Chapter 6

Chapter Six

P ractice was brutal. Even worse than what I put myself through yesterday. The fact that I didn't sleep last night didn't help either. I spent all my time staring at Montana. Watching, waiting. Making sure she didn't have another nightmare, and that I was right there, awake, if she did. She looked peaceful though.

"She screamed out the name Andrew last night," I tell Gray.

"Andrew? Okay, I'll update Vinny," he says, already tapping out a message on his phone. "You know I'm not letting you do what you're planning on doing." Gray looks up at me. "We have people for this sort of thing, Luke. I'm not letting some prick ruin your life."

"I don't care if it ruins me. I need to find that fucker. I need to do it," I repeat.

"I get that, but I'm not letting you get your hands dirty when the result is going to be the same anyway," Gray says.

"I agree with him. You won't be any good to her if you're behind bars."

I narrow my glare at King, who took it upon himself to butt into our conversation. "I don't recall asking for your opinion."

"You're right. You didn't. I gave that shit to you for free." The fucker smirks.

I roll my eyes and push up from the bench. "I'm assuming you're coming with me."

"Why would I do that?" King asks .

"Because your wife's hanging out at my place today." I raise my brows at him, honestly shocked that he doesn't know where she is for once. Those two are usually joined at the hip.

"I knew that," he grunts, but we all know he's lying out of his ass right now.

"Right, sure ya did." I turn and walk out with Gray and King hot on my heels.

"I have to go get Graycee. I'll catch up with you guys later," Gray calls after us.

"Give her a hug from me," I tell him.

"And tell my girl that her favorite uncle has another puck for her shelf," King adds, as Gray grumbles under his breath.

The moment I shift the car into park, I jump out and walk inside. There's no sign of Montana or Aliyah anywhere. I make my way through to the kitchen, then the living room.

"They're in the theater," King says while waving his phone at me .

I head that way and find Montana curled up on one of the oversized recliners, Aliyah filling the one right next to her.

I reach out a hand to stop King when he goes to walk past me, remembering how Montana reacted to seeing Grayson in the back of the car yesterday. "Wait by the door. I'll let her know you're here first," I tell him, keeping my voice low. King nods as I walk down the few steps before stopping in front of Aliyah. "Your husband's here. You should take him home before he eats everything in my pantry."

Montana jolts and her body stiffens, but she doesn't move her head to look around. She keeps her gaze focused on the screen.

"Right, well, it's been great hanging out with you, Montana. Maybe we can do it again sometime?" Aliyah smiles as she pushes up from the chair.

"Um, thank you." Montana smiles back at her.

"Thanks, Lia." I pull Aliyah in for a hug, drop my arms, and watch her walk away.

"Anytime," she says.

I fill the seat that Aliyah just vacated and reach for Montana's hand, entwining my fingers with hers. "How's your morning been? Lia can be a bit chatty." I chuckle.

"She's nice. I like her," Montana says, though she's yet to look at me.

"That's good. What have you been up to?" I ask as my thumb rubs small circles along the top of her hand.

Montana glances at our joined palms before refocusing on the screen. "Nothing really. We just watched movies."

"Have you eaten?"

"I had some of the fruit you left," she says, then quickly adds, "Thank you."

"That's it?" I look her over. The girl really does need to eat. She's skinnier than I've ever seen her.

"It was enough."

"I'll make you something else. What do you feel like having? Or we can order some takeout?" I offer.

She shakes her head. "No, thank you. I'm not hungry."

"Montana, do you… do you think you should talk to someone? Like a professional? A doctor? I can find someone willing to come to the house."

"Why would I need to talk to someone?" This time, she turns her head to look at me.

"Because you've been through a traumatic experience. It's okay to get help. "

"I was in a car accident," she whispers.

"Tanna, we both know that's not true." I sigh, and she tugs her hand back.

"It is true."

"Who's Andrew?" I ask, and the moment the words leave my mouth, I wish I could take them back.

Montana's face goes ashen. Her hands tremble and her body curls in on itself. "W-who?" she stammers out.

"You screamed his name last night, Tanna. In your sleep. So who is he?" I ask again. Because, well, the cat's out of the bag now.

"No one." She shakes her head from side to side. "I should go."

"You're not going anywhere. You need to let me help you. Why are you punishing yourself?"

"I'm not… I… You wouldn't understand."

"You're right. I probably wouldn't. Because the Montana I used to know knew her worth and would never have let some asshole beat her black and blue." I take a deep breath. I need to calm down.

It's not her fault. I know that. I know none of it is that simple. I've looked into it. There's a whole psychology behind domestic violence. Between the abuser and the abused. Some people never make it out on the other side. And the truth is, she's lucky to be alive. I'm lucky she's alive.

But, fuck, why the hell was she letting it happen? She could have come to me.

"The Montana you knew is gone, Luke. She died the day we buried Sean. The same day you walked away from me and never looked back."

"I'm sorry." It's all I can say. "I just… I hate seeing you like this. I hate that you've been going through this alone, and I hate that I didn't fucking know it was happening."

Montana doesn't say anything, so I keep going.

"And you're wrong. The girl I knew is still in there somewhere. I know she is… How's school going? Are you still studying math?" I ask, wanting to change the subject.

"I… I think I'm going to go lie down for a bit, if that's okay."

"You can do whatever you want, Tanna. You don't need permission," I tell her. "Come on, I'll help you up the stairs."

"It's okay. I've got it." She rolls onto her side, then onto her feet, and I watch her walk out of the room. Fuck, I need to find a way to get through to her. I need to help her see what's really going on and how much better she deserves. I just don't fucking know how.

I know she said she'd be okay, but I get up and follow her anyway. Meeting her on the steps. "You didn't answer me about school? Are you still taking classes?" I ask, trying to make light conversation.