Breaking Through (The Breaking Series Book 3) (2 page)

My heart sank. I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t run away while Hannah was dealing with two armed men. Not to mention Eric, who would be on her at any moment.

Oh, God, Eric. I couldn’t wrap my head around what had happened.

Eric was my sister’s hot boyfriend of over two years. He was the perfect guy. I had a platonic crush on him since I was fourteen. He was the charming man I modeled my future husband after.

And he had just beat me, pulled my hair, licked my face, nuzzled my neck, and slid his hands all over me. I shuddered, thinking about what almost happened. Of what I had escaped.

I started sliding to the side. “Hey,” I said. “Slow down.” I pulled on the reins, not to make Belle stop, but so I wouldn’t fall. The mare slowed down.

I heard tires squealing before I could see a SUV stopping in front of the stable. A guy jumped out of the SUV, holding a baseball bat. Holy shit, another guy wanting to hurt my sister?

A sudden rush of energy surged through me. I had my phone with me! I let go of the reins with one hand and grabbed my phone from the hidden pocket under the belt of my summer dress. It was hard to dial 911 while bouncing over a saddleless horse, but I did it.

“There are three, no, four armed men at my sister’s ranch. They are hurting her!”

The dispatcher asked for the address and told me someone was coming our way. She also told me to remain calm. I almost laughed at that—a hysterical laugh did bubble in my throat, but I swallowed it.

I returned both hands to the reins and pulled Belle to a stop.

In the distance, I saw the baseball bat guy fighting Eric. Oh, so he was here to help. Then, Argus was there, right behind Eric. The baseball bat guy jumped back, taking Hannah with him, while Argus reared and descended his legs on Eric.

I gasped, my hand over my mouth.

I kicked Belle’s side and pulled the reins, guiding her back to the stable as the other horse collapsed to the ground too.

Over the baseball bat guy’s shoulders, Hannah’s eyes met mine. Even across the distance, I saw the relief and the sadness in them.

In that moment, I knew nothing would ever be the same.

Chapter One

This part of the evening was okay. Familiar, even.

I sat in the driver seat of my car and looked at the house in front of me. I had known this house since I was a baby, and it had always been associated with good memories—even if it was a ranch beside a smelly stable.

That all changed three years ago.

Right after the incident, I had a panic attack just thinking about coming to my sister’s house. Noticing my anguish, and probably wanting to erase her own memories, Hannah had a huge house makeover. Everything about the house was different, except for the foundation. She had redecorated the bedrooms, the kitchen, and the living room. Even the exterior color of the house wasn’t the same anymore. There were no signs of that terrible day.

I took a deep breath.

I hadn’t gone to my therapist in five weeks, but I did call this morning when I realized what we were doing tonight and begged her to see me. She was able to squeeze me into her busy afternoon for a twenty-minute session. It seemed too little, but anything was better than nothing.

She told me I could do this, so I kept repeating that mantra in my mind.

I can do this.

I cursed under my breath.

Stop being a wimp, Hilary.

I just had to face this evening as if it were normal, as if there wouldn’t be anything different.

I glanced to the side where the girls’ cars were parked. Only Hannah’s sports car and Bia’s Grand Cherokee were here. I looked around. Leaving my car in this area of the parking lot would mean I would have to stay until it was over. I turned on the engine and parked my car in the farthest spot from the house, closer to the entrance road—it would be easier to leave later.

I made my way to the house and knocked on the door to announce my arrival before opening the door and letting myself in.

“Hannah? Bia?”

“In the kitchen!” Hannah yelled.

I closed the door and went to meet them in the kitchen. Hannah, Bia, and Gabi—I kept forgetting she was visiting—were around the kitchen island, preparing our food and drinks for the evening. I could hear the popcorn popping into the microwave.

“Hey you,” Bia said, coming to embrace me. “How is L.A.?”

I forced a little smile. “It’s okay.”

Gabi gaped at me. “L.A. is just okay? Ugh, I wish I lived in L.A. too.”

Bia chuckled. “Gabi, as far as we know, you wish to live anywhere in the country, as long as it’s this country and not Brazil.”

“
Sim
. Sad but true,” Gabi said, laughing.

The microwave dinged. “First batch of popcorn is ready!” Hannah announced. “Let’s put some more in.”

We usually had a girls’ night out once a month for the last three years. Even when Bia was living in Fort Murray, Hannah and I kept up the tradition, even if that meant I had to come up from Los Angeles more often. Then Ri married Lauren and Pedro started dating Iris, and the two girls were welcomed into our little group.

Not to mention Gabi. She wasn’t around much, since she lived in Brazil, but she was part of our group nonetheless.

After Hannah made tons of popcorn and Bia made
chimarrão
, we went into the living room.

It was impossible not to look around this place. Eric had assaulted Hannah and me here. I confess the changes Hannah made in the house made me feel better, but I still avoided the corner in the living room where the couch had once been. Now it was a bookcase full of happy pictures and a few trophies.

Soon, Lauren and Iris arrived, and we put on a sappy romantic comedy about desperate single people.

Besides Gabi and me, Gui was the only single one in our group. We had our bets on when he would finally meet a girl who was able to tie him down, and add one more to our group.

Knowing how much he loved the three Ps—polo, parties, and pretty girls—I had bet that it would take him another ten years to start thinking about settling down.

As for me, I wondered if they had bets about me too. If I had to guess, I would say the options were that I would be single much longer than ten years. Maybe forever. Well, even I thought that was possible.

I sighed and tried focusing on the movie.

