Eye for an Eye (Take a Chance Book 2)

by Lisa Helen Gray

  “I’m sorry, Miss Wilson,” Lucy soothes, kneeling beside me, rubbing circles over my back.

  “W-why didn’t anyone tell me?” I cry out, forcing deep breaths when the panic overwhelms me.

  She’s gone, and all I feel is empty and lost.

  “We assumed your father would tell you,” she explains.

  “He’s a monster,” I whisper, blocking everything out.

  She’s gone, and I am left alone in the world. I have no family. Knowing I’ll never see her again has left a gaping hole in my heart that will never, ever heal.

  “Are you okay?” she asks, biting her bottom lip when I blank my emotions.

  “Has he buried her? Cremated? What has he done with my mum?” I ask, reaching for her box of stuff.

  Her scent is still in the room and it causes a wave of pain.

  She is never coming back.

  I can’t even find relief in the fact she was at peace. I can’t find closure in knowing her mind will be her own now.

  All I feel is anger; anger at Andrew for keeping her from me and anger at Mum for leaving me.

  “I have this card,” she tells me, handing me a small business card. “They are who we call after a doctor has confirmed death. They are still waiting to hear from her next of kin.”

  I give her a sharp nod, taking it. I grab the box, feeling hollow inside. I fought for so long to keep her memory alive, and in a short space of time, he took the precious moments I had left with her, so did this care home by catering to Andrew.

  He kept her from me, and in the end, succeeded in brainwashing her into thinking I was poisoning her.

  He turned her against me my whole life. Whenever he turned up, it was never about us anymore, about me, it was about him and what he needed or wanted. She would force me to my room, so he didn’t have to see me. Once, I heard him tell her that he came to get away from children, not spend more time with one.

  “Would you like me to call someone?” Lucy asks softly, bringing me back into my nightmare.

  I force a smile, holding the handles on the box tighter. “There isn’t anyone to call. Not anymore. She died five days ago.”

  I feel like I’m walking in a dream world, not hearing or seeing anything as I leave.

  There are people around me, their faces and bodies a kaleidoscope of colours as I pass them by. The world has stopped or is playing slow as I keep my head down, walking to the car.

  Dropping the box onto the back seat, I slide in, gripping the steering wheel, my eyes clenched shut.

  She is gone.

  I can’t breathe.

  I’ll never get to see her smile, hear her laugh. I’ll never get to tell her I fell in love and had my heart broken. She’ll never get to see me walk down the aisle or meet any future grandkids.

  She is just gone.

  And he didn’t tell me. Even for a man as cruel as Andrew, this is sick. She was my mum.

  Putting the car into gear, I drive out of the carpark, heading down the road. I come to a stop before the bridge, pulling onto the grass, the breath getting sucked out of me when the realisation hits me.

  I have nowhere to go.

  I have lost everything.

  Anything I had left to live for is gone.

  I rip my seat belt off, the tightness in my chest too much as I gasp for air. Pushing the door open, I fall to my knees on the damp grass. My head hangs down as I struggle to catch my breath.

  Tears stream down my face as everything comes tumbling down around me.

  I have lost everything, and in this moment, all I can think about is that if I don’t take another breath, there will be no one to mourn me, no one to care.

  Rebecca has her own life to live, surrounded by family who love and adore her. I’m only ever a burden to her.

  Maybe now, she can be free.

  And maybe now, I can be too.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  WYATT

  How can someone else’s wrongdoing make me feel like shit. She is the one who lied to me, to us, for months. At any point over the past few months, Evie could have told us who she was, but she chose not to. And the answer to that is easy. She never planned to.

  And yet I’m the one feeling conflicted and kicking myself for the way things ended. For her wounded expression as she left.

  The fury still pumping through me wants to be set free. I want to pummel my fist into someone, mostly Andrew Black.

  When we were together, I had my concerns about Evie only giving me parts of herself. I was stupid not to read into them and my misgivings about it. I gave her all of me, more than I have given anyone outside of my family.

