Page 87 of Liar Byrd
None.
I had no say in it at all.
I remember the unbreakable grip Jeremiah’s acolyte had on my arm as he dragged me down the aisle when I hesitated as the music started. Jeremiah’s hand was tight around mine as if he knew how desperately I wanted to run away.
I remember turning my face away when he leaned in to kiss me, and him turning my head back to press a kiss on my lips that I didn’t want.
He didn’t steal just my innocence from me. He stole my belief I’d ever smile again.
“This isn’t a fight you can win, Vonn,” I whisper. “I have to go.”
If I can’t run from Jeremiah, then I will walk back to him and hope he takes out his anger on just me.
Vonn’s expression hardens. It was granite hard before. Now, I’m looking at the killer again.
“Tell me who hurt you, and you won’t ever have to fear again, sweetheart.”
I shake my head, the backs of my eyelids burning. “Ican’t.”
It’s not as easy as putting a gun to Jeremiah’s head and pulling the trigger.
Because it’s not just him.
Jeremiah owns a compound with a fence I drove his truck through to escape. He will have repaired the fence, probablyeven strengthened it. He has acolytes—men he trusts more than anyone else.
Big men. Dangerous men. Men who don’t care how many bruises they cause when they put their hands on me as they yank me back to Jeremiah.
And there are guards.
I only ever saw them from a distance. They prowled the perimeter of the fences, carrying guns. I don’t know how many there were, but at least a dozen. If Vonn tries to kill Jeremiah for me, he will die.
“You have a sheriff here. I was too afraid to go to one before, but maybe I can go to this one?”
Maybe a sheriff and his department could stop Jeremiah?
A hint of a smile softens his hard lips. “The sheriff isn’t inclined to want to do anything to help us. We’re on our own here.”
“Because you killed someone?”
A loud crack cuts through his response.
Vonn freezes, then glances at my window
“What was that?” I whisper, gripping the front of his shirt.
“Gunshot.”
My heart stops.
Nash said he was heading out to find out what was going on.
“Nash…”
Vonn pulls me close, slanting his mouth over mine in nothing less than a possessive caress. “You find a place to hide, sweetheart.” He hands me a cell phone that he pulls out of his back pocket. “And you call the sheriff.”
“You said he wouldn’t help you.”
“But he will helpyouif you need it. Hide first. He may not get here in time.”
