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Before they all hate me.
I’m forever living on a knife edge, worried someone will swoop in and steal what’s mine, destroying me in the process.
Destroying us.
“Hey, are you okay?” Angel’s voice filters in from behind, and I tilt my head to see her tugging on the hem of her sweater. She’s nervous to approach me, and I can’t help but wonder what she sees: a man on edge maybe? A man with so many secrets he’s drowning in them and sinking his family at the same time.
My thumb strokes over the knife in my pocket—my reassurance, my life saver.
“No,” I answer honestly.
“I thought you’d want to be with her.” She sits on the kitchen counter, regarding me, and usually when I’m being scrutinized, it makes my skin crawl.
Only that doesn’t happen with Angel. I turn to her and instantly see it in her eyes: the darkness, the trauma, the same reflection staring back at me when I look in the mirror.
My body relaxes ever so slightly, yet I’m still on high alert.
“She won’t want to see me,” I say.
Her gaze roams over my face, as if she’s searching for answers. Answers she will never find, that no one will ever find. Not unless I want them to, of course.
She takes a deep breath and flicks her eyes away from me. “A long time ago, I was raped by a man. A monster.” She chuckles sardonically. “Multiple, actually. But he was a family member, so that person hurt the most, ya know.” I nod, knowing too well how it feels to be so sadistically hurt by someone who was meant to protect you. “He was Finn’s uncle, and I ran. For years, I ran. Until one day, Finn walked back into my life, bringing with it his determination to keep me.” She smiles solemnly. “There was never a doubt in my mind that he loved me, and I loved him just as much, but I also knew the truth would hurt him. I thought I was protecting him, protecting us. But I was hurting him so much more by not giving him what he deserved. The truth.”
My heart hammers with each word. Our lives are different, our experiences worlds apart, and yet we’re the same. “He deserved that part of me, the part I was ashamed of. He deserved it all. I was lying to him, and it wasn’t fair. When I thought I was protecting him, I was hurting him too.” Her truth is a dagger to my heart, but there’s more to it than protecting Tia. Selfishly, so much more.
“What if... what if I’m protecting me too?” I admit meekly.
She nods. “Let them protect you, Lucas. Let them protect you like you want to protect them. You owe it to them to give everypart of you. They deserve and want every part of you. Trust me on that.” She hops off the counter. “I’m going to call Finn for an update.”
“Lucas, we need to talk.”
Spinning on my heel, my breath catches when I face the man I hoped to never to see again.
Rage.
Chapter
Nine
COLE
After undressing Tia, I helped her into the tub, cleaned her, and washed her hair. Then I dried her frail body, tending to each cut and bruise with ointment while my heart was breaking and my mind racing. My entire body conflicted with the need for vengeance yet the quest to shower her in love.
Once she was dressed in clothes provided by Angel, the doctor came in and checked her over. He said he was happy she was only battered and bruised, and his words made me want to tear his fucking head from his shoulders.Only battered and bruised?
I place a gentle kiss on her forehead as she snuggles with Harper tucked under her arm, and Mia is asleep in a crib beside her bed. “Love you, beauty,” I whisper as I close the door behind me. I want to stay and cherish them, but a bigger part of me wants to know what the fuck is happening. Needs to know.
Loud voices fill the corridor, and I march toward the sound, pissed at their lack of control with knowing what the girls have been through.
Pushing open the door to a dining room, the atmosphere is filled with fury. “What the fuck do you mean, she escaped?” Jace roars, and I wince at the venom in his tone.
“Don’t raise your voice at me, you ungrateful little shit. Now sit your ass down or get the fuck out.” I open the door to find Cal facing off with my brother.
I exhale and step up to take control of him. “Jace. Sit the fuck down.”
Snapping my gaze toward Finn, I ask the question Tia has asked multiple times now. “Any update?”
His head drops forward, and he shakes it, taking with it the hope of some good news.
