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They all have to pay.
Screams invaded. Flickers of my memory. I could almost feel myself falling as they’d pushed me from that stage to the floor littered with men and women ready to buy and use.
Let’s see what four million gets us! Melody’s cry was followed with bellows of cheering and laughter. My pulse thundered as I remembered their hands forcing my face against the table. My legs were forced wide, fingers pushed between them. But it was the faces that stayed with me. Faces that blurred and sharpened…focusing on one in particular.
“No.” I shook my head.
Low voices moved in, desperate and pleading.
“No.”
“Helene, baby, it’s me. It’s Kane. Come back to us.”
The touch came against the back of my hand. I jerked my eyes open and wrenched my hand away to find Kane, Riven, and Hunter staring at me over the middle counter.
“Trouble,” Riven murmured. “Baby, you’re scaring us.”
“I know what I have to do now,” I whispered the same words Thomas had. “I know where I have to go.”
Not once did they look away. Each of them nodded.
“You tell us where you want to go and we’ll take you.” Hunter stepped around the corner of the counter, moving slowly. “But know this. You will never be alone, nor will you be at their mercy. Never again.”
“Never again,” Kane echoed.
Out of all the demons of my past, my father hurt the most. His betrayal cut so deep I didn’t think it would ever heal.
“He has to pay.” Tears filled my eyes as I met Hunter’s stare. “They all have to pay.”
The mountain of a man scowled down at me. “And they will, believe me. They will.”
He wrapped his arms around me. Riven and Kane watched from the other side of the counter. But they knew…they knew.
Hunter held me until my body stopped shaking and the tears dried. I lifted my head and met his stare. No words were needed. I knew now what I had to do. I left the rest of my coffee behind and walked upstairs, but before I headed for Riven’s room, I stopped and quietly opened Thomas’ door. He was passed out face down on the bed. His arms were hugging the bunched-up comforter.
He looked peaceful, content, a stark contrast to the tormented man he normally was. I turned around, my hand on the door handle, then I stopped. His clothes were shoved into the small plastic wastepaper basket in the corner of the room. The sides of the basket were bowed out, the blood-splattered shirt shoved all the way down, his jacket on top. But it was the clerical collar that had stilled me. Bright red spots marred the white. I focused on it, finding the small indents of where he’d bitten down earlier.
They have to pay.
“They will,” I whispered. “They sure will.”
I closed the door, leaving him to sleep, and headed for the bathroom in Riven’s room, turning on the hot water and stepping into the spray. Just like Thomas, I knew what I had to do now. Purpose filled me, steadying my movements as I washed, then turned off the water and stepped out.
Riven was dressed when I walked into the bedroom. My clothes were laid out on the bed. Black jeans, black shirt, and sturdy boots.
“I thought you’d appreciate not worrying about—” he started.
I rushed forward, wrapping my arms around him, pressing my cheek against his chest. “Thank you.”
I’d never had this…someone to protect me, to care about me and stand with me, even in the darkness. This is love. My own words came back to me as I tightened my hold. He brushed my hair, smoothing the strands.
This was love.
I straightened, then hurried to dress before tugging on my boots.
“You sure you’re ready for this?” Kane asked, lifting his gaze to my father’s expensive three-story modern Tudor.
“No,” I answered honestly, opening the door. “But I’m doing it anyway.”
