“What do you mean?” he asks, stroking his hand down my hair. “Tell me everything,” he whispers, a plea.
I bite my lip for a second, then start speaking.
“When you found me in the park, I had escaped my father. I’d been running for two months already. My father was the one who forced my decision to cut myself off from you. I have regretted that choice over and over again over the years, but I also know it was what I had to do to keep the twins safe. He threatened them, Simon. He said he would hurt them if I didn’t spy on you and your family. The day he found out who I was dating, that I was with you… He told me I had to spy. But I couldn’t do it. And when I refused, he threatened to kill you. I decided to tell you who my father was. To tell you what he was trying to make me do. I thought we could work it out together… but then I learned I was pregnant. I was so scared.And everything changed. I decided to run away from him. But he found out before I could. He saw everything. He knew everything. And he took me prisoner in his home, using the twins, threatening their lives, to keep me under his control.”
Simon is quiet, listening closely. When I’m done speaking, he asks, “And the men you saw in the park today, they work for your father? I know them as men of one of my rival families.”
“Yes, I mean, they aren’t my father’s men directly, but he is owed so many favors over the years. He owns many people. They are working on behalf of my father. He wants me back. He wants the twins back.”
Chapter9 - Simon
Selene is still sitting on my lap, curled up against me, telling me the story I have been waiting to hear for five years.The reason she left.My head is spinning with thoughts, and my heart is wild with emotions. I can’t believe she is finally telling me the truth. She is finally ending my years of living in this empty space of not knowing.
Her scent washes over me, teasing me, making me think of how I used to hold her. The tenderness of her voice, the softness of her hair against my cheek, it’s all making me wish for things that are long gone. Things I want back, but don’t know if it would ever be possible.
I am filled with longing. A deep need to feel the same love from her that I once felt.
But as she speaks, other emotions overtake the longing.
She tells me about her father, about the torture he inflicted on her over the years. She leaves out the details but says enough to make my blood boil. She tells me how he is the reason she could never come and find me, how she is the reason she had to make the choices she made.
My heart is beating so hard against my ribs that I can barely contain the anger building inside me. Her father did this to her… and to me. Her father stole my family from me. My children, the love of my life…
What kind of monster does that to his own daughter? To his grandchildren?
“You were aprisonerin his home?” I ask, gritting my teeth so that I don’t end up taking my anger out on her. Already, I am holding her a little tighter.
“Yes. For five years, he watched every move I made. He didn’t let me leave unless it was for a doctor’s appointment or something he had sanctioned. And I had to take his guards with me. Not to keep me safe, but to stop me from running. Most of the time, I wasn’t even allowed to take the children.”
“So, the twins?” I ask, my voice breaking, “Their childhood? Their … their happiness? Did they get to explore and play outside, go to the park, and have friends?”
She shakes her head. “No. They didn’t. Once in a blue moon. But we didn’t get to celebrate birthdays unless it was done in secret.” Her voice is rich with guilt.
“I’m sorry, Simon. I did my best to hide the circumstances from them. I tried to keep them from my father’s wrath as much as I could. Mostly I succeeded. But he has a mean streak. Luckily, almost all of it was taken out on me. But he shouted at them like they meant nothing. When I could play games with them in the mansion, hide and seek, pirate treasure hunting, but when he got home, I would send them to hide in their room. I honestly did the best I could.”
I stroke my fingers through her hair, feeling the soft, silky strands move over my skin. “Hehurtyou?” I ask, not wanting to hear the answer, but needing clarity on the pieces she briefly skimmed over.
“He was… brutal.” Her voice is tight with the memories of what he did to her.
She doesn’t say more than that, but it’s enough.
I pull her close to my chest again. “I’m so sorry you went through that alone, Selene. I wish… I wish things had been different,” I say.
“Me too,” she answers quietly, nuzzling her face against me, closing her eyes, and letting out a soft huff as though she wishes to release all of the bad memories with it.
My body is humming at the closeness, her warmth, her scent.
But right now, the anger is stronger than anything else.
“I want to kill him,” I murmur, more to myself than to her.
“I wanted that for years, too. But he’s my father. And I don’t think it would fix anything. I didn’t want to become the same type of monster as him. Leaving was a better choice. And I did that. I escaped. I got away from him…” she sighs. “But he is still hunting us. I don’t know what to do.” Her voice breaks, and she starts crying.
My blood runs faster, and my heart beats harder as I listen to her. My protective instinct is overwhelmingly strong, stronger than I have ever felt before. I hold her tighter, whispering against her ear.
“Selene, I will never let him have you again. I am going to protect you and our children. I swear it. I will do everything in my power to keep you safe.”
She leans back and looks at me, her eyes wide and red from crying. They are glittering in the soft light of the living room.
