“He taught us to be better people,” Reign whispers.
“I don’t have a life to go to,” Ellie croaks.
idtem"220;I say we go back,” Genevieve suddenly announces.
We all turn to her, our mouths agape. She is the last person I thought would agree to going back. She’s the one who struggled with him the most.
“You think it’s a good idea?” I gasp.
“Yes, I think we should go back. He saved us. He gave us a chance to live again. I don’t want to become a prostitute; I don’t want to spend my life running and feeling scared. I want to get myself together, maybe get a decent job, hell, maybe meet someone. I don’t have the means to do that here, but with him, with his guidance, I do.”
I turn slowly to the group of girls. “Raise your hands if you want to return to him?”
Slowly, twelve tiny, fragile hands rise into the air.
My heart swells.
We’re going home.
EPILOGUE
WILLIAM
“Sir,” George says, walking into my room.
It’s been four long weeks without the girls, and in that four weeks my life feels like it’s gone, disappeared into nothing. I can’t feel anything. I can’t function. My family betrayed me. My girls were taken from me. My name was slandered. It would be all worth it though, if they were here with me.
Ben’s been with me each day, I’m grateful to him for that. My father, on the other hand, cut me off from his business entirely. That’s okay; I’ve been building up my side of it enough for the past ten years, ensuring I have enough financial stability to keep myself afloat for a long time. It doesn’t make it better, though. The person who was meant to give me his loyalty disowned me.
It seems nothing is worth fighting for.
“Sir?”
I snap my head up, staring at him. “What is it, George?”
“You have a visitor.”
“I’m not interested,” I grumble, staring at my desk again.
“Sir, you want to see them.”
Them?
I lift my head, staring into his eyes. They’re bright. I slowly get to my feet, and my knees seem unsteady as I walk towards the door. George follows me as I walk down the halls, feeling as though my heart is about to be ripped from my chest. It can’t be them. They wouldn’t come back, would they? I reach out when I get to the front door, and I shakily take it and pull it open.
Tears burn in my eyes as I see them.
Twelve girls, hand in hand, standing on my front lawn.
Seeing him, seeing his face, it breaks my heart. Tears tumble down my cheeks as I let go of Jaybelle’s hand, and I walk on shaky legs towards William. When I reach him, his finger slides out and he runs it down my cheek. Like he believes I’m not real. His eyes are glassy and his hand is trembling slightly. I reach up, cupping his cheeks and making a strangled, sobbing sound.
“You came back?” he rasps.
“How could you ever think we wouldn’t?”
He shakes his head, and brings my face closer to his, pressing his lips over mine. I kiss him long and hard, feeling my world coming together. The last four weeks, they have felt empty, like there’s nothing out there for us. Our worlds are here. With him. He pulls away and looks down nd ou hat me, giving me that expression that’s so incredibly powerful.
“You told me you loved me once, Emelyn,” he begins his voice soft. “I didn’t tell you anything back. I spent my time pushing you away, telling you a lover was all I needed. I thought it was, until the day you were ripped from my life, and I realized that I’d spent so long teaching you to be a kind, and loyal person, but I forgot to teach myself. You taught me that. Even through all your pain, you taught me how to live again. You made me what I am, Emelyn, and you showed me what a good person really is.”
I sob loudly, and my fingers curl into his shirt.
“A good man isn’t a controlling one, it’s an understanding one. A good man isn’t the one who has a lover, it’s the one who loves. A good man isn’t the one who punishes, it’s the one who explains. I wasn’t a good man; I was just a man. Now I’m everything a good person should be because of you.” He lifts his head, staring at the girls. “And them.”
I turn to the girls, smiling through my tears. William steps down, staring at them all, his face full of pride when I let my eyes travel over it.
“You all had a hard life before me. You all came from such lonely places. I don’t know that I gave you everything I could, but I know you gave me everything you are. My life is incomplete without all of you in it, so I’m telling, no, I’m asking you to be a part of this with me.”
The girls all step forward, their hands clasped, their eyes relieved and full of appreciation for the man in front of them. Slowly, they all lower themselves until they’re on their knees. William makes a strangled sound because he knows as well as I do that these girls are giving themselves over to him. They’re putting their lives back in his hands.
They’re letting him be their somebody.
I turn to him, and he strokes a finger over my cheek. “I never said it, but I’m saying it now. I love you, Emelyn. I will give you everything I am.”
I stare at the damaged, beautiful man in front of me, and I know he’s finally healed. Not just from the trauma he’s endured in his life, but from the pain he carries in his heart. I let go of his hand with a smile, and I walk back to the girls, slowly lowering myself to my knees—giving him the final piece of me.