cheeks. “I wanted to believe that he was a bad kid. That he’d probably deserved it. I’m so sorry!”
“Why?” I yelled.
She flinched, swiping at her tears, her breathing so ragged, I felt a twinge of concern. “My daughter was in trouble. A lot of trouble with some very bad men. A crime family. She owed them a ton of money and when Kramer came to me, I couldn’t believe it. It seemed like fate. I was desperate. But I wasn’t supposed to get shot. That was never part of the deal, but Kramer threatened me afterward. He said he’d hurt my daughter if I didn’t take it all the way.”
Elena tried to reach for me, but I reeled back from her. She raised her hands, as if approaching a wild animal. “I was just trying to protect my daughter.”
I understood that.
I did.
But I needed her to understand the consequences of what she’d done. “Jamie was innocent. Steadman violated his sister, and he just wanted justice. You helped steal an innocent man’s life. You took away the man I love. He’ll never be the same because of what you helped do to him. You ruined him.” Tears spilled down my cheeks. “I needed you to know that.”
I didn’t think Elena Marshall was a bad person. In fact, I had a feeling she was once a good person who had done a very bad thing.
A weight lifted off my chest as I left her sobbing in her car.
She had helped destroy Jamie.
They all had.
And I had to guide him onto the path back from ruin.
Jamie wouldn’t look at me.
He glared at my bookshelves.
“Jamie, say something.”
He let out a disgusted huff. “What would you like me to say?”
“That you understand why I did this.”
Jamie finally looked at me, those ocean eyes filled with storm. “Well, I don’t.”
I’d told Jamie about my encounter with Elena. He didn’t take it so well. “Where is the satisfaction in ruining a woman who has nothing left to lose?”
“You don’t know she has nothing left,” Jamie snapped, standing. He placed his hands on his hips and glowered down at me. “You didn’t even try.”
“She’s estranged from the one person she cares about. She took the money from Steadman and Kramer to protect her daughter. She got shot when that wasn’t part of the deal. Then he threatened her. She has cancer. Debt up to her eyeballs. And when I told her who she helped put away and why you were put away, that woman broke, Jamie. I watched her break. Someone with a soul wouldn’t care the way she cares about the truth.” I stood, imploring him. “She won’t forgive herself for this, and you and I know a little something about that. Don’t you think that’s enough?”
“No, I don’t.”
“Jamie.” I tried to reach for him, but he pulled away. Shoving down the hurt, I shrugged helplessly. “Look what Lorna’s revenge did to us. Do we really want to be the people who cause that kind of pain?”
“This isn’t revenge. It’s justice.”
“No, Jamie. It’s revenge. Justice would be Foster going to jail for raping Skye and framing you. We might never get the latter, but we’ll definitely never get the former. No one will pay for hurting Skye because she’s not here to see that they do. You have to make peace with that, Jamie. We both do. Because hurting these people in other ways will never be the kind of justice we need.”
I watched him warily as he whirled away from me, marching across the room to stare out the window. He ran his hands through his hair, his knuckles white with tension.
I waited.
Finally, he turned to me, gaze searching. “You really believe Elena feels remorse?”
I nodded, hope rising. “I do.”
My hope crashed and burned when he cursed under his breath and marched across the room, past me to the door. He strode out of my apartment without another word.
Fuck.
In turmoil, I did what I always did—I turned to my art. Setting up fresh vellum on my easel, I sat on the stool and let that part of me take over. To my shock, what came out was a dancer. A leaping dancer. In my mind, she’d been dancing with a sheet of sheer silk, using the movement of the fabric to create beautiful shapes. I’d captured her midair, the silk wrapped around her, tangled in its beauty.
Hours later, I sat back from the painting, exhausted, drained.