Текст книги "Royal Savage"

Автор книги: Victoria Ashley

сообщить о нарушении

Текущая страница: 15 (всего у книги 18 страниц)

AFTER COMPLETING THE BRAIN SCAN THAT the hospital recommend I get done, I rush back into my room in hopes that Jax has heard back from Royal or Blaine.

I could barely lie still when they took the X-rays because all I could do was worry about Royal, scared shitless that he may have gotten himself into some kind of trouble. Between that and my nerves from being in the hospital, I was a complete shaking mess.

Jax has been in my room throughout the whole thing, trying to keep me calm and assure me that Blaine would never let anything happen to Royal. I want to believe him, but it’s hard without any solid proof. It’s driving me insane.

“Have you heard from them?” I ask, causing Jax to look up from his phone. “Please tell me they’re okay. I need to hear something.”

Jax immediately stands up from his chair beside the bed and helps me get comfortable beneath the sheet on the shitty mattress. “Fuck, you’re shaking, girl.” He sits on the edge of the bed and starts rubbing my shoulders and arms to warm me up. “You really care about him, don’t you?”

I nod my head. “Of course I do. He’s all I ever think about, Jax. I haven’t been able to get him out of my head since that night I walked in on him in the basement. It hurts me so much to ever think about losing him. He’s special to me. I don’t care what he says about himself. He’s good to me.” I grab his handsome face and pull him toward me so he can look me in the eyes. “Now, please tell me something before I rip your balls off, Jax.”

He smiles at me and leans in to kiss my forehead. “You’ve definitely been spending too much time with Royal.” Releasing my shoulders, he lets out a small satisfied laugh. “They’re on their way here. They should be close now.”

Feeling relieved, I throw the sheet off of me and sit up. “How long ago did they leave?”

“I don’t know. About thirty minutes ago.”

“Good.”

I hop out of bed and quickly rush past Jax, making my way down the hall. A few nurses try talking to me, but I brush them off, leaving them throwing their arms out in frustration and looking after me. Whatever it is they want out of me can wait.

I can hear Jax calling my name from close behind, but I ignore him as well and keep on walking. He knows better than attempt to stop me from getting to Royal right now, so he’s keeping a small distance.

All I can think about is the fact that I need to be with Royal right this second, and he could be pulling up right now, looking for me too. I’ve waited too long to hear that he’s okay. I’m not waiting another second longer to see it with my own damn eyes. I have no idea what it is that he had to do tonight, but right now all that matters to me is that he’s alive and safe.

Once I reach the exit, I rush through the door, running barefoot across the wet parking lot in search of Royal.

There’s too many damn parking lots surrounding this hospital, but by some kind of freaking miracle I spot Royal and Blaine in the parking lot that is on the other side of the huge fountain, exiting a silver truck with the front smashed in.

“Royal!” I scream out. My heart goes wild in my chest as I take a step forward and shield my face from the rain. “Royal!” I scream again, but louder this time.

Our eyes meet from across the fountain, and without a second thought I take off running in the direction of the water, needing to get to him as fast as I can. Fuck going around it. That will take entirely too long and I can’t handle that right now. I need to feel him in my arms. I need to run my hands over his beautiful, flawless face and taste his fucking mouth.

I need this man like I fucking need air and no small bit of water is going to keep me from him. Nothing can right now.

As soon as he sees me moving toward him, he rushes toward the fountain as if he’s just as desperate to get to me as I am him. His face looks lethal as he walks with power, moving much faster than my legs will allow me.

Gasping from the shock of the cold water splashing against my legs, I run through the frigid water and he catches me in his arms, squeezing me tightly.

Gripping my face with both hands, he leans down to my height and desperately presses his lips against mine, while moving his hands up to grip at my hair, as if he just needs any and every part of me.

His tasty mouth is on mine. His strong, inked hands are in my hair. Our bodies are molded together as we desperately hold onto each other. I almost can’t breathe right now.

When he finally breaks the kiss, he wraps one hand behind my neck for support and places the other on my chest, while looking into my eyes. What I see behind his makes my heart stop mid beat: love. “I’ll never let that piece of shit near you again. I fucking promise you that. No one will ever hurt you.” His eyes move up to land on the bandage on my head. “Fuck,” he breathes. “I’m so sorry. Shit. Come here.”

He pulls me in as close as possible, burying his face into my neck and holds me as if he can’t bear to let go of me, and truthfully, I never want him to.

We stay like this for a while, him holding me in the fountain as the water splashes down around us. It’s cold. So damn cold.

