Page 105 of Perfect Sin
“Do not come into our house and argue on behalf of that piece of shit rapist.”
“I wasn’t going to. Last year, his uncle, one of my best friends from college, reached out to me. He told me there was a misunderstanding and his nephew needed help. I met Jesse when he was a child, and I didn’t think twice. Your mother was very upset with me after she got off the phone with you and demanded I come and fix it.”
“Your actions ran a girl out of school, and left a violent rapist on the loose to victimize more women. He went after my wife. How in the hell do you expect to fix all of that?”
Raven comes around me, putting a comforting hand on my arm. “I’m fine, Sin. You were there, and I’m fine.”
My nostrils flare with every breath I take. “He’s still coming for you. What if I’m not there the next time?”
“I came here to apologize,” Arthur intrudes. “I finally did the research I should have done before I helped him out. I interviewed the girl he was accused of raping, and I believe her.”
“Why now? I showed you the video of what Kyle did to Raven and you dismissed it without paying attention.”
“You did what?” Raven says, her voice low and way too calm.
“Princess, he needed to know who he was supporting.”
“I’m going to be sick.” She throws her hand over her mouth and runs out of the room.
“Shit!” I start to run after her.
“Son, give her a minute.”
“Don’t fucking call me son! You were never there for me! You didn’t find me. All those years I believed I was thrown away like useless garbage. Damien sold me over and over again. I’ve been raped, stabbed, beaten, shot, and you never came for me!”
All the poison from my years of being a possession, a thing, come pouring out of me. I don’t know why it's happening now, or how to stop it.
Some part of me feels satisfaction at the look of horror on Arthur’s face. Most of me feels intense shame for letting him see all the ugly inside me.
“I’ve killed people. So many people. Your name and money will never wash that blood from my hands. Why are you trying so hard to bring me back now? And you think I’m too good for Raven?” A hysterical laugh rips from my chest.
“You should have been there the first time I saw her. Dancing alone in the moonlight. She looked so free, so innocent and pure, and I wanted to break her. For no other reason than because she made me happy seeing her there and that was a dangerous way for someone in my position to feel.”
“Jackson.” My name sounds like an apology coming from his lips.
“Every time I saw her, I wanted her more. Wanted to be the man who she looked at the same way she looked at the fucking sky. I wanted to be her everything, when in reality I was nothing. A whore and a killer. But when she looks at me, I can fly away from all of that.”
I take a deep breath, my hands shaking, but I’m not going to be able to stop that. “You treat her like she’s nothing, and she saved me when no one else did. She’s my everything, and that isn’t going to change.”
Arthur nods. “I can see that.” He looks past me. “I owe you an apology, Raven.”
I turn and look at her, and wince. “How much of that did you hear?”
She scrunches up her nose. “All of it, I think.”
“Are you feeling okay?” I fuss over her.
“I’m fine. Are you okay?” She cups her hands on my face, and like always when she touches me, no one else exists.
“I’m always okay when you’re around.”
“This is a touching moment. Why are you having it in front of daddy dearest?” Lucien asks, killing the mood as usual.
“He showed up to apologize,” I tell him.
“This should be good,” Lucien says, taking a seat, ready to watch the action. “Should I get popcorn?”
“Luce, for the love of God, not right now,” I demand.