AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You mean, did they fight? Was it physical?”
“Yes.”
Lea nods shortly. Her dark eyes are hard to read. “He hit her; she beat him. I don’t remember everything, but I remember enough. All my memories of my sister involve blood and violence. When Mac told me what she had done, the men she’d murdered… I wasn’t surprised that she’d killed so many. Only that she’d been caught.”
“Does he hit you?”
“I’m not my sister.”
Which I think is an interesting answer. “And Noodles the cat?”
“I had a kitten named Noodles. But she ran away a long time ago. How do you know about Noodles?”
“She was mentioned in the note. That Mac had killed Noodles to discourage you from leaving him.”
“The message I didn’t write,” Lea clarifies. For all of her meekness in MacManus’s company, she certainly seems direct enough now. It makes me wonder if it’s a show she puts on for Mac’s benefit, a way to manage a man she knows can be violent when challenged directly, as her sister did.
“Who else would know about Noodles?” I ask now.
“Keahi, of course.”
“Is that how you think of your sister, Keahi versus Kaylee?”
“I know I was born in Texas, but I don’t remember much of those days or my parents. I remember Hawaii, and in Hawaii, she was Keahi and I was Leilani.”
“Then why did you return to using the name Lea?”
“Mac thought it was best, after Keahi had disappeared.”
“She disappeared?” Now I arch a brow. “Because in her version of events, you disappeared.”
Lea shakes her head. “No. I was with Mac. I was always with Mac. I don’t know what happened to Keahi.”
“According to her, you tried to interfere one night when Mac attacked her. He flung you against a wall. When she retaliated, he beat her so badly she ended up in the hospital. By the time she got out, you were gone. She and the rest of your family—your auntie and cousins?—searched everywhere for you, including Mac’s house, but you were nowhere to be found.”
Lea shakes her head. “I have no memory of such a night.”
“You simply woke up one morning and your sister was gone?”
“Yes.”
“And you never questioned that?”
Lea shrugs, apparently unmoved by her sister’s account. “I did ask. Mac said she left. The cook agreed. And I was sad, but not surprised. I was young, but already old enough to sense my sister’s rage. She could be terrifying, and that was before she’d met Mac. Learning that she’d disappeared, I mostly felt relieved, like I could breathe again. And Mac took good care of me. He promised I would always be safe with him, and he’s held true to his word.”
“You’re not afraid of him?”
“No.”
“He’s not violent with you?”
“Never.”
“And when did he first start sleeping with you?” I ask the question matter-of-factly. I want to see her reaction.
She doesn’t respond immediately. Her thickly fringed eyes peer over my shoulder, to the rippling ocean beyond. Her face is perfectly beautiful, and smoothly expressionless. I’ve seen such looks before, on survivors of long-term abuse who’ve learned to completely mask their emotions in order to avoid future punishment.
“He has not touched me.”
