“I told you he’d find me,” I say.
“You fucking bitch,” Andrew spits. He is helpless, unable to raise his arms. From the corner of my eye, I catch River moving quickly forward, but my arm comes out once again to block him.
“I’ve got this,” I say, as my anger overtakes my earlier fear.
Andrew organized the entire operation. He not only helped his friends capture and torture women, he drugged, raped, and killed them. With no plans on slowing, he attempted to rope another billionaire into his ring of terror—River. But to his surprise, River had been hunting him all along. He targeted my dad and raped me—all in the name of revenge.
I hear a light sigh from River standing at my side, quickly followed by a pair of heavy boots coming up, and a shiny, sharp knife appears in my peripheral vision.
Turning, my eyes fall to Sebastian holding a knife in his hand with the blade facing downward. A smile tugs at the corners of my mouth.
“He’s all yours, Lux.” Sebastian’s soft smile is accepting, comforting.
I return with a grateful expression, which I can feel inside my bones. With my eyes wide, I carefully grab the leather-bound handle from his gloved hand.
“Thank you,” I whisper.
Sebastian’s eyelids slowly blink, while he subtly nods and backs away, giving me the space to complete the project I’ve been waiting weeks for. I possess the power and it is now woven into the rubric of who I am.
I turn back to Andrew, and River steps forward, picking Andrew up by his neck, then shoves him against the wall as Sebastian slides in to assist River in keeping Andrew upright.
I tremble, buzzing anxiously. Staring at these two men who have given me my voice back while they both flank the man who raped me, pinning him against the wall.
“He’s all yours, Raven,” River says.
River’s approval is all I need to unleash everything that’s brewed inside me for almost two months, because Andrew was the big prize all along. I pull in a long, heavy breath, then clamp my eyelids closed. Tightening my right hand, I pull it back with a force manifested from every corner of my body.
“This is for mydad,” I sneer. I drive the knife into his chest.
Andrew cries out in pain as blood spills from the wound dotting his white colored shirt.
“This is forRiver.”
Andrew winces, but it’s weaker this time. A burgundy liquid sprays on my face, getting into my eyes and blocking my view, but I continue. “This is for every single fuckingwomanyou’ve hurt.”
I yank the knife out, my arm tenses with an intense soreness. Then, with one powerful last thrust, I drive the knife back into Andrew’s chest. “And this one’s forme.”
After a few blood curdling sounds, a deafening silence transforms the room as Andrew takes his last breath.
He’s gone.
I fall to my knees—the knife hits the cement ground at my feet. River releases Andrew, and in a flash he’s crouching in front of me, his thick arms extend to embrace me. My face hits his shoulder as I let myself release everything.
“You did so good, Lux,” he praises and presses a soft kiss on my head. “I’m proud of you.”
I did this.
I took his life.
Andrew’s ring of terror is over.
“You found me.” I feel the relief in every bone in my body as I bury my face into his damp clothes.
River’s arms tighten around me and I can barely take in a breath, but I don’t care, I sink into it. “I will always find you, Raven.”
Blinking a few times, I take in my crystal clear surroundings with fresh eyes—sharper, vibrant eyes. Scanning the room from the safety of River’s arms, I catch Sebastian standing proudly beside Andrew’s stabbed body with a devilish grin on his face.
“Now this is what law enforcement calls acrime of passion,” he comments with achuckle.
