Page 59 of Whatever It Takes

My gaze whipped to his. “You don’t understand.” My words were barely heard over the music and the noise. “He violated her. He will pay for that.”

“Yes, he will.” My brother’s attempt to calm my anger was unsuccessful. I didn’t have the patience to wait for him to be captured. I wasn’t willing to spend another second of my time knowing he was out there. He should be dead already. “He will be brought to justice, but having you in a cell next to him won’t do Charlotte and her daughter an ounce of good.”

Oh my God, Emery. A sick feeling crept up in my stomach. Charlotte only married Grant because she was pregnant. He orchestrated the entire thing, every goddamned step was calculated and planned out. He took advantage of her trust and her friendship without a second thought. He knew his only chance was because I was out of the picture.

Fuck!

I forced a swallow. A part of me knew it wasn’t my fault. But it didn’t change the facts. If I hadn’t left her behind, none of this would have happened.

Rationally, I knew connecting the two events was ridiculous, but my fucking heart was shattered by the truth. Thoughts ran wild in my head as a glass of amber liquid was placed in front of me. There wasn’t enough alcohol in this bar to save my soul from dying.

The ice clinked against the glass as my unsteady hands brought it to my lips. I took a heavy gulp and then another until there was nothing left.

The crinkle in my brother’s forehead told me he knew exactly what I was thinking. He knew I would blame myself. He knew I would want to hurt that fucker in the most inhumane way possible.

“Tell your boss, Chip, to keep his mouth shut. I don’t want Charlotte to find out about any of this,” I told him and wondered how I was supposed to pretend everything was okay the next time I saw her.

He took a minute to consider my words. “This isn’t something you can keep quiet. It’s documented in the investigation. She can fucking sue the police department if she finds out.”

“It won’t come to that.”

Every ounce of me was consumed with dread. My mind went to a dark, dark place thinking about what she went through without even knowing about it.

She would never be the same when she learned what that monster had done to her. The damage. The horror. The reality. It would destroy her.

Brody let out a sigh. “I know you want to protect her, but she won’t see it that way.”

“You let me worry about Charlotte.”

She was going to be pissed if she ever found out that I knew and didn’t tell her. But I was going to have to take my chances and convince Marco to keep quiet. I was determined to keep the truth buried because no good could come from her finding out.

Grant, on the other hand, would soon learn what I knew and he would pay dearly.

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