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Her frame trembles and hands ball at her sides.
“My children won’t be your toys for these twisted mind games. I won’t allow you to hurt them. Find justification for your past mistakes somewhere else, because I can make your life less perfect, Helen. Don’t you fucking dare to touch my babies!”
“Enough.” Our heads snap toward the booming sound.
Darren marches in the room with an air of entitlement like he owns this place.
“My driver’s waiting with the car outside. We’re going to leave the Royal Gardens and find a private place to talk.” His harsh tone invites no arguments.
Helen fixes her hair and follows Darren outside like nothing has happened. Drawing a shaky breath in my aching lungs, I straighten my blouse and leave the royal lounge, bleeding from the cuts my mother-in-law inflicted.
The ride to their penthouse is loaded with silence. Darren’s talking with someone on the phone, his voice quiet and calm, soothing the edge between us.
They’re going to sidetrack me, and it’ll resolve nothing. Darren tends to sweep everything under the proverbial rug and use the distraction to stop any arguments between us. Except we need to clear the air and finally face each other, level the ground.
After we depart the car, he steers us toward the private elevator into his penthouse. My heart gallops, sensing the fight ahead of me. Resting my back against the panel, I shut my eyes to regain balance. The phone starts to ring, and I dive into my bag, rummaging through its contents.
“Hi,” I answer breathlessly as soon as I find the device. When I exit the elevator, I walk into the far corner to speak.
“What’s wrong?” Mark’s raspy voice makes my heart palpitate faster for a different reason. My gaze snaps to both Cades farther away, pretending not to listen, and yet, judge every silent word I utter.
Hot tears threaten to spill in torrents, but I shove them back to deal with later. “I’ll need you tonight . . .” My plea gets stuck in my throat.
“I’m already at your house. Your children aren’t here. You sure you don’t want me to come?” Mark can sense something’s going on. He’s very intuitive about these things.
“I need to speak with Helen and Darren alone. We must straighten out some things. After this I’ll come home, I promise.”
“We have to talk, don’t we?”
My gaze fastens on the envelope protruding from my bag. It is proof of how far Helen and Darren are willing to go to destroy me.
“Yeah, we do. Mark?” I pause, listening to him breathing. “Stop keeping secrets from me. You need to trust me.”
I can’t be questioning his motives every time someone tries to hurt us. There are too many predators circling around us. W
e must present a united front. Especially, when the family acts as the enemy, and the ghost from his past is looking for the cracks to tear us apart.
“Some things, I can’t share with you, not yet. Promise me you’ll wait. Promise me you won’t run from me. I love you with everything I am. I’ll shred my skin and bleed for you, but I can’t open the door to those secrets all at once.”
“I just don’t know, Mark, if we have time to wait for perfect timing. There’s none, can’t you feel it?” My chest quivers as I recall what it’s like to lose people I love. And this love I feel for him is deep as the ocean.
“We’ll make time, Lovebird. Come back to me, let’s figure things out together. Bring your babies home. Don’t let the Cades control your life or use your children to hurt you. You’re their mother, you deserve respect. Just because you sympathize with them, it doesn’t give them the right to treat you this way. Stand up for yourself and your kids.”
My chest unravels, tears streaming down my cheeks as I take the time to let those supportive words sink in. I didn’t even know I needed to hear it, someone to validate what I’m about to do.
“Mark.” My voice vibrates as I step into the penthouse. “Thank you, and I will.” I disconnect the call and lock my gaze with Darren, nursing a drink in the sitting room.
“Where are my kids?” Even I am surprised how harsh and persistent I sound.
Darren winces, watching the dark caramel liquid swirling in the glass. “Cassandra, we need to talk.”
“Yes, we do. But first, I’m taking my kids home, Darren. Or, I could call the police and report a kidnapping. And God help me, I’ll make a scandal you won’t recover easily from.” I can’t believe I need to threaten them, but I can no longer trust Logan’s parents not to hurt me.
“You aren’t getting them.” Helen strolls in the room before Darren can respond. Blazing hatred in her eyes so potent it saturates the air I breathe.
“I’m their mother, and they’re my responsibility. So, you have five seconds to comply or this day will end up in fireworks.”
“Go ahead, let’s see how it ends. Soon, you’ll receive a summons to court. We have enough evidence to claim the custody of these poor children who live with a mentally unstable mother. No one will listen to you. We have all means to prove how unsafe you are, especially after the degrading recording circling around.”
