“Bri was pulling on my arm, and I think I pushed her away. Maybe that was later, I don’t know. All I know is, Colby was coming for us, and I had to protect her. I took him to the ground, and at some point, Hudson went to find Addison, but it’s all a blur. Colby was still swinging his knife, trying to get me off him and I think he nicked me. It wasn’t until he’d stopped moving and I was running back down the hill to check on my sister that I realized Brielle had been hurt as well. She fell into the grass and I … I couldn’t help everybody. They were all dying and there was nothing I could do to help them.”

  “Everybody survived,” Detective Daniels says, watching as the trauma of the night plays on my mind. “You did what you had to do.”

  I stare at the table, wishing to be anywhere but here. “What’s going to happen from here?”

  “At this stage, it’s too early to give you any definite answers. Statements and evidence need to be collected. However, from where I’m sitting, it is a self-defense case. With so many people on the property, I’m sure there are enough witnesses to corroborate your story, and I wouldn’t be surprised if video footage showed up.”

  “And if Colby dies?”

  “That complicates things,” he says, pushing back out of his seat and standing. “For now, sit tight. This is a very messy situation you’ve gotten yourself into, and I don’t think I need to tell you the implications if you were to run from this.”

  “I’m not going anywhere.”

  “See to it that you don’t,” he says, nodding to Officer Kennedy, who reaches across the table and scoops up the recording device. “I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot of each other. In the meantime, let’s hope this doesn’t turn into a murder case.”

  And with that, Daniels and Kennedy walk out the door, leaving me staring after them, unsure what to make of everything that just happened. Though one thing is for sure—Colby Jacobs still lives, and until his heart stops beating, I won’t stop fighting for justice. And if that justice never comes, the whole world will feel my wrath.

  Chapter 4

  BRIELLE

  Gripping my stomach and my drip, I try to pull myself up off the toilet for the tenth time in the last fifteen minutes.

  It’s useless. I’m going to die on this toilet. I’ve been bursting to pee all morning, but apparently getting onto the toilet isn’t nearly as hard as trying to pull myself off it again. Who would have known getting stabbed isn’t nearly as bad as caring for it the next twenty-four hours after?

  The hospital kicked Tanner out twenty minutes ago when he started to look like the walking dead, insisting he get some rest, and as much as I love the idiot, I couldn’t wait for him to go. Pretending I didn’t need to pee all morning is a crap load harder than it ought to be. It’s stupid, I know, but Tanner still thinks I’m a sexy, deviant goddess. I don’t want him witnessing my toilet habits quite so soon, and I know damn well he would have demanded to take me.

  If only I weren’t so stubborn. A normal person in my predicament would have pressed the big, red for-the-love-of-God-someone-please-help-me button that’s conveniently placed on the wall right next to the toilet paper.

  Fuck my life. How did I get here?

  I’ve been out of my bed for long enough, and at some point, I’m either going to tear my stitches or somebody will walk in to witness my humiliation, and knowing my luck, it’ll probably be Riley. The asshole has been non-stop messaging me all day, wondering what the deal is with my ass cherry. It’s his messed-up little way to let me know he’s thinking of me, but the joke’s on him. My ass cherry was popped long ago, I just wish it wasn’t. The whole ordeal wasn’t pretty, and I was way too underprepared for a monster like that. It only happened once, but my ass never forgave me. I said it at the track as a joke to help calm Tanner down, but now the more it’s mentioned, the more my curiosity is piqued.

  Shit. I shouldn’t be thinking about ass stuff while stuck on the toilet.

  Giving it another try, I suck in a breath and prepare myself for toilet domination … fuck, no. That doesn’t sound right. Unless someone feels like shoving laxatives down my throat, there will be no toilet domination today.

  Planting my feet firmly on either side of the bowl and gripping the drip, I clench my eyes and give it one last try, hauling myself up and feeling as though all my guts and insides are about to come falling out of my stab wound. “Holy fuck,” I breathe, wobbling on my feet and using the wall to keep me upright.

