“What about Lick?” I ask, not willing to put her in a shelter.
“She comes with us,” Kelcie replies while we climb into bed.
Lick jumps up to find a comfortable spot by Kelcie’s feet while I pull my woman into my arms.
“I guess we’re spending a week at your brother’s, then.”
“Thank you,” she murmurs while snuggling into my side.
When she’s quiet, my thoughts turn to Colby, and I worry that he’s not going to back down.
“This morning I decided to scale down my visits to the cemetery to once a week.”
Surprised at the news, I glance at Kelcie. “Yeah? And you’re okay with that?”
“I can’t live in the past while trying to build a future with you.”
The corner of my mouth lifts. “I know it must’ve been difficult for you to do. I’m proud of you.”
Kelcie falls silent again, and just as I think she’s asleep, she asks, “Memory for a memory?”
“Sure.”
She begins to draw random patterns on my chest.
“Sage came home for a long weekend. We were so happy because she’d been busy with a trial and wasn’t able to visit for months. I’d just finished the biggest order I’ve ever received, and we had pizza for dinner to celebrate.”
Realizing that she’s sharing a memory from the night of the attack, I hold her tighter and brush my hand up and down her back.
“Sage and I were going to watch a movie, but I had to dry my hair, or it would be all poofy and unmanageable.” She pauses for a long while, and when she continues, her voice is hoarse. “I was blow-drying my hair when I heard a scream. It all happened so fast, but at the same time, it feels like the longest night of my life.”
I press a kiss to her temple and keep caressing her back.
“When I ran out of my room, one of the men was dragging Mom by her hair.” She clears her throat. “Wesley Porter. Such a plain name for such an evil person.”
Every muscle in my body tenses, and I clench my jaw.
“I tried to stop him, but he was so much stronger than me. He hit me before shoving me down the stairs. In the living room ... one of the men was kicking Sage. I think he’d already killed her, because she was so pale and had a big gash on the side of her head.”
Her voice breaks, and I almost tell her to stop. To not put herself through the horror again, but by some miracle, I keep quiet.
“The third bastard was stabbing Dad.” Her voice cracks. “God, Levi.” A sob bursts from her, and I turn onto my side, trying to engulf her smaller frame with my body.
Her voice is muffled against my chest as she somehow finds the courage to go on. “I was stuck in a horrified trance while that evil monster kept plunging a knife into Dad’s stomach and chest. He was so aggressive. So deranged.” Kelcie begins to cry heartbreakingly, and her words are strained. “I heard a sound as if someone was choking, and when I looked at the top of the stairs, Mom ... my mom ...”
Kelcie loses control of her emotions and weeps in my arms, and I feel so fucking helpless, not being able to take the gruesome memories from her.
I’m well acquainted with hatred, but after hearing what those bastards did to her family, I wish I could reach into their jail cells and tear them apart.
Kelcie sounds broken when she manages to continue. “He slit my mom’s throat, and I watched as she bled out. Dad told me to run.”
Her breaths speed up until they’re coming too fast, and I pull back so I can see her face. “Take a break and focus on your breathing, baby. Ten ... nine ... eight ...”
I go through the same exercise she did with me last night, and when she calms down, I wipe the tears from her cheeks.
“I ran,” she whispers.
I see the guilt in her eyes and quickly shake my head. “You had to run.”
