know what else to say except for that I’m sorry. I never meant to hurt you. I didn’t want this. I wanted to tell you.”
“Then why didn’t you?” he asked, his voice harsh.
“Because I was told not to!” I cried.
“And you listen to everything that Parker tells you to do? It’s like you’re back with Devin. Doing everything that he says to make him happy. Does Parker abuse you, too?”
My eyes widened at the accusation in Troy’s words. “No. Never. What I give Parker is completely consensual.”
“Right,” Troy said slowly.
“What, Troy?” I rose to my feet abruptly. “What are you accusing him of? You think he’s raped me? That he’s hit me when I do something wrong? Tell me, Troy.”
His jaw clenched and he looked away. “No, I don’t think he’s abused you. I just…”
“I understand that you’re mad,” I said softly. “I get that. I would be too but please know that he’s never abused me. He may have unconventional needs but…” My mouth snapped shut when I realized my slip up.
Troy raised an eyebrow. “What kind of needs?”
My cheeks burned. “Doesn’t matter. The point is that I love him and that he loves me. This whole thing is a mess. I never wanted this to happen. I was hoping that Devin would stay in jail forever but I was naïve to think that.”
“What if he comes after you again or worse? What if next time you don’t get away?”
“I…” A shiver of ice-cold fear traveled up the length of my spine. Being held captive in Devin’s clutches once again made my heart race and my palms sweat. I couldn’t imagine what the outcome would be. Devin would be pissed that I got away in the first place. Who knew what would happen if he caught me again? “He wouldn’t kill me,” I whispered.
“Maybe not, but he would damn well make it so you wished you were dead.” Troy shook his head and ran a hand through his short hair. “I just want you safe. If that means being here with all of us, than fine but I still wish you would have told me. I could have protected you more than I did.”
My eyes snapped up. “Troy, you have no idea what you’ve done for me, do you? You helped me through one of the toughest times of my life. Yes, being with Devin was bad but losing Parker, not knowing when he would come back to me; I felt like he did in fact die. Even though I talked to him every so often…” A lump formed in my throat and I swallowed past it. “Both of you are the most important people to me. Ever. My parents would be proud that you’re here with me.”
Troy slumped onto the couch, cradling his head in his hands. “If only my parents felt the same way.”
My heart clenched. Joining him on the couch, I slipped my fingers between his. “They love you. You should call them.” Troy hadn’t talked to his parents since we moved to the city a couple years before. When he came out of the closet, his relationship with them became rocky until he couldn’t take it anymore.
“Maybe.” His breath hitched. “Tell me how you helped Parker die.”
My back stiffened. “I didn’t really do anything. Colin set it up. I just acted like the hurting girlfriend.”
“That’s it?”
“Well, I never saw Parker after that until a couple of days ago. But…he saw me. He’s been watching me, keeping me safe from a distance.” I shrugged. I didn’t know how else to explain it. “He knew that I went to see Agent Cross and that Cross knows that he’s alive.”
“Shit,” Troy mumbled, sitting back.
“Yeah. Cross is smart. I feel…” I inhaled a shaky breath. “I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to stop this. I want Devin gone. I want him dead.” Saying those words out loud after all of these years lifted a weight off of my shoulders. I knew that I should have felt guilty. Maybe a part of me did but the darkness inside of me that Devin created took control.
“Keely—”
“You know. The funny thing is, I don’t feel guilty at all.” A wicked grin spread on my face as I turned to Troy. “I will be the one to destroy him. I want to see the life leave his eyes as I stare down at his broken body. I want to do to him what he’s done to me all of