Total pages in book: 147
Estimated words: 136048 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 680(@200wpm)___ 544(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 136048 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 680(@200wpm)___ 544(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
“Holy fucking shit,” she says. “I swear, every time you open your mouth, you make it worse.”
“Babe.”
“Don’t. I don’t want to hear your babe this and your doll that,” she tells me, grabbing every pair of clean scrubs she has and shoving them into the bag. “After everything we’ve already been through, I’d hoped that you’d be the one person I could rely on. The one person who wouldn’t question me. I was assaulted today, and the first thing you do is assume I’ve lost my mind. Fuck you, Knight.”
Harper flings the bag over her shoulder and marches down the hallway, grabbing her handbag and her keys off the hallway table. “Where are you going?”
“That’s none of your damn business.”
“Doll, come on. Don’t leave like this.”
Harper strides to her car and throws her bag in the back seat before stopping and turning back to me, those deadly tears bringing me to my fucking knees.
“You know what?” she says, her voice breaking. “This has been going on for almost six weeks. This man stabbed me to the point where I nearly bled out, he texted me threats, hid in the back seat of my car and knocked me out, he followed me home, left a rose on our doorstep, and now today, he physically held me down and put his fingers inside me. Yet, despite all of that, there hasn’t been a single time where I have felt that I could open up to you about any of it because I knew the exact words that would come out of your mouth.”
Everything aches, and as she grips the car door and goes to dip down into the seat, she pauses once again. “The very first time he appeared in the parking garage, he told me that he could do whatever he wanted to me, and it wouldn’t matter because nobody was going to believe me, and he was right,” she says. “You’ve gutted me, Knight. You were the one person who was supposed to have my back, but I don’t see how we’re supposed to get past this when I can’t trust you to be what I need in my most trying times.”
And with that, Harper slips inside her car and drives away, leaving me on my fucking knees, my heart in pieces on the ground before me.
15
KNIGHT
Ifucked up.
I stand outside Izzy’s home, my fist banging against the heavy wooden door, begging for Harper to just hear me out. It’s been two days since she’s spoken to me, and while I deserve it, I’m also not going to let this go on without getting her the help she so obviously needs.
She’s sick, and while she’s been doing great on her road to recovery, there’s no harm in admitting that perhaps these meds aren’t doing what they’re supposed to be doing. I just can’t wrap my head around why the fuck she can’t bring herself to understand that.
I love this woman with everything that I am, and if she wants to give me the silent treatment for the rest of our fucking lives, then so be it. I’m more than okay with that. It’ll piss me off, and I’ll probably die of starvation from not getting to taste her every fucking night, but I’d bear it with a fucking smile on my face if I had to. But what I won’t do is allow her to ignore this.
“Doll, I know you’re in there,” I bellow through the door. “Just hear me out. I just need to see that you’re okay and talk, and then you can go straight back to hating me.”
A loud groan comes from inside the house, and a moment later, the lock on the door clicks. A moment later, the door swings open, and Izzy appears in front of me. “For fuck’s sake, Knight. You’re gonna start annoying my neighbors.”
I scoff, recalling the moment the man from two doors down told me to fuck off. “A little too late for that.”
“Look, she doesn’t want to see you right now. You broke her heart,” she tells me as though I didn’t already know. “Just give her a few days to cool down and then she’ll be alright.”
“A few days? It’s already been two, and she hasn’t even pretended to open one of my texts,” I say. “Listen, Izzy, you’re a smart woman. You know all I want is for her to be healthy and happy. I want what’s best for her, and I know you want that too. She needs help, the kind of help that you and I can’t offer her, and if you can’t make her understand that, then I need to try.”
“Come on, Knight. Just give her a few days. She’s safe with me. I’m not going to let anything happen to her.”
My face scrunches, and I shoot her an apologetic look. “Forgive me,” I say before reaching for her waist and physically removing Izzy from the doorway, switching our positions until I’m the one on the inside and she’s standing outside the door. “I just need a few minutes,” I tell her, before closing the door between us and flicking the lock.