Page 39 of You for Her (The Edge of Retaliation 2)
He stands there, and he embraces for what is about to happen to him.
I launch my fist out, and it connects with his jaw. Over and over I punch him, my hand throbbing with each hit. Only when I’ve hit him five or six times do I stop and start shoving him. The rage in my body is uncontrollable. It’s bigger than even me. I shove and shove, crying, wishing the deep agony in my chest would just stop.
“I’m a human!” I scream, shoving his chest for the last time and turning, taking two steps before spinning back toward him. “Do you hear me? I’m a fucking human being. I have a heartbeat, and I breathe, and I have feelings. Real feelings. Just as many as any of you.”
Everyone is staring at me, all six of them.
“I didn’t deserve what you did to me. I didn’t deserve to have special parts of me destroyed as a part of your sick and twisted game. I didn’t mean to hurt Celia. I have done my time. I have lived with the agony. I didn’t deserve it. Do you hear me? I didn’t fucking deserve it.”
My voice hitches on the last word and I drop to my knees, hitting the red dust on the side of the road and sending it up in a cloud around me. My body trembles with sobs, and in a moment, Jo is by my side, crouching down, her hand on my back.
“Look at me, Callie,” she says, her voice firm and strong.
I look up at her, hiccupping between sobs, dusty tears rolling down my cheeks.
“You do not let them win, do you hear me?” she says, her voice low, loud enough so only I can hear it. “You do not let them beat you.”
“It hurts,” I croak. “It hurts so damn much.”
“Then you let it hurt, but you do not let them beat you. Not now, not ever. Give me your hand, you’re going to stand up, you’re going to dust yourself off, and you’re going to hold your head high because you’re not going to let them win this one.”
I take a staggered breath and nod, taking her hand and standing. I rub my face, washing away the tears, and then I take a deep breath into my lungs, so deep it burns. I look at Jo, and her eyes are locked on mine. She gives me a little nod and then turns and we walk toward the group, still standing there, still not saying a damn thing.
“I’m riding in the back,” I whisper, not looking at Tanner.
“Your hand is bleeding,” he says, his voice thick, so thick every part of me wants to look up and see the expression on his face, to see if he felt anything, anything at all, but I don’t.
I keep my eyes down.
“Don’t act like you care about anything to do with me,” I growl, mostly to the dirt at my feet but he knows I’m talking to him. “Do not speak to me again. Let’s get this done so I never have to see your face again.”
Jo squeezes my shoulder, and we all climb back into the trucks. I get into the back, and Ethan climbs into the front. Before Tanner gets in, he turns, looking at me from over the chair. “For what it’s worth, he’s lying to you. He cares more than you realize.”
Then, he turns and faces the front.
He’s wrong.
Tanner doesn’t care.
None of them do.
I’m done.
Done with all of them.
12
“I HAVE TO GO AND CALL Pat. Are you sure you’re okay?” Jo asks, staring at me. “I might be a while. He’s being a pain in my ass.”
I nod, sitting on the edge of the bed in the cheap hotel room we booked for the night. Thankfully, Jo and I shared and are away from the men, because I can’t deal with them for a second longer. “Yeah,” I say, “I’m fine. I’m going to find something to eat and get some ice.”
She glances down at my hand, which is throbbing and still not cleaned up from the trip. I just washed it, but I know I probably need to find a first-aid kit and get some antiseptic cream.
“You should get that cleaned up,” she adds, as if reading my thoughts.
“I was just planning on doing that,” I tell her. “Go, call Pat, I’m okay.”
She nods and disappears out of the room. I stand, stretching my aching legs. I am hungry, and I could use a walk, too. I grab a coat and my purse and leave the room, walking down the long corridor to the front of the motel. I look left and right, and see a flashing Diner sign a few blocks down. I turn and start walking toward it, my stomach rumbling. I haven’t eaten all day, not since my little breakdown. Ethan tried, but I refused.
