Page 85 of Healing Souls

Harley takes a shuddering breath and walks over to take a seat next to me. I lean forward, resting my elbows on my knees, and start talking without looking at her.

“When I was really young, probably eight or nine, Noah left. He ran away in the middle of the night. I think he was going to look for our mom. She left us with our dad a few months before. I don’t remember all that much about her, but Noah said she came into our room, tears in her eyes, and said she can’t do it anymore. Then she kissed each of our heads and left. We never saw her again. After that, my dad had nothing keeping him sane anymore.

“Whether she knew it or not… my mom was a thin barrier between my father and us. So when she left, my dad decided that we needed to grow up faster. It started with Noah. He forced him to do things for him, and when Noah would refuse, my father would threaten me to get him to do it anyway.”

Taking a breath, I continue. I don’t know how I am speaking about all of this to her, but I know I need to just get it out.

“When Noah ran away, he was going to look for our mom. I think he also thought that our father wouldn’t turn to me for his dirty work. That I was still too young. But that wasn’t true. My father made me into his own personal weapon.”

I go on to explain how my father made me hurt people. Anyone he brought home, I had to hurt them and get whatever he wanted out of them. I listen as Harley gasps, and when she wraps an arm around me, resting her head against my back, a single tear tracks down my cheek.

I don’t go into details about the way he had me torture people or how he beat me into submission, but I tell her more than I have ever told anyone before.

I finish with, “My voice became one of his weapons. I learned how to talk to someone to scare them shitless.”

“That’s why you don’t talk much,” she whispers softly.

I nod. “Yeah. I never really talked at all. That is, until you came around. I saw your pain when we met you last year. I think my soul called to yours. It could see how damaged we both were. And somehow, I feel okay talking when you’re around. It doesn’t bother me as much.”

Taking a deep breath, I clench my fists, needing her to understand one more thing.

“But Harley, I hurt people. I… killed people. I left permanent scars on some of these people. They will live like we do… in fear. Traumatized. Never the same. I can’t blame you if you never want to speak to me again because of that.”

I squeeze my eyes shut and whisper, “Sometimes I don’t know how to live with it.”

Her warmth disappears as she pulls away from me, and the heart I didn’t even know could be broken… breaks.

That is, until she stands and drops to her knees in front of me. She cups my face and locks eyes with me, fresh tears sliding down her beautiful rosy cheeks.

“I could never stop talking to you,” she murmurs, her voice laced with affection that instantly pieces my shattered heart back together. “I knew there was darkness in you. I’ve seen it in your eyes. I think there is some darkness in all of us and that’s why we’re all drawn to each other.”

She pushes forward so our foreheads are touching.

With a soft smile, she says, “I’m proud of you. I know how hard it is to open up about things like that. Especially when you’re opening up and risking getting swallowed whole by memories. Thank you for trusting me.”

Her eyes drop to my mouth, and without hesitation I grip her face and kiss her like she is the air I need to breathe.Sheisthe air I need to breathe.“All these feelings are so new and unknown to me. It’s making me feel a little crazy,” I whisper against her lips.

I feel her mouth stretch into a smile as her eyes open and meet mine. “I’ll be crazy with you.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

Harley

AsCadeandImake our way back towards the club, everything that he told me plays on repeat in my mind.

I mourn for the young boy who lost his childhood due to violence. But I also relate to him in so many ways. The feelings I have for him are growing stronger by the day. I really was beginning to think he would always be so weird with me. Going from staying away to being right there with me, but I think him opening up to me now is a good sign.

I wish I could take his pain away. His and Noah’s. Even though Noah is a huge pain in the ass, I can only imagine what he went through back then, and I just want to protect the both of them.

I could kill their father. Which makes me wonder…

“Where is your dad?” I blurt out the question before really thinking it through. Grimacing, I say, “Sorry. You don’t have to answer that.”

Cade stops walking and turns towards me. We are back in the open yard area behind the main building, and I can see Ryker and Grayson sitting on the back porch. “He’s in prison. It’s not really my story to tell, but Noah fought hard to get me out of there and was able to set up our father so he got caught and now will spend his life behind bars.”

At least that’s some form of retribution. “Wait… I’m sorry, I probably should shut my mouth, but what did your dad do to begin with?”

Cade lets out a small, humorless chuckle. “It’s okay. I want to be honest with you. I want you to know everything. He worked for some gang—at least, that’s what Noah and the club assume. We don’t know for sure because everything was kept so secret, but it looked like he was basically the enforcer for a gang. But instead of doing the work himself, he had us do it.”

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