House of V (Unraveled Series) by Raen Smith Read Free Book Online

eyes.
    “Yes,” I lied again, knowing that I
was hurting him. This time, the lie stung. I cared, but I didn’t want to. I was Evie Parker. I took a deep breath and repeated
calmly, “We should go.”
    Ryan gave me a look that I knew,
the look that I hated seeing and had already seen once earlier tonight. Disappointment. He broke my gaze, jogged around the fender
and jumped into the truck. I glanced behind my shoulder one last time before I
slid onto the seat and slammed the door shut. The cowboy was gone. I exhaled,
letting my head fall onto the seat.
    “Why were you out here anyway?” I
asked as Ryan threw the truck in reverse and skidded out the parking lot. I
rolled the window down and let the cool air brush against my face. I felt a
tacky liquid begin to adhere and dry to the skin on my arm. The
cowboy’s blood.
    “I figured you were leaving. I
thought you might take my truck,” Ryan replied flatly.
    “I wouldn’t do that.” My voice
sounded smaller than I wanted it to be.
    “Leave or take my truck?”
    “Take your truck,” I answered,
knowing that he wasn’t going to like what came out of my mouth, but it was the
truth, and it stung us both.
    Ryan nodded his head and rolled
down his own window. “You’re a bomb waiting to explode, Evie .
I thought it was just all about your dad before. That Holston Parker being
alive was making you so obsessed, so driven. But he’s gone now. It’s been a
year. And you’re different now, I will give you that, but just not who I
remember you as. Not like when you were a teenager, when you were friends with
Elizabeth. You’re just not the same person I used to know.”
    “That was more than ten years ago,”
I replied, ignoring the bomb reference. “Time changes everyone. Are you the
same person you were ten year ago?”
    “I don’t know. I’d like to think
so. At least who I am on the inside
is the same.” He thumped his hand against his chest. “This inside, this is the
same Ryan that you’ve always known, but in there,” he pointed to my chest, “I
don’t know what’s there anymore, Evie . It’s filled
with so much hate and rage.”
    “I’ve been through a lot in ten
years.” I looked at the town disappearing in the side mirror. The lights of the
buildings finally faded into the darkness. I couldn’t argue with his point, I
felt the rage deep inside, too, but I had thought I had it under control. I had
thought removing the toxicity of Holston Parker would make me whole again, but
I had been wrong, dead wrong. My heart was filled with black.
    “I never said you haven’t been
through a lot. But it’s over now. Elizabeth is long gone. My dad is gone. Ethan
is gone. And your dad , he’s gone.
There’s nothing tying you to him anymore. You can be whoever you want to be.
Ivy Stone. Anyone. Freedom, as long
as we’re careful about it.” Ryan slowed his words, as he chose his next
ones with more calculation, “We can live wherever we want to live. We can be
whoever we want to be. As long as you promise to start working on you, the real
you, I’ll be here to help you along the way. If you try to mend the broken
pieces and get rid of the rage you still hold on to, I’ll be here forever. I’m
only asking you to try , Evie .”
    I was silent because I didn’t know
how to tell him that I couldn’t commit to that right now. I wasn’t sure if I
would ever be able to commit to it. I’d always feel an obligation to Ryan; that
he’d go down with me. It was better to cut the ties now before it was too late. Before I filled his heart with the same blackness that filled
mine.
    Ryan reached out toward me, his
hand finding the bottom of my skirt.
    “Jesus, not now, Ryan,” I said as
his hand reached up my skirt to my thigh. He stopped at the holster, feeling
around at the empty slot where the knife should have been. His hand slid back
down my leg and away from me.
    “Where is it?” he demanded, his
voice angry now.
    I was silent as I slid my left