I am a statistic.
He brings his forehead to mine. “Breathe, Sunny.Breathe.”
I follow his commands, closing my eyes and allowing his body to mold to mine as a means to ground me. The tears continue, but I can finally breathe.
“I’m so sorry,” I whisper.
“Don’t. Don’t even go there, Sunny.” He shakes his head.
“I need to scream,” I admit.
“Then scream.” He offers his chest as a barrier to muffle my hurt, taking my pain from me and making it his own.
So I scream.
My pain reverberates through his body, and he holds onto me tightly, refusing to let go despite it all. It’s unyielding, the way his body clings to mine. No matter the way it continues over and over and over through the echoes of my screams. The way the hurt and pain courses through my veins, as a living thing, now penetrates his skin and becomes a part of him.
Those screams turn into sobs. The anger breaking down my vulnerable heart and manifesting to the pain that has rooted itself so deeply in me. Forcing my body to give way to the abundance of emotions I’ve finally released. Through it all, Tyler’s voice still laces the air, that’s filled with my anguish, in a series of softit’s okayandI’m here.
“I’ve got you Sunny. I’ve got you.”
And I cry harder, thinking, maybe this is what he needed growing up, too. To just scream all the pain away. For someone to actually listen because that’s what he did for me.
He listened.
“Let me find him,” he whispers into my hair.
“What?” I look up at him through watery eyes.
He cups my face, gently stroking the tears away. He meets my gaze, those greens a lethal calm.
“Let me find him. If you tell me everything, I can find him and put an end to it all.” He continues brushing my tears with his thumbs. “Just give me the word Sunny.”
I have done bad things, Sunny.
Shaking my head, more tears well up in my eyes as I try to step back. Bringing him here would make things worse. I want to be as far away from Ryan as possible. Tyler finding him would mean bringing him back into my life.
I may still be shackled, but at least my links are longer. I can live with that.
“No,” I whisper.
“Sunny, please. I can put an end to this. Let me and Cole find him. If you can just give me something other than his first name. Give me more.” He holds me tighter now, trying to make me look at him.
“No,” I sob again. “The detectives said that he is probably just doing what I’m doing—moving on. Moving past this and trying to start a new life.”
“You cannot let him walk freely from this. You can’t let him get away with it. You and I both know he isn’t just trying to move on.” His eyes search my face for the answer I refuse to give him.
“He won’t stop, Tyler. He won’t stop if you bring him here. If you find him. What if the court sides with him because I hit him back and left him for dead?”
“We don’t need the court, baby. I can make that go away, too. I can make it as if he never even existed.”
I’ve done bad things, Sunny.
As I look into his eyes, I realize just how much power Tyler holds. Though he won’t tell me or give away any details in what he does, it only encourages that curiosity inside me. My mind stuck wondering the lengths he’d go to protect those he cares about.
You’ve killed people, Tyler.
Mitchell uses him for this very reason. Now I know why Tyler has said his world is one of no law. I will not be like Mitchell—using him for his abilities, for my own benefit.
