One hour. That’s all it took for both sides to finish with him. But, oh, what I did to him in that hour. Every conceivable means of torture ran through my head. In my mind, Frank died a thousand times but I only needed to pick one way to make it happen for real.
Lifting my hand to put the key in the door, I paused and took a minute to work out what I was going to say. I wanted to shield Sunshine from everything and tell her it was all going to be ok. She wouldn’t thank me for it. I’d do whatever I needed to keep her safe, and I wouldn’t apologize for it, but I wouldn’t lie to her either.
“How’s she been?” I asked Nikki, as I walked into the flat.
“Pretty bad,” Nikki replied quietly so Em wouldn’t hear. She looked worriedly behind her, and I could see Em was still in bed.
“She says she’s all right, just having a bad day. How’d it go in court?”
I shook my head slowly and wiped the friendly smile off her face quickly. “He’s getting away with it,” I told her.
“They’ve released the verdict already?” she whispered angrily.
“They will tomorrow but our barrister is sure he’s going free.”
“This will destroy her,” she said sadly, looking Em’s way.
“After everything she’s been through, people still doubt how strong she is. It’s going to hit her hard, but if we stick by her, she will move past this.”
Nikki nodded and gathered up her things. “I won’t say good night,” she told me. “She’s been asleep for about half an hour so I want her to get some rest. Tell her I sent my love though.”
“Kieran is waiting for you downstairs. He’s going to give you a ride home.”
“Thanks, Con,” she said giving me a hug and a quick kiss on the cheek. “Take care of her,” she ordered as she left with a wave.
Locking the door behind me, I walked over to see my girl. She looked deceptively peaceful as she slept, and I needed some of that peace now. Peeling off my suit, I climbed into bed and wrapped my body around her. Thinking back over the day, I knew she needed a man who was gentle and kind to see her through this. I was neither of those things. The fury I was going to unleash would take me to a place darker than I’d ever been. Maybe at the end of it, I’d be dead or behind bars myself. Fuck it. The angel in my arms had given me salvation. If I had to go back into hell to keep her safe, so be it.
Chapter 18
Em’s eyes blinked open as she woke and automatically looked for me.
“Hey,” she said, and I knew by her gravelly voice that she’d spent a good part of yesterday crying.
“Mornin’, love,” I answered her.
“You been awake for long?” she asked.
“Not long,” I assured her. I’d been awake for two hours, and before that, I hadn’t slept much all night. The last time I’d fallen into a fitful sleep, I dreamed that Frank had taken her from outside the courtroom, and that her body had been left on the steps of the gym. I woke as I dreamed of holding her in my arms, her blood pooling beneath me as life drained from her tiny body. The tears I’d cried in sleep were still wet on my cheeks when my eyes opened. I didn’t try and sleep again. My eyes were scratchy from staring so hard, like she was some kind of ghost who’d fade and disappear if I turned away, even for a moment.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, knowingly.
“Things didn’t go so well yesterday,” I admitted.
“She sold me out, didn’t she?” Em said sadly, and I nodded.
“Tell me everything, O’Connell. I need to know,” she pleaded.
“Trust me, love. You really don’t. She sided with Frank. That’s all you need to know.” I replied, desperate to protect her from as much of the fallout as I could. “So fuck the bitch,” I told her. “She sold you down the river when she let Frank get away with raping you. I never thought any parent who did that would change, so fuck her. Her and that bastard can rot in hell for I care,” I told her venomously.
“She’s still my mum though. It still hurts,” she admitted.
“I know, love,” I told her sadly.
I would make this right for her but she couldn’t know that. So for the moment, I’d do my best to help her through this.
“Let’s stay here today. We’ll take a day off from school and training and court and just spend the day in bed, watching old movies,” I suggested, knowing full well that I couldn’t afford to take the days off from training I already had, let alone another one to just stay in bed. None of that mattered though. Everything was secondary to taking care of my wife. It always would be.
“I can’t think of anything I’d love to do more,” she said, and I waited for the “but.” I knew it was coming by the look of determination on her face.
“But we’re going to court,” she told me.
“Why put yourself through it, Sunshine? You know your being there won’t make any difference to the verdict.”