He doesn’t seem to care though. He just holds me close, comforting me as if he knows that I need him this way right now . . . and he’s right. This right here is all I need: him.

Finally pulling away from my neck, he rests his forehead to mine and cups my face in his shaking hands. “Tell me you’re okay, Avalon. Please . . .”

I grab his hands as he rubs his thumbs over my face and closes his eyes, waiting for my response. “I was scared something bad was going to happen to you, Royal.” I move my hands up to grip his wet hair and pull it out of his face. “Tell me that I’ll never lose you,” I whisper. “Then I’ll tell you that I’m okay.”

His jaw tightens and he turns his face to the side, as if to hide it from me.

“Royal . . .” I pull his face back to mine and brush my lips against his. He sucks in a small breath, but stays where he is. “Can you promise me that? Say it. Please . . . say it.”

Breathing heavily, he crushes his lips against mine, before pulling away and grabbing my hand to walk us out of the water. “Let’s get you back inside and changed. All that matters to me right now is that you’re taken care of. I’m not letting you get sick because of me.”

He quickly wraps his arms around me and picks me up to cradle me against him, before I can say anything more. Releasing a long breath, I wrap my arms around his neck and press my face against the side of his as he carries me past Jax and Blaine and back into the warm hospital.

He asks Jax where my room is and he carries me there, shutting the door behind us, before undressing me from my wet gown and helping me back into my clothing.

The nurse comes back in a few minutes later, shakes her head at me, and gives me my discharge papers.

“The doctor has cleared you to go. That’s what I tried telling you as you were rushing past me down the hall.” She looks to Royal, standing there dirty and wet. “There’s instructions on what you need to do over night. I’ll just let you read it yourself since y’all seem to be in a hurry.”

“Thank you,” I say, while flashing her a weak smile. “Sorry about the puddle.”

She looks down at the floor where my wet gown is laying in a huge puddle. “Mmm hmm. I’m sure you are.”

Grabbing my hand, Royal leads me out of the room, motioning with his head for the boys to follow. “I have a pit stop to make on the way home. You good with that, Blaine?”

Blaine squeezes his shoulder. “Hell yeah. I’m always down.”

After Royal helps me into the backseat of Blaine’s truck, he closes the door and walks over to talk to Jax.

“Hey,” I say to Blaine as he jumps in the driver’s side. “Should I worry about this little pit stop?”

Blaine grins. “Nah. This is going to be good. Trust me.”

Royal jumps into the truck a few minutes later and wraps a blanket around me, before pulling me into his arms. “Get comfortable, but I need you to stay awake for a while.” He leans in and kisses the top of my head. “Can you do that?”

I squeeze his hand and bury my face into his chest. “Yeah, I’m fine. I’m not tired yet.”

“Good,” he whispers.

The drive back into town is quiet. I’m suspecting it’s due to my head injury, and neither one of them want to give a reason for my head to hurt even more. I’m thankful for the silence, but I won’t be for long.

I want to find out what happened with Royal tonight, but tonight probably isn’t the best time to talk about it. I’ll wait until the morning.

“This is going to be fun,” Blaine says, while shifting the truck into park.

Sitting up, I look around to see that we’re parked outside of Colton’s house.

“Stay here,” Royal demands. “I’ll be out in a few minutes.”

“Oh trust me . . . I never want to step foot in that house again,” I mutter.

Royal quickly kisses my forehead and then jumps out of the truck, slamming the door behind him.

I hear Royal digging in the back of the truck for something, before I see him toss a rope down beside the truck and rush up to Colton’s door.

Without even bothering to check if the door is unlocked or not, he kicks at the door three times before it flies open and he rushes inside.

“That’s always fun to watch,” Blaine says, while lighting a cigarette and rolling down the window. “At least he won’t need to break any of my shit now.”

I don’t say anything. I just stare at the door, waiting for Royal to come back out. A part of me even wishes that I could see the scared look in Colton’s eyes as Royal kicks the shit out of him. Maybe Madison will get her wish and he’ll piss his pants and ruin his damn perfect carpet.

We wait patiently for about ten minutes, before we hear Colton cussing as Royal drags him out of the house, naked, by his neck.

“You’re fucking crazy! What are you doing, you, crazy son of a bitch?”

Royal slams him face down into the grass, grabs the back of his head and slams it into the ground, repeatedly.

Grabbing the back of his hair, he pulls his head back and presses his knife to his neck. “Come by her again, brother . . . and you’ll see how fucking crazy I can get.”

