Pain made no sense. The real person she needed to inflict all her anger on was her father—Alexander Vales. He would get what was coming to him.
“I’ve got you, Aria,” I said.
“How? How can you even want to be near a person like me? My mother is the victim here. I know that.”
I cupped Aria’s face. “I’m always going to be here for you. You’re in pain.”
“I want to protect her,” Aria said. “Drew told me all the time that my mom was a good person, but I never believed it. This is so not fair. I can’t stand it.”
I stroked her back as she let it all out, and I just let her. There was no point in trying to fight it. We sat on the side of the road, cars zooming past, some slowing down, and an ache began to build in the backs of my ankles.
Holding her close, I refused to let her go.
She lifted
