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“That’s a shame. I’m sorry you missed so much of the party.”
I can’t say the same. “Anyway, it seemed like you two were having a good time, and that’s what matters.”
“What a sweet thing to say. If I’ve told your mother once, I’ve told her a hundred times: you are a wonderful kid, and she did a fantastic job of raising you.”
I have to say it. I have to say it before I lose my nerve. “Can I have a minute? I know you’re probably on your way out, but I need to tell you about this before you leave. And believe me, I don’t want to do this. I’ve been trying all day to come up with a way not to tell you about this.”
“Not to tell me about what?” He reaches out and touches my arm, frowning. “What’s happened? What can I help with?”
“I know this isn’t going to be easy for you to hear, but Colt and Nix…” Oh god, I didn’t think about how humiliating it would be to repeat all of this. But I have to get through it.
“What about them?”
“I’m sorry, but they hate me.”
“Remember what I told you last night about the awkwardness—”
“It isn’t awkwardness. It’s so much worse than that. I wouldn’t say anything like this if it wasn’t true and if I wasn’t afraid. But they do hate me. And…” I rub a hand up and down my arm, looking at the floor. “They force me to do things. They have forced me to do things recently. I didn’t want to do them, but they made me.”
“What kinds of things?” He hasn’t blown up yet, so that has to be a good sign. I knew this was the right thing to do. He’s the only sensible person in this house.
“One night, they forced me into… performing oral sex on Nix.” I glance up at him, wishing I could crawl into a hole, wishing he would stop looking at me the way he is because I feel so sick and dirty.
“They forced you into that?”
“Yes. I’m so sorry to have to tell you about this. I know they’re your sons, and I’m sure you don’t want to believe anything like this about them. That’s not all of it, either. It gets worse than that.”
His head snaps back a little, eyes narrowing as he scans my face. “Are you sure this isn’t some sort of misunderstanding?”
My heart sinks, but I can’t give up. Of course, that’s the first thing a parent would think. They wouldn’t want to believe the worst about their child—well, unless they were my mother. “Believe me. I’m sure. There was no room for misunderstanding.”
“You didn’t all have too much to drink, lose track of yourselves?”
“No. No, not at all. And like I told you, that’s only one example of many. But it’s constant, and I don’t know what to do about it. That’s why I had to come to you. I’m so scared of being alone in the house with them while you’re gone. Please, can you help me? I don’t know what else to do.”
He sighs, his shoulders slumping a little. “Leni, it isn’t that I don’t believe something happened to you, but I know my sons. I know they aren’t perfect, but what you’re describing… it’s all too much to believe.”
“I know it is.” This is the hardest part of all. This is the part that’s really going to kill him. “But there’s a video.”
His eyebrows lift. “Excuse me?”
“There’s a video on Colt’s computer. I found it last night. They took it while I was… you know. On my knees.” My voice shakes, and tears are in my eyes, but this is worth it. I have to push through. “If you can’t help me, I’m going to have to tell somebody else and show it to them. I’ll go to the police if I have to.”
And then it happens.
I can pinpoint the exact moment I see him for the first time. The real James.
His pupils dilate, eating up most of the color, turning his soft blue eyes that usually look at me with fondness and concern into an icy, dark blue.
One second, the James I danced with last night, who’s been the only kind person in this house, is in front of me. The next second, he is gone, and the man in front of me now raises his lip into a snarl like an animal about to attack. He is the predator, and I’m the deer, literally frozen in the headlights.
I’m a flash, his hand is around my throat, and he’s slamming me against the wall. The force knocks the air out of me, and the tears that were already filling my eyes instantly spill over as the pressure in my head builds.
He leans in, his face swimming in front of mine now that my head is spinning and my vision is blurring. “James!” I croak, fighting against his hand, fighting to pry his fingers away. It’s like trying to bend iron.
