I stopped in front of Arthur.
"You told people I was crazy. You drugged me. You locked me in a room with a man who touched me whenever he wanted because you needed him to keep your secret."
I raised the gun. Pointed it at his chest.
"The reason I'm going to kill you isn't because of what you did to me. It's because you looked at your own daughter and decided she wasn't worth even loving."
I laughed. It came out hollow.
"I've been putting on a good front, but when no one's looking, I feel like I'm rotting from the inside out. I search for the pieces of me, and I can't find a single one. My soul is in pieces, and I can't start to put it back together until you all don't exist to remind me."
"Chloe—"
"Don't say my name. You ain't worthy."
My finger tightened on the trigger. The world narrowed.
Suddenly, massive arms wrapped around my chest, yanking me backward. The gun was ripped from my hands.
"NO—" I thrashed. "Let me go! He has to pay!"
"Chloe. Chloe, stop. It's me. It's Cartier."
I went still. My chest was heaving.
"You were at the pier!"
"I'm a lot of things, Chloe, but I'm not an idiot." Cartier grunted. "I got a couple miles down the road and realized something felt wrong. So I doubled back."
"I had him," I whispered. "I almost had him."
"I know."
He didn't let go.
Arthur was still on his knees. Ava was sobbing. Olivia was curled on the floor.
I spat in their direction.
"Fourteen years. You're monsters. You aren't even human. You're leeches that grew fat on my mother's blood and my life. You're parasites. I'mma kill you. Eventually I will."
"Chloe, that's enough." Cartier's voice was firm.
He carried me out of the house, stepping over the splintered remains of the door. He placed me in the backseat of the black SUV. He slid into the driver's seat and immediately dialed a number.
"I got her," he said the second the call connected. "She's okay. I'm moving her now."
He looked at me in the rearview mirror. "Killian is three miles out, Chloe. You'll see him in a minute."
"I don't want to see him," I snapped. "I know what he's going to say. He's going to talk about 'the process.' He's going to talk about letting 'justice' prevail. I don't want his logic right now."
Cartier shook his head and kept driving.
I sat in the dark, my chest heaving, my throat raw.
I pulled out the burner phone from my hoodie.
Chloe: The deal we talked about at the pier. I need you to handle it. Now!!