The Wedding Contract(46)

“Fine, if that’s how you like it.” Deegan turns me around, but manages to keep my mouth covered. He’s right up against me, lifting my skirt and pushing my face into the stone. I try to yell, but I can’t move, and he has me pinned so tightly that I can’t breathe. When I hear the zipper, I snap. Without thinking, I bite into his hand and don’t stop until I taste blood.

He screams, “You bitch!” before he lets go. My skirt falls and I try to run, but he catches my wrist. “You fucking little whore!”

“Let me go!” Now that he’s finally uncovered my mouth, I have no breath. I can’t belt out a death scream, I can barely talk because his grip on my throat is so tight. I kick at him and drop to the ground. That’s what they said to do if someone’s trying to take you, right?

Deegan drags me for a second and stops. “Fine, you want it this way. I’ll give it to you, Sky.” I try to crab crawl away from him on my hands and feet, scurrying backward. I’m incoherently crying, saying things that don’t register in my mind. He lunges at me and gets hold of my ankle and drags me back toward him. When he straddles my hips and pulls up my skirt, I start bellowing so loudly that he slaps me across the face. Blood spatters from my wound and I’m temporarily silenced. He grins, right before he positions himself to push in. “You know what they say, right? It’s usually someone you know.”

I can’t move. I close my eyes and expect him to rape me and take what he wants, but there’s a rush of air, a strangled sound, and then nothing. When I open my eyes, he’s gone. I sit up and frantically look around. Deegan is rolling with someone, another guy. Deegan throws a punch, but the other man is beating the crap out of him. I stand shaking, unable to move or speak. Punch after punch is thrown until Deegan stops fighting back.

“Stay down, you mother fucking son of a bitch!” Nick’s voice rings out. I try to see his face, but it’s obscured by a red ball cap. He looks up at me and I just stand there shaking. A second later I start to cry. Nick doesn’t come to me. He doesn’t comfort me or hold me. Instead, he keeps his foot on Deegan’s chest and calls the cops.





CHAPTER 32





By the time the police arrive, Sophie and Steven are gone. Thank God. I don’t even know if she’s my friend anymore. The cops wrapped a blanket around me and told me to get counseling when I get home. I could just nod. I want to leave. Nick stays the entire time, but he keeps his distance. He tells them that he was walking on the street, on his way back from the chapel, when he heard me scream. When he got here, he did what he could.

The cop smiles. “You broke his ribs.” Nick looks livid, so the officer explains, “I would have done the same. Fucking asshole.” Then he gestures at me. “Make sure she’s okay. She shouldn’t be alone right now and it sounds like she’s driving back home. She won’t even tell me her name or her next of kin. Do you know her?”

Nick looks over at me and shakes his head. The cop rolls his eyes. “And I suppose you’re Mr. Smith?”

“Yeah.”

“Folks, we can’t press charges if we don’t have names. Are you pressing charges or do you want me to let him go?”

Nick answers for me. “She’ll press charges. I’ll call her attorney and take care of it. She’s going to crack if you push her right now.”

The cop shakes his head, “I need to hear it from her.”

“What he said,” I manage, pulling the blanket tighter around my shoulders.

“Okay, tell your lawyer to get on it or the guy walks.” The cop takes Deegan away and suddenly it’s quiet.

I stare at the ground, still shivering even though I’m not cold. I haven’t said anything and I don’t know how long I’ve sat, but when I look up, Nick is still there standing across from me.

After a moment, he says, “Sophie told me about the glue, and that you didn’t do it. The tube in your pocket was full.” I just stare blankly at him. “Sky, I don’t know what to do.”

My defenses spring back up. Every wall I’ve ever made juts up from within me and I steel myself. “I don’t care.” I drop the blanket and start to walk back to my car. With each step, I walk faster and take longer strides.

“Where are you going? Sky, stop.” Nick chases after me. Running alongside me, he says, “I’m sorry. I thought you played me. I thought you were sincere and then I found out you weren’t. What would you think?”

Livid, I stop, but a placid calm smile comes across my face. “Exactly the same thing.”