Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 70628 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 283(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70628 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 283(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
“Aspen, no one can blame you if you’re not thinking clearly. Believe me, I’ve been there.”
I cup his stubbly cheek, run my thumb over his lower lip. He’s so handsome, my Buck. So big and strong and magnificent.
And he’s been through…
I don’t even know everything that he’s been through. Just like he doesn’t know everything that I’ve been through. We have our lifetimes to learn everything about each other. And some of those things? Some of those things we may just keep bottled inside.
Luke and Katelyn are out on the deck with the dogs.
“You feel like a swim?” Buck asks.
“Not especially,” I say.
“What then?” he asks. “What can I do for you?”
“All I need from you is your love, Buck.” I brush my lips over his. “All I need is your love.”
47
BUCK
One month later…
“On the first count, murder in the first degree, we, the jury, find the defendant, Christopher Pollack, guilty. On the second count, murder in the first degree, we find the defendant, Christopher Pollack, guilty. On the third count, assault and battery with the intent to kill, we find the defendant, Christopher Pollack, guilty.”
Aspen relaxes next to me.
I can almost see the tension flowing off her in visible waves.
Katelyn, sitting on Aspen’s other side, also relaxes. Pollack is the man who tormented her the most on that island.
And he will be going away for a long time.
Luke and I both pulled some strings through our contacts to make sure Pollack was safe during his time at the county jail while he awaited trial. We wanted the system to do its work for once.
And it did.
Now? What happens to Pollack once he gets to prison? Well…that’s between him and his fellow inmates.
Fernando Smith, the albino and Aspen’s worst tormentor, pleaded guilty to first degree rape, assault and battery, unlawful imprisonment, and a host of other crimes. Two weeks ago, he was killed by a fellow inmate.
He was violated with a knife, and he bled to death.
How did a fellow prisoner get a knife? Connections, though not any of ours.
That said, none of us shed any tears when we heard the news.
I expect the same thing to happen to Pollack once he gets to that same facility.
It’s a funny thing about prisoners. They’re all criminals, for the most part. But they really don’t like people who abuse women and children. That makes you a pariah in prison, and the albino paid the price. No doubt Pollack will as well.
And if it happens, we won’t mourn the loss.
Aspen and I have been going to therapy together for the last couple of weeks.
She did what she came to do. She found out the story behind her abduction.
And everyone involved in it is paying.
Harrison Wallace took his own life while he was still in the hospital, leaving a few mysteries unsolved. He swallowed enough fentanyl to kill several people. How did he get it?
No one knows.
And no one’s asking any questions.
Once Aspen and Katelyn went public with their stories? Everyone pretty much felt he got what he deserved.
So yeah… Therapy.
Aspen and I both need to deal better with our PTSD, and we’re getting there.
With each other, we’re getting there.
Aspen’s need for vengeance seems to be satisfied, and she’s not interested in tracking down any of the other men from the island who hurt her.
Most of them are probably in prison or dead anyway. Or they’ve disappeared and will never return.
We leave the courtroom, and then we go home to our apartment. Aspen and I didn’t want to stay in Luke’s beach house forever, so we got our own place here.
Will we stay?
We’re not sure yet, but we’ll be here for another two weeks.
Tomorrow is Luke and Katelyn’s wedding, and we’ll be dog sitting for them while they’re on their honeymoon.
We’ll be staying at the beach house since Jed isn’t used to an apartment.
Edgar will enjoy his company.
We’re at a small church.
Yes. The man formerly known as Lucifer Raven is getting married in a church.
But at this point in my life, I don’t have any issue with that. Luke Ashton has finally made me see who he is now.
His brother, Sebastian Ashton, stands beside him in the front of the church. They both are clad in black tuxedos.
A string quartet begins Mozart’s wedding march, and I look toward the back, where Aspen—my beautiful Aspen—begins walking toward the front in her bridesmaid’s dress.
It’s dark pink—and it clings to her. It’s strapless, and yes, some of her scars are visible.
And they’re beautiful.
Then comes Katelyn, flanked by her parents, James and Farrah Brooks.
Her dress is also strapless—and instead of white she chose ivory because of her fair skin.
And yes—some of her scars are also visible.
These two women are walking down the aisle as they are.
Pure beauty. I watch as the scene before me unfolds.
I watch as Katelyn hands her bouquet of roses to Aspen, and I watch as Luke’s brother hands him the rings.