Page 88 of The Stallion
“You know, if you had just taken a second and stopped being so secretive with me over this past month, I would’ve already told you I already knew what had happened to Connor…” Her eyes connected with mine as she gave me a short smile. “But I wantedyouto be the one to bring it up and tell me what occurred. I wasn’t willing to outright accuse my best friend of being some unhinged psychopath when I knew she wasn’t.” Asher sighed, leaning forward to press her forehead against mine. “You’ve had a lot on your plate, Bri… Too much, if I’m being totally honest with you.”
“But what about his parents? You texted them—they sent you an update on what was happening with the police—”
“I did. And then, after you left with your new beau, I reached out to Colton, who—by the way—informed me that my best friend was a very stabby individual. Red most likely being her favorite fucking color.” I winced at the memory, the visualization of the damage I had done within minutes. “You know, when I gave you his number all those years ago as a joke to make you feel safe, I never thought you’d actually need it.”
“I didn’t either…” I crossed my arms over my chest before wetting my lips with a deep breath in. “He told me that you called him…often. For what? What could you possibly need a—”
“And we’ll save that discussion for another girls’ night.” Asher pulled away from me, preventing the subject from switching to her while strolling toward the door. “I’ll sort out the team—damage control,of course. You go home. It’s better this way, regardless… With the bomb those officers just dropped on thousands of spectators, it’s probably best if BriaRobinsdisappears. Besides, I’m sure there’s still a lot to unpack between the two of you now that this—” She waved her hand, searching for the right word. “Fiasco is all out in the fucking open.”
Just before leaving the room, Asher turned back, her eyes set straight on Dallas, and a finger pointed directly at him for emphasis.
“Andyou… Before I forget. You so much as lay a remotely harmful finger on my best friend, and you’ll find out exactly who the fuck I am.”
I swallowed at her threat, feeling every ounce of its malice and promise as a warm palm slid over my hip and across my waist, pulling me against my husband’s side.
Dallas nodded in confirmation before leaning down and pressing a kiss to the top of my head.
“Let’s go home…” He murmured, taking my hand and leading me out of the room, deliberately heading in the opposite direction of the main hall and toward the nearest emergency exit.
Dallasremainedsilentthroughoutthe short drive, giving me time to collect my thoughts and figure out how to explain everything once we had arrived.
As he pulled into the driveway, I sighed longingly, staring out through the windshield at a home I never wanted to leave. The life I felt that I never had the chance to truly embrace.
“You’re not leaving me, Bria,” Dallas asserted, resting his elbow on the center console as he reached across the car to cup my cheek.
I turned my head to face him, his eyes holding mine captive as they always did—a flicker of a memory from the first time I saw them in that dark office, with nothing but the light from the hall to make them glimmer.
“You say it doesn’t matter, but what I did… was out ofhate.” I struggled to hold his piercing gaze as I admitted what had been haunting me all this time—the reason behind my sudden shift in personality. “What you do for the MUR is—”
“Sweet girl…” He pressed the pad of his thumb to my lips, interrupting me from speaking any further. “Unless you killed him for fun and entertainment, he deserved the fate you handed him. I can see it in your eyes—the hurt, the pain, the guilt. Bria, you didn’t murder your ex for the fuck of it. He hurt you for years, and I would’ve done far worse if I had the chance.”
“He cheated on me…” I confessed, my eyes brimming with tears, ready to fall. “For three fucking years… he was withherand justdragged my pathetic ass along for the ride—nothing more than a fucking trophy—”
“I can’t listen to this—” He interjected as I started to weep, exiting his side of the car and skirting around to mine. My husband opened the door and pulled me out of the passenger seat, cradling me while I felt myself slowly breaking into pieces in his arms. “Come on, let’s get you inside, in bed, where I can hold you, and you can tell me everything while I comfort my wife the way a husband should.”
As Dallas carried me into our bedroom and gently set me down on the bed, I clung to his shirt, not wanting to lose physical contact with him even for a split second. I was barely holding on—vulnerable, letting him in to the fullest extent.
I could be strong and defiant all fucking day, but that didn’t mean that underneath the mask I wore so proudly in the light, that I wasn’t burning myself alive in the fire I had created in the dark.
The mattress sank with his weight before he pulled me between his legs and held me tightly, my face pressed up against his warm chest.
“I thought I knew what it felt like to be loved—” I could feel my tears soaking into his shirt, making the cotton fabric stick to the side of my face, cold and wet. “I didn’t realize until it was too late that I was nothing more than a pawn in someone else’s game. That I no longer meant anything to him, and his false affections were the only thing that kept me going.”
I was free-falling with every shaky breath that I took, every word I spoke.
“Why did you stay?” Dallas asked softly, hesitant as if unsure if that was the right question to ask me. I huffed a shallow laugh as I reflected on my choices—the decisions that had led me to where I am today.
“Why does anyone stay?” I countered, lifting my face to look up at my love as he played with a long strand of my hair, twirling it around his index finger. “Because oftentimes, we believe that we can fix anything as long as we try hard enough—giving it our all… Quitting the relationship was never an option for me. I was raised never to quit—no matter the cost.”
“Even if the cost were your dignity?”
I sucked on my cheek and rolled my lips together as I lowered my head back down to his chest, listening to his soft breaths—his heartbeat, unable to find a justifiable answer.
Because he was right.
I had lost my dignity, and murder seemed like the only means of getting it back.
Dallas didn’t speak as I mulled over my thoughts and actions, wondering if the police would come after me again, if this were just the calm before the real storm appeared at our doorstep, ready to take me away for good.
