Peeking at him out of the corner of my eye, I find him rubbing the back of his neck and his forehead wrinkling with concern.
“Lan–”
“Don’t.” My chest rises and falls heavily. “I have nothing left for you. Yesterday you made damn sure of that.”
Not wanting to hear Mack’s reply, or be in his presence another second, I propel my body into room twenty-one.
My eyes find Della almost instantly. She’s smiling up at her brothers, but once she sees me come through the door her smile dies.
The room falls silent. Della’s eyes gloss over and her chin trembles. The urge to run away is great. I want to get as far away from here as I can. It’s taken me years to stop being one of his victims. Della’s agony is written all over her face, and it’s not something I want to memorize and never be able to forget.
Slater coughs. “We’ll give you two some time to talk.”
Della’s family leaves the room and now it’s just the two of us.
All we do for a long moment is stare at one another. In my mind she’s a kid again, her laughter and happy smile circling around in my mind.
Abruptly Della lets out a sob and my heart squeezes and twists painfully.
I move to the side of her bed, my eyes wildly searching hers. How do I tell her how sorry I am for what my family has put her through?
“I’m sorry,” Della’s voice is strained as she forces her words through another strangled cry.
Tears begin to fall and I shake my head furiously. Comforting words get stuck in my throat. What can I say to ease the pain of having a piece of your soul stolen?
“Lana.” The determined tone in Della’s voice causes my body to cease shaking and I give her my full attention.
“There’s something you need to know.”
What? My body freezes with fear. There’s nothing I need to know which I haven’t already imagined about the horrifying moments Della had to endure. Knowing the details, what my father did, those would destroy me.
“I was the one who killed your father. It wasn’t Slater, it was me.” Della’s strangled voice rushes the words out, but they’re as clear as if she had screamed them.
I take a quick step back from the bed. My eyes on Della, while my mouth falls. I was the one who killed your father. Light-headedness hits me hard and I have to grasp a tight hold of the railing on the bed to stay upright.
“It’s not something I ever intended to do,” she stresses and then lifts her hands and stares down at her palms. “I was angry. For the first time in my life things were going well for my brothers and me, and in a heartbeat your father stole that from me. Your father…” Della takes in a shaky breath, “…he was pulling his pants up so casually as if he hadn’t just destroyed my whole world. I remember looking up from the kitchen floor in his garage, and the first thing my eyes landed on was the knife block. I don’t remember picking up the knife or every slice and stab. Mostly, I remember the blood on my hands afterward and the sensation of my whole-body shaking.”
“Stop, please.” My voice comes out hoarse. Those words are all I can manage, my throat is dry and my mind like a hurricane. Her recount sends my thoughts surging through me like a storm.
Della shifts awkwardly on the bed and sits up straighter. “I’m sorry I can’t,” she whispers. “If I don’t tell you, get this out, I’m going to explode.”
I nod and let her continue. “I didn’t even know he was dead when I ran out of there. I went straight home and told Slater everything. Slater left to find Jae and I knew if he wasn’t already dead then he would be soon. But Jae did die at my hands, and when Slater was leaving the garage, Rex showed up. Slater didn’t even try to talk to him, he knew what it looked like and it’s exactly what Slater wanted, to take the blame for me so he took off speeding away from the shop and the rest is history.”
“If Rex knew it was you, everything would be different. He loves you Della and as much as that love would probably turn to hate, Rex would never hurt you.”
This changes everything.
Why are they worrying about kidnapping me when they’ve