Uncrushable (Forehead Kisses #3) (13 page)

“I’m not—”

“Open the door or I will break it down!”

Silence ensued. After a few seconds, the lock turned and the door cracked. Her face was hidden behind the wood. “What do you want?”

I pushed the door open with my hand, making her step back. I got inside then switched on the light. Her face was illuminated, highlighting every cut and bruise. Her left eye was swollen and purple. A scratch marked her cheek and a cut was on her lip. Her arms were covered in yellow bruises. Tears welled up in her eyes and she looked away.

“Who did this to you?” I demanded. I felt my body shake just from looking at her. Any man who hurt a woman was a piece of shit and deserved to be beheaded.

“I fell…”

I grabbed her wrist, the only thing not marked. “Don’t lie to me.”

She tried to pull away but I wouldn’t let her.

“Tell me.”

She stared at the floor. “I was carrying some boxes and I tripped on the stairs. The boxes fell on my face.”

“And your new boyfriend had nothing to do with that?” I asked incredulously.

“No…”

I saw the lie in her eyes. “Don’t bullshit with me. Tell me who he is and I’ll take care of it. I won’t let him hurt you.”

“Why do you care?” she hissed. “You hate me.”

“My despise for you is irrelevant. You’re still an innocent person who doesn’t deserve to be treated this way. I will help you get out of this. But you need to let me.”

She pulled away from my grasp. “I’m fine.”

It was my sister all over again. “Adrianna, tell me who he is. I’ll talk to him, beat the shit out of him, and make sure he doesn’t bother you or any other girl on this earth. Now stop stalling and just tell me.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “Liam, I fell. Now please go.”

I sighed in frustration. “Why did women stay with these jerks? They let their bodies be marked over and over. It didn’t make any sense.”

“I promise I’ll protect you.”

She hid her face. “Just leave me alone.”

“Why won’t you let me help you?” I snapped.

“It’s my life, Liam. Just stay out of it.”

What do you do when someone doesn’t want to be helped? “He’s just going to do this again. And again.”

She stayed away from me, saying nothing.

I growled. “Call me when you change your mind. I just hope it won’t be too late.” I walked out and slammed the door behind me. The guilt weighed on me as I walked to my truck. If I had been firmer with Eva, maybe she wouldn’t have died. But what could I do? If Adrianna didn’t want me to help her, there was nothing I could do. So, I walked away, hoping she would come to her senses and reach out to me.

“Is everything okay?” Keira asked later that night.

We were lying in bed, but I didn’t feel like fooling around like I usually did. Adrianna was on my mind. I didn’t care about her as a person, but I loathed the man doing this to her. How many other victims had he had? Why did he feel the need to hurt something weaker than him? It made no sense. “No.”

She rubbed my chest. “What’s on your mind?”

“Adrianna.”

She stilled. “Why…?”

“Scotty told me she was banged up by her new boyfriend. Needing to see it for myself, I went to her apartment and confronted her. Her eyes are black, her face is scratched, and the bruises are everywhere.”

Keira’s eyes widened but she said nothing.

“I offered to help her, but she kept lying to me, saying she fell. I don’t know what to do…”

She rubbed my chest again. “Unfortunately, sometimes women just don’t want to be helped.”

“I’m realizing that…”

Her hand moved to my shoulder and she caressed me. “Hopefully, she’ll come to her senses and reach out to you. Maybe I could have a talk with her…”

“I don’t know.” I ran my fingers through my hair. “I don’t like Adrianna. She’s a manipulative bitch and I despise her, but she doesn’t deserve to be beaten because of her annoyances. Why are men such assholes? Why are they pigs? Didn’t their mothers raise them to be real men?”

She kissed the skin over my heart. I loved it when she did that. She only did it once in a while, but the gesture conveyed all the love she had for me. “It’s unfortunate that not all women can have the perfect man.”

“I’m not perfect,” I whispered.

She kissed me again. “The fact you don’t realize it makes you even better.” She gave me a fond look while she rested her face on my chest.

I hooked my arms around her waist and pulled her closer to me. “I’m so glad you didn’t have the same fate as Eva… And I don’t want anyone else to either.”

“Me too.”

I held her close to me, calming me down.

“I’ll try to talk to her tomorrow.”

“You will?” I knew she hated Adrianna.

“My ill feelings toward her are irrelevant in this matter. I want to help.”

That made me love her even more. We could both put aside our differences and do the right thing. I knew most people wouldn’t care. But she and I were different. And that was why we were a set.

Chapter Eight

Keira

Adrianna wasn’t exactly my favorite person in the world. Actually, I loathed her. But if she needed help, I’d be there. No girl should suffer what I went through. And no one deserved to die the way Eva did. It was wrong. Plain and simple.

I searched for her on campus the next few days but I never saw her. If she was as banged up as Liam claimed, she probably wouldn’t show her face until the bruises were healed.

Finally, I spotted her at the end of the week. She was in the café on campus, reading her history book while making notes with a highlighter. The bruises on her face faded, but I could see the faint outline of purple around her eyes. She wore heavy eye shadow to cover it up, but being a victim myself, I could see the trail she left behind.

After taking a deep breath, I approached her table.

Adrianna flinched when she spotted me. “Um, hi.” She placed her book on the table then capped the highlighter. She quickly averted her gaze then waited for me to speak.

“Hi…”

She rested her hand on the table. Her nails were painted a bright pink color. Some of them were chipped at jagged places, like she’d been scratching a chalkboard. “Is there something you need, Keira?” Her voice was quiet.

“Can I sit down?”

She was flustered by the question. “Sure…”

I sat across from her so I could study her face at a vantage point. The circle around her eyes was more noticeable from this proximity. “Liam told me everything.” I didn’t see the point in beating around the bush.

