“He was taken from us too soon,” Domenic said with his empty shark eyes. “But his loss will not just be felt in our family. The community at large has lost a champion for the rights of small business owners and employers. As a business owner myself…”
I had tuned out the rest of his rehearsed speech and focused on my mother. The Tara Crawford on screen looked like even more of a shell than I’d remembered. Thinner, with hollows under her cheekbones and shadows under her eyes that even immaculate makeup couldn’t hide. The effects of grief for a man that tortured her daughter for nineteen years.
I had switched off the TV and sat in silence for a few moments. I felt… nothing. Which had to be wrong. Shouldn’t I have felt some kind of closure? Or want to throw a party since the asshole was finally dead and out of my life for good?
I had been their only child; a daily reminder of my mother’s failure as an Omega to produce the brood of children my fathers surely suspected. I often wished for a brother or sister growing up, but as an adult I could only see it as a blessing that I’d been alone. Although, an Alpha son would surely have been treated differently.
When I’d spoken to my therapist at the Center, Linda, about it though, she hadn’t been surprised.
“Sometimes, when an abuser dies, we don’t react the way we’d expect. Whatever feelings you’re having are valid. Andthey’ll probably change as you process the news,” she’d said. “I’m here whenever you want to talk about it.”
Instead of processing it further, though, I’d shoved it to the back of mind. And I’d let my guard down. I’d thought since Sebastian was dead, I didn’t have to keep looking over my shoulder anymore. It’s why I had even felt comfortable working in Dr. Nielsen’s lab, or taking this research job. I thought I was safe.
But seeing my mother again had stirred it all up.
If my mother knew where I was working, there was a good chance Domenic knew, too. And I certainly didn’t want a reunion with him.
I packed my bag thoughtlessly, chucking my computer in, and pulled on my coat. With any luck, I could escape without even seeing Anvi or Nathan and just call in sick.
I turned, startled, at a slight noise behind me.
It was Nathan, of course. He had barely spoken to me since our strange encounter, when I’d touched his arm and he literally left the building. Even more shame crawled up my throat at the thought that I’d made him uncomfortable. Not to mention my reaction to his scent, which had broken through whatever descenter he was wearing. It was good he’d left when he did, because the heady herbaceous scent had left me nearly as breathless as Andrew’s spicy one.
Nathan’s expression was severe. “How was it?” he asked.
I almost laughed.It was great. My estranged mother showed up, I had a breakdown, and the subject and his partner had to scrape me off the floor,I wanted to say.
“It was fine,” I said instead.
Nathan’s brows lowered, considering me. I shuffled from foot to foot. I didn’t want to get any closer to him in case he smelled Andrew’s scent and came to the completely wrong conclusion.
“Where are you going?” he asked, nodding at my backpack.
“Home. I’m not… feeling well.” I tugged my coat tighter around me and tried a fake cough. It didn’t sound convincing.
“Are you alright?” Nathan asked, sounding genuinely concerned. “You seem upset. Did something happen?”
My first thought was to dismiss him, tell him everything was okay, and I’d be back in the lab tomorrow. But I was crumbling.
To my horror, my throat closed up with emotion again, and I felt tears welling in my eyes. I was definitelynotalright. I was terrified, ashamed of my reaction, and very confused about the base instincts Andrew’s purr had stirred up within me.
Nathan looked just as horrified as I felt. He took a few steps closer, and I saw the moment Andrew’s scent hit him. His face turned dangerous, so angry he almost looked like a different person. A deep growl sounded in his chest.
“Did he hurt you?” He stepped closer again. “I’ll kill him.”
“No!” I shouted, my tears spilling out as panic joined the emotional fray. “No, nothing like that.”
Nathan reached for me, then stopped. He still looked murderous. I took a second to catch my breath before I hyperventilated.
“My mother showed up. I haven’t seen her for a long time. And I reacted… badly.” I paused for a moment and pulled on my best matter-of-fact voice. “I had a full-blown panic attack, actually. So I’m going to head home for the day if that’s alright.”
At that moment, seeing her and smelling her lavender scent, I had been thrown back in time to the last time she’d held me, the day she’d taken me to the hospital. My mind had put me right back there, laying on the floor, unable to move or speak because I was so weak. Even just thinking about it was spiking my panic again.
What if my mother knew where I lived? If she’d found where I worked, it wasn’t outside the realm of possibility.
You are an adult. They can’t hurt you anymore, I told myself.
But that wasn’t true. Domenic was dangerous. He’d shown me plenty of times over the years.
