Page 71 of Pretty Broken Wings
“I know.” He pulls to his feet.
“No, I don’t think you know.” I want to knock him back down. Beat him till the rage leaves my body, but instead, I just tremble. “You fucking kidnapped her?”
“Dude, she’s being stalked.”
“Yeah, by you!” I pace, needing the rage to go into something. How the fuck am I going to protect him this time? This is a serious offense. Like, this is thirty-years-in-prison serious. And he hurt her? Goddamn it, fucking hell, he’d never get parole.
No, I’m not going to protect him. He did this.
I launch my fist into the wall.
The only problem is, now she’s in my house. Which makes me complicit.
I want to yell. Scream. Punch Axel some more.
He scared Raven off. She’ll never trust us now.
“It’ll be okay,” Axel says. “She’s just scared.”
I don’t even reply. I’m afraid I’ll actually rip his hair out if I do.
“Get the fuck out of my face,” I say quietly.
Axel is silent for a minute.
He took the confidence out of Raven’s voice. He made her scream. He hurt her. Just like Dad and Rich did to Mom. And he did all of that while wearingmyface.
Axel must realize how serious I am because he leaves me to figure out how the hell to fix this.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
I give Raven as long as I can to come out. It feels like she’s been in the master spare room for hours, but in reality, the clock only says about an hour. The more time ticks on, the more my shoulders feel heavy, the kidnapping charge falling on me as well.
Finally, I stride up to the room, raising my hand to knock on the door. It feels weird knocking in my own house.
When I knock, she doesn’t answer. I try again.
Nothing.
Fear rocks through me, and I open the door, immediately spotting her just where I left her, sitting on the floor with Buddy spread out over her lap.
Buddy’s tail starts thumping, and the relief that rushes through me almost makes my knees weak. I was afraid my dog was scared of me, too.
“Hey.” I clear my throat. “You can come out.” I wince. It sounds like I just gave her permission, like I would a small child. Or a captive.
Raven narrows her eyes at me. “Axel?”
“Gage.”
My heart twists. She just continues glaring at me like she doesn’t believe me. I glance down at my shirt, which is the same one I was wearing when she came in, but she’s right not to trust us. And that pisses me off.
“We talked about my clock,” I grumble. “You didn’t think it could keep time accurately.”
There’s a pause, and then she lets out the tiniest breath. I don’t think I would have caught it if I weren’t paying such close attention.
“Let me go.” It’s not a question, but it’s not a demand, either.
“We need to talk.” The words come out brisk, and I hate how demanding they sound. But the adrenaline is flowing, and I can’t seem to get it to stop.
