She took a deep breath. “Have you ever hit a woman?”
“No.”
“Killed a woman?”
“Yes.”
She froze.
“She wasn’t a good woman, and would willingly sell other women to earn money. Prostituting girls is not something I agree with.”
“So you killed her?”
“Wouldn’t you?” he asked. “Someone abusing their position, their power. Wouldn’t you want to kill them?”
“I don’t know.”
“Our justice system has a lot of problems.”
“It’s there to protect.”
“Yet it sometimes protects no one. I’m not justifying what I do. I’m a monster. I get it, I accept it. Everything I’ve done, I’m not guilty or ashamed of. The only thing I am ashamed of, and feel guilty for, is keeping it from you. I didn’t lie. I simply didn’t tell you the truth.”
They stopped outside of the pharmacy.
“Do you love me?”
“More than anything.”
“I love you, too,” she said. “I love you more than anything. I wish you had told me the truth at the beginning, but I understand why you didn’t.” She pressed a hand to his chest and went on her toes to kiss him. “If you ever keep something like that from me again, I will hurt you.”
He wrapped his arms around her, tugging her close. “Do you want to be pregnant?”
“I want us to be happy, and to be together.”
“We can do that.”
She took a deep breath. “Shall we go and find out?”
An hour later, Harper discovered she was pregnant, and Abel fainted in the damn bathroom.
****
He was the oldest student in his year. Landon sat in the library, glaring down at the book, adjusting his tie that was squeezed so tight around his neck. This school demanded crisp white shirts, ties, and even damn jackets.
This was just torture.
“So you’re the new kid everyone is going on about,” a girl said.
Landon looked up and … fell in love. The girl before him was chubby, her brown hair pulled back into a ponytail, but he saw the kindness in her eyes. She was a nice person. He just knew it.
“Hey, hello?” She waved her hand, frowning a little. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, um, I’m fine.”
“So you are American. Cool.”
“Landon Denton,” he said, offering his hand.