Page 101 of The Retaliation You Deliver

“I also planned something else,” I confess quietly.

“Oh yeah?”

“I was…” I hesitate because I have no idea how he’s going to take this. “I was going to expose him. Find others who might’ve been abused by him.”

“Shit,” he hisses, scrubbing his hand down his face.

“I don’t have to,” I say in a rush knowing that he’s not going to want to be involved in such a scandal. “I know that it’ll be hard to—”

“No,” he states confidently. “You should. We should.”

“Really?”

“Everyone should know what a scumbag he is—my father too. Parents across the country trust these men to look after their children and they’re abusing that trust. If what we’ve been through can help others, then we should.”

“Yeah?” I ask, hope blooming in my chest.

Twisting his fingers with mine, he lifts my knuckles to his lips.

“Some good shit has got to come out of all this, don’t you think?”

I nod, hope for our futures multiplying within me faster than I can control.

“Can you hear that?”

I focus, straining to her what he clearly can.

It’s faint, but I hear it. “Music?”

“Yeah. Shall we go and check it out?”

“Sure.”

Leon’s sandwich is long gone and after quickly eating the last of mine, he takes the bag with the cookies for later and gathers me up into his side.

The sun has set and the evening chill is descending, but tucked against his warm body, I don’t even feel it.

Contentment like I’ve never experienced before washes through me.

For the first time in my life, I feel like I actually belong, that I’m actually where I’m meant to be.

I thought I felt it when I arrived here, but now being here with Leon I realize that that was only the beginning of finding my home. He’s the final part.

We walk down the path until a crowd of people in the distance emerges before us.

There’s a grandstand that I’ve only ever seen deserted nestled in the trees, but tonight, it’s not empty because there’s a live band under the cover playing away for a crowd of people who are all sitting around on blankets having a picnic while they enjoy the music.

“Wow,” I breathe.

Leon brings us to a stop a little before the edge of the people and pulls me in front of him, the hard length of his body pressing against my back as his arms wrap around my waist and his chin rests on the top of my head.

I sigh, happiness making my lips curl into a smile as we just stand and absorb the evening.

I have no idea how much time passes, I’m too lost in the music and the feeling of him holding me closer but after a while, he pulls away a little, his lips brushing my ear.

“Dance with me,” he breathes.

There are a few couples off to the side of the stage who are dancing but we’re nowhere near them.