Page 116 of Ruthless Possession
I think of Evan in the barn, of what they did to him. I should be horrified. I should be sickened. Instead, I feel only a dark, cold satisfaction.
"You killed him," I say, the words barely audible over the shower.
Trenton's arms tighten around me. "Yes."
I turn to face them both, water streaming down my face, tears mixing with the shower spray. "Thank you."
Matthew cups my face in his hands, his eyes searching mine. "You don't have to thank us. We would burn the world down for you."
"I know." And I do. I've always known.
We stand there for a long time, the three of us under the hot water, washing away the night. Trenton's lips find the bruise on my cheek, a gentle kiss that makes me wince. Matthew's hands massage the tension from my shoulders.
When the water begins to cool, we step out together. Matthew wraps me in a soft towel, his movements tender despite the violence we've just witnessed, just participated in.
"We should check on Charlie," I say, pulling on clean pajamas.
Trenton nods, already dressed in sweatpants and nothing else. "She might have woken up."
We move down the hallway, a silent procession. I push Charlie's door open wider this time, stepping into her room. She's still asleep, her breaths deep and even. I sit on the edge of her bed, unable to resist touching her. My fingers brush a strand of hair from her forehead, feeling the warmth of her skin.
She stirs but doesn't wake. In sleep, she looks so small, so vulnerable. The events of tonight could have ended so differently. The thought makes my throat close up.
"He won't hurt you," I whisper, though I know she can't hear me. "No one will ever hurt you again."
Trenton and Matthew stand in the doorway, watching us. Their faces are soft in the dim light from the hallway. These are the same men who just flayed a man alive, now gentle as they gaze at the little girl sleeping in the purple bedroom.
We are monsters who love. Killers who protect. The contradiction should tear me apart, but it doesn't. It feels like the only truth that matters.
I kiss Charlie's forehead and stand. "Let her sleep."
Back in our bedroom, we collapse onto the bed together. I lie between them, my head on Trenton's chest, Matthew's arm draped across my waist. The adrenaline is fading, leaving exhaustion in its wake.
"What happens now?" I ask, my voice small in the darkness.
"Now we live," Trenton says simply.
Matthew's fingers trace patterns on my hip. "Now we raise our daughter. Now we build our life."
I think about tomorrow's breakfast with Charlie, the conversation we'll need to have about why we came home so late, the normal rhythms of our days resuming. It seems impossible that normal life can continue after what happened tonight, but it will. It must.
"We'll have to be careful," I say. "About what we tell people."
Matthew's hand stills. "No one will connect us to what happened at the barn. The fire will destroy everything."
"And Evan's body?" I can't quite keep the tremor from my voice.
"Gone," Trenton says. "Nothing left to find."
I nod against his chest. The club has experience with making people disappear. This isn't their first time.
"Are you okay?" Matthew asks, his voice gentle. "With what we did?"
I'm quiet for a long moment, considering the question. Am I okay with torture? With murder? The Morgan who existed before tonight would have said no. But that Morgan didn't know what it meant to have someone threaten everything she loved.
"Yes," I say finally. "I'm okay with it."
Trenton's hand strokes my hair. "We protect what's ours."
