Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 45217 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 226(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 151(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45217 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 226(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 151(@300wpm)
“You said you’d let no son of yours meet a killer. You said I should disown him. You said he was a monster.”
“We all thought he was,” I say, voice cracking. “Oh, Kylie. I thought he was a killer.”
“But you said you fell for him when you saw him in the documentary.”
“I did.”
“But how? If you thought he did that? You remember the details of the body. They said my big brother hacked your dad to death, refused to explain why, and you still wanted him?”
“Yes,” I yell, causing several police officers to turn and look at me.
I walk into the kitchen, shaking my head when Sabrina raises her eyebrow as if to say, Need backup?
“Yes, I did,” I continue, lowering my voice, “because your brother’s that special. He’s that unique. He’s the best man I’ve ever met. It goes beyond words. It goes beyond shared experiences. I don’t care if I sound like I’m fixing to write the world’s cheesiest ballad right now.”
Kylie miraculously laughs.
“But it goes beyond time, seriously. I must’ve known deep down he didn’t do it. I never could’ve imagined this, so I accepted their version.”
“I’m sorry,” Kylie says.
At first, I think she’s talking to me. Then I hear Sebastian respond. I think they hug.
“I have to go,” she says a moment later. “I need to check in with Vanessa.”
Vanessa is Sebastian’s mom. She’s taking care of Kyle while they travel. They didn’t want to put him through the stress.
“Okay. I’ll speak to you later.”
“Lucy,” she says. “I don’t know how this happened. I didn’t know love like this existed, but I have to say this. I don’t care if I sound like I’m writing a cheesy love song. I’m glad you’re in his life. I’m glad you could forgive him. I just hope he can forgive me.”
“He already has,” I say. “There was nothing to forgive, anyway.”
I wonder if she’ll notice I’ve contradicted myself, but then she’s gone. I put my phone in my pocket and stare out the window, seeing Dad with the gun and the handcuffs. He was staring like he wanted to take me, as if he regretted all the times he didn’t get to hurt me.
Sabrina hugs me from behind. “It’s going to be okay.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Jamie
“You should give into it more,” Patrick says, prancing up and down in front of me.
He’s keyed-up, his eyes red, his hair almost black with sweat. Sweat drips down the lines on his face, too. His shirt is soaked. He tosses the needle into the corner of the room. Zack’s not in here, thank God. He’s waiting nearby, though. Patrick will snap his fingers, and the kid will come running with a drink or a snack.
“Aren’t you feeling it?” Patrick says, waving his hands like a preacher. “It floods a man. It remakes him. There’s nothing better in all the world. The rush. The certainty. Isn’t that what you talked about in your little article?”
“I fell in love with your daughter the first time I saw her,” I say, aware I wouldn’t be talking this way if it wasn’t for that strange feeling, not at all pleasant anymore.
I’m inside a cotton ball, feeling fluffy and disconnected, but now I’ve found my woman. I want to be connected. I need it and hunger for it. Don’t ever, ever trap a hungry wolf. I’m howling inside for my woman and how wrong this is.
“Why?” Patrick says with a high-pitched, ugly laugh. “She’s not a very loveable person. She was always so boring, her head stuffed in books. I tried to do the right thing, be a good man, and raise her after her idiot mother died. You know I wouldn’t phrase it like this to her.”
“You wouldn’t want to hurt her feelings,” I say sarcastically.
The light is low. He steps into it as if to light his face more thoroughly. He has bulging, stoned-as-hell eyes and chapped lips.
“I don’t care about her, honestly. It’s a sad thing to admit. I’ve had a very sad life. I never cared about anything.”
“I’m crying for you, Patrick. I’m weeping inside, but you’re wrong. Your daughter is the most loveable person I’ve ever met. Everything about her is—”
He fires the pellet gun at me, and I’m not talking about plastic or spongy things. These are metal and fast. My chest tenses as it bounces off, leaving a stinging imprint, joining the others.
“My daughter’s extremely deranged. I read the article. She fell for you apparently when she saw you in a documentary. Does that seem like a normal thing for a person to do? And your age gap. Jesus, man, it’s embarrassing.”
I shake my head, laughing, knowing he hates when I laugh at him and show him his tough-guy act doesn’t work with me.
“Our love goes deep. Just because you don’t understand, it doesn’t make it wrong.”