Every Wrong You Right: A Redeeming Love Novel (Book 6)

by Parker, J. E.

  I was about to lose my mind.

  “And what am I supposed to say, huh? Sorry, babe, I didn’t mean to beat the shit out of some drunk who’d whooped his fourteen-year-old daughter’s ass, leaving her bleeding and terrified?”

  I leaned closer to her, closing the gap between us. Scowling, I glared at the little old lady who had the power to bring me to my knees with one swift hammer fist to the dick.

  As much UFC as she’d been watching lately, I wouldn’t have been surprised if she’d tried to put me in a guillotine choke.

  “Or should I tell her that the moment I laid eyes on Mackenzie, a scared kid who’d been hurt by the one person who was supposed to always protect her, that I saw myself?”

  “I reckon either would be a good start.”

  I ignored her reply. “Or how about I tell her that I was so goddamn weak as a kid that I hurt other people to dull my own pain? What about the fact that my Mama walked out when I was eleven years old, leaving me and Chase behind? She couldn’t take another beating from my old man, so she left us to take them for her! Think she’d be interested in that fact?”

  My nostrils flared.

  “Or maybe I should tell her that I can’t breathe without her! I don’t care how fucked up it sounds, Heidi Johnson became my life the moment I met her, and yet half the time she can’t stand to even be in the same room with me!”

  She shook her head. “That ain’t it.”

  “The hell it isn’t! Heidi is scared of me, Grandmama. She thinks I’m going to hurt her and break her heart the same way I broke so many others. She knows—she fucking knows—that poison lives inside me, and it terrifies her down to the marrow of her bones!”

  “Ty—”

  “And it’s because of that goddamn poison that I lost my head tonight and nearly killed a man!” Once the levee in my head broke, I couldn’t stop the emotional flood that spewed from my mouth. “He may have deserved it, but I should’ve never done it in front of Heidi, Ashley, or Mackenzie. That girl already has a long road ahead of her, and I had no business throwing her old man a beating while she stood by, nearly pissing herself from fear.”

  “Mackenzie is gonna be just fine,” Grandmama said, standing. “Maddie done got in touch with an aunt of hers that lives in Charleston. She’s on the way to pick her up now.”

  “Yeah. What about her piece of shit father?”

  Grandmama shrugged. “I reckon he’ll stay in whatever gutter you and Hendrix left him in until he wakes up. Tell me”—she elbowed me—“how bad did you beat him?”

  “Damn near killed him.”

  “Thatta boy! Make sure you swing by the house tomorrow when you get off work. I’ll have a couple pies ready and waiting for you. Your favorite is apple, ain’t it?”

  I jerked my head down once in affirmation.

  She nodded. “I’m on it then. I’ll get Dottie to whip up one of her peach ones too. Can’t go wrong with those.”

  “Do you realize how messed up this conversation is?”

  “What’cha mean?”

  “You just offered to make me a pie after I told you I almost beat a man to death and broke half a dozen laws in the process.”

  “I don’t give a good dadgum if you broke a hundred laws,” she fired back, scoffing. “The sorry son of a biscuit had it coming.”

  “Yeah, he did,” I mumbled. “But it cost me.”

  Grandmama waved a dismissive hand in my direction. “It didn’t cost you a thing but some knuckle skin. Heidi ain’t gonna turn her back on you over what happened tonight. She may not have much common sense, but she ain’t dumb.”

  “I can’t lose her,” I replied, my voice filled with desperation. “Not when I was so close to finally having her.”

  “Then what’cha doing sitting here talking to me for? Get your tight behind up, and head back inside. Last I saw, she was helping Shelby clean up the stockroom. Dottie and I let the kiddos make a mess down there.” She elbowed me again. “Gave em’ cans of silly string to play with.”

  I chuckled. “I’m sure Shelby loved that.”

  Grandmama nodded. “She may have threatened to kill me a time or two, but I ain’t scared of the Mouth of the South. She talks a big game, but she’s just a big ol’ softie on the inside. Anyway”—she waved her hand for what felt like the fifth time—“get that tight tush of yours up and go find my grandbaby.”

