Page 57 of Shattered Souls
Grayson throws his hands up in exasperation, and I hear him grumbling under his breath about how sugar isn’t food. Still, we all promptly ignore him, and thankfully, Royce redirects the conversation by saying, “Lydia making googly eyes at Logan can’t have been the highlight of dinner…”
“Ha,” Logan barks humorlessly. “That was the warm-up act. Your father followed it up by basically dictating that Riley move in with them.”
“What?!” Grayson roars before glancing at the tables around us and lowering his voice. “He didwhat?!”
“How did he think that would go over?” Royce adds, his brows creased in thought.
“I’m pretty sure he thought he was just going to lay down the law, and Riley would oblige,” Logan practically snarls. “He went on and on about how she was fuckingunstableandattention-seeking.He’s fucking lucky I didn’t stab him with my fork.”
Cheeks heated, my gaze drops to the table, feeling just as embarrassed as I had when Bertram said all that shit at the dinner table. With the exception of being attention-seeking,nothing else he said was a lie. But hearing him say it all in that fake-as-fuck sympathetic tone made me feel like I was that fractured fifteen-year-old again.
Every word out of his mouth had been a slice of a blade to my skin, cutting me open. Flaying me until I couldn’t find the strength to stand up for myself.
If it hadn’t been for Logan…
God, I can’t even bear to imagine.
“Hey.” Smooth fingers that don’t belong to my husky or my bad boy fighter wrap gently around my chin, lifting my face until I’m staring into dark brown eyes that leave me feeling like I’m falling into the depths of a warm, endless night. For the first time, I notice subtle flecks of gold and amber buried deep, like the last embers of a dying fire inviting me closer.
Grayson’s fingers stroke tenderly over the angle of my jaw. “Don’t let him get in your head. It’s what he wants. To control you. To break you down piece by piece until you no longer recognize yourself.”
I latch onto his bolstering words, letting them push out the insidious voice of his father, whispering that I’m damaged. Staring into his eyes is like falling head-first into a pool of melted chocolate: Deep and inviting, and in their warmth, I find the strength to silence the tormenting echoes of my past.
“I’m no longer that little girl,” I say aloud in a small yet steady voice.
“No, you’re not,” Grayson agrees, his tone a blend of strength and tenderness. “You’ve transformed your pain into power, your trauma into resilience. You’ve become this incredible, strong woman who stands tall despite everything that tried to break you.”
He pauses, his gaze unwavering, allowing his words to sink in. “You’re a testament to what it means to rise above, to overcome. Your strength isn’t just in surviving; it’s in thriving, inbecoming the woman you are today. Don’t let anyone, especially him, make you forget that.”
His words wash over me, along with Royce’s affectionate touches and Logan’s steadying warmth, filling the cracks in my armor with renewed strength until I don’t need Grayson to hold my head high anymore.
The instant I sit straight in my chair, Logan pulls me onto his lap and kisses my temple. Somehow, Royce manages to keep a hold of my foot and shifts it to rest on his thigh as he continues his ministrations, and I melt into their comfort as I rest my head on Logan’s chest.
“Bertram has been speaking with her advisor and landlord,” Logan informs them. “He knew her grades had dropped this semester and that she hadn’t been staying at her apartment.”
“Shit,” Grayson curses. “I should have expected him to do that. It’s just like him to stick his nose where it doesn’t belong.”
“I told him she’s been staying with me, but we suspect he might have someone watching her. Not all the time, but enough…”
“I mean, we knew he had to have eyes on her with the cards he’s been sending. How else would he have known Riley had started at Halston unless Lydia told him?”
I shake my head. “I don’t think she did. I just… I can’t see her giving him any information about me that she doesn’t have to. It’s clear that whatever the reasons for their marriage, shewantshim, and she views me as an obstacle standing in her way.” My heart clenches as her hate-filled words try to tear me apart.
For trying to steal my husband, you can live the rest of your life knowing your daughter is chained in some basement and being passed around for the amusement of men who get off on making her scream in agony.
Who the hell says that to their daughter? What sort of personsellstheir grandchild, then holds it over their daughter’s head?I always knew Lydia was a self-involved bitch, but this is on a whole other level. She trulyhatesme. Hell, hate isn’t a strong enough word for the pure malice she leveled at me.
Loathes.
Detests.
Abhors.
Words all more befitting.
“Then we need to be on our guard.” Grayson’s tone is severe. “Whoever has been watching Riley might have been watching us too. And if they haven’t, they’ll be on the lookout.” Focusing on Logan, he says, “I’m sure my dad will be digging up everything he can find on you.”
Logan shrugs easily. “I figured he would. Let him look; there’s nothing for him to find. Another reason why it was better for me to go tonight instead of Royce.”
