Page 165 of Restitution

When she steps back and wipes her cheeks, I give her a warm smile. “You’re going to be an awesome mother. If Base doesn’t keep you safe, I’ll beat the shit out of him and break his legs.”

He frowns and throws his arms out. “What the fuck?”

Dad pats my shoulder, and it’s all we need, so I nod and walkto the car, hearing my sister break down as she says goodbye to Base for a week.

A week.Why are they acting like they’re never seeing each other again?

I climb into the back seat, the dogs jumping forward to lick my face, and Stacey rests her head on my shoulder. “Where are we going to live?”

I shrug the shoulder she isn’t leaning on. “I told you, I’ll build us a house.”

“In the meantime,” she clarifies. “Where do we go in the meantime?”

“Ewan and Mum are back from Ireland and renting a house. We’ll stay there until we figure out our next steps.”

Barry turns in his seat. “I’m going to drop you all off and head home. Unless you need anything else from me?”

“You’ve done more than enough,” I say. “I’ll liquidate my company too. You’re officially fired as my assistant.”

He chuckles. “Thank fucking God for that. Don’t even bother asking me to be your friend.”

I snort. “I never want to see your face again.”

We laugh, because we already know he’s like a brother to me.

That makes me think of Jason, and my smile drops. So much loss, so many unsaid words – things I’ll never have the chance to tell him. He sacrificed himself for my girlfriend, for my happiness, and I’m going to make him proud by being what he always wanted me to be.

Happy. I’m going to be fucking happy.

Base gets into the front, and we twist to wave at my dad and Luciella while Barry drives us away from them, away from the building that has no trace of Bernadette.

Because Bernadette Sawyer doesn’t exist.

The devil trapped me, but I got myself out of her hold. She’s gone, and I’m fucking free.

Stacey falls asleep in my lap, and it reminds me of when I got her out of the States and away from Bernadette. I told her, while she slept in the same position, my fingers brushing through her hair, that she should have stayed out of my life, but she was always there. And that was true. No matter what I thought she did to break my trust, I was still in love with her.

The fifth rule never existed.

I’m even more in love with her now. My girl.

A couple of hours later, Barry pulls into the driveway of the house Mum and Ewan are renting. Dez and Tylar are sitting on the porch, and both stand up when they see us get out of the car.

They don’t get a chance to come to us, because my mum and Ewan are bursting out of the front door and crashing right into me. “Oh, son,” Mum sobs, hugging me and kissing my head, wrapping her arms around me so tightly, I can barely breathe. Ewan is here too, his forehead to mine, both just standing with me while Stacey and Base go to see Tylar and Dez.

Barry gets the dogs out, and Mum still won’t let go of me. “I thought I lost you too,” she whimpers, her words broken. “I… I thought I lost all my babies.”

“We were planning funerals with empty caskets until you called us,” Ewan says, a tear slipping down his cheek. “We thought you’d died in the fire.”

“I couldn’t risk it,” I say, pulling back from Mum. “If they’d tracked the call, they would’ve caught us, and I needed to deal with Bernadette.”

“Did you? Did you deal with her?”

I glance up at Ewan and nod. “Me and Base strangled her, and Barry got rid of the body. Everyone’s gone. All the threats. We couldn’t show face until we knew every last person involved had been arrested.”

Mum won’t let go of my arm as I look over to see Base and Dez talking, Stacey and Tylar in each other’s arms, and the dogs barking for attention.

Base and Barry agree to stay until morning, since it’s the middle of the night. Barry looks like he’s seconds from passing out too.