“You still have a baby to think of remember?” She whispers through a hoarse throat.
“I can’t do it without you, sugar. I need you.” I clasp her face in both my hands and press my lips to hers. She tilts her head up, her lips parting slightly. Her hands grip my wrists, holding me to her.
“You really think you can give up all of this for my sister?” I’d almost forgotten Harry was here. He gestures around the vast space of my living area.
“In a heartbeat.” I say, keeping my eyes fixed on Lilly’s. A small smile pulls at her lips. I love this woman so much, I’m not about to let her walk out of my life.
“You know, when you’re on the run, it’s usually to avoid detection. You’re not exactly inconspicuous, are you?”
I shrug. “No, but I have off shore bank accounts everywhere. I have enough money for you to run properly. I still think that I can fix this though. Please give me a chance.”
“We don’t have any time. You’ve known about this for a week and you only now decided to tell us, which means we’re fucked and out of time.” Harry snaps.
I shake my head. “I paid her off a bit, bought us some more time. I told her that I wasn’t going to pay her off without verifying with Lilly whether it was even true. She’s gone back to Monaco.” I focus on Lilly. “Trust me when I say, there is no line I won’t cross for you Lilly. I could have had her taken out, but she says that if her friend doesn’t hear from her every day, then she’ll send the video to the police. It may be bullshit, but I can’t risk it.”
“Theo, that would make you a murderer.” She says slowly.
I nod. “I’d also kill for you, sugar.”
“Yeah, yeah, we get it, you’d do fucking anything.” Harry grunts.
“Harry, enough.” Lilly snaps. “We are not running straight away. We will give Theo a chance to fix it.”
“You’re seriously trusting him with this?” He raises his eyebrows.
“He’s never let me down.” She says with conviction.
“Except when he fucked another woman and got her knocked up.” He mumbles. I can’t deny it. He’s right. I have let Lilly down, too many times, but this won’t be one of them. I will settle this one way or the other, and I will make her happy.
“Fucking hell, Harry, don’t you think I know that? This isn’t about me and Lilly. This is about you and Lilly not going to jail. This is about you escaping your bloody mother and actually living without looking over your shoulder all the time.” Harry says nothing, but the permanent scowl that seems to be etched on his face doesn’t leave. “I am willing to sacrifice everything to help you, but I need to know what happened. I can’t frame her for a crime that I know nothing about. I need details.”
Harry glances nervously at Lilly. She nods once, and he releases an exasperated breath. “On your head be it.” He mumbles to her.
“What do you want to know?” She asks tentatively.
“Everything. Start from the beginning.”
She takes a breath and releases it slowly. “Shane was a monster and my mother was a drunk. She used to spend most of her life unconscious whilst Shane did whatever he liked to Harry and I.” She glances at Harry again and he moves to her side, taking her hand in his. “That night, Jane was passed out drunk, and he’d beaten Harry so badly he was unconscious.” She says quietly. “He’d made sure no-one could help me. He tried to rape me. By this point, I was used to it.” I feel sick already. “But Harry did help me.” She smiles at her brother sadly. “He staggered into my room, bleeding and barely able to stand. He stopped him.” She sniffs back tears. “But Shane got really angry, he hit Harry so hard. All I remember is him kicking him over and over again on the ground, and I screamed.” I want to go to her, but Harry pulls her up against his chest, crushing her to him. A small sob escapes her as her brother comforts her. He glares at me over her shoulder. I feel like I’m intruding on the two of them.
“Hey, it’s okay, sugar, you don’t have to tell me anymore.” I say quietly.
“No, you need to know.” She pushes away from her brother and turns to me. Her eyes lock with mine, and don’t falter as she speaks the next words. “So I grabbed the knife that I kept under my pillow and I stabbed him. I’d wanted to, for as long as I could remember.” Her eyes go distant. “I had kept that knife there for months, but I’d never been brave enough to use it, just in case I failed. Not until I watched him almost kill my brother.” She says with conviction and without a trace of regret. “I stabbed him, and once I’d started I couldn’t stop. I stabbed him over and over again. I hated him, so fucking much.” She spits. “He took everything from me. He broke me. He broke Harry. I wanted him dead so badly.” She looks at me. “We had to run after that. One stab wound would be self-defence…” She shakes her head. “But there were so many…so much blood.” Her eyes plead with me to understand. “Do you think I’m a monster?” She says in a small, broken voice.