Page 101 of Vengeful Union

I did that. I had to. To keep her safe.

I know that my father will have the cleaners here soon, and Lara’s right, we don’t want to be here when that happens.

Even though I hate the killing I’ve done, there’s still rage bubbling deep inside of me, and I’m not sure what I’ll do if I see more of my father’s men.

I squeeze her hand, and we start the walk, on the shoulder of the road even though there are no cars in sight. I guess both of us are a little gun shy about cars at the moment.

“You think your father did this?” Lara’s voice almost surprises me because I’m so in my own head.

“Don’t think. Know.” My voice sounds a little raw, and so does hers.

“Why?”

I shudder, keeping a tight grip on her hand as we walk. “He wanted to test me, I guess. See where my loyalties lie, or maybe see how far I’d go to protect you.”

“I guess he got his answer.”

I don’t respond for a while, staying quiet as we continue the trip back.

“This all makes me more and more certain that Bree’s right.”

“About your mother?”

I nod slowly. “I never questioned it.” I scoff at myself. “When she disappeared, I thought my father hung the moon.”

“Of course, you did. Every kid that age does.”

I exhale through my nostrils. “Maybe, but every kid that age doesn’t have a monster for a father.”

“No one knows their parents have flaws until they’re older,” Lara argues, frowning up at me when I glance over at her. “I love my da to pieces, but he doesn’t always make the right choices, and I know that, now. But as a teenager? You couldn’t tell me that man wasn’t a superhero.”

“Your father is a good man.”

Lara sighs. “Maybe he’s a good man for a gangster, but objectively, he’s done bad things. He’s hurt people. Destroyed lives. It’s all subjective, Rory. And you had no way of knowing that your father might have hurt your mother. There was no reason for you to doubt him at the time.”

“I should have later,” I insist, angry at myself. “I should never have run away, should never have left Bree alone with him?—”

Lara cuts me off by yanking at my hand to get me to look at her.

When I turn toward her, she reaches up to cup my face in her hands, forcing me to lean down and look into her eyes.

“This isn’t your fault,” she says fiercely. “None of this is your fault, Rory.”

I hate the tears that prick at the backs of my eyes, but I take a deep breath, trying to calm myself. Not trusting myself to speak, I nod slowly, and after a moment Lara seems satisfied and lets go of me, walking toward the gates, which we’ve finally approached.

Suspiciously, there’s no one guarding the gate.

I figure my father planned to take Lara through here, didn’t want any witnesses.

I punch in the code for the gate, and the gates creak open slowly.

Lara walks right in and starts up the driveway before she turns back to me.

I hesitate at the gate, looking at the flowered iron.

I’d been so sure that my father loved my mother. I’d been so sure that she was the one who’d left us. Now, I can’t be sure of anything at all.

I sigh and walk through the gates like I’m walking to the gallows.

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