Page 8 of Sick Little Devotion

If only I’d had known what he would do a week later.

Chapter Four

AIDEN

Taking a last drag from my cigarette, I flick it out of the window, smoke swirling around me like a cloak of shadows. I grip the steering wheel of my Mercedes with a force I didn’t know I possessed. I bought this car two weeks ago, after I was finally free from the clutches of Ben Grenado, the drug lord who had held me as a fucking captive for seven years. Granted, I couldn’t be too angry. After all, he taught me everything I know.

To kill or be killed.

That if I don’t get my game straight, the only place I’m gonna end up is on a park bench.

That knowledge is power, and what you don't know can hurt you.

He also dangled the threat of killing my family over my head, if I as much as tried to contact them while I was still under his thumb. And Sara was my family. The only person who cared about me, and the only person I cared about in this world. It was a tough choice, but I thought… I thought it would be okay. I wasn’t willing to put Sara in harm’s way.

Now, as I sit in my car in front of Will’s shop I realize that I had been stupid once again, thinking that I had solved Sara’s problem with Ron all those years ago.

I had thought Ron was unable to get to her.

When had he gotten better? Had he had a miracle recovery? Or was his walking a result of physical therapy? When I’d finished with him that night, he’d had a severed spine. He was, or so I thought, paralyzed forever from the waist down. He was ruined. He could never hurt my Sara.

But now he’s walking again. Did he get to her while I was gone?

I swallow my rage as I stare at the restaurant and tourist shop. It was the first place I had driven to after I had gotten the car. I have known about it for a while. I tried to keep tabs on Sara’s life as much as could from afar, but now I am finally here and a free man.

The place sits right off the interstate, and for that reason, it’s always done well. It belonged to Sara’s biological father—the one whom I only knew a very few short months before he was killed in a car accident. And then, seven months later, Will had walked into our life, bringing his creepy fucking brother, Ron. They took over the store, and they sucked the happiness right out of the house, leaving us all broken.

And, while I hate it, I might’ve always seen Sara as a sister had he not come into our life.

My eyes flick to Sara and her two younger sisters, Lilly and Eliza, whom I can see through the big plate glass window. I know that the very youngest is already with their biological grandparents. She’s not old enough to work yet. I have done my due diligence and had one of my men look into their circumstances. My intelligence tells me that the three younger girls normally go to their grandparents every weekend, but this weekend, it seems they are working as well, at least the Friday night.

I can’t understand why Will and Sara’s mom agreed to foster more kids, especially after what happened between Ron and me. I just can’t understand why they went and picked up more kids… Probably for free labor.

“But why are you still here?” I ask Sara the question aloud, even though I know she can’t hear me. It probably has something to do with those girls. But she shouldn’t have had to stay in that fucking house, reliving her trauma with no end in sight.

It’s our trauma, and she’s never escaped it.

I’m tempted to go into the restaurant and demand to know if Ron has ever touched her. I want to ask if that’s why she’s there—because she’s brainwashed into thinking she should stay. It makes my stomach sick. I wonder if the light in her bright blue eyes is gone. I always loved that light. Always. I remember when I first met her, and I let the memories settle me.

***

Fifteen Years Earlier…

“You’re going to meet your new family,” Miss Parker says to me.

I look at her as if she’s crazy. I don’t have a family. The man I meet with on weekdays after school sometimes tells me that my entire family is gone. Well, kind of. My dad hasn’t ever been here. I don’t think he even knows about me.

“The Parsons are really nice people. You’re going to have a sister, too.” She leads me to the car.

I nod. I don’t want a sister. I want a brother. Like two of them. They can help me build cool stuff with my Legos. I’ve been getting really good at that.

“You won’t be in the same school district, but it’ll be for the better. I promise.”

I shrug. I don’t have any friends anyway. No one wants to be the weird kid’s friend. They all think my clothes are old and my interests are dumb. Sometimes they shove me, but I don’t tell anyone. My life is none of their business.

I climb into the backseat and put my seatbelt on. Everything I own is in a backpack beside me. Sure, I don’t have a lot of things. Maybe that’s how it’s supposed to be. I let out a big breath and lean back.

I hope my new dad takes me fishing.