Total pages in book: 46
Estimated words: 42809 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 214(@200wpm)___ 171(@250wpm)___ 143(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 42809 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 214(@200wpm)___ 171(@250wpm)___ 143(@300wpm)
“Oh, Sully,” I lean in and bring his hand to my lips. I want to hold him, but I wait until he makes the move. “I’m so sorry you had to go through that, and I’m sorry your mother had to live with such a vile monster.”
“It took me a few years, and by the time I was fourteen, I had built muscle. I was stronger. I was in the boxin’ club every feckin’ day. I wanted ta be able ta take on the bastard and win.”
He looks at me then, and I see it in his eyes. There’s a clarity shimmering there. He’s proud of himself, and I am too. I didn’t think I could ever feel like that. Be proud of a man who killed another, but I am. I’m thankful he took it into his own hands because, more times than not, it could have ended a completely different way.
Sully swigs his beer, and I can tell he’s nervous. I know something happened. I recall he told me back when we first met at the centre. The ghosts of the past haunt him. It’s so clear to see on his face. His expression is dark, filled with anger.
“One night, I came home, and he was there,” Sully continues his story. “There was nothing to stop me because I’d grown up. I’d made sure I could fight him before I confronted him again. There comes a point in life when you need to make a choice. When you need ta make sure there’s nothin’ you’ll regret.”
“True, but decisions can change as well,” I say to him as I consider my own secrets, my past.
“Aye, they can, but with him, I knew I would never stop until he was out of Ma’s life. And even then, I didn’t think he would just walk out. He needed to be forced out.”
Forced. Killed.
The words linger in my mind, hanging there like a lead weight. I’m now even more sure about what Sully did.
When he looks at me again, there’s no regret or guilt in his eyes. His expression remains neutral, and I know I’m going to see the true nature of this man. He may think it’s bad, and I shouldn’t be here with him, but I’m not afraid. I’m not at all scared, because I know who he is. He’s a good man.
“I took the fecker out of Ma’s house that night. I dragged him outside, and I took him to a park that sat behind the houses where we lived.”
“Were you alone?” I can’t imagine a young Sully, even if he had been working out, taking on a grown man. But when he nods, my mouth falls open.
“Feckin’ adrenaline had kicked in, and I didn’t feel anythin’ but the rage I’d been holding’ back all those years. Ma ran after me, but I told her ta stay inside. There wasn’t any reason fer her to see me like that. I was nothin’ more than a beast, ragin’ at the bastard I’d finally captured.”
Sully’s voice gets quieter as he speaks, and with every decibel it lowers, a shiver races down my spine. Knowing he’s killed with his bare hands has my stomach twisting, but I know he did it for a good reason. He was protecting the woman who loves him and who he loves. And no matter what he says to me, I know I’ll never see him as a monster. He’s a hero.
“Not all heroes wear shiny armor,” I tell him with a small smile, and it causes him to chuckle.
“Ach, aye, but I took a life that day. I stole it, and I knew there was no goin’ back.” He leans back into the sofa, and I wait for him to tell me the rest. “I took a knife ta him before I strangled him. And I didn’t blink. There were no second guesses, and I didn’t want to stop. I needed him out of my ma’s life, and I believed it was the only way.”
I want to tell him I believe that, too. Because I’m pretty sure his mother would have kept taking Conall back, even after all he’d done to her. That’s the problem with loving someone like that. It always ends in pain, and no matter how many times they apologize, there’s nothing that will change them. Darkness will always take over, and it will be there until you’re the one in the hospital. Which is what happened to me. I only accepted I needed to run when I almost died.
Even then, it wasn’t like I could easily escape. Rogan would have found me no matter where I went if I’d stayed in the US. It may be a big country, but there are eyes watching everywhere. I’m the daughter of a dead MC President, and too many people know me.