Chapter Eighteen
Connor
O nce Sierra was in the kitchen, I pulled out my phone again, reading the full exchange that had been blowing up my phone:
Adrian
Tick-tock, Killer. Window’s closing.
Jax
We have till 8, so we either move now or wait till he’s home.
I glanced at the time: 6:32 PM. They had less than two hours before Jerry returned to his house, a good window for us to grab him.
My fingers hovered over the keyboard, torn between the desire for immediate vengeance and the need to be present for Sierra. She needed me here, helping her prepare for tomorrow's speech.
But could I really focus on donor platitudes and library statistics, knowing that the man who had tormented her was out there, breathing the same air, living his life as if he hadn't destroyed a child's sense of safety and self-worth?
Connor
Surveillance only. We’ll move when I’m there.
The response was immediate.
Jax
Copy that. Surveillance mode activated.
Adrian
Disappointing… I already promised my fishies a hearty dinner.
Jax
Our bee doing okay?
Adrian
I found a tea she might like. Jax said it tastes like feet, but he’s uncultured.
A reluctant smile tugged at my lips. For all their faults, and there were many, I knew Jax and Adrian cared.
Connor
MY Sierra’s fine. Keep me updated.
I clicked my phone off, shoving it back into my pocket just as Sierra returned from the kitchen, a glass of iced tea in each hand. She offered me one with a soft smile that both placated me and fueled my anger further.
How could anyone have hurt something so precious? The knowledge that her stepfather was out there made my hands itch with the need to inflict pain.
“Better?” Sierra asked, misinterpreting my tension as work stress. “You look like you want to murder someone.”
She didn’t know how accurate that observation truly was. I accepted the glass, draining half in one go before setting it aside.
“Just people,” I grumbled dismissively. “Nothing new.” I reached for her, pulling her back into my arms. “Now, where were we with that speech?”
She settled against me, warm and trusting, her head resting on my chest where she could surely hear the thundering of my heart.
“I think I was talking about underserved communities,” she murmured, her fingers playing with the buttons of my shirt. “But honestly, I don’t think I can focus anymore.”
I stroked her hair, forcing myself to push thoughts of Jerry from my mind. He would be dealt with, but not right now. This is Sierra’s time to help her prepare for her moment in the spotlight tomorrow. My revenge could wait; her needs couldn't.
“Maybe we should take a break,” I suggested, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “Order some dinner, watch Beauty and the Beast again.”
She looked up at me, her nose crinkling. "We’ve watched that every night.”
I chuckled, some of the tension draining from my shoulders at her cute expression. “Yeah, but I like it. And I get to hear you hum along to the songs.”
She blushed, that beautiful dark pink spreading across her golden cheeks again. “You notice the weirdest things.”
“I notice everything about you.”
It wasn't an exaggeration. I knew every expression, every habit, and every preference with obsessive attention to detail. I knew her tea preferences, her favorite cardigan. My memory was a vault of Sierra-specific information, each detail precious and vital.
My phone vibrated again in my pocket, but I ignored it. Whatever updates the guys had could wait. I had more important things to focus on. Like how Sierra's eyes were twinkling when she looked at me, or how her body fit perfectly against mine as I guided her back to the couch.
“One more run-through,” I insisted, settling her on my lap. "From the beginning. No distractions this time, I promise.”
She nodded, retrieving her index cards and taking a deep breath. As she began her speech again, her voice stronger and more confident than before, I was reminded of the contrast between the woman beside me and the monster my friends were hunting.
Sierra, who created safe spaces for children to discover the joy of reading, and Jerry, who had systematically destroyed every sense of safety she'd ever known.
I meant what I said to Jax and Adrian—we would move when I was there to take care of the bastard personally. Watching Sierra speak passionately about literacy and opportunity, I knew there would be no mercy when that happened.
Not for the man who tried to break the woman I love.
For now, though, I pushed those violent thoughts aside, focusing entirely on my sweet girl as she finished her speech.
Tomorrow, she will stand before a room of donors and dazzle them with her passion and intelligence, and I will be plotting the destruction of the man who haunted her for too long.
“Perfect,” I praised when she finished, pride warming my voice. "Absolutely fucking perfect."
I pulled her into my lap again, cradling her against my chest as if she were made of glass. In some ways, she was. Small and delicate, entirely irreplaceable. But in others, she was the strongest person I'd ever known, a survivor who had rebuilt herself from the shattered pieces of her childhood.
She smiled up at me, unaware of the darkness churning just beneath the surface of my thoughts. “Thank you for helping me," she said softly, pressing a sweet kiss to my cheek. “I feel ready now.”
“You were always ready,” I replied, holding her close. “You just needed to believe it.”
She hummed, curling up in my lap, her eyes drifting closed for a midday nap, Toffee jumping up to join us to do the exact same thing.