“Oh.”

“You already know I went through something very similar. He abused me and took advantage of my weakness. It wasn’t real love. To him, it was just a sick game of control. He liked bossing me around and telling me what to do. He got off to it. And when I didn’t obey, I paid the price. I justified it most of the time because I thought I loved him. But in the end, it wasn’t healthy and I got out. I almost lost my life, but I survived and got through it. No matter how much you think this guy means to you, he’s not worth it. Adrianna, get out.”

She spun the highlighter in her manicured hands and kept her eyes glued to the table.

“Liam wants to help. Let him in.”

“I appreciate you taking the time to talk to me, but really, I’m fine. I can take care of myself. But thanks.”

I hated the way she brushed me off. “Did he apologize and say he would never do it again?” Judging the look in her eyes, I knew he had. “Adrianna, he’s lying. He will lose his temper again and you will be the object of his release. Don’t believe for a second he’ll change or learn the error of his ways. If he has to exert his power over you by force, then he’s nothing but a weak and pathetic man.”

She stopped spinning the highlighter, her body becoming stealthly still. She didn’t breathe. The blue color of her eyes was suddenly brighter, more noticeable. Whatever she was thinking, I didn’t have a clue.

“Let me help you,” I begged. “You deserve so much more…”

Adrianna took a deep breath while she held my gaze. “I know you despise me, so the fact you’re taking time out of your day to help me says wonders about you, but like I said to Liam, I fell.”

Why was she in such denial? “Don’t let him threaten you. If the cops can’t protect you and the judge can’t, Liam can. Believe me.”

She packed her things and shoved them into her bag. “I appreciate the concern, but it’s misplaced.” She shouldered her bag then left the table. “Don’t waste your time worrying about me.”

I watched her go, feeling pathetic. Since she always wore slutty clothes and threw herself at any man who would take her, I knew she had low self-esteem. But the only attention she drew to herself was bad attention. Maybe she assumed this was the love she deserved. Perhaps she misinterpreted his anger for passion. I knew I did…

“How’d it go?” Liam asked as soon as I walked into the house.

I shook my head. “She denied it.”

He cursed then gripped his hair. “What the hell is wrong with her?”

“I don’t know…” This was hard on both of us. “From what I remember of my time…with him….was that I couldn’t be helped until I wanted it. My parents always tried to keep him away from me. They didn’t like him and strongly disapproved. Every time they tried to pull me out, I got sucked in again. Only when I was mentally prepared for the severance did I reach out. I risked my life to be free of him forever. That’s how far I was willing to go to get away from him. But until then…there’s nothing you can do.”

He clenched his jaw. “I don’t accept that.”

“But you have to…”

He moved to the couch and sat down with a sigh. “I hope Adrianna changes her mind. We could have her live at your house with Scotty to keep her safe if we need to. Shit, she could stay here if that’s what it takes.”

“Like I said, she doesn’t want help.”

He leaned back and stared at the opposite wall.

I hated to do this but I had to. “I have to go.”

“Where?” His attention was back on me. The need was in his voice. We would normally head to his room at this time of night even though we wouldn’t sleep for hours.

“I’m…teaching a class.” It was the first time I admitted it.

He cocked an eyebrow. “A class? What are you talking about?”

“I applied to be a mentor for a woman’s support group…women who were abused or are still being abused. I just thought I could help someone.  You know, tell them my story and convince them they can be free too.”

Liam gave me a look I’d never seen before. His eyes were heavy with emotion, and a darkness crept into them. His body tensed visibly then released again. He held my gaze, never backing down. I had no idea what he was thinking. He released a breath from his lungs then placed both of his massive hands on my face. “You’re the most incredible woman I’ve ever known.”

There were many things I expected him to say, but that wasn’t one of them.

“I’ve never known a stronger person, and I’m so proud of you. You’ve come so far, Keira.”

“Because of you…”

“No.” His command sliced through the air. “I may have helped you but you did this all on your own. You can fight now. You’re strong. You’ve gained back the life you’ve lost. The girl I once knew isn’t here anymore. Now she’s solid like steel and tough like rubber. Nothing can break her or shake her. Now you’re uncrushable.”

Warm tears bubbled under my eyes then broke the surface. Like drops of rain on a window, they leaked down and streaked, leaving a visible mark in their path. My mouth opened slightly, and an involuntary gasp came from my lips. I swallowed the lump in my throat and closed my eyes.

Liam wiped them away with the pads of his thumbs. “I hope those are happy tears…”

I nodded. “They are...”

He closed his eyes for a span of a heartbeat then opened them. A tear came loose and fell down his cheek. His eyes reddened and the moisture built. “Mine are happy tears too.”

I was nervous. I’d never done this before or anything like it. I always blended into the background, not wanting to be noticed. The less attention I drew to myself, the better. But I couldn’t hide this time. Even though I was here to help others, I was helping me at the same time.

The chairs were placed in a circle, all facing the middle. I sat at the front of the class and waited for the attendees to show up. My hands were cold but they were sweating at the same time. I’d never led a lesson before. All I had to rely on were my own experiences. Liam was the first person I was open with, telling him everything that happened.

But that needed to change.

When members started to join me, I studied their faces. They all had the same characteristic; fear. I could see it in their eyes. They were afraid to tackle their emotions, or perhaps they were afraid their abuser would find out what they were up to. Or maybe they were scared they actually showed up.

Every person had similar body language. They were closed off, crossing their arms over theirs chests and the legs at the knee. No one made direct eye contact with me. They stared at the floor or the wall. Some people stared at their phones to pass the time. When every seat was filled, I knew it was time to begin.