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She joins me in standing but walks over to the stage and covers herself in her discarded red silk robe. “Rachel is her mother. I’m just the woman that gave birth to her.”
“Does she know that she’s adopted?”
“No. And she’s not technically adopted. Nothing is official or on paper. I was seventeen when I gave birth, and I wasn’t in a position to take care of a child. I had her right after I left my last foster home, which burned down.”
I arch an eyebrow at her. “The one you set on fire with your foster family inside?”
“Anyway…” She sighs, ignoring me. “I was seventeen, barely had any money, and I was nine months pregnant. I didn’t even know who the father was because I’d been raped by two men.” I know about her past, minus her pregnancy, but that doesn’t make it any easier to hear. What she had to go through at such a young age breaks my heart. I wish I’d known her then so I could’ve protected her. She looks at me with glossy eyes, a long moment of silence passing between us.
“You went to Rachel Hollis, and she agreed to take care of Olivia?” I assume when it becomes clear that she’ll need some motivation in order to continue telling me her story.
“Y-yes,” she chokes out. My butterfly has always been so fucking strong, so seeing her choked up and on the verge of tears speaking about her past pains me. It makes me want to wrap my arms around her and protect her from the world. All I want is to take her pain away, even though I know it’s impossible.
“She’s been taking care of my daughter for ten years. She’s the only mother that Olivia knows. She refers to me as Aunty Lee because that’s how she sees me. One day, I won’t be able to protect her from the truth, and she’ll know I’m her birth mother. Olivia’s such a smart kid, so I know she’ll figure it out eventually.” A hint of a smile spreads across her face. The pride she feels for her child is clear as day. She’s proud, as she should be.
“Why did you wait all this time to come to me? Why didn’t you come to me the second you could’ve?” I shove my hands in my hair, tugging at the roots. “I don’t fucking understand, butterfly! Why wouldn’t you come to me?!” I roar, my patience becoming thin as hurt begins to set in. “I thought I meant more to you, but clearly, I didn’t. You went to Rowen and not me!” I scream, pulling at my hair until it hurts.
“You don’t get to be hurt!” She steps toward me, her hands on my chest as she shoves me back. “Stop acting like you’re a fucking victim and didn’t leave me!” Her eyes become dark with her anger. “I trusted you of all people. More than Eli and more than Rowen. You were the one I was most excited to see that night in the basement. The second I saw your face, I felt so fucking safe because I knew that my King was there to save me, his special butterfly. You made me feel special and seen, and then I watched you leave.Youleftme.” She shoves at my chest again with all her strength, nearly knocking me off balance when I wasn’t prepared.
“You left me! You left me! You left me!” she screams, her body shaking as sobs rake through her. “You once told me that you’d never leave me, and you promised that I was yours forever. You fucking lied!” One more shove to my chest causes me to fall back onto the couch, my hands slipping from my hair and into my lap.
“Why, King, why?” Tears stream down her angry face. “Why did you leave me? Do you have any idea how it felt watching you and Eli leave? Staring at your backs as you walked away. You could’ve saved me, but you chose not to. You chose to leave me for dead, even after all the promises you once made to me. You lied to me! You fucking lied!” Her eyes are as wide as saucers, and her usually blue eyes are gray and cloudy like a summer storm. “I laid there and watched you leave me behind, and all the hope I had left with you. I was happy when I first saw you, but that quickly changed when you left me there.” Her chest rises and falls rapidly as she falls silent, her heartbreak and anger hanging heavy in the room.
The air feels heavy between us, and the room suddenly feels small.
I don’t realize I’m crying until I taste the salt of my tears on my lips.
Wiping my face with the back of my hand, I stand and wrap my arms around her petite body, letting her shake against me with her silent sobs.
Shoving my hands into her hair, I tilt her head back and press my lips against hers, stealing the air from her lungs. “I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry, baby. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m fucking sorry, baby,” I repeat the words over and over again like a mantra, our bodies shaking together as we cry while holding each other.
“You can hate me, you can hit me, and you can cut my heart out, hell, I’ll even give you the knife. You do whatever you need to, baby, but know that I’m so fucking sorry, and if I could go back in time, I would change everything.” I hold her so tight against me that I can feel her heartbeat against my chest.
After a pregnant silence, she looks up at me and inhales deeply.
“King, I know who’s behind those unknown text messages, and I need your help.”
seventeen
KING
"She said what?"Rowen eyes me skeptically. I just told him what Tate told me last night about knowing who's responsible for sending those unknown text messages. When I asked who, she said she'd tell me everything but wanted to tell Rowen at the same time and asked to meet with us.
I go through the story for a second time, telling Ro almost everything about last night when Tate came to Sinners, and I learned that she's alive. I leave out the moment we shared when we cried and held each other. That's between us, and all he needs to know is that I know she's alive and that we're meeting her today.
"Why didn't you tell me that you knew she was alive? You know how much I've been grieving over her, yet you kept that massive fucking bombshell to yourself."
Rowen looks at me, a frown on his face and his shoulders slumped. He looks guilty and ashamed. "I'm sorry, brother. I didn't know how to tell you, and honestly, I didn't want to." His bluntness surprises me.
"You've known since the night at the hotel after we saw Rachel Hollis. You've known for two weeks and haven't said a single fucking word. I'm supposed to trust you. I can't trust Eli. I thought you were the one I could trust."
He stands. "You can trust me, I swear it. I'm so sorry, but I couldn't. You would've run off trying to find her, and I needed you with a clear head by my side. I knew she'd come to you, and I felt it was best that you hear it from her rather than me."
I sigh, hating that I understand his logic and that he was only looking out for me. "Does Eli know she's alive?"
He shrugs. "I don't know. She never said anything about telling him, but considering Ace has been right under our nose, pretending to be Travis and working for us, I'm sure he's heard enough and told her that we're not on the best of terms with Eli right now." He paces the living room of our cabin. "Did she say anything to you about talking to Eli?"
"No, he never came up. She asked to meet with just the two of us." I check the time on my phone, seeing that there are only a few minutes until Tate is supposed to be here.