“Fuck!” Colton yells. “I’m done. I’m done.”

“Good,” Royal seethes.

He turns toward the truck to look at Blaine who is now sitting out his window. “Bring me that fucking rope.”

Blaine laughs and throws down his cigarette, while climbing out the window. “Hell motherfucking yeah.”

I place my hand over my mouth and watch as Royal ties Colton up to his porch, naked, his face now covered in dirt, grass, and blood.

Royal stands back so that he can get a look and reaches to light a cigarette. “If you scream loud enough, maybe one of your neighbors will come untie your fucking ass.” He flicks his lit cigarette at the side of Colton’s head.

“Fuck you!” Colton screams while pulling at the ropes. “I’m calling the cops.”

Blaine disappeared into the house a couple of minutes ago, but steps back outside, smirking as he looks down at Colton. “With what?” He holds up a cell phone. “This?” He shakes his head and then leans down to set the phone down in front of Colton where he can’t reach it. “Good luck, bitch.”

“Fuck you! Fuck you! Come back here and untie me!”

Royal and Blaine walk back to the truck, ignoring Colton as he continues to yell at them, cussing and pulling at the ropes.

Blaine pokes his head inside the truck and smiles at me. “Told you it’d be fun to watch.”

I look back out the window at Colton struggling, naked, and tied to his porch. I have to admit that it somehow makes the night worth it.

I smile and grab Royal’s face as he hops back into the truck. “How did you get him naked? Did you undress him?” I ask with a laugh.

Royal smiles against my lips and then kisses me. “Caught his ass in the shower. Now let’s get you home to rest.”

I nod my head and then lean back into him as Blaine pulls away from Colton’s house. With this neighborhood, I’m pretty sure that the cops are already on their way to untie him, but just knowing that they’ll find him naked, baring his little dick to the world, makes me a happy girl. Maybe he’ll learn to stop being such an ass to everyone.

We pull up to Royal’s house.

“You two good for the night?” He questions over the seat.

“Yeah,” Royal responds. “I’ll let you know if she needs anything.”

“Alright, brother.” Blaine smiles at me. “I got your back, girl. If you need some ice cream, a chick flick, or a full body rub . . .” He playfully lifts his brows. “Call me.”

Royal palms his face and pushes him away. “Don’t push my ass tonight.”

Laughing, I pull Royal’s hand away from Blaine’s face. “Take it easy on dirty Blaine. He means well.”

“She totally gets me,” Blaine says teasingly, before becoming serious. “Now get your ass inside and take care of her.”

After Royal helps me out of the truck, he takes me downstairs to his bedroom, undresses us both, and crawls into bed, pulling me under the blankets with him.

Every once in a while I doze off, but Royal wakes me up to check on me, before rubbing my head while I fall back to sleep again.

This goes on for most of the night, as he is now, but this time, it’s with him on top of me and between my legs.

When I open my eyes, I reach up and grab his face as he slowly enters me.

He’s extra careful with me, slowly thrusting in and out, while leaning his forehead against mine and breathing gently against my lips.

Looking into his eyes and seeing the passion inside of them as he buries himself deep inside of me, has me about ready to break. All of my emotions take over and suddenly I feel as if I’m going to suffocate if I don’t get the words out.

I lock my feet together behind his ass and close my eyes as he makes love to me, touching and kissing every single place on my body that he can get to at the moment.

He’s so quiet; too quiet, and I don’t know what to make of it.

“Royal,” I whisper.

“Shhh . . .” he says against my lips.

I shake my head and grab onto his hair as he starts moving a little faster. “I need . . .” I whisper. “I need to tell–”

“What,” he asks, cutting me off. “Am I hurting you? Does your head hurt?”

I shake my head.

“Then close your eyes, baby.” He leans in to whisper in my ear. “I need you to feel this right now. Just feel me . . .”

I grip onto him tighter, closing my eyes and letting him slowly take me. He’s moving so slowly that I can barely handle it. It feels too good. I can feel every single inch of him each time that he pulls out and moves back in. It’s the most intense pleasure I’ve ever felt in my life.

“Come with me,” he whispers into my neck. “I want to feel you squeeze my dick.”

“Okay,” I whisper. “I feel it.”

He thrusts in a few more times, before we both come undone, holding each other as we ride out our orgasms, both of us breathing heavily against each other’s mouths.

His hands move up my neck, to push my hair out of my face. “I think you’re okay to sleep now. It’s been close to six hours.” He leans in and kisses my forehead. “I’ll let you get some rest.”

