Page 171 of Till The Sun Dies (Checkmate 2)

Smiling, he picks up his almost empty can of Coke and takes a sip. “I figured that out already. Now I’m asking my brother what happened. It hurts you, so I’m here to take some of the load.”

Lying back and sunning myself, I close my eyes and think of Laine. “She killed herself when I was a kid. Suicide.”

He gives a sympathetic grunt. “I’m sorry to hear that, man.”

“In the shower. Slit her wrists because my dad wouldn’t stop beating the fuck out of her every morning and night.”

“Shit.” I open my eyes and glance over to find his jaw ticking. “So pulling Laine out of the shower…”

“Damn near killed me.” I turn back to study the sky. “But it’s whatever. It was a long time ago, and Laine’s fine. That’s all that matters to me now.” I take a deep breath and remember back. “She has no clue she was with me that day.”

“Laine?”

“Mm.” I lift my permanently stained hands and study them. “I pulled my mom out of the shower, but it was too late. After the ambulance came, then the police, I snuck away. I didn’t know where to go, so I went to Alex and Scotch’s place, sat in their yard and ignored everyone for hours. Luc and the twins were always there, always skating, and Mr. Turner – chief at the time – wasn’t home yet, so no one knew. Laine came over and tried to get me up to skate, but it’s like I was mute. I couldn’t talk, I couldn’t do anything, I just sat there and studied my hands, so she sat down and rested her shoulder against mine. We were there for hours, Bish, until the sun went away and the police came to get me, and the whole time, I had my mom’s blood beneath my nails.”

“It’s almost like you and her in my garage the past couple months,” he muses. “She didn’t wanna talk, she didn’t wanna do anything, but you sat with her anyway, provided her a shoulder when she needed it.”

I scoff. “I didn’t even see the similarities, but I guess.”

“And your dad?”

My smile is wiped clean. “Also dead. My first kill.”

I knew that’d get his attention.

His eyes whip back to mine, a stark black, reminding me of the man who stood in a utilitarian room and helped me torture another man. “Come again, Alesi.”

“Couple months after my mom was gone, he strapped me into his truck, tied me down, because he knew I was the son of a wily prick and I’d learned to slither my way out of situations. He hog-tied me, and drove us toward the lake. He was gonna take us both out, because that’s who he was. Miserable fucking prick, and since my mom took herself out of the equation, he was pissed.” I make shapes of the clouds in the sky, anything to distance myself from the hatred I have for that man. “I was just a kid, but I wasn’t stupid, so just after we crossed the tracks and passed the town sign, I got out of my ropes, grabbed the wheel, and drove us straight into that big oak tree just outside town. I slammed against the windshield and jacked my shoulder up bad, since I had no restraints, but my father’s seatbelt jammed up.” I scoff. “Irony, if you ask me. The truck caught fire, but I slithered my way out and watched him burn up.” I meet Kane’s watchful gaze. “He cried out for me. He reached out. Wanna know what I did?”

He lifts a brow in question.

“I kicked dirt in his face and told him to go fuck himself.”

“You regret it?”

“Nope.”

He grins and goes back to watching the ocean. “Can’t say I blame you. I’ve killed men before, I’ve held a man down while my brother tortured him, I’ve done loads of shit that isn’t exactly on the up and up.”

“Regret it?”

“Nope.”

Sitting up, I rest my elbows on my knees and study the sand. “All my life, I was scared of turning into my dad. I was scared I’d take pleasure in someone else’s pain, then Laine did what my mom did, and it was like a sign. A bad fucking omen that we were them and history was repeating.”

“She’s not like your mom, Ang, and you sure as shit ain’t like your dad.”

“I enjoyed hurting Graham.”

He chuckles. “Trust me, I enjoyed hurting him, too. He deserved what he got, so don’t tell yourself you’re a bad person for fucking him up. If someone could’ve come along and done the same to your old man before it was too late for your mom, would you be happy? Would you want her to be saved?”

“Yeah.”

Nodding, he taps my arm to draw my attention to the girls walking along the beach toward us. Blonde hair whips around their faces, and their laughter travels on the wind. “Exactly. You were the person you hoped would come along and save you guys. You were a hero. You couldn’t do it for your mom, but you did it for Laine, and she’s the most important person in your world. Don’t forget that.”

I watch them approach, still fifty yards away, but their smiles are bright, contagious. My lips spread into a smile as Laine saunters toward me. “She’s so beautiful, Bish. I can’t process how fucking amazing she is.”

“Mmm. Don’t mess them up; mine’s on the left, pink shorts, filthy grin because she knows she still owes me a BJ.”

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