𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑟-𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑑

Mending The Broken

Abby's POV.

"Sarah, can I talk to you?" I ask, looking over at Sarah who is currently on her phone texting John B. Kiara's eyes flicker up for a moment before going back to her phone. "What about?" Sarah asks, putting her phone down. "Rafe," I answer. Kiara looks up from her phone and glances at Sarah. "What did he do now?" I shake my head. "Nothing. I just need to talk to her for a second. Do you mind?" I ask Kiara. She glances at Sarah before getting up from John B's couch, walking somewhere else in the house.

"What's up?" Sarah asks, looking at me. I pick my cuticles, trying to come up with the best way to say this without making Sarah suspicious of me. She cannot find out about me and Rafe ever. Everything between me and the pogues would explode. Everything between me and Rafe would explode.

"I think you should talk to Rafe," I finally say. Keep it simple. Her eyebrows furrow. "What are you talking about? He tried to kill me."

I sigh. "I know. He tried to kill me too." Her eyes widen. "I'll tell you about that another time," I say, cutting her off before she can speak. "We both know Rafe is dangerous. We both know he has killed. I think it would be best for you to try to reconcile with him before he does something stupid." I have to pretend to hate him. To pretend that he's a monster. If that's what it takes to get part of Rafe's family back, I'll do it. And Rafe knows how I feel about him. He knows that I don't see him as a monster.

"Ever since your dad died, he's been less crazy. Still crazy but less. You yourself said he wanted to try again with you after your dad died. You have every right to be angry with him then and you still do now, but I think it's best if you try to fix things with him before he stops loving you because once he does, you're in more danger. John B too. If anything stopped Rafe from coming here and killing him in his sleep, it was you." I watch her as I speak, looking for any reaction she shows and when she casts her gaze to her lap, I smirk inwardly. She knows I'm right. She knows that continuing to stay enemies with her brother does her no good. The question isn't whether or not I'm right. The question is, is her love for John B stronger than her hate for Rafe.

"He'll never agree to this," she says. That's a yes. I tilt my head. This is where I have to be careful. I can't say I'll take care of it without explaining how. She could become suspicious. "He will if we get rid of some evidence on him. We don't even have to do it. We will just say we will. We are both convincing liars. And if he wants proof that we did, then we get rid of a fake piece of evidence," I answer.

"How are we going to fake evidence?" Sarah asks. Jesus, this woman doesn't watch any fucking crime shows. I thought I taught her better than that. "We buy a second pair of those. identical to the ones I was wearing the night I met your brother. Cover them in fake blood or real blood and hand them over to him. He's too stupid to know the difference," I answer.

"What if he tries something?" Sarah asks. "He won't," I assure. Rafe won't do anything because he isn't a monster. Getting off cocaine helped him more than anything. Not only did him getting clean make me see the human being under the skin of a killer but it made him see that he was more than a killer—more than the wrongs he committed. "He knows that if he tries, we send his ass to jail. Ward may have taken the wrap for killing Peterkin, but he didn't take the rap for the body Rafe dumped into the marsh," I answer.

"Do you think this will even work?" she asks. I tilt my head. "That depends on you, Sarah. Do you still love him?" She lets out an exasperated sigh. "He's my brother. Of course, I still love him."

"Then I'd say we have a good chance at making this work. The only thing is you will have to keep it from John B to keep him safe," I say, making her shake her head. "I have to tell him," she says. "Tell John B?" I ask. "Why? So, he can storm up to Rafe and throw some punches or tell JJ so JJ can go point a gun at him. This has to stay between the three of us or it won't work. It's up to you." I understand why she wants to tell John B about this, but this won't work if she does. John B loves her and would never allow Rafe near her alone, even if I was with her. But I know Sarah will say yes. She has a big heart. That's her fatal flaw. Convincing Rafe is going to be the tough part. I thought it would be easier to convince Sarah first.