I move my hands to cup his face. He closes his eyes as I rub my fingertips underneath them. “Royal . . .” I brush my lips across his face, stopping to whisper in his ear. “I’ve fallen in love with you. I love you and I’m hoping one day you can learn to love me back.”

He pulls away from me. “Avalon . . . don’t . . .”

“I know,” I say. “I know it’s not easy for you. It’s okay,” I whisper. “It’s okay.”

He rolls over and sits up on the side of the bed. “Fuck,” he whispers. He runs his hands over his face, before standing up and getting dressed. “I shouldn’t have let it get this far.”

He starts pacing around the room.

“Royal.” I sit up and cover myself up with the sheet. “I’m sorry, but I couldn’t keep it inside anymore. I. Love. You. You’re good. You’re so good to me. No one has ever made me feel this way. I wish you could see that.”

He stops pacing and stops next to the dresser, gripping the edge of it. “You can’t,” he growls out. “I need to go.”

Fear rushes through me as soon as he mentions leaving. “Please don’t say that. Don’t leave.”

“I have to,” he whispers.

I quickly jump to my feet and grab his arm to make him look at me. “No you don’t, Royal. You don’t have to go anywhere. Stay here. Stay here with me.”

“You don’t understand.” He yanks his arm away from me and zips up his jeans. “Dammit, Avalon. It’s not that fucking easy.” He backs me up against the wall and pins me in. “You make me feel. I never thought I’d feel again, but here you are, making me think that maybe there’s a chance for me to be human; a chance at me being me again. Do you get that? Do you get how impossible that is?”

I shake my head and wrap my arms around his neck. “It’s not impossible,” I say. “You’re not some fucking monster like you say you are. You’re capable of love.”

He yanks my arms from his neck and backs away from me, gripping at his hair. “No, I’m not.”

I rush over to the bed and yank the sheet off, wrapping it around my body as Royal heads for the door. “You are, dammit!”

I follow him up the stairs, not willing to give up on him.

“I need this,” he says when he reaches the front door. He stops and grips the door handle, but doesn’t turn to look at me. “I can’t fucking hurt you,” he says firmly. “I can never fucking be who you need or want me to be. I’m too fucked up!”

He turns to look at me, and rushes over to grab my face when he sees the tears flowing down my face. “Don’t fucking cry. Please don’t cry. Fuck!” He brushes his face over mine, while gripping at my hair. “I need you to understand why I need to do this.”

“No.” I grip his hands and push him away from me. “I can’t, because I don’t want you to leave me! I don’t want you to leave here. I need you!”

He shakes his head and grips at his hair again, as he starts backing up toward the door. “I can’t be that right now. I don’t know if I ever can.”

He runs his hand over his face, looks me in the eyes, and then walks over to kiss me. “I’m sorry,” he whispers. “I let everyone down. This will hurt the least . . . I promise.”

With that, he turns and walks away, leaving me standing here in shock.

I can’t move. I just stand here and stare at the door, as if he’s going to turn back around and run at me, pulling me back into his strong arms.

He doesn’t . . .

I finally force my legs to work and run out the door, just in time to see him pulling away.

I run after the truck, screaming as the tears run down my face. “Don’t fucking leave,” I cry. “Please! Don’t leave me.”

He’s already too far gone, and the reality starts to set in at the fact that I have no idea when I’ll see him again; if I’ll see him again.

I fall down to the ground and grip at the sheet as the tears fall and I fight to breathe.

I feel a set of arms grab at me from behind, before I hear Jax whispering things that I can’t manage to put together.

“He needs time,” he whispers. “He’ll be back. He won’t leave you for good. He can’t, and the only reason why he’s leaving you at all is because he knows I’ll take care of you. I’ll take care of you, girl.” He pulls me into his arms and covers my head so that it’s buried into his chest. “We just don’t know when he’ll get his head together and come back. We never do . . .”

I grab onto him and cry.

It’s all I can do . . .

Two Weeks Later . . .

WALKING TOWARD THE DOOR TO leave, I feel a strong ache in my chest over the absence of Royal and the fact that no one has heard from him yet.

I never thought it would hurt this much to lose someone. I never thought I’d be one of those lucky people to find and care about someone so much that it would kill me if I ever lost that person.

Royal has opened my heart to him, made me fall madly in love with him, and then took off, taking my crushed heart with him.

