Page 116 of The Devastation You Reap

“I’m sorry, baby. It seems I didn’t leave my troubles behind in Maddison.”

“Want to talk about it?”

I shake my head. “Just family stuff.” It’s not a lie. I’ve got my father locked in a fucking warehouse like a prisoner and Luca knows I’m lying to him with every word that comes out of my mouth.

He’s giving me time, but I know he’s going to get fed up soon.

What with him, Peyton and Letty on my case, I know they’re going to break me down sooner rather than later.

I can only keep all these plates spinning and lies festering for a certain amount of time and I fear the expiration date is approaching faster than I want to acknowledge.

“Okay. How about I distract you instead?” she offers.

“Now that I can get on board with. But maybe we should finish the house first, at least we know it’s done then and we can finally relax.

She reluctantly nods, knowing that I’m right.

“Okay, second floor then?”

“Lead the way, Red.”

She reaches up and drops a quick kiss to my lips before turning and pulling me out of the room, allowing me to watch her ass in her tight skirt as she climbs the stairs.

We inspect each room we come across until we find the first locked door.

A shudder rips through me at the sight of it.

I don’t need to ask what room it is. I already know.

I’ve been inside more than once. And Macie might not remember, but she’s seen me inside that room as well.

I fight to keep my breathing steady as she walks past it.

“I’ll need to grab the keys,” she mutters, moving onto the next open room and slipping inside.

I’m still standing in the hallway when she emerges.

“All good.”

“Great,” I force a smile but I don’t feel it.

My stomach twists painfully, bile burning up my throat as the images of what happened to me inside that room, what Macie witnessed, play out in my mind.

The scent of his rancid breath in my face feels almost as real as it did back then. His brutal touch, barbed words, and the pain. Fuck, the pain.

My fists clench with my need to fight for that little boy, for all the others who had gone before and I’m sure the ones who followed.

The bell rings downstairs before Macie emerges and finds me on the brink of losing myself.

“I’ll go,” I call, grateful for the escape and the chance to breathe before I have to face her again.

I knew this would be hard. Pretending that I’ve never been here before, that events that have happened under this very roof didn’t change my life forever.

“Thanks, man,” I say, grabbing the takeout from the delivery guy after figuring out how to open the gates for him, sucking in deep lungfuls of air while the door is open.

“This smells amazing,” I say walking through to the kitchen where she’s arranging plates for us on the counter.

“It’s the best thing about this place.”