Alice Avery
"My Dad died last week."
April looked at me like I had three heads. "You're smiling," she acknowledges. "May I ask why?"
"I'm happy about it. That's why." It was sinister to say but it was true.
"And why are you happy about your fathers death?"
"He— you know this really feels like an interrogation." I say and she removed her glasses, clicking her pen off.
"Your Dad died, Alice. Now I know he wasn't exactly your favourite person in the world but, he died, he's never coming back and you're happy about that."
I looked at her silently, blinked, looked away and looked back. "It was God's gift to me, his death. I was abused in every possible way one could be abused." I spoke slowly, ensuring that she took in my words. "His life never benefited anyone, in fact it ruined. His death benefited everyone, ruined nothing."
She nodded along. "I'll take a wild guess and say you're tired of talking about him."
I chuckled, "you think?"
"You think you've concurred him?" April asks.
"Yes. I do."
"Okay." She says and I raise my brow.
"Okay?"
"I believe you," she replied simply.
"You do?"
She nodded with shut eyes. "I believe you. I believe that you've cleared your mind, you haven't bottle everything up like you used to."
I shook my head. "How do you know that?" I challenge.
"Psychology degree." She answers and I laugh. She continues, "I went to school and studied people to understand them. I didn't understand you, but now I do."
"And what have you learned?" I asked her, looking away.
"You feel, so much, but you don't believe that you do. You have been mentally trained to drown out emotion that you consume. Now I've learned that your father did that to you and now, after today, I understand why you were smiling when you talked about him being six feet under."
I let out a breath, close to a sigh. "You're good."
She grinned, a small laugh leaving her lips. "During our first session you didn't seem to accept that this would take time. I think you accept it now. Maybe even embrace it."
"I didn't accept that I needed help, I didn't believe that I did. I do now. I thought I was too good for a shrink, I was wrong about that too."
"Are you just saying what I want to hear?"
What I told her couldn't be closer to the truth. I knew who I was, I knew what my feelings were, I understood myself. I had too much pride before but it's no longer the past. "I know that I'm getting better because I know that I need to be here. I know there's still work to do. I'm making progress because I feel better but I'm not telling you to release me. I want to be here, I want to be better, I want to heal."
April smiles at me, a heartfelt look in her eyes. "Good," she says quietly. "You're— you're putting yourself first and that's where it starts. You should be very proud. You've come far."
"Thank you."
"Our time is up for today. I'll be seeing you next week, yes?"
"I'll be there." I commit and stand up, grabbing my things. "Thanks again." I turn the door handle and walk out.
I walked out front to my car, replaying the past week in my head. Angie called yesterday, letting us know that everything was running smoothly in Chicago. Her and Reed have taken care of things. She mentioned how devastated Trent has been, he comes back to Vegas today. It seems Vince was like a father to Trent, Vince was someone he trusted and maybe even loved. I hoped Angie and Ricky were right when they said he wouldn't come after us.
We aren't back to normal, normal isn't even on our radar. The pain has gone away but memories still linger like ghosts. I was happy, and I wasn't pretending to be.
Trent Lowe
I only came back to Las Vegas for one reason. I was a man of my word, I'd do this for Vince, even if it costed something so valuable, like my life.
Ricky killed Vince, killing Ricky for revenge would be a waste of time. Those were Vince's words. Ricky is not afraid of death. To hurt Ricky, to kill Ricky, I have to kill Alice. He'd be left with nothing, his life would be stolen from him, Alice.
I paced along the sidewalk outside the airport as I waited for Link to pick me up. I pulled out my phone, dialling Razzle's phone number. After several rings he finally picked up the phone.
"What?" His harsh tone represented how he felt about me.
"The rematch between Alice and me. I need you to change the date."
"Why?"
"Just fucking do it, Razzle."
He huffed through the line. "I'll talk to Alice about it and let you know. She gets the last say."
"Whatever. Just let me know soon, alright?" Razzle then ended the call and I shoved my phone back in my pocket as Link pulled up in front of me.
I was in my final weeks, so was she. There wasn't another way. Call me evil, sick, a killer. After all, I learned from the best.
