He trailed his fingers down my sweaty spine, his heart hammering and his pulse rapidly beating against my lips. “I love you, too, baby. Fucking always.”
Epilogue
Hudson
* * *
Kreed held my hand in his as we took our seats at the back of the courtroom. The benches were like the pews commonly seen in a church—brown, hard, and wooden, which meant they were extremely uncomfortable. I already knew my ass would hurt once I got out of here. Because fuck knew how long this would take.
Today, several months after Bonnie had me attacked and her fuckwad boyfriend had deviated from whatever plan she’d concocted and stabbed me, damn near ending my life, I would finally see both my mother and the motherfucker who’d damn near ended my life, David Drew, get what they deserved.
Prison time.
Ultimately, it’d be up to the jury, but there was so much evidence it wasn’t possible both of them wouldn’t spend some kind of time behind bars. As far as I knew, the prosecution was going for every charge possible. While I knew some wouldn’t stick, I hoped as many as possible got slammed on both of them.
There would be two less vengeful people amongst us in civilization. And I’d never have to deal with Bonnie ever fucking again.
“You good?” Kreed quietly asked, resting his hand on my thigh and giving a gentle squeeze. “They’re about to bring David in.”
I nodded.
“I’m fine,” I promised, glancing over at him. “Are you okay?”
Kreed, who had recently moved closer to my school so we didn’t have to be apart while classes were in session, had been hovering for the past two weeks as the court date drew closer and closer. Honestly, I was more worried about him. I was used to this shit, and I was seeing a therapist again because of him. Kreed wasn’t, though I hoped I could change that soon. I didn’t think he was coping all that well with what’d happened to me, especially not as more and more information came to light that he’d always been kept in the dark about.
He had nightmares about what’d happened to me, waking up every single night to make sure I was okay. And if we had to be apart that night, he’d call me, and he’d listen to me breathe while I fell back asleep because it was the only thing that soothed him.
“I’m good. Why would you ask me that?”
I huffed a laugh. “I don’t think you’re good, baby.”
I watched as a door to the side opened and two officers led David Drew into he room, his arms and ankles cuffed. His public defender met him halfway, talking to him in a low voice, but I didn’t think David heard a word of it. Because he’d spotted me, and he was angry. His face turned red and blotchy, and his jaw visibly tightened.
I let a small smirk tilt my lips. Make stupid choices, get stupid consequences. And deciding to give Bonnie even the time of day was the stupidest fucking choice that man had probably ever made. She ruined every life she stepped into.
“I think you need therapy,” I murmured.
When Kreed remained silent, I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye to find him frowning at me.
I sighed. “I don’t think you’re coping with my past all that well, Kreed. You’ve got a lot of guilt built up inside that you won’t let me privy to. Therapy will probably do you good.”
And clearly, he was an advocate of it since he’d also convinced Corvus to go to therapy. Corvus hadn’t coped well with seeing me in a pool of my own blood, damn near dead. But he was doing better now that he saw a therapist weekly, and he was working through his childhood trauma, too.
It was no wonder Corvus and I had latched on to each other the way we had. We both came from fucked-up families. I’d come to find out trauma bonds were some of the strongest bonds ever formed.
“We’ll see,” Kreed finally sighed.
I patted his thigh. “No. You will.”
He rolled his eyes, clearly exasperated. “Fine. I’ll call and make an appointment when we get out of here. Happy?”
“Very.” I leaned over and pressed a kiss to his cheek, and immediately, his irritation bled away.
We were all ordered to stand as the bailiff announced the judge into the room. I’d heard only good things about the judge who made his way into the room, how he was just, fair, and never let crimes go unpunished, and it settled me a bit to see him stepping into the stand. I knew, no matter what the jury decided, he’d make sure both Bonnie and David spent time behind bars.
Kreed and I remained silent as the court entered session. When the jury broke to debate, Kreed and I slipped out long enough to get some water and take a bathroom break, then reentered the room and took our seats once more. Thirty minutes later, the jury returned, finding David guilty on all counts—aggravated assault, attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a weapon during a felony, and assault with the intent to murder.
He was given life in prison due to his priors, which hadn’t surprised me. Bonnie had a type when it came to men she liked to fuck, and he checked just about all her boxes. Apparently, it hadn’t been David’s first time when it came to attempted murder, which wasn’t that much of a shock either. He’d been pretty confident when he’d slid that blade into my stomach.
