Page 26 of The Retaliation You Deliver

Unable to resist, I drop down into the seat and suck in a deep breath.

It settles me in a way I don’t like, it reminds me just how much easier she made everything in those couple of weeks. How being with her cleared all the poisonous and twisted thoughts in my head until all I could think about was her.

I thought it was good. But really. It’s a weakness.

She’s a weakness.

And one I don’t need or want.

I have a game plan and I intend on following it through to the end.

So what if she didn’t turn out to be the evil bitch I wanted her to be? So what Richard isn’t going to be an easy target to get to?

Nothing worth getting is ever easy. And revenge, payback for what he did to me is most definitely worth the effort.

With my endgame in mind, I start the engine and back out of the driveway. Movement in the living room window catches my eye, and when I look over, I find Luca glaring out at me.

Our eyes hold for a beat before I gun the engine and fly off down the street.

He’s angry, I get it. I’ve been angry for ten fucking years. But taking it out on me isn’t helping anyone.

I turn the volume up in the hope of drowning everything out as I make my way out of town. It helps to a point but it’s never going to be what I need.

What you need is her.

Slamming my palms down on the wheel, I force that little voice of reason from my head. It might be the truth but like fuck am I going down that road when everything I’ve waited for is finally within reach.

I got what I needed from her. More actually.

Never in a million years did I think she’d be a virgin. That I’d be able to leave that kind of impression on her.

She’ll never be able to forget me now. Ten years ago maybe. But now? Never.

I’ll be a part of her for the rest of her life. Under her skin, seared into her memory until her dying day.

A wicked smile curls at my lips at just the thought.

Innocent little Macie Fletcher. Ruined by the big bad football player.

She must be fucking livid.

I punch in the address I was given into the GPS when I’m slowed down by some traffic in town before following it over the border to Harrow Creek.

I’ve never spent any time over here. Even after becoming friends with Letty and asking her to take me with her when we were kids because I was curious, she always refused, saying it wasn’t a place she wanted me to be.

But now I’ve got an excuse, although I soon discover that I don’t really get to see any of the delights the run-down town has to offer because when the GPS tells me that I’m almost at my destination, I haven’t seen anything aside from trees and countryside which makes the place look much more peaceful than I know it is.

I don’t need stories from Letty, and now Kane, to know the darkness that surrounds this place, all I need to do is turn on the TV and look at the news. There’s always some kind of gang fight, drug bust or unsolved murder. The place really is the pits of hell, yet there’s a huge part of me that craves to be right in the middle of it.

“Whoa,” I mutter out loud after I turn left into what I thought was no more than a dirt road to discover that it opens up to a hidden set of gates. “What the hell is this place?”

As if by magic, the gates begin to open before me, revealing the rolling countryside. As I drive through, my eyes are as wide as dish plates as I take it all in, and then the most incredible building emerges in the distance.

It’s huge. It’s also kind of terrifying. I can’t help but laugh because it suits its owner to a tee.

The dark gothic building stands out from its surroundings with the sun shining down on it today, but I can only imagine that when it’s dark and we’re in the middle of a storm that it just vanishes as if it never even existed.

A shudder runs down my spine as I pull to a stop out in front of the house. I know the man who lives here. I’ve been invited as a friend, but even still, a little unease trickles through me.