Chapter 25

Jennie

"What have you done?" Kai accuses again.

He's in a furious rage that would have once scared me, but I'm not afraid anymore. Lisa asked me to be brave. Lisa knew this would happen.

"The answer was always no," I hiss at him. "You were never allowed to take from me. And now you'll pay."

Another pop.

My eyes close for just a moment, and then Kai's attacking me. I screech and wriggle but halt my movements the moment hot blood gushes over my bare chest. When I reopen my eyes, I'm both horrified and elated in one single breath.

He's dead.

Kai, the monster from both my nightmares and reality, is nothing more than a blown out skull sitting on an unmoving body. It baffles me how one moment the room is rippling with evil and the next moment it's completely snuffed out.

He's heavy, but I manage to push him off me.

My mother cries out in a raspy voice from down the hallway. On shaky legs, as blood drips down my naked body, I make my way to her room. Sadness washes over me the moment I see her frail form curled up in the bed. When she sees me, she reaches out to me as if she's trying to hold onto a dream that's quickly slipping through her fingertips.

"Momma," I sob as I wobble over to her. I crawl into bed next to her as we frantically hug one another.

"Y-You're really here," she cries. "He told me you were coming, but that I wouldn't live long enough to see you. Oh, baby girl."

"H-He said he would kill you. That's w-why I l-l-left all those y-years ago," I stutter out through my tears.

"Shh, honey. Shh. You're here now. That's all that matters," she coos.

I'm still hugging her when two strong arms grab at me from behind. I start screaming like a wild banshee but then fall limp when I smell her.

Lisa.

She came for me.

She killed the monster just like she promised.

"I'm here, Jennie," she murmurs, her lips pressing kisses all over me. She covers me with a blanket and hugs me tight. "I'm always here."

"I-I was b-brave," I chatter out.

"I know you were. I never had a doubt."

~

The past week has been a whirlwind. Cops. FBI. Dealing with my mother moving to the city. I've been walking around in a fog. If it weren't for Lisa, I'd have let all the stress swallow me up.

But Lisa is more than the storm.

She's also the calm within it.

With the patience of a saint and the smooth tongue of a sinner, she's woven a tale they believe. Her private investigator Dusty had all sorts of information on Kai. After Lisa shot the men, Bull took the gun and casings with him. There wasn't any evidence for the police to find. Not that they were truly worried about Kai and his goons. Once they discovered it was someone on the FBI's wanted list, their efforts switched from wanting to find the killer to finding the missing women that were believed to be hidden away by Kai somewhere. I was able to tell them what I knew about his old stomping grounds and past residences. And with the intel they had from Dusty, they were able to piece together some locations. The same day Kai was murdered, the FBI found the warehouse where seventeen girls and women between the ages of fifteen and thirty were found. Most were drugged out of their mind. Many were raped beyond reason. All were rescued and returned to their families.

"Happy anniversary," Lisa murmurs, her palm cupping my breast as she begins kissing my neck. "You still leaving, little quitter?"

I roll onto my back on her bed and regard her beautiful face. Once Kai was truly gone, I shed about ten pounds worth of stress. My life began to drip with color again.

"I guess my two weeks' notice is up, huh?"

She slides her erection against my thigh. "You could always ask for an extension."

I start giggling so loud that I have to cover my mouth so nobody hears. My mother has come to stay with Lisa and me at her house. Gwen has been so good to both of us. I've missed Momma so much and getting to see her every day has been the icing on the cake.

"I'm happy," I blurt out, hot tears quickly filling my eyes. "I'm happy because of you."

A growl rumbles low in her throat and she attacks my mouth. Our kisses are needy and fervent. It doesn't take much shifting before she's driving deep inside me. She devours my lips to stifle my moans, so we don't wake up the whole house.

As she fucks me, she lifts up to regard me. Her eyes are sharp and focused on me. It's my favorite thing about her. The way she watches me like a hawk. As if I'm the only thing she sees.

But she's not like Kai.

Lisa is good to me.

She loves me.

And I love her too.

~

Six months later…

"Here?" Gwen asks, her nose scrunched in question.

I frown and shake my head. "Over just a bit." My back aches from all the work we've been doing. My sister-in-law made good on her vow to deal with her hoarding problems. With intense therapy and help from not only Lisa and I, but my mother as well, she's been able to clear out all her rooms. The church near her mom's house has been helping us with the donations. It's been a lot of work, but I'm happy to see Gwen working through her issues.

"You think she'll notice?" she questions once the picture is hung.

I laugh. "She notices everything."

We both admire the painting she's been working on for weeks. It matches the décor of the room perfectly.

"I love it," I tell her with a sigh. "What's next on our list?"

She shakes her head. "Not so fast, missy. You need to rest. I promised Lisa I wouldn't work you to death. You know how she worries."

"She worries way too much," I say with a faux pout. Truth is, though, her worrying makes me feel safe. If it weren't for her obsessing over my well-being, we wouldn't be here today. I'd probably be drugged out of my mind in some warehouse once again under Kai's thumb.

"I have two to worry about now," a deep voice rumbles from behind me just as her arms wrap around my middle. I lean back against her. She palms my swollen stomach and kisses the side of my neck.

"How'd painting go?" I question.

"Bull can't paint for shit," she gripes. Our son rolls in my belly. "Oops, I think I woke little man up."

I laugh and Gwen lets out a huff. "Umm, hello? Notice anything?"

"What? Did you cut your hair?" Lisa teases her. I know she sees the painting on the wall but she likes to razz her.

"You're an ass," she gripes and points in exaggeration to the hawk painting.

"Looks good," she tells her in an absent tone. "I'll come inspect it more later once I've seen to it that my wife is taken care of."

Gwen pretends to gag. "Gross. Go away. Bye."

I'm scooped into Lisa's arms and finally get a good look at her face. White paint speckles cover her forehead and cheeks. There are even flecks all in her hair. She looks downright adorable.

"You're a mess," I tease as she carries me to our bedroom.

She smirks and kicks the door shut. "And you're beautiful."

When she sets me on the bed, she doesn't waste any time stripping me out of my clothes. Once I'm naked, she steps back and lets out a groan.

"Goddamn you're hot when your belly is rounded with my kid," she observes, flashing me a smoldering grin.

I lie back so she can enjoy the view. She was right about everything. Being her wife fills one of those holes I had deep inside me. Carrying her child fills another hole. This life she forged for us is one I don't ever want to lose.

"So beautiful," she praises as she kneels on the floor and starts kissing my thighs. Lisa is so thorough. She hardly misses a day where she isn't worshipping every part of my body. Her breath tickles along my flesh as she makes her way to the part of me that throbs for her. Once she reaches her destination, she kisses my clit. Softly at first. Then, she begins sucking and tonguing me until I'm writhing in pleasure.

I barely have time to recover before she's pulling my hips to the end of the bed. She enters me gently at first but then thrusts into me raggedly as if she'll die if she doesn't get enough of me.

Don't worry, honey, I'll give you everything.

It isn't until she comes with a loud groan and falls on her side beside me that my gaze falls on the chest across the room. My question is always the same. Her answer is always the same.

"What's in the chest?"

Her palm finds my cheek and she turns my head to look at her. Her mouth hovers over mine. "It doesn't matter."

And honestly, it doesn't matter.

What matters is the woman who's now kissing me and the boy rolling around in my belly.

What matters is us. They are what I notice.

Everything else is out of focus.