Page 109 of Brew
“I know, but I’m not the noisemaker.”
I roll over, straddling his lap. I can feel him dripping out of me, but he doesn’t care, and neither do I. “I guess we better do that again then, quietly, hadn’t we?”
“Spoken like a true queen.”
CHAPTER
THIRTY-SEVEN
Brew
Leaving Erica again isn’t intentional, but we have to strike while the iron is hot and get this motherfucker Ridgely. For the last couple of years, he’s flown under the radar, eluding me and anyone else looking for him. But he got complacent. After getting the information out of Evans, we only have one mission now; to find Ridgely.
Evans sang like a canary, maybe he was thinking he’d somehow be let free if he gave up the information so soon. Unfortunately for him, it doesn’t work like that in our world. Just as it doesn’t work for all those innocent women. Now it’s going to be his turn to find out exactly what it feels like to be prey.
Mark my words, he is a dead man. And I’ll take pleasure in giving him exactly what he’s been begging for.
Erica
24 hours later
“What do you mean his trial date was moved up?” I haven’t shared much of the details with Olive. She knows the basics, but I didn’t want to make her afraid.
“I know, I’m just as shocked as you are,” Amber says. “But I had Payden go over the case, and she’s pretty confident from what she knows of the retrial, they’re clutching at straws.”
“But it’s enough for them to retrial.”
“Yes, but that doesn’t mean he’ll get out.”
“Tomorrow is too soon.”
“I know, but you and Olive can stay with us until Brew is back, no arguments.”
I don’t like the idea that I’m not safe. My past is supposed to be just that, but all of a sudden, everything is turning upside down.
“I’m scared,” I say out loud. “I know he’s your brother…”
“Don’t,” Amber says. “I hold nothing good in my heart toward him. He’s a bad person, E, and you don’t have to feel bad about what he did. That isn’t on you. It never was.”
Although I know that, the pain still cuts deep.
It tears me apart that so many lives were ruined and I was brainwashed so easily. Guilt creeps in, but I push it down, reminding myself I turned a corner a long time ago.
“I know, but it still hurts. The damage he and Vincent did is irreparable to a lot of people.”
“You’ll never have to see him ever again, no matter which way this goes,” she says. I know what she’s saying, I got it loud and clear. And it’s her brother. As the years went on, Amber and Steven grew further and further apart, in the end, they were more like strangers and us like sisters. We bonded in a way two people who are stuck in a bad situation can, and we never looked back.
I take a breath. “I don’t want Olive to endure any of this.”
“She won’t.”
“She never even asks about him. While she is aware of what’s going on, I don’t want to burden her with it. I don’t want her thinking she isn’t safe.”
“I don’t know what I would do if it were Vincent,” Amber sighs. “I’d want to go pull the trigger myself. Bastard.”
I want to believe in the greater good, but not in this scenario.
“Brew has prospects outside until he gets back, then he’s talking about the cabin.”
