With Love

Chapter Twenty-Four

HAPPY NEW YEAR MY LOVES!!

**WARNING graphic and violent content may be shown in this chapter, please be advised**

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Dressed and ready to leave for the Campbell residence, I knocked on Amari's bedroom door. A quiet 'come in' sounded and I pushed through.

She sat on her bed, dressed in shorts and a loose t-shirt, and scrolled through her phone. The phone dropped on her stomach as she looked up. While I had given her space that the therapist demanded from us for Amari to come to terms with what happened in my bedroom, she certainly looked terrible.

Her eyes had bags under them, the usual light in her eyes dim. "Thought I would come to see you before we left." I offered for her to join us but she refused. Atticus would be staying with her, along with the remaining men on the compound.

Nora promised to check on her every hour. Amari's eyes trailed over my dress. "You look pretty," she murmured.

I clenched my jaw at the forced compliment, knowing she would usually gush and carry on but this subdued response upset me more. I've never wanted her to be her normal annoying self so bad. I plastered a smile on my face. "Thanks, how was your last day of school?" I asked now that it was officially summer vacation for her.

Atticus still needed to complete his final exams over the next week before his high school graduation. The private school insisted that the other grades finish early to give the seniors quiet in the halls.

Amari lifted one shoulder in a half-shrug. "It was fine, we watched movies."

I lowered myself onto the edge of her bed and lay on my side, not caring if I wrinkled my outfit. "So, I was thinking," I began, watching her face, "Atticus said that he wanted to have a few friends over for his graduation party and they'll be in the pool and we'll do a barbeque and I thought that maybe you could invite two of your friends over so you won't be bored, how does that sound?"

She looked up at me, her brown eyes empty. "Sure, that's fine."

I gritted my teeth. "Okay, I have to go but Nora is downstairs if you need her and Atticus is studying in his room," I informed her, pushing to my feet and slowly walking back to the door.

"Ana," she called softly. I spun on my heel to face her. "What happened to the...?" she gestured to her neck, unable to form the words.

My fingers automatically reached for my neck, the bruises invisible from the amount of makeup it took to cover it up. I swallowed the lump in my throat. "You never have to worry about them again," I told her vaguely. I would rather not go into any detail about how Jasper took care of the intruder with no mercy.

Amari fidgeted with her fingers. "How have you not broken when this is the life you're forced to live?" She asked, her voice barely above a whisper. She looked so broken and I felt her pain in my chest.

A grim smile crossed my lips as I opened the door and looked over my shoulder at her. "Because he broke me long before this world could," I replied, closing the door behind me.

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My mind wandered for the entire drive to the Campbell residence. They lived in Pelham, roughly thirty minutes outside of Manhattan. Finn sat silently beside me, dressed in his newly tailored suit, less formal than a tuxedo but more formal than a work suit.

He didn't say a word, somehow knowing I needed this time for myself. He did, however, brush a cold hand just above my knee then casually left it there. Even going so far as to squeeze it gently, offering a small comfort.