  What I once thought was beautiful between us, now only seems dark and ugly.

  Her void expression as she looked through me before she left keeps playing on my mind, and it only makes me angrier with myself. I shouldn’t be giving her another thought. Her heartbroken act was just that: an act. But I’m not as heartless as she is. Certain things get to me. I’m human.

  “You should have heard her out,” Jaxon barks, coming back from the office with some boxes.

  I snatch one out of his hand, unable to look at him. “I didn’t see you coming to her defence.”

  “She wasn’t my girlfriend, and if you’ve forgotten, she nearly had my wife and unborn child killed.”

  The fight I have been dying for since I found out who Evie is surfaces, and I stand up straight, ready to give in to Jaxon’s goading.

  “Fuck!” I groan when I see Mum marching up the pathway, her features tight and unhappy.

  “I never raised you to be a stupid boy,” she yells, narrowing her eyes at me, causing a shiver to run up my spine. It reminds me too much of my time as a teenager, when she gave us what we called ‘the mum look’. I know from that one look that I am in for a bollocking.

  “Mum,” I start, but she wags her finger, her lips tightening.

  I glare at Eli, who shrugs. “I had to tell her.”

  Of course he did.

  “Then you know she betrayed us and that’s the end of it,” I snap, bending down to pick up some of her stuff.

  Just seeing one of her many skirts on the ground has me gritting my teeth. Everything we shared and did runs through my mind, and for the life of me, I can’t bring myself to understand it. It felt so real, so good, and it had been a lie. A sick, twisted game because one man had thrown his dummy out the pram.

  Little moments flash through my mind of the times she was going to tell me something. A part of me wants to believe it was about Andrew, but I can’t believe it. It’s my mind playing tricks on me.

  Mum laughs bitterly. “If you think that girl betrayed you then you aren’t the boy I raised you to be. When she first got here, she looked like she wanted to be anywhere else despite the fact she clearly loved her job.”

  I roughly throw the box to the floor, glaring at them all. “Why do none of you care?”

  “Of course I fucking do, but, man, you were harsh,” Eli puts forward. “It’s like Jaxon said, something doesn’t add up, and I truly don’t believe she would do something so vindictive.”

  “She fucked me and our family over,” I roar. “Since when do we give free passes?”

  “Since you love the girl,” Mum interjects.

  Jaxon steps forward. “We aren’t asking you to forgive her. What she’s done is unforgiveable, I agree, but maybe you should hear her out.”

  I look away, continuing to throw her shit into the box. “She has nothing I want to hear,” I mumble, closing my eyes tightly when a floral scent with a fruity composition wafts into the air. It’s hers, and I feel my heart harden even more. How could she use and manipulate someone to that extent? I’ve fucked my fair share of women, but never once have I led any of them on or made them believe there could be more when there wasn’t. I might be a dickhead and love to fuck, but I’d never play with someone’s feelings like that.

  Right now, I could drink a few bottles of whiskey and then some.

&nbs
p; I feel crushed by her actions, but I’ll get over it with time. Right now, I just want to get her shit cleared up and out of my fucking face so I can go get rat-arsed. I never want to be reminded of her again.

  The gravel crunches as a car comes flying up the road. Thinking Evie has wised up to come and get her stuff, I begin to pack it faster, not bothering to turn to look when I hear the car skid to a stop.

  “Where the fuck is Evie?” Rebecca yells, slamming her car door whilst leaving it running.

  I stand up straight, turning to face her. Like she doesn’t know where Evie is. Evie made a fool of me, but I’m never fooled twice. She’s here for her friend, probably to weasel her way out of it.

  To play along, I say, “She isn’t here, but whilst you are, you can take that cunt’s stuff.”

  Her expression turns to granite as she storms forward, pushing at my chest. I let her, taking a couple of steps back, glaring down at her.

  “How could you do this to her? You have no idea what she has been going through.”

