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Everyone in the room freezes as we wait for her to process what she just heard. “So–so you were just going to steal me from my home. Ship me off to a different country, force me to marry you, use me as an incubator just to pop out some kids that share the same blood as me, then–then kill me anyway? After that man—my own grandfather—already tried to destroy my life once?”
Logan gives almost an imperceptible nod, and Harper huffs out a heavy breath. “And you-you, what, tortured and starved me for days on end because the thought of executing that plan is so disgustingly vile to you?”
He doesn’t even nod this time.
Harper whirls around and marches toward me. “Give me the bat, Mac.”
The rage that has taken over Harper’s entire being is nothing like I’ve ever seen. “Mo Grá, just wait a minute. Let us—”
“Cormac. Give. Me. The. Bat.” I find Ronan over her shoulder, and he nods. Reluctantly, I hold the bat out, and she snatches it from my hand before moving back in front of Logan.
36
Harper
They were going to treat me as some product to be sold. Nothing more than a commodity. They were going to force me to have children and then dare take me from them. All of this because of the blood that runs through my veins?
If that’s the case, then I don’t fucking want it. I’ll gladly take that scalpel and spill every last drop onto this floor.
But I can’t do that. Because my life, my mind, body, and soul now belong to them. The three men who moved heaven and hell to save me, and I’ll be damned if I repay them by giving up. I now belong to them as much as they belong to me. If I spill my blood, I may as well cut them open, too.
And that is something I refuse to do.
But I need to do something.
I’ve never felt anger quite like this. Not when my parents died. Not when Cece left me. Not the night the guys took me from the life I thought I knew. Not when I found out my own Grandfather was the one responsible for actively trying to destroy my life. Not even when this man kept me in that god-forsaken cabin, beating and starving me.
No. That was all child’s play compared to the rage that’s causing my body to feel like it’s on fire. Every square inch of my skin feels like a raging inferno, like if I don’t get control of it soon, it will burn me alive. And the only way I can think to put it out is to inflict unexplainable violence on the person in front of me.
It’s the only thing that can help.
It has to help.
The metal handle of the bat feels like ice against my burning skin as I firmly grasp it in my hand. Finn’s still standing behind Logan, and I jerk my chin up to the hook in the ceiling. “Let him down.”
Finn pinches his brows, worry evident on his face. “Angel.”
“Finn let him down. Please.” My voice is firm but filled with desperation. Much like Mac just did, Finn looks over my shoulder to where I know Ronan is still standing against the wall. Ronan must give him permission because, after a moment, Finn turns around and unties the other end of the rope holding Logan’s wrists to the hook hanging from the ceiling. He drops like a rock, crying out in pain once he hits the floor. I don’t know what bones Mac broke, but I know there’s no way he can stand. He can’t fight me.
I’m the bigger one now.
Flexing my hand around the handle of the bat I try to come up with something to say, anything. But no words form. I can’t focus on anything besides the unbridled fury. It’s consumed me, and I hate it. I have to get rid of it.
Just as I’m about to move, a hand grips my shoulder firmly. When I look down at it I see it’s adorned with black ink and silver metal. Ronan.
“Harper. Baby girl. Listen to me.” His voice is low and calm. “If this is what you want to do, none of us will stand in your way. But this isn’t who you are. It won’t make you feel better. Taking this piece of shit’s life will eat you alive, and he doesn’t deserve to haunt you any more than he already has.”
Tears start streaming down my face. “I want to be strong like you.”
His hand leaves my shoulder and wraps around the nape of my neck. “You are strong, Baby. So, so strong. Not doing this doesn’t make you weak. You’re not like us, Harper, and for that, I’ve never been more grateful. Don’t let this man snuff out your light—our light.”
“I–I have to do this, Ronan.”
A heavy sigh falls from his lips before he lets go of me. “Okay, Baby.”
I wait for him to step back, but he doesn’t move. Looking down at Logan, curled up in a ball on the cold cement floor, I finally find the words. “I could have helped you. No one deserves to be punished for loving who they love. Had you asked for help, I would have given that to you. We could have given that to you. A new life. But instead, you tried to take mine, and for that, you will never know peace.”
Clutching the bat in both hands, I raise it over my head, still feeling Ronan pressed against my back, ready to bring it down on Logan’s head. To extinguish the fire that’s burning me alive. Yet when my brain tells my arms to move, my heart stops me. No matter how hard I will it, my body doesn’t move.
