“But what about you and me? What about how he attacked us?”
Her eyes drop and she lets out a heavy sigh. “Despite our statements, there’s no evidence to support it. It’s our word against his on that one.”
“You have Slade,” I remind her. “He’s your evidence.”
“No,” she says. “Slade is proof that we had sex, not proof that I was raped, but either way, I’m just glad to see him go down. He’ll never be able to hurt us again.”
I nod, never agreeing with any other comment more in my life, but somewhat disappointed that he’s getting away with hurting us like that. I look back up and meet Daniella’s eyes. “This is seriously over?”
“It’s over,” Daniella confirms with tears of joy in her eyes. “Twenty years of hell are finally over.”
I scramble over the top of Slade, accidentally nailing him in the gut. I jump down from his bed and run to throw my arms around Daniella. She holds onto me, both of us lost inside our own relief.
I know I have Shay’s outburst with the cops last night to thank for this. What she said to them really got through and made a difference. The one with the kids came through just as he said he would.
There’s probably a shitload more they’re looking at when it comes to Lucien’s business deals and I’m sure he’ll get charged for that later, but for now, I’m finally free.
We all are.
I pull back from Daniella and whip around to Slade who’s watching with a beaming smile. “Did you hear that? He’s done.”
“I heard, Virago.”
“I have to go and tell Shay and Blake.”
“Alright,” he says, reaching for his keys on his bedside table and getting up. He strides toward me and wraps me into his big, warm arms before his lips come down on mine. “What are you waiting for? Let’s go and tell them the good news.”
Chapter 11
What the hell am I doing here?
I stand beside Slade, staring up at the Castle Rock Maximum Security Penitentiary for Men feeling like an idiot for coming here. I don’t know what I’m hoping to get out of this but it’s either going to go one of two ways.
One, I walk out of here absolutely devastated, hearing things no daughter should ever have to hear, or two, I walk out of here an absolute mess. There is no winning for me here.
“Are you sure about this?” Slade murmurs, taking my hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. “Just say the word and we’ll go.”
“I just sat in your Dodge for three and a half hours listening to your shitty taste in music. I’m not about to put myself through that torture again so soon.”
“Says the girl who was singing along and rocking out the whole way here.”
“Really?” I laugh. “You think I was doing that because I liked it? I was trying to get my mind off the fact that I was coming here.”
My words have both our gazes falling back to the prison and have my mood sobering once again. I really must be insane for doing this, but I’ve always told myself that if I was going to close the book on all this Lucien bullshit, that I need to tie up every loose end and that includes confronting the man who murdered my parents.
Anton Mathers.
He was the very first monster I ever encountered and I’m hoping that today, he will be the last.
He is the man who opened me up to a world of darkness, he is the one that took my world away from me, he is the man who locked me and Blake in a basement and sold us to the highest bidder. He is the man who stole the happiness of my childhood, my innocence, and joy. He took it all and now it’s finally time to face my fears so I can move on.
I’m a bird set free.
A shaky bird on wobbly as fuck legs, but a free bird nonetheless.
Fuck it. I’m a nervous as shit kind of bird who’s terrified to fly. I don’t know what I’m going to get in there and the unknown scares the crap out of me. In my head, I walk out of here with a smile, feeling empowered for putting that bastard in his place, but in reality, I’m probably going to hurl.
All I know is that it’s now or never.
I take Slade’s hand and look up at his warm, loving eyes. “Come on,” I say, trying to hide the nerves in my tone. “If I don’t go now, I’ll never find the balls.”
He nods and follows my lead as I take my first step toward the prison. “Remember, Virago, just say the word…”
I nod, not needing him to finish his sentence. I don’t doubt that he means every last word. If this gets too much, he’d more than likely be the one to shut Anton down and throw me over his shoulder, not caring if he has to show every last prisoner here that he’s a possessive caveman.