I’m not going to lie; eating and sleeping has been a hard task since that night, and I’ve been checking my phone about every damn minute, waiting and hoping that he’ll respond to one of my many calls and messages and put me out of my misery.

The boys tell me not to worry. They tell me that he’s strong . . . that he’ll be okay, and that he just needs time to get his head straight.

Well . . . what if he never gets it straight? What if he realizes that he can’t open his heart up to me? What if . . .

I can’t stop wondering about the what ifs, and it’s slowly breaking me down little by little, making me lose hope that I’ll ever get to feel his lips against mine, feel the warmth of his arms around me, or the feel of his soft breath against my neck . . . All of these things I miss so much that it hurts to breathe.

Madison looks up from the couch as I walk through the living room, past her. “You okay, honey? You want me to go with you?”

I shake my head. “No, I’m not okay, but I will be.” I grip the door handle to open it, but then stop to look back at her. “I’m going to see Mark. He’s at work but wants me to meet him at that foster care place.” I blow a strand of loose hair out of my face. “I can’t remember the name, but I know where it’s at. I’m fine to go alone. I’ll just see you later. Thanks though.”

“Always, sweets. I’m always here if you want to talk about it. Please remember that.”

I nod my head. “I know.” Turning the handle, I pull the door open and step outside.

I jump back in surprise when Jax pushes away from the railing and uncrosses his arms. “Jeez, Jax. You scared me,” I mutter. “Any word from him yet?” I ask in hope.

He gives me a sympathetic smile and shakes his head. “Not yet. Sorry.” Walking over to me, he wraps his arms around me and pulls me in for a hug, placing his mouth close to my ear. “Royal cares about you. I have no doubt that he will be back, but you need to understand how hard this is on him. He had a fiancé and a baby on the way at one point . . .” He stops and lets out a small breath. “He lost all that. Then he found you. There was never supposed to be anyone else but her. He needs time to wrap his head around that and come to terms with the fact that someone else besides Olivia has his heart.”

Feeling my heart breaking from his words, I squeeze him as tightly as I can and hide my face in his chest. “How do you know that I have his heart? I told him that I loved him . . .” I stop to swallow back the pain. “Then he left.”

Jax pulls me away from him and looks me in the eyes. “Because the only message I’ve received from Royal was the day he left. You know what that message said?”

I shake my head.

“It said check on her every day. Let me know she’s okay.” He shakes his head as if his emotions are getting to him. “I’ve done just that. He didn’t ask me to update him on his fucking bar, or to update him on his house and make sure everything is taken care of. He pretty much told me to take care of you, so that’s what I’ll do until the day he returns. Give him time. Don’t give up on him.”

I lean in and kiss him on the cheek. “I need to go. My uncle is waiting on me.” Without another word, I turn and walk away before the dam can break and I find myself helplessly crying in his arms like a fool.

I’m so confused and hurt that I honestly don’t know what to do at this point. I just need to take every day for what it is and see how I feel. I want to wait for him. I do . . . but I’m scared. I’m so fucking scared.

When I get to the foster care place that my uncle asked me to meet him at, I park on the street behind his car and walk up to the building.

As soon as I open the door, I spot Mark standing around, talking to some older lady with long, white hair.

He nods at me and holds up his finger when he notices me watching him from afar.

I nod my head in understanding and take a seat in one of the chairs by the entrance.

Looking around, I start to feel sad, but for a whole new reason. The thought of these kids not having any parents to tuck them in at night or read them a bedtime story breaks my heart. Some of these kids have probably even been passed around from home to home, feeling as if no one loves them.

It really makes me wonder why Mark asked me to meet him here. I never even knew that he came here, but the way he’s talking to that lady makes me believe that he comes here often.

“Avalon.”

I look up at my uncle.

He nods his head. “Come on.”

Standing up, I walk over to my uncle and smile at the lady, as I follow him through the building and outside to the back, where there’s a bunch of kids playing.

I look at Mark to see him smile as his eyes land on a little girl with long, blonde hair.

It causes me to smile. “Who’s she?” I pause. “That look on your face tells me she’s somewhat special to you.”

He pulls his eyes away from the little girl and turns to look at me. “Her name is Kylie. She’s two years old and has been with two families since she was born. She’s special to me all right.”

“Oh,” I whisper, not knowing what else to say. “Why is she back here? What was wrong with the families she was with?”

He shakes his head and pulls his eyes away from me. “They weren’t good enough. There’s always something not good enough and I’m not going to just leave her with anyone. She deserves so much more than someone who doesn’t even give a damn that she’s breathing. At least here she has friends and the staff has practically become her family.”

