Be My Brayshaw (Brayshaw High #4)(94)

“She came to me, the other day, and… and before. She’s the one that told me to leave, that it wasn’t safe here for me.”

The vessels around my heart tug and pull, tangling around until I’m sure no blood can flow through, and I’ll fall to the ground any moment.

It wasn’t safe, but she was the least of my concerns.

“She said that you couldn’t protect me, Captain. She took your daughter—”

“Are you fucking kidding me!” I shriek, managing to make it around Royce, but he has my hands behind my back in the same second, and in the same move, Mallory has slid behind Captain.

“It’s true,” she shouts, tears in her eyes.

“Mallory—”

“You did this!” she shouts again.

“I was—”

“You—”

“Shut up!” Captain barks, spinning out of her grasp and glaring down at her. “Shut the fuck up. Why would I believe you?”

“Why would you believe her?” she counters, and goddamn it, if those weren’t the perfect words for her to choose.

Slowly, his head swivels around to mine.

“Is it true?” he asks. “Did you tell her to leave, are you the reason I lost Zoey, lost them both?”

My gut twists, tighter and tighter like a Boa forcing the life from its prey as I stare at the pain in his eyes, but that’s not the hardest part.

Somehow, despite everything, he still has hope she’s good, maybe even needs her to be, if not for himself for his daughter.

For their daughter.

It almost kills me where I stand.

He’s in my face so fast, I can’t brace for it, stumbling back until my hands meet the rocky ground. Small pebbles cut into my palms as Captain’s always quick hands let me drop.

I push to my feet.

“Yes or no,” he growls, and I don’t miss the small crack in his voice. “Are you the reason she left?”

I’d swear in this moment, it’s possible for bones to break from emotional pain. My ribs ache as if snapped, my chest caves as if my lungs have been punctured as I stare, the moonlight playing as a vicious painter, sharpening his features and darkening his eyes.

The lost boy in front of me, so desperate for answers he doesn’t understand as the girl at his back left him with none.

Am I the reason she left?

The simplest answer...

“Yes,” I whisper.

The cords in his neck stretch to their brink, his throat sinking in as if he’s swallowed molten metal and the burn is too fucking strong, too much.

I don’t even recognize the voice that follows. “Leave. Now.”

I attempt to swallow but my body denies the request, so I nod, and turn away, but he’s not done.

“You take nothing,” he seethes. “Leave with the clothes on your back, never look back. Be invisible or I will make you disappear.”

“Captain...” Raven trails.

My eyes slide to hers, watching the array of emotions as they flash across her face.

She takes a step toward me, but with my arms still at my side, I lift my fingers where only she can see.

It’s okay. Stand with them, they need you most.

I can’t possibly glance toward him, but slowly her features smooth, her hands slipping into both Maddoc’s and Royce’s as she slowly licks her lips, an almost unnoticeable nod following.

My stomach twists.

Cross one, cross all.

“Victoria, wait!” Mallory frantically cries. “Don’t leave! Please, I—”

I stop but don’t look her way, and as I expected, nobody follows.

My feet can’t carry me fast enough. I cut through the cars in the parking lot, walking as quickly as I can until I’m far enough away they could never see. I drop my back against the nearest car, my hands coming up to cover my face as I try to catch my breath.

“Finally.”

The air gets lodged in my throat as a shiver runs down my spine.

Slowly, my hands fall from my face, and there he stands, black hoodie and jeans. Gloves and a pistol.

My body sags, and I shake my head. “I expected you sooner.”

His eyes fall, but his smile is the last thing I see before everything goes black.





Chapter 32





Captain



Numb.

I’m fuckin’ numb. From the roots of my hair to the souls of my fuckin’ feet, I feel nothing, have felt nothing for three days now.

The only time anything breaks through is when I look at my daughter, and even then it’s the most fucked up, off-putting emotion that consumes me, and on top of that, the least expected.

Deep, bottom of the pit betrayal.

She has no clue I sent her friend away, yet still, in her eyes my mistake stares back, but I’m not so sure I made one.

Victoria brought this on herself. My daughter only knew her because Victoria manipulated her way into her world, stole something a little girl should never lose—her mother. She tried to take Mallory’s place.

Victoria said she wanted to be Brayshaw, and in the grand scheme of things, she was well on her way, gave herself two options—as mine or as a selfless hero. She covered both bases.

She fucked with my head, over and over, and each time I proved to be weaker than the last. Blind to her.