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What was there to say?

This was just one more victim in an ocean of them and we were fighting for them.

I closed my eyes. “Thank you for doing this with me.”

His hand slipped down to tangle with mine. “We’re in this together.”

A shuddery breath of relief whooshed from my lungs.

Togethermeant a problem shared, and when a fourteen-year-old girl had just been purchased like she was a loaf of bread, we needed all the help we could goddamn get.

35

TEXT CHAT

Conor:Rex from the Sinners will be in touch.

Declan:Re?

Conor:A pedophile in upstate New York.

Declan:Jesus.

Conor:Da was on a crusade after he found out what happened to me.

Declan:Yeah, I know. I got a letter from him in the will about it. Did you get one?

Conor:I did.

Declan:What did yours say?

Conor:Lots of random stuff, rambling mostly. He said the Five Points needed to take affirmative action against these pedophile bastards and I was to coordinate that. Nothing about what happened to me, though.

Declan:I’m supposed to ‘facilitate’ when the Sinners go on a hunt.

Conor:There are too many of these fucking bastards, Declan.

Declan:I know, Kid. I know. It makes me terrified for Cameron.

Conor:We’ll protect him.

Declan:Our father was a man who struck terror into the heart of monsters… But it still happened to you. I ain’t Da, Con.

Conor:Thank fuck you’re not.

Conor:He got to me because he pretended to care, Declan. Then, he shamed me into silence because I didn’t know if Da would blame me, and the idea of that was as terrifying as what he did to me.

Declan:I’m so fucking sorry, Conor.

Conor:You don’t have to be. There was nothing you could have done.

Conor:I don’t say that to make you feel bad, Declan. You’re my younger brother. I’m supposed to look out for YOU, not the other way around.

Conor:You need to make sure that Cameron knows he always has a safe place with you. Make sure he knows that you will never blame him or shame him for whatever life throws his way.

Conor:And never, EVER, minimize what he’s going through. If he comes to you with something, it’s because it matters to him and it should be important to you.

Conor:THAT is what you can do.