“So, you saved him. Saved him from the man assaulting him. Saved him from a life that was pure hell. How, exactly, is that abadthing?” he asked, his eyes piercing.
“I didn’t go there tosavehim, Bishop. I went there tousehim, just like all the other men did,” my voice broke as I yelled at him. “He fears becoming the same monster his tormentors were to him, but I alreadyam.”
I realized suddenly that I was yelling, on my feet, my chair pushed back, hands balled into fists on the table as I leaned on them.
“Really? So why didn’t you?” Bishop asked, still seated, his face blank, his eyes quiet as he spoke. “You’d gone hundreds of miles for him, killed this bastard, Ricky, for him. You could have fucked him then. No one would have known. He certainly couldn’t have stopped you. After all, you spent your hard-earned cash to fuck him, right? But you didn’t do it. Why not?” Bishop stood now, also leaning forward on the table, his face tipped up toward mine in challenge, his eyes flashing like lightning.
I looked at my brother in disbelief. How could he even think of such a thing?Rape Mason? The mere thought of it had me diving for the trash can as the pastry and soda came back up. I coughed and spat, eyes streaming as another wave of nausea hit me. After a moment, a wet washcloth was laid gently across the back of my neck, and I looked up to see Bishop staring down at me, a soft smile on his lips.
“That’s what makes you different,” he said quietly, pointing to the mess in the trash can and I raised an eyebrow at him. “The merethought of forcing another human being to have sex makes you vomit. Those men who hurt Mason had long ago lost whatever reflex it is that lets us keep evil out of our souls.”
He held out a clean glass of water and I gratefully used it to rinse my mouth out, then took a sip. I sat back down as he pulled a fresh trash bag out from under the sink and changed the bag, then sat back down across from me.
“So,” he said, “The next question is, how are you going to get him back?”
22
Mason
I staredat the clock on my phone, watching the time pass. Minute after minute ticked by, but I found myself unable to act. I’d showered, dressed, and packed my things in a daze after Lee had left, then sent a ride request via Uber and waited for my driver to show up, trying desperately to figure out how the hell Lee was my Dark Angel.
I didn’t understand how it could have been him. How could a guy from Ohio have even ended up in Milwaukee to begin with, much less as a customer? And how astronomically remote were the odds that the same man, years later, showed up to pick me up from the damn airport? The Universe was obviously fucking with me.
Part of it made perfect sense. I mean, he obviously had his military training, so he knew how to shoot a gun. He had his medical training, so he knew how to dress my wounds. This man couldn’t let an injured animal by the side of the road suffer, much less a human being. His comments that day about his injured leg and everything else I’d learned about him—it just all made sense. Except it didn’t.
Why would Leeeverhave to pay someone to have sex? He was a hot guy, great body. Smart, funny, sweet. It just didn’t make sense.
I walked into the bathroom and that heavenly smell I’d noticed onhim years ago that had been my lifeline was super strong. The bottle of body wash and lotion Mama D had given him when we were at their house the other night was open. I sniffed it and realized that was the source of the wonderful smell. Lee had said she made them each some all the time, with a scent unique to each. I looked at the label she had made on the front of the bottle… “Hero”. Of course. How could I have been so stupid?!
I carefully closed it and set the bottle back down and walked into the bedroom. I’d heard Lee pull out of the driveway a few minutes after he’d left the room. I didn’t know if, or when, he intended to come home. I just knew I couldn’t be here when he did.
I picked up my phone.
ME: Lizzie, I need you. 911.
LIZZIE: …Pulling over.
My phone rang.
“Bug? What’s wrong?” I heard her voice, and the concern and love in it made the tears that had been building behind my eyes overflow, and I started sobbing.
“Lizzie?” I sobbed, trying to get my breath. “Lizzie, it’s him.”
“It’s who, Bug?” She asked quietly.
“…Lee. He’s my Dark Angel,” I managed to get out.
“What?How?” she asked. Thank god she believed me without question. She knew I’d never fuck around about something this important.
I told her the whole story, not even leaving out the humiliating experience the night before. When I explained how I’d connected everything, she stopped me.
“What did he say, Bug? When you said you knew it was him?” she asked, her concern filling her voice.
“He… he didn’t really say anything. He just… he got this horrible look on his face, he told me he was sorry and he left.”
“Okay, so where is he now?” she asked gently.
“I don’t know,” I began. “He left, Lizzie. Heleft.” I started crying again.
