“No. I’m only responsible for getting her there, but after that, I didn’t touch her.”
“You stood by while one of my daughters was murdered, and you kidnapped my other daughter to deliver her to someone you knew was a murderer. Even with police protection, so much could’ve gone wrong. You almost took two daughters from me.”
“No, sir, I never would’ve let them hurt Trix.”
My dad scoffs. “I have a hard time believing that.”
“Understand you would, but”—Hatch’s eyes move to mine—“Trix was my friend.”
“Then why did you turn me over to him? Why not let me in on the plan you had with the cops?”
“Cops gave me one chance, Trix. I couldn’t risk fucking it up. I knew once I found the picture of your sister that you had an end game. Good one, too. Never knew until that day you weren’t into me. No such thing as a coincidence. Knew you were searching for the man who killed your sister. Knew Eli was searching for a girl. More importantly, knew if we got you to the location, I’d die before I let someone hurt you.”
“You hurt me.” My jaw still aches when I think about the punishing blows delivered by his hand.
“It’s all relative. Not gonna lie, I was pissed finding that photo. Realized our entire friendship was a lie. Don’t like bein’ used.”
“Oh, well, I’d care about your hurt feelings, but I don’t have a single fuck to give!”
My dad squeezes my hand. “That’s enough. I think we got all we came for.” He nods to the security guard over Hatch’s shoulder. “Mr. Dusinsky, I want you to know that what you’ve done to my family has changed who we are. There isn’t a day that goes by that we don’t miss our daughter. We had dreams for her, dreams to see her fall in love, become a mother, find her way through life, and blossom. We wanted so much for her, and you brutally robbed her of that. Robbed us of the joy of watching it.”
Hatch’s eyes shine and he sniffs.
My dad leans forward, never taking his eyes off the biker across the table. “I want you to know that we will walk out of here and never again think of what you did to Lana. We won’t dwell on it, and we won’t allow it to poison our lives. We love our daughter, but she’s gone, and nothing is going to change that.”
“I understand.”
“But before we leave, you should know it’s not too late for you. I’m sure you can tell that my past isn’t clean.” Hatch’s gaze darts to my dad’s full-sleeved tattoos then back to his face, but he says nothing. “Don’t let the sins of your past rob you of the opportunity to do something great.”
The biker sits stunned in his seat, and I smile wide at my dad, who manages to soften even the hardest hearts.
My dad grins and stands, pulling my mother up and to his side. “Thank you for your time. And Mr. Dusinsky”—my dad waits until Hatch meets his eyes—“we forgive you.”
Hatch’s jaw falls loose on its hinges. He blinks slowly and shakes his head.
My dad guides my mom and I follow. We move around the table toward the door, and I don’t give Hatch the satisfaction of seeing me look at him. He is dead to me, and while my father may have forgiven him, I never will.
“Son . . .” Hatch jerks as my dad lays a hand on his shoulder. “If it’s okay, I’d like to send you something in the mail. Looks like you’re gonna have a lot of free time in here. May as well make it useful.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Those are the last three words I ever heard from Hatch. My dad made good on his plan to send something to him in the mail.
For every year that Hatch was incarcerated, he received a brand new Bible.
Epilogue
Three years later . . .
Mason
It’s fucking cold. I knew it would be, but I didn’t realize how damn freezing the temps would be.
Why my gorgeous girl agreed to make our move this time of year isn’t a mystery. Hell, when we got all the paperwork completed, we were both jumping out of our damn skin to get it done.
And here we are, standing at the threshold of a game-changer. A life-changer.
I grip Trix’s left hand and toy with the diamond on her ring finger. She turns toward me, those violet eyes glowing with excitement and a little fear. Her cheeks and nose are flushed pink from the chill, and she flashes me a smile that almost sends me to my knees. “I can’t believe we’re finally doing this.”
I lean in, pressing my warm lips to her cold ones. “We’ve been dreaming of this day. Now let’s make it happen.”