Chapter 0017
BAILEE
I squeezed my eyes shut as I failed to swallow back a sob, and prayed that he would have the answers to my questions
“You lean on family, and we hold you up until you have healed and can walk on your own again.”
I missed him. I missed my brother so much, and I needed him.
I hated that he was so far away right now when all I wanted to do was curl up under his arm like I was still a kid and let my big brother hug me until everything was right with the world again.
Yet, I couldn’t. It didn’t even feel right to cry right now when I had a sick little girl sleeping down the hall that I needed to be strong for Tcan walk just fine.”
“Okay, run then I’ll walk with you until you can run again,” Ben said, and I laughed, wiping my hand over my cheeks to get rid of the tears “Once you can. Tll go back to cheering you on from the sidelines.”
Guilt crashed into me again. When was the last time I had been to one of Ben’s games to literally cheer him on from the
sidelines?
I had wanted to, but Caleb always said no, and I knew going alone would make him even angrier. So I stayed home and checked the score on my phone instead of seeing my brother actually play.
“And I’ll be there to cheer you on, too,” I promised. Brinley would just have to get into Hockey because we would be going to many games in the future
“Deal,” Ben said
“Send me your schedule,” I said before another voice sounded in the background. The man was obviously drunk, and Ben
groaned.
“Hang on, Bails. My roommate just got back. I’m going to step into the hallway.” Ben said, but I spoke quickly to stop him
“No. That’s okay. I’m sure you’re tired or sore. Just relax, and I’ll see you when you get home.” I assured him.
“I’m not waiting three weeks to talk to you while you’re dealing with this. Text me tomorrow so I know you’re okay.”
My head bobbed up and down as I realized it would be a big change having someone around who actually cared about me instead of just seeing my presence as a burden,
“Okay. I’ll text you tomorrow.
I said as I heard a soft knocking on the door, and my spine went rigid. Was it Caleb? Did he know I would come here? How did he get past the gate without the code?
“Hey Bailee, before you go…” Ben started, but I was staring at the front door across the room. “You know I don’t believe what he said about you, right?”
My eyes closed hard as I tried to make sense of his words while also attempting to muster up the courage to go answer the door as the person on the other side knocked again. “What?”
saw your message from earlier, but it was vague, and I was hearing so many things from my teammates and the reporters. Before I responded, I wanted to see what everyone was talking about so I didn’t accidentally say something insensitive. I wasn’t ignoring you. When I returned to the hotel, I watched the report on your hearing. The things Caleb said about you today… I know none of it was true. I know you and the woman he described is not who you are.” Ben took a deep breath. “But I need to know. Did he ever hurt you?”
My head shook back and forth even though he couldn’t see me. “No. No. He just scared me. I thought he was going to a few
times, but he didn’t.”
+25 BONUS
‘Not yet.‘ I thought.
“Okay.” He sighed, sounding relieved, repeating himself. “Okay. Text me tomorrow.”
“Bye, Ben Love you.” I said as the knocking grew louder this time, sounding impatient.
“I’ll have my finance manager wire you some money tomorrow, but there’s some cash in the safe. Take whatever you need. The code is 0218. I love you, too. Bye Bails.”
February eighteenth. Brinley’s birthday.
I didn’t have time to dwell on how my brother, who wasn’t a part of Brinley’s life yet had so obviously wanted to be, loved her more than her own father did.
Instead, a cold sweat broke out over my body as a key was inserted into the door, and Alexander strode in
His eyes scanned the room wildly as if looking for a threat before they landed on me and softened.
“Bailee, we need to talk
