Page 24 of Thorned Vengeance

“Don’t ever touch me again,” she snarls.

I lift my hands in surrender. “Got it. But you can’t leave.”

“Why the fuck not?”

“Because you very well may be the only person who’s laid eyes on the man I’m hunting.”

“Hate to break it to you,” she begins. “But that was the Phantom Strangler, and I’ve been after him for years. I’m not about to let you get him first.”

“Whaddya know about the Phantom?” I ask.

She chuckles, but there’s no humor in it. “I know he’s a dead man walking. As soon as I get my hands on?—”

I grab her arm again, only this time, I hold on a bit tighter. “You’re coming with me.”

Delaney digs in her heels. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”

I turn and lean into her face. “You are,” I growl. “The Phantom is mine, and I need whatever info you have on him to help me get him.”

“I work alone,” she says.

Smirking, I start walking again and practically drag her toward the stadium.

“We’ll see about that, sweetheart.”

CHAPTER 13

“You made it!”

I return my mom’s hug, and when she steps back to look at my face, I force a smile.

“I did.”

“How long can you stay?”

Considering that I almost didn’t make it out of Nashville, I decide I need a break. Not only will it give me a chance to regroup, but it should be enough to fuck with Kyle and Delaney’s heads.

“A while,” I tell her. “At least a week.”

Mom’s smile widens, and her eyes light up. “Oh, good. It’ll be so nice to spend some quality time with you.”

“You too, Mom.”

It takes a lot of effort not to laugh at the insanity of the moment. Most people would expect my parents to be crazy or addicts or abusive, but Mom and Dad are the quintessential June and Ward Cleaver.

Growing up, my parents were very involved in my life. We ate dinner at the table as a family almost every night, and they told me they loved me every single day. I wasn’t beaten or berated or ignored. I was… cherished.

I’m sure you’re wondering where it all went wrong for me, and honestly, I don’t think I can answer that question. If I had to guess, I’d say nothing went wrong so much as I was wrong from the moment I was born.

“Son, you’re here.”

My father’s voice pulls me from my thoughts, and I look toward the stairs to see him walking down them.

“Hey, Dad.”

He strides closer and pulls me in for a hug.

See… loved.

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