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Patricia groans. “God, I remember that mess with the watermelon.”
Neev cackles. “Vinny and his bats.”
Feeling like I’m in a parallel universe, I shake my head.
Regular me pushes things away, locks them up in the back of my mind. Except, there’s no hiding any of this. They all know. They saw. They’reproudof me.
It’s a surreal moment, but oddly empowering.
My stomach settles.
“Take it easy,” Kitty urges. “You’re safe, babe. Just you wait until I tell Cade what you did. Man, he’s going to be so proud too. Here we were, thinking you’re a Barbie doll, I mean, a cool Barbie doll, but ya know, a doll nonetheless, and here you are, fucking Catwoman instead.” I just blink at her but she shoves another glass at me. “Drink.
“Hey, I hope you don’t feel guilty. That fucking lunatic needed to be put down.” She grabs my wrist and jerks me back down on the couch, forcing me to take the whiskey. “What are you so upset about? You fucking kicked ass. Lucas was impressed too.”
“That was Lucas… impressed?”
She snorts. “Yeah. He’s a miserable asswipe.”
Patricia tsks. “Kitty.”
“What? It’s true!”
As they start bickering about inappropriate labels for siblings, I shoot the second shot of whiskey back, finally feeling the wonderful glow that only alcohol and Valium can give.
Still… “Where are they?”
“In our meat freezer,” Patricia informs me, her voice as calm as if she’s discussing the weather or a new recipe she’s trying out.
“Oh.” I lean back. “Of course.”Where else?
Neev walks over with the bottle in her hand, grinning wryly at me. “Another?”
“I thought you were at work.”
She pshaws. “Kitty texted us with the DL. I hauled ass back home to help out.”
She says it so simply that…
This is what family does.At least,thisfamily, that is.
I hold up my glass as she pours way too much whiskey into it and, all at once, even though I need the extra shot of whiskey, that whisper of a craving for Valium fades much as the nausea in my belly did.
The vague notion of acceptance, of being a part of something bigger than me, whispers into me. As does the fact that I’m safe. I can sit here with no fear.
He’s gone.
Dead.
And I did it.
Me.
That man was a monster, a killer who kept me prisoner on the drugs he prescribed and his money. He stripped me of my self-esteem and terrorized me. Worse than any of that, he killed my mom.
And I took him out.
Me.
