When Sinners Fear (House of Skin Book 4) by Charlotte E Hart & Rachel De Lune
Author:Charlotte E Hart & Rachel De Lune [Hart, Charlotte E & De Lune, Rachel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-10-22T16:00:00+00:00
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
PEYTON
I
glance at the entrance to our road in the wing mirror as Knox drives away. It doesnât make sense, but I couldnât move â like I was frozen. Frozen in fear and unable to wrap my mind around articulating whatâs happened to me. Nobody would understand â nobody except Knox.
He continues to drive, and I donât say anything, appreciating his silence. What would I say? Thereâs no real explanation for my actions. I should want to rush to the safety and comfort of my family and never want to see or have anything to do with Knox Cortez again in my life. But thatâs not how I feel, not deep down.
Heâs surrounded by people who all intimidate me like everything he deals with is life or death, but at the same time, Iâve never felt safer.
The drive back gives me time to run over the multiple ways to start the conversation I want to have with my mom. Or how I might explain what happened that day I didnât come home. The need to explain to them that it wasnât my decision eats at me, and I know why. A part of me resents putting my life on hold for the family, and so itâs my guilt wanting to set the record straight.
I donât want them to think Iâve run away or abandoned them, and I don't want them to think the worst has happened, either. But as I choreograph conversations, my guilt and shame continue to bleed out into the words, and no matter how I phrase it, I canât escape sharing some element of truth to the ordeal. There are reasons why I have a cut on my forehead, why my cheek is bruised, with a possible fracture, and why there are hand marks and finger bruises covering my body. They canât be ignored, and Iâm not strong enough to tell the truth. Mother isnât strong enough to hear it, either.
I canât hide forever, though, and keeping them in the dark is cruel. So Iâll have to figure out how to tell them Iâm not their girl anymore. Iâm not the same Peyton as before. Father will be disappointed in me. Telling him the truth will quieten him, but I canât do that because recounting the words in my head is enough to turn my stomach. It was horrific, the likes of a horror story, and I donât want to make them suffer a second of that.
Iâll call them when Iâm back and safe to stop them from worrying. Thatâs enough. It will have to be.
âYouâre quiet.â
âIâm thinking.â Itâs the truth.
We pull up to the big gates that shield Knoxâs house away. Iâd have thought the place was over the top if Iâd visited before. Now, they provide a sense of reassurance I never thought Iâd need.
He parks on the drive and heads up to the house without looking back. As soon as the doorâs shut and locked behind us, I let out a breath. He glances towards me and holds my stare before stalking off to the living room.
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