  “What am I supposed to say?”

  “How about you start with that one part?”

  I stood, my brows drawing together. “Which part?”

  “The one where you said I became your entire life the moment you met me.”

  My heart lurched at the sound of my woman’s voice. “Heidi?”

  Arms crossed over her chest, my beautiful girl stepped out from the shadows that hugged the side of the brick building. My gut twisted when I saw her puffy eyes, tear-stained cheeks, and trembling lips.

  “Tell me, Ty.”

  Sick of the distance between us, I moved in her direction. Stopping less than a foot in front of her, I cupped her gorgeous face with my shaking hands and tilted her head back. “Tell you what?”

  Tear after tear fell from her eyes.

  “That I’m your life.”

  Uncaring if Grandmama was watching, I dipped my face and hovered my lips above hers, reveling in the way her warm breath wafted over my mouth. “You’re my life, Angel.” I slid my hands into her silky hair. “And one day, I hope I’m yours too.”

  I didn’t wait for her to reply.

  Instead, I slammed my lips down on hers.

  Sixteen

  Heidi

  It was almost midnight.

  Seated in the front of Ty’s truck, I leaned my head back on the seat and stared out the window, my eyes transfixed on the twinkling stars above me.

  In the back seat behind me, I could hear Chase and Ashley talking to one another, but I paid neither of them any mind. The thoughts in my head were already jumbled, and I certainly didn’t need to add more to them.

  Holding my hand tight, Ty rubbed his calloused thumb across my skin in long, slow strokes, the heat from his palm bleeding into mine.

  He was trying his best to comfort me when it should’ve been me that was comforting him. Hard as I tried, I couldn’t rid my mind of the vile truths he’d spilled outside the shelter when he didn’t know I was listening.

  His mother abandoned him…

  His father was a drunk who hurt him.

  Acid churned in the pit of my gut and the urge to vomit up every bit of horror I’d witnessed the past few hours grew. Add that to the guilt cracking my chest wide open, and I wanted to scream to the heavens above until I no longer had a voice.

  For three years, I’d judged him unfairly.

  Right or wrong, each time I’d looked at him I’d seen a beautiful monster, one who hurt others without rhyme or reason.

  Part of me—the part that had a lick of sense—always knew there must’ve been a reason for his actions. But I was too blinded by my own past torment and present fear to seek out the truth.

  Instead, I’d pushed him away at every turn.

  For someone who was a social worker, I sure could be a judgmental witch.

  It was unacceptable.

  Mama is probably rolling over in her grave…

  Bouncing my leg up and down, I watched as Kyle and Carissa’s street came into view. My anxiety skyrocketed when Ty eased back on the gas, letting the truck naturally slow.

  I shook my head; tears filled my eyes.

  After what happened earlier, I didn’t want to leave his side. I’d spent far too much time away from him already. I didn’t want to be apart any longer.

  Blowing out a breath, I squeezed his hand tight. “Don’t turn.”

  I then felt his gaze on my face. “What?”

  “Don’t turn,” I repeated. “I don’t want to stay at Kyle and Carissa’s.”

  “Alright.” His hand squeezed mine in return. “Then where do you want to go?”

>   Conjuring every ounce of bravery I possessed, I turned my head, meeting his eyes. A tear slipped down my cheek. “I want to go home with you.”

  His eyes flared the slightest bit before going back to the road. Shoulders tensed, his breathing accelerated. “You sure?”

  Though he wasn’t looking at me, I nodded. “I’m sure.”

  He glanced in the rearview mirror. “What about you, Ashley?”

  “If Heidi is going home with you, then I’m staying with Chase,” she answered, no hesitation. “I’ll need to call the Mominator but…”

  Shelby was going to throw an absolute fit.

  Anthony too.

  Crap, here we go, I thought.

  Turning in my seat, I extended my arm. “Give me your phone.”

  Brows furrowed, she handed it over.

  Giving myself no time to think, I dialed Shelby’s number, pressed the sleek phone to my ear and prayed that I’d be able to hear her through the speaker.

