Perfectly Broken (18 page)

"I'm going to start some coffee. Our
family
needs to have a talk about what happened. This," Tish said, waving a hand carelessly in Lizzie's direction. "Needs to be taken care of." He headed toward the kitchen.

"You're not really kicking me out, are you?" Lizzie's voice wasn't pouting like I expected. She sounded anxious. I glanced at her, raising an eyebrow.

"You took advantage of the fact that I was distraught and drunk. You knew I was vulnerable and you used that to get what you wanted. Fuck, I don't know why I should expect anything less from you." I pressed my fingertips into my throbbing temples as I shook my head.

"You weren't too vulnerable to beg me to suck your dick in my car when I offered you a ride home," Lizzie said, crossing her arms. "You didn't seem too drunk when you buried your face in my pussy." I cringed at her words and the memories that came with them as she stood, taking the few steps to stand right in my face. "And you certainly didn't seem too distraught when you were pulling my hair and moaning my name while you took me from behind on your bed." She leaned in when she was close, grazing her teeth along my neck. I clenched my jaw, forcing myself to keep my voice low.

"You…" I leaned back, narrowing my eyes at Lizzie, refusing to back down. It was time for the truth. All of it. "Are the one thing I regret every fucking day. I should've never fallen for your shit to begin with. You're like the worst kind of drug and every time I relapse
,
I hate myself more."

Lizzie took a step back. Then another. Her shocked expression proving I hit my mark.
 

"And
,
you don't care now because
she's
back
.
You'll kick me out in the middle of the fucking night when Adam has apparently lost it. Who do you think he'll come after next? I'll tell you who. Me and Conner." Lizzie dropped back onto the bed as she spoke, looking at her hands. The force of her words nearly knocked the wind out of me. Was she right? I couldn't be sure Adam wouldn't go after either of them. I'd never known him to be this unstable
,
but he had attacked Lili. Was it wrong of me to force Lizzie out onto the street the same night?

I sighed, running a hand through my hair. "Fine. You can stay until morning but you have to stay the fuck in this room, Lizzie. I mean it. I don't care if you have to climb out the window and piss under a tree
,
you are not to open this door or come out. Do you understand?"
 

She nodded, relief flooding her expression. I turned for the door.

"Call your parents and tell them not to let Adam around Conner and to call the police if he shows up," I said as I headed out.

"Thank you," Lizzie whispered just before I shut the door behind me. I didn't respond, moving straight down the hall toward the kitchen.

I wanted to leave and go get Conner myself but it was the middle of the night. I couldn't do it without scaring him and I didn't want to do that. As long as Lizzie's parents were aware Adam had lost it, they would keep him away. I had to believe Conner was safe for the moment so I could focus on Lili.

I could hear Kas' murmurs through the bathroom door as I passed but I headed straight for the kitchen. Before Tish could tear into me any further, a small cry came from the bathroom. I turned
,
but Tish grabbed my arm, shoving me into one of the kitchen chairs.

"Sit. The fuck. Down," he said through his teeth. He glared at me. "Kas will yell if she needs help. Let her handle this. Did you take your garbage to the curb?"

"She's staying until daylight." I held up a hand as Tish stood. "Adam has obviously lost it. Sending her out now could put her in danger
,
too. She's calling her parents to warn them. She won't come out of my room and Lili will never know she was here." I dropped my voice as the sound of the bathroom door opening caught my attention.

The second Kas and Lili rounded the corner, I dropped my eyes to my feet. The sight of her bruised face and bandaged hand made the rage I felt when I'd first seen her tonight return in full force. My knees bounced anxiously as my hands clenched and unclenched. The pain in my knuckles from my attack on the wall was barely noticeable. I could hear the girls footsteps across the tile and then a pair of feet were directly in front of me. I knew immediately it was Lili. I leaned forward on my elbows, taking several deep breaths as I tried to calm myself enough to look up at her again.

