And it melts my heart.Home. Home with me.
On the drive, she doesn’t speak much, and my head is full, playing the meeting over and over again in my mind. Every gesture, every micro-expression. He is a snake. But maybe to beat a snake you have to play the snake’s game.
“I really miss my brothers,” Selene murmurs from the seat next to me, her face turned out to watch the city move past the window.
“I know, princess. I know you do.”
“Why would he invite us to dinner? Family dinners are held at his home. We would be at hishome, in hispersonal space.” She pauses to look at me. “He was so nice. He was… he seemed like he really cared about me?”
It’s a question that breaks her voice a little. I can see how badly she wants his care to be real, but we both know it’s not… or at least I know it’s not.
“Princess, he was manipulating you. It did not care. It was him acting a certain way to get something from you.”
“But… what if he’s right?”
“Right about what?” I ask tensely, knowing that man isn’t right about a single fucking thing.
“What if he’s right and I just misunderstood the whole time? He was just trying to keep us safe from what he genuinely thought was a dangerous situation.”
“Selene, your father is amanipulator. Youknowthis, right? You can see through his act?” I ask carefully.
“I don’t know Simon. He said he did everything he did because he felt it was the right choice. Maybe he just made a mistake…”
“No,” I blurt out. “Don’t you dare start questioning yourself. Don’t you see? He is gaslighting you, making you believe you are the wrong one. Hehurt you, Selene. He threatened your babies. That is ALL you need to remember to keep yourself aware of who he truly is.” My anger is spiking as I realize the control he has over her emotions. Years of gaslighting, years of teaching her not to trust her own feelings and thoughts.
I take a deep breath. Shouting at her won’t help. Deep down, she knows the truth. I just need to reminder her.
I gently take her hand in mine and turn her palm to face upwards.
Then I trace my fingers up along the inside of her arm to a scar that I know well, just below the bend of her arm on the soft, delicate flesh there.
“Was this a misunderstanding?” I ask. “What happened there?”
She quickly pulls her arm away from my grip and covers the scar with her other hand.
Tears stream down her cheeks.
“You’re right. There was no misunderstanding.”
There’s a stretch of silence before she asks again.
“So why did he invite us to dinner at his home?”
“He has the advantage at his home. If he chose to attack us or make a move against us, it wouldn’t be frowned upon because we would be on his territory.”
“So… we can’t go?” she asks, her voice breaking with disappointment. “It would be stupid, wouldn’t it?” she sighs.
I realize just how badly she wants to see her brothers, just how much hope she has that what her father told her is true—that they miss her.
She takes a deep breath, biting her lip. “I know you’re right about my father. My brothers, though…”
“How about this? We agree to the dinner, which will give us more time to work out what he is up to, but we change the venue. Neutral territory.”
Her eyes grow wide, her brows lifting. “Really?” she asks. “Even knowing it is a trap of some kind, you would still go?”
“Knowing it’s a trap gives us the advantage. Especially if he thinks he has tricked us into a sense of security. And maybeyou can make a connection with one of your brothers and get them to help you.”
I don’t want to put Selene back in front of her father. I saw what it did to her today. But maybe the hope she has about her brothers, especially the ones she spoke to at the beach house… maybe it’s the lucky break we need to end this conflict and for our family to feel safe.
