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I’m not crazy about opening my eyes, facing what just happened, but I have to. I have to, because it’s not like I’m going to be able to talk about this with my therapist. This is all kinds of illegal, I bet. Hell, Eli just hacked a fucking bank!

And the security cameras of two buildings that are more than a thousand miles away, who knows what else he’s going to do.

“You are not responsible for what this asshole has coming,” Eli says, breaking the silence, and breaking my heart.

I loved Henry.

Really loved him.

A long time ago, yeah, and honestly, I can’t remember exactly why, but I did love him.

He made me love him and then he systematically dismantled my self-esteem, my identity.

And I let him.

I’m not going to let him or his actions destroy any other part of me.

I open my eyes and look only at Eli.

I don’t need Tucker to disarm me now that I know what I want.

“You’re going to call that guy and tell him to scare but not hurt.” I enjoy the power trip when Eli nods immediately—is this what Henry felt when I gave in to him?

That thought is enough to snap me out of it. I don’t want to be anything like him.

“I have no reason to believe his parents are doing anything wrong with the foundation, but can you check?”

“Of course,” Eli whispers.

“Is there a way to make it public that I’m getting a restraining order against him without my actual name being public?”

Eli thinks about it for a minute, then nods.

“I can hack into the Miami PD servers, make sure a restraining order is in their systems since the day you left. Maybe I can see if any officers have retired recently or died in the line of duty and I can put them as the lead. I can make sure it says you had all the evidence, and maybe I’ll add that asshole Garret’s name to it just for funsies.”

Eli stands and goes back to his desk of world domination.

I still don’t look at Tucker, but I squeeze his hand back. His grip is still strong but it’s not hurting me, so I know he’s not as rattled as me.

“Then I’m going to contact the Miami-based magazine we own, give an anonymous tip with enough crumbs for them to figure it out themselves. The foundation angle is going to make them want to publish that as fast as they can.”

“But if the foundation is legit—” I start, but Eli waves a hand back.

“I know, I know. I’m looking into their finances now. It’s going to take me a while. Also, creating physical evidence is hard, but I can for sure forge statements from neighbors and shit. People won’t look too closely at that because the restraining order is . . .” He pauses, then cheerfully continues. “Officially in effect.”

“Jesus,” I mutter. That took him less than five minutes, for fuck’s sake.

Eli keeps tapping away, and I . . .

Warmth floods me as Tucker tucks me into his side, rests his cheek on the crown of my head, and cuddles me like his favorite teddy bear.

“This is insane,” I whisper.

“I know.” There’s not an ounce of regret in his tone. I didn’t expect there to be, but this whole thing just goes to show how different we are.

How different the worlds we come from are.

I can’t bring myself to thank him even though I am thankful . . . to a point. This is just so much.