  “Hey, sweet girl, when are you coming home?” Her voice sounded a thousand miles away, but thankfully, I understood each word.

  “It’s me, Blondie.”

  “Heidi? Where’s Ashley? Is she hurt? Did she—”

  “She’s fine,” I said, interrupting her for a second time. “I just wanted to let you know that she’s staying with me tonight and won’t be coming home until tomorrow.”

  Tension bled through the phone. “Heidi”—she sucked in an audible breath—“where?”

  There was no point in hiding the truth from her. For one, she’d find out on her own. For two, I may have been judgmental at times, but I wasn’t a liar.

  Never had been.

  Never would be.

  “At Ty’s apartment.”

  I tensed, fully prepared to hear her sling every curse word in the book at me. But that’s not what happened. “Heidi, she’s not ready for this…”

  Knowing exactly what she meant, I glanced back at Chase and gave him a hard look. He raised a brow in response, his signature smirk locked in place.

  “She’ll be fine. Chase knows better than to hurt her.”

  “Yeah?” Shelby sounded like her heart had climbed high into her throat. “And what if he does it anyway?”

  I quickly channeled my inner Grandmama. “Then I’ll cut his balls off with a rusty can lid.”

  Chase and Ty both cringed.

  I almost laughed.

  There was a brief pause. Then, “I don’t like this, but I can’t say no, either. Ashley is twenty now, and as much as I’d like to lock her away from the world, I can’t.”

  She was right about that.

  “And I know the more I try to pull her away from that damn boy, the harder she’s going to fight to be with the no-good knucklehead.”

  “Chase is a good guy,” I replied, honestly.

  Just like his older brother...

  If I’d only seen the truth earlier.

  Gripping the phone tight, I continued. “Even if he is dumber than a box of rocks.”

  “I resent that,” Chase mumbled, obviously offended. “I’ve got more sense than a rock… I think.”

  “I don’t care how good he is,” Shelby said. “He’ll never be good enough for her.”

  On that point, we agreed.

  Chase was good, but he wasn’t good like my Dimples. I admit that I put Ashley on a giant pedestal because she was my best friend and I loved her with every ounce of my soul, but the truth was, her heart was too pure and her soul too kind for any man on this earth.

  “You’re right.” My chin wobbled. “But I guess the jock will do in a pinch.”

  Ashley smiled, and I winked at her.

  Shelby sniffled, and I knew she was crying. “You take care of my girl, Heidi. She’s experienced enough pain to last ten lifetimes. I don’t want her to feel anymore.”

  Another stupid tear fell.

  “I’ll take care of her. Promise.”

  “Okay,” she hesitantly agreed. “But don’t blame me if my husband kicks in Ty’s apartment door once he finds out where she’s holed up.”

  My eyes slid closed. “To be so well-mannered Anthony sure does have a temper.”

  Beside me, Ty chuckled.

  “He sure as hell does. You should hear him when he starts hollering at me in foreign words that I don’t understand. I have told that man time and time again that I don’t speak Italian, but he spouts it off at me anyway!”

  I bit back laughter.

  “I guess that’s why my southern ass gets for marrying a New Yorker. Damn loud-mouthed, fast-talking, foreign language fussing—”

  “Blondie,” I said, cutting her tirade off. “I’ll have Ashley call you tomorrow.”

  Shelby huffed into the phone. “The hell you say. Tell her she better call me before she goes to bed. If she doesn’t, I’ll boot Ty’s door down my-damn-self.”

  “I’ll have her call.”

  “Alright,” she said, huffing again. “Talk to you later.”

  “Bye, Shelby.”

  She didn’t reply before ending the call.

  I turned and handed Ashley her phone. “Make sure you call her before you fall asleep. If not, the apartment door will need replacing come morning.”

  Her eyes bulged. “I’ll call her.” Leaning into Chase’s side, she looked up at him and then back to me. “Thanks, Bug. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

  I smiled. “It’s a good thing you’ll never have to find out.”

  Facing out the windshield once more, I pulled Ty’s hand into my lap and covered his busted knuckles with my free hand. “Now let’s go home.”

