Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 61101 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 306(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 204(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61101 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 306(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 204(@300wpm)
Starting the engine, I pull out of the lot and head toward the house we’ve been renting. Having plenty of money has made our lives easier, but I still feel guilty about using my share of the Savage fortune.
When I told Drake this is what I was planning to do with my inheritance, he supported me wholeheartedly. He’s the only one who truly understands what it was like in the world we grew up in. Yes, Rayne, River, Caia, and Harper all experienced abuse in some form, but knowing your father was responsible for so much of it, that’s another kind of mindfuck.
In our brokenness, we’ve found healing through revenge. It might not be everyone’s idea of trying to move on, trying to find solace and come to terms with the past, but it is ours. We’re all unique in our own way, which is something I’ve come to appreciate.
Harper sits silently beside me, but I can feel the tension rolling off her in waves. I know for a fact there’s nothing I can say to calm her down. Coming face-to-face with an abuser, someone you thought you could trust or should have helped you, is never easy.
For now, I’ll let her sit quietly. It’s never a bad idea to spend some time working through your thoughts, but once we get home, I’m going to make her tell me what’s going on in her head.
Harper, Rayne and I have become close, closer than I ever thought possible. I feel safe in the knowledge that the three of us will always there for each other. The support and understanding we offer each other has been an important factor in strengthening our relationship.
The silence hangs heavy in the car. I want to say something because it’s making me feel anxious, but I don’t. Harper will open up in her own time. Talking about something so serious needs to be done face-to-face. I know if I have eye contact with her and Rayne, I can read both of them more easily.
Just before we pull into the drive, Harper says, “He tried to apologize.” I don’t look at her. Instead, I allow her the space to think, to speak, to open up. “He wanted to repent for his sins, and I didn’t give a fuck. All I could think about was killing him. Making him pay in a way that would satisfy me.”
Once I’ve parked the car, I kill the engine and sit back in my seat. I know what she’s feeling because I felt the same when my father was taking his last few breaths. Granted, he didn’t apologize. He still believed he was a good man. But all I could think about was his death. It wouldn’t have mattered what he said to me, I still would have wanted him dead.
“Why have I become the judge, jury, and executioner?” Her voice is a whisper, drenched in pain and guilt.
“They deserved it,” I tell her as I twist in my seat so I can face her. “Nothing about what we do is easy. But if you think about the lives we’re saving, it makes all this shit worthwhile. We’re not hurting good people, Harper.”
She flicks her gaze toward me, and I see the sparkle of tears glistening in her eyes as she regards me. “I just hate that I had a choice, and I chose to kill.”
“And he had a choice, too,” I remind her. I know the story of the doctor who paid millions for the videos her father made, so there’s no need to find excuses for killing him. As far as I’m concerned, he should have been put down like a fucking animal years ago. “Being sorry about something doesn’t always make it right. He had a choice, and he chose wrong.”
Life doesn’t afford many second chances. Dr. Stirling may have had regrets and tried helping others, but it doesn’t change what he’d already done. And it doesn’t mean he truly repented. Not until he was caught, that is.
“There are some crimes people can come back from. There’s no doubt about that,” I continue. “But there are some people who can never change. He may have been a fucking excellent therapist, but how do you know he didn’t get off on hearing his patients’ stories?”
Harper nods then replies, “I wondered the same thing.”
I didn’t expect her to agree.
We’ve found evil in an array of different guises doing this job. And we’ve come across some vile assholes, especially those who enjoy hearing about their victims’ trauma. There have been days when I’ve been physically sick, and only their blood on my hands could ease the rage that fueled me.
“So,” I say then, reaching my hand out for her to take. “I don’t want you to feel guilty. It’s not on you. These were adults who were meant to keep you safe.”