Page 15 of Among the Sins of my Father

I stand, trying to resist the temptation to yell back at her. “Everything in this place is for you! Every day I’ve been filled with the guilt of what happened to you. Guilt that I got to live my life, I got to spend it with Ette while you were fuck knows where, getting exposed to fuck knows what.”

I rip my shirt open, tossing it to the floor and turn to expose my back to her. “I’ve been haunted by you, Hope. Reminders of you are fucking tattooed on my skin. You’re the reason I bought this place. There was a part of me, a fucked-up part that always imagined you here. Imagined you staring out the stained-glass window in my room, watching the swans just like you used to. I was just focused on finding you. Nothing more. Just finding you. I expected nothing more. I never counted on…” I let out a deep breath. She doesn’t need to know the details of how I fell for Berkley. “Anything you want, I’ll give it to you. This house, my business, the clubs, money, anything. But no matter what you ask for, nothing can ever make up for what you’ve been through.”

She’s calmed down. She looks so small in her baggy clothing, as though the outfit is attempting to swallow her whole. She clutches at one arm with the other, sort of holding onto herself.

“And what about you, Jericho. What is it you want?”

I answer without hesitation. “Berkley.”

Again, pain flicks across her expression. She takes a step back but then schools her face into something cold and void of emotion.

“Well, I want the head of her father on a fucking platter.”

It’s then that I realize hiding the monster’s presence isn’t protecting her. It’s giving her the only thing she’s asking for. Vengeance.

I hold out my hand. “Come with me.”

She looks at my outstretched offering and narrows her eyes.

“Trust me,” I assure her.

She follows me to my office, not saying a word the entire time. The person she used to be filled silence with words. The person she is now is comfortable with it.

I flick on the switches to the monitor and wait for the picture to load. Hope peers at the screen and then recoils when she sees the image.

“You have cameras in prison?”

I push a seat over and she climbs into it. “Not exactly,” I say, leaning over her to switch on the other screens. The rooms of the Sanctuary come to life. “I have cameras here.”

Hope watches the man who once owned her, laying on his stretcher, staring mindlessly at the ceiling. She reaches out to touch the screen as though it will somehow prove the reality of it.

“He’s here?” Her voice shakes.

“He was getting a retrial and his lawyer was able to get him released on bail. I took the opportunity to relocate him.”

“Here?” she says again, eyes glued to the screen as though if she looked away he might escape.

“In the basement.”

Her fingers clutch at the table. Her face has paled, her eyes wide.

“He’s yours. You get to decide what gets done with him. It’s the least I can offer you. If you want his head on a platter, I’ll give it to you.”

“Does she know?” She flicks a glance my way, but it’s brief.

“She does. She isn’t like him, Hope. She’s one of us.”

Hope doesn’t say anything. She tucks her legs up, resting her chin on her knees and simply watches the screen.

“Is it really him?” she says after a few minutes. Then she shakes her head. “Is it okay if I just stay here and watch for a bit?”

I glance at the clock. It’s late. “Stay as long as you want. Would you like me to stay with you?”

Again she shakes her head. “I’ll be fine.”

“Okay,” I start walking towards the door. She’s fixated on the screen, a small line pressed between her brows. “Goodnight then.”

She doesn’t even hear me. I close the door just as Barrett approaches.

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