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“She never told us what happened, but after she… after she passed, years and years later, we found a journal she kept. We wanted some kind of closure, some kind of reassurance that we’d done all we could to help her without even knowing what kind of demons she’d been fighting. We were only eighteen when she died, and Jesse was nine. We were so young when it happened that when she began to withdraw from the world, we didn’t understand what was going on. Cade and I took care of her as best we could, when she struggled to get out of bed and face the world. And then she gave birth to Jesse, and Cade and I were just ecstatic to have a baby brother. She loved him, but there was always a sadness in her eyes when she looked at him. She… well, she was a broken person until the day she died and we didn’t know why ’til we found that journal.”

I stroked my hand up his back, wondering how he could ever put on a smile after all he’d been through. Was that what it was to be strong? To still be able to smile after enduring so much pain?

Court pressed his lips to my throat in the tiniest kiss, and it squeezed at my heart. “Even though it wasn’t our fault, we put the weight of the blame on us. Especially after reading her words. Instead of getting any kind of closure, it opened our eyes to something we couldn’t ever turn our backs to again. We finally had a reason why she couldn’t stand to be here anymore, but the reason was still walking around doing whatever he fucking wanted.”

His hold on me tightened until he was shaking, and then he let out a long breath.

“We weren’t able to protect her, and maybe if we’d known, maybe we could’ve—I don’t know. But what do you do when you realize there was nothing you could ever have done to make that kind of pain go away? For a long time—years and years—we wanted to hurt him like he’d hurt her, but we didn’t know how. We didn’t have any proof of his crimes, so we waited and we watched him. And then Jesse got sick, we couldn’t afford his treatment, so we decided to take action.”

Court slid his hand beneath my sweatshirt, spreading his fingers wide along my lower back.

His palm was like fire against my skin as he brushed his thumb down my spine. He stroked up my back, his fingers sliding beneath the strap of my bra. He rested it there, like it was comforting to him, and I didn’t say a word.

“Cade and I, we made a promise to each other and to her. We’d make him pay for what he did to her. We would destroy him like he’d destroyed her. And maybe…maybe she could finally find some peace. Wherever she is now.”

A tear slid down my cheek.

“Knowing that man is in Jesse’s blood…” His grip on me tightened as a tremor went through him.

A lump was stuck in my throat, a heavy pressure building in my chest.

When he didn’t say anything else, I offered up a piece of me that I, too, hated. “My dad killed someone.”

Court stilled, then pulled back enough to meet my gaze. Shadows played in his eyes as he searched mine.

I shrugged, like what I said meant nothing when it was the reason I felt like I was born broken. “I never knew him, he got sent to prison when I was still in my mom’s womb, but he wasn’t a good person, and I always thought that was why I am the way I am. Because I’ve got bad blood in me.”

His eyes tracked across my face, a small smile playing on his lips. It made my stomach flip, that smile. He brushed my hair behind one ear, tracing the shell of it with his thumb. “Did you get these ears from him, too? I feel like that’s the more egregious offense.”

I blinked, and then a surprised laugh burst from my chest. Court’s eyes dropped to my mouth, and I started to cover it with my hand.

He grabbed my wrist and pulled my arm away before I could. Too quick for me to process what he was doing, he leaned in and captured my lips with a groan. He still had one hand resting beneath my bra strap, and he used that to hold me against him as he slid his tongue along the seam of my lips, then bit down on my bottom lip and sucked it into his mouth.

God, his lips were so fucking soft.

He moaned when I started to kiss him back, cradling the back of my head with his free hand, then leaned forward so I was forced to tip my head back and all that was holding me upright was him. I fisted my hands in his shirt, just holding on as he took what he wanted, what he needed.

It was consuming and needy, a frantic energy radiating from him as he ravaged my lips. He devoured me bit by greedy bit, biting my bottom lip hard, then licking away the delicious sting, over and over again, like he was obsessed with it.

I didn’t notice when he unhooked my bra, but all of a sudden the material fell away and his big hand was palming my breast beneath my sweatshirt, thumbing my nipple, pinching it, kneading me until he pulled away from my lips, shucked my sweatshirt up to my neck, and dipped his head low to draw my nipple into his mouth.

An electric shot of pure ecstasy jolted through me, and my breath hitched. I slid my fingers into his hair, watching him suck and bite all over my chest, the groans coming from him making me throb. I could feel the wetness between my legs, and when Court’s eyes flashed up to mine, he bit down on one of my nipples as hard as he could. Another agonizing wave of need rolled through me, and I jerked against him. He drew back, panting, then lowered his gaze to all the marks he’d left on my skin, brushing reverent fingers across the last one.

“Mm,” he hummed, satisfaction radiating from him. He slid his tongue out in a slow swipe along his bottom lip, leaving a glistening trail over the dark red and fuck he looked so fucking gorgeous right now. I leaned forward, mesmerized by those lips, wanting to feel their softness again.

The screen door slammed open and quick as lightning, Court yanked my sweatshirt down over my breasts, hugging me to him tight even though whoever had walked out wouldn’t see anything since my back was to them. “Hey, we need—” Vincent’s voice cut off quickly.

The door slammed shut again.

“Whoops,” Court murmured, his lips on my neck. He nibbled down to my shoulder.

I pushed him back. “‘Whoops’? Jesus, Court, my fucking tits were out!” I slapped his shoulder.

“Yeah, you’re right. They should only be out in the bedroom. Let’s go up there. But first, I gotta go kill Vincent for seeing you like this.”

He stood up, not letting go of me. My legs were still wrapped around his waist, and when his words registered, I balked at him. “Shut up,” I grumbled. “Don’t joke about that.”

“Who’s joking?”