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God, she’s so perfect.

“Then come here. If you keep massaging me, I won’t be able to think properly.”

She snuggled into me, and I loved how soft her nude body felt against me. Her hair smelled like fresh flowers, and her skin held an intoxicating hint of perfume.

“It all started with an artwork that won a contest,” I began.

Sharing the story brought back all the emotions I’d locked up. As with Vanessa, there were people who looked the other way when my family needed justice.

Even though the doctor tells me to stay in bed for a few more weeks, I sneak out of Gigi’s house to visit my old home. Only one side of the house still stands. The next windstorm will knock it down. The ground is black from the soot.

I enter, looking for anything I can salvage. This was my home. I need something to remind me of my family. Tears and anger roil through me.

I find a folder of my sister’s artwork. I hold it close, wondering if she was scared. Were my mom and dad sleeping during the fire?

I tremble, trying to imagine what they experienced. I know it’s not good for me, but I can’t help it.

Ashton, Bobby, and Harry will pay for this. They murdered my family and got away with it. My leg hurts, and I sit on a kitchen chair that’s still intact. I lower my crutches and breathein the surrounding air. It’s tainted with smoke, death, and vengeance. I know breathing it in isn’t healthy, but being here gives me the strength to move forward. I see cars pass by in the street, but the people in them don’t look. Even if they did, they probably wouldn’t care.

I don’t know why those boys hate me so much. Is it the cash? Is it because Ashton can’t fathom losing to anyone? If they can kill so easily now, what will become of them?

“Rest in peace, Mom, Dad, and Amelia,” I say as tears stream down my face.

Vengeance courses through me as I sit in my former home. My life is now dedicated to making those boys pay.

“There you are!” Gigi appears. “How did you get here? I was so worried.”

Gigi maneuvers around the debris and reaches me. She’s my mom’s friend and has already submitted paperwork to adopt me. A week ago, she helped me scatter my mom’s, dad’s, and sister’s ashes in the ocean.

“Sorry to worry you. I took a taxi here.” I push myself up with my crutches. “I wanted one last look at my house before it’s torn down to be rebuilt.”

She pats me on the shoulder. “I would’ve driven you.”

“I know, and thank you. But I wanted to be alone with them, you know?”

She nods. “The school sent you all your belongings, including the artwork that earned you the prize. The restaurant heard about your story and made another donation in cash. It’s at home.”

“Oh, my god, Attikus.” Tears filled Vanessa’s eyes. “I’m so angry at those boys! Why are people so evil?”

Vanessa sat up, touching my knee and ankle with delicate care.She held my ankle in her hand, examining it like a plant specimen, turning it this way and that way. Then she bent andgave it a gentle kiss. My knee got a kiss too. She gripped my right hand and kissed my wrist. My body thrummed with heat as though her kiss was the medicine it had needed all these years.

I couldn’t take my eyes away from her kind gesture. No one had shown me this much love.

“You’re not embarrassed to be with someone like me? Most people don’t want to be with a physically disabled man.”

She shot me a disapproving look. “We all have flaws, Attikus. Some of us have unseen flaws. Some of us have physical flaws.” She rubbed my wrist. “My mom told me about this mythical character named Chiron. He was a centaur, half-human and half-beast. He was an outcast. Even hisfather didn’t want him. So he had a wound of unworthiness. But he used that wound of being different to move forward. He took classes from the other gods and goddesses, mastering the arts of medicine, science, astrology, astronomy, mathematics, and the arts. He surpassed all his teachers and proved that his weakness didn’t hinder him. Instead, he transformed the wound into a gift for the world.”

“I’ve never heard of Chiron, but I’ll definitely read up on him. I was an outcast, and so were you.”

“An outcast is the maverick who lives out-of-bounds. Because of this, he thinks and acts from an innovative perspective.” She poked me in the chest. “You are the way you arebecauseof your flaws.”

I could sit here listening to her for hours. Everything she said made sense. Would we have connected and fallen for each other if we had met earlier?

My heart quickened at the admission. I was falling for her. How could I not? How could any man not want her? But could we have a long-lasting relationship? My life had been consumed with vengeance. Nothing was going to stop me from locating Ashton and making him pay.

And yet, my chest hurt thinking of not being able to have Vanessa. What if she got hurt in the crossfire? I’d spent years planning what I wanted to do to Ashton. I couldn’t change my curated plan for a woman.

Stop thinking negative thoughts. Enjoy the moment. She deserves that.