Page 70 of Shatter

"It resulted in a pregnancy. I remembered having to go under anesthesia but I didn't know what for. It was an abortion."

Oh.

Oh no.

I could commit murder right now. I ball my hands into fists to control the shake in them.

I can never see Athena or Chris again. I'll kill them. I know I will.

I take a deep breath in and out, trying to calm the blinding fury raging within me.

I gather her in my arms and simply breathe her in. I never cared for my sister-in-law, or my brother for that matter, but something like this? They were her parents. Where were they when she was drugged? Where were they when she was raped? They had one job to do - protect her - and they failed in the worst way possible.

She was a child.

Not only did they fail to protect her, they let her rapist walk free.

And then killed her baby. All without telling her. If I didn't think evil existed in this world, I certainly do now.

"I'm done, Harry. I want it all. I want every medical record, every bank statement, every contract. Every fucking thing that they hid from me."

"Done."

Her head shoots up.

"What?"

"Whatever you need. I'll get it."

She nods, her body sagging against mine. I hold her until she falls asleep, imagining all of the ways I'd like to inflict revenge on her family. No. Not her family. On Athena and Chris.

I'm her family now.

The White Envelope is her family now.

And we protect our own.

Chapter thirty-seven

Melody

My emotions got the best of me and I slept for most of the afternoon. At some point I must have fallen asleep on Harry's chest, but when I woke I was in his bed. My smile is a timid thing. I guess I'm sleeping here now.

Harrison shook me awake around four to ask if I was going to work or if I wanted to skip my shift. I smile at him sadly; grateful that he's asking, instead of just cancelling for me.

"I'd like to skip it, if that's okay."

"I'll let Cass know."

He disappears into his closet and comes back out wearing pajama pants and a t-shirt. The mattress bucks as his big body lands next to mine, causing me to roll on top of him. His hands are on me instantly. Not demanding, not controlling, just there, and I revel in the human connection. The peace I feel when he's with me. The safety that he's become for me.

My heart aches with sadness. I'm not sure I would have wanted to keep the baby when I was only a baby myself, but I'm sad that I never got the chance to make that choice. I'm sad an innocent baby died for something my parents failed to protect me from. I'm sad for the fifteen-year-old version of me who was taken advantage of. No. Not taken advantage of. Date-raped. I don't want to minimize at all what happened to me.

Saying it isn't fair seems like such a trite complaint. Because, of course it isn't. But that doesn't change anything. It happened and now I have to decide how I'm going to deal with it.

I probably need a therapist.

But for right now, I just want to be. I don't want to let what they did ten years ago take away from when I have right now.