The Promise (Wolfe Creek Duet #2)

43

DAMIAN

I stare at the GPS tracking screen, watching Thea and Wes make their way home. She lied again. Rubbing my temples, I try to think of a solution. Realistically, I know there’s nothing I can do. I can’t make her tell me the truth. I’m already tracking her every move and checking her messages. She has to want to be honest.

I can’t say anything to her either. I’m just as bad. My search for Gavin is a private project that I don’t want her involved in. All the monitoring I’m doing on her is also not something I want to come clean about. So, I’m stuck in limbo, trying to be okay with mutual hidden agendas despite it driving me absolutely insane.

Grabbing the bottle of ibuprofen on my desk, I pop a couple of pills into my mouth.

“Hey.” I turn to see Sutton standing in my room. “You wanted to see me.”

I motion for him to sit on the sofa, then get out of my computer chair to join him.

Sutton’s been doing better. The drinking has stopped. He’s riding again. But it’ll take time to see how all of this will play out. He’s the only one of us that had a stable childhood and two parents who actually cared. Well, at least that’s what it seemed like.

“I wanted to check in with you. See how you’re feeling. If everything’s going well.” I study his face, searching for signs that he’s struggling.

Instead, he smiles. It’s not his usual one, but it’s something. It’s been too long since I’ve seen it and it makes me grin unexpectedly.

“I’m doing better. I’m not going to say good or great, that would be a lie. Every day does seem to get better, though. I’m working through my family shit as much as I can. It’s hard and I’m still not sure what to do about them, but my head’s clearer. And that’s thanks to you and Thea.”

I believe him. I can see it in his actions and the genuineness of his words. But I need him to know what’s been weighing on me. I’ve kept my thoughts to myself, mostly because I didn’t want him spiraling more after he first found out. Now is a good time, though.

“You know you’re as much a part of this family as any of us. Just because you had a decent home life doesn’t make you any less than Adrian, Wes, or I. We might have bonded over crappy families, but we still bonded with you for who you are. And if anything, you were a sanctuary when our homes weren’t safe. You always welcomed us with no hesitation. You saved us some days.” His brows knit as he tries to figure out where I’m going with this conversation. “Your parents raised you. They gave you a roof, food, clothes, and love, even if it doesn’t feel that way right now. But don’t ever think that you’ve lost your family. We’re right here. We always have been. The four of us are your brothers and blood has nothing on the ties that bind us.”

“Damian…” His voice cracks. I need to finish.

“I know you’re not used to leaning on us for family shit, but you need to. That’s what family does. We go through it together. I don’t want to see you like that again. I love you.” We don’t exactly profess our love for each other often, but it needed to be said. I feel like a hypocrite. I’m telling him to lean on us, yet I don’t follow my own advice.

Sutton pulls me in for a hug. “Thank you,” he murmurs. I wrap my arms around him, letting him pull away first. “This is all new for me. I wanted to come to you… to Wes. But it seems like everyone has their own shit going on. I didn’t want to add to that. I couldn’t even come to you to tell you I was failing Thea. Keeping her grounded was out of my control. If anything, she’s been grounding me.” He drops his head in his hands.

His words about Thea surprise me. She’s been distant, secretive, and tormented. Yet, she’s still found compassion and time to help Sutton. Maybe she’s not as bad off as I thought. No, that’s not it. Her trysts with Adrian, her need for pain, the Plan B, and now the police station. No, she’s not doing well. I refuse to delude myself.

So maybe it’s simply the connection they have. She can speak to him in a way no one else can.

I rub his back. “Listen, don’t be too hard on yourself. We’ve all been distracted, but you can come to us even if it seems like we’re handling a lot. You’re a priority.”

He looks up at me, tears glistening in his eyes. “Thea gave me some advice. She asked me to channel my feelings into something. I think it’s been helping.” My curiosity is piqued. “I wasn’t sure what I could channel them into. Then, it hit me. The one thing I surround myself with constantly, but have been too afraid to try. Too afraid to fail at. I’ve always wanted to write a book and I’ve started it. Thanks to her.”

I don’t know what to say. Not just because of his confession of wanting to write a book, but also him sharing his vulnerability of failing and the fact that Thea pushed him to do this. I wonder if she realizes the impact she’s had on him.

“Have you told her?” A small glimmer of hope lights in my chest. If he tells her, maybe she’ll find a way out of her own darkness. It’s something so fragile, but I grasp at it.

Sutton shakes his head. “No, not yet. I want to wait until I’m done. I have a good reason.” That glimmer fades. I need it right now, not months or years from now. And it’s gone, just like that.

“I understand.” I can’t push him. This is one of the few things keeping him going. I need him to hold on to that. “I’m proud of you,” I admit, despite my disappointment at failing Thea again.

Not long after Sutton leaves, I hear the front door open. Wes and Thea. I want to confront her, but I don’t think that’s a good idea. I trust that my brother’s handled the situation. It’s a strange thing to delegate the things I’d normally handle. It’s uncomfortable. But it’s necessary. I’m not myself these days.

I can’t give up all of my control. I have no intention of stopping my tracking of her or checking her messages. Not that I haven’t tried, but I never make it very long. It doesn’t even matter that I’ve found nothing suspicious. She doesn’t go anywhere out of the ordinary. Her texts are completely innocent. I don’t even know what I’m looking for at this point. Still, I can’t give up this obsession.

But I’m learning to hand over other things. Lectures might be more impactful if she doesn’t have another one from me. I wonder if one day it won’t be like this. I wonder if it’ll be easy.

Pushing those thoughts away, for now, I focus on the thing I need to take care of before heading to bed. I’m so fucking exhausted.

