To the Stars (Thatch #2)(78)

After testing the water, he helped me into the shower and kept me far enough away that I wasn’t directly under the spray. He used his hands to bring the water where he needed it, and had me tilt my head back so he could try to keep the cut dry that he’d been working on earlier while getting the blood out of the front of my hair.

When he was sure all the blood was off me, he helped me back out and turned off the water before following. He grabbed a large towel off the rack, and with a gentleness a guy like Knox shouldn’t be able to have, he dried my hair—making sure to be even more careful around the spots where I’d hit my head. Once he was done, he opened up the towel and stepped close to me to wrap it around us both. He kept it closed tightly at my back, and just held me in his arms for long minutes, like he was afraid to let me go.

“Come on,” he eventually whispered against my bare shoulder, then pulled away, but maneuvered out of the towel so I could cover back up in it.

“Where are we going?” I asked as he wrapped another towel low on his hips and then bent to pick up all of our clothes.

He passed his lips softly across mine as he walked over to open the door. “I’m taking you to bed. To sleep,” he clarified when he noticed the way my eyes widened. “You need to rest.”

Knox led me down the hall and into a bedroom, and I stood there awkwardly as I watched him move around the room. I didn’t want to think about how many girls he’d had in here, but it was impossible not to. I was beginning to understand the glare directed at my bed that afternoon.

“Put these on; I’ll be right back.”

I glanced down to the clothes he’d placed in my hand, and couldn’t stop the smile. I’d never worn his clothes, but I remembered begging him for shirts of his I could wear to bed when I was in high school. He’d promised me all of his shirts once I was eighteen. I’d never understood why he’d made me wait, but there I was, standing in his room, twenty-two years old and holding a shirt and pair of boxers in my hands.

Because I’d finally decided to get away from my husband . . .

My smile fell, and I quickly pulled the clothes on when I heard Knox coming down the hall. My face morphed into confusion when he held out his cell phone to me. “Wha—”

“Call your parents. Warn them, do whatever you have to do.”

My stomach dropped. How could I have forgotten? “Hadley’s still in the hospital,” I whispered. “Collin had her moved to a suite.”

“Then they need to get her out.”

I nodded as I tapped out my mom’s number as fast as my fingers would let me. My dad answered instead.

“Hello,” he said sternly.

“Dad, it’s Harlow.”

There was a brief pause. “Harlow, whose number is this?”

“Uh . . . that doesn’t matter right now. I need to talk to you, and I need you to listen to every word I say, and ask as little as possible,” I begged in a shaky voice. “Just know that I’m doing this to save all of us. It’s an emergency.”

“What in the hell are you going on about, Harlow?”

“Harlow?” my mom’s distant voice sounded on the other end. “What’s happening, is she okay?”

“She’s talking about saving—”

“Dad, have you seen Collin since we left this afternoon?”

“Well, no.”

The relief I felt was minimal, but it was still something. “And no police officers came back?”

“No. Are they going to? Is Hadley still in trouble?”

“Not like that. This is where I need you to listen to me, and just trust me, okay, Dad?”

“Harlow,” he began.

“Dad, please.”

“Okay. Okay, I’m listening.”

I took in a shaky breath and looked up at Knox, who nodded in encouragement as he stood there with his arms folded across his bare chest. My mouth opened, but no words came out. My throat had stopped working. I’d spent years avoiding this exact conversation, years fearing this conversation.

Seeing the panic that must have settled over my features, Knox let one hand go out to cradle my cheek while the other stayed tucked under his arm, and I let his presence calm my trembling body.

“Honey, you still there?” my dad asked.

I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to remember the way I’d felt when I’d first realized Collin was going to kill me. I need to save them. I need to warn them, I said to myself, and before I could psych myself out again, blurted, “Dad, I need you to get Hadley out of the hospital, and I need you to get to Connecticut to Hayley tonight. If not tonight, then first thing tomorrow. Don’t tell anyone; don’t even tell Hayley.”

When I opened my eyes Knox was nodding, and I knew he agreed with my decision to get them as far from here as possible.

“Dad . . . Collin is bad,” I choked out.

“What?” he asked in disbelief, and I knew this would be hard on him—on my whole family. Collin walked on water, as far as they were concerned.

“He’s abusive,” I started, but he cut me off.

“Harlow,” he said in a disapproving voice.

“I’m telling you the truth!” I said a silent prayer as tears welled in my eyes—I needed him to believe me. My voice continued to waver and crack as I tried to make him understand. “He tried to drown me in the tub after we got home from the hospital. He was going to blame me for Hadley. He admitted to giving her the drugs this afternoon.”