Page 28 of Only Ever Yours

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Hollis

My head throbbed, and I felt sick. None of it had anything to do with the small cut on the back of my skull.

Seeing Jase being taken away in handcuffs had to be one of the worst things I’d ever witnessed.

My heart ached for him. Seeing the hurt and bewilderment in his eyes as he’d been led away made me want to cry all over again.

After he’d been taken away, Finn tried to console me, but all I wanted was to be alone.

As soon as Laura had declared the injury to my head as nothing too serious, however, if anything changed to let her know, she left, too.

I’d fled to my room, throwing myself on the bed like a dramatic teenager.

I grabbed my phone and called Jase, knowing it was futile, knowing he wouldn’t answer. I needed to hear his voice.

Hey, it’s Jase. I can’t come to the phone right now, so you know what to do.

My throat closed up as I choked back the tears again.

This is all Gil’s fault.

He had to be the one who had called the police and told them where to find Jase.

If I thought back to the incident, I couldn’t really remember what had happened.

Gil had come into the house, almost demanding I get back with him, then Jase had flipped, lashing out with his fists.

I didn’t recall there being much in the way of injuries—except probably Gil’s pride.

There was a light tap on my door.

“Come in,” I called.

Finn opened the door and stepped inside, holding a mug of something that smelled distinctly alcoholic. “Hot chocolate with brandy, like Mum used to make.”

I managed a weak smile. “Sounds good.”

He handed me the mug and perched on the side of the bed. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Sniffing, I wrinkled my nose. “Not really. I don’t understand why Gil did it. Who else knew what was going on in the house? Even Laura said she hadn’t heard anything except raised voices, which, around here, is perfectly normal. She didn’t suspect there was anything wrong until she came over.”

The corner of Finn’s mouth quirked up. “I thought you didn’t want to talk about it.”

Taking a sip of the fruity, oaky chocolate, I let the flavour settle on my tongue, hoping it would mask the nausea I still had. “I don’t want to talk about how I feel .”

Finn’s expression changed, growing darker. “I’ve never seen Jase act like that before. He’s never hit anyone either. At least, not seriously anyway.”

The drink stuck in my throat. “Good to know, I guess. If he has no previous record of doing anything like that, and it’s out of character, then he should be okay.”

“I hope so. You never know what kind of spin Gil might put on it. If it’s proven, Jase could be facing a prison sentence or at least a fine.”

Suddenly, the sweet taste in my mouth turned sour. I couldn’t let either of those things happen. “He can’t go to prison.”

Finn’s mouth was set in a hard line, and it looked like he was wrestling with himself about what to say next. “I don’t want to be the bearer of bad news, but I did some internet searching to find out what he might end up with, and it doesn’t look good even at the lowest end of the offence scale.”

Putting the mug down on the bedside table, I rushed to the bathroom, bringing the hot chocolate right back up.

I hadn’t eaten much of anything else that evening, and the dry retching made my throat hurt and intensified the pain in my head.

Behind me, I heard Finn come into the bathroom, kneeling down beside me, stroking my back.

“I’m sorry, Hollis. I thought you ought to know what might happen.” His tone was an attempt at soothing me. I felt anything but, my stomach in knots and my mind all over the place.

I shuffled to sit on the floor, still close enough to the toilet in case I needed it again. “What are we going to do?” I wailed.

“Find him a decent lawyer?”

“Finn, that’s not helping.”

“It might be the thing he needs.”

Suddenly, my brain kicked into gear. “It would be if he were to be charged. At the moment, I don’t think he has been. And if we were to get the charges dropped, he’d be in the clear.”

“How are you going to get that to happen? Convince Gil he’s in the wrong?”

Pushing myself up, a renewed strength flooded through me. “It’s exactly what I’m going to do.”

“Hollis, wait, you can’t do that.”

I glared at him. “Watch me.” Stalking back into the bedroom, I found my phone and dialled a number, not caring if it was the middle of the night. “Gil? Good. We need to talk.”