Page 12 of The Retaliation You Deliver

“I know. Peyton got her address. She’s William Fletcher’s kid. Richard Fletcher’s niece. You went after her for a reason, didn’t you?”

“I’ve been looking for her for a few years, yeah. But the night I found her, it was by complete accident. I was about to bang her roommate and she stormed in and…” I trail off, I’m sure they don’t need the full details of that night.

Letty’s hold on my hand tightens, letting me know that she’s still here with me.

“Why were you looking for her?”

“She… uh… she knew something about me, was hiding information I needed.”

Luca’s eyes narrow. “You met her before? When we were at camp she was always hidden away like a princess locked in her ivory tower.”

“She was yeah, but she saw something she was never meant to. I never spoke a word to her until a couple of weeks ago.”

“I’m confused,” Peyton says, her brows drawing together.

Luca quickly fills her in on who the Fletchers are before they both turn back to me.

“What did she see, Lee?”

I suck in a breath knowing that I’m not going to be able to talk around this and find a way out of it.

“R-Richard Fletcher. He wasn’t… wasn’t the man everyone thought he was.”

Luca’s eyes narrow in confusion.

“Why? What was he really like?”

“He was… He… Fuck.” I drop my head into my hands. Even after all these years, I can’t bring myself to say it out loud.

I thought it would go away, that I’d be able to keep it hidden forever.

I hoped I’d find him and put my demons to rest by getting my revenge. That might still happen, I guess. But not before I have to spill my guts to the very last person I ever wanted to know the truth.

“What did he do, Lee?” Letty says softly, wrapping her arm around my waist, holding my trembling body tight.

I breathe in. Then breathe out. Trying to keep myself under control. My fists clench and unclench as I try to form some words, anything to put an end to this.

“He was an abusive cunt who wasn’t only interested in having boys at his home for football,” I say in a rush hoping that they won’t catch it and I can just leave it at that.

The second Letty’s sob rips through the silence though, I know she understood every word of it.

Her other arm wraps around me as she presses her face into my shoulder, her tears soaking my shirt instantly.

I fight to stay in place and be what she needs me to be, but every muscle in my body screams to get up, to run, to try and put those few words behind me like they never left my mouth.

“No,” Luca spits. “N-no. We went there every summer. You loved it there. It was… it w-was—”

I look up at him and the second my eyes connect with his watery ones he sees the truth.

“No,” he sobs. “No. Please. Tell me you're lying.” I hold his stare, unable to do as he requests. “Goddammit, Leon,” he booms. “Tell me you’re fucking lying. Tell me he didn’t—FUCK,” he roars, jumping up from the couch and storming out of the room.

“Lee, I’m sorry, I—” Peyton looks between me and the door Luca just stormed through.

“Go. I’ll be okay.”

“O-okay.” She’s gone in a flash leaving me alone with Letty who’s still clinging to me like her life depends on it.

“I’m not going to shatter, Let. It’s okay,” I say, gently pulling her away from me and taking her hand in mine.