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My hands run up her spine, until one sinks beneath her thick, blonde strands, and I press my mouth to her ear. “There were things I forgot, or suppressed, things I forgot I knew. That I saw.”
She fists my shirt, saying my name like a broken plea.
“She abused him, Nova. For years.”
“Physically?”
Two shakes of my head pull a hushed gasp from her.
“You’re sure? Did you witness it?”
There were instances, ways Tara touched Damian that weren’t ways my mom touched me. Nothing overtly inappropriate, but enough to stir unease in my stomach. There are still memories I can’t grasp, details on the edge of my consciousness. Damian included pictures when we were kids in his damning package. They sparked something in me. Something I’d long since buried.
Nova remains silent in my arms, hair tickling my cheek.
“I’m not lying, Nova.” Though I can’t recall the past clearly enough to grasp the picture Damian’s words painted. I know the hell he lived was real.
“Oh, no.” She withdraws and cups my face in her hands. “No, I don’t think that at all. I’m just processing. I get it now, your fear of coming here wasn’t because you lost him. You were terrified of facing her. You could have told me.”
“I couldn’t. I didn’t even tell my mom. I…” The words I long to say seize in my chest, going unspoken. “I thought I could handle this.”
“Tell me now. Tell me what you want to do. Do you want her to know you know?”
“I can’t leave without saying something. She…she used him until he felt he had no other choice but to end his life. She needs to know she didn’t get away with it.”
“Okay, do you want to call the police?” My eyes close as I shake my head. “Devin, look at me.”
Lifting my gaze, I fixate on her baby blues.
“I’m here for you, whatever you want. You want me to stand beside you while you tell her what you know? I’m there. You want to walk out of this house right now? I’m your getaway car. I—”
Closing the thin distance between us, I kiss Nova, latching my hands to the sides of her soft face. There’s part of me that knows finding comfort in physical release isn’t the answer, but the largest part of me doesn’t care. When I pull back, her cheeks are damp, but there are no tears in her eyes, they’re in mine. “I’m sorry.” I brush her cheeks, then swipe mine with the backs of my hands. “You don’t know how much that means to me. Thank you. Thank you for being here.”
“Where else would I be?”
Nova slips her hand in mine, and we walk out of Damian’s bedroom together. My heart thunders beneath my rib cage as we approach the end of the hallway.
The back door opens as Tara walks through, pocketing her cell phone. When she spots us entering the living room, her eyes droop with veiled worry. “Are you all right, son?”
“Don’t call me that.”
Tara rears back, paling. A stammering apology tries to make it to daylight, but I cut her off.
“I know. I remember what you did.” I dig in my pocket and hold up the folded letter I removed from my backpack before exiting the car. Damian’s letter. His suicide confession. “And I have proof.”
Her skittish eyes flicker to the envelope in my hand, her son’s block handwriting clear on the front. “Devin—”
“Don’t bother, but you should be worried. He didn’t take his secrets to his grave.”
I tug Nova toward the front door and open it before I unleash years of repressed animosity.
“I don’t know what you think you know, but Damian was troubled,” Tara hollers. “Ever since his dad died. He’s never been the same. You remember, I know you do. Losing Harrison was the hardest thing for us to endure. Damian was depressed, and so angry. I tried everything I could.”
Pausing in the open doorway, I peer over my shoulder. “I bet you did. Keep telling yourself those lies, but they’ll never be true. He deserved better. Damian deserved better than you. Someday you’ll pay for what you did.”
Unable to spend a second longer in Tara’s presence, I drag Nova to the Audi under the night sky. Before she can round the hood, I hold out my hand, and without question, she hands me the keys.
I slide into the driver’s seat as Nova scoots into the passenger side. Locking the doors, I start the engine and peel away from the curb, away from a nightmare I never thought I’d have to face.
