“Really?”
“Really. And chocolate chip cookies, if you’re good.”
Lily’s eyes go wide. She looks up at Isabel for confirmation.
“She’s telling the truth,” Isabel says. “These people—they’re nice. They’re going to help us.”
It’s the first time I’ve heard her say anything positive about... well, anything. It makes my throat tighten.
Whatever Brick has done—whatever happened in that house—Isabel isn’t fighting anymore.
She’s letting people in.
I watch her smooth Lily’s hair back, watch the way she leans into Maggie’s steady presence instead of pulling away. This is what it looks like when someone finally feels safe. When the weight they’ve been carrying alone gets shared.
I hate that it took this much to get her there. Hate that she had to be beaten bloody before she could accept that not everyone is a threat. Hate that somewhere out there, a man is still breathing after doing this to her.
But she’s here now. She and her sister are safe.
Thank God.
STONE
I find Brick in the garage, running water over his hands.
The blood swirls down the drain—his and someone else’s, mixed together. His knuckles are raw, split in several places. He’s done some damage tonight.
Good.
“How bad?” I ask.
“She’ll live. Ribs might be cracked, lot of bruising. Head wound looks worse than it is.” He doesn’t look up from his hands. His voice is flat, clinical, like he’s giving a report, not talking about a girl who was nearly beaten to death.
But I can see it’s affected him. Water runs red over his hands, then pink, then clear, but his fingers stay curled, knuckles rigid. His jaw is set hard enough to ache, his eyes dark and shuttered.
“She’s been through worse,” he mutters, his frown deepening. “You can tell by the way she takes a hit.”
My jaw tightens. “What was the situation?
“Stepfather wailing on the both of them, I suspect.”
“Is the kid hers?”
He shakes his head. “Her sister, I think.”
I nod, filing that away. “And the dad?”
“Alive.” Brick turns off the water, grabs a rag. “Not happy about it. But alive.”
“Blow back?”
He glances up, his gaze ice cold. “If he comes sniffing around, he knows the consequences.”
The way he says it tells me everything I need to know.
“She’s ours now. Both of them. You understand?”
“I told him the same thing.” Brick’s eyes meet mine. “Right before I broke his ribs.”
