I began to shake my head, a knee jerk reaction to the comforting words.
He tightened his hold on my jaw, preventing me from continuing. “Ayen, you listen to me. He. Didn’t. Deserve. You. What you did to him… he fucking deserved that.”
“I’m…” My words were failing me. My thoughts were getting all jumbled up in my head as my emotions were beginning to get the better of me. I wasn’t expecting to come out here and cry about my past with a man I wanted to rail me into the goddamn dirt like an animal. But here we fucking were. “You don’t know...”
“I don’t have to know the details, baby. He hurt you. If he hurt you, then he deserved whatever he got in the end.” I felt his lips press against the top of my head, peppering kisses into my hair as he spoke.
I sucked in a sharp breath while a sob choked me.
The validation I needed over two years ago had finally been delivered.
It felt as amazing even as it hurt.
I believed wholeheartedly that I would’ve died that night if I didn’t do what I did, but did that justify me taking matters into my own hands?
I still didn’t know. But it was too late now to dwell on the ‘what if’s now.
Jackson pressed his lips to my forehead, trailing soft kisses down to the bridge of my nose. “He can’t get you anymore.”
My body sagged into his, almost completely boneless.
The truth rattled me to my damn core.
But he was right.
Alex would never hurt or touch me ever again.
CHAPTER 17
Jackson
I loweredAyen to the soft mossy ground slowly, hooking my arm around his waist from behind to keep him from moving too far away from me. My lips found his easily, molding against those soft, plush cushions that he opened for me immediately, sucking me in with the kind of desperation I felt down to my bones.
His cheeks were still wet from his tears, brushing up against mine when he tilted his head to the side to deepen our kiss.
I wanted to kill that son of a bitch he called a husband. If the man wasn’t already fucking dead, I’d leave this property tonight and go find him to finish the fucking job.
How dare he put his hands on Ayen?
My sweet baby bird who couldn’t even hurt a fly but had apparently been forced to do the worst thing a human could ever possibly do. And the justice system punishing him by forcing him into prison with other offenders who’d knowingly brokenthe law because they thought they were above it was just the cherry on top of an already fucked up cake.
What kind of ‘justice’ was that?
And after he got out, he’d have to deal with that on his record for the rest of his life. That sounded like no justice to me.
It infuriated me. I hope that man rotted in fucking hell for the rest of eternity.
Grabbing at the front of Ayen’s waistband, I unbuckled the tool kit from around him. The vials inside of it clinked softly as I pushed them away from us so that they wouldn’t get damaged. I at least still had some sense about me, even though my mind was filled withAyen, Ayen, Ayen.
I’d show him how to be properly treated—what being with arealman felt like. Not some spineless coward who beat their partner because deep down they knew they weren’t good enough.
My father was like that. Growing up, he’d been the stereotypical jock that had wanted his sons to follow in his footsteps and join the military and make something of themselves.
Carter had done that, acted as the proper son that my father should’ve been proud of. But nothing had ever been good enough for that man. And eventually, it’d weighed on my brother too much for him to bear it any longer.
My brother, and Ayen both, deserved so much better in the end but still had shit to show for it.
When Ayen’s legs came up to wrap around my waist, I scooped him up again into my lap and worked the zipped on the front of his jumper down until he could slip both of his arms out of the sleeves. He wrapped his bare arms around my neck while Irolled my tongue along his. The tent in his pants was pressed up against my waist, teasing me.