Total pages in book: 170
Estimated words: 160166 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 801(@200wpm)___ 641(@250wpm)___ 534(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 160166 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 801(@200wpm)___ 641(@250wpm)___ 534(@300wpm)
“You overheard what? From who?” Carter asks as I sit back in my seat.
Braelynn breathes out slowly, not looking at Carter but staring at the desk as if it’s replaying a memory. “Nate was on the front porch and he said…he said something like ‘You’re sure it is Braelynn? I don’t want to be the one to do it this time.’”
“Sure what was you?” Carter asks and confusion deepens the crease in his forehead.
Braelynn shakes her head. “I don’t know. It sounded like he was saying I sent something. That someone was sure I sent something. I didn’t send anything to anyone,” she blurts out the words, her voice raising higher and higher. “He said the bitch sent it.”
“The bitch he referred to might have been the cop?” I question, looking at Carter who nods along with me. “The cop sent him something about Braelynn?”
“Probably the warrant for her arrest,” Carter comes to the conclusion.
“What?” Braelynn questions.
She glances between the two of us and her grip on my hand gets tighter. “I assumed I was the woman he was talking about. He did say my name.”
“Is it possible the conversation was about someone else who mentioned you?” Carter asks, and Braelynn’s expression makes it obvious she’s thinking back on it all.
“Nate’s been working with the cops.”
“Oh my God,” she breathes, her eyes widening.
“He’s the one who set you up. He could have been talking about the cop he was working with.”
“Can you remember exactly what he said?”
She shakes her head, her breathing intensifying. “I don’t think I want to think about it.” My poor girl is spiraling and I can’t watch it happen. Nate’s hurt her enough for this life. No more. He doesn’t get to keep hurting her like this. That’s the thing about abuse. Even when the abuser’s gone, the pain stays in the memories.
“Okay then. It’s done. Braelynn it’s done,” Carter says at the same time that I tell her, “You don’t need to answer anything else. It’s over Braelynn.”
“It doesn’t matter what exactly he said. We know enough of the pieces,” Carter says with finality.
Her hands tremble in mine and I hold her while Carter gets her a drink. The glass clinks in the background while I tell her repeatedly that it’s all right. Whiskey, of course, which she only stares at a second before she gulps it down.
“I think I can offer you something that will end it all for you,” I add as I stare deep into her eyes, knowing this is something I would want but also knowing I’m fucked in the head and she isn’t me. She isn’t damaged and brutal like I am. “Real closure and justice.”
“I want that,” she answers desperately. “I want it to be done with forever.”
“Come with us,” Carter says, already making his way to the door.
BRAELYNN
I’m as nervous as I’ve ever been in my life as we walk through the house toward a certain wing that I’d rather avoid forever. My heart beats rapidly in my chest. My palms sweat. My legs feel heavy, like they might take over and run me right back to Declan’s bedroom without my permission. Declan is steady at my side, his expression determined.
“Declan,” I say, my voice shaking. “I don’t know if I can—”
He puts a hand on my lower back and adds the slightest pressure to tell me to keep walking. “You’re with me, and I love you. Nothing is going to happen to you. I’m sorry anyone ever hurt you, Braelynn. That ends for good today.”
From behind me, Carter cuts in. “This is a gift to you.”
“I—” I shake my head.
“If you don’t want to do this,” Carter continues. “You don’t have to. It’s—”
“She’s going to want this,” Declan says, cutting his brother off. “I don’t want her to live with regret or ever wonder where we stand.”
“Why would I want this?” I ask Declan, my pulse racing even faster as we pass one door and then another, both of which are metal.
He glances down at me and a muscle in the side of his jaw tics. “He hurt you. This all happened because of him.”
I dare to ask the question, half expecting to see a dead body behind whatever door is opened. “Is he still alive?”
Dark anger flashes through his eyes. “Not for long.”
It hits me then that I’m going to witness a murder. That I’ll see this man die in just a moment. And I’m so torn on how to feel. So conflicted by right and wrong. Memories fly through my mind and with Nate, come memories of Scarlet. I nearly trip over my own feet as I’m led to a closed door ahead.
“Come on, Brae. I want you to see what happens to anyone who ever hurts you.”
The heavy metal door opens and just inside the door, Nate’s tied to a chair with thick ropes and has a black bag over his head. Jase stands at his side, his arms crossed over his chest, a scowl on his face.