Surviving Love (LarssonSiblingSeries#6)

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

(TRIGGER WARNING: THE FOLLOWING SCENE DEALS WTH SEXUAL ABUSE)

THEO

I do the impossible, and drive Laine to her parents house. I hate every damn second of it, as I force my eyes to concentrate on the road with my fingers crushing the steering wheel. It's five minutes of hell as she guides me with a shaky voice that she's trying to keep steady, and as soon as we pull up near the front door and her mother sees that I'm driving she rushes across the lawn.

I think that I'm about to throw up.

Selma rips open the car door. "What has happened?"

Laine gives her an unsure smile. I don't think she believes it. "I saw Trevor. At the gym."

All colour drains from Selma's face as she gasps out a no before reaching in here to drag Laine from the car. Laine's crying has eased to the occasional sniffle now, but one thing for sure is that she scared the life out of me.

After her meltdown, I managed to get her into the passengers seat of her car to pry her car keys from her hand. Of course, knowing that driving is a hard limit for me, she begged for me to let her drive, but I wasn't about to let her kill herself or someone else. Her brain in pure panic mode. It's not like she'd see another car coming, or a kid crossing the road.

"Oh, sweet, Jesus," says Selma as she grips Laine even tighter, leaving me thinking that things with George's dad were more than complicated.

To be honest, I hadn't given it much thought apart from that it made me damn sad that it caused her pain to talk about. And if George isn't with Laine, then he's with family, so I wonder if the dad was absent.

What a douchebag he is for missing out on such a cool kid.

I shut the car door to follow them towards the front doorway. Laine promising her mum that's she's okay until we get inside and she starts crying again at the sight of her dad. There's such an anger in me at seeing her so vulnerable, and I'm not entirely sure why.

Viktor grits his jaw. "I'm going to call the detective. We will catch him this time, okay? Do you still have the letter he sent you?"

She nods. "Yes."

"Good. It can be used as evidence. Are you all right, sweetheart? Do you need to sit down?" he says, something fierce in his eyes that are trained on her.

They're going to call a detective with evidence? What the hell. My feet quickly follow Laine as her mother leads her through to the conservatory, plonking her near the sunlight that's pouring in from the big window in the corner.

Selma makes sure she's comfortable before smiling at me over her shoulder. "Will you look after my girl while I go get her a drink?"

Always. "Yes."

Giving me a sure smile, she pats my elbow as she moves towards the bi-folding doors. "Is fruit cordial okay, my love?"

"Something stronger." She clears her throat when the words get distorted. "Something stronger, please."

"Gin and tonic?" Selma replies, nodding and leaving when Laine tells her yes.

I get down on the floor in front of Laine with my hands on her knees. "Want to talk?"

Looking bone-weary she lets her eyes dart to the garden outside the windows and back to me, letting out a long sigh after it. "It's a long story."

I edge back. "I have time."

Those delicate hands of hers search for mine, and sensing that she needs the support, I link our fingers together. "I met Trevor at a friends party many years ago. We were just kids. Young teens. We were fast friends, but when he took a liking to Betty it all kind of stopped for us. He didn't want to know me anymore, which was fine, but it hurt.