Page 212 of Revv

“Who?”

He looks at me then.

“One of my old foster dads.”

Everything in me stills.

I knew Revel grew up in the system. I knew he bounced from house to house, never staying anywhere long enough for it to really feel like home, and I knew that somewhere in all of that, he and Lena ended up with the same foster family. That was how they met, how they became whatever they are now—more like siblings forged out of the same shitty circumstances.

“From when you were a kid?”

He nods once, jaw tightening as his eyes drop away from mine. “Yeah. The last one. The house Lena and I were in together.”

Something about the way he says it makes my arms loosen from around myself before I even realize I’m doing it.

“Okay…” I take a small step closer, watching the tension gather through his shoulders. “And what happened?”

Revel looks away.

Not casually either.

His whole face changes, like whatever he’s about to say is something he’s spent years keeping shoved somewhere deep enough that he wouldn’t have to touch it.

And somehow, that scares me more than if he’d just answered.

“He used to hurt her.”

My stomach drops. “What do you mean, hurt her?”

Revel doesn’t answer right away, and he doesn’t really have to because the look on his face tells me enough before the words ever come. His jaw is locked so tight it looks painful, and when he finally speaks, his voice is lower, rougher.

“Things no adult should ever fucking do to a kid. I knew enough back then to know something was wrong. I told caseworkers, teachers, anybody who would listen, but nobody did enough. He kept getting away with it while everyone treated us like we were just fucked-up foster kids making trouble.”

All the air leaves my lungs.

“Jesus Christ.”

His gaze drops to his hands, to the split skin and swelling across his knuckles. “Tonight, I saw him standing in the middle of a grocery store buying fucking bread, like he got to have this normal little life after everything he did to her.”

His fingers curl slowly into fists again.

“And then he admitted it.”

I stare at him.

Revel lets out a humorless breath and shakes his head.

“Didn’t even fucking flinch. He called Lena a liar, called her names, then finally admitted what he did like it was nothing. Like she was nothing. No regret, no shame, no fucking remorse. Just this smug look on his face like he’d gotten away with it once and he’d do it all over again if somebody gave him the chance.”

Something cold settles under my skin.

Revel’s eyes lift to mine, and there’s nothing soft in them now.

“I snapped.”

My gaze drops to his hands again. “So you beat him.”

“Yeah.”