Page 70 of Release You

“Drink this. It’s just water.”

I gripped the plastic bottle she placed in my hand and took a long swig, letting the water soothe the ache in the back of my throat. My eyes adjusted to the light or the lack thereof, and with tears streaming down my cheeks, I turned to face Henry’s mom.

“It’s really you.”

She nodded and hugged me the way she had when Lisa and I went to work at Cavalier Manor.

“Sweet girl. Why did you come back after all these years? You should’ve stayed away.”

CHAPTER 24

Just Like Lisa

Henry

A thirty-second recording brought my entire world crumbling down. It was one thing to suspect my uncle had killed Dad, but it was a whole different reality to finally have proof, to finally know who hated Dad so much. I swallowed, tasting something bitter in the back of my throat. I played the recording again, over and over until I’d memorized every word and sound.

Mom sounded so angry and surprised.What the fuck.Jonathan had killed Dad, and Mom found him out? How was this possible? Mom had been sick by then and rarely left her room. How had Jonathan convinced her to cover for him all these years and to give me up? I glared at the computer, brows furrowed.

I picked up the desk chair and threw it against the window. The glass cracked. I hit it again, and it exploded, sending shards all over the place. I paced the room as glass crunched under my shoes. This was what they’d done to me. Jonathan andFrancesca had broken my life into tiny pieces. I wanted to kill him, smash his head in like he’d done to Dad.

The murder board Nikki had in her room flashed in my mind—so much blood, so much hate. And it all had come from his brother. I hated him. I hated them. My jaw clenched so tight a bone cracked painfully behind my ear.

I stuffed the chip in the back pocket of my jeans. My hands trembled as I left the room and descended the stairs. This hotel had become a haven for me. Nikki’s energy, her smell, still lingered in the lobby. Drinking hot chocolate on the sofa, the first time we had sex at the bar, and the time she fell asleep in my arms after she’d found out Lisa hadn’t made parole—all that was over. Or rather, all that had never been.

I trod to the bar, grabbed a beer, and downed it. The carbonation burned on the way down, and I welcomed the feeling. I had to stop thinking about her. She was gone. She didn’t care about me or this hotel. My chest hurt, every breath I took hurt, but I had to learn to live without her. I grabbed my keys off the counter and trudged to my truck. I needed a stiffer drink.

I headed out of town toward the 101 with the windows down. Rain pelted on the car door, wetting the seat along with my shirt and face. I sped down I-10 with no clue where I was going. My mind raced, flooded with a thousand incoherent thoughts. The main one being Mom. I took the next exit, made a U-turn at the light, and backtracked to A Different Point of View bar. I needed something to numb the pain. Or maybe I just needed to feel close to Mom.

When I reached the entrance, the valet gave me a ticket, and I stuffed it in my back pocket, mumbling a thank you, ignoring the looks he gave my beat-up truck. At the bar, I ordered a whiskey. The bartender was the same one who hadhelped us find Scott. I’d never asked Dom what he did with the asshole.

“Is Scott around tonight?” I asked the bartender, gesturing for another round. If he recognized me, he didn’t show it.

“He quit days ago.” He poured my drink and quickly moved to the other side of the bar.

I supposed when Dom said he’d take care of the trash, he really meant it. Nikki chose her friends well. No doubt Dom was in on it too. I shut my eyes, and all I could see was Nikki holding his hand, walking him upstairs. Dom kissing her by the window. I chugged my drink and slammed it on the counter.

“Wow, man. You look like shit.” Dom Moretti braced his arm on the counter.

I had to give it to him; he had great timing. My feet hit the floor just as I gripped his collar and punched him across the face. Every heartbeat thrummed in my ears, pumping hot blood through my veins. After the initial gasps, the room went eerily quiet. The bartender rushed to the phone behind the bar and started dialing. If he was calling security, I didn’t give a fuck.

“What the fuck?” Dom scrambled back, rubbing his chin, eyes trained on me.

When he didn’t move, I squeezed my hands tighter. A sharp pain spread up my fingers. The raw ache on my bleeding knuckles was an improvement on the anger twisting in my stomach. I stepped forward and came at him with a liver shot. He let out a grunt. Pressing his lips together, he shoved me away and stood his ground, hands out in front of him, palms facing me.

“Fight back.” I gritted my teeth.

“With pleasure. But first tell me what the fuck we’re fighting over?” Red rose to his cheeks. His chest expanded wide as he forced even breaths.

“You tell me.” I threw another punch. This time he lockedhis arm around my elbow and clocked me. I countered with a left hook and then another and another, pouring every bit into him. I wanted him to feel the way I’d felt when I read Nikki’s note, when I heard Mom’s voice in the recording. I wanted him to make up for all the years I’d spent alone, for all the ones I’d have to spend without a family.

Two sets of hands gripped my arms and pulled me off him. Their voices were a jumble of sounds over the blood drumming in my ears. I blinked several times, forcing air into my aching lungs. My feet squeaked across the shiny floors as guards walked me out of the bar and shoved me into an elevator instead of taking me through the lobby and back to the valet podium. I scooted back until I touched the mirror lining the elevator wall.

Dom sat on his haunches, his face inches from mine, eyes black and menacing. “Today I was feeling like I deserved a beating. Next time you come at me, I will pummel you to the ground. Drink this.”

“What is it?” I glared at the blurry glass he shoved in my hands.

“Just drink it.” He stood next to me.

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