My car was parked at the end of the street with the lights off, but I could see everything happening outside the house. At midnight I saw him pull up and Melina open the front door to let him in. It could have been a simple tryst between the two of them, but I felt the call to go to Bee and make sure that she was okay. I’m glad I trusted my gut because I can’t begin to think about what would have happened if I hadn’t been here. I only caught a few words from him as I rushed in, but it was enough.
“Ragnar.” Bee calls for me and I open my arms for her. She leaps into them.
She’s sobbing against my neck and I can feel her shiver in fear. I want to throttle the motherfucker all over again, but I can’t let go of her—not now, not ever.
I spin around when I see Bee’s parents come rushing into the room and take in what happened. I want to do the same thing to her father that I did to Brandon for allowing this to happen.
“What did you do?” Her mother glares at Bee as she rushes to Melina, who is still standing silent with her back to the wall.
“What did she do?” I say as I grip Bee tighter. “You mean what did Melina do. She’s the one who let Brandon in. Go on, tell them why you did it.” Her eyes come to mine quickly before she looks down at the floor. “Tell them, or I’ll do it myself before I call the cops.”
“Wait, now everyone just calm down,” Mr. Armstrong says as he holds out his hand. I know he’s just worried about his wallet and if this is going to cost him his payday.
I give Melina another chance, but she just leans into her mother like a toddler and won’t admit to what she did.
“Your oldest daughter tried to have Bee raped. He said she gave her to him as a wedding gift.” Bee shivers against me and I squeeze her tighter to remind both of us that I made it in time. “She was willing to do something like this because she was jealous.”
“I’m sure it was all a misunderstanding,” Mr. Armstrong offers. “Melina would never do anything like that, would you, Melina?”
His daughter just looks at him and then at me before she lowers her eyes again. I see the mother wrap her arms around her and there’s not an ounce of regret or disbelief in either of them. I sigh as I shake my head. I don’t know why I expected anything less from these people.
“Let’s go downstairs and have some tea. I’m sure we can all talk about this and come to an agreement,” he tries again, but I’m done with this bullshit.
“I tried to do this your way,” I say, taking a step toward him. “But I’m done fucking around. Bee is mine and she’s not staying another second in this godforsaken house.”
Brandon makes a sound and I walk over and kick the shit out of his dick while still holding Bee in my arms. When he makes a sound and then passes back out, I walk over to face her good-for-nothing family once again.
“You can keep the money I had wired, but take it as a parting gift. You are never, ever going to see your daughter again. You lost that privilege tonight and you won’t ever get it back. I’m going to spend the rest of my life making sure that there’s not a day in her life where she wonders about you. I will make her so happy and give her all that she wants to the point that it will be as if you never existed in her life at all.”
When I glance over to her sister, it’s the first time I see her face pale and I wonder if all that’s happened finally registered or if she’s realizing that after what my steel-toed boots did to Brandon she might never have kids of her own.
I grab the bag of clothes next to the bed and pull Bee’s face away from my neck. “Is there anything else you want to take?” She shakes her head and keeps her eyes locked on mine as I raise an eyebrow and ask the silent question. I want to know if she wants to say anything to them, but she pauses for only a second before she once again shakes her head.
“Bee?” Her father’s voice isn’t desperate or even kind, it’s mostly confused. I’m sure he’s thinking about the potential income he’s losing out on instead of the fact that he didn’t protect his daughter from a monster and that the daughter he’s left with is an animal.
She tucks her face into my neck once again, signaling me that she has nothing left to say. I tighten my arms around her as I walk out of the house that was nothing more than a box to hold her until the day she met me.