They seemed to all have that in common, their rough pasts. “What happened to her? I mean, if you don’t mind me asking.”
He polished off the other half of his sandwich before reaching for his coffee. “She got herself into a bad situation with a guy she liked. He was in a gang, slinging drugs, and she thought he was--.”
“Her world.”
He stared down into his coffee. “Yeah, something like that.”
I reached out and placed my hand on his bare thigh. “If you don’t want to talk about it, you don’t have to. But, I’m here if you do. Okay?”
He stared at our connection for a long time before he placed his hand on top of mine. “He came over one evening to hang out, and I knew what that meant. It made me sick that Mom was totally okay with them snorting shit off one another in the basement, but I think she liked it because they always gave her what was left over.”
“Jesus,” I whispered.
He started squeezing my hand. “I woke up to Mom screaming one morning. Just… just this blood-curdling, shrieking sort of sound that… God, when I first woke up, I thought…”
I knew where it was going, but I gave him the silence he needed in order to get it out.
“Turns out, her and him both OD’d one night in the basement. And I never forgave myself for that.”
I shook my head. “You know it’s not your fault, right? You couldn’t have possibly--.”
He turned his heated gaze toward me. “They were getting high in the basement, and I allowed it. I allowed my drug-addled mother to usher my sister down that exact same path, and it killed her.Hekilled her.”
I swallowed hard. “I’m so sorry, Ranger. Honestly, I am. I can’t even imagine.”
His hand started trembling, but he kept his stare locked with mine. “I killed them, you know.”
I froze. “Killed who?”
His hand grew even tighter around mine. “The gang responsible for her death. I slaughtered them all for what they did to her, and I was only nineteen at the time. I had nothing to lose, and I acted like it. Does that scare you?”
“Does what scare me?”
“The fact that I’m a murderer?”
Even though it was hard to move my hand, I turned it upward and allowed his palm to fall against mine. “No, it doesn’t scare me.”
He turned his gaze forward quickly. “Well, it should.”
And yet, his fingers threaded through my fingers instead of letting them go.
“We all have our dark sides, Range.”
He scoffed. “You don’t.”
“Seriously? You think I don’t entertain the idea of killing people from time to time?”
“Ever done it?”
“I almost did.”
He snickered, almost as if to challenge me. “When?”
I didn’t hesitate, either. “When you guys had my father hostage.”
That whipped his gaze back to me, and the shock was evidence enough.
“Before you say anything,” I said as I pushed the food tray up the bed a bit before scooting closer, “I know I would have never succeeded. But, it didn’t stop me from allowing that to be a viable option if it meant trying to save my father. That’s why I don’t think you’re a terrible person. You went after the guys who hooked your sister on the drugs that ultimately killed her. You did it for family. That’s the difference for me, because I’d kill for family, too. In the blink of an eye.”
