Page 49 of Beautiful Revenge

“You realize I only ask in order to drive you nuts, right?” she counters, and I laugh.

“Touché.” I take a deep breath, standing up tall. “Can you get about three dozen donuts this afternoon before you head home? We have a packed class tonight, and a lot of them are younger kids.”

Something sad crosses her face. She gives me a curt nod when the phone rings, and I know it’s my cue to leave her be.

Briar wanted to hire Kendra when she came to us looking for a job. She’d been one of our first females to take the self-defence classes because of her abusive father. When she was finally old enough to legally move out on her own, she did. Even with no place to go, she was ready to live on the streets before enduring more abuse. Obviously, we weren’t about to let that happen.

I make my way up the stairs to our joint office, reflecting on how far Kendra has come because of the goodness Briar is putting into the universe, and smile. There are so many women and children who have gained freedom from abuse because of the work the three of us have committed our lives to, and I will never regret it.

So what if we do things less than legal once in a while? We’re filling in the cracks of the justice system. Too many abusers and rapists run free or barely get a slap on the wrist, leaving their victims to suffer alone.

No victim deserves that pain and agony. We understand that better than many after watching how it affected Briar growing up.

Once I’m in the office, I drop into my chair, and exhaustion washes over me. Neither of us have slept much the past couple of weeks, and I know it’s starting to catch up with us.

Sighing, I pick up the phone to return the call from this morning.

I can’t wait to go home and just crash tonight.

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