My head shakes back and forth before I drop it to my knees in shame. “I killed my father.”
“I know, sweetheart. It’ll be okay. We’re here now.”
“Zoe is lucky to have a man like you.” My head, my thoughts, everything is all over the place, but he doesn’t seem to mind. A small smile is on his lips when I look back up at him.
“And TJ is lucky to have you. How about we get you into some clothes and get you out of here?”
“I’m waiting for the police.”
He stiffens, his lips forming a flat line on his face. “Did you call the police?”
I shake my head. “But they’ll be here eventually.”
A hand clamps on his shoulder, and Lynch shifts to the side as Kai appears.
“I got this,” my new friend tells the MC president without pulling his eyes from mine.
Without another word, Lynch walks away. We listen to his heavy boots as they head back downstairs. Kai moves closer, tentative in his steps as if I’m going to freak out at any moment.
“I couldn’t do it,” I tell him when I follow his eyes to the razor blade on the side of the tub. “If I killed myself, I’d still just be Royce Stewart’s daughter. Even when I was taken, it was more about him and less about me.”
I sigh, hating the bitterness in my voice. I’ve never been one to play the victim, but my world is turned upside down right now.
“Poor Royce. It must be so hard to go on living with the death of his son, and then the abduction of his daughter,” I mimic as if reading from an old newspaper article.
“You’re shivering, babe. Let’s get you out of the tub and into some warm clothes,” Kai urges as he reaches for me.
I don’t fight him as he touches me, sweeping his arms under mine and effortlessly lifting me from the cold water. My teeth are chattering as he wraps a fluffy towel around my back. I cling to the fabric, holding it to my heaving chest like a shield capable of protecting me from all the bad things that could happen.
“Did you guys call the police to come get me?”
Kai lifts my chin with the bend of his knuckle until my head is raised enough to look him directly in the eyes. “The Ravens Ruin doesn’t call the police.”
I nod in understanding, realizing I should’ve known that. They have a way of getting their own justice. TJ proved that more than once when he had to pull me from those frat houses. I can’t even focus on what may happen now that I’ve committed the ultimate sin. Will they punish me for my misdeeds like they did the men who took advantage of me?
“Arms up,” Kai urges as he unwraps the towel from around me and dries my body. Once he’s satisfied, I let him dress me in the same t-shirt and sweats that I wore over here. Once again, I lift the fabric to my nose in an attempt to feel closer to TJ. Even in his absence, his scent lingers, and the familiarity assists in calming my nerves slightly.
“Where are we going?” I manage to ask when Kai guides me out into the hallway.
“Back to the clubhouse,” Kai answers as we crest the top of the stairs.
“That’s going to complicate things for them.”
“It’s where you belong,” Kai assures me as he guides me down the stairs.
“Everyone in my family is dead,” I mumble absently, watching my feet as we descend.
“We’re your family,” Kai whispers as he pulls me closer.
My masochistic personality shines bright when we make it to the foyer because I can’t resist looking back into the living room, needing to see the reality of what I’ve done one last time. Only, my father isn’t lying at an odd angle against the heavy, wood coffee table where I left him to scramble upstairs.
His lifeless body is strung up by a thick rope from the exposed beam running the length of the room. His eyes are still open and hauntingly empty. I can’t seem to look away from the scene clearly recreated to tell a different story than the one I left behind a couple of hours ago. The tipped over chair under his dangling feet, and the spilled half-empty bottle of whiskey are nice touches, but deep down, I know it won’t work. I’ve binged way too much on police procedural shows to let myself believe I’ve gotten a free pass. I don’t even know if I deserve a free pass. Two wrongs don’t make a right and all that.
Kai tucks me closer into his side and redirects me out the back door where a large, black SUV is waiting with the engine running.
“You’re going to ride with these guys, and I’m going to drive your car back,” Kai tells me as he pulls open the back door. I pull my keyring from the sweat’s pocket and hand it over to him, giving him a final pleading look, trying to tell him I don’t want him to walk away from me. The trembling renews the second he closes me inside and walks toward my car.