Protecting Her - Alexis Noelle Page 0,46

knowing what to say. What do you tell someone after a hit like this? I mean, I knew her mother was a bitch, but hiring someone to stalk and terrorize her? That’s a whole new level of fucked up.

“I don’t know what to say, babe. I can’t even tell you that I know how you’re feeling, cause I don’t. I’m here though. Just let me know what I can do.”

“I need to leave.”

Her words cause me to freeze. Leave? Why the hell would she leave? No, fuck that she isn’t going anywhere. “Why would you do that?” She doesn’t answer me. “Sam?” Silence.

I stand up and move in front of her, grabbing the chains of the swing and causing it to stop. Her eyes are still focused on the ground and I need her to look at me. I need to figure out what is going on in her head. I squat down, so now I can see her and all I see is pain. It fucking kills me to see her like this. Completely shattered by someone who is supposed to care for her.

“Why do you want to leave?” She shakes her head, indicating that she isn’t going to answer me. When she moves to stand up so do I. I stand in her path, determined not to let her just walk out. “I have never in my life cared about someone the way I feel about you. I know that you’re hurt but don’t push me away. I’m here and I’m not going anywhere. Lean on me. Lay all of your shit on my shoulders and I’ll carry it for you. Just don’t run away. Don’t run from me. Run to me.”

She looks up at me before sobs break through her body. She sags into me and I quickly lift her up, carrying her inside and up to my room. I lay her on the bed, climbing in beside her and holding her as she buries her face in my chest. My hand rubs circles on her back, trying to calm the storm inside of her. If I could kill her mother and that detective right now, I would.

Sam stays in my arms for the longest time. When she stops crying, I don’t think it’s by choice but because she has run out of tears. Her hands fist my shirt like she is holding on for dear life.

“Talk to me. Keeping everything inside won’t help.” I beg her to just tell me what’s going on in her head.

“Why wasn’t I enough? Why couldn’t she just love me? I mean, am I that terrible of a daughter that she holds that much contempt for me? That she would do this stuff without batting an eye? Why…why doesn’t she love me?” Her voice is strained from crying and laced with pain.

“I don’t know what the hell your mother’s problem is, but you are enough. You are more than enough. She may not love you the way that you deserve, but you don’t fucking need her. I love you. Jules and everyone else does too. You have a family now and you don’t need to put up with the abuse that she has been subjecting you to all these years. You are an amazing person, Samantha Baker.” I kiss her, not knowing how else to get her to understand.

“What do I do now?” She looks up at me, her eyes asking for guidance.

“Now, you make that bitch pay.” I pull her close to me, my chin resting on her head. I know she held out hope that eventually her mother would come around, that she would see the error of her ways and embrace her, but she didn’t.

She won’t.

Chapter Twenty Three

Samantha

I open my eyes as the sunlight touches them. They still burn from all the tears I cried last night.

When Ryan told me it was my mother, I think I went into shock. I never imagined that she would be that evil. That she hated me that much. I had always hoped that I would eventually meet her standards and make her happy. That she might be proud of me. That she might love me. It never happened and it never will.

I almost screwed up the best thing I have and that’s my relationship with Hunter. I was going to run. In my mind, I wanted to get away before he realized I wasn’t worth loving like my mother did. Before he ended up hating me the way that she does.