  She’s got some bottle sticking up for Evie after everything she’s done. It grates on my nerves that she thinks Evie is the victim here.

  Taking a step forward, I let her see just how livid I am. Wisely, she takes a step back, her lip trembling.

  “I’m sure the multiple orgasms were a real hardship while she snuck around and nearly got my family killed.”

  She snorts. “You’re pathetic. I don’t know what she sees in you.”

  “Clearly nothing considering she did it as a favour to daddy,” I bite out with a snarl.

  “Yeah? Is that what you think? Did you even let her explain?” she asks accusingly.

  “There was nothing to explain. I caught her out and now she’s run off crying.”

  She shakes her head, looking up at me like I’m shit on her shoe. “He has made her feel like crap from the minute she was old enough to understand what sadness was. He cheated on his wife with her mum, got her pregnant, and then left them both.”

  “I don’t want to hear it,” I grit out.

  “Well, you’re gonna. I’m not having you condemn my best friend without the fucking truth,” she snaps. “He has another two kids. Did you know that?”

  I’m not sure what this has to do with anything, but I answer anyway. “Yes.”

  “What you don’t know is that they made her life hell at school. He rarely went to Olivia’s, and when he did, it was for a fuck. She was naïve enough and in love enough to let him use her. Olivia didn’t care that each time he ignored their daughter it was crushing Evie and making her feel worthless.

  “She ended up in the same school as his two children. They made everyone in that school single her out. She was bullied and harassed by them and their friends. It made her hate him even more. Can you imagine what it felt like for her to be bullied, called into the principal’s office about it, and then have her father be the one to put the blame on her, nearly getting her expelled? His kids never let her forget it.”

  “I don’t fucking care,” I grit out, even if my stomach turns from hearing that. After growing up with a devoted, loving dad, I can’t imagine what that must have felt like. Even when me and my brothers fought, he never took sides, and he never made one of us feel small. He loved us equally, although we all knew his little girl was the apple of his eye. Still, Rebecca is chipping away at the wall I have built around my heart and I can’t let her. I’m never going to be played again. “She could have told us.”

  “To have you guys turn on her like you have today? What good would that have done for you or her?”

  “Why did she do it?” Jaxon asks, stepping closer. “If she was estranged from her father, why would she help him?”

  Rebecca gives him a twisted smile. “Well, I’m glad you asked because I was just getting to the good part.

  “In such a short time, she’s gone from finishing her degree and caring for her mum to putting her mum into a care home. If that wasn’t bad enough, the job she took to keep up with bills… the company fired her from out of nowhere. Can you guess why?”

  She’s no longer looking at Jaxon but at me. “Andrew. He made sure she was fired so she had no other option but to turn up to the interview he set up for her at Hayes Removals.”

  “We didn’t hire her,” Eli murmurs, listening intently to the story. Because that’s all it is. At least, I think it is. “Not at first anyway.”

  “No, you didn’t, and you have no idea how relieved she was when she didn’t get the job. When you called her to offer her the job, she didn’t see the harm because as far as Andrew was concerned, she hadn’t got it. Somehow, he found out.”

  “And?” I drawl.

  She watches me for a few moments before taking a step back. “You never deserved her, and you aren’t owed an explanation. You’re a fucking dickhead.”

  My feet are pushing me forward before I can even think about it. “No, you started something, now finish it. I mean, that’s why you’re here, isn’t it? She’s told you to come tell us some sob story. What, will daddy cut her off if she doesn’t pay up?”

  Her lip curls. “She wouldn’t spit on him if he were on fire, so as far as taking something from him, she’d rather jump off a cliff. As for you, you can fuck off.”

  I push the car door closed before she can fully open it, getting in her face. “Why the fuck did she do it?” I roar, finally needing those answers.

  Her gaze searches mine before she takes in a stuttering breath. “Family means everything to you, right? I mean, you’d die for each and every one of them.”

