Komal Kant - Wrong Side of Town

“No, you are.” I tried to keep my voice strong. “You made a huge mistake when you violated me. You made a huge mistake when you ruined me for every guy out there. Stay away from me, Seth. Never touch me again. Never threaten Savannah’s safety or you’ll regret it. I will tell everyone what you did. You’ll go to prison.”

Seth’s eyes widened and all of a sudden, he looked like a sad, pathetic man as his entire expression changed from a tough guy to someone who was completely messed up. “Don’t do that, Estella, don’t tell anyone.” And that’s when his bottom lip began trembling and he wrapped his arms around himself as he began to shake. “She did that to me. Your mom. She did the same thing to me. I didn’t know anything else.”

I couldn’t believe what he was saying to me. My mother had hurt him? That couldn’t be true. He was doing this to me because of what mom had done? That was impossible.

Seth continued to speak, his words falling from his mouth at high speed. “She started when I was a little boy, but stopped once I hit twelve. But then when I was sixteen, we started having a relationship with each other. She told me not to tell anyone, and I didn’t. When she left, I didn’t know what to do.”

The accusations from him were appalling; disgusting. There was no way my mother could do that to him. “I don’t believe you.”

Seth gave me a sad smile as he began to turn away. “Believe what you want, Estella. I’m telling the truth.”

Tears were squeezing their way from my eyes. “And even if she had done that to you, why would you do the same thing to me, Seth? Why would you ruin my life?” I was shaking all over uncontrollably.

“Because that’s all I knew. Because I was trying to forget.”

And as Seth walked out the door that was the last he ever tried to touch me again.

Vincent

My body was shaking.

I couldn’t believe what Estella was telling me.

That sick, perverted asshole was going to pay for doing that to her. I would make sure Seth died tonight. That was the only way the anger was going to leave my body. That was the only way to make this right.

“I’m going to kill him,” I managed to say.

Estella’s eyes widened and she reached out for me. “No,Vincent! You can’t do that. You just told me that you wouldn’t fight. You need to keep that promise.”

“Not when it comes to this.” I pulled away from her. “Not this, Stelle. Don’t ask me not to do this. I need to make sure this asshole dies.”

“Vincent, stop it.” Estella’s tone was firm. “This happened years ago. It’s not something that needs to be dredged up again. Yes, what he did was wrong. Yes, he ruined my life. But I also know that he has changed. He has a fiancé, he has a baby, and he’s spent the last two years trying to make it up to me. I don’t want anything to do with him, but he keeps coming back. Guilt weighs heavily on his mind constantly. I know it does.”

I pressed my lips together. It didn’t matter if he felt guilty; what he’d done was the worst thing you could do to someone who loved and trusted you. He was a sick freak.

“Promise me,” Estella was saying, “promise me you won’t do anything to him.”

I wouldn’t be doing anything, but that didn’t mean that one of the boys wouldn’t be doing anything either. This was something that definitely needed a follow up, and Seth was definitely going to be getting a visit from Goat, or from one of our police buddies. There was no way Seth was going to get away with this, but there were some things that Estella didn’t need to know.

That girl was too sweet for her own good. That was why I loved her so much. I needed her goodness to stay with me always.

I nodded in response and Estella frowned at me. “Promise me you won’t fight anymore, Vincent. I need to know that you won’t hurt anyone anymore; that you won’t become like Ryder.”

Her words hit a soft spot, and I pulled her in so close that our foreheads touched.

"The first night I met you, you talked about choices. You told me that I chose this life for myself. What you didn't know was that my whole life has been someone else's choice. I've never made a choice of my own, but that changes today. Today I'm walking away from other people's choices. Today, I choose you, Estella Markson."

“And you’re leaving that life behind?”

“Forever. From now on the only thing that matters is you. I want to make you happy. I want you to forget about what happened to you. I want you in my life and I will do anything to keep you in it.”

