A Protector's Second Chance (Unit Matched #2) (10 page)

Chapter 26

Day 59 of 90

One month and one day.

That was all the time I had left in the cabin. Then my final punishment would come. Well, my banishment.

I was staring out the window. The snow was heavy again, and there was frost lining the window. I could spend the time that remained here in the bedroom, or I could go downstairs and spend it with Oliver.

I had thought about it all night last night after his confession. All my life I’d had to look out for me, unless it involved Xaviera or Gia, and then I put them before me. They were my best friends, and it was my job.

Would I protect Oliver?

If someone broke in right this moment and threatened him, would I throw myself into the situation to make sure he was safe?

Yes.

I would.

I wouldn’t even hesitate.

Then why the hell was I sitting up here when downstairs was someone who cared about me?

An idea came to me and I thought that maybe it was time. I was going to be banished, and he needed to know. I walked down to find Oliver and set my plan in motion. He was standing in the kitchen.

“Hi.” I gave him a small smile and easily walked over to him.

“Hi.” He seemed confused; then again I have kept him that way the past two months.

“I was wondering if I could ask you a question.”

“If it’s about Unit-”

I waved my hands to stop him. “No, it’s about us.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Would you like to go out on a date with me tonight?”

“Huh?”

I rolled my eyes. “I would like to have a date night with you, please.”

“Oh,” he seemed shocked. “Okay, what time?” he smiled.

“No time like the present.” I shrugged.

“I’ll go take a quick shower.” Oliver headed upstairs.

I hugged myself, giving a quick mental pep talk, and headed over to the freezer. This was going to be an easy night. I grabbed a couple frozen pizzas and popped them in the over. I found some chips, dip, and a couple sodas.

As I set up the table, I saw the journals were still there. Tonight was going to be different. It was going to be about Oliver, and I was going to let it all out.

I needed to let it out because if I was banished, then Rebecca needed to be safe and I knew that Oliver would do that. I needed him to do it.

As I was pulling the pizzas out of the oven, Oliver came back into the kitchen.

“Now this is a real date,” he joked.

“Ha, ha.” I deadpanned at him. “Sit down and let’s eat.”

He pulled the chair out for me, and I gingerly sat down. This was going to be the night that changed my life and his. It was going to be more important than anything I’ve ever done, and I needed to do it.

“I can tell these pizzas are homemade.” Oliver teased.

“Fresh from the freezer,” I winked at him.

He grinned and went back to eating. My stomach was flipping around like it was on a trapeze, and I didn’t want to eat.

“Oliver.” I took a deep breath and prepared myself for the emotional roller coaster I was about to ride.

“Yes?”

“We need to talk. Well, I need to, and you need to listen.”

“About what?” Confused, he sat the pizza down.

“About me. Plus, I’ll need to ask a couple favors of you, too, during this conversation.”

Oliver blinked several times at me and I knew that I had to start talking or I would chicken out.

“I’ve had seventeen broken bones. Seventeen. My first one was when I was six. It was a broken rib, and it happened because I wanted an ice cream at the store. That seems to be when everything started. Of course, everyone chalked it up to ‘training accidents’ or whatever story my parents came up with.”

I paused and pushed my hand through my hair.

“They would hide the bottles of alcohol in this hidden floorboard, under the rug, by the kitchen sink. They would go to the city and stock up every week. I would sit in the car and make sure that we didn’t see anyone from Unit. I would sit in that car and pray so hard to Mother Nature that the liquor store was all sold out of everything and they couldn’t get anything.”

I shook my head.

“It never worked because they would come out with three cases of gin or vodka or whatever they wanted at that time. I knew that it would all result in late night screaming and more bruises.”

I hung my head as the memories flooded me.

“When Rebecca started growing up, I did a lot to protect her, but it didn’t seem to be enough. We were never really close, but I would listen for her at night. Sometimes,” I swallowed back the lump in my throat.

Could I say it?

I had to.

“Sometimes, I would hear Dad walking around and he would go into Rebecca’s room.”

Oliver’s eyes grew wide.

“I would pretend to have a nightmare or start screaming, something, anything that would make him come to my room, so he would leave her alone.”

I swiped the tears away.

“Rebecca and I came up with a plan to convince Mom and Dad to turn her room into a workout room, and she could move in with me. It worked.”

“How can you say you’re not close? You saved her.” Oliver’s voice was hard, and I was sure he was angry.

“I tried, but she took several blows, too, especially if I was with Xaviera, or at school. I couldn’t always be there.”

“She loves you. She misses you. She told me,” Oliver whispered.

I rubbed my temples, trying to figure out everything else I needed to tell him.

“Oliver, my first favor is that you look out for Rebecca. I know that she’s eighteen, but she loves Unit and I know that she’s waiting to be Matched. Would you please keep an eye on her after I’m banished?” I sobbed.

“You’re not-”

“Oliver!” I cut him off. “Please.”

He closed his mouth and nodded. “You have my word.”

I took another deep breath and was ready to continue on.

“You’ve asked me why I’m worthless, and I’m going to tell you. It’s something Mom and Dad told me all the time, and it’s the one thing that they’re right about.”

Oliver opened his mouth, but I put my hand up, stopping him.

“Let me finish.”

He closed it.

“I can’t even remember the first time they told me. It’s something that was just known around our house. If my grades were lower than they thought they should be, or if I wasn’t fast enough for training, or whatever else they could think of, they would tell me I was worthless.”

