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“Not even Aidan? Why don’t you talk to him?”
“Aidan has already done enough for me. I ruined his life . . . I don’t need to keep telling him how much of a mess I am.”
“Ruined his life? Okay, no. That’s not happening.”
“What’s not happening?” she asked, bewildered.
“You better listen to me good, girl. Because I hear that shit from your mouth again, I will not be happy.”
Whoa.
That was a really stern tone.
“Look at me and you listen to me, Greer Savage. What is your middle name?”
“I don’t think I want to tell you.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t want to be three-named. That’s not fair.”
“Fine, you listen to me, Greer Troublemaker Savage.”
How dare he? She felt so called out.
“You did not ruin Aidan’s life.”
“Yeah, right.”
“Yes, I am right,” he said firmly, his hand grasping hold of her chin.
“No, you’re not. He spent years of his life in jail. Because of me!”
“No, because of that fucking prick who raped you. That’s the reason he went to jail.”
“I shouldn’t have called him that night,” she whispered. “I should never have told him what happened. Then he wouldn’t have hurt Matthew, and he wouldn’t have gone to jail.”
“Baby, no. Is that what you think Sav would have wanted?”
“Why wouldn’t he? Then he wouldn’t have spent years in jail.”
“No. He’d never want you to have suffered in silence. I know that for sure. And it isn’t good to feel like you have to hide the bad things that happen to you. You can’t bottle stuff up. That’s when it explodes out in other ways.”
She knew that better than most.
“And who knows what would have happened if you hadn’t called Sav? Jorgen could have hurt you again. Killed you. Do you think Sav would have wanted that?”
“No,” she whispered. She guessed she hadn’t thought of that.
“Of course not. Baby girl, you cannot blame yourself for others’ actions. Sav was furious because his baby sister had been raped and beaten . . . how upset do you think he would be to learn you’ve been blaming yourself all these years for him going to jail?”
“I know he wouldn’t like it. That he doesn’t blame me. But I . . . that doesn’t stop me feeling guilty.”
“Oh, Ladybug. That’s no way to live.”
“I think we’ve established that I haven’t really been living all these years.”
“And what a waste that is. Because you deserve to be happy, maybe more than anyone else.”
