Tragic Beauty (Beauty & The Darkness #1)(41)
Gavin blinks slowly, then says very, very quietly, “Is that what you really want, Ava? You want me to go and never come back?”
I can’t even say the word, so I nod my head, causing tears to shake free. A coldness settles into his face, a hardness that has little pieces of my heart falling away.
“Fine.”
He turns to go, when the wail of a siren approaches and headlights shine through the crowd. Seconds later, Sheriff Carson steps into the open, the brim of his hat set low, his big belly straining against the buttons of his shirt. “What’s going on here? Got a call about a fight.”
The crowd is quiet, but Shayne’s loud voice cuts through the silence. “He assaulted me!” he shouts, pointing at Gavin. “Again!”
The Sheriff glances to Gavin, then back to Shayne.
“I got all these witnesses!” Shayne says, waving a hand at the crowd. “They all saw him lunge at me. I wasn’t doing anything! Just having some fun on my wedding night and that fucker straight up attacked me!”
The Sheriff glances around the crowd warily. “That how it happened?”
I close my eyes, not wanting to hear the words that will surely follow. It’s Buck’s voice I hear first. “No, Sheriff. Was the other way around. This fella here, well, it was self-defense, plain as day. Ain’t that right?” he asks the crowd.
My eyes dart around, hearing agreement spread from one person to the next.
“Liars!” Shayne bellows. He turns to his guys. “Tell him!”
Red steps forward. “Shayne’s telling the truth, Sheriff.”
Sherriff Carson grunts, lifts his hat to scratch his balding head, then settles it back in place and lets out a sigh. It’s the word of thirty or more people—mostly respectable—against the word of four known troublemakers. “Alright, well…” He glances back to Gavin, then to Shayne. “You’re both standing, so no harm, no foul. Let’s break up this gathering. Go on. All of you, back inside. Nothing left to see.”
Even from the distance I’m at, I can see Shayne trembling with rage, but he keeps his mouth shut.
Slowly, the crowd breaks up and starts to wander in. I see Gavin and Buck exchange glances, as something unspoken passes between them, then Buck disappears into the bar, along with everyone else, and the side door slams shut behind him.
I know Shayne’s eyes are on me now, watching through the darkness, but all I see is Gavin.
He stands with shoulders slumped and turns his somber gaze to me.
My feet want nothing more than to run me to him, but I use every bit of strength I have to force them to stay in place. I just stand there and watch Gavin blink his beautiful green eyes, look down at the ground, then turn and begin to walk away. Tears begin gushing quietly down my face, then Gavin turns the corner, and he’s gone.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Ava
The ride home is deathly quiet. I risk a glance over to Shayne, covered in blood, his face now swollen to the point he’s unrecognizable. Red had tried to get him to go to the hospital, or at least let him drive us home, but Shayne wouldn’t have it. He’d climbed into the dually, his eyes set dead ahead, and never once said a word. But I know the silence is only temporary. I know what’s coming.
I turn my head and stare out the window, losing myself in a sea of darkness, thinking of how I hurt Gavin, thinking of what he was ready and willing to do for me, without a care for what it would have done to him. Outwardly, I feel numb. All the pain’s still there from what Shayne did to me earlier, but it seems disconnected. Instead, it’s the pain inside that consumes me, ravages me.
I lost something tonight.
Not just Gavin, but a part of myself too.
Back at the house, I try to mentally prepare myself for what lies ahead as Shayne drags me down the hall once more. Only this time, he takes me to another door, opens it, and pushes me in just past the threshold. He holds me there, his hand clamped firmly at my nape. I’m confused for a moment, then he turns on the light, flooding the room in a golden haze. I blink, taking in the scene before me—a scene I wasn’t expecting. It’s a room, elegant and beautiful, with soft peach walls, a canopy bed, and a dark mahogany vanity topped with a staggering amount of jewelry. Off to the side, I see an open closet, filled with clothes and shoes—a full wardrobe. It’s a fairy tale room. A room fit for a princess.
I don’t understand, until his words come back to me.
I had a room set up for you. But until you’ve earned it…
A seed of guilt burrows deep inside me, but I swallow it down. I won’t let myself go there. Not after all he’s just done to me.
His body leans in close and his lips rake along my ear, as he whispers, “This is how it could’ve been.”
He hauls me backwards and drags me down the hall again, to another door that he opens and shoves me through, so hard, I fall to the floor.
“Leave this room, and I’ll kill you and everything you love,” he says, then slams the door.
I stagger to my feet, my eyes darting around. It takes me a moment to register that I must be in a guest room.
A moment later I hear a loud bang that sends me scurrying to a far corner, where I huddle up tight. More loud noises follow—things crashing, things breaking. It sounds like someone’s tearing the house apart, but I know the sounds are coming from the room next door. From the room he made for me—the room he’s now destroying. The beast roars, again and again, shouts of rage that blast through the walls, followed by more crashing, more breaking, more pounding. It sounds like I’m in hell. Pure hell.