Page 96 of Healing Souls

"Because you have power over me. You can bring me to my knees with one look. Harley, no one has had power over me since my father used and abused me. Since he created the monster inside me that I keep locked down tight. But now?"

I lean in closer, bringing us nose to nose.

"That monster belongs to you. I will go to great lengths for you. Including letting myself bring out that part of me again."

"Why? Why would you risk that?" she asks, her bottom lip trembling.

"Because, baby girl, you are my world now. I revolve around you. I will not let you get lost to your demons, the same way you won't let me get lost to mine. We do this together. We fight together. We come out stronger together."

Chapter Twenty-Four

Harley

Icanheareveryonechattering around me. Some voices are raised, some not. But nothing seems to really sink in as I sit in the grass with my knees pulled up to my chest.

After Cade told me we do this together, I sobbed until my knees gave out and he sat in the grass with me.

I haven’t moved since, and I know that time has been going by, but it feels like only seconds since Nerds’s words penetrated my mind, sending me spiraling down a dark hole that I don’t see a way out of.

Tammy is running a sex trafficking ring.

What we know so far is that Richard and Tammy are at least finding the girls and sending them off to the warehouses where they are prepared and trained before being sold.

I knew that Tammy was the devil of my story. I knew she was this awful person, but she hasn’t just ruined me. She has ruined countless other girls. Who fucking does that? How do you even live with yourself?

Why did she keep me there in her home? Why didn’t she sell me the second she could? Who are theseconnectionsshe constantly spoke about?

I got out and saved myself from the hell she was putting me through, but how many other girls are out there going through a hell that is the same if not worse?

A stab of guilt hits my chest, and I rub at my skin, trying to ease the ache, but it doesn’t go away. If anything, it only intensifies with all the noise in my head… all the noise around me… I need it to stop. I need to breathe before everything consumes me whole and I drown in this guilt and anguish.

Soft, understanding green eyes level with my own as Grayson squats in front of me. With one scan of my face I know he can see the despair, the helplessness. My lips tremble, and I wrap my arms around my knees, making myself as small as possible as I shake.

Everything they did to me sits at the front of my mind like a movie on repeat… repeating over and over again.

Except it’s not me anymore. It’s faceless, nameless girls. Their screams echo through my head as they go through the same torment as I did, at the same hands.

“That’s enough.”

Grayson’s voice penetrates my ears, coming in clear and demanding. Something I have never heard from him before. I look at his face as his nostrils flare with rage.

He stands again, and his angry tone soothes me in a way I don’t expect.

“I understand that this isn’t what anyone wanted. I understand that you’re struggling with this, Rage. I can’t imagine how you’re feeling right now, but Ryker is right. Harley needs the three of us right now. She is drowning in her thoughts. This isn’t just upsetting news to her. She experienced more than we even know, and right now she needs to breathe again in order to come to terms with everything.”

I hear Gabriel’s voice, but I can’t make out the words. There is shuffling and more talking but then large hands cup my face, and I look up into Cade’s mesmerizing eyes.

“Come on, baby girl,” he rumbles as he lifts me from under my arms.

I immediately wrap my legs around his waist and bury my face in the crook of his neck, taking comfort in his large warm body.

As we start walking, someone rests their hand on my shoulder.

I glance up to find Gabriel’s grief-stricken face looking at me. “I’m so sorry, Harley. I didn’t think how it would affect you. I understand now that I am not a good father.”

A heavy feeling settles in my stomach as I take in his tear-filled eyes, drenched in such agony. I want to comfort him, but nothing will come out… I don’t know what to say.

Cade keeps moving, and I watch as Colton places his hands on Gabriel’s shoulders, speaking low to him. They disappear from sight, and I lower my face to Cade’s neck again.

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