I could see from her legs that she seemed to be trembling. I did my best not to focus on the small cuts and bruises still visible after her shower. She pulled in a breath and it seemed to catch in her chest, shaking her tiny frame. Just as I started to look up at her, she lowered herself to her knees in front of me. Staring at her in shock, I focused on her dark blue eyes rather than the bruises surrounding them. She had her arms crossed around her middle, still looking shaken but
,
just like the Lili I knew
,
she was determined to get me to look at her.

"I didn't know. You have to believe that I didn't know, Zane," she said, her voice raw. The sound of it stabbed straight through my heart.

My eyes traveled to her neck, finding the light bruising there and I couldn't stop myself. I leaned forward and carefully gathered her up, pulling her small body into my lap and wrapping my arms around her.

"I know, Pix. Of course I know," I murmured into her hair.

She curled against me, sobbing quietly, something that completely caught me off guard. I ran my hand along her arm and carefully over her back, looking to Tish and Kas for help. I'd never seen Lili cry. She seemed so much smaller than normal, curled in on herself rather than standing straight and proud. She seemed broken and the only thing keeping my fury in check was her weight in my arms.

"Will you let us take you to the hospital? We'll stay with you every second if you want," Kas asked from the chair beside me. Her expression was pained as she gripped her coffee mug. Lili shook her head, not lifting it from my neck.

"No hospital. No police," she croaked. Her body shuddered again as she tried to take a deep breath. I continued to trail my fingers on her arm, hoping to soothe her.

"Why
,
Lee? You really need to be checked out." Tish stared at Lili with an expression I hadn't seen in years. He meant what he said earlier. Lili was family and he was more than a little concerned. Lili raised her head just slightly from my neck, angling to look at Tish.

That was when I heard it. The soft sound of footsteps in the hallway. Why in God's name had I thought I could ever trust Lizzie? With Lili on my lap, battered and broken, the reality of my mistake was about to engulf us. She would be hurt even deeper and it was my fault. She was about to find out how much of a scumbag I truly was. I started popping my knuckles and she looked down at my hands.

"I'm sca—" Lili broke off with a choked sound as her eyes moved to where Lizzie stood with one hand on the doorframe, still dressed only in one of my t-shirts
.
It was like a knife to the chest when I glanced back at Lili. Her face registered the betrayal for only a moment before her expression cleared.

The tears that had been an almost constant stream stopped abruptly, as if someone had turned off the faucet
.
She stared blank
-
faced at Lizzie. No one spoke. I felt the tension radiating back and forth between Lili and I where she sat on my lap. She moved
,
but I tightened my grip, not wanting her to leave.

"Let me go. Let me go! Let me fucking go!" She got louder with each sentence, screaming as I released her, raising my hands in defeat. She scrambled from my lap and though I knew she had to be in pain, not a moment of it showed now other than the tears drying on her cheeks.

"Get the fuck out!" Tish yelled at Lizzie and she spun, taking off back down the hall. "Lee," Tish started but she turned, letting her anger loose on him.

"Don't fucking start, Tish. Don't even start. Why didn't you tell me
she
was here? It doesn't matter. I'm done talking. I'm done." Her voice was cold and hard
.
The broken girl who needed her family was gone, replaced by the Lili I'd known when I first moved home. This was my fault.

"Don't, Pix. They didn't know she was here. This is my fault." My voice shook because I knew she would turn her wrath on me next. Worse, I knew I deserved it.

She turned slowly and I stared at her with my jaw clenched, waiting for her to shred me with her words. With her standing and me in the chair, we were almost eye-to-eye. Her hands began to tremble at her sides and I saw the first crack in the armor she'd thrown on so quickly at the sight of Lizzie.

Her chest heaved, her tiny nose wrinkling with each breath. A sign of her pain breaking through. I wanted so badly to reach for her or to apologize
.
Anything to break the silence
,
but she continued to stare me down. She didn't move again until a tear fell to her cheek. She reached up, wiping it away slowly, staring at it on her finger as if it were a foreign object she didn't understand. She finally looked back up at me, rubbing her hand on her shirt.

"How could you?"

