What do you say to the person who ruined your childhood?
What do you say to the monster who’s haunted your every step?
“What do you want to do, Miss Wilde?” York asks, more serious than I’ve ever heard him. “The police are already en-route. We can hand him over to them, when they arrive. Or we can…” He trails off, but I understand his unspoken implication easily enough.
Or, we can handle this in-house.
Handle him.
I feel darkness crowding in as the thought spins around inside my head. Revenge and rage, so potent I can taste them on my tongue. I want to wrap my hands around his neck and squeeze until his breath runs out. I want to inflict the same pain on him that he did to me, for all those years. I want to expunge him from the earth, so I never have to spend another second living in fear that he might show up again, someday.
In that moment, I want nothing more than to tell York and Stevens to take him somewhere off the grid and make him disappear, so I never have to think about him ever again.
Handle him. The words are there, waiting on the tip of my tongue.Get rid of him, for good.
“She doesn’t have the guts,” my father hisses, his scornful gaze moving across my features. “She’s weak-willed. Just like that fool of a grandmother she idolized so much.”
I go stiff when he mentions Gran. My eyes close as her final hope for me fills every corner of my mind, cutting through the wrath and despair and vengeance with unparalleled clarity.
Felicity. You’re a light in the dark.
Sirens are sounding in the distance. Any minute now, they’ll turn down into the garage, and the opportunity for my own personal revenge will disappear. My one chance to inflict the same kind of pain back on my abuser, my tormenter, my monster, before he’s caught up in the court system, at the mercy of authorities greater than my security detail.
“Miss Wilde?” York clears his throat. “What do you want to do?”
I take a deep breath.
I steady my shoulders.
I open my eyes.
And I speak to the man who calls himself my father, but has never been my family. Not in any way that counts.
“In thirty seconds, I am going to turn around and walk away from you, and that will be the last time you ever see me. You will not call me. You will not contact me. You will not come after me ever again.” I lean forward, my tone so sharp, it sounds like a sword slashing the air between us to ribbons. “Because if you do, Terrence, I will make you pay for that mistake with your life. If you do, I will tell every living soul with a badge and a gun that you pose an immediate threat to my wellbeing. And in case you haven’t noticed, I’m not some scared little girl anymore who you can intimidate into silence with your fists.I’m Felicity Wilde.And I have the connections and the resources to put you behind bars, or worse, if you ever so much as blink in my direction again.”
He’s not smiling anymore.
“You think I’m like Gran? That may be the only thing you’ve ever gotten right in your life. Because Bethany Hayes wasn’t weak. She was strong. She was resilient. And she taught me it’s more important to keep shining in spite of the darkness than to ever succumb to it.”
I look away from him, my eyes meeting York’s.
“Give him to the police. Tell them his name is Terrence Wilde, but he uses the alias Terry Dill, sometimes Terry Wylde, to do business. Tell them he’s in direct violation of his parole for leaving the state of Tennessee. Tell them he’s deeply embedded in the heroin trade, and more than likely has bought or sold a shipment in the past twenty-four hours.” I sigh. “And if that’s not enough to get him locked up for a nice long stint in New York’s finest penitentiary, tell them to give me a call, so I can describe in detail what happened on my tour bus just now, as well as the many, many previous domestic violence incidents that aren’t already in his criminal record.”
York and Stevens both nod.
Without sparing my father so much as another glance, I turn and start walking for the elevators. Lincoln, Carly, and Aiden flank my sides, not saying a single word as we climb aboard. I jam my finger against the button for the penthouse, then clasp my hands together to stop them from shaking.
“Are you okay?” Carly whispers, as though she’s afraid to break the silence. As though I might shatter at any moment, under the strain of the past few minutes.
I glance at her, glance at all three of them, and try out a smile. “Actually… I am. I’m more than okay. I feel… somehow…free.”
She throws her arms around me and squeezes so tight, I can’t breathe.
“Carly, you’re strangling her,” Aiden points out.
No sooner has Carly pulled away than I’m swept into Lincoln’s arms. His hold is even tighter than hers. I laugh, startled by the unexpected show of affection, and pat his back gingerly as I struggle for breath.
“You scared the pants off me, Fee,” he mutters, arms flexing.