  He jerked his head in my direction.

  Confusion briefly marred his face.

  But then he smiled.

  “Yeah,” he whispered. “Let’s go home.”

  Seventeen

  Heidi

  Ty looked lost.

  Hands shoved into his pockets, he stood in his bedroom, an unsure look on his handsome face.

  It unsettled me.

  Forcing a smile, I dropped my purse onto his unmade bed, crossed his pigsty of a room—seriously, there were clothes strewn everywhere—and came to a standstill in front of him.

  Wrapping my hands up in the front of his form-fitting shirt, I tugged on the taut fabric and leaned into him. Taking a breath, I pulled his scent deep inside me and rested my forehead against his chest, directly above his sternum.

  I memorized each beat of his heart as it bled into me, syncing in time with mine.

  “We need to talk, Casanova.”

  Burying his nose in my hair, he twined his arms around me, holding me impossibly close. “Then talk.”

  My eyes slid closed when he began to rock me gently from side to side, dancing with me in place. “Do you want me, Ty?”

  His hands slid up and down my back, his fingertips caressing my sensitive skin. “I would like to think you’d know the answer to that by now.”

  I did know the answer.

  But I still wanted to hear him say it.

  “I need you to say the words, because if we’re going to do this, then I need to know that you really want me. Not just for today, and not just for tomorrow, but for always.” Opening my eyes, I tilted my head back and looked up at him. “I know it sounds ridiculous, but if you don’t want forever, then I can’t—”

  Strong hands cupped my jaw. “I want you, Heidi,” he stated, his strong hands cupping my jaw. “Until my dying breath.”

  The fear that weighed me down dissipated, and for the first time in what felt like years, I took a breath.

  Not just any breath.

  This breath was one which cast out my demons and cleansed my soul, freeing me from the ugliness that had held me captive for far too long.

  Free from the invisible chains that had bound my heart in place, I looked up at Ty, and for the first time since we’d met, I saw him for who he’d once been and who he’d truly become.

  A terrified little boy…

  A bea
utifully broken man.

  My heart wept for him as liquid steel slithered through my bones, stoked by the fiery determination that burned in the pit of my gut.

  The need to fix him, to help him, raged and rioted inside me while every bit of the stubbornness I’d inherited from my parents rose high into my chest. Taking a breath, I focused on Grandmama’s words as they echoed through my head.

  Ty’s angry cause he’s broken.

  You fix it by loving him.

  Fixing him, one broken piece at a time, was exactly what I was about to do.

  Not wanting him to pull away from me, I slid my arms around his lower back and anchored myself to him. “I want you too.” I rested my chest on his chest. “But if we’re going to build something between us, we need a clean foundation, one which can’t be destroyed no matter what life throws at us. In order to do that I need you to tell me about your past… about him.”

  Ty froze; the rocking stopped.

  “I don’t know where the fuck to start.”

  Nodding in understanding, I dropped my arms and took a step back. My body screamed in protest at the loss of his heat against mine, but I ignored it.

  Taking his hand in mine, I guided him to the bed. “Sit,” I said, pointing at the sheet covered mattress.

  He obeyed my command without speaking.

  Once he was still, I climbed on top of him, straddling his lap. Looping my arms around his neck, I lowered my head and pressed a kiss to his cheek before hovering my lips over his ear. “I want it all, Ty,” I told him, running my fingertips over his shoulder blades. “Every dark and twisted memory, every morsel of pain and shame. Lay every burden on me, Casanova. I’m strong, I can take it.”

  “Heidi—”

  I pressed a finger to his lips, silencing the rebuttal I knew was coming. “Shh. It’s okay. I can handle it. Promise.”

  A quick nod.

  That’s all he gave me.

  “It’s okay,” I assured him, running my shaking fingers through his short hair. “Nothing you say will change how I feel about you.”

  “Yeah?” he asked, clutching my rounded hips. “And how do you feel about me?”

  “Well, the truth is, I’ve always wanted you,” I replied, my lips fluttering over his temple. “But I never allowed myself to act on it. Now though, it’s different.”