rock, and my shitty childhood was nothing but the remnants of a shipwreck corroding at the bottom of the sea below.
At the end of the day, the only reason we were standing here was because there was a little girl bravely fighting for her life. An innocent little girl who could still have a bright and beautiful future ahead of her; unburdened by the kind of loss, struggle, and depravity I’d had to overcome. By all accounts, Nicole was well-adjusted, cherished, and taken care of. She was wiser and braver than any other child I’d ever met.
And she loved her dad.
“I had my finger on the trigger,” I finally said. “Why didn’t you run when you had the chance just now?”
Graham wiped his teary eyes with a sleeve. “Because I’m not the coward I used to be and I’ve taken away enough of your choices. I know exactly why you want me dead and you have every right to feel that way. I can’t do anything to change what happened, but I can take whatever retribution would ease some of your pain. This gentleman’s right, you probably shouldn’t do it here, but if you can wait until Nicole’s out of the woods and tell me where to go, I’ll be there. I’ll even dig my own grave.”
I held up my hand to stop him before he triggered flashbacks to the night I’d buried my first body. “I don’t want you dead.”
He looked understandably confused, considering I’d been a twitch away from making that happen just minutes earlier.
“I won’t even make your new life hard by exposing your past,” I continued, acutely aware of Torch’s eyes burning a hole in the side of my head. “What’s done is done, words won’t change anything and violence doesn’t really heal. But listen to me carefully, dad… I know where you live, where you work, who your friends are, and everything down to the code on your home security system. You won’t see me, you won’t hear from me, but I’ll be watching. Everyday. You better hope this reformed version of you is solid, because if you abandon my sister, if you lay a hand on her, if you so much as make her fucking cry, I will come for you. I’ll cut you open from your throat to your stomach and light you on fucking fire. Are we clear?”
Torch added his two cents, “I know you’re a shitty poker player, so let me give you some advice. My wife’s got a strong stomach and she’s not fucking bluffing.”
Graham gulped hard. “I understand. Thank you… Both of you.”
With nothing left to say, I acknowledged my father’s gratitude with a simple nod and rubbed Torch’s back to signal that I was ready to go. He bent down to pick me up, but I turned him down. “I can walk.”
He paused but didn’t second-guess, and took my hand instead.
Knowing I’d probably never see Graham again, I felt an urge to glance back over my shoulder for one last look at where I’d come from. But thinking back to the night he’d left me on Mitch’s doorstep without so much as a word—never mind a look of regret—I resisted. I held my head high and focused on Torch, the only man who would ever have any power over me. Power he’d earned by not abusing what little I’d given bit by bit.
As he guided me out and we headed for his bike, I saw Zed leaning against the club’s tow truck parked right next to it. My car was already hooked up.
“Hey you,” Zed greeted, stepping up and giving me a big hug. “Feeling okay?”
I smiled up at him. “Yeah, just a little tired. How did the transplant go?”
“Everything’s good as far as I know. Nadia’s being discharged as we speak and Buddha’s in isolation for a few days to keep infections away. Hopefully the marrow takes.”
“It will, he’s not going anywhere.”
“Hope not,” he replied. “By the way, when I said I wished you had a sister, I didn’t mean a fucking nine-year-old.”
I laughed and shook my head. “Sorry, babe.”
Torch had ducked into the truck and came back out with a first aid kit. He took my arm and peeled away the bandage, then wiped off the extra blood and covered my puncture wound with a fresh one. He checked my other arm before tossing the plastic box back inside the truck.
He leaned down to kiss me and I could feel the color coming back to my