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CHAPTERFIVE
GUINEVERE
“Am I under arrest?Are you taking me back?” I ask quietly from the backseat. I thought Rocco was keeping me with him. But he’s seated up front. He didn’t want me in the backseat by myself, but the other guy, Linc, had two other men sit on either side of me. I feel small next to them in the back of the SUV. The windows are blacked out so no one can see inside.
Rocco turns his head to look back at me. This isn’t a police car, so there is not a partition between us.
“Sweetheart, do you want to go back? No, you aren’t under arrest. We need to go to the precinct so we can take your statement.” He pauses, and I know he wants to say more but doesn’t. He keeps whatever it is to himself, making me afraid.
I bite the side of my lip and shrink back into the seat, trying to figure out how I’m going to get away again if they make me go back. I don’t realize I’m crying until Rocco growls.
“Pull the fuck over, now,” he yells at Linc. The SUV comes to a stop, and Rocco jumps out. He’s leaving me now. I’m too broken for him, but then the door opens and he’s ordering the man next to me out. “You sit up there.” The man moves and Rocco takes his place next to me. He pulls me into his side and holds me. “I swear you are safe, Ever. We just need you to tell us about the conversation you heard today. Plus, there are attorneys there for you. Your uncle hired them. Please don’t cry, sweetheart.”
“You’re lying. You’re taking me back. I know it, because George always gets his way. Doesn’t it matter that he said he killed someone?” I yell at him as I push myself away. The car is moving again.
“Sweetheart, please calm down, you’re going to hurt yourself. I’m taking you to the precinct, I swear. We need to get a report of this.”
His words start to roll through my mind.
“You said, ‘Your uncle hired them.’ I can’t go back to them. I won’t survive.”
“Not that uncle. You know that George is your uncle?”
“Then which uncle?” I ignore his question; I don’t want to let him know that I remember everything.
“Your Uncle Geoffrey.” The name sounds familiar, and I remember walking in on a conversation years ago between Carmen and George. Geoffrey was a man who knew my teacher, the one who tried to help me. They said he was just jealous. I didn’t understand it then, but now it means so much more.
“Geoffrey wants to see me? He isn’t after the money too?”
“Shit, you remember?” Rocco pulls me tighter against his chest and my palm slides across his shirt. I take in the smell of his cologne. I take in everything that is him. I want everything he wants to give me too.
“I remembered this afternoon. I was just a small child, so I don’t have a lot of memories. I know that George and Carmen aren’t my parents. I know that mine died. I was in a car accident. I remember it too.”
His arms tighten. “I’m not letting you out of my sight,” he growls, and I feel it throughout my body.
The car comes to a stop again, and everyone starts to get out, but Rocco keeps holding me. “Ever, if you don’t want to go in there, I won’t make you.”
“The only way my parents will get justice is for me to report what I heard. But can you stay with me?”
“I’ll try.”
I look up at him as I pull away. I like that he’s being truthful because he might not be able to stay at my side. He gets out of the car and holds his hand out for me to take. I don’t even think twice as I slip my palm against his, our fingers locking together. We make our way into the station and toward justice.
“Guinevere,” a tall man yells my name as he moves around people to get to me. He pulls me from Rocco and holds me close. He smells familiar and his voice brings back a memory from when I was young.
“I know you,” I say softly against his chest. His arms lock tighter around me, and I groan in pain.
“Oh shit, sorry, bean.” The memories of that nickname cause a flood of emotion as he releases me and checks me over.
“That’s what my parents called me.” I start to cry as I try to pull away, needing to put some space between me and the pain. I’m still trying to process everything. I have another family that was killed. An accident I should have died in. I was raised by my uncle and aunt who only wanted my money.
My money.
I have money.
“Ever?” Rocco’s voice is gruff, and I turn toward him. I slip my hand into his again and he calms.
“Let’s do this.” I look at Geoffrey, who tries to take my other hand, but I can’t give him that yet. I’m not ready to trust more people, Rocco is it for now. I’ve trusted too many times, and my trust has been for nothing.
Rocco leads me into a conference room. There are several people around us watching and waiting for me to start talking. Rocco helps me get seated, and Geoffrey sits next to me after introducing the attorneys he hired. Rocco moves to the other side of the table where his partner and lieutenant are seated. My heart and soul know that Rocco would never let me be hurt, and I trust him. I trust him enough to finally tell my own story.
I know that what I say will put my family in jail. They are still my family, no matter what. They’ve been the only family I’ve known for years. I begin talking by telling them what I overheard and what happened after Rocco questioned me the other day. As I continue, they each ask me questions while the attorneys Geoffrey provided sit there, waiting if I need them. Rocco paces the room, not touching me any more than he did earlier. I worry that with each reveal of everything that has happened he’s pulling away. I don’t tell them about all the previous beatings, only about the last couple of weeks.
