Forbidden With Me - Leigh Lennon Page 0,79

weren’t kidding; that friend of yours is fierce.”

She tries to laugh but only chokes. “Yeah, and you haven’t seen anything yet. Believe me.”

I drop a kiss on her forehead, then her nose, followed by her lips. “As long as she’s a part of your life, she’ll be a part of my life. And I can almost imagine the trouble she’ll cause. Hell, the two of you together might just be the end of me.”

“Don’t make me laugh; it hurts.” A weak smile pulls at her lips. “Vanessa, Higgie? Are they okay?”

I give her a bob of my head. “Yeah, everyone is fine. The older two Wayne brothers are dead, and Victor Wayne is in custody. They’ll never hurt you again.”

“Smith?” Her voice is strained, and her eyes fill with tears.

“Yeah, he’s good, too, sweetheart. They always blamed him for the reason they had to kill Annie. Pinning the murders on him was justice until you came back.”

I want to give her very little, but reading Victor’s police statement is the first thing I plan to do once Mal is able to be left, which may not be ever.

I’m staring at the transcript, which has been copied onto a piece of paper, I’m holding from Victor Wayne, as Malia sleeps peacefully or as peacefully as she can, after the night I’m afraid will plague her for life. Stewart had dropped it off on his way to check on Greenlyn, Vanessa, and Smith, who had all been ordered to stay the night for observation. Only Stewart and Georgia were able to avoid this, probably because they are both stubborn as fuck.

I want to know what I missed through the years, and why I couldn’t solve this case. The Wayne boys had been the only dark spot on the block where Malia lived. How did I miss them? I begin to read the statement with my heart thumping the entire time.

Victor James Wayne Official transcript statement

My brother had been obsessed with Ann Strickland as long as I can remember. Ann would sneak in at night. Tim told me he loved corrupting a good girl, but then Curtis became as obsessed with Grace, the middle Strickland girl, and it was just my destiny to love Malia from afar.

My brothers were everything to me, and you all fucking killed them, turning the girl I loved against me. I murdered that family, The Mastilles, staging it like her family's murders, to show her I’d do anything for her.

My brother took her doll, which she had in her arms when they broke in, and let me have it. I returned it to her to show her how much I treasured it. I would have never taken her life, not like Tim had killed Ann, and Curtis killed Grace. I wanted her for her—and I would have never changed her.

It was Tim who designed the evergreen plan, to replicate the Strickland home.

The fucker, Wells Shanahan, has been a thorn in my side, and I wanted to kill him throughout the years. Curtis hacked Malia’s social media accounts, and she posed as a man he went to school with, to keep tabs on him. He doesn’t deserve her.

Greenlyn was a casualty of the situation, though I didn’t mind kissing her. But Malia is who I’ve always wanted, and we were so close.

I can’t read anymore. Stewart warned me that the beginning of the interview was where I’d get the most information.

“Hey,” her soft voice calls for me. “What are you doing?”

I shove the piece of paper in my jacket pocket, moving my chair to her.

“Hey, sweetheart, you should be sleeping,” I begin, interlacing my fingers with hers.

“It’s not your fault, you know. You didn’t let me down.” I knit my eyebrows together, attempting to make sense of how she figured this out, figured me out.

“How do you know?” I ask.

“Because I know you.” She gives me a weak smile, and continues, “Plus, I heard Stewart sharing it with you while I was in and out of a light sleep.”

I kiss her on the lips. “I love you. You know that?” I ask.

“Promise?”

I give her a little smirk. “Always.”

“I’m not going to wither away,” she says two days later, signing her discharge papers after the doctor insisted she stay another night for observation.

“You’re right, sweetheart, but you need a couple of days. All your professors understand.” She pushes herself to a standing position, holding the wall. “Look, you can’t even stand on your own.”

“It’s Friday. Let me take the weekend,