Page 100 of Forbidden Eyes
The cars peel off one by one, Vico’s the last to leave, and I watch Fia as she paces around a small area, fists clenched, and finally drops down to her knees in the gravel.
The scream that rips from her could be heard ten miles out as she scrapes stones with her nails. It hurts me, the sound of her screams. I can feel them inside me, feel them like they’ll stick in my guts and show me what the fuck this has all been for. But still I stand away from her, hands in my pockets without a goddamn clue what to do next.
It takes Logan moving towards her to wake me the fuck up. I growl, physically growl at him to warn him to back off, and then nod at Nate as he moves back towards the house and takes Logan with him.
“How’s Quinn?” I ask, as they pass by, still looking at Fia.
“Bitching. Gabby says it’s okay, though." He puts his hand on my shoulder, squeezing slightly. "She was dealing with it before I came back out. I’ll go check now, find out where the doctor is.”
I nod and listen to them leaving, glancing at the few of our guys who are dealing with the bodies littered around. All this for her. And what now? My eyes keep looking at her down there, part of me trying to calm the fuck down enough to try searching for empathy. Never has been an emotion I’ve gotten a hold of, never even tried. There’s no logic in it. No reason or judgement. It’s irrational and purposeless. Futile.
And they’re all things I’ve avoided my whole damn life.
Guess you can’t avoid love, though.
That bitch bites hard.
My feet move me towards her after listening to her sniff back tears. If nothing else I need to get her off the ground so she doesn’t have to see the bodies being dragged and dumped into cars. Maybe I want to hold her, too. I don’t know. I’m twisted up, body aching for reasons that make no fucking sense to me.
She doesn’t acknowledge my approach, just keeps muttering to herself as if she can change things. She can’t, not unless she calls up her father and makes him come back for her.
“Come into the house,” I say, reaching for her.
“Screw you, Carter.”
My lips quirk, a half-hearted chuckle coming at her venom. It’s fine. She can have that until she’s got her head straight again. I probably deserve it anyway given the way I left her in the pool. We’ve got a lot to talk about before we take any steps further than we already have. She needs to know who I am for a start, understand what life is like around here.
“The screwing comes later, Fia. Up.”
She spins and scrabbles to her feet, hand coming at my face quicker than lightning. Good girl. I take the slap and push into her, grabbing her waist to me. Bloodshot eyes fire at me from behind the tears still welling in them. “You wanna do that again?”
“Yes. You fucking deserve it.”
Yeah.
I pull her closer and tuck her head into my chest, letting her get the rest of those sniffs in check against me if that's what she needs. Feels kinda nice for a few minutes, and my breath blows out as I feel the wash of calm finally settle. My chin hovers over her head, not sure if I should cling on or let go.
“You alright now?" I murmur, eyes looking around the grounds. "I need to go check on Quinn.”
She pushes away from me, eyes widening instantly, and turns so she can sprint to the house. I follow, hurrying my ass to keep up with her as she skids into the hall and listens for where they are. It’s not hard. I can hear him bitching from the lounge, Emily trying to calm him down. She runs into the room and drops to her knees by his side, hands fidgeting all over him to make sure he’s alive. Of course, he is. A guy like Quinn won’t go out with a bullet to the leg.
I smile at the lot of them and lean on the doorframe, checking them all over. Nate’s fine. Logan, too, but for some cuts on his face. I look at his knuckles, watching as Gabby cleans them off. He did well out there from what I saw, handled himself just like a Cane should. Effective. Merciless. Maybe he’s grown into a good call in the time I’ve been ignoring him.
“Carter?” Emily says, walking over to me. “Sit down. I’ll check you over.”
“I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not. Have you seen your face?”
No. I don’t care either. The only thing bothering me is how Fia feels and the fact that I don't know how the fuck to help her. Everything else is fine. Emily suddenly jabs me in the rib, and I buckle sideways from the pain that rips through me. “You’ve broken that again. Stupid, Carter.”
I laugh and peel my jacket off, dumping it on the chair so I can go see what Quinn’s bitching is all about. He looks straight at me as I approach, a frown on his features.
“You okay?” he asks.
I nod and look at the makeshift bandage on his thigh, disturbed by the amount of blood seeping through it.
“You?”