Page 88 of Running from Drac

Fuck. I already know where this is going.

“He was there, wasn’t he?”

She nodded, hugging herself in complete vulnerability. “Yes.”

“Did he touch you?” I growl, the possessiveness already controlling me.That motherfucker is seriously going to die.

She nodded again, weaker… broken. “He did. He wanted more.”

“How did he fucking touch you?” I seethe, nails bedding into my palm, the pain nothing compared to the rage that’s growing stronger by the second.

She looks up at me with fear in her eyes. Then her fingers brush over her lips. “Sort of here.” Her fingers trail down her neck. “Briefly here.” She gulps audibly as her hand moves between her legs. “Here.”

“So, you fucked him!” I raged, voice filling the whole house.

“No,” she corrects me. “We did not fuck. I pushed him away. He was trying to make me remember that night, and I probably let things get too out of hand. But I wasn’t exactly in the right headspace, Eddie. Pippa… I’m pretty sure she planned this.”

I wouldn’t doubt it. But it still didn’t change the fact that the bastard touched my woman… again.

“I stopped things before they went too far, Eddie. I told him I was in love with you and engaged. I promise. I just should’ve walked away from the beginning and didn’t. And for that I’m truly sorry.” You could see the guilt in her eyes; she must’ve been toying over how to tell me all night. “I told you I would always be honest with you. And here I am, begging for your forgiveness. Begging with every ounce of my being for you to forgive me.”

I already forgave her. Pippa knew exactly what she was doing when she took Amber out last night. She had to. That’s who I’m really angry with. And the guy. If she told him she was engaged and still touched her, that guy has some big fucking balls. Balls I’ll fucking crush into pebbles if I ever get my hands on him.

Tears fall down her face in rivers, she’s practically sobbing, the guilt eating her alive.

“Come here,” I encourage, holding my arms open for her.

She rushes into them, fingers trembling as she holds me tighter than she ever has. “I’m sorry, Eddie. I’m so fucking sorry.”

Cupping her cheek, I lift her head so she can look me in my eyes. “Baby, I’m not mad at you. You would’ve never gone had you known what she had planned. But consider my friendship with Pippa over. I don’t want her at our wedding.”

“Eddie!”

“I don’t want her there, Amber. She’s been causing nothing but chaos for us the last few weeks, and if she goes, I feel like it’s going to end badly.” This is me telling her without telling her. She just doesn’t know it.

“I don’t know if I can uninvite her. If I do, I basically only have a handful of people going.”

“Then we elope. We’ll cancel all our reservations and just go to one of those quick chapels or something. I don’t need a fancy wedding, Amber. I just need you.”

She sniffs. “I don’t know… Poppy and Mallory already bought their dresses, and we’ve ordered catering.”

She starts to hyperventilate. “Shhh, it’s okay. Everything is going to be fine. Calm down, baby girl. We got this.”

She wipes at her nose with the back of her sleeve. “Are you sure? I know how much your parents want you to have a big wedding…”

“We can do one later. We’ll renew our vows or something when Wesley’s out of jail and your mom gets out of rehab. How does that sound?”

Relief washes over her. “Sounds better, actually.”

Possessively, I kiss her, fingers clutching onto her as if she’ll dissolve underneath them. “I love you, Amber. We’ve already been to Hell and back. And I’m not going to let this dude come between us. Not now. Not ever. As long as we make it to that altar, that’s all I care about.”

“Me too,” she whispers, still shuddering through silent sobs. “Are you sure you’re not mad?”

“Oh, I’m definitely mad, but not at you. I promise you that. And if it helps, I’ll tell Pippa she can’t come to the wedding.”

“No, it’s okay. It should come from me.”

“Are you sure?”