Page 34 of That Emerald Vow

“She. Did. What?”

I let out a small, fractured laugh. “She’s always taken her rage out on me for her miserable life. Especially when my dad started sleeping around after his success. I guess I remind her of what she could have been. I think she liked seeing me just as broken. Anyway . . . I never told my father. We had a decent relationship but were never close.

“I never trusted easily after that, even those who were meant to protect me didn’t. But then . . .” I play with my fingers as I think through saying the next part. “In high school, I had this boyfriend . . .” I take a deep breath before continuing to tell him all about Elias. “I felt like this hollow shell. It’s not what I expected non-consensual sex to feel like because I had experienced that with my uncle. There was pleading and screaming and sobbing,” I sputter out, one word tumbling behind the other. “But this felt different—almost worse. It was a quiet stealing of a piece of me.” I feel the steady stream of tears falling down my cheeks now. Damon moves closer and pulls me in, rubbing my back. I allow myself to find comfort in his arms.

“I pretended for so long that it was normal—that it was too much in the gray area to count. What my uncle did counted, but this couldn’t have. I couldn’t admit it until I met Lily. I couldn’t admit that ithappened again and somehow felt so much worse. I wasn’t super close to my uncle; he was a sick, disgusting man. That was black and white, and I hated him. But my ex was someone who never made me feel unsafe—not like that. He was the first person I trusted, and my mind couldn’t handle it.” Once I’m done, my tears turn uncontrollable. Damon just sits there with me, not saying a word, allowing me this moment in his safe embrace.

When I can speak again, I say, “But there is no gray area to non-consensual sex. Just took me a while to face that.”

“I am so proud of you, Charlie Thatcher. You are one incredible human. And you’re right, it’s never their fault. And it was neveryourfault. Only their ”

I’ve grown to learn that, but hearing someone other than my best friend say it makes it feel more true. Damon doesn’t owe me anything, and if the way he’s looking into my eyes is any indication, he means it. It makes my cheeks warm, forcing me to turn, looking away. “Um, thanks.”

I look back up at him through my lashes and see him grinning at me, having noticed my blush. His right dimple is ever present, making me crack my own smile.God, this man is adorable.

Straightening up, he says, “I guess we were dealt a shitty hand when it came to parents.” I nod in response. “But that doesn’t explain all the—” He motions with his hands across his neck, mimicking a slit throat.

I smile, remembering. “Well that happened in undergrad . . . by accident.”

His right eyebrow shoots up, curiously. “Tell me, how does one accidentally become . . .” He pauses, pondering his next words. “Vigilantes, or whatever it is you ladies do.”

I smirk. “Well Lily and I got close pretty quickly. We were very active on campus helping sex crime victims. One night, we saw a man tryingto rape a woman in an alley. Helping her run away to safety felt nice, but what was better was after. We started to beat him—all our rage unleashed. We didn’t stop until he was a dead, bloody mess. And then that just became what we did. We have our tabbed files that track possible targets, and one by one, we help clean the streets.”

He’s smiling at me. “Charlotte Thatcher, aren’t you a little badass? I’ve known from the first moment I met you. But this? Protecting those who can’t protect themselves is a new level of hot you’ve unlocked,” he says, winking. “But no, seriously, that’s amazing.”

“Ha. I guess you’re—”

He cuts me off, saying, “Super hot too?”

YES!

“You wish. I just meant kinda badass. Emphasis on thekindapart, less of the badass part.” This feels more normal, the simple banter between us.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. We both know you think I’m super hot. I saw that blush earlier, little gem.”

I lean forward, almost a breath away from him, making his body still in anticipation. “And we both know you find me irresistible. But don’t worry. It’ll be our secret.” I grab my gun and stand up. “This was enough emotion for me for one night. And looks like y’all have work to do to get them to safety. I’ll see you later, Day.” Without another word, I walk out, making sure to sway my hips with some extra pep, knowing he’s watching me leave.

Lily and I spend the whole car ride trying to process what just happened, but it takes that long just to share all we both learned during the conversations.

“How on earth did we find the two guys in this city who are also moonlighting as vigilantes?” I ask as I put my key in my front door. “Talk about fate.”

“It says a lot about this place and how horrific it is. Three kids from the same high school going through their own hell. But it makes sense that we were drawn to each other then and again now,” Lily says, walking in and turning to face me.

I stick my tongue out at Lily. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Don’t rub it in that I didn’t know you all your life. You’re right. Like calls to like though, sometimes unconsciously,” I say, lost in my thoughts of how easily I am drawn to Damon. His laugh and comforting presence are like my own personal siren call.

Lily smiles at me—the first real one since we walked up to the Crimson Creed shop sign earlier. “I didn’t really know Damon well though. Sounds like you may know him better than me,” she says, winking at me.

I narrow my eyes at her. “Shut up.”

She chuckles. “Anyway, it seems all the situations were pretty intertwined. Ade’s dad was a creepy ass which got me and him on thatpath. You and Damon had your own shit with your respective families. D got pulled in through Ade and needing support with his mother. And you and I happened upon it that one day.”

We make our way to the kitchen, and I pull out all my takeout menus, needing some comfort food. “Well if I didn’t already think you and Ade were meant to be, I definitely do now.”

“Now you can shut up.” She smirks at me.

I’m glad they didn’t end up being traffickers like we thought. Killing my best friend’s ex may have been a bit complicated, especially when she is so clearly in love with him. But I’m happy for her.

“What about you and Damon?” I can feel her eyes boring into my face, but I bring my focus down and stare intently at the menus as I flip through them—not processing a single written word.

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