Demean (DeLancy Crime Family Book 5) by Elizabeth Knox & E.C. Land

Author:Elizabeth Knox & E.C. Land [Knox, Elizabeth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Knox Publishing
Published: 2022-06-13T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

POPPY

“Come on, don’t be like that, sweetheart. You want to win, don’t you?”

I pull away from the man. My tummy feels sick. I don’t like this. I don’t think we should be doing it, but Momma told me that I had to sit with him for a while.

“My teachers told me not to let anyone touch me there. That it’s a bad touch,” I whisper so I don’t get in trouble.

“Bad touch? Me? Oh no, pretty girl, I just want to see what kind of competition we have this year for the pageant. This is okay. Trust me. This is all okay. Come, let me help you with your dress...”

“No!” I wake with a start, and my eyes dart around as I look for the threat I’m sure is there.

“It’s only a dream. Just a dream. Nothing to worry about.” I close my eyes and will my heart to stop trying to beat its way out of my chest. After a minute, when the speed of my heart rate doesn’t subside, I rub my sternum and try to massage away the anxiety. It’s been such a long time since I’ve had any type of nightmares like that. I thought I was finally over what happened all those years ago, but I guess not.

I swing my gaze over to the clock on my nightstand and groan when I read the number three fifty-six. There’s no way that I’m going to be able to get to sleep, not after that.

Pulling my knees up to my chest, I sit on my bed and try to put those horrible memories out of my mind. Every shadow and every click of the clock seems to wind me up more. The longer I sit there, the more memories flash in my mind, and the worst the feeling min my chest is. It was so long ago, but it feels so real.

I don’t want to be alone right now, but I don’t have anywhere to go. I could call Clover or Corentina, but by the time I get to them, it’ll be well into the morning. I don’t want to wake them up anyway.

There is one person I don’t mind disturbing, but I don’t even know if he’d open up the door for me.

With the risk of getting embarrassed again, I throw on a pair of pajama pants and my slippers before I walk over to Tristan’s house.

I knock on the door and wait for a second. When I don’t hear anything, I knock again.

“Yeah, hold on,” he barks.

Shoot, this is a really bad idea.

Before I have the chance to change my mind and run back home, Tristan swings his door open. I’m surprised at how different he looks. He’s naked from the waist up, and his hair is mussed up from being asleep, but he looks a bit better than he did before.

“Poppy? What’s the matter? Are you okay?” He looks around the corner of his doorway toward my house. Obviously, thinking someone was there to hurt me.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.