The main couple was kissing. I sighed again. The last time I kissed a guy had been before that day. Over three years ago. Gosh, that was too long. I still couldn’t think about touching a guy, let alone kissing one.

Bia stretched and nudged my knee with her foot. She slipped her phone to me, and I read the message on the screen.

Leo:
We’re arriving.

I reached to the curtain behind me and spied out. I could see the cars’ lights approaching. Right before they turned the last curve on the private road inside the ranch, they turned their headlights off.

I picked up the remote control from the side table and raised the volume, hoping it would drown out any noise coming from outside.

Hannah lifted an eyebrow at me. I shrugged. Let her think I was enjoying this sappy movie. Thankfully, she returned her attention to the TV.

I spied out the curtains again. They had parked their cars closer to the stable. In three seconds, they were out and unloading the equipment.

I shifted my gaze back to the TV and pretended to enjoy the movie, even though all I wanted to do was bite my nails. Or go out there and help. But that wasn’t part of the plan. My part of the plan was to make sure Hannah didn’t see or hear anything until it was time.

Ten minutes passed.

Bia looked at me with a crease on her forehead. She checked her phone and shook her head. Gabi, seated on the floor, looked fidgety too, but she didn’t stop staring at the screen. Good girl.

Twenty minutes.

I spied outside again. Besides all that was going on out there, I couldn’t see much with the cloudy sky. The only lights on were a couple inside the stables, probably so it wouldn’t catch Hannah’s attention. How they were setting everything up in the dark, I didn’t know.

Thirty minutes.

Bia typed a message on her phone.

The movie would end soon, and there wouldn’t be anything to cover up their noise then.

Bia smiled at her phone before passing it to me so I could read it.

Leo:
We’re almost done. When the movie ends, bring her out.

I smiled and handed the phone to her.

Gosh, this was really happening. I could barely sit still. Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and thanked God for moments like this—moments that gave me hope life could be pretty again someday. Hope that the darkness of the past would someday relent and let go of me. Hope that someday I would be open to fall in love again and find my own Leo.

A shudder ran down my spine and that magical feeling was gone, along with all the hope. Damn it. I would never get better.

Bia nudged me with her foot. Pushing back the demons inside my mind, I looked at her. She nodded toward the TV. The couple was kissing again. The makeup and final kiss before the movie ended.

I sat straighter on my corner of the couch.

Ten.

Nine.

Eight…

The movie ended. Hannah, Lauren, and Iris exhaled a happy sigh.

“Ah, that was so good,” Hannah said, taking the remote control from the side table.

She stopped the movie and I held my breath, sure she would hear the banging and whatever from outside. There was nothing. Not even crickets.

“Hannah,” Bia said, jumping from the couch. “I forgot something in my car I need to show you.”

“Oh-kay,” Hannah said. “Bring it in.”

“I can’t.” Bia clicked her tongue. “It’s too heavy. Just come and see.”

Bia turned around and marched to the door. Hannah glanced at me, a what-the-hell-is-she-doing look on her face. I shrugged and followed Bia.

For dramatic effect, Bia paused at the door until Hannah was right behind her. Then, she opened the door and stepped out. I took Hannah’s hand and pulled her outside.

The lights came on, illuminating everything in the parking lot between the house and the stable. Hannah gasped, Bia and Gabi laughed, Lauren and Iris shrieked, and I smiled.

Loud country music started playing from big speakers set on either side of the precarious wooden stage assembled in the middle of the parking lot. The light beams came from four high metal pillars installed on the four corners of the stage.

Holy crap, the guys had really put some effort in this.

Dressed in jeans, boots, plaid shirt and hat, Leo came up on the stage, a wide smile on his face and a microphone in his hand.

“What’s going on?” Hannah whispered, her tone suspicious. She looked around, her eyes wide, slowly taking in all the people around the stage. Our parents, Leo’s family, Jimmy, close friends. There were around a hundred people in her ranch’s parking lot. “Hil, what’s going on?”

Before I was able to say anything, Leo raised the microphone to his mouth, and on cue, the music stopped. “This is for you,
morena
.”

Then the other guys joined him on stage. Ricardo, Pedro, Guilherme, and even Garrett, all dressed like Leo. A new song started and the guys began dancing.

I tugged Hannah’s hand and pulled her through the crowd until we were right in front of the stage.

My sister had an open-mouth smile as if she couldn’t believe what she was seeing, as if it was too good to be true, too
crazy
to be true.

Well, I still couldn’t believe my eyes, and I had known about this since the beginning.

The guys swayed and stomped their feet and moved their hips while Leo lip-synced—it was like looking at the country version of the Backstreet Boys. With the difference that these guys were actually way more handsome than the real Backstreet Boys.

My smile widened. I was always a little relieved when I ended up noticing things like that—if a guy was handsome, or hot, or both. Perhaps it sounded silly, but in my case, it gave me hope that I would be okay. Someday. In the far future.

The lights blinked when the song changed. Then the guys were undressing. Looking like they had just gotten out of a Magic Mike movie, they threw their hats to the people around the stage, and opened their shirts button by button, while still moving their hips to the beat of the song. They all had a white tank underneath, one that hugged their torso—damn, playing polo sure gave a guy some impressive, lean muscles.

The women screamed and catcalled while Gabi uttered an “ew” behind me.

I smiled. Yeah, my therapist would be happy. There was still hope for me.

Leo threw his shirt at Hannah, and she caught it with a huge smile. I loved seeing her like this. Ri, Pedro, and Garrett threw theirs at their girls, and Gui threw his randomly. The daughter of one of my mother’s friends from the club caught it, and she screamed like crazy. I shook my head, a little jealous that she got that excited about a smelly shirt.