Never let her go

Chapter 22

Lucy POV

⚠️Trigger warning: mention of violence.⚠️

As soon as I saw my brothers’ faces, I knew that they weren’t going to believe my lies.

Theo and Noah ran toward me and wrapped me up in a hug.

“Are you okay?” Noah asked me. “I was so worried.”

“I’m fine, Noah.” I said, rubbing small circles on his back.

Theo remained silent, but I could feel how tense he was.

I looked at Liam and Ezra, and both of them had a pained expression on their faces.

They know.

“We need to talk, Lucy.” Nate said, sitting down in his chair.

“What is wrong with her?” Noah asked as he let go of me.

His eyes were filled with unshed tears, and it made my heart clench painfully.

Theo let go of me and kissed the top of my head.

“Is it okay to talk when all of your brothers are here?” Nate asked me, ignoring Noah’s question.

“I told you what would happen if you took her away from me.” Theo said coldly.

I took his hand in mine. “It’s okay, Theo. You can stay.”

I looked at Nate and took a deep breath. I wondered if there was still a way to make them believe that it was an accident.

“What do we need to talk about?” I asked quietly.

“Well, I would like to know the truth about that cut on your stomach.” Nate said calmly. “And I would like to get a better look at your ribs.”

My eyes widened and my heart stopped beating.

I felt like Nate had thrown a bucket of ice water on me.

He saw my ribs.

Oh, my God.

Theo and Noah’s panicked voices reached me.

“What cut?!”

“What’s wrong with her ribs?!”

I couldn’t move my eyes away from Nate. He was looking at me knowingly, and I knew I had no way out of this. I will have to tell the truth, won’t I?

“Lucy, honey.” Ezra walked up to me and placed his hand on my thigh. “You can trust us. You can talk to us. We are here for you. We love you so much and we want you to be healthy and happy.”

My heart skipped a beat. I wanted to tell them how much I loved them. I wanted to tell them how much I wanted them to be happy as well. And I knew that the truth wouldn’t make them happy. How could I do that to them after everything they’ve done for me?

But I knew I had to. There was no way around this.

“Theo, Noah.” I called my brothers, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath.

“Yes, Sunshine?” Noah said, squeezing my hand tighter.

“Can you promise me something?” I asked, looking down at my lap.

“Anything.” Theo said immediately.

“Promise me you won’t let go of my hand no matter what.” I said quietly.

I knew how Theo would react. I knew he would kick and punch everything around us, and I didn’t want him to get hurt. I needed to hold on to him to protect him. I needed to hold on to Noah because he made me feel braver.