Page 64 of Silver Sanctuary
“I know.” She nodded slowly, her eyes drifting down to her hands where she picked at her nails. “H-he would say I was short on rent. Adam only ever accepted cash, and even when I’d make him write me a receipt, he’d always come banging on my door, saying I messed up and the payment wasn’t all there.”
Adam. The name seared into his memory. Gage would be able to do something with that and Lacy’s last address. They could find him. They’d make him pay. “He wanted more money?”
“No, that’s not what he wanted. I wouldn’t have been able to give him any if he had. He knew that—knew how hard it was for me to keep a roof over our heads. Embrie was still so little… but not little enough that a man won’t try to take her innocence from her. I was so scared…”
“What did he do?” The question squeezed out from his grinding molars.
“He made me pay him in other ways.”
Nash closed his eyes, breathing in sharply through his nose.
“I hated it, hated myself each time it happened. But I didn’t have a choice. We couldn’t live on the streets. Couldn’t take our chances at a homeless shelter. I knew he’d throw us out in an instant if I didn’t go along with it. And I was so close to being able to start over. I had the application in for Sebastian’s grant. I knew things were almost in place. And I let him… I let him use my body so I could get Embrie away.”
Nash’s jaw clenched down so tightly he thought he might shatter some of his teeth. “You said he was your mom’s boyfriend? Did she know?”
Lacy’s laugh was filled with so much pain, Nash felt like he was going to come out of his skin. “Of course she did. Who doyou think the rent money was going to? She got her payment, and so did he.”
“Christ.”
“That’s what I don’t understand. That woman you saw today… the one with the clean clothes and the healthy glow to her skin? That was not the woman I grew up with—not the one I protected Embrie from. The last time I saw her… the last time I protected Embrie from him…”
“What happened?”
“He came into the apartment one night, and I… I stabbed him.”
Nineteen
The air between them stilled as he watched Lacy waiting with her breath held for his response. But Nash wasn’t sure what to say. Because the idea that Lacy—his beautiful, incredibly kind, always thinking of other people and doing her best to just raise her daughter in a safe environment fiancée— had been forced to defend herself so violently made him want to burn down the entire world.
“How did it happen?” He had to know. He had to hear it for himself. Because once he memorized every detail of what she’d been through, every moment of what she’d endured, he wouldn’t rest until he set it right for her.
“He had a key. I installed a deadbolt on our door two weeks before, but my mom came for a visit and I walked out of the room to help Embrie get ready for school. That’s the only way I can think of that would explain how he got the key.”
“Jesus…”
“I woke up to him calling out my name—drunk and slurring his words. He was in my kitchen throwing my dishes on the floor. I could only afford a place with one bedroom, so Embrie and I shared a bed. There was no way I’d wait until hemade his way down the hall, so I slipped away as fast as I could. I didn’t want her to see… and I didn’t want him to see her. When I got to the living room, he was more intoxicated than he’d ever been around me before, shouting about nonsense. I couldn’t even understand half of it and before I could shove him out the door…” She bit down on her trembling bottom lip. “Before I could get him out, he had his hand in my hair pushing me down to the ground… and when I choked on him… he…”
“Fuck!” Nash roared. He knew what she couldn’t say. That the greasy fucker, the man he was going to hunt down and kill, had forced himself on her. He staggered away from Lacy, a red haze covering his vision. He was a selfish, hot-headed prick as a kid, but the last time he’d felt rage as strong as he did hearing what she went through, he was battling through the loss of his parents. It was a point of pride for him that he never flew off the handle as an adult—he took time to think about the next move. But right then, when the love of his life couldn’t get out the words to tell him she’d been sexually assaulted keeping her little sister, the sweet little girl who was really her own daughter in every way that mattered, safe… Fuck!
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
“Nash! Please stop! You’re going to break your hand! Stop!”
Faintly, he registered the ache building in hand, running up into his arm. Even his shoulder felt like it was on fire, but that was no match for the hatred burning through his veins. There was so much to do. So many things building up on the list before he’d be able to end that asshole’s life. Gunner would want to help, but he’d have to stay back with Lily and Sage. Gage was a better shot than Hawk, but Hawk had a better right hook.
“Nash, please.Please.You’re going to hurt yourself if youkeep hitting that tree! And if you do, I’ll never be able to forgive myself.”
His hand fell to his side like it had been ordered to by his commanding officer.
“Let me see what you’ve done to yourself,” she ordered.
His chest heaved as he fought to catch his breath. “I’m fine. I just… I can’t believe…”
“That you almost married someone so dirty? Someone who would let something so disgusting happen? Someone so weak that a man knew he could just take whatever he wanted from her, so he did?”
“Lacy, no.” She cast her eyes down, looking over his bloodied hand with such tenderness. But he didn’t miss when the first tear fell and mixed with the torn skin that was turning into an inferno of pain. Yeah, definitely not his smartest move beating up a tree in a blind rage. He pressed his forehead against hers and closed his eyes, waiting until he felt her relax against him. “Never dirty. Never disgusting. A survivor. An incredible protector. A woman who did everything in her power, sacrificed something so precious so that her sister would never have to carry the scars that she does. I already knew you were so strong, baby, but my god… I’m going to make them pay. I’m going to tear apart the world until every single person who ever hurt you pays, Lace. And when that’s done, and we live an incredibly happy, love-filled life together, I’ll carry it with me into the afterlife. And the souls who thought they finally escaped punishment in death will have to deal with me there, too.”
“Nash…”
