception hall, and when the Old McMillan Place had come up for sale, he’d made it happen for Christmas. However, I was the one with the skills to design the place to her specifications, without them having to use the renovation budget on an outside firm.

“I’m fine.” She bounced JR on her leg some more before turning back to me. “The structure report is back, so I figured we could go over it.”

I watched Sabre watch JR, and when the baby’s little arms reached out for him, he tried again. “Mama, why don’t I take him?”

“I’m good.” Grace smiled at him and continued to explain some changes she wanted me to look at, but the baby had had enough and whimpered. “Fine,” she huffed, before kissing his head and handing him over to Sabre. “Go to Daddy, you cute little traitor.”

“You know, Flo, I could take Liz to her appointment,” Slate said from the next table over.

“Like fuck you will,” Thunder boomed, causing the room to quiet down. “What time’s your appointment?” he directed at my aunt, who was sitting across from him.

“Elev…n. Gr…c…takes me…lun…ch...after.” My aunt tucked a piece of stray hair behind her ear, and it caught my attention. My aunt had been one of those women with a hair never out of place, and her makeup had been always on point. Pulse’skidnapping had changed everything. In the beginning, there had been days when Aunt E would sit in the main room, dazed in her pajamas, her hair a rat’s nests from fitful sleep. I couldn’t help, trapped in my hell, and Grace had been stuck taking care of both of us. Most of the time, Grace had checked on me and then had left me alone, but she had hauled Aunt E to appointment after appointment. Speech. Occupational. Physical. It hadn’t mattered. Aunt E had gone. Listening to her now, I could hear the enormous progress she’d made, but I didn’t dare think about the future. We both lived day-to-day.

“Alright, it’s a date. Anywhere else you want to go?” Thunder sat back in his chair, his eyes never leaving my aunt.

My aunt’s cheeks flushed pink. “Boo…sto...new…gam…s.”

“You just want to kick my ass,” he laughed, causing a chuckle to float to the rafters.

“I guess we could go this morning then, Mer.” Grace turned back to me.

I didn’t care either way. I wouldn’t get out of this unscathed, and I hated the idea of riding in a car. We pretended the tells didn’t exist, as I tried to mask the anxiety, but as soon as she put the SUV into drive, it would automatically lock, and my blood pressure would skyrocket. I’d instantly hit the unlock button, making sure we had a way to escape. I wouldn’t be able to control my death grip on the door handle, and my knuckles were often white. Feeling cornered, I would bounce my leg repeatedly from the time I entered the car until we reached our destination. I felt safer on the back of Grizz’s bike more than anything else.

---