  Maybe it’s time for more painkillers.

  After struggling through washing my hands, I finally get out of the bathroom, only for my whole world to crash and burn once again. My mom and Orlando crowd my room as though they have every right to be here, and the irritation I feel at seeing both their faces is like nothing I’ve ever known.

  I should have let the toilet end me.

  My jaw clenches as their heavy stares fall on me. “Now you decide to show up?” I mutter, gripping tighter onto the pole of the drip, wondering what kind of weapon it could make as I studiously ignore the way my mom wears her despair on her sleeve. I mean, damn. If she wanted to care about me, the time for that has passed.

  “You honestly think anything in the world is going to keep me from seeing my daughter?” Mom questions, as if horrified by the very thought of not being able to see me in the flesh.

  Dropping my ass to the edge of my bed, I try to scoot back into my spot and get comfortable. “Well, the sun certainly did. Tanner said he called you hours ago. I was looking for you and you weren’t here,” I tell her, unable to hide the pain in my voice. “The one time I really needed you, and you weren’t here.”

  “Oh, honey,” Mom says, walking around the side of my bed to perch her ass beside me. She finds my hands and scoops them into hers, holding them tight. “It’s not like that at all. You know I would have dropped everything to be here with you. I’ve never been so scared in my life. I thought I was losing you.”

  Pulling my hands out of hers, I look away, unable to handle the pain in her eyes. It’s so fake, so forced, and it only makes it hurt that much more. “Talk all you want, Mom. You can tell me how you would have dropped everything to be here until you’re blue in the face, but the fact is, you didn’t. You weren’t here.”

  “Bri—”

  “No,” I say, hating how obvious I am about how much her absence has hurt me. “Have you ever been stabbed, Mom? Have you ever laid in the grass bleeding out? I thought I was going to die. I’ve never been so scared in my life, and all I needed was to wake up and have you here, but you let me down. Again. You were supposed to be my family, but that means nothing to you now, does it? You’ve got the fancy husband and the fancy car. Money, mansion, designer clothes—nothing else matters to you anymore.”

  Mom stands, gaping at me as though she can’t believe the words coming out of my mouth. “How dare you say that,” she whispers, her hand pressing to her lips as she tries to hide just how horrified she is. But hell, actions speak so much louder than words.

  “Where were you when Colby wrapped my car around that tree, huh?” I ask. “I sure as hell didn’t see you by my hospital bed then. Or what about when Erica and Colby had me arrested on rape charges? Rape, Mom. I didn’t see you in the precinct demanding my release. Hell, all I saw was your palm across my face. You believed every one of their lies. How could you do that to me? You believed the word of a rapist over your own daughter. You’ve remained with a man who would rather help a rapist walk free than defend your daughter.”

  Mom shakes her head, tears welling in her eyes. “You don’t understand.”

  “I understand perfectly well,” I tell her, the remaining shards of my shattered heart turning black with poison. “You made your decision, and it wasn’t me.”

  “That’s enough out of you,” Orlando says, stepping closer to my mother. “How dare you speak to your mother like that. Can you not see how much she’s hurting over all of this?”

  I groan, my sharp gaze slicing toward Orlando. “Oh, fuck off, leech. Get out of my room. You’re not welcome here.”

  “Considering I’m the one paying your hospital bills, I dare say I am. Now, apologize to your mother this minute.”

  “Or what?” I question, my voice lowering and filling with venom, a clear warning not to fucking cross me. “You’ll cut me off? Kick me out of your stupid mansion? News flash, I don’t need that shit to survive. I’m not my mother. I don’t need cars and a fucking mansion to feel validated. I already have everything I need.”

  Orlando laughs. “You mean the boy next door? Tanner Morgan?” he questions. “He’s a delinquent child with an aversion to authority. Do you honestly think he’s going to stick around? I’ve watched that boy go from girl to girl. You’re nothing but a whore keeping his bed warm until the next one comes along.”

