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“What did you do?” Dean asked.
He’d been so silent, Beck had almost forgotten his presence. “At first, nothing except listen to him curse me and demand I change my attitude, embrace my destiny, and purge the weakness from my soul. If I didn’t, he’d do it for me. It wasn’t an idle threat. Six weeks earlier, one of the men dared to refuse the great Messiah when an elder insisted on marrying his twelve-year-old daughter. A week later, the man’s body was found a mile down the road. He’d been beaten to death.”
Around the room, everyone gasped. He was surprised they had the capacity to be shocked anymore. Or maybe that was just him. He knew his “family” too well.
“As my father condemned me, I stared out the windshield at the public restrooms. That’s when it dawned on me. They had identical doors, both with signs that were the exact same size and color. Both allowed their respective genders privacy and dignity. In fact, nothing about those restrooms indicated any supremacy of men over women. Here, they were equal.
“I really looked at my father then. And I realized the great Messiah who lured little girls to his bed under the guise of everlasting life was nothing but a sociopathic pedophile who’d stolen and killed the only person I’d ever cared about simply to hurt me.”
Suddenly, he was sixteen again, sitting in a pickup truck on a lonely strip of desert highway, hot wind blowing through the open windows.
“Beck…” Heavenly looked over at him, her eyes a blue comfort he was desperate to lose himself in. They told him without a word that she was here for him.
He couldn’t wonder now if his next words would change her opinion of him…
“In that moment, it wasn’t my father sitting beside me, but Satan himself. The devil. The trickster who’d wielded God’s word like a sword to maintain his perverted grip on the weak and timid, paralyzing them through fear, intimidation, and abuse. I knew that if I didn’t cut the head off the beast, I’d be the next dead body found a mile down the road. So I reached down and pulled a sharp knife I’d stashed in my boot. I didn’t know until that moment why I’d stolen it from the kitchen the night Blessing died. Maybe I’d had a premonition. Or maybe I’d known subconsciously this day was coming.
“My father gripped my hand and laughed, squeezing. But I didn’t drop the knife, not even when he belittled me by saying I was too weak, too pathetic, and too scared to hurt him. You see, my attempt was futile because he was the Messiah, almost God himself. That’s when I knew for sure he was butt-fuck crazy, Macen.” He shot Hammer a wry stare. “When he snarled that he could have saved himself so much trouble if he’d simply fucked Blessing to the death on their wedding night, like he had the child bride before her, I went butt-fuck crazy, too.”
Horrified murmurs hummed around the room. He ignored them to get the rest of this fucking confession over with. “The next thing I knew, I shoved one fist in his gut and knocked the wind out of him. He doubled over and struggled for breath. So I reached up and gripped the great Messiah by his fucking hair, yanked back, and slashed his throat.”
For once, the room was dead silent.
Beck didn’t wait for their reactions. After all, what was the Emily Post reply to meeting someone who’d committed patricide? “Blood splattered the windshield and dash. He clutched his severed neck as blood gushed between his fingers to stain his white shirt.” Beck could smell the coppery stench all over again. “I’ll never forget the instant he turned to me, eyes wide with shock and fear, because he realized the ‘great Messiah’ was going to die by his worthless son’s hand. Then with a last gurgle, his body went slack, his eyes vacant… He was dead. I killed the son of a bitch.”
River was first to clap. Dean and Seth quickly joined in. Within seconds, everyone was standing, applauding, and praising him with hugs and hearty kisses.
He shook them off. “I killed a man.”
Gloria frowned. “And how many little girls did you save from him?”
Some, he hoped. “I didn’t stick around to find out. I wiped the blood from the blade on his jacket, snagged the cash from his wallet, and nearly tripped in my haste to flee the truck. I ran into the desert. It took me six days on foot to make it to Vegas. But I broke free from those cocksuckers and I never looked back.”
Beck paused when two strong hands clutched his biceps. Blinking, he found Hammer and Seth flanking him, holding him upright.
“It’s all right. We’ve got you,” Seth assured in a low, calm whisper.
Suddenly, Heavenly stood in front of him, her checks stained with tears, eyes rimmed red, and overflowing with love. Beck knew he’d done nothing to deserve her, but every time he saw his little girl, she fucking stole his breath.
Without a word, she lifted on tiptoes and kissed away the tears on his cheeks. Shit, he hadn’t even known he was crying. Then she pressed her lush lips to his with a kiss so full of understanding and love he nearly choked.
As she lifted from his mouth, Beck saw the questions swirling in her eyes, but Heavenly didn’t ask a single one. She simply gave him a reassuring smile.
“Come on,” Hammer urged. “Let’s sit you down and get you a drink. You look like you could use one.”
Emotionally spent, Beck simply nodded as his two friends led him back to the chair. Buddy was already waiting, expression grim but supportive, holding a tumbler of Scotch.
“Thanks, man,” Beck murmured, clutching the glass and draining half the liquid in one gulp. The burn was both cathartic and reassuring. He’d relived his escape from hell and he was still alive…at least for now. But it didn’t change a fucking thing. Jedediah would find him eventually. Then…it was either kill or be killed.
Gathering his courage, Beck lifted his head and scanned the faces of his friends—the family he’d chosen. They all looked the same, but their expressions reflected a deeper level of understanding.
Raine paused in front of him, giving him a tender smile. “Guess we have more in common than we thought.”
“That we do, princess. I’m sorry if my story dredged up bad memories of Bill for you.”
“No.” Raine shook her head. “I think in some weird way, you helped. I stopped feeling guilty a while ago, but it’s nice not to feel alone. I did what I had to do. So did you. You know, Bill and your dad would have understood each other. They were both twisted fucks.”
“Language, love,” Liam cautioned.
