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“Kieran’s a good one.” A small smile creeps onto her lips.
“Yeah, he is, isn’t he? He likes you too, you know.” I sigh, not knowing where I should go next with my story. “What do you want to know, darling? I promise to tell you whatever you want, but I don’t want to hurt you.”
She contemplates my words, and I’m grateful for the time together. I can only rely on the trust we’ve already built between us.
“It hurts that I didn’t know.” She starts to choke up, and I can tell she’s holding back tears. “I don’t understand.”
“Understand what, darling?”
“I don’t… I don’t know. It hurts. I don’t understand what I did to deserve what he did to me. And it feels like you’re part of it somehow. I know it’s not logical, but it hurts.”
Reaching out to place my hand on her knee, I wish I could take some of the pain away from her.
“I didn’t do anything wrong,” she says, and her whole body shakes. “I’ve done everything right. I did everything right. I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I know, darling. I’m so sorry this happened.” She tries to bury the guilt, but by the way she holds herself it’s still plainly evident. I move closer and reach to bring her into my arms. “None of this is your fault. Arrick isn’t a good person. It’s not your fault.”
My reassurances fall on deaf ears. I feel so helpless. Normally, I can do something. There’s something to fix. But, I can only sit with her, and it’s making every hair on my body stand on end with tension.
She steels herself. “I need to know.”
“Know what, darling?” My thumb rubs back and forth on her knee, hopefully offering her comfort.
“How he became a monster. Why he chose me.”
This woman is incredible. Her resolve to push past her hurt, fear, and anger is inspiring. So I offer her the only truths I have.
“After college, I went to medical school. To support us, Arrick…” She flinches at his name. “He went to work for my family’s distribution company. He worked his way up and eventually took over at a senior level. After my dad retired around nine years ago, right around the time Kieran was born, Arrick took over—moving the headquarters to Houston—and quickly built the company into what it is, Mathieson Enterprises. I never questioned how quickly it grew, but I should have.”
She is finally looking at me, eager for every word.
“About three years ago, he started talking about how business was hurting. He was paranoid someone was sabotaging the business and merchandise. He started to get angry, and eventually, his anger spilled into violence.” I laugh at my own stupidity. “I see women in the ER all the time with telltale signs of DV, but in my own home, I didn’t see it coming. The first time he hit me was in front of Kieran.”
“Did he ever hurt him?” Her concern is endearing. How she’s able to put her own hurt to the side for another.
“No, thank the Gods. But after, I kept as far away as possible.”
“Good. Kieran doesn’t deserve it.”
“Neither do we, darling.” I caress her face and look her dead in the eyes.
“How did you end up here?” she asks.
“With Cy and Ember?”
“Yeah.”
“My husband isn’t a good man, and like I said, he’s paranoid. A little over a year ago, he took out a life insurance policy for Kieran and me. For ten million dollars.”
Her jaw drops in shock.
“A few months ago, he had a fixer approach Cy and Ember with a bid. Said he needed a rival taken out. But you know them—they’re mercenaries, but they have a certain moral code. They don’t do families, no women or children. They took his money, well, the half given upfront, and hid us away instead.”
“He tried to have you killed?” The words are spoken with breathy disbelief.
“I think he intended to have them stage it so he could get the life insurance money. That’s why he hired them. He needed someone completely detached from him. But we disappeared instead.” I brace myself for her reaction. “Honey, I think he singled you out because we left him. He needed someone to take his anger out on, and I think you remind him of me from when we were younger.”
She takes it surprisingly well, and I continue. “I didn’t know about the illegal elements until Cy and Ember located you at the warehouse. Part of me didn’t want to know. So I never pried.”