Sitting down at my computer, I open up Cole’s folder. I know I’m missing something. It’s a small detail buried in all of this information, I’m sure of that much. My gut’s never wrong. Looking over the files, I try to decide which I should start on.

I shouldn’t be doing this right now. My head hurts, my eyes are tired, and I don’t have the patience. But none of that matters when this detective is putting pressure on Thea. I need to find Gavin. Now.

The only promising information is the GPS data that I have yet to fully go through. Cole was a busy man, busier than any of us knew. I scroll through the data until I find the spot where I had last stopped.

I’m trying my best to decipher if any of the locations are suspicious, but it’s so damn hard to tell. My eyes blur, I blink them back into focus, then they blur again. I’m hardly paying attention and I know I’m going to have to redo all of this tomorrow since I’m out of it.

I’m about to close out the file when something catches my eye. Two letters— TN . Why would he be in Tennessee? Then I notice the date. It’s two days after we last saw Gavin at the carnival.

I don’t remember him going out of state. Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I scroll through our group chat back to July. Reading through the messages on the sixth, I see Cole mention making a supply run. There was a shortage at the bakery and his regular supplier didn’t have what he needed, so he had to find it elsewhere. I didn’t think anything of it at the time.

Is Gavin in Tennessee? It feels like a far-fetched assumption. Cole could have left the state for a number of reasons, including making a supply run. His behavior was erratic despite us not realizing it at the time, so it makes little sense trying to figure out what his true motives were for everything he did. But what if?

It could be nothing. Still, I file the information away in my brain and flag the line so I can find it later.

Pulling myself from my computer, I strip down to my boxers and throw myself onto my bed. Thoughts of Gavin, Thea, Cole, and my brothers swirl in my head like an unending cyclone of responsibilities that threatens to sweep me away. I let sleep whisk me off instead.

THEA

It’s been ten days since Cole raped me. Ten days of me avoiding sleeping in my room. I’ve even slept in the theater room a couple of times. But I can’t avoid him forever, so here I am, waiting for my attacker.

My body’s involuntarily shaking and he hasn’t even arrived yet. I don’t know how I’ll react once he’s here. I’m not sure how I’ll handle another round of his roughness. Pain radiates from my muscles with the smallest movements from my workouts with Wes. Even if I wanted to fight him off, I wouldn’t be able to, my body is too torn up.

The thought of him brings up the memory of my conversation with Wes on our drive home from the police station. His offer to help raise a baby if anything like that ever happened sticks out vividly. If he only knew that the non-existent baby in question would’ve been fathered by his psychotic, murderous brother, he wouldn’t be offering.

Despite not knowing if I want children, I know that Wes would make a wonderful dad. Sutton and Damian too. They all have amazing qualities and would raise an incredible person. Guilt hits me. I haven’t had many conversations about the future with any of them. I don’t know if they want children. What if I don’t and they do? I wouldn’t want to take that possibility away from them.

Closing my eyes, I try to clear those thoughts from my mind. That’s a problem for later. It may not even be a problem I have to worry about if Detective Williams gets his way and sends me to prison. Or if Cole gets tired of me and kills me before I can kill him.

The creak of the closet door halts me—my breathing, my mind, and my body. I try to steel myself. I try not to react. But it’s useless. As soon as the bed dips from Cole’s weight, I feel tears prick my eyes and my lip quiver.

“You’ve stayed away too long, love.” I can’t tell if he’s upset because his voice is eerily calm. I wonder if he’s discovered that the duffle bag’s gone. If he knows I did it, this might be my last night alive. “Was I too rough on you last time?”

Being honest with him could go either way. He could make it worse. Cole could find satisfaction in making this more painful for me. Or maybe he’ll have mercy on me. I nearly laugh. That seems impossible.

It doesn’t matter—he doesn’t wait for me to answer. His fingers hook around the waistband of my pants and he yanks them down. I don’t bother trying to wear something he’ll have to struggle to get off of me. It only makes him angry. I’m resigned to letting him have his way—for now.

Closing my eyes tight, I expect rough hands to spread my legs and for him to shove himself inside of me without caring if my body is ready. That isn’t what happens this time.

Cole slides his fingers over me, slowly. He takes his time teasing my entrance, slicking his fingers before moving to my clit. I hate this more. I hate that my body still responds to his touch. It makes a tear roll down my cheek.

He doesn’t push into me until he’s sure that I can take him without it hurting, well physically. Once he’s in, I brace myself for his brutality, figuring that he’s lulling me into a false sense of safety. But it doesn’t come. Cole slowly thrusts in and out… like he’s making love to me. I’m so fucking confused.

His lips kiss over my neck before he whispers in my ear. “Being like this with you again feels so good, love. You feel so good.” Cole’s hand drifts over my hips, then he cups my belly.

My blood goes ice cold. He thinks I’m pregnant. I’m not sure which thought is scarier—the idea of him thinking I’m carrying his child or that it’s the only reason he’s showing me any kind of gentleness. I think I might actually be sick. Vomit rises up, sitting in my throat, threatening to spill out with each thrust from Cole. I know if I let it come out, he’ll really think that I’m pregnant and I can’t have that.

Forcing it down, I close my eyes and wait for it to be over. As disgusting as it is, I focus on his grunts. The noises become a soundtrack of meditation, a melody of darkness and revenge. The longer I listen, the less I feel, the more my humanity dwindles until he finally finishes and I’m a shell of myself filled with my tormentor’s come.

Cole kisses my cheek before he leaves. And this time, I don’t cry. I don’t curl up in the shower wearing my clothes. Instead, I undress calmly and turn the water on. I focus on washing away the traces of him. I’m not hysterical or ashamed or depressed.

I’m focused. I’m determined. I’m ready.