“You’re not alone. I’m here, and I won’t let anyone hurt you like that again.” It felt like a dick thing to say, considering how the words came from a hypocrite’s mouth, but it was the truth. I wanted to tear into the person who’d done this to her. By the time I was through, no one would recognize his disgusting face. “Who raped you?”

She paused, back straightening before she whirled around to face me. “What?” Her large green eyes rounded in shock.

Shit. Fucking amnesia. The eight-year blank she knew nothing about.

“There’s something you need to know.” I gestured toward the half-filled dishwasher. “Those can wait.” I pulled out a chair and gave her a pointed look.

Rather than cross the few feet between us, she wiped her palms on her jeans. “Why are you acting like this?” Her voice rose, on the level of screeching, and the confusion on her face splintered through me. “Don’t treat me like I’m breakable. I want you back! I need you back.” She blinked rapidly, sucked in several breaths, and to my horror, tears leaked down her cheeks. “Make me sit in that chair.”

I gaped at her, at a complete loss. “Alex…come sit down. We need to talk.”

“I don’t want to talk! I want you to turn back time and come after me.” She doubled over, her shoulders quaking with sobs. “I want you to take back control! Stop acting like nothing happened between us.” She wiped the hair from her eyes and slid to the floor, the fight bleeding from her body, then covered her face with her hands.

Carefully, I closed the distance and a sense of Deja vu came over me. I crouched in front of her, pulling her hands to the sides of her damp cheeks. “I don’t remember.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The last eight years, Alex.” Of their own volition, our fingers entwined. “I don’t remember any of it.”

18. Absolution - Alex

18. ABSOLUTION - ALEX

He didn’t remember?

I searched his eyes, looking for a hint of recognition as I attempted to process what he’d told me.

Anything?

I tried to imagine what it would be like to wipe away that much pain and betrayal. Poof, gone. No more hurt, no more baggage, just a chance at a clean slate. Hadn’t I tried to do the same, albeit a more permanent method born from desperation in a bathroom in the middle of nowhere?

His fingers tightened around mine, instantly grounding me. “Now you’re the one who needs to say something.”

“I…” What if he’d forgotten for a reason? What if deep down, he didn’t want to know? “I don’t know what to say.”