“I love you, Sierra,” I declared in a whisper, the words coming easier than I ever thought possible.“More than you'll ever know.”
I put Sierra to sleep a while ago, keeping an eye on her uneven breaths. They were slowly steadying, most likely due to the low dose of hydroxyzine I had dissolved into her night tea. I didn’t plan to use the antihistamine often, but she needed the extra boost tonight.
I both hated and loved how every fucking detail of her sleep screamed vulnerability. Her knees drew up defensively, even in unconsciousness, adorable yet telling. My sweet girl didn’t know how to rest without armor.
My phone vibrated against the nightstand in short bursts:
Jax
Fucker’s en route. ETA 20 mins. You coming or what?
Adrian
I bought the flamethrower AND an ice cream scooper.
[Photo]
The attached photo showed Jerry’s house and the obnoxious red circles Adrian had drawn around it, as if it wasn’t the only fucking thing in the photo.
My thumb hovered over the screen, the part of my brain wild with adrenaline and murder methods, calculating my plan.
Sierra’s breath hitched, a sleep-stuttered sound that made my fist tighten around the phone as I began to move.
I stood slowly, muscles coiled like a predator’s, and made it three steps toward the door before her whimper froze me.
Not the soft, post-orgasm sounds she made when I devoured that sweet little pussy, this was sharper.
This was needier. It was the kind of noise that lived in the space between a sob and a scream.
The dose I gave her was too low.
“Connor?”
Her voice filtered through the dark, sharp with nerves. I watched my reflection in the floor-to-ceiling windows return its features into something soft, harmless, before turning .
“Right here, sweet girl.”
The lie came smooth as bourbon, my body already pivoting back toward the bed. She’d kicked off the sheets, the hoodie riding up to expose the gentle curve of her hip.
Fuck. Even half-asleep, her innocence was hotter than any seductress.
She blinked up at me, sleep clouding her vision. “Where’re you…” A yawn fractured the question, her fingers plucking at the empty space on the mattress where I’d been lying.
My cock twitched.
“Bathroom,” I murmured, perching on the edge of the bed. My palm found the nape of her neck, my thumb circling the beat of her pulse there. “Go back to sleep.”
Her lashes fluttered, and her body already sank into the mattress. “Okay, want to… hug you.”
The words slid through my ribcage, lodging right into my heart.
My phone kept vibrating, insistent, urgent:
Jax
He’s home. Want his tongue or thumbs first?
Adrian
Tongue’s too boring, then he can’t scream. Let’s do his cuticles.
Sierra shifted, her knee brushing my thigh, seeking me. I typed one-handed, the other settling on her smooth skin.
Connor
I can’t make it. Move in 24 hours?
Jax’s response was immediate.
Jax
You fucking serious?
Adrian
Bro’s got blue balls. Let him suffer .
My thumb hovered over the keyboard, torn between dismantling Adrian’s entire bloodline and the way Sierra’s breath caught on another sleepy sound. Her fingers found my wrist, pulling me to the present.
“Stay,” she mumbled into the pillow, the word slurred with sleep but unmistakable. “Speech…”
The phone buzzed again, a video, this time. Jerry’s lanky silhouette moved behind gauzy curtains, a bottle in one hand as he staggered toward what looked like a home bar.
Rage boiled in my veins, hot and acidic. I stared at the screen, at the man who’d turned her childhood into a minefield of anxiety and four-count breathing, and made a choice.
Connor
Jerry’s balls will be gone in 24 hours.
Jax
I don’t want to think of his wrinkly ass balls.
Adrian
OMG. Are you gonna pop them?
Connor
Only you’re gross like that.
Adrian
:(
“Hey.” I cupped Sierra’s face, tilting it toward me. Her cheeks were soft with lines from her antihistamine-induced sleep.
“Look at me.”
She obeyed, eyes glassy, extra fuzzy from the tea.
“You’re gonna own that room tomorrow.” My thumb brushed her lashes, watching her eyes flutter. “Know why?”
A sleepy head shake.
“Because you’re mine.” The possessiveness rolled off my tongue. “And you have to be strong to be mine. ”
She looked at me, confused and halfway asleep. I backtracked, softening the edges.
“You practiced that speech until you could recite it backward. Those rich fucks?”
She blinked up at me.
“They’ll piss themselves when you start talking.”
A soft laugh escaped her, warm against my palm. “Really?”
“Yes, sweet girl.” I leaned down, brushing my lips over her temple. “Now sleep. I’ll be here when you wake up.”
She nestled closer, her icy, cold toes finding the heat between my calves. I bit back a flinch.
“Promise?”
I traced the apple of Sierra’s cheek, committing her soft skin to memory.
“Promise.”