Page 79 of Release You

“You’re hurt? I’m so sorry. I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner.” He wrapped his arms around Francesca. “Would you ever forgive me? I never meant to betray you.”

Heat surged through my body like wildfire. This asshole had made my life a living hell, and all he could do was apologize to his monster of a wife for leaving her? Dad’s last moments flickered through my mind. But they were no longer the pictures from Lisa’s file. They were memories. Memories of what Francesca had done to Dad and what Jonathan had done to cover it up.

“Henry.” Nikki’s hand brushed my elbow.

I stomped to Jonathan, gripped him by the collar, and dragged him out to the foyer. I wanted to see his eyes when he took his last breath. I wanted to take everything from him, as he had done to us. I slammed him against the wall and threw the first punch. He cowered, putting up his hands to protect his face. My blow cut through the gap between his arms and made his head bounce hard against the brick.

“Henry. I didn’t kill your dad. I swear it.” He grunted when my right hook connected with his side then he fell into a pathetic heap at my feet.

I picked him up and pinned him to the wall. “Maybe he didn’t die by your hand. But you brought this snake into our family, you protected her, and you sent an innocent girl to jail to save this monster. Why?”

“Because she asked. I love her. I would do anything for her,” he whined, tears streaming down his cheeks.

“No. You did it because you’re spineless.” Sweat ran cold down my back.

I laid into him again, and all he could do was whimper as he tangled his arms and hands around his head. He couldn’t even give me the satisfaction of a real fight. He dropped to the floor, and I stepped back. Jonathan lay exactly on the spot where Dad had died a senseless death because of the misplaced trust he’d put in his useless brother and sister-in-law.

Somewhere over the pounding of my heartbeat, Nikki’s muffled voice filtered through, asking me to let him go, that it wasn’t worth it. She was wrong. Every bit of it was worth it. Even the throbbing ache over my raw knuckles was worth it just to see him like this. To see the fear in his eyes as he realized where he was, that he was going to die where Dad died.

His face had turned to a soft pulp, and still my fucking anger hadn’t subsided. I fell to my knees next to him on thefloor. Blood rushed to my head, making me see spots. I straddled him and wrapped my hands around his neck. The way I’d always wanted to do. I pressed my thumbs against his Adam’s apple and waited until red rose up his neck and face.

“I saw you both that day. Right over there. I let you go,” he croaked. “If I had told her you were here, she would’ve killed you both. I saved your lives. I moved the body so she wouldn’t come back in here.”

“The bodywas your brother, you son of a bitch,” I screamed. My breath blew hot on his face and my hands. “You ruined all our lives for her. And she doesn’t even love you.”

His neck strained under my grip. The cut on his cheekbone oozed faster the harder I pressed. His voice dropped to a whisper, a quiet breath, but he continued to beg, like the spineless asshole he was.

“Please, Henry. I did what I could. That has to count for something…for a bit of mercy.” He swallowed, and his Adam’s apple bobbed over my thumbs. “I made sure Tessa was happy here. I did everything I could. I helped her escape, but she wouldn’t leave town. Not until you left with her.” He coughed, and I loosened my grip, confused by his words.

Had he really been helping Mom? That was bullshit. They both knew where to find me.

“Why didn’t you come to me?” I asked.

He blinked fast, his gaze turning to Francesca who was now half-dazed. All her focus was on her bleeding leg. She couldn’t care less if her husband was getting the shit beaten out of him. Francesca only cared about herself, about what she wanted for herself. She used him.

“I didn’t want her to hate me for helping you.”

“You two deserve each other.” I glared at him. Jonathan’s vile confessions made me sick. “Why did she kill him?”

“He cut usoff?—”

I couldn’t hear any more. The truth was as horrifying as what they’d done to all of us. He gasped as my fingers tightened around his neck.

“Henry. If you kill him, they will win. You’ll go to jail. Please. Tessa needs you.” Nikki placed her hand on my shoulder.

“He doesn’t deserve to live.” I blinked several times to focus, but the tears made it hard to see.

“He deserves much worse than death. Henry…let him go. Tessa needs you. Please.” She tugged on my arm.

At her words, the buzz of adrenaline drained from me, leaving a cold sweat in its place and the realization that this hate had already consumed me for too long. Revenge wouldn’t bring Dad back, or the time Nikki and I lost. I blew out a breath and pushed against his chest to lift myself up.

“Where the fuck is Mom?” I took out my gun and aimed it at his head.

He cowered under the barrel of the gun and pointed a shaking finger to his right. I turned and for the first time I saw her, a heap in the dark corner. For a long moment, I considered pulling the trigger. But Nikki’s words stopped me; Jonathan deserved something worse than death. I stuffed the weapon in the back of my jeans and went to Mom. I picked her up gently. Her blouse, warm and wet from the blood, stuck to my T-shirt.

“What happened to her?” I turned to Nikki.

“We were trying to leave, and she got shot. The place is crawling with guards.” Tears ran down her cheeks.

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