Page 148 of You Found Me
“You might have a point about what I did. I mean, you do.” Her bare feet slapped against the tile as she stalked toward him. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes. I acted like a spoiled brat at that pool party. I should have told you about Ken. And it’s going to take the rest of my life for me to make up for what I did to my sisters. But at least I own my mistakes and I’m trying to fix them.”
Ward clenched his jaw so tight she could see the muscles ripple along his face. “Get your shoes on unless you want to go barefoot.”
“I’m not letting you turn your back on me.”
“You don’t call the shots here, Ms. Bellamy.”
“You’ve spent your life running toward danger and away from feelings, and that’s exactly what you’re doing right now.” She poked him in the chest to emphasize her point. “You think you know me, but you don’t know everything about me. You don’t even know everything about yourself. You have a massiveblind spot, Warden. I know what running away from feelings looks like. It looks like a car ride to upstate New York. It looks like a man who refuses to come home for birthdays and holidays. The second you start to care, you leave. That’syourpattern. I know that because I know you, like you know me. That’s what makesthis…us…real.”
He started to say something, but then just pressed his lips together in a tight line.
She pushed his chest with both hands. It was like trying to push a wall. “It’s not a crisis to actually care about someone. Feelings are a good thing. Feelings are what make life worth living. And you don’t get to pretend last night doesn’t matter because it does.”
“Here’s the thing, Ms. Bellamy.” She didn’t like how cold his eyes were or how distant his voice was. There might as well have been a million miles between them. “It really doesn’t. The only thing I’m interested in is finding your stalker before he finds you. That’s it. Nothing else.”
“Okay,” a high, overly cheery voice said behind her. “Sounds like things are going well here.”
Ward’s gaze flicked to the new arrival. “Get her out of here. Take Bridge Road to the highway. The north side and downtown is blocked for the festival.”
Della didn’t bother to turn around. She’d been so wrapped up in what she was trying to ram into Ward’s thick skull that she hadn’t heard the front door open, but she knew Annie’s voice.
The show might be over, but she still had the stage. He wasn’t going to get the last word. Not this time.
“You’d rather face a bullet than admit that last night meant something to you. But that’s okay, right? You’re the mighty warden. You never let your guard down.” She huffed out a harsh, painful sound, half laugh, half misery. “Well I would. I love you. I love the way you looked after me even when you didn’t want to. Ilove the way you make me feel safe. I love the way you watch me from across a crowded room, like nobody else exists. And I love you even when you’re being an obnoxious hypocritical ass and trying to push me away. But I guess none of that means anything to you since it’s coming from acelebritylike me.”
She turned her back on him and found herself facing Annie and Greg. Greg glared at Ward with murder in his eyes, while Annie gave her a glance that friends would share over drinks when someone’s relationship was tanking.
They’d clearly overheard just about everything, but she didn’t care.
The only person whose opinion she cared about right now was the stony, stubborn man behind her, and he wasn’t saying a damn word to stop her.
“Don’t bother with the bag. Nothing here belongs to me anyway,” Della said as she headed for the door. Annie stepped aside without a word. “The bored celebrity will be in the car.”
Della shoved her feet into her shoes and walked out.
Greg gave her shoulder a quick pat. “Right behind you.”
It didn’t take long for her escorts to join her in the SUV. Annie climbed into the driver’s seat, while Greg joined her in the back seat.
“Buckle up, Dell,” Greg said as he snapped his in place. His voice was gentle, but she knew he was serious.
She buckled her seat belt.
Annie pulled out of the driveway without a word.
Funny, she’d never really noticed before how full silence could be. Maybe because she was usually making sure it was never this quiet.
Della burrowed into the seat and watched the town scroll past her window while her throat tightened around a lump so big it threatened to swallow her whole. All of her anger drained intoa pool of bitter unhappiness deep in her chest where her heart should have been.
A tear escaped. She ignored it.
A truck flashed past covered in banners announcing the big festival finale, which would start after sundown.
“There’s supposed to be fireworks tonight.” She didn’t know what made her say it out loud.
Greg squeezed her hand. “He’s an ass.”
“Yeah. He is.” She sniffed. “He’s right, though. I’ve been a real pain. To everybody. And I don’t…I don’t belong here. This was all just…it was a really good dream. That’s all. Time to wake up. Like he said.” She caught Annie looking at her in the rearview mirror. “In case I never told you, I liked what you did with my hair. I liked…being Lucy.”