Page 161 of Tyler's Rule
I’d guessed he wanted to talk about Johnston. Not the rest of it.
Tyler took a breath as if to slow down his thoughts. “A couple took me. They sold kids to the worst kind of perverts. Brought them in then loaned them out by the hour in their home. They kept me there. The weeks blurred into months. I stopped counting. I knew no one was looking for me.”
Oh God.
My strong, beautiful boy.
“You were hurt?” The words came out shaky.
“There wasn’t a day that they didn’t come for me. For a while, I lost the will to live. Jonas discovered me and took me out of it, but…”
“That didn’t change what you’d been through. I know I said it already, but I’m sorry for breaking your rule. The consent thing is important.”
“I kidnapped ye. Call it square?”
My smile flickered. Even in the darkest moment, we were so good together.
Tyler linked his gaze to mine. “At age nineteen, I killed them both. Freed the kids under their roof. Burned it to the ground.”
I didn’t look away from him. I never would. “Good. They deserved it.” My voice cracked.
“For a long time, I thought I’d never know family again. Jonas could never fill that hole in my heart. I thought I’d foundit in part with my crew, but even then, I stayed at the edges. Part of the leadership team but hellbent on my own mission.”
“Taking down traffickers.” It all made sense now. He’d been fixing the harm caused to him.
Tyler sank to his knees in front of me. “You’re my family. You’re in my heart in a way I thought was impossible, but I’m so fucking happy ye are.”
I reached for him, held him while my heart pounded. Just like me, Tyler had suffered. I didn’t know if he’d ever talk about this again, but the fact he had meant so much. It mattered. His confiding in me was a gift, and it brought us even closer.
“I think I needed that obsession,” I said into his shoulder. “After being rejected so often, it did something to my brain to know that you’d do anything to keep me. That you’d keep coming back. Even if you could never touch me, you were desperate for me.”
“Amdesperate. Present tense.”
“That feeling’s the same?”
“No, deeper. I’m just as obsessed, but I don’t feel terrified that you’ll leave me at any given moment.”
Or be taken from him. I understood better than ever his reaction to me being in danger. He’d stalked and hunted me down then took me to his place of safety, where only he knew my location. A guarantee I wouldn’t die as others had.
Emotion rocked me. “You know you’re stuck with me now, right? No refunds.”
“Works for me. I told ye I wouldn’t let ye go.” He kissed my cheek. “Thanks for listening to my story. Wish you’d heard it first from me, but that’s my fault. In connection to that, I’m going out for a couple of hours.”
I didn’t blink. “To kill Johnston.”
Not a question. This was what Tyler did.
“He was the catalyst. The last person standing. He killed my family, and I lost them and their protection. I can’t say if life would’ve been different if he hadn’t come along. Perhaps my father would’ve drawn the fire of someone else. I’m only sure of his role.”
He didn’t need to justify it. I knew what Tyler did. I wasn’t scared of the blood on his hands. I patted the couch. “Come here.”
Tyler did as I asked and drew me onto his lap. For long minutes, we held each other, the city sparkling beyond the window and the safety of the warehouse protecting us. I knew better than to think this fixed anything overnight, but we had each other. That was all that mattered.
“I love you,” I said into the perfect stillness.
“I don’t deserve it.”
I lifted my head. Gazed at him.
