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We're coming upon two years of me stuck in this hell. The only thing that has helped me to keep going is my talks with my grandfather. He was pissed when he first learned that I was held in the basement for all that time. He cried and apologized repeatedly. He wishes he could be a whole man to stand up to his brother, but the truth is that Baxter Huntley depends on Liam for everything. Since I don't know whether listening devices are in the room, I continue to play my part.
I squeeze Grandfather's hand and tell him I'm becoming a better man because of Uncle Liam. He knows the drill; I've had many whispered conversations with my grandfather. I've also earned Cal's respect as well. He saw me when I came out of the basement, and to say he was livid would be putting it mildly. Cal isn't dumb. He knows I'm on a mission, and even though he knows nothing of it, he will be ready when the time comes, whenever that may be.
On the other hand, Pretty Bird seems to have withdrawn herself. She no longer seeks my company when she isn't busy serving my uncle and Lyle. Liam doesn't make her fuck my grandfather anymore either unless he wants it, which he's content with just having her company while she gives him a hand job or an occasional blow job. I'm unsure what I did to earn her absence, but it saddens me because she has nobody here.
I've just left my uncle's office, where I had to watch another video of my father and Ryan. This time, he took her bent over the dining room table just after finishing breakfast. As always, he leaves her with a kiss on the forehead, never on the lips. After watching them for months, I've realized that it's as I had initially thought. My father has taken Ryan as a submissive, although, I’ve also learned that I’m about a month behind on the videos and a lot can change in that amount of time.
Am I pissed? Yeah, I kind of am, but at the same time, I know Ryan and her heart. I'm pretty sure this is what she needs. Instead of using drugs or cutting herself, she's finding a numbness in a different way. This may be pretty fucked up, but I'm kind of glad that it's my father giving her what she needs and not a stranger who could do who knows what to her. There are a lot of men out there who play at being Dominant just so they can hurt a woman. The one thing I do know about my father is when he has a submissive, it's not about love or even a relationship. It's always been to fulfill a need they both had.
However, watching them go at it still turns my stomach, and my uncle knows this. "How many times are you going to make me watch my father and his whore?"
"You will watch them until the day you leave here to do your duty to this family," Liam retorts.
I look him over and can tell something is bothering him. "What's wrong?"
He slams his finger down on the keyboard to turn off the footage and then scrubs his face. "I got word about something disconcerting."
"Is there anything that I can help with?" I prepare myself for what I'm about to offer and hope he turns it down like all the other times. "Does someone need to be hurt? Does a whore have to be taught a lesson? Because I'm ready now, Uncle. You know this."
"Yes, I believe you are ready, Beau, and I really wish a beatdown to a man or a whore was all it was about." He sighs. "Word has it that the infamous hush-hush underground prison isn't so inescapable anymore."
The hairs on the back of my neck begin to rise. "Did the D'Angelo brothers escape?"
"What? Oh no, at least not yet, and it's only one brother now. Luca died over a year ago in there. Sergio is the only living brother now."
"So, what are you upset about?"
"Do you not see? Now that one person has escaped, it will only be a matter of time before the others get smart, too, and I know that the most dangerous and calculating of the brothers is the one that is still alive."
Liam isn't in the mood for talking, so he kicks me out of his office. I'm passing my uncle's library when I notice Pretty Bird sitting in the window seat, watching the rain drops hit the window. I give pause because she isn't wearing her blindfold. Being very quiet, I walk into the room, but as soon as I get close enough and she hears me, she quickly pulls the fabric over her head, again covering her eyes. My heart breaks seeing her put the blindfold on again and I touch her shoulder. "It's only me, Pretty Bird. You don't have to hide yourself from me." Taking a knee beside her, I try comforting her by rubbing her back. "Do you know why I call you the name I do?"
She shakes her head. Of course, she doesn't.
"Just hear me out, okay? When I think of you, I think of a woodpecker…"
Her head snaps my way, and her mouth is drawn into a frown.
"No, not in a bad or perverse way. Woodpeckers persevere. It doesn't matter that they make little progress every time they strike with their beak. They know that as long as they keep going, they will accomplish what they set out to do. I'm not sure how long you've been here, but the fact that you are still here and that you do what you need to do to survive, reminds me of that bird. Your goal is to leave here one day, am I correct?"
She's slow to nod, but she does.
"You have kept going in the hope that you would one day leave here, and that's perseverance, so to me, you are like a little bird, only prettier," I say to help boost her self-esteem. I hook some stray hair behind her ear. "Let me see you, Pretty Bird."
I start to push down her blindfold, and she doesn't stop me. However, just as I'm about to uncover her lids, Liam's angry voice rages from the doorway, "What the fuck is going on here? Who gave you two permission to be alone unsupervised?"
"Uncle Liam, we weren't doing anything…"
"Damn it! I knew I shouldn't have sent Lyle to town today!" He comes in and closes the door, bolting it before approaching us.
I'm not afraid of him. I've been bulking up again and working out. I'm not the weak man I once was, so I let him come at us. I want to see what he will do or try to do. When I step in front of Pretty Bird, I glare at him.
"I was just explaining why I gave her the name I did. We weren't doing anything, I swear. I know better than to touch your whore, Uncle!"
He stops and smirks. "You really want to see the hideous face of the whore?"
I shake my head. "It can't be that bad…"
"DO YOU?" he yells.
