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“What is your plan for your mother?” My question is aimed at both girls. I look over at Harper, then meet Caia’s beautiful, teary eyes.
“We need to know who else was working for my father.” Harper’s suggestion is spot-on. But I know her mother would never rat on the man she loves. There’s always been an unspoken rule about loving someone in this house.
My father was adamant that as soon as the affection grew, you’d be severed from the real world. Stolen and forced to support the person you love. I realize the moment my mother supposedly died, she took my father’s heart with her. But now I know she was alive and breathing, and I wonder if there was any love between them.
Many times over the years, I’ve looked at Malcolm Savage and wondered just how much it had taken to break him. Life. My mother. The fact that he had to put on a show for every client and customer that walked through the door.
He wasn’t real. He’d hidden his feelings behind a mask, just like he taught Dante and me to do. Only, we never could get it right.
“Drake.” Caia’s gentle voice breaks through the darkness that clouds my mind. “Let’s go to bed. You need to rest.” She’s everything I’ve always wanted. Someone who knew about my family but still loved me anyway.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
CAIA
Drake leads me back to his bedroom. I’m still in a daze after everything that’s happened, and having the man I love beside me only makes things seem more surreal. When I first met him, he was nothing more than a stranger who hurt me. He was someone I feared, but as time passed and I learned about the man in question, he became so much more. He became the love of my life.
Perhaps that makes me sick. Fucked up. I fell in love with my captor. But I know I’m stronger for it. Knowing Drake has offered me strength I never had before. He isn’t a knight in shining armor. He definitely is not the most romantic person in the world, but he makes my heart soar. He offers me something I never thought I’d ever have again.
Drake gives me hope.
For years, I was hidden away in the dark. I was merely a toy for people to use, by men and women, and they made sure I was nothing more than a device for their sick needs.
When we reach Drake’s room, he ushers me inside, shutting the door behind River who joins us. We’re all in shock. The silence is thick and heavy, hanging over the three of us, and I don’t know what to say.
I perch myself on the mattress, my eyes watchful of the two men in the room with me. My body is still trembling when I settle on the bed. My hands are drenched in my father’s blood.
Staring at my fingers, I note how they shake. It’s a slight movement, but it’s there. I’ve always wanted to kill him. After being tortured, knowing that he sent me here, seeing what he did to Harper, I knew I had to do something. My need for revenge was fierce. And now that it’s over, I’m not sure what the next step is.
I replay in my mind the look in his eyes as I did it. When I watched the life drain from him. He didn’t deserve to live. That was always clear to me. And I knew I would never spare his life. If I didn’t do it, I know Drake would’ve.
But the truths that tumbled free tonight only confirm he needed to die. My father was always a smart man. When I was growing up, I admired his ideas for business. I’d watch him sit behind his large mahogany desk as he told me what he was planning. The software he wanted to develop. The partners he would bring in to help with marketing, with actually creating the apps.
He made money, and perhaps that was his downfall. Too much money made him bored. It made him believe he was God and he could play with lives. But it also made him sick.
The things I watched on the videos of him and Harper made me sick. Violent. Shaking my head to clear the thoughts, I glance up to find both men staring at me. River is leaning against the door, his arms folded in front of his chest. Drake is sitting on his desk, blue eyes searing me as he watches my reaction.
I know Drake has killed before. It’s no secret, so he knows how I’m feeling. There’s no doubt I did the right thing, but taking someone’s life is not something you can just walk away from. It’s life-altering. It’s scary how easily I could do it without a second thought.
