He just apologized to her.
After placing a kiss on the top of her head, he released her and guided her to face me.
“Hi, G.”
I crumbled, charging toward her as a sob broke free from the both of us. We met in a tight but cautious embrace, our faces buried in each other’s shoulders as we clung to oneanother, trying to find our small flickers of light that had been diminishing in this dark, cruel game.
“I’m sorry. I am so sorry,” she breathed into my shirt, her tears soaking the fabric.
I shook my head against her, my tears soaking her shirt right back. “Don’t you dare be sorry for being brave, Haley. I am so fucking proud of you.”
Our knees gave out, both of us crumpling to the floor in an emotional heap. She pulled back to look at me, her hands cupping my face. “I love you.”
“I love you more,” I choked out, bringing her to me again. My best friend, my sister. We rocked back and forth, neither of us giving a shit that we were in the middle of an FBI hallway. The agents could get fucked for all I cared. I needed my best friend right now.
“I have to tell you something,” she whispered, turning her head away from James. My eyes darted up to the agent to find him watching us with a concerned expression. Dean was leaning against the opposite wall, his arms over his chest, warmth present in his eyes as they bounced back from Haley to me.
I nodded, letting her know I understood.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Haley
My hands twisted together as I paced back and forth in front of my best friend.
The warrior mother.
Gwen Davenport was the strongest woman I’d ever known. She had a heart of gold wrapped in barbed wire, much like the bat her lover used to kill mafia bosses.
“Hals, sit down. You are making me nervous.”
I found my head shaking. “I've been laying in a bed for the last three weeks, G,” I simply said, looking at her.
We were in the briefing room, one of the smaller ones that had a table for six and a whiteboard on the far wall. Gwen was leaning against the table, her hands braced at her hips, watching me with her ocean eyes.
She looked so good, which I was thankful for. She tried too hard to keep it together when Kay was taken, and the last thing that I wanted was for my stupidity to push her over the edge.
It pushed James over the edge.
I came home to a different man.
No, you didn’t. He is the real James. The one without the mask.
“I want you to tell me what happened, Haley,” she requested, her voice hesitant.
I blew out a puff of air. “Well, that’s what I want to tell you, but I need you to keep an open mind, G.”
Her brows came together in suspicion, but she nodded reluctantly.
I turned to face her fully, my hands grasping the end of the oversized T shirt. My mind wanted to drift back to an hour ago, when James pulled me off his length, laid me down on the metal interrogation table and then proceeded to kiss me. Every. Single. Bruise. And. Wound.
All while he whispered how much he loved me into my skin.
But I couldn’t do that.
Right now, I needed to convince my best friend that the man she'd hated for the last five years was actually a decent human being.
That he saved me from theactualmonsters.
