Shattered

Chapter 50: Exposed

Violet's POV:

"You may tell the greatest lies and wear a brilliant disguise, but you can't escape the eyes of the one who sees right through you." – Tom Robbins

Staring down at my phone did not give me the result I wanted. The result I wanted was a response from the text I sent to Kaden letting him know I was outside.

I told him I would be late because of an accident in the lab. That was my first step in the lie. I went home, scrubbed off the morning the best I could, then spent a painful amount of time trying to get the swelling in my face down and cover it up. Liquid bandages helped cover up the cut. It stung like a motherfucker but I'd had worse. It would hurt when I had to take it off, but for now, I just needed something to hide it from Kaden.

All the liquid bandages and makeup in the world couldn't hide the fact my face was swollen. I may have been able to cover the bruise, I may have been able to make the cut look much smaller and less disgusting as I covered it first with that liquid bandage, then with a generous amount of makeup. It wasn't the best, but it was all I could do and after seeing Kaden admit it was hurt to be abandoned without explanation, I couldn't just not show, or cancel on him. I wasn't going to hurt him like that again, which is how I ended up outside his Air BnB, working through the lie I would have to tell and waiting on a response.

I had none. And I hated how often I almost went to my most recent texts with Chase. I knew it was better to say nothing. Enough was said and I was afraid anything else would only cause more pain or give him false hope. I wasn't responsible for how he felt, but I was very aware he just lost his sister and then had to gun down one of his closest friends. In any other circumstance, I might've said something, but his confession left me worried he would take it for something it wasn't, and his words still hurt.

Chase didn't know anything about Kaden. He didn't know Kaden would leave if I told him the truth, decide I wasn't worth the trouble. The thing that ate at me was I didn't know either. Kaden handled everything else so well but... The rest was so much worse, so much darker. I didn't even want to be in it let alone drag someone else in with me.

If it weren't for our miscommunication because of the fucking phones, I'd be a lot more willing to just stay where I was and not approach the house, but thinking about how much got screwed because of phones, I groaned in disdain and got out of the car.

I felt like a kid picking up their first date as my stomach fluttered nervously. This was insane, it wasn't like it was the first time I was coming here to see him, it was just the first time I was using the front door. Reaching the door, I hesitated. There was a chance someone else would answer. I reluctantly lifted my hand and knocked.

The door opened and the man standing on the other side was so tall, his head was bent down to see through the doorway. My eyes widened at the sheer mass of the person in front of me. I thought Kaden was tall and muscular but holy shit, this guy was bigger. It made me nervous and my hand slipping under my jacket towards my taser was less a conscious decision and more just an automatic response because no way in hell could I take this guy on if I needed to.

"Hi," I said, realizing I should finally speak. I was the one who knocked on his door, for goodness sake.

"Hello," he said, his eyes darting to where my hand disappeared under my jacket. I doubted he knew what I was doing but I recognized it probably looked strange. Too bad, I was keeping my hand on that taser as long as this giant was in front of me.

"I'm um... I'm here for Kaden," I managed to get out.

"Oh," he said, his expression softening. "Violet?"

I nodded and he gave me the tiniest smile in the whole world. I was pretty sure an ant couldn't smile as small as he did.

"Nice to meet you," he said, stepping aside and waving me through. "Come on in."