Page 93 of Painted Truths

I can almost feel the tension emanating off his body from where I’m perched. And though I want nothing more than to discover what happened to bring on such a change of mood, I’m insightful enough to know when I need to stay back and allow him to work through whatever is going on inside that beautifully broken soul of his.

After what feels like a very long time, he surfaces, resting his forearms flat against the tiled pool area while remaining in the water as he stares at me, and though his eyes may be fixed on me, I know innately that his thoughts are a million miles away.

Eventually, I push into a standing position, allowing my robe to fall away, boldly bearing my nakedness to his veiled gaze before slowly padding closer. His eyes remain steadily on my own until I reach the edge and dive in alongside him, surfacing only a couple of feet away.

Treading the water, I greedily soak in his profile, taking in every curve and feature of this man I’m coming to care for more than I’d readily admit.

“Henry?” My voice is low and hoarse from lack of use, but he turns to push himself off the wall at my tentative tone. He reaches me in a nanosecond before taking me in his arms. I immediately wind my legs around his waist, locking them lightly behind his back, and he simply holds me against his smooth, primal nakedness. We remain unmoving for the longest time until my overwhelming need to comfort him in this time of distress becomes too great.

“I want to be in this bubble we’ve created, Henry DeMarco. For as long as we can. Just me and you.”

His arms encircle me even tighter as I go on. “But if there’s something that you need to talk to me about, not just now but ever—I’m here... in whatever capacity you need me.”

I feel the stress slowly ebb from his body at my words, and I’m filled with sheer joy at my ability to ease his mind. I think my heart may just burst out of my chest at any minute.

“Peaches.” My moniker is a quiet sigh on his lips.

“There are things you need to know to understand the dynamic of my relationship with Alex.”

Taking a deep breath, he then spits out, “His mum was my nanny first.”

I don’t give away the fact I’d already learned this from Martha, not wanting to betray her trust, and instead allow him to speak.

“She was hired to take care of me when my mum got sick, though I don’t remember her doing much of anything except mooning after my father. Then, a day or two after my mum’s funeral, she found him almost passed out drunk in his study. So, she dressed in my mum’s clothes, doused herself in Mum’s perfume and—"

My sharp inhalation cuts him off, eyes wide in disbelief. I nod for him to continue, even as my stomach bottoms out, instinctively knowing the next words to leave his lips.

“And she took advantage of a very drunk and grief-stricken man. The result of their questionable… union, being my brother. Bear in mind, I didn’t know any of this until my father told me right before he died. I just assumed the selfish bastard had fed me to the wolves while he’d fucked off having a grand old time.” He snorts a dark laugh, shrugging his shoulders. “I never understood why he hated her so much…”

He trails off in quiet contemplation, the pool around us motionless as his eyes remain fixed on the still waters. Until his loud declaration makes me jump in his arms and the water goes sloshing over the sides of the pool onto the deck beyond.

“Well, eventually, I understood every-fucking-thing.”

Turning and tugging me toward the pool’s edge, he pins me against the wall with his body, my legs now wrapped firmly around his waist and my core snug against his well-defined abs.

“Anyway, when she told him, he couldn’t even remember sleeping with her. He demanded a DNA test. Obviously. When it was confirmed that the baby she was carrying was indeed his, he tried to pay her off.”

He pauses at my grimace. “Yeah, Peach. Not his finest hour, I know. In all fairness, he just wanted her gone, but the devious bitch knew she had him by the short and fucking curlies. She threatened to sell her story to the paps, knowing a sex scandal on the heels of his wife’s death would destroy his life’s work, his father’s legacy, my birth right, and so… he gave her what she wanted. The status of being the wife of one of the richest men in the UK, with her own private bank balance to prove it. But he couldn’t bear the sight of her, devoting more and more time to the company, and eventually buying a separate apartment in the city, effectively living an entirely unrelated life that didn’t include me. Or Alex.”

He drifts off, his eyes still fixed intently on mine, but his conscious mind is somewhere else. Somewhere far off in the past, reliving years of horror, neglect, and pain that I can only barely begin to touch upon.

I feel my brows draw together in concern and can’t stop myself from bending forward to lay a kiss on his own puckered brow, bringing him back to the here and now.

“For the most part, we lived in barely concealed hate, Peach. Dad rarely showed his face at the house, and when he did, the fights between them were explosive until he told her he was done with their sham marriage and stopped coming not long after I turned 17. It was then things became intolerable at home… I left around then.”

Pain flashes through his eyes as his brows furrow further, his childhood memories washing over him like a wave. Overwhelming him entirely.

I wrap my arms around his waist and lay my head on his chest.

Father Thomas once again whispers in my subconscious. “I won’t push you, but please know I’m here for you. A good friend once told me, ‘A problem shared is a problem halved.’”

His whole body stiffens as his breathing stops.

“I want to be your safe place because I don’t think you have many of those. If any...”

He leans closer, enveloping me in a full-body hug, which I return with my whole self, holding nothing back. I know now that whatever happened in his past still lives within him, eating away at his beautiful soul like a disease that keeps him from fully healing.

And at that moment, I vow to do whatever it takes to make him whole again.