Page 75 of Kylie

“Mom and Pop are inside,” Travis explained when Gage closed the door, sealing us inside. “We left the kids with them earlier. They brought them here so they could be here when you got here.”

“Do they know?”

Travis nodded. “Pop was gonna tell them. He wanted to give them some idea of what’s comin’.”

Well, that made sense, I guess.

I stared at Travis, a dozen questions hovering on the tip of my tongue. All of them about what had transpired inside that house during the time I was gone. None of them voiced.

No, I couldn’t bring myself to ask because the thought that life had gone on without me was terrifying. They had thought I was dead. Probably mourned me for a little while, but then they had moved on. Nearly two fucking years had passed. They had definitely moved on.

Anger and pain coalesced, blocking out the panic. I could feel the rage and the hurt knitting together to form a wall to block out what was likely coming. The thought that my absence had hurt my children made me see red.

“He hurt you, Kylie.”

The pain in his voice shifted my attention. I looked at him, scanning his handsome face. While he hadn’t asked a question, I felt the need to respond. I considered lying, but decided he deserved the truth. As much as I was willing to give him, anyway.

“Yes,” I said, the word breathed out softly.

It lingered between us for a moment. I noticed the way Travis’s jaw bunched and flexed. I expected more questions, but they didn’t come. Travis swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat as his eyes shifted to the windshield and the world beyond.

Taking a deep breath, I relaxed in the seat and waited.

The front door finally opened and Gage stepped outside. As he made his way to the SUV, I looked at Travis.

“I want to find him,” I said, keeping my voice low and firm.

His gaze met mine, held it.

“I want him dead, Travis. And I want it to be painful.”

He didn’t answer with words, but the curt nod he offered was as good as a promise from him.

The SUV door opened and Gage was there. “Ready?”

I turned to look at him, taking in his handsome features. Before I knew what I was doing, I had reached up, running my fingertips over his perfect jaw. His eyes instantly softened, and it wasn’t until that moment that I realized he’d been as scared as I was.

“I missed you,” he said, the words nothing more than a whisper on a breeze.

But I heard them. More importantly, I felt them. Deep in my soul. Those words cracked something inside me, and for the first time in so long, I felt as though there was a light at the end of the dark, lonely tunnel. It was in the distance, sure, but it was there.

“I missed you, too,” I admitted, a tear sliding down my cheek. “So much.”

His gaze linked with mine briefly, and I knew he had questions.

Rather than ask them, he said, “Come on. Let’s go see the kids. Then you can get some sleep. We’ll watch over you tonight.”

I didn’t bother telling him I didn’t need to sleep; I needed to plot my revenge. I had slept long enough. It was time I returned to the living and found a way to take down the bastard responsible for the nightmare I had endured.

Instead, I nodded, more tears dripping. I didn’t attempt to stop them. I hadn’t cried all that much, refusing to let Martin Calloway see my fear or my pain. But now, here … I felt as though my chest was an open wound, the sadness and fear finally having a release.

This was where I belonged.

I was finally home.

Part Three

“What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lives within us.”