Just a promise.
When we finally pull apart, he rests his forehead against mine and lets out a slow breath.
“We end this now.”
I nod. “Together.”
And for the first time since Jude Hale walked back into my life, I believe the universe is actually rooting for us along with his mom and every other victim.
Maybe by righting a wrong.
We set ourselves to right too.
Maybe happily-ever-afters are possible after all.
23
“Justice is a beautiful word. Revenge wears it well. Until love calls it by its real name.” –The Count of Monte Cristo
JUDE
I’d be lying if I said I was confident about what Charlie has convinced us is a foolproof plan.
Truth is, I don’t have a lot of options.
I know my dad has eyes on me. I know he’s waiting, watching. I don’t speak to him anymore, but that doesn’t mean I don’t recognize the men in expensive suits and dark sunglasses that magically appear everywhere I go.
He’s afraid.
He wants the list.
And he’ll do everything in his power to get it.
The problem is, I need to get it first. It’s the only leverage I have left.
I’m hoping the person behind all of this is actually decent. Not someone determined to ruin lives the way I would have.
Fuck.
I would have.
I don’t wonder anymore why my mom never left me clues. Why she never handed me the ledger herself.
I already hated my father enough.
I already had enough fuel to burn the world down.
Even if every person on that list deserves what they get, you don’t just strike a match and hope the fire only takes the guilty.
I would have.
Prison has a way of changing people.
Every day is the same.
The same walls.
The same food.