"There's too much blood."
It's okay. It'll be okay.
I'm drifting and I cling to the hand, trying to use it to ground me in the present.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

No More

LILI

"You sorry ass little —" Tish kicked his chair behind him, starting toward Zane before he even had a chance to answer my question. I immediately fell back a few steps, wanting to put distance between myself and the rabid expression on Tish's face. Kas jumped up, putting both hands on Tish's chest before he could reach Zane.

"Enough. Not here." She grabbed Tish's face, pulling it toward hers to block his view of Zane. I let my eyes drift back to where Zane sat in the chair, not even bothering to stand or defend himself from the possible attack.

My palms and hairline were sticky with sweat and my chest hurt with each heavy breath. Why had none of them warned me? My heart slammed against my ribs, making it harder to breath — harder to even think of anything but the pain. Why would Zane let her in the house? In his bed?

I tried not to move but Kas whispered my name and my gaze shot back to her, meeting with Tish's still furious expression. I took two more steps back, nearly stumbling as I bumped hard against the island in the middle of the kitchen. I couldn't help the small yelp of pain, immediately pulling a hand up to cover my mouth.

All three sets of eyes were on me now. I dropped my hand, fighting to clear my expression and hold my emotions in check
,
but I could feel my body trembling from the tension. I was either going to be sick or pass out and I couldn't do either right now in front of these people.

"Get out. Now." Tish's voice was low and menacing. I stared at him in shock
,
but his eyes were on Zane. It took a moment for his meaning to register. He didn't mean me, he was telling Zane to leave. "Take that bitch and get out of my house."

"Tish," Kas started as Tish stepped forward when Zane didn't move. He was still staring right at me. "Zane, go. Please."

Zane finally looked away from me, his tormented eyes falling to the floor. He stood without a word, heading toward the doorway to the hall. Anger shot like fire through me as I watched his back. He had no right to feel pain. I'd been beaten and nearly kidnapped and I had actually felt guilty knowing he would think I'd known it was Adam. I'd worried about how I'd hurt him and he was fucking Lizzie.

I grabbed the closest thing to me, which was a full mug of coffee that hadn't been brought to the table, and wrapped my injured hand around it. I flung it with everything I had toward him, missing him by inches as it shattered against the wall beside his head. He spun to look at me, shocked
.
I opened my mouth to speak
,
my words further punctuated by Lizzie's appearance behind him in the hallway, smirking at me over his shoulder.

"I fucking hate you, Zane."

It hurt to speak but I put all the venom I could behind the words. I stared straight into his eyes, letting every bit of the betrayal I felt show. My head throbbed from the stress and the edges of my vision started to blur as I watched Lizzie step closer.

"Come on, baby. We don't need them." Lizzie wrapped her arms around Zane's waist from behind him as she spoke. I took two steps forward, all my pain now lost in anger.

"Whoa," Tish said, grabbing me by the arms. I struggled against his grip for only a moment before Kas stepped past me. She walked straight to Zane and Lizzie
.
Reaching past him in a quick motion, she slammed her fist straight into Lizzie's face. I winced, the memory of my own injuries coming back but I was still somewhat satisfied as Lizzie cried out and Zane tried to separate them.

I leaned into Tish as my legs started to give out beneath me
.
He held me upright. I blinked against the sudden fuzziness in my head but I couldn't make my eyes focus. I started to slide in Tish’s grip, feeling the sharp stab of pain in my side as his arms tightened
.
I was barely able to lean forward before I vomited on the tile.

"Fuck!" Tish lowered us both to the floor. All I could hear was his voice. "I'm not going to say it again! Get out!" He leaned closer to me, trying to be careful as he lifted me in his arms.

"She probably has a concussion."

I heard Kas close by again as Tish carried me to the bathroom, settling us on the floor by the toilet as I groaned, trying not to vomit again. "Baby girl, you need to stay awake." Kas' face appeared at the side of my vision, indistinct and seeming to float.
 

"Leave me alone," I attempted to say but I wasn't sure the words made any sound. I used a hand to try and push away, wanting them to leave. All of them. But I couldn't seem to lift my head. I heard yelling in the distance
.
I couldn't make out the words as I struggled and failed to hold on to the final tendrils of my consciousness.