Page 89 of Let Me
We saw all the blood in his room.
The gun.
The note.
Jack’s pale face, eyes wide on the ceiling.
This wasn’t my fault.
It doesn’t absolve my guilt. I did the wrong thing. So many times, at every turn, I did the wrong thing. But it wasn’t me that pushed Jack over the edge.
Jack didn’t go over the edge.
Jack was murdered.
By this man.
By his own father.
I lunge at him, grabbing the gun.
“Riley!” Caden shouts my name, but I don’t care. This is my fight, too.
But Rolland is too fast.
He stands up, taking me with him, and wrenches the gun out of my grasp.
I’m on my feet, his arm wrapped around my waist, and the gun is pointed at my head. He backs up, Caden and Benji stepping closer. He drags me with him, until his back is against the wall.
I can feel the cool metal of the gun digging into my head.
I don’t cry.
All I feel is rage. I know it should be fear. I know I might die here, but I don’t give a fuck, as long as Rolland dies, too.
“If you don’t let us walk out of here, she’ll leave in a body bag,” Rolland warns.
Benji’s eyes meet mine. He’s staring at me with such intensity, I feel he’s trying to tell me something. But I have no idea what. Maybe he’s trying to comfort me. I don’t see a way out of this. I don’t care either. I just want Rolland dead.
“Let her go,” Caden says. His voice is a growl. He’s staring at his father as if he wants to rip the man limb from limb. Tear him apart with his bare hands. I feel exactly the same way. For once, we’re on the same page. But it’s too late for that.
Rolland laughs. I feel him shake his head, his chin against my hair. “No, son. If I was capable of doing that, I would have. A long time ago.” He digs the barrel of the gun in a little deeper. “She’s truly a lot more trouble than she’s worth. And I never even fucked her. Not yet.” I deflate with those words. All this time, I never knew. I never knew what had happened after the video ended.
Now I do. But it’s too late.
Everything is too late.
Rolland sighs, his arm tightening around my waist. “I wish your brother had never dragged such a poor, pitiful soul into our home.”
Caden’s jaw flexes.
Benji seems, between all of us, the calmest.
I don’t dare move. It’s not that I mind Rolland taking me down. It’s that I want him to get his, too.
Finally, Benji takes a step back. He reaches out, grabs Caden’s arm. Caden shoots him a venomous look, but Benji doesn’t say a word, only yanks Caden backward.
“Go, then,” Benji says, and he jerks his chin toward the door. “Get the fuck out of here and never come back.”
