Chapter 312 I Won’t Hurt You

Leighton’s POV

Mom and Dad went out but stood listening at the door. I walked toward Emilia. She shouted, “Leighton, don’t come here. Please don’t. It’s me, Emilia. I’ve always taken care of you. You can’t do this to me. You can’t—”

She broke down crying. I froze. I felt lost. Then I heard Mom’s voice through the door. “Leighton, don’t go soft. Be brave. As long as you have sex with her, she’ll be yours forever!”

The second I took a step, Emilia screamed, “Don’t come over!”

I flinched. Emilia telling me to stop, my parents telling me to go—I didn’t know which way to move. I just stood there frozen.

Dad cracked the door and peeked in. He saw I hadn’t moved at all and sighed. “This isn’t working.”

“Cover her mouth,” he said. “Let’s see if she can still yell then.”

Mom made up her mind fast. She found a roll of tape, walked in, and slapped it over Emilia’s mouth, rough.

Now Emilia couldn’t move or speak. All she could do was keep crying.

“Son, hurry up. If you don’t hurry, Emilia will leave, and you’ll never see her again.”

Mom’s words pulled at me. I gritted my teeth and rushed at Emilia. I lifted the blanket and lay down under it.

Seeing me finally get on the bed, Mom hurried out, pleased, and told Dad, “He’s on the bed.”

Dad let out a breath. But there was something cold in his eyes. “If she won’t do it the nice way, she can’t blame us for the ugly way.”

Mom’s heart still wasn’t steady. “Are you sure Sebastian Simons won’t come after us?”

“Don’t worry. There won’t be a mark of rope on her. If it comes to it, we’ll say she was willing. Sebastian can’t touch us.”

“But I’m still nervous. I heard the Silver Moon Pack has real power in Silverlake City.”

“So what? Don’t forget we have our own weight in Lakewood City. And your godbrother is helping us. What’s there to fear?”

Mom’s worries eased after that.

But things didn’t go the way they planned. Even though I lay beside Emilia, I didn’t dare touch her. Because I love her.

Emilia looked at me with tears in her eyes. She couldn’t say anything with the tape over her mouth. She just looked at me, and it was like her eyes were trying to tell me a thousand things at once.

I reached out with a shaking hand and touched Emilia’s swollen face. It was so sad.

“Emilia,” I said quietly, “did my mom hit you?”

She burst into tears again. Her eyes were like a deep, deep lake, too full of things—sad things, hurt things, hopeless things, patient things, hoping things.

And when I saw Emilia’s helpless tears, something in my chest hurt so bad I thought it might break.

Emilia hurt so much. This time, I could protect her, from my own mom and dad.

I pulled the tape off her mouth. She flinched, then begged me through her tears, “Leighton, please don’t touch me. I’m begging you, okay?”

I glanced back at the door and shook my head. “Don’t cry, Emilia. I won’t hurt you.”

I climbed off the bed, walked over, and opened the door. Mom and Dad were right there, ears pressed close. When they saw me, they jumped. “Son, why did you come out?”

“Mom, go to sleep. I know how to do it now. The having sex thing.”

Mom looked me up and down, squinting. “What do you mean? Are you shy because your dad and I are here?”

I ducked my head and rubbed at my cheeks till they went hot. “Yeah. Kind of.”

Dad threw his head back and laughed. “Ha! My boy’s really grown up. He’s getting shy now.”

Mom grinned too. She patted my shoulder. “All right, we’ll head off to bed. Don’t let us down, you hear me? You have to do it tonight. Understand?”

“Okay, Mom.”

“The medicine only lasts five hours. One’s already gone. Don’t waste the other four.”

I nodded again. Mom let out a breath and turned to Dad. “Come on, let’s rest. We’ve been at this forever. I’m worn out.”

I watched them drag themselves up the stairs. The second they were gone, I hurried back inside. I went to the bed and leaned over Emilia. “They left. Mom and Dad left.”

Tears still slid down her face. But they looked different now. Not so scared. I don’t know how to explain it. It made my chest feel lighter.

“Emilia, stop crying. I won’t hurt you. Please don’t cry.”

She kept crying anyway, and I panicked. I wiped her cheeks with my arm.

“Leighton, thank you,” she said, her voice all choked.

I smiled. “You don’t have to thank me…”

“Could you pull that camera off the wall?”

I looked where she pointed. The little light on it was blinking. “Okay.”

I walked over and wrenched it down. I threw it on the floor and stomped it to pieces.

Then I sat back down beside her and asked quietly, “Emilia… is my dad a bad guy?”

“Yes. Your dad is a bad person. A very bad person. So Leighton, promise me, don’t ever grow up to be like him.”

I didn’t really understand, but I nodded. “Okay. I’ll listen to you, Emilia.”

“Could you get me my phone? I need to call someone to come get me.”

I was the only one who could help her now. I felt proud and scared at the same time. “Where is it?”

“In my coat pocket.”

I felt around her coat and shook my head. “It’s not here.”

“My car keys?”

“No. Nothing.”

She shut her eyes tight. Mom and Dad must have taken them.

She looked like she was about to cry again, so I said fast, “Don’t cry, Emilia. Mom said the medicine wears off in four hours.”

Her eyes snapped open. “In four hours I’ll be able to move again?”

“That’s what she said.”

She took a deep breath. “Okay. Leighton, then could you do something for me?”