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I took another deep breath and studied Braden’s face. What I saw made me smile. I was certain the smile came off as insane, but I didn’t give a shit.
I tapped the skin at the corner of my left eye. “You just twitched. It was very slight, because I assume you’ve gotten better at hiding your tells over the years, but I saw it. I forgot to mention that while studying those videos, I also learned that you felt extremely threatened by my father and your own father.” I pointed to the corner of his eye. “It’s a little hard to see today, surrounded by all that black and blue and bruising, but it was there. You’re feeling threatened right now.”
Braden spoke through gritted teeth. “Don’t flatter yourself. The muscle in my eye is probably damaged, which causes involuntary twitching. I’ll make sure to note that in my civil suit against the thug you’re dating—after I make sure he’s locked up.”
“Sure, that’s it.” I smiled and looked at my nails. “Anyway, I just wanted to let you know a few things more. First, you ruined my life for six years. I blamed myself for not seeing things in you, and because of that I kept my distance from anyone I might’ve had a real connection with. I was afraid having feelings again would make me blind to seeing the truth about a person, like it did with you. I trusted you. Even when I knew you were following me and lying about it, I still trusted you enough to open the door to my home and let you in that night to talk. I felt bad for hurting you, even though I’d done nothing wrong in our relationship. When you refused to stop, it did more than break my trust in you. It broke my trust in all men—hell, it broke my trust in humanity. You were my first, Braden. My first serious boyfriend, my first sexual experience, my first everything. Firsts are where we learn things for our second and third. And I learned things no woman should ever have to learn. You ruined my life.”
I’d been on an adrenaline high since I walked in, but now I felt the inevitable crash starting to take root. So I knew it was time to go. Standing, I smoothed out my pants and looked up at the face that haunted my dreams for so many years. It was fitting that it was beaten and bruised.
“Goodbye, Braden.”
I made it almost to the door when he yelled after me. “That’s it? You’re not even going to beg for leniency for your boyfriend?”
I turned back. “I begged you to stop once, so I already know how that goes. I’ll save my breath to pray for the other survivors. Because I’m sure I’m not the only one you did this to.”
The corner of his eye twitched, and his jaw tightened.
“I thought so,” I said. “Rot in hell, rapist.”
CHAPTER 34
* * *
Donovan
Ten days had passed since I last saw Autumn. She’d texted once and said she was okay but needed to work through some things by herself. But it was quickly becoming clear that one of the things she needed to work through was me.
It was the Tuesday after Labor Day—the day I’d been looking forward to for months, and now dreaded.
“You coming?” Trent poked his head in my office door.
“Do I have to?”
He smiled sadly. “Nope. But if you’re ever going to make it through this, you need to start holding your head up high and taking your lumps.”
I sighed and tossed my pen onto my desk. “Fine.”
We rode the elevator together up to the executive floor. The “announcement” of the names of the new partners was always done in the conference room before popping the champagne. But the people about to be named had been informed before Labor Day, because they had to write a big fat check to formally buy into the partnership. Needless to say, my phone hadn’t rung over the weekend.
Trent punched my arm as the elevator halted. “Chin up, buddy.”
I shoved my hands in my pockets. “Sure thing.”
The fourteenth floor conference room was crammed with people, so we had to stand out in the hall, which I was relieved about. Juliette was packed in near the door, along with the other sardines. When she saw us, she squeezed her way out to us. She took one look at my face and frowned.
“You still haven’t heard from her?”
I shook my head. It was pretty funny that we were standing and waiting for the announcement that someone other than me had made partner, and Juliette knew that wasn’t the reason for my long face.
She rubbed my arm. “She’ll come around.”
I could tell from Juliette’s face that she didn’t even believe what she was saying. But she was a good friend, and I didn’t have the energy to argue anyway.