  “Yes,” I bite out, not looking to who she’s pointing at. I know my family are all there. “I’d do anything to protect them, even if it’s from her.”

  “You don’t need protection from her,” she scoffs. “She never wanted to hurt you.”

  “Then what about the fire?” Jaxon fires off.

  “He took her mum,” she blurts out, throwing her hands in the air. “He had power over her care, and when he found out he could use it to get to Evie, he moved her into another home. He threatened to keep her from seeing her mum, and he did. More than once. I’ve witnessed her refuse to help him, but he threatened to have her mum hurt. She loves her mum. Evie doesn’t see how she grew up being second best as wrong. She dotes and adores her mum. She is the only family she has. All she’s known. And he took her. She thought if she could give him useless information and not the material he really wanted, it would keep him happy long enough for her to find a way to take over her mother’s care. She never wanted to hurt any of you and has lost a great deal to make sure nothing happened. She’s the victim, not you.”

  “My wife and brothers were nearly burnt to a crisp, one was stabbed,” Jaxon snaps, yet the harshness from before has disappeared.

  “She didn’t know she sent that information. It was sent by mistake when he was hassling her. She regretted it as soon as she figured it out.”

  “Do you really expect us to believe this?” I ask, thinking the entire thing is ludicrous.

  “I don’t care what you believe,” she snidely remarks. “It’s the truth. He’s taken so much from her. So much. And I thought you’d be different since you knew what he was like. But you didn’t even give her a chance, something she was scared would happen. I forced her not to tell you, made her believe that no good would come from it.”

  “She didn’t tell me though.”

  “Not for lack of trying. She tried plenty of times, but you have a habit of distracting her,” she reveals. I glance away, clenching my jaw. “After I spoke with her, she realised she would never be able to help you if she wasn’t in a position to. She has been working against him this entire time, to help you, and this was before you fucked her and she fell in love. You’re an idiot if you believe anything else.”

  “Why did she tell us her dad was dead?” Paisley asks softly, looking away when Rebecca turns to her.

  “Because he is dead to her. He’s never been a father to her, and she’
s never claimed him as one. Would you, with Black as your father? He’s done nothing but humiliate and neglect her, all the while having two other kids he doted on and was proud of.”

  “She should have told me who her father was,” I get out, my voice hoarse. My shoulders slump as I take a step back, letting her open the car door.

  “Whether you believe it or not, she’s done nothing but help you. He’s spied on her, he’s physically hit her to the point he marked her, and he has blackmailed her for months. There’s only so much she will take before she breaks, and this will break her. She’s a good person who was put in a bad situation she couldn’t control, no matter how hard she tried.”

  I can’t speak. The truth rings in my ears, no matter how much I don’t want to admit it. It doesn’t excuse the fact she lied to me this whole time. She slept with me knowing I wouldn’t like who her father was, let me fall in love knowing the outcome.

  “Maybe you should hear her out,” Jaxon orders.

  Scoffing, Rebecca pauses from getting in the car, standing straight. “I don’t fucking think so. You can stay the fuck away from her.”

  “Give us a break,” Eli demands. “This was a shock to us. Her dad came strutting into the office and revealed the news. We were angry; you can’t blame us for that.”

  “And I bet he had a reason for that,” she murmurs, her gaze drifting off into space.

  “Eli’s right. Give us a break. We’ve dealt with crap from him for months now.”

  “No, you don’t deserve one. You’ve gotten to know her and that should have been enough to make you think twice. She’s been working for you for a while. You’ve fucked her,” she remarks, glancing at me. “You should have known deep down there was a reasonable explanation as to why she was there and why she kept it from you.”

  “Honestly, I still want to fucking kill her for putting my wife at risk,” Jaxon grits out.

  Her stony expression goes to him. “She didn’t put you or your family at fucking risk. He did. Andrew. He’s the one you fuckers are forgetting about in this scenario. But yet again, he’s getting away with it.”