  My jaw clenches, but instead of falling victim to his bait, I turn my gaze back toward my mother. “I guess we have something in common after all.”

  Mom gasps and stumbles back a few steps as though my words physically assaulted her. “What did you just call me?”

  “Nothing that your husband didn’t call me first, but that wasn’t a big deal, was it?” I ask her before glancing back at Orlando. “For what it’s worth, that delinquent child is the only reason I’m alive right now. Without him, I’d be rotting in the morgue. If you insult him again, I'll take it as a personal attack against me. And next time, I won't be so forgiving.”

  Orlando throws his hands up in frustration. “How blind are you, girl? Tanner Morgan is the reason you’re in this mess in the first place. He and his whore of a sister. If he hadn’t retaliated at the courthouse, none of this would have happened. Colby would not have felt the need to take matters into his own hands. Your blood is on his hands.”

  My eyes bug out of my head. “Excuse me?” I spit, pushing myself up in my bed, not giving two shits about the pain coursing through my body. “You want to blame Tanner for the fact Colby couldn’t control his need to pick up a knife and slaughter anyone in his way? Do you even hear yourself speak?” I gape at my mother, unable to fathom how she can stand by his side through all of this. “Honestly, Mom? You’re throwing away the last eighteen years to be with that? What is wrong with you?”

  “Honey, I—”

  “No, I don’t want to hear your bullshit excuses. I’m done with you. You’ve had chance after chance, and I’m not hanging out to watch you fuck it up again. You’re on your own,” I say, looking back at Orlando, not nearly done with his bitch-ass. “But if you want to play the blame game, then let’s go ahead and blame the asshole who let Colby walk free in the first place. If it weren’t for you, Colby would be locked up, right where he belongs. Your fucked-up ego is the reason two of my best friends spent the night fighting for their lives, one of them being a fucking minor. A child.”

  “Colby was cleared of all charges.”

  I scoff. “No, you messed with the rape kit and forced the judge’s hand. Colby is not an innocent man, and if his parents don’t pull the fucking plug, I sure as fuck will.”

  “Brielle,” my mother spits. “Don’t you talk like that.”

  “Just get out,” I tell them both. “I don’t want you here.”

  “No,” Mom says, giving a firm shake of her head, tears streaming down her face. “I’m not going anywhere. You’re my daughter, and I will stay as long as it takes.”

  “You misunderstood me, Mother. There’s no amount of time you can stand at my bedside—pretending you give a shit—that’s going to fix this. I’m done. I don’t want anything to do with you. You’ve chosen him one too many times. Congratulations, I’m officially broken, now please leave. I’m not asking again.”

  Orlando steps closer, his eyes filled with a sickening venom. “Watch your mouth, girl,” he says. “I pay for your whole lifestyle. Your school, your hospital fees, the food you eat. With just a click of my fingers, it could all be gone.”

  I grin back at the fucker, more than ready to take him up on his offer when my door swings open with a ferocious BANG, the handle slamming against the drywall. “She asked you to leave,” Addie spits, the anger in her eyes like nothing I’ve ever seen as she clutches onto the pole for her drip, barely able to stand. “Now get the fuck out before I’m forced to call security.”

  My eyes widen, horror rocking through my body. She shouldn’t be out of bed, not even for a moment, and especially not after suffering a punctured lung. Is she out of her goddamn mind? My mouth drops as I prepare to bitch her ass out, but the scathing stare she sends me is a warning to keep my mouth shut.

  “I’m waiting,” she says, glancing between Mom and Orlando, her brow raising with impatience as she steps out of the doorway, making space.

  Seeing Orlando’s indecision as he looks back at my mother, a smug as fuck grin cuts across my face. “Come, Cora. We will deal with this when your daughter returns home.”

  Like hell.

  Mom looks between me and Addie before turning back to Orlando. “But—”

  “NOW,” he demands, that one syllable turning his face red with anger.

  Mom whimpers and walks out of the room, unaware of how much easier it is to breathe without her here. Orlando spares me one last scathing stare before finally following Mom out the door, and I don’t miss the way Addison shrinks back, trying to keep as far away from the asshole as possible.

