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The wrath that darkens Trouble’s eyes matches what I know is in mine. Retribution will be damn sweet once we find them.
“Where was she afterward?”
“With Mick and Deanna, Jenny’s parents.” His brows jump up in shock. He’s not the only one who was surprised by that news. “They found her while she was out with Marco and Gabriela one day and talked her into leaving with them.”
“What are the fuckin’ odds of that happening?” he remarks, mirroring my exact thoughts.
I shake my head. My blood pressure rises, and I fist the hand that has a new small nick in it. The dull end of my nail digs into the shallow cut. I press harder, letting out a breath with the sharp sting. “She was less than two hours away for fourteen years,” I growl.
“Shit!” Trouble hisses. I can feel the heat of his anger radiating off him.
I look back at Rella and watch her sleeping form. There’s more color in her cheeks now, and it lessens the noose around my heart only slightly.
“You need to go home and get cleaned up,” Trouble suggests. “Call Grace and have her meet you there.”
“No,” I state bluntly without looking away from the unconscious girl on the bed.
“Emo.” He sighs with irritation. “You’re in no shape to be here.” His eyes flicker up to my hair and over to my temple where I feel the blood I smeared there a moment ago already drying. “I’ll call if she wakes up. Go get your shit together and come back tomorrow. Better yet, go to the fuckin’ basement.”
At the mention of my basement, my rage renews. My need to go there is damn near blinding, but my need to be here is stronger. I’ll go to the basement soon enough.
“I’m not leaving.”
It’s never affected my brothers, but I still look him straight in the eyes and let him see just how dark my thoughts are at the moment, silently telling him there’s not a force on this earth that could make me leave. Including him.
He wants to argue, I can see it in his eyes and in the tense way he’s holding his body, but he wisely relents.
“Fine,” he grits. “You can stay in the room across the hall.”
“No,” I grunt. “I’ll stay in here.”
“Goddammit, Emo.”
A growl rumbles from him as he begins to stalk around the bed. I get to my feet, ready to take on my brother if I have to. Whatever it fucking takes. I’m not leaving this room until Rella does. If that means I have to fight Trouble, then so be it.
He only gets to the end of the bed before Remi grabs him by the back of his shirt.
“Trouble, let him stay,” she says softly.
Her eyes lift to mine, and the look she gives me is sad understanding, like she knows how badly I need this. How bad I need to see for myself that Rell
a is okay. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for any of my brothers, except this. I can’t.
Trouble stops and drops his head. His shoulders lift and fall as he takes in several deep breaths, calming himself. This is hard on him. He knows I’d never hurt Rella in any way. Despite my own inner beliefs, he’s never blamed me for what Father made me do to her when we were kids, but even so, he’s her brother and still protective of her. My being here might upset her, and I don’t blame him for wanting to avoid that.
I tense when he looks up, and at first, I think he’s going to press the issue, but his shoulders drop and a look of understanding forms on his face. He knows this is tearing me up inside too.
“I’ll come back and check on her in a while.” His look turns harsh. “Come get me if she wakes before then.”
Giving him a clipped nod, I retake my seat and rest my elbows back on my knees, my eyes moving back to Rella.
“I’ll bring her something to eat in just a bit for when she wakes up. Would you like something?”
I barely glance at Remi at the door, giving a single shake of my head. “I’m good.”
They leave the door open a couple of inches, and I’m finally left alone with the girl who’s haunted my dreams for more than half of my life. There’s so many things I want to say to her. During and after every Hell Night, I always apologized to Rella. It never seemed like enough though. There won’t ever be enough apologies, but I still want to give them. I want to apologize for not stopping my father. For not being strong enough. I want to apologize because she felt her only option back then was to take her life. For not following my instincts the night I heard her scream. For not saving her from the pain she endured at Marco and Gabriela’s hands.
I was never physically forced to rape her. I hated every single second, every single time, but I always did it willingly. The alternative was so much worse. I was always given two options. Either I rape Rella while he raped me, or he would take Rella. At least if I was doing it, I could somewhat control it. If he were to ever do it, it would have been rough and brutal, and he would have felt no compunction about irreparably damaging her small body.
