How did he know me so fucking well already? It was like, from the moment he laid his eyes on me, he could see past the front I put up and straight into the depths of my soul.
I shook my head again, my words lodged deep in my throat. I couldn’t speak them into existence. What the fuck would they think of me? What would they think when they found out I allowed my parents to fucking drug me, so their sick, fucked-up friends could pay them to fuck me while I was unconscious and incapable of consenting? When I couldn’t stop them from doing whatever the hell they wanted to me?
“Corvus…” Michelle said softly. Her thumb swiped over my cheek. I didn’t realize I was crying until she wiped away a secondtear. “Bub, what happened? Talk to us. There’s nothing you can do or say that will make us run or send you away.”
“But you don’t?—”
“Do you trust us?” Kip asked, interrupting me.
I drew in a deep breath, and surprising myself, I nodded, realizing I did. Even drunk me had known I could trust them to take care of me and never let me down. And that just made me cry harder because I’d never had anyone I could trust outside of Hudson and Kreed. Now, I hadmy own peopleI could trust in the same way Hudson trusted Kreed.
“Shh,” Kip soothed, tucking my head beneath his chin. He draped one of his legs over mine, weighing me down and seamlessly calming me. “It’s alright. Just blurt it out, okay? Don’t think about it. Just?—”
“I let my parents drug me, so their friends can rape me.”
Silence filled the room. My heart stopped. It was so quiet, I heard the electricity running through the walls. I didn’t think any of us were evenbreathing.
Michelle was the first to break the silence, her voice trembling with rage.
“I’ll fucking kill them,” she snarled.
Chapter Twelve
Kip
“I let my parents drug me, so their friends can rape me.”
Those words wouldn’t stop playing on repeat in my head. Michelle vibrated with rage on Corvus’s behalf, but her rage had always been much louder than mine. I stewed internally, my blood quietly boiling. When I’d urged Corvus to just tell us what happened to send him into such a state the night before, I hadn’t known what to expect.
But Idefinitelyhadnotexpectedthat.
“No!” Corvus rushed to say when Michelle threatened to kill them. She wouldn’t literally, but would she find out where they lived and drive there to make them pay for touching Corvus, which would inevitably land her behind bars? Yes, she definitely fucking would. My beautiful little wife was protective as fuck.
“What the fuck do you meanno, bub?” Michelle demanded. She cupped his cheek, her eyes burning with hatred for his parents and so much sadness for Corvus. It tore at my heart. “Theyhurtyou. They allowedothersto hurt you. You can’t expect me to be okay with that.”
“But I let them,” he croaked.
“No,” I rasped. “Don’t even fucking try that excuse,chibi. You’re theirson. This iswrong, no matter if you went to them willingly or not. Did they do this last night?” I needed to know that before I decided what the next move should be.
He shook his head. “No, but they called. Over and over andfucking over again.” He pushed back more against me, so I tightened my hold on him once more, knowing he needed the comfort and security he got from being held like this. “They usually leave me alone for a few months after I give them what they want.”
There was so much wrong with that statement, but I’d have to address it in a minute when he was done talking. I didn’t want to interrupt him, and I could tell Michelle had something to say, too, but she kept her mouth shut, as well.
“I didn’t realize how much time had really passed.” Corvus’s voice sounded so tired and broken. I hated it. Hated that we hadn’t met him soon enough to protect him from the monsters he’d been born to. “But with the lack of sleep and the flashbacks I keep getting, their phone calls just sent me off the proverbial cliff. I can’t…” His voice suddenly sounded choked, and when Michelle leaned her forehead against his, stroking her fingers over his hair, I knew he was on the verge of tears. “I can’t keep doing this.”
“You won’t,” I swore. “They will never touch you again.No onewilleverfucking touch you again,chibi. Mark my fucking words.”
“What they did to you waswrong,” Michelle told him, her voice surprisingly soft for how angry I knew she was. “Just because you went to them doesn’t somehow make it okay. Nor does it somehow mean you gave consent, bub. You were coerced and bribed with the reward of a few months of peace dangled in front of you. That’s not consent. It’s bribery. It’s still rape.” Shepressed her lips lightly to his, and hetrembled, reaching to curl his arms around her and tug her closer to him. “But you won’t have to worry about them any longer.” She cupped his cheek and stroked her thumb over his stubble. “They have us to contend with now, and from this moment on, they no longer have access to you, bub. You’reours.”
He sniffled.
I pressed my palm over his heart, applying pressure, hoping it helped the emotions I knew burned their way through his chest.
“I know we haven’t talked yet, but can I…” He swallowed audibly. “Can I call you Mommy and Daddy?”
Christ, this boy was fuckingperfect.
“Of course, you can,chibi,” I assured him. “We want nothing more. And once we’re all feeling a little less raw, we can sit down and discuss what this means for the three of us, as well as your rules, expectations, rewards, punishments, and what you expect from us in return, okay?”
