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I’ve already told him—sort of.
Inhaling a deep breath, I wet my lips and begin, “I told you my family is struggling financially?” Tav nods. “Well, Dad—William—” My eyes close because thinking of Dad hurts. I’ve never met a weaker man. “After everything with Ophelia—when your mom died, and you left—when she married Abe?—”
“Take your time. I’m listening,” Tav encourages gently.
“Dad—h-he fell apart. Honestly, both him and Remira just crumbled. They became different people in their shock and humiliation. Where Remira turned hard and mean, William just—he disconnected. From everything. It wasn’t instant. It took time, but then he just wasn’t there anymore. I’ve always thought something happened. I’ve always thought maybe he saw something he shouldn’t. After I found the will; I figured maybe it was that. When I saw it, I was crushed by it. William had loved your family. He’d loved Annika as a sister, I think. So, I can see the betrayal of having her will be altered after her death to cut you down when you were already so cut—well, I could see how that might make him shut down.” I meet his eyes and give him a helpless shrug. “William has never been strong.”
“So, he started drinking?”
I nod. “And gambling.”
Tav makes a noise. “He gambled everything?”
“Everything but his shares of Laurier Lines.” Just saying it hurts. “I’m sorry for the part my family played in hurting you.”
A muscle in his jaw jumps. “You don’t apologize for them.” Feeling tender, I glance to the side. Tav asks, “Tell me about how you became engaged to my brother.”
I’ve already told him most of it, but I set in to give it all to him. “We spent a lot of time with your family after—after everything. Remira decided it would look better if we supported Ophelia’s love of Abe instead of cutting her out of our lives. So, we saw them—a lot. Darius was always around.” Uncomfortable, I tuck my hair behind my ear. “He used to look at me. Even when I was younger, I’d catch him watching me. It used to make Ophelia so mad. She cornered me once in a restroom where we were having brunch and told me to stop trying to seduce Darius. She told me that I’d never be able to handle a man like him—that I was too soft. I was sixteen. It wasn’t long after Remira had taken a belt studded with jewels to my butt after that boy stole a kiss. So, I panicked. I was horrified that she might think I was trying to flirt, in any way, with any man. I started to cry.” I admit shamefully, my voice growing quiet.
“You don’t have to tell me.”
My eyes land on his. “I want to. Ophelia laughed at me when I begged her not to tell Remira that she thought I was trying to get Darius’ attention. She laughed, and she left me there in that restroom, terrified that I’d go home to another beating.” I clear my throat. “After that, Ophelia liked to taunt me with comments about Darius. About how interested he was in my innocence. How he’d break me if he ever got the chance. How I’d shatter and bleed for him, but he’d never love me.”
“Fucking bitch.” Hot anger flares in his eyes.
“I thought she was just tormenting me until our money problems got bad. Like, really bad. We were going to lose our house. The credit cards were maxed. The Laurier’s were going to go bankrupt. Remira asked Ophelia for help. Ophelia and Abe called Darius.”
“You were the payment.”
I nod somberly. “I was the payment.”
“Fuckers,” he grits, jaw grinding.
“I think we should talk about something else.”
“He tormented you,” he says instead of changing the subject.
For a moment, I say nothing. Then I admit, “Yes.”
“I could kill him.” He curses again.
“It’s in the past. They’re forgotten. I’ll never go back.” I pin his eyes with my own. “No matter what happens, I’ll never go back.”
“You’re right about that.” His dark eyes flare as they take me in. Then he tosses bills onto the table and stands. “I’m taking you home.”
twenty-seven
Tav
There’s still so much I want to know, but I hadn’t been able to listen to more of it. I hadn’t been able to look at her, so innocent and beautiful across the table from me, and hear about my brother traumatizing her.
My brother.
Christ.
I don’t think I’ve ever known anger like I know it now. I don’t know how someone like her could come from a family like ours. She’d been surrounded by flesh eating monsters her whole life, and somehow, she was still soft. Still gracious. Still exquisite.
She’s a miracle.
