Page 90 of Where We Ended

“How are you holding up?” Her dark green eyes were so clear and full of hope.

It made something in my heart thrash like a soft wave, lapping at the shore.

“Me? I’m fine, I was worried about you.”

She waved me off. “I was fine. I knew what I was doing.”

“Still, a lot could have gone wrong.”

She sipped her drink and stared off across the room. “My son—” She choked on a sudden sob, forcing her hand to come up to her mouth. “I thought maybe he would hate me.”

I shook my head, already knowing that could never be true.

“He pulled me into his arms and he just—” Tears slipped down her face and she quickly brushed them away. “He hugged me so tight…it took me back to that day I left him when he was nine. I remember seeing that look in his eyes…like he wasn’t sure why I was going.”

More sobs wracked her chest and I pulled her hand into mine.

“I know he wants to know why I left…and I’ve rehearsed my response a thousand times, imagining what I would say to him. But now that I’m here, I don’t know how to begin.”

Squeezing her hand, I cleared my throat.

“Practice. With me, I mean. Try to tell me what you need to say.”

She swallowed, swiping at her face with her free hand and then adjusted the pillow in her lap.

“I knew my choices were limited…I was twenty-eight, married to an abuser. A murderer. I knew Simon would protect Killian, but I was positive that my husband was going to kill me. So I had started seeing this guy from another club. My hope was that he could protect me from Jefferson, but I had merely traded one evil for another. I knew Jefferson was going to get caught for what he did, but there was no way to get rid of the man I’d convinced to love me. He was just as bad as my husband, if not worse. So my only option was to spare Killian. Disappear from his life and protect him from that vile man. I had seen what he’d done to his sons, and I never wanted that near Killian.”

Awareness slid in slow and steady like the beat of a drum.

“You’ve been with Fable this entire time?”

Her chin wobbled; she gave me a sad smile. “Not all of us have someone like Silas in our lives, Natty. Some of us remain in the prison because the idea of what the monster will do is too terrible. There is no escaping Fable. Once he has you, he will keep you, and he will use you however he sees fit.”

I watched as she silently cried and a fresh, deep resolve settled in my core that hadn’t ever been there before. I had always disliked Silas’s father for what he did to his son. I feared him for what he did to me. But I hated him for what he’d done to Rachel.

I was going to kill him.

If it was the last thing I did, I would murder him.

“Something you should know, Natty. Something that no one knows about him.”

I perked up, feeling her hand tug more firmly on mine. My head was turned toward her as she swiped at her face and regained her composure.

“Fable has no army. His Destroyers no longer exist. When he left the country, he lost all of it. He’s here, hoping Silas and Alec will join with him and bring their clubs. But he has no one backing him at all.”

No army.

A smile slid along my lips as I realized what this meant.

We had a chance.

“You’re cooking me dinner?” Silas asked from where he perched on the edge of the couch.

My back was to him, and while we’d fallen back into whatever routine we always did with each other, there was something strained between us. I felt it like a heavy breeze warning of a storm.

“I’m cooking myself dinner, but you’re welcome to have some.” I smirked at him from over my shoulder.

I loved how relaxed he looked with his plain white t-shirt, his loose-fitting jeans, and bare feet. His eyes gleamed, and I nearly melted at how they felt on me. We had no agenda at the moment, nowhere to be other than processing that Alec was being held here, as a prisoner in one of the garages. Then there was the little fact that Fable had sworn to take me away from both men and use me for breeding purposes.

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