Page 77 of Carved in Ice (Made of Steel 3)

I didn’t doubt what Miles said about the letters was true. It was different hearing the truth from Don though. How had I not figured that out when I was little? Of course Don had taken my letters. Of course he had. He had taken the one thing I had left in my life and tainted it.

“Young love is such a complicated thing.”

He tipped his head back and drained the bottle. He set it down and lifted up another.

“I was just trying to save you from the pain of rejection.”

“You mean like how my mother rejected you?”

Anger flashed across his face. He licked his lips as he stared at me. “Your mother didn’t reject me. She was just scared of taking a chance. She loved me and I loved her.”

I shook my head. “That woman you sent to do your dirty work. My aunt. She told me the truth about what happened in the woods that day.”

“The truth? You can’t believe everything you hear, doll. It was her truth. And everyone’s truths are bathed in lies.”

“Which is why I don’t believe a word that comes out of your mouth.”

“But why would I lie like her? I’m not about to die. She was scared and troubled.”

That was true. She had been terrified. But I knew lies when I heard them. After all, I had grown up with him. And my aunt hadn’t been lying. Filled with resentment, yes. But lies, no.

“You hated her for choosing Mr. Crawford. And you’re taking it out on me because I look like her? You’re insane.”

He lifted up another bottle. “Ah, William Crawford. Good old Will.” He shook his head. “He’s in the next room, you know.”

I swallowed hard. “Why?”

“Because I’m going to kill him. I spent years trying to keep you away from that Miles boy and he dumps you in the one city that he shouldn’t. There’s no forgiving him this time.”

I still didn’t know all of Mr. Crawford’s story. But I knew he didn’t deserve to die. “You’re wrong. He told me to stay away from anyone I recognized from my past. He made me promise that I would.”

“And what would you tell a vulnerable girl? I’d fucking tell her she had to stay away from her childhood sweetheart. He basically insured that you’d run to Miles. He put you in the same city. The same school. The same fucking floor as him. Coincidence only goes so far.”

It was too much of a coincidence. I had taken it as fate. But maybe Don was right. Maybe Mr. Crawford wanted me to run to Miles. To tell him everything. “But why?”

“Because he loved your mother too.”

I knew that. My mom chose him over Don. But then she had to go into hiding because she was scared Don would come for her. My grandmother and mother changed their names. They moved. I wanted to believe that she left Mr. Crawford in the past, but I knew that wasn’t true. I knew it was even possible that he was my father.

I thought about how all of Mr. Crawford’s addresses had been close to mine growing up. But that had even been before Don took me. He had been nearby when my parents were alive. I sat down on the edge of the bed. “I don’t understand.”

He walked over to the bed. “He’s been trying to save you, doll. From me.” He put his knee between my legs, pushing my thighs apart.

I couldn’t breathe.

“Like you’d want to be saved from me.” He grabbed the cord around my robe and pulled.

Stop. I tried to close my thighs, but he leaned forward and put his hand on the center of my chest, pushing me backward on the bed.

Fire. His touch felt like flames. The feeling spread through my chest. I can’t breathe.

I felt my robe slip open.

Don ran his fingers down my torso and over the scar on my stomach. Tears pricked my eyes. I wasn’t strong enough when I was 16. But now? I had been training for this exact moment. I wasn’t some weak girl anymore. I balled my hands into fists. No more pain. No more hurt. He was never going to touch me again.

The expression on his face morphed before my eyes. His smile turned more sinister than I had ever seen as his fingers left my skin. He put them up to his ear like he was listening to something. He turned away from me.

I took a huge gulp of air. The feeling of fire left my skin. My head cleared. I gripped my robe closed and I eyed the phone on the ground. If I grabbed it, I could knock him over the head.

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