Chapter Twenty-Eight
Vik
The fire did what fires do.
The firefighters arrived before the police and quickly brought the blaze under control. But with gasoline as an accelerant, there was no saving the structure.
Within minutes, my house and everything in it was gone.
Oddly enough... I’m okay with that.
Deep down, I know that it was never really my home. It was a fortress. A place to plan and scheme. Somewhere I planned to bring about the downfall of the men who’d haunted me for decades.
I take comfort in the thought that, out of these ashes, Hannah and I can rise together.
“Run it by me again,” Police Officer Reggy Sutherland says, scratching the side of his head with the back of a cheap pen. “You weren’t home when the three men broke into your house?”
“Hannah heard glass breaking and called me. I got into a car accident rushing back, but I thought her life was in danger, and I couldn’t stay there.”
It might come out that I held the Texan at gunpoint to get his keys. But I’ve already made sure he’s been well compensated. If he hasn’t already, he’ll find a small fortune waiting in the trunk of his undamaged Bronco. Hopefully enough to stop him from looking any deeper into what happened tonight.
“Sure, I get that,” Reggy says, “but what I can’t figure out is how you busted in there, bloody and beaten from a car wreck, and still managed to take out all three of them.”
He scribbles something on his clipboard before shaking his head.
“Adrenaline’s one crazy mother.” I don’t volunteer any more information than I have to.
Hannah says almost nothing at all. Believing she’d been tied to a chair and left to burn alive, Reggy puts her silence down to shock.
All of his questions are directed at me. And I’ve given him exactly the answers he needs to close the case, backed by one final piece of evidence I’ve kept until now.
“My thoughts exactly. And if you need it, I’ve got the camera footage of them breaking in. Up until one of them killed the feed.”
The final nail in their coffin. I have untouched footage of them crossing the garden, smashing the windows and tying Hannah to a chair. The recording cuts out shortly before I arrive. No doubt when they started tearing the house apart.
“We’re going to need a copy of that,” he says. “Actually... I’d like to see it now, if you’ve got it.”
I nod and hand him my phone. There’s no audio. It doesn’t need it.
The paramedics give Hannah and me one final examination, which reinforces everything I’ve already told the police. The injuries from the crash speak for themselves. As do the cuts and bruises Hannah picked up tonight.
More time passes. The police ask more questions. Neighbors gather where they don’t belong.
Eventually, Reggy returns with a smile. He offers me his hand.
“Look, with everything you’ve told me and everything you’ve shown me, this appears to be self-defense. You’re both lucky to be alive.” He gives Hannah’s arm a reassuring pat.
“I know this can’t be easy for either of you, so we’re going to let you go. Do you have somewhere to stay?”
“We’ll book into a hotel for a few nights,” I say.
“Okay. Just one thing, Mr Bennett. Stick around town in case we need to ask any more questions.”
He walks us to the waiting taxi.
“We won’t go far, Officer.”
I open the door for Hannah before climbing in after her.
Neither of us speaks during the drive back into the city. Hannah barely moves, absent-mindedly stroking Muffin as he sleeps on her lap.
The silence continues while I check us into the hotel. It follows us into the lift. Only then does it occur to me that Hannah doesn’t have the same emotional armour I do.
I’d assumed she was keeping it together for the police. Now I’m not so sure. Maybe she’s more frightened than she’s letting on.
A knot tightens in my chest. What if she’s frightened...
Because of me?
Inside the hotel room, Hannah sets Muffin on the floor. He immediately darts off to investigate his new surroundings.
And before I can say a word, she stands on tiptoe and wraps herself around my shoulders.
She kisses me.
I kiss her.
And all my worries melt away in an instant.
“How are you, Hannah?” I ask, keeping my voice calm.
“If you mean because of what happened...” she says, “I’m okay.”
“I do.”
“I don’t know,” she admits. “I’m still shaking, but I don’t feel bad about what I did. How am I supposed to feel?”
I shrug. “He would’ve killed you if I hadn’t.”
She looks down at her hands. “That doesn’t justify it...”
This is a burden I wish she didn’t have to carry. But as long as I’m here, she won’t carry it alone.
“Killing him doesn’t make up for my past mistakes,” she says. “But letting him live would’ve cost me my future.”
Her hand drifts to my inner thigh, and rests there for a moment. Dangerously close to my cock.
I force myself to keep listening.
“I get to be with the man I love,” she says.
Love.
The word lands deep in my chest. It breaks through the ice I’ve wrapped around my heart for so many years. It makes me feel whole for the first time in my life.
“I get to be with the man I want to spend the rest of my life with.” She presses a kiss to my neck. “The man I know I belong with.”
Another kiss.
“I get to be with you.”
“Fuck.”
Emotion swells inside me, too big to put into words.
Then the words I’ve wanted to say for weeks finally escape.
“I love you.”
She smiles and wastes no time undressing us both, tearing away the layers between us with feverish intensity. Then she takes control, pushing me from the entry hall to the bedroom while our mouths make love all their own.
No words are said. Little sound is made. She wants what she wants, and isn’t afraid to take it.
On the edge of the bed, she pushes me with all her might. My legs buckle against the mattress and I fall onto it. She crawls on top of me, tender fingers wrapping around the base of my cock. No warning, no foreplay, she wants all of me now.
A soft moan parts her lips as she slides down my length. Once in place, she rides me, leaning closer until her tits rub against my face. I lick and suck every inch I can get my mouth on, trying to stay in control.
Her fingers snake through my hair, and she grabs a fistful. Pulling my head tighter to her body.
The feeling of not being in total control drives me crazy.
I grab her ass with both hands, bucking feverishly into her movements. I heave with pleasure, while wincing from pain, but totally thrilled to be in this moment. Our bodies move in unison as we reach the exalted release. Locked together in unending, orgasmic euphoria.
As Hannah collapses on top of me, puffing and panting from the burst of excitement, I smile up at the ceiling.
The fire took my house. Took my mask. Took the man who’d spent most of his life living for revenge.
Lying here with Hannah, I realize the fire burned away everything that was never worth keeping. But in turn, it gave me everything that is.
A future filled with promise. Of love, family, and happiness.
A future with Hannah.