Estella let out a long breath, her eyes sad. “I’ve always wanted to forget, but it’s so hard. All I know is disappointment. I’ve been disappointed by everyone close to me for the last two years. But you make things easier. You and Dylan make my life better. I tried so hard to fight it, to fight you, but whenever you’re not with me, I can’t handle it.”

I wrapped an arm around the small of Estella’s back and kissed her hard on her pink lips. When I pulled away, her face was glowing, and I drank in the warmth from her whiskey eyes—the same eyes that had captivated me weeks ago.

“One day all the bad memories will fade and the only thing that will be left is you and I. I will always be here, Estella Markson, and I’ll never let you down.”

Estella

My skin was red, and raw, and pink.

The needle was biting into my arm, but I did my best to ignore it. The pain was only going to be temporary and it would be worth it.

Vincent stood behind me, silent and composed. He was the steadying presence in my life. He didn’t take his eyes off me once. Just having him here with me made me feel more sure about the decisions I was making.

We were making choices together and they were our own.

The tattoo artist stepped back and placed the needle down. “What do you think?”

“Take a look, Stelle.” There was a smile playing on the edge of Vincent’s full lips.

Taking a deep breath, I lowered my heard to the inflamed area of my skin, not sure what to expect.

What I saw made me take a sharp intake of breath.

Seth was gone from my arm and in its place Forget was written in a fancy cursive font. Just that tiny change made me feel like a different person. I felt stronger with Vincent by my side. I felt like we could deal with all the world’s problems together.

Vincent was my rock and I was the one that held him together. We still had a lot of things to figure out, but the one thing we knew was that we were breaking away from the past that had continued to haunt us.

I finally felt like a whole person. Vincent was the one who helped me escape and took me away from the harsh reality of things. Now, I was complete.

Now, I could finally move on. I could leave that chapter of my life behind forever.

Now, I could finally forget.

Some days, I just sit here and cry. Which sounds totally morbid, I know. You’re probably thinking, “What’s wrong with this psycho? Why is she always crying?” See, the thing is, I’m not much of a crier—I know it’s hard to believe—and I never have been. But you guys sure know how to make me cry.

Someone made a quiz for Falling for Hadie on Goodreads—I cried. Someone told me about getting a tattoo of a quote from my book—I cried. Someone told me a very sad and personal story—I cried. See, I’m doing all this crying because you guys are letting me into your lives. I always wanted to be able to touch people with my books, and now that it’s actually happening, I cry.

My readers are amazing. They share personal stories with me; they send me videos and pictures that they think I’ll like; they talk to me about their day; they tell me about their family and friends. My readers motivate me so much to get my books written.

Then there are the people who speak to me day in and day out and check up on me just to make sure I’m coping. I don’t know what my life was like before you guys were in it. Thank you Erica Cope, Eden Crane, Ren White, Michelle Flick, Sarah Hayden Davey, Ren White, Samantha Durante, and Autumn Doughton. I can’t begin to describe what it means to me to have you all in my life.

Thank you to my cover designer, Eden Crane, for designing not one but two amazing covers for Wrong Side of Town. You are so talented and amazing! I’m sorry for the countless hours I spent distracting you from your work.

And, because Erica Cope is such an important part of my life, I have to thank her again. Thank you for being such a great friend to me. You put up with my craziness and my ability to say the weirdest things without reason. I hold all our conversations—you falling asleep on the keyboard; squealing incoherently over random things; discussing book boyfriends—in the highest regard. And, in keeping with the theme, yes, Erica has also made me cry this year.

To the bloggers who continue to support my work; especially Peggy Warren from Le’Book Squirrel, Jodie O’Brien from Fab Fun and Tantalizing Reads, Melanie Lowery from Sassy Mum’s Book Blog, and Ashley Torres from Happily Ever Book Hungover. Thank you to everyone who reads, reviews, fan girls, and recommends my books.

Finally, Estella and Vincent: what a crazy journey you both took me on! This was a tough story to write, but Estella and Vincent’s voices rang so loud and clear in my mind that I had to tell it their way. To all the readers, thank you for sharing this journey with us.