Page 204 of Indulge
I don’t want to run and hide. I want to stay and fight… for both of them.
“The guy is a cunt, Bella. He never deserved you, never deserves another woman near him in his sorry life,” Rowan says, his voice furious. “He doesn’t deserve to breathe the same air as you.”
Reggie strokes my hair, whispering softly. “Who is he, Princess? I’ll make sure he pays. No one will ever hurt you again.”
I let out a choked laugh, still trembling. “You don’t need to fix it. It’s… already handled.”
Reggie pulls back, brow furrowed. “Handled?”
I meet his eyes, a faint, knowing smile tugging at my lips.
“Let’s just say he won’t be hurting anyone else.”
Rowan lets out a slow breath, somewhere between relief and awe.
Reggie has a smirk on his lips. “Come on, tell us more.”
I can hear he’s proud by his tone.
“Theo…” I trail off.
Rowan chuckles. “Bella King, do not lie to us.”
I roll my eyes, and Reggie growls under his breath.
“Fine. Remember that knife I bedazzled?”
They both frown and then nod.
“Well, after he told me about him and Samantha,” I spit her name out like it’s poison. One day, I might go back for her. “He never left the house that night. Everything clicked into place. The way he’d used me for months as some sort of fucking toy for people to use. All as a sick ploy to get his dick wet elsewhere. And what’s to say what he had planned for my future wasn’t worse than that? He had to die.”
I lean in between them, just in case this church is wired.
“So, I stabbed him, fatally,” I whisper.
“Good fuckin’ girl, Bella. I’m proud of you,” Reggie whispers.
“That’s my girl,” Rowan tells me proudly.
I smile through my tears, and it feels like something lifts off my chest—a weight I didn’t even realize I was still carrying.
“I love you two,” I whisper. The words tumble out. “I really do.”
The air stills around us, and everything feels new.
Like the truth has set fire to the last of my ghosts, and all that’s left standing are the men who’d walk through hell to hold me steady.
Then I hear footsteps.
Soft at first. Almost like high heels, echoing down the aisle from the back of the church.
All three of us turn at once. Reggie stiffening, holding me tight.
Beyond the gold cross, movement flickers in the shadows.
A figure steps into the light. Father Byrne.
I blink, relief washing through me, until I see the trembling of his hands.
