Page 50 of You for Her (The Edge of Retaliation 2)
I look to him, and ask, “He isn’t?”
“No. I want to find the men that raped her.”
Oh. No.
I don’t know why I didn’t think of this earlier. Of course he’s not just going to want Chase to pay, he’s going to want the men who ruined his sister’s life to pay, too. That, however, is dangerous. That’s a whole different ball game. That could get him killed, or worse. His family. Everyone he loves. You don’t go messing with things like that and expect to walk away clean. Chase learned that the hard way.
“Tanner, that’s dangerous,” I say, my voice careful. “Those people are dangerous …”
“I know what those people are, and they’re going to pay for what they did to Celia. They are going to wish they never laid a hand on her.”
“In doing that, you could end up putting the rest of your family in danger. I understand why you’d want to do this—”
“Do you?” he cuts me off, his voice gruff. “You want Chase, you want your justice, why the hell shouldn’t I want mine?”
“My justice doesn’t put people in danger, yours does,” I point out.
“Not if I’m smart about it.”
“Tanner …”
“I’m doing this, Callie. I never asked for your fuckin’ permission,” he stands, dusting himself off. “She deserves someone to fight for her, someone to seek revenge for what happened to her.”
“You’re just changing your person,” I mutter. “You swapped from me to them. You’re seeking revenge, which I get, but, Tanner, maybe you need to look at why.”
“Why?” he growls. “Why is because my sister is fuckin’ dead, that’s why.”
“I know she’s dead, Tanner, I know that better than anyone. I also know how guilt feels, and how it makes you do things you probably shouldn’t do.”
“Don’t talk to me about fuckin’ guilt, Callie. Don’t tell me how to feel. She’s my sister, you just killed her. Don’t act like you understand how this feels.”
I know the moment the words come out of his mouth he regrets them. I can see the way his face changes. My mouth drops open, and hurt clearly washes over my face because he takes a step forward but I put a hand up, my voice like a whip when I say, “I was right, we can never be more than what we are because you’ll never truly forgive me. You’ll never let it go.”
I turn around and walk off, even after he calls my name.
Screw him.
15
“THERE YOU ARE! I WAS so worried,” Jo says, launching to her feet when I round the corner. I had to borrow a phone from a café and call Jo to find out where she was staying, then get a lift home and pay the cab driver once I arrived.
Luckily for me, he was a really nice guy. I told him he could walk in with me, if he didn’t believe I had the money. He was understanding and very trusting, a rare thing in the world these days. Once I went to the room Jo said she would leave unlocked for me, I got the cash and then got changed and made my way down to the pool, where Jo and everyone else are having a few drinks.
Jo rushes over and throws her arms around me, and I hug her tightly before pulling back and glancing over at the three other men. No Tanner yet, thank god. I’m not ready to see him. Not ready to face the reality that we’re always going to have this black cloud hanging over our heads. I don’t want to face that because it’ll hurt, and I’m not ready for more hurt.
“Are you okay?” Jo asks, grabbing me by the shoulders and studying my face.
“Yes and no. We’ll talk later, okay. For now, I want to chat to Tatum. It’s important.”
She narrows her eyes. “Is everything okay?”
“Not really. Come on.”
We join the men at the pool, and I take a seat next to Ethan. He looks over to me and asks quietly, “You okay?”
I nod. “I’m okay, thanks.”
He looks surprised that I’m speaking to him without an angry tone, but I’m so tired of being angry. I’m so tired of looking for someone to blame. I just want this to be over and done with so I can finally move on with my life.
“Callie wants to talk to you,” Jo announces, handing me a beer and looking to Tatum.
“What is it?” Tatum asks, leaning back in his chair.
I can see why Jo likes him, he’s gorgeous. In a way that makes it hard to stare at anything else but him when he’s in the room. He’s got this feel about him, this strong masculine vibe. Like he could take a bullet for you and still get up swinging.
“It’s Tanner,” I tell him. “He isn’t just going after Chase, he wants to go after the men who hurt Celia, too.”
