Page 53 of Chaos & Corruption

I feel the need to correct her so I hold up a hand and stop her from saying anything else. Should she have come clean about Jennings sooner? I don’t know—I don’t think anyone can say what the right course of action is when it comes to abuse.

“Jennings did this, not you.”

The corners of her mouth lift slightly.

“Thanks, but I think that’s debatable.”

I decide not to press the issue. Until today I was just as much her enemy as Jennings and Webber. A true case of guilty by association.

We arrive at the faculty building in less than two minutes. Mila instructs me to turn and park in what appears to be a heavily wooded area just on the outskirts of the campus grounds. Once I kill the engine and lights, we both reach for our respective doors. I’m not sure how this is going to go. Mila thinks our best bet is for me to hide out while she confronts Jennings. I think it’s risky as fuck, but this is just as personal to her as it is to me. If the woman wants to get a few jabs in, I won’t stop her.

She deserves revenge.

I find a tree to hide behind and watch Mila move to the open area. Her steps slow and for a second, I wonder if she’s having second thoughts. She crouches down on the ground, her fist closing around the dirt and I swear I hear a sob escape her. I’m about to run out from behind the tree, when she rises to her full height. The dirt slips through her fingers, and she lifts her head, turning to glance at me from over her shoulder.

Suddenly a car rolls up in front of the building and the driver flashes its headlights.

It’s showtime.

Mila turns and steps forward just as the lights die. A car door slams in the distance, a sound I barely hear over my raging pulse. Jennings comes into my view and my blood boils at the sight of him. There is no remorse for his crimes as he stalks toward Mila. He’s a man on a mission.

The blood he’s already drawn, the shame he’s caused—it isn’t enough.

He comes to a stop in front of her and I try to listen as they exchange words, but everything is muffled.

Sweat beads at my brow as my heart pounds violently against my ribs.

My vision blurs and before I realize what I’m doing, I step out from behind the bark of the tree.

Victoria’s face flashes before me.

Her smile so hypnotic.

Her eyes so mesmerizing.

A vision of everything I didn’t know I needed.

Everything I didn’t know I wanted.

Then in the blink of an eye, the image fades. It morphs into a tragedy, and I see her lying in the dirt. I hear the sweet sound of her voice call my name.

She begs me for help.

To make it right.

Jennings lifts his hand, and my eyes zoom in on his fist. All wrapped in gauze and ready to strike Mila.

“Do it and I’ll fucking kill you,” I shout. He lifts his head and his eyes lock with mine over Mila’s head, shock radiating from them. It’s fleeting, though, and I watch as a sinister smile spreads across his thin lips.

“Well, well, if it isn’t Stonewall’s hot-shot jock. I’d be careful with your words, Reggiano. Ask Webber what happens when you mouth off to me. Better yet…ask your girlfriend.” He pauses to snap his fingers. “Oh, wait. You can’t.”

That’s all it takes for me to realize I never needed a plan. I got instinct and I got heart. So long as a man has those two things, he can overcome anything in his path.

Even a low-life cunt like Jennings.

Closing the distance between us, I push Mila out of the way and rear my fist, putting all my power behind the punch I deliver to his jaw. My knuckles crack and bleed against his face, but I won’t quit until he feels every ounce of pain Victoria felt. I send my fist into his jaw again and this time the motherfucker sways backward from the impact.

It’s a nice start and it fuels the fire in my veins.

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