Page 3 of Bed of Thorns

I hated to lie to my only friend and the single person I could trust in the joint, but I could use his help. “Alright. I will better myself. That much I can promise you. I’ll take you up on your offer, but only if you promise after you get out to allow me to repay you with interest.”

He chuckled, his eyes lighting up, the smile on his face brighter than I’d seen for many months. “I’m glad and we’ll talk after my release. Remember, there is goodness inside of you. I can feel it. God will shine down on your life.”

There was a strange sadness in him, a resignation that I hadn’t heard before. As if I’d never see him again. We all had secrets hiding in the dark corners of our minds or our lives. He’d taught me that they usually came back to haunt our nightmares as well as our waking hours. Maybe he was prepared to face his.

Exhaling, I held out my hand, proud to call him my friend.

While I wanted to be the man he believed I could become, that wasn’t going to happen.

I had a list made in my mind of tasks to accomplish. Period. No one would stop me. No one.

I had the proof that could ruin my father. That would be the sweetest revenge of all.

“One last warning I hope you’ll heed,” Adam said, the tone of his voice haunting. “Be careful that your love for Mercedes doesn’t turn into an obsession. If that happens, you’ll lose yourself to desperate need.”

Desperate need. I already felt a burning desire so intense I couldn’t explain it, nor could I deny it. We were nothing but pen pals, but what I wanted from her would likely be condemned.

Mercedes had once asked me if I’d thought there was such a thing as real love. I knew the answer, although I’d never been able to give her a response. Real love was knowing that you were meant to be with that person, no matter the cost or the difficulties that you had to go through in order to be with them. I’d envisioned so many special, close moments over the years, allowing her romantic thoughts to fuel my own. Love also meant hurting others around you.

That was fine by me.

Very soon, my beloved pen pal would learn what crossing a monster would mean. She’d become my everything, a beautiful reminder of something that had been taken from me unfairly. I adored her. There was no way I was allowing my fucking father to dig his claws into an innocent creature. I had the power to stop that from happening, even if it meant crossing another dangerous line.

But I’d made up my mind.

I would save her, protect her, and in doing so, I would free myself. Finally. Totally.

Soon, she would become mine.

CHAPTER2

Mercedes

Eight years before

“Why won’t you tell me where he is?” I demanded, glaring at my mother as she stood hiding behind her coffee cup.

“Because Fernando doesn’t want me to tell you.”

Hissing, I walked closer. “He’s not my father, just a horrible man you’re dating.”

“Don’t you speak to me that way. He’s taking care of us.”

When she snapped her head in my direction, her eyes were filled with anger. Somehow, she’d been brainwashed by the horrible man who’d treated his own son like crap. He spent far too much time at our house, pretending as if he cared about her. I knew it was bullshit. I just didn’t know why he bothered.

“Please. I need to know where they sent Edmond. Please, Mama, just tell me. That’s all I’m asking.” Anger and sadness were all I’d felt since he’d been taken away, convicted of a crime I couldn’t understand. Murder. How could he be responsible for something so heinous? I couldn’t believe it. I refused to believe it.

She sighed, a single tear slipping down her cheek. “I’ll tell you, but never mention his name to me again. Promise me that. Just promise me.”

What was she hiding? What was really going on?

“Okay, I promise.”

* * *

Port Christy, Maine

Edmond,

---