Chapter 51 SHOULDN'T BE HERE
THANE
Today couldn’t get any worse than dealing with several kinds of shit all at once. It was already hell facing Rachel after messing up big time and doing that unforgivable thing to Sarah.
I should have fucking kept my shit together, even if it felt out of my control. Sometimes it just gets so messy, and it becomes damn near impossible to think straight… unless I end up ruining everything. Except this time, it shouldn’t have been Sarah.
Yet Rachel still managed to care about me like I didn’t just knock her mum out because I couldn’t pull myself together.
I fucking hated myself for it, but the most painful part was how much Shorty trusted me. I saw it in the way she looked at me when she told me to answer that call. I was supposed to tell her the truth back there.
But… I couldn’t.
I would’ve had to tell her some fucked-up things she shouldn’t be mixed up in. Especially not about Molly. She’d see I wasn’t just the bad-boy Thane who’s half messed up and charming when he wants to be, or cocky enough to tease her. I’d been a bad guy.
I stared at my phone one last time, convincing myself to stay one more minute, while another part of me kept saying I shouldn’t even be here. I should be at the hospital with Rachel, not standing in some old alley waiting for Molly because she threatened me again.
I’d already called her ten times since I got here. This spot… I knew it too well and she definitely didn't just choose here by chance. She wanted to remind me the fucked up guy I used to be.
“Didn’t think you were gonna make it, Adams.” Molly’s voice echoed through the alley as she approached me, her boots hitting against the rusted metal on the ground. “You said you didn’t care. So what changed?”
She stopped right in front of me, lighting her cigar before blowing the smoke straight into my face.
“We didn’t need to go this far, Molly,” I said, keeping my voice steady. “I told you I’d handle the whole thing.”
Her expression didn’t change. She just dragged in a long puff, then blew it into my face again.
There was a time Molly wouldn’t try this shit with me. And God knows I was this close to snapping, but I forced myself to stay calm. I ignored the obvious provocation and matched her stance.
“I’m sorry about Mylla, but Pops had nothing to do with it, I swear,” I exhaled sharply, catching the fury rising in her eyes already, before adding, “That man’s done a lot of messed-up shit… but killing someone isn’t one of them—”
I didn’t get to finish. Her punch slammed straight into my jaw, sending me staggering back, almost dropping me to the ground before I caught myself.
“You know nothing about your fucking father!” her voice cracked through the alley like thunder.
I rubbed the blood that bursted from my lips off the corner of my mouth with the back of my hand like it meant nothing, because really, it didn’t. Not compared to the shit already tearing me up inside. A little punch? That was nothing.
The pain was strangely some sort of remedy to ease the guilt I felt.
The second I steadied myself, Molly came at me again. This time, I saw it coming, her right leg aiming straight for my left ribs. I blocked it with my elbow, shoving her boot off before it landed, but she didn’t miss her next shot. Her foot slammed into my tigh, sending a sharp, boiling pain up the muscle around it.
“Fu…” I groaned, grabbing at it. “Fuckk!”
“You promised to get her out!” she snapped, her voice breaking into something wild. “Not have your monster father kill my fucking twin. She didn’t deserve that!”
“Fine! Alright!” I shot back, frustration snapping through me. “Dammit! All you do is accuse him without a fucking proof, and I still believed you, even when I didn’t have to.”
My hands moved in sharp, restless gestures as I spoke. “I wouldn’t have fucking done that if I had anything to do with her death. Use your damn head, Molly!”
“You think I don’t have a damn proof?” Her voice cracked louder this time, something realer than bitterness slipping through her anger. “I’ll get it. I’m gonna get that damn proof. You’ll see.”
I scoffed, a dark smirk pulling at my lips as I spat blood onto the ground. “Then give me time,” I said, my tone dropping, steadier now. “I’ll find the truth. But only if you promise you’ll leave everyone else out of this.” My chest raced rapidly, “Rachel especially.”
“You don’t get to negotiate—”
“It’s not a damn debate!” I snapped, my voice cutting through the alley like a blade. “No more threats, or we don’t have a deal. And I swear, I’ll make your life hell if anything goes wrong. We clear?”
A slow, sarcastic laugh left her, bitter and hollow, echoing against the walls of the alley like it belonged there.
“Oh! Poor Thane,” she drawled. “Are you…” she snorted, another sarcastic laugh slipping out. “You’re in love with your fucking sister? If that’s true, then this just got interesting. What the hell, Thane Adams?” She laughed again.
“I don’t care what you think. We’re done here.”
“Do you understand how I feel now?” she snapped, glaring at me as she ran a hand through her hair. “You want to protect her with everything you’ve got, and you can’t help how crazy that makes you feel. You know what else you’re gonna have to worry about?”
The veins in my hand strained as my fingers curled into a fist at my side. Heat burned through my chest as she stepped close enough for me to smell the cigar on her breath.
She leaned in, her lips brushing near my ear. “Your precious mama,” whispered with a mocking grin.
My chest tightened instantly. And when she pulled back to look at me, I knew she wasn’t bluffing.
“Molly…” I started, but she cut me off.
“Mylla saw something that night…” Her voice dropped, deadly now. “Whatever it was, I believe that’s what Simon’s after. And now that he killed her, it means it’s bad enough to silence her.”
She stepped even closer, her face inches from mine, our breaths mixing. “Find it, Thane Adams,” she murmured. “And I promise to stay off your girl. That’s the deal.”
“You need to tell me what you know if you actually want me to trust you.” My voice came out rough as I tried to steady my breathing.
The possibility of what Mylla saw was becoming too real, and it scared the shit out of me. This had to be connected to what she tried to tell me that day… before everything went wrong.
Molly smirked, then she continued, “What if I told you Ciara was with your father the night before she died?”
Something exploded in my chest. I couldn’t breathe. My lungs tightened like something was crushing them from the inside.
“You don’t believe me, do you?” Molly’s eyes searched mine, like she was trying to pull the truth straight out of me.
I couldn’t carry all of it at once. It was happening again, my head spinning with too many questions, none of them making sense. If I stayed any longer, I’d lose it. I’d take it out on her.
So I looked away, turned. And walked.
“Yeah, that’s it!” Molly called after me. “Run away like a fucking coward!”
I didn’t look back. I didn’t dare. Because if I did, I knew I’d go back and do something I couldn’t undo. I needed to hit something. I needed to break something.
My steps came faster, each one hitting hard against the metal stairs. By the time I pushed out of the building, the cold air hit my face like a slap, but it wasn’t enough to cool anything inside me.
I reached my car, gripping the handle too tight, already knowing I wouldn’t hold it together once I got in. The second I slammed the door shut, my fist drove straight into the steering wheel.
“Shit!” I growled, gripping the leather like I wanted to tear it off.