I follow him as he walks through the playground, toward the little girl. He stops beside her and kneels down. “Kylie.”

As soon as Kylie looks over and sees Mark, she throws her arms around his neck and holds on, as if she’s been waiting for days to see him.

I get choked up, but quickly try to hide the tears that unwillingly slide down my face as I watch them. I’ve never seen Mark hold someone so close in my life. You would think it were his own daughter.

“I heard you’ve been good,” Mark says as she pulls away from the hug. “You’re always good, right?”

The little girl smiles and nods her head.

“I knew it,” mark says excitedly. “I have someone I want you to meet, okay? She’s important to me just like you are.”

Mark grabs her hand and stands up. He looks over at me, and motions with his head for me to come closer.

I smile nervously and walk over, stopping right in front of them. I’m stunned speechless when she looks up at me and my eyes meet her wide, curious ones.

“Oh wow,” I whisper.

Her eyes are the brightest shade of green I’ve ever seen, and in the upper right side of her left eye is a patch of gray. They’re absolutely the most beautiful sight I’ve ever seen.

Mark smiles. “Kylie, this is Avalon.” He stands behind her and pulls her long hair out of her face. “She’s very special to me. She’s like a daughter to me.”

Keeping my eyes on her wide ones, I kneel down in front of her and give her my best smile, fighting through all of my many emotions. “Hi, Kylie. That’s a beautiful name.”

She laughs and then turns to hide her face in Mark’s leg. Every few seconds she turns back to me, and laughs before hiding her face again.

I can’t help but to smile at her, and before I know it, I’m playing peek-a-boo with her, moving around Mark’s legs to get her.

“I’m going to get you!”

She lets go of Mark’s legs and takes off running in what looks like slow motion. She’s so darn cute and tiny that her small legs don’t take her very far.

We play for a good fifteen minutes, before she runs back over to Mark and he tackles her in a hug.

He looks up at me from the ground. “It’s about her dinner time.” Standing up, he grabs Kylie’s shoulders and looks down at her. “Would you like Avalon here to come back and visit with me next week?”

Kylie looks up at me. Her eyes meet mine and she laughs, while nodding her head.

“Alright. Why don’t you go have Lynn clean you up for dinner.” He looks over at the white haired lady as she appears next to him and grabs Kylie’s hand. “Thank you.”

She nods her head and grabs Mark’s shoulder. “Thank you. We’ll see you next week.”

With that, she walks away, pulling Kylie along beside her.

The look in Mark’s eyes as he watches them walk away tugs at my heart, but I have no idea what to say to him. This is a side of him that I’ve never seen before. It makes me wonder what got him here in the first place.

The walk back out front to our vehicles is silent, but I can’t help but to notice the pain etched across his face.

I watch as Mark leans against his car and runs his hands through his messy hair. He keeps looking over at the building as if he wants to go back.

“Why did you ask me here? What is going on?”

He turns around to grip the top of his car. “There’s something you should know.” He turns to face me, and swallows before speaking. “I’m not sure what all Royal has told you . . .”

“Don’t stop there, dammit.” I growl out when he stops. “You can’t mention his name and then stop. Tell me,” I push. “What does this have to do with Royal?”

“I need you to listen and I need you to listen close.” His voice cracks. “I was there the night his fiancé got murdered.” He slaps the top of his car and hangs his head low. “I was just a rookie then; had only been on the job for a few weeks at that point and I had no idea what to expect.” He pauses, but doesn’t look over at me before continuing. “We got the call that a man’s pregnant fiancé was raped and murdered, and that the man killed the three men that did it to her. We showed up at the house as he was saying goodbye to her. It was a sight that would break any good man down.”

I grab onto my car and watch Mark as the tears slide down his cheeks. “I’ll never forget that moment for the rest of my life. The pain he was feeling . . . The look of pure agony and loss in his eyes ate at me and made me realize that if I were in his position that I’d do the same. I’d kill for my family too.” He releases his car and turns to me. “He’s not dangerous. He’s not a bad fucking guy. He fights for the ones he loves and does everything in his power to protect them. That makes him a good man that was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was thrown a shitty hand and he dealt with it. All of these people in this small town don’t see it that way. They’re twisted here in some ways, and want to believe that they know who are the good civilized people and who are the bad, uncivilized savages that are nothing but a waste of space and a disgrace to their town. To them . . . Royal became a savage that night. Even to his own fucking family.”