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‘I don’t need a man to make me worthwhile. I am worthwhile, just as I am.’
She placed her foot on the edge of the seat and looked up at her ex while he struggled on his toes, wanting to lash out at her but in too precarious a place to do so.
‘Please, baby, don’t do this. You’re not a killer.’
‘I don’t think it counts when you kill someone who is a low-life like you. Hope you rot in hell.’
Then she kicked the chair out from under him, stepping back as he flailed on the end of the rope. I walked forward and wrapped my arms around her shoulders as we watched him die.
It wasn’t until he’d stilled, his eyes bulging from his purple face, that she shuddered and broke down into tears.
I righted our clothing before picking her up and walking her out of the hellhole, and away from Tommy, for good.
CHAPTER THIRTY ONE
KATIE
I didn’t leave the spare room in Cameron’s apartment for a week.
Guilt ate at me. Every time I closed my eyes I saw Tommy’s dead purple face and those bulging eyes.
I’d banished everyone but my brother and Maeve, as well as the nurse they hired who came to check my wounds and manage my medicine.
She’d even prescribed me some pills to numb the world when I couldn’t stop the tears.
My new phone had blown up with social media requests from friends, acquaintances and strangers alike when the news had broken after Tommy and Macey’s bodies had been found. After half a day of incessant buzzing, I’d drowned it in the bath before crawling back into bed.
Mac had tried to see me, but every time I saw his face it brought everything back in sharp clarity that I just couldn’t handle.
‘Hey,’ Maeve said, coming into the room and only letting her nose crinkle a little at the dank, unwashed state of it. I’d banished the cleaners too. ‘I brought you something to eat.’
‘You need to stop Cam from filling your kitchen with dishes. I’m not hungry.’ I turned away as she padded toward the bed and climbed on in beside me, never to be deterred no matter my mood.
‘It’s okay, I got you the good shit.’
‘What?’ I said, turning over to see her clutching a McDonald’s bag.
‘Nuggets. They are the answer to everything. Now sit your arse up before I pin you down and force feed them to you.’
My stomach grumbled, and I sat up, scooting my arse up to the top of the bed as she opened the bag and passed over a box.
‘Did you get any barbecue sauce?’
‘Yes,’ Maeve grinned and dumped multiple tubs into my lap before sitting crossed legged and opening a box of her own nuggets. ‘Cam told me that the two of you used to sneak out from the mansion and Benny would find you both at a McDonalds eating nuggets and giggling about your dashing escape. I figured it might help.’
We ate in silence as I closed my eyes and savoured the first food I’d eaten in days.
‘Are the journalists still out there?’ I asked. I’d seen them from the window days ago, but hadn’t ventured near it since.
‘Yeah, they are proving hard to shake off. It’ll all blow over.’
‘Do they believe it was an accident?’ I pushed the food away as another flash of Tommy’s face flooded my head.
‘The coroner will attest to it having been an accident. He owes Cam a favour. It’ll go no further.’
‘God, I’m so glad you’re okay,’ I said, tears pricking my eyes as I surveyed Maeve’s face. She still sported a healing cut on her forehead, but otherwise had made it mostly uninjured from Tommy running us off the road. Benny had two broken legs, but was being looked after in the private hospital where Maeve’s dad had spent so long in his coma. She had assured me he was alright, but it still hurt that my relationship with Tommy had endangered so many people I loved.
‘Hey.’ Maeve gathered me up in a cuddle and pushed my hair out of my wet face. ‘You need to stop apologising. We’re okay. And you will be too. None of this is your fault. He was an absolute turd of a human, but you didn’t know the depths of his depravity.’