I scoffed. “I sometimes wondered if they thought that was my name. Anyway, the day I told Xaviera about Thaddeus and me was one of the worst nights at home.”

“What happened?”

“I told Xaviera, and she raced out of her house. I knew that she was heading to Thaddeus’ house, and I knew I had to get out of Unit.”

“You were going to run away?” Oliver’s voice sounded hurt.

“Yes,” I told him truthfully. “I made it home and was packing my bag when I heard the King and Thaddeus’ dad downstairs. I knew that it was too late for me to leave.”

“Then we all showed up.”

“Yep. Then the Queen started drilling questions at me, and,” I stopped.

“You didn’t say a word to us,” Oliver reminded me.

I shook my head. “I couldn’t say anything.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know.” The truth was I really didn’t know. The Queen and King yelled at me, but I stood like a statue in my living room.

“What happened when we all left?” Oliver muttered, but I think he knew already.

“After you all left, Mom grabbed a bottle of gin, and then Dad got another bottle. They sat on the couch and drank.”

“They didn’t…” he trailed off.

“Oh, they did.” I shuddered at the memory. “I told Rebecca to lock herself in the closet and not to come out. Mom finished her bottle first and pounced. She kicked me so hard in my shoulder, I thought she’d torn my rotator cuff and dislocated my shoulder.”

I mindlessly rubbed my shoulder.

“Dad jumped in next and grabbed me by the throat. He wouldn’t let up. The whole time he was screaming at me about how I ruin everything and how worthless I was.’’

I placed my head in my hands.

“I couldn’t breathe and I did my best to break his grip, but I wasn’t able to.”

“What happened?”

“I passed out.” I dropped my hands. “I came to about an hour later. My parents had passed out, and I crawled up to the bedroom. I was still going to leave, but Rebecca thought that I should stay. She didn’t think that Xaviera would banish me.” I rolled my eyes because she was wrong, but I’d listened to her.

“My parents never really left marks on our faces or necks. They knew where to hit to keep them hidden,” I further explained.

“Amaya, why didn’t you tell someone?”

“Because if I did, I would have been killed. They would have beaten me to death,” I declared.

“Unit would have protected you.”

I shook my head. “No. My job was to protect Xaviera and Unit. Not the other way around.”

“Amaya,” Oliver huffed in frustration, but he didn’t say anything. “What’s your other favor?”

“I want you to tell my story to the King and Queen and let them know that I would have protected Xaviera to the end.” I looked deep into his eyes. “Once I’m banished, I know that my parents can’t hurt me, but I don’t want the Royals to think that I wasn’t loyal to my duties. I know that I’m a Rule breaker, and I know that I hurt Xaviera, but I didn’t do it intentionally. I had always thought Thaddeus was my Matched.”

Oliver stared at me for a moment. “You won’t be banished, but if for some reason you are, I will tell them.”

“Thank you. I know this isn’t how you figured your Matched and decision period would go, huh?” I gave him a sad smile.

“No, but at least it hasn’t been boring. However,” he reached across and took my hand. “I wish I could go back and fix it. I never saw the signs, and I know Mom didn’t, because she wouldn’t have stood around and let that happen.”

“Oliver, no one knew. My parents are very good at covering up and being deceptive.”

He nodded. He released my hand and began to clear the table. He needed to process all the information that I’d just thrown at him.

“You can read them,” I blurted out.

“Huh?”

“The journals. You can read them. That way you know that I’m not lying.”

Oliver sat the plates on the counter and stalked over to me. “I know that you’re telling the truth. You’ve told me everything I needed to know. I trust you.” He kissed my cheek.

“May I ask another favor?”

He nodded.

“Dance with me?”

A small smile appeared. “I would be honored.”

Oliver walked over to the speakers and turned on his iPod. I didn’t know the song that was playing, but the soft beat was perfect for the moment.

I stepped up to him and wrapped my arms around his neck, laying my head on his chest. His heart was beating fast, and it was comforting for me.

He was my Matched.

I knew that I had only one month left here, but I wanted to spend as much time as I could with him. I wanted to hold the memories of these few precious moments in my memory forever. I didn’t know what the world would be like once I was banished. I knew I would never find anyone as kind, sweet, and loyal as Oliver. There was no one else like that. Mother Nature had created only one, and right now, he was holding me.

We swayed to the song and I couldn’t explain how wonderfully safe I felt at that moment. I looked up at Oliver. He gave me a soft smile, and his green eyes were bright. I stopped moving. My heart was beating hard, and I knew that he could feel it.

I pulled his lips closer to mine and gently touched them. When I moved away, Oliver was the one that stopped me. He kissed me harder, making me moan. He pushed his tongue into my mouth and I savored his taste.

“Amaya,” Oliver laid his forehead against mine.

“Yes?”

“It’s my turn to ask a favor.”

I furrowed my eyebrows at him. “Anything.”

“I want us to pretend to be a happy Matched couple. I want one hour of no telling secrets, or yelling, or anything like that.”

I gasped. “Oliver, I’m happy. I wouldn’t have told you all of that if I wasn’t.” It was the truth. Having Oliver by my side was exactly what I needed. He was my Matched. “I know that you can’t be that happy.”

He cut me off, by kissing me again. “I never imagined that I would be this happy with my Matched.”

“I’m a Rule breaker. I yell at you. I ignore you. I’m constantly getting on your last nerve. How could you possibly be happy?”

Oliver smiled. “Because I never wanted an easy Matched. I love the challenge that you are, and I wouldn’t change a single thing about us.”