Clarity - Nicole Dykes Page 0,65

I’d still be in her life.”

“Over my dead body, motherfucker.” Rhys is a hulk of a man on any given day, but today, my God, he towers over us all, his rage filling him out even more, dwarfing all others.

“Don’t you ever come back here. I’ll call the cops next time, or I'll just let him kill you.” I fold my arms over my chest and stare him down.

Once again, he tries to look over at Bree, but Rhys moves closer to me, effectively blocking her from his predatory gaze.

“Leave,” Rhys barks.

“I’ll be back.” Herrington starts down the stairs, but I can tell he’s still dizzy from the beating.

Good, maybe he’ll crash on the way home.

“I’ll be here,” Rhys promises.

He gets in his car and drives away before I take Bree’s face in my hands and look down into her big blue eyes. “Are you okay?”

She nods her head in my hands. “Yes. I’m fine. Rhys got here right after he did. I was about to call for you.”

I nod my head, glad that was in her plan. “Good. Scream loud. Hit him. Do whatever you have to if he ever comes close to you again.”

“That’s never happening again,” Rhys grits out through clenched teeth, and his eyes meet mine. “She never comes out here alone.”

I nod my head, and Bree pouts slightly. “I was fine.”

“What if he would have taken you?” Rhys looks terrified now that Mr. Herrington is gone, and I feel the same fear.

Bree looks slightly worried, but she squares her shoulders. “I should be able to sit out on the porch. I can’t be afraid of him forever, Rhys.”

I see Rhys’s throat bob, and I know he’s at war with himself.

“Not afraid, but vigilant. You can hang out here, but someone should be with you. Fletcher, Rhett, Rhys, or me. We aren’t such bad company.” I smile.

“Okay,” she huffs and turns to Rhys. “Okay.”

He nods his head, semi-satisfied, but I know this is going to irk him. She goes inside, and Rhys takes a seat on the top step.

I sit next to him, my eyes examining his split knuckles. “Did you break your hand?”

He shrugs. “I don’t think so.” He flexes his fingers. “I can move them all.”

“I’m so sorry, Rhys.”

He shocks me when he wraps an arm around my shoulder. “Please stop apologizing. You didn’t do anything wrong. Nothing.”

“Are you okay?” My voice is shaky, and I hate it.

“Yes. It felt good to pummel him.”

I laugh. “I bet. He had it coming.”

“Yeah. He did.” I lean on his shoulder, but I can feel his worry. “He’s going to do it to another kid.”

“Maybe you scared him.”

“You know, right before I got sober for the last time, I overdosed.” I turn my head so I can look up at his face. “It was bad. I woke up in the hospital. I almost died. I wanted to.”

I hate hearing it, but I'm also so happy he’s letting me in more and more.

“Quinn and Sean found me. They thought it was because Quinn was accepted to a school that was far away and maybe that was part of it, but really,” he pauses and his words are laced with past pain, “really I’d finally found the courage to report the Bradfords. I told a social worker about them. And you know what happened?”

My stomach sinks. “I can guess.”

“Nothing.” He laughs bitterly. “I told them everything that happened in vague detail, but the beatings. I told them all about that. And barely feeding me. But I was told that the Bradfords were upstanding citizens and that kids were lucky to be brought into their world. Their fucking world.”

“I’m so sorry the system failed you.”

“I didn’t want to live in a world like that, where kids are abused over and over, and no one protects them. I knew it would just keep happening, and there was nothing I could do about it.”

“You saved Bree. I know it’s not all of them, but one does matter, Rhys.”

He hugs me closer to him. “Yeah. I’m starting to realize, Blair.” His lips press against my temple. “You helped me see that. One does make a difference.”

I feel relief pour through my veins. Because I believe him. I know he believes that. “She is going to go on to do good. And we did that.”

He smiles. “Yeah. We did.”

“I wish we could save them all.”

“Me too.”

So many emotions run through me, but the most prominent one is how much I love this man.

I don’t