Chapter Fourteen
Noah had intended to come back here alone. He didn’t think Skye was ready for this kind of reality. Ever since Denison had told him what happened to the place, he felt it important to come back, to pay his respects to the people that had died in it. The fire had started in one of the arenas. Staring up at the building now, he saw for the most part, it was standing. There was tape around the outside of the building, letting them know to stay out.
“That’s strange. Denison said it was burned down. Why would he lie?” Skye asked.
They stood out of the car on either side. Their doors were open, as they stared up at the building that had held their captive weeks, and turned their world upside down.
“I don’t know. Maybe he was doing a good thing. You know, lying to us that the place that hurt us is gone.”
“Didn’t he think we’d come back? We’d want to see it? I mean, look at it. Anyone could rebuild this. It’s not completely gone.” Skye looked toward him, and Noah shrugged.
“I don’t have a clue. Do we ever really know what’s going on inside someone’s head?”
He watched her rub her arms. “This place gives me the creeps. I don’t know if I can go in.” She looked toward him and sighed. “Seriously, you want to go inside?”
“Yes.”
“What if it’s damaged? There was a fire that can cause some structural problems. I don’t think that’s a good idea. What if Mitch is watching this place?”
“Why would he watch this place? It’s useless,” Noah said. “Come on, I need to see all of it.”
“All of it.”
“Look at the size of that place. It’s a mansion, Skye. Surely you know what I’m talking about.”
“Doesn’t it bother you that this if this is a mansion, someone paid for Mitch and all of his crew to be here? I don’t want to trespass,” she said.
It did bother him that people watched them. That there were men and woman out there who didn’t deserve to breathe. It made him so fucking angry, infuriatingly so.
“Come on, Princess,” he said, looking at the house, and then, he just couldn’t do it. “No, we’re not going back in there. We’re done. We’re not going to let the past take us like this.”
“If you really want to go back in there, we do it together. All of this, whatever it is you need to see, we’ll do it together. No backing down,” she said, taking his hand and stepping to his side.
“You’re amazing, you know that, right?”
“I’m not amazing. Far from it.” She trembled.
Removing his jacket, he placed it over her shoulders.
“What about you?” she asked.
“I’m fine, but we don’t need to go back in there. It’s in our past. We don’t need this anymore. I don’t need it. I don’t want it either.” He didn’t need to see what was in that house. He didn’t need any of it. The past was over and done, and he wasn’t going to ruin his life by trying to change it.
If they ever saw Mitch again, Noah would fucking kill him, no questions asked. He wanted to make sure Mitch paid for what he did to him, but also, to torture him. When he found Mitch—and one day soon, he intended to go hunting—he was going to find him, and make him pay for what he did to Skye. For what he did to all of them.
Every slap, punch, fuck, rape, and torture.
He would make sure Mitch knew what it felt like. Then and only then would he give him death. It was the plan that kept him sane. There were way too many people who had lost their lives because of that sick prick.
“I’d say we should ask Denison about the investigation. I want to know how they’re finding the men and women that did this, that helped set this up.”
“Do you really think he’d tell us?” Skye asked.
“I don’t give a fuck. We have a right to know.”
She nodded. “It doesn’t mean we’re going to find out. At least we’re together. We can handle whatever they throw at us.” She released a breath. “Okay, so where do you want to go now?”
They turned back to his car, and he placed his arm across her shoulders.