  Once he steps through the doorway, Addison turns and steps out behind him, her voice echoing up the hospital corridor. “Oh, and go ahead and cut her off, asshole. You know damn well my family has the means to support her. Brielle doesn’t need you and neither does the rest of the world. Go and drown yourself. The world would be a better place without you in it.”

  Without waiting for a reply, she steps back into my room and slams the door shut before immediately collapsing against it. Panic soars through my chest as I prepare to throw myself out of my bed, but she holds up a hand, letting me know she’s okay. “Oh. My. God. You’re an idiot. What the hell are you doing?” I demand.

  “What does it look like I’m doing?” she grumbles, taking a few calming breaths through the pain. “You clearly weren’t getting the job done on your own.”

  “You should be in bed.”

  Addison grips her drip tighter before finally pushing off the door and walking across my room, trying to keep the grimace off her face. “Yeah … I’m not going to make it all the way back to my room,” she says, reaching the end of my bed and falling against it. “Shove over.”

  Gripping the side of my bed, I heave myself over, the pain in my abdomen almost enough to make me wish I were dead. “Sure thing,” Addie mutters. “Take your time, why don’t you? Just suffering a punctured lung here, but it’s fine. I’ll wait.”

  Rolling my eyes, I pull the blankets back and she slides in beside me. I help as much as I can, but between the two of us, we’re pretty much useless.

  After what feels like a lifetime, she finally settles beside me and we’re both as comfortable as we’re ever going to get, only the heavy silence in the room is going to kill us both. “Addie,” I say, my gaze slowly meeting hers. I swallow hard, the haunting knowledge of what she’s been through crushing my chest from the inside out. “Are you okay?”

  Her lips flinch and move as she tries to figure out how to word her response, and after a short pause, she finally shakes her head. “I don’t think so,” she whispers, the hollowness in her gaze killing me. “Up until last night, I thought I was going to be okay. The nightmares were going away, and that dirty, unclean feeling was starting to fade. I think maybe that has something to do with Hudson, but when I saw Colby last night … I just … I don’t think I’m ever going to be okay.”

  Tears well in her eyes, and I pull her closer. “Whatever you need, I’ve got your back.”

  “Will you go into his room and finish what Tanner started?”

  “If that’s what you need,” I tell her. “But you know we’re gonna get caught, right? Even the best ski masks aren’t going to disguise our gimpy asses crawling down the hall. I don’t know about you, but I won’t be able to pull off a jumpsuit.”

  “Speak for yourself,” she says. “I’d look bomb in a jumpsuit.”

  I laugh and she relaxes again, up until broken, pained words fall from her lips. “Tanner hasn’t been brave enough to ask, and I … I don’t really want to talk to him about it, but will you tell him that Colby didn’t, you know … rape me again.”

  Relief pounds through my body and my eyes close for a moment. “Oh, thank God,” I say. “I know they said your clothes had been torn, but I wasn’t sure. I’ve been so worried about you, and yes, of course I’ll let Tanner know.”

  “Thank you,” she whispers, and a tear falls and splashes against my arm. “It happened so fast. One second I was coming out of the bathroom, and the next, he was there. He pushed me back in, and when I saw the knife, I just … I froze. I didn’t know what to do. He started grabbing at me and saying something, but I was too scared to make out the words. I think I fought back. He was getting so angry and then he panicked when someone walked in. He stabbed me right through the chest and took off.”

  “I’m so sorry, Addie,” I say, tears hot on my cheeks. “I hate that you’re hurt again. It should never have happened. I should have gone to the bathroom with you, or … I don’t know. I just wish I’d done something more to protect you.”

  “It’s not your job to protect me, Bri,” she says. “I knew the risks of walking away, and I did it anyway. I thought I would be fine and that’s on me. Besides, Colby is just a dumb jock and clearly knows nothing about the human body. He took swipes at you, me, and Jax